Singapore Airport to Port - enough time?

[Katesowner]

We are caught between 2 airlines. Our American flight from the US is due at HKG at 5:30 p.m. More than 6 months ago, we booked a United flight from HKG to Singapore leaving around 9 p.m. Later United cancelled their flight and booked us on Singapore Air leaving HKG at 7:55 p.m., a tight connection for us particularly since we won’t be able to check bags through.

 

Singapore Airlines would not deal with us directly because United had made the reservation. We asked to be on the next day 8 a,m, flight, but United put us on the 9:05 a.m. flight, arriving at Singapore’s airport 1 hour and 55 minutes before our cruise ship (NCLJewel) says we must be on board.

 

 

There are 50+ seats left on the 8 a.m. Singapore flight. Singapore Air-says they’re available but must be bought by United since they did the original booking. United says they can’t book the flight because Singapore doesn’t let them have access to all the inventory. United tells us to continue to call in case something becomes available. Both airlines say they’re so sorry, but neither one will budge.

 

 

This is way too much information. Can anyone tell me about how long it takes to get our bags and go through Immigration in Singapore? Google says the distance to the port is 19.3 km. Are 115 minutes enough time to get our bags through Immigration and reach the port?

[travel4fun_sd]

I personally think it's too risky. Since your flight was cancelled, I assumed you are able to get full refund from United? If so, do you have an option to book on another airline or arrive Singapore the day before the cruise?

[Keith1010]

I would not arrive the day of the cruise.

 

I would get a refund.

 

I would arrive a day or more before cruise.

 

I would find better flights in terms of connection times.

 

Look at other options.

 

Keith

[hallasm]

This is simple to risky, Also because of the tight connection. I assume that the two bookings are at the same reservation/confirmation and not two different bookings. If that’s the case it’s simply impossible. Changes of delay and not be able to make the cruise is simply too high. I always fly in a time least the day before and in you case I’ll fly in two or three days in advance.

 

 

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[Sky shield]

I think a 2 hour 30 minute connection in HKG between flights is very doable. Assuming that you have to clear immigration and pick up your luggage (should be within 1 hour), you should be able to check in for the Singapore flight 1 hour and 30 minutes for flight time which should not be a problem at all. Provided of course your incoming flight is not delayed. But if both legs are SQ (Singapore Airlines), there is no reason why you cannot transfer from gate to gate.

[Sky shield]

Oh, sorry, I read the figures wrong. Never mind the above post.

[Hlitner]

A tough situation. You do not mention if you booked the original air on your own...or through the cruise line. If through the cruise line, your options are really limited....but you can certainly put some pressure on the cruise air department. But if you booked the air on your own, then you might want to price out alternative flights (starting from your home airport) to see if there are prices comparable to what you already have booked. If so, you can demand that United give you a full refund and then book different flights. United will resist giving a refund, but since they canceled a flight and changed your schedule...you do have rights. We went through a similar situation a couple of years ago with AA.... and had to literally DEMAND a full refund (we rebooked on Delta). AA did not want to give us a refund...but we insisted and told them our next step would be to initiate a refund through our credit card company. At that point AA relented (it still took them 2 weeks to issue our refund).

 

Hank

[hallasm]

Since AA is One World and United/Singapore is Star Alliance I sense that the two legs are different bookings. Risky business in case of delays.

 

 

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[Globaliser]

But if you booked the air on your own, then you might want to price out alternative flights (starting from your home airport) to see if there are prices comparable to what you already have booked.

If I have understood correctly, the OP is departing DFW on 8 March 2018 heading to a cruise departing Singapore on 10 March 2018, so I would be surprised if this were now still a viable route for fixing the problem. Unfortunately, this is a "Oh, I wouldn't start from here" problem and in an ideal world the air tickets would have been DFW-SIN//HKG-DFW rather than the two separate bookings actually made, so that any misconnection would have to be sorted out by the airlines. But the OP does now need a quick practical fix for the actual problem.

 

On the OP's duplicate thread, I've suggested buying a new ticket on Scoot on 9 March at 2135 and keeping the existing ticket as a backup plan. That way, things really have to go badly wrong for the OP to miss their cruise.

[iancal]

We went through immigration and security in Singapore seven weeks ago. We did not have any checked bags.

 

The process was very fast, very efficient however our experience is meaningless. All it takes is one security alert to slow the flow down in any airport. We have been the victims of this before in other counties. Plus the risk of any airline equipment or schedule delays -especially if you are connecting through a hub in SE Asia.

 

The answer is 'it is a big it depends'. Flying that far, with those connections, on the day of the cruise is a risk that you will have to assess for yourselves. Your decision may rest on where your next port of call will be and if there are sea days in between, we would be somewhat apprehensive.

Edited March 2, 2018 by iancal

[travel4fun_sd]

We are caught between 2 airlines. Our American flight from the US is due at HKG at 5:30 p.m. More than 6 months ago, we booked a United flight from HKG to Singapore leaving around 9 p.m. Later United cancelled their flight and booked us on Singapore Air leaving HKG at 7:55 p.m., a tight connection for us particularly since we won’t be able to check bags through.

 

Singapore Airlines would not deal with us directly because United had made the reservation. We asked to be on the next day 8 a,m, flight, but United put us on the 9:05 a.m. flight, arriving at Singapore’s airport 1 hour and 55 minutes before our cruise ship (NCLJewel) says we must be on board.

 

 

There are 50+ seats left on the 8 a.m. Singapore flight. Singapore Air-says they’re available but must be bought by United since they did the original booking. United says they can’t book the flight because Singapore doesn’t let them have access to all the inventory. United tells us to continue to call in case something becomes available. Both airlines say they’re so sorry, but neither one will budge.

 

 

This is way too much information. Can anyone tell me about how long it takes to get our bags and go through Immigration in Singapore? Google says the distance to the port is 19.3 km. Are 115 minutes enough time to get our bags through Immigration and reach the port?

 

Also please consider jet lag :-( I met a couple who flew from Dallas to Singapore arriving the day of the cruise. They were jet lagged the first few days of their 7-day cruise and missed dinner and shows. If you arrive a day or two ahead, you will be adjusted to the time change and take full advantage of what the cruise has to offer.

[Katesowner]

Thanks for ideas! Work dictated our trip start date, but we will sleep on the flight.

We are experienced international travelers & cruisers - never had anything like this awful situation.

Cruise is Singapore-HK; we (not cruise ship) booked round trip DFW-HKG; then bought ($, no award miles) HKG-SIN via UA's flight after 9 p.m. UA cancelled, subsequently twice put us on flights we didn't want. UA says Singapore Air releases empty seats to UA as they see fit. SA won't allow us to change the flight because UA, not we, booked it. We are caught in the middle.

Our plan now is to 1) book a flight on our own; 2) cancel the flight U made; 3) try to get our $ back w/help from suggestions made.

If we fly on to Singapore the evening of the 9th, can anyone tell me what the process will be since we won't be leaving the airport? Do we go through both Security and Immigration before rechecking our bags?

 

 

Thanks!

[travel4fun_sd]

Thanks for ideas! Work dictated our trip start date, but we will sleep on the flight.

We are experienced international travelers & cruisers - never had anything like this awful situation.

Cruise is Singapore-HK; we (not cruise ship) booked round trip DFW-HKG; then bought ($, no award miles) HKG-SIN via UA's flight after 9 p.m. UA cancelled, subsequently twice put