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#41
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"Tchiowa" wrote in message om... Markku Grönroos wrote in message ... Mark Pannell kirjoitti: doesnt matter where the boarding pass is issued. Did it last month. You just go through immigration and security as normal except you dont have to check in. Easy to believe. How do you "double check". Your file already resides in the database. Changes to it are hardly generated at any airport just because you have been outside the transit area. How does the personnel at counters know whether you have been out or not. Tiotsiiva's friends at the passport control escort you there? If you leave the transit area then you return through the Immigration counter and they can see that the boarding pass was issued somewhere else. That shouldn't happen if you checked in at the local airport. It doesn 't always work like that. If you are travelling on with the same airline sometimes they issue all boarding passes at the original airport, but sometimes they cannot do it and you have to get the boarding pass for the next flight at the transit desk. In my experience if you are switching airlines you always have to get the onward boarding pass at the transit desk, in this case in Singapore. How do the personnel at the counters know if you've been out or not? Well, let me see. If you don't go out you don't go back through the immigration counter, do you? If you do go out you MUST go through the counter. Therefore, if you are at the counter you went out. Not a difficult decision for the guys at the counter, is it? I don't understand this. If you go out the immigration desk just checks your passport and the immigration card you can get there. Then a few hours later you return passing through and passport check where you show your passport, boarding pass and the return half of the immigation card. Of course they stamp the passport and know that you have been out and back, but so what? It is OK to visit Singapore for just a few hours. Anyway I have often been out and back in Singapore for a few hours and had no problems. Maybe it can cause problems but so far not for me. |
#42
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"RAK" wrote in message .. .
"Tchiowa" wrote in message om... Markku Grönroos wrote in message ... Mark Pannell kirjoitti: doesnt matter where the boarding pass is issued. Did it last month. You just go through immigration and security as normal except you dont have to check in. Easy to believe. How do you "double check". Your file already resides in the database. Changes to it are hardly generated at any airport just because you have been outside the transit area. How does the personnel at counters know whether you have been out or not. Tiotsiiva's friends at the passport control escort you there? If you leave the transit area then you return through the Immigration counter and they can see that the boarding pass was issued somewhere else. That shouldn't happen if you checked in at the local airport. It doesn 't always work like that. If you are travelling on with the same airline sometimes they issue all boarding passes at the original airport, but sometimes they cannot do it and you have to get the boarding pass for the next flight at the transit desk. In my experience if you are switching airlines you always have to get the onward boarding pass at the transit desk, in this case in Singapore. How do the personnel at the counters know if you've been out or not? Well, let me see. If you don't go out you don't go back through the immigration counter, do you? If you do go out you MUST go through the counter. Therefore, if you are at the counter you went out. Not a difficult decision for the guys at the counter, is it? I don't understand this. If you go out the immigration desk just checks your passport and the immigration card you can get there. Then a few hours later you return passing through and passport check where you show your passport, boarding pass and the return half of the immigation card. Of course they stamp the passport and know that you have been out and back, but so what? It is OK to visit Singapore for just a few hours. Anyway I have often been out and back in Singapore for a few hours and had no problems. Maybe it can cause problems but so far not for me. There is no problem going out and back in a few hours. The problem lies in having checked luggage while you're doing that. Post 9/11 they are watching for that type of thing. |
#43
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"Tchiowa" wrote in message om... "RAK" wrote in message .. . "Tchiowa" wrote in message om... Markku Grönroos wrote in message ... Mark Pannell kirjoitti: doesnt matter where the boarding pass is issued. Did it last month. You just go through immigration and security as normal except you dont have to check in. Easy to believe. How do you "double check". Your file already resides in the database. Changes to it are hardly generated at any airport just because you have been outside the transit area. How does the personnel at counters know whether you have been out or not. Tiotsiiva's friends at the passport control escort you there? If you leave the transit area then you return through the Immigration counter and they can see that the boarding pass was issued somewhere else. That shouldn't happen if you checked in at the local airport. It doesn 't always work like that. If you are travelling on with the same airline sometimes they issue all boarding passes at