kevflyer

I guess this route will be very lightly-flown, i.e. mostly by residents of US / HKG / SIN returning home?
I realized you can transit in HKG now but not sure if many are doing that.

UA_Flyer

Even the HKG transit is quite restrictive. No to/from Mainland flights and the transit needs to be on one single carrier and one booking record based on a number of internet blogs are reporting.
There are people like me who were excited about the resumption of SFO-HKG-SIN, but in reality it is fairly useless for the Americans.

hscottm

there are some local concerns about the rules.

a friend who works at the airport says that various airlines are not sufficiently screening passengers who end up arriving in HKG that are not eligible to enter (for 14-day quarantine). And these aren’t “one off” problems. Apparently significant numbers each day.

I am curious - what are the usual penalties for airlines that don’t pay close enough attention to local rules and carry passengers that are ineligible to enter? Are there fines from the airport or country? For airlines like UA that obviously check this stuff in advance maybe not a problem but for others?

cesco.g

A booking SFO-SIN via HKG though on UA would satisfy the single carrier/one booking record requirement, wouldn't it?

UA_Flyer

Yes, but my point was that Americans are not allowed to enter into Singapore and the current transit rules at HKG/SIN won’t allow those who were thinking about using HKG or SIN as a transit point to go to other countries.

FlyingSloth

I'm an American in Singapore. This flight would be good, except for that 06:00AM take off time from SIN. Yikes! That would mean going to the airport at 3 or 4AM, my usual sleeping time. I wish the schedule for a bit later.. 12PM would be perfect.

lsquare

It's not too bad. There are lounges that are opened 24/7 at SIN. I think it was in 2018 when I had an early morning CX flight from SIN-HKG at around 6 AM. I got to SIN shortly before midnight to check-in. Then I went straight to the lounge and hung out over there. I don't know how things are now, but it's probably different due to the pandemic.

travelinmanS

Not that this flight is gonna last, but one of the good things about SIN is that you can check in just an hour before and still be 100% assured of making your flight. Since Changi is only 30 mins from most places in the city a 6am flight is not great but manageable.

iluv2fly

I do (or did until March) at least four SIN trips a year. My very favorite was ORD-NRT-SIN until they axed that. Then it was ORD-HKG-SIN until that became history. I then took ORD-SFO-HKG-SIN in order to get a true Polaris cabin. I actually was on the last SIN-HKG flight a few years ago. (There were about four of us who took it on purpose.)

The SFO-SIN (and the short-lasting LAX-SIN) flights are entirely too long for me. I enjoyed the stop at either NRT or HKG to get out and stretch and enjoy the First Class lounges there.

I am excited that HKG-SIN is back. I only hope that I have the opportunity to fly it.

FlyingSloth

That's reassuring to hear. My girlfriend is Singaporean, and she seems convinced that I would need to be there 3 hours before because that's what SQ told her on the phone. I've flown from SIN many times of course, in the past (the last time was 7 months ago), but I'm always 2 - 3 hours at the airport in advance. If it's true, that like Japan, you only need 1 hour before the flight.. then it could work.

lsquare

Maybe not by MRT. Pretty sure it took about 40 minutes for me to get to Changi the last time I was in SIN.

I totally agree with you. SFO-SIN is just way too long in Y. For the last couple of trips to SIN, I flew via China as I got a 4 hours to stretch and get a breather. It made the journey much more bearable. Until supersonic flights become available, I think I'm going to stick with this.

There's so much to do at Changi. Arriving 2-3 hours early ain't that bad. Changi is better than practically every airport in the US.

fumje

MRT doesn't start early enough for a 6a flight.

lsquare

No it doesn't, but I was trying to refer to when I last took the MRT to Changi.

HkCaGu

And remember Singapore is essentially on permanent DST. 6 am is always dark. Sunrise is always around 7 am and equatorial twilight is shortest.

UA_Flyer

I also crave for the opportunity to fly this route. I have been flying between US and SIN on United since 1993. My starting and ending point has been Miami for the most part. They were longggggg trips with 2-stop via SFO/LAX/ORD and then NRT/HKG.

Prior to 1997 when airlines were operated out of the old Hong Kong Airport, I would jump on the opportunity to fly in and out of HKG. The views of Kowloon neighborhoods were spectacular both days and nights, landing or take-off pending on the wind direction. Post 1997, I prefer NRT so I could sleep on the last leg into SIN and having an early morning nap on flight from SIN into NRT. there are more choices getting back to stateside at NRT. As others have pointed out, the 6 am departure on HKk-SIN flight is brutal, especially when I had to fly to Miami. The trip seemed never end.

I have been on LAX-SIN and it was too long for me. With UA's standard two-meal services on all transoceanic flights, it does not make sense to only cater two meals on flights such as SFO-SIN or IAH-SYD.