SIN run
 

I'm doing a SIN run in Oct.

1. Will I have any problem clearing
Immigration if I show that I'll be only
staying in SIN for a few hours?

2. Will I be able to stay in the airport for
a few hours without getting a hotel?

3. Any hotel with reasonable rate that you
can recommend?

4. I booked the ORD-NRT-SIN as 2 segments
even though it's the same flight number.
Would UA still credit mileage based on
distance between ORD-SIN?

Thanks.

1. No problem whatsoever.

2. Yes, the airport is open 24 hours. Services late at night are limited (There's a 24 hour cyber cafe). It is completely (and I mean completely) safe.

3. There are tons of good hotels a short cab ride from the airport if you want a place to crash. Check out Expedia or your favorite hotel's website.

If you want to stay in the airport, the Transit Hotel is the only option. See this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum50/HTML/011228.html

Check out this thread if you want to try it without a hotel: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/002294.html

4. You'll get credit for ORD-SIN as if it were a non-stop.

[This message has been edited by skofarrell (edited 08-14-2002).]

4. Going west, your two flights are different days (+1 arrival at NRT), and if you have different seats, probably a two-segment credit. Coming back, I have found the opposite, since the flights are all on the same day.

Great Circle Mapper (http://gc.kls2.com/) can help you calculate the difference; be sure to use the same definition as UAL (not nautical miles).

4. When I booked the route as 2 segs, the UA counted it as 2 segments (even tough I had same seat number regardless of which direction I was flying). When I booked it as one segment, they counted it as one segement (slightly less miles then 2 segments), even though I had different seat assignements (Interestingly one of the ticket indicated ORD-SIN and another one NRT-SIN).

On my 2 SIN runs last year, I used the shower facilities at the GYM across from the Transit Hotel (you need to pay at the hotel desk, they give you a receipt for the attendant at the GYM) to freshen up. The cyber cafe worked well and they have food (meals) for sale. There are nice cozy chairs with different big screens showing various news channel to keep you occupied unless you like to shop! And the military guard are there too, roaming the entire area. I never left the airport (went past customs) although if you want a Starbucks, you have to go out.

I have generally found that you get credit for the number of flight coupons you have.
Therefore make sure you have 4 coupons ord-nrt, nrt-sin, sin-nrt, nrt-ord. If you have one flight coupon that shows ord-sin and then get a boarding passs at ORD, along with a "re-boarding" pass for NRT--I'm afraid you'll get credit for the non-stop mileage.

Good thing either way is that for ORD-NRT and then NRT-SIN you'll get 9.602 miles while the nonstop number is only 241 less miles at 9,361.

I am certain that if you bought ORD-NRT and NRT-SIN as separate segments (even though they both share the same flight number UA881), you will absolutely get mileage posted for each discrete segment.

This is almost always more than if you booked the through flight as one segment.