the original airport, but sometimes they cannot do it and you have to get the boarding pass for the next flight at the transit desk. In my experience if you are switching airlines you always have to get the onward boarding pass at the transit desk, in this case in Singapore. How do the personnel at the counters know if you've been out or not? Well, let me see. If you don't go out you don't go back through the immigration counter, do you? If you do go out you MUST go through the counter. Therefore, if you are at the counter you went out. Not a difficult decision for the guys at the counter, is it? I don't understand this. If you go out the immigration desk just checks your passport and the immigration card you can get there. Then a few hours later you return passing through and passport check where you show your passport, boarding pass and the return half of the immigation card. Of course they stamp the passport and know that you have been out and back, but so what? It is OK to visit Singapore for just a few hours. Anyway I have often been out and back in Singapore for a few hours and had no problems. Maybe it can cause problems but so far not for me. There is no problem going out and back in a few hours. The problem lies in having checked luggage while you're doing that. Post 9/11 they are watching for that type of thing. Sorry, I did not mention that I had checked my bags through, normally from Jakarta to London or Sydney, or vice versa. I have done such a transit stop in Singapore once or twice this year. I had no problems at all. I find it very convenient to take a flight arriving in Singapore in the moring, go into town for a few hours for a meeting or shopping, then leave again in the evening, usually with bags checked through. I make no secret of this and have never seen any notice saying it is not allowed. I think I have sometimes told airline staff I am doing this but I am not sure about that. I plan to do it again in a couple of weeks and do not anticipate any problems. Frankly I cannot see why going into town for a few hours makes me a higher risk. If I do not return in time and get on the plane, then the boarding check will show this and my bags should be off-loaded. This is the same process for some who checks in locally then does not board. By going into town I even go through a couple of extra security scans, compared to hanging around in transit for hours. Why do you think this "type of thing" is an added security risk? It seems more like the sort of arbitrary and pointless rule than US airports are imposing as they struggle to reach the level of security checking that other regions have practiced for many years. Or am I missing something?! |
#44
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"RAK" wrote in message ...
heavy snipping for space Why do you think this "type of thing" is an added security risk? It's not that *I* think it's a security risk, it's the airlines. Maybe there is more emphasis on flights to and from the US. But the idea is that you are no longer "with" your checked luggage. It seems more like the sort of arbitrary and pointless rule than US airports are imposing as they struggle to reach the level of security checking that other regions have practiced for many years. Or am I missing something?! You may be right on your reason. But whether or not they have a good reason for doing something is secondary to the fact that they are doing it. |
#45
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"RAK" wrote in message ...
heavy snipping for space Why do you think this "type of thing" is an added security risk? It's not that *I* think it's a security risk, it's the airlines. Maybe there is more emphasis on flights to and from the US. But the idea is that you are no longer "with" your checked luggage. It seems more like the sort of arbitrary and pointless rule than US airports are imposing as they struggle to reach the level of security checking that other regions have practiced for many years. Or am I missing something?! You may be right on your reason. But whether or not they have a good reason for doing something is secondary to the fact that they are doing it. |
#46
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"Chris Blunt" wrote in message ... On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:42:51 GMT, "Mark Pannell" wrote: It is not the case!.I have done it numerous times on the way to different destinations. I regularly do this when I transit Hong Kong on a same-day connecting flight. I leave the airport for a few hours to go downtown and return to get my onward flight. I have never seen any rule saying this is not allowed, and the airline staff are fully aware that I do it. Perhaps this restriction only applies to Singapore. I have done it several times in Singapore and had no problems and I think I have even told airline or travel agent staff that I want a long transit so I can go into town. Are the people who insist it is not allowed or impossible making up their own rules unrelated to reality? |
#47
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
On Sun, 1 Aug 2004 01:33:26 +0100, "RAK"
wrote: "Chris Blunt" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:42:51 GMT, "Mark Pannell" wrote: It is not the case!.I have done it numerous times on the way to different destinations. I regularly do this when I transit Hong Kong on a same-day connecting flight. I leave the airport for a few hours to go downtown and return to get my onward flight. I have never seen any rule saying this is not allowed, and the airline staff are fully aware that I do it. Perhaps this restriction only applies to Singapore. I have done it several times in Singapore and had no problems and I think I have even told airline or travel agent staff that I want a long transit so I can go into town. I often have a hard time convincing the travel agent that I really do want an 8 hour connecting time. They usually want to book me on the next available flight, and can't understand why I would want anything else. One issue that the agent does sometimes raise is that of departure tax. In Hong Kong, the departure tax is included in the ticket price, but its not normally charged on same-day connecting flights because they assume people will remain airside. Strictly speaking, the tax should be payable if you go outside the airport, but I think the number of transit passengers who do this is so small that they haven't bothered to close that loophole. Not sure if that would apply to Singapore also. Are the people who insist it is not allowed or impossible making up their own rules unrelated to reality? They're just trolls, and best ignored. |
#48
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
On Sun, 1 Aug 2004 01:33:26 +0100, "RAK"
wrote: "Chris Blunt" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:42:51 GMT, "Mark Pannell" wrote: It is not the case!.I have done it numerous times on the way to different destinations. I regularly do this when I transit Hong Kong on a same-day connecting flight. I leave the airport for a few hours to go downtown and return to get my onward flight. I have never seen any rule saying this is not allowed, and the airline staff are fully aware that I do it. Perhaps this restriction only applies to Singapore. I have done it several times in Singapore and had no problems and I think I have even told airline or travel agent staff that I want a long transit so I can go into town. I often have a hard time convincing the travel agent that I really do want an 8 hour connecting time. They usually want to book me on the next available flight, and can't understand why I would want anything else. One issue that the agent does sometimes raise is that of departure tax. In Hong Kong, the departure tax is included in the ticket price, but its not normally charged on same-day connecting flights because they assume people will remain airside. Strictly speaking, the tax should be payable if you go outside the airport, but I think the number of transit passengers who do this is so small that they haven't bothered to close that loophole. Not sure if that would apply to Singapore also. Are the people who insist it is not allowed or impossible making up their own rules unrelated to reality? They're just trolls, and best ignored. |
#49
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"Chris Blunt" wrote in message ... On Sun, 1 Aug 2004 01:33:26 +0100, "RAK" wrote: "Chris Blunt" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:42:51 GMT, "Mark Pannell" wrote: cut One issue that the agent does sometimes raise is that of departure tax. In Hong Kong, the departure tax is included in the ticket price, but its not normally charged on same-day connecting flights because they assume people will remain airside. Strictly speaking, the tax should be payable if you go outside the airport, but I think the number of transit passengers who do this is so small that they haven't bothered to close that loophole. Not sure if that would apply to Singapore also. I am not 100% sure on this but I think the airport tax at the transit airport only applies if you transit for more than 24 hours. Also an X on the ticket on the line for one flight sector indicates no stopover allowed though again I think that under 24 hours is still allowed. cut |
#50
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Singapore - 6 hrs to kill in airport- any bus trips?
"RAK" wrote in message m...
"Chris Blunt" wrote in message ... On Sun, 1 Aug 2004 01:33:26 +0100, "RAK" wrote: "Chris Blunt" wrote in message .. . On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:42:51 GMT, "Mark Pannell" wrote: cut One issue that the agent does sometimes raise is that of departure tax. In Hong Kong, the departure tax is included in the ticket price, but its not normally charged on same-day connecting flights because they assume people will remain airside. Strictly speaking, the tax should be payable if you go outside the airport, but I think the number of transit passengers who do this is so small that they haven't bothered to close that loophole. Not sure if that would apply to Singapore also. I am not 100% sure on this but I think the airport tax at the transit airport only applies if you transit for more than 24 hours. Also an X on the ticket on the line for one flight sector indicates no stopover allowed though again I think that under 24 hours is still allowed. I was picking up a ticket for SQ Friday and they confirmed the policy. However, they said that SQ pretty much ignores it in Singapore because they want the tourism but other airlines would be more strict. They also pointed out that if you're on a discount ticket you would could be charged a substantial fee for leaving the airport (hidden cities trick). Bottom line, if you want to leave the airport in Singapore, or anywhere else, while you're laid over for a few hours, plan that ahead of time, check your baggage to Singapore, make sure the airline knows your plan, etc. Avoid the problems. |
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