Efrem

I was caught by surprise in this situation when Qantas surprised me with strict carry-on limits a couple of years ago. PER-SIN was the only leg of a fairly long trip and where I couldn't take my roll-aboard on the plane. (Granted, I didn't go through the UK.)

I found out two things:

1. If you have prescription meds in your carry-on, airport staff can escort you to the baggage claim area, let you take them (but nothing else) out and escort you back in.

2. There was no problem picking up my bag from the QF baggage office the next morning. They didn't find the situation at all unusual. I recall filling out a simple paper form, but no hassle.

I'm going back to the transit hotel next week. Hopefully UA from NRT will let me carry my bag on. If not, at least this time I'll know the drill!

christep

Have you considered getting a bag which fits the standard international carry-on limits?


(Yes, I know "Why should I? It's OK in the USA so it must be OK in the rest of the world."

I was recently very pleased to learn that AT&T no longer call everywhere outside the USA "Rest of World" - they now call it "Most of World".)

rdg_dc

Is it normal to not hear from the transit hotel re: reservations?

I've sent multiple emails regarding a stay more than 4 weeks away--with no response in about two weeks.

Should I plunk down the money and call them?

LarryU

I have found that delays of this sort used to be very common over the last year or so but they had become much more responsive of late.

I have called them directly in the past and the phone rates were not too bad. I use a prepaid service, www.onesuite.com, whose rate from the US to Singapore is two cents/minute, cheaper than for domestic US calls!

SanDiego1K

When we didn't hear from the transit hotel in a week after emailing, we called using SKYPE. We got confirmation on the phone and subsequently within a day by email. Our stay is upcoming later this month.

SKYPE was very cheap, and well worth it to me to be sure I had a room booked.

DESMOINESguy

I am totally confused about this transit hotel. I am transiting SIN to DPS in September and thought I could just interline my bag (NW-SQ), arrive at 1:40 AM, walk to the transit hotel with just my carryon, sleep awhile, get up, walk to the departure gate with my carryon, get on the plane, and that my checked bag would be waiting for me on arrival at DPS. Is this not the case? Why would I need to go to lost and found the next morning, outside security, retrive my bag and recheck it? And how would I even do this since I'm still "airside". The whole point of this is not to have to go through customs, not "enter" the country of Singapore, not have to go through security, etc. Can somebody who has been through this please explain? With less than 8 hours on the ground in SIN, I really don't want to waste time waiting at a luggage carosel, waiting for a cab, driving to a hotel somewhere, checking in, then repeating the process a few hours later for a early morning departure. Transit hotel seems perfect, but if I'm still faced with claiming and rechecking a checked bag, then I'm not sure. Really can't afford to loose my checked bag either at the beginning of a long trip.

SanDiego1K

I am through checking my bag, and will only be taking my carry on to the transit hotel.

There are two categories of folks who have to reclaim their luggage after a stay:

1. Those who have used the Transit Hotel as an affordable hotel their first night in Singapore, and are now going into the city.
2. Those who were unable to onward check their luggage. Perhaps they have separate tickets in and out of Singapore. They now need to reclaim it and check it in with their new carrier.

opushomes

Please do not confuse "lost and found" which is outside the secure area after customs and the bag storage in the customs area but after immigration. In the NW-SQ scenario you should be able to interline the bag and just go to the transit hotel. That is if they ever respond to your booking or do not lose it. Otherwise you have to enter Singapore to retrieve your bag but in the custom area.

I've done it the wrong way. Banging on the glass wall of the customs area is not a cool thing.

DESMOINESguy

Thanks for clarifying all this. I think I understand it now. I will just check my bag all the way through from DSM to DPS, interlined in SIN between NW and SQ, use the transit hotel, and just proceed to my gate afterwards. However, I think it is unlikely that NW will not be able to issue me boarding pass for SQ at the beginning of my trip in the US, and vice versa, SQ won't be able to issue 3 NW boarding passes for my return. Will the gate agents be able to do this or do I need to go to the transit desk? Do they verify that your checked bag has been successfully interlined? Anybody done this between NW and SQ at SIN? Any problems?

ges123

I fit into category 1. The question I have does immigration say anything about you landing at 2:00am and not going through immigration until 8:30am?

Hope someone can help me with this question. Thank you.

restlessinRNO

I recently did exactly that, and there was no problem. (This was a "category 1" stay )

1300 posts in 8 years. Wow!

ges123

Good to hear. I am also hoping to print out my return boarding passes and clear immigration the evening before my early morning flight departure at 6:00am. check into the transit hotel at 8:00pm and check out by 5:00am to board. Have you ever done this? So in essence I am looking to use the transit hotels arriving and departing from Changi. I hope there is room.

restlessinRNO

Are you flying UA, perchance? You must have a BP in order to depart Changi and get to the transit hotel. Remember to always book the transit hotel in advance; it is often full and they then turn walk-ups away.

ges123

I will print out my NW boarding passes for my return trip on Monday morning before I leave the hotel on Sunday. I am hoping that this and my passport and carry on luggage will be all that I need to get to the transit hotel and then on to the gate in the morning. I am quite sure that the NW check in desks will not be open the night before the flight which is why I am taking carry on luggage and by passing the closed counters. I just sent email requests for arrival stay on May 8 and departure stay on May 10. I hope these both work out for me. Will really save on overnight accomdations.

SanDiego1K

The transit hotel is within the secured area. Are you sure you have to have an onward boarding pass to use it? I know people that have used it on arrival, then gone into town for a couple days (in order to avoid a more expensive hotel bill on the first short night).

And yes, I totally agree about booking the transit hotel in advance. They have an email address, but I generally find it more effective to call.