rownada

Does anyone know if SQ ex-LHR lounge access to Plaza Premium lounge T2 these days include free champagne and shower? I am only KF Gold flying Y if that matters.

Also does the lounge access include shower for free or do I have to pay extra at Plaza Premium lounge LHR T2?

hansyuwiwb

No I don't live in SG. I have no plan to return there. I was travelling from Australia to the UK, decided to stay in SG for a few days to see friends because I can.

According to local friends, long term pass holder departing after 10 May seem to not be able to get return authorisation, at least not on a regular basis. If you work for some special employer or industry maybe they'd be able to get you one.

lokijuh

Yes, very much the case, unless returning from Australia, Brunei, China or New Zealand. Even before 10 May then it was difficult, we had several people who didn't get authorisation to come back for months.

hansyuwiwb

Yeah I think with the current situation, SG and Australia are very much on the same path - you need to pick: either you are here for the long haul or just leave and don't come back. For Australia even citizens have issues returning, which at least is not the case for SG. The old way of come and go is very much dead....

lokijuh

In Australia citizens (who live there) have even more difficulty departing - the government is very strict and pretty heartless (unless you are a sportsperson or celebrity). Took me about 30-40 mins to check in whilst SQ’s check in agent made a call, chased border force around the check in hall, made another call and waited for a further call back. Initially was even told I couldn’t leave as I’d used my exemption already (but as foreign resident didn’t need one).

SG will let anyone leave but unless you’re a citizen or PR (or going to a low risk country) you’ll have trouble getting back.

hansyuwiwb

Funny that I had exactly this problem departing MEL on this trip. Also told my exemption was already "used" to which I said I never applied for one so how was it used. They eventually checked my movement record and let me go. I had to produce my work contract in the UK to convince them that I can support myself and won't need to return.

Flyingbiker

I am just trying to clarify, if we travel from AKL to LHR on SQ in J and transit time of 4 hours are we still able to enter the UK without quarantine of any kind? I am a NZ/UK citizen and my wife is NZ citizen.

sbs2716g

yes. No quarantine as of now as both NZ n SIN are in the green zone of U.K. but understand that there is an arrival test that need to be done

wendyc12

Yes and you'll have access to the SQ J lounge for your layover as well. You'll need to do the green zone day 2 test after arrival - cheapest I could find was 60 GBP at https://www.citydoc.org.uk/ba (uses a BA discount code - BA helpfully provides a list of promo codes available at https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb.../covid19-tests)

eaturmusic

flew SIN to Europe a few times, around 30 people on the flight each time. service was great as always.

silverm0623

My experience with their call center:

Very positive for the most part. I have a trip to Male from LAX in September in award Biz and the schedule has changed twice so far and I've had to be rebooked both times. Their call center definitely has a mix of those who know how to go above and beyond and those who are kind of new and only do what they can on their computer. My main problem occurred when one of my LAX-SIN flights were cancelled which required me to be rebooked on a flight that would lead to an 21 hour layover in Singapore in a transit hotel before I could continue on a flight to Male. Not wanting to do that, I knew there was a flight from SIN-MLE that left earlier, but there was no award availability. The first agent I talked to kindly said she could not do anything since there was no award availability and told me to try back closer to departure. Not wanting to do that, I called back a day later and spoke to someone who definitely was more experienced and after explaining to them I did not want to be stuck in a transit hotel room for 18 hours unable to leave due to Singapore cancelling my original flight, she told me she would have to manually request through higher channels to open up award space for the earlier flight and that she would call me back in 10 days (yep, 10 days with an update). Lo and behold, I received a call 8 days later from her explaining that the manual request was approved and my transit time was reduced to only 3 hours. That's the amazing service I had come to expect from Singapore Airlines.

BD1959

You need to complete a UK Passenger Locator Form which needs the Reference Id of the 2-Day Test booking as well as the usual information: Passport Id, Place of Residence in UK, contact number etc etc.

Regards,

BD

economyfly

does anyone know if ex-USA flights in J have alcohol available for purchase duty-free on board? thanks!

travelswithmybriefcase

Hi everyone

Am due to fly out on 10/8 (reduced caps permitting obviously) in J.

Does anyone have recent experience of the lounge situation in MEL?

I believe I read somewhere that the SQ lounge was not operating and that eligible pax could use the NZ lounge if the flight was at a time when their lounge was open?

My SQ flight is scheduled to depart at 23 35 so not massively hopeful if the SQ lounge isn’t operating.

Like many I haven’t flown Internationally in over 18 months so also not sure if the Marhaba lounge is operating these days either?

(Might be able to access that with Priority Pass / Amex Platinum if it is).

Thanks as always for any info and appreciate the situation is rather “fluid” so won’t take any responses as “set in stone”!

lokijuh

I'd expect the NZ lounge would be shut as there are no NZ departures on 10/8 after 18:15.

In January (when I departed MEL ) and March (when my partner departed) SQ were providing $25 vouchers to use at airport food places. I took almost 45 mins to check-in as they had to find someone to verify that I was allowed to leave the country (as non-resident) and as such had to go straight through to immigration and the only place airside that was open to use the voucher was Bar Pulpo by Movida - very overpriced sandwiches, snacks and alcohol (no hot meals on offer). My partner used the SQ voucher landside at Grill'd and then used Priority Pass airside at Movida.

It looks like the Marhaba lounge is only open on Wed, Fri and Sat, so looks like Bur Pulpo is the only option.