mikomi2001

Hi flyertalk members!

Just wanted to ask for those who are experienced and experts at Singapore Changi airport. I am arriving at singapore at 6.15 am on a saturday on september 8. I wanted to quickly connect to a flight to bangkok. I am bringing a carry on luggage with me so I'm planning to stay airside. What would be the best transit time allowance for me and which departure time and carrier should I get? Do I also need a visa? I am a canadian citizen. All information provided will be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

UAPremExecflyer

Your questions are pretty much unanswerable without more information.
That said, Changi is a very easy airport for transit and/or connections.
As a Canadian, you don't need a visa for transit and you also don't need one to enter the country (as a tourist).
What airline are you arriving on?
Are you travelling on one ticket or two?
Will you have baggage?
SIN-BKK is served by Singapore Airlines (SQ), Thai Airways (TG), Scoot (TR), Jetstar (3K).
If one itinerary, you could easily make a connecting flight within an hour or less of you arrival.

mikomi2001

Thank you for the reply. I will be coming from San francisco on a United Airlines flight. The return flight was already booked in one ticket from Singapore to San Francisco. I didn't book the bangkok portion as it doubled the cost conpared to booking separately thru low cost carriers such as scoot and air asia. I am thinking of booking an 8 am flight thru scoot as i am arriving 6.15 am. I am only having a carryon luggage so I can stay airside. Would this be doable? Thanks again!

UAPremExecflyer

Yes it's doable assuming the UA inbound is on-time.
UA and Scoot both use T2 ... so you stay in the same terminal ... and both airlines tend to use the E gates ...
Lots of shopping in the transit area ... you can walk around and stretch your legs ... and get something to eat ...

mikomi2001

Thanks for the replies so far. Wonderful and very helpful travel and flyer community for sure.

My other question is if I buy a 8 am scoot flight to bangkok and somehow my UA flight was delayed and I don't make it on the scoot flight. Would I be placed on the next flight out? Thanks everyone

UAPremExecflyer

Unlikely. Very unlikely.
As a no-show, Scoot will cancel your itinerary. And make you purchase a new (likely more expensive ticket).

RumPatrol

Most likely no so I would want to budget for at least 2 hours of wiggle room. I typically play it very safe when I'm connecting two separate itineraries on two completely different (non-partner) airlines. You may have a bit more risk tolerance than me, and SIN is probably the best airport to do this at since you shouldn't have far to go, but I would still do a 2+ hour cushion. At worst, you have 2+ hours to kill in the best possible airport to have time to kill.

I'm not sure how long you plan to spend in BKK so I can't search your exact dates, but I often find that Thai Airways (a UA partner) flights are seldom more than $75 (USD) over the cost of a Scoot or Jetstar RT SIN-BKK. Singapore Airlines is usually right around the same price as TG too. Were I connecting from a UA flight, I'd be very tempted to fly TG to BKK, though I don't know if the pricing/schedule work out for you. I believe the earliest TG flight after 8am isn't until 12:25 so that may be a bit too long.

All that said, you would *probably* be fine with that 8am Scoot flight. I don't think I've ever had a late arriving or late departing flight in/out of SIN and even if something did happen, there are like 5000 flights per day between SIN and BKK so it isn't like you'd be stranded, it just might cost a little more money.

IluvSQ

If yopu don't mind a connection, Malaysian usually offers very reasonable fares on this route.
I usually fly their business class for about 25-30% of what SQ would charge.

EmailKid

Just did this earlier this year, except departing LAX (which is becoming second SFO flight).

Flight departed about an hour late for no apparent reason, arrived half hour late (thanks to padded official flight times).

So agree, give yourself at least a couple of hours unless you really don't mind taking chances.

And for the first time ever, I was asked to show a return flight before TG would give me a boarding pass. In the end they did let me board without a return ticket after I showed them a bunch of hundred dollar bills and half dozen credit cards (to show that there would be no problem in Thailand - they have tourists show up with no money apparently).

mikomi2001

Thank you everyone for a lot of very informative and helpful tips. You guys are really amazing. I've decided to take it easy and catch a much later flight and enjoy Changi airport as a lot of praise are being given on this airport. My home airport is YYZ and I wish they have the same mall like qualities of Singapore. Makes the 3 hours preboarding wait more bearable. Speaking of Changi, where would I find that free movie theatre that everyone seems to talk about? Also, which of the 4 are more reliable on evening flights? Scoot, Air Asia, Jetstar or other flight options? Which one allows a free checked in luggage or maybe a standard US/Canada overhead carry on luggage?

EmailKid

Of those, I believe none offer that. IIRC all you get is a "personal item."

I used my miles to fly TG (Thai), in part because I have not flown in an A350 before and wanted to try it. Still had that new plane smell It's a lot of miles for a short hop that is cheap to buy, but I just had to fly the new Airbus.

Also note, AirAsia and probably Scoot fly into DMK, Don Muang airport, the original BKK that is on the other side of Bangkok and does not have light rail going to the airport. DMK is the LCC airport for all intents and purposes.

RustyC

If they're in the same cost ballpark I'll also favor 'em, as it's less of a cattle drive. Have also run into some really bad immigration lines at DMK, though those are hardly unknown at BKK these days as well.

WilcoRoger

... and Cathay Pacific (CX) - if you're a one-worlder, the only choice

wandering_fred

Unless you are a Qantas OneWorlder and then 3K (sort of) works..... At least 3K and QF fly from the same SIN terminal

Just wandering
Fred

SQTraveller

Scoot is a budget carrier, so if you miss the flight (and it's not their fault) you will most definitely lose that flight - and don't forget, if you lose that outbound portion, you might lose the return as well.

Something to also bear in mind is that AirAsia flies out of Terminal 4 which is a separate building to T1-T3. While not dreadfully difficult to make the transfer, it might be something on your mind

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None offer "free" checked in luggage. But you can buy it as a la carte or part of a package. If I choose these airlines, I would typically go with Jetstar. However, if you are booking a few months ahead, some of the traditional carriers offer competitive rates. Say you pay $80 one-way on budget and you want to have check in luggage and for a 2h30min flight you want food, and to select your seats so you get off the plane faster (BKK immigration can be really bad), you could end up paying $125+ one way (so $250 return)
You might find a scheduled carrier (SQ, CX or MH) provide return fares of around the same value but you get food, check in, and in some cases get to select your seats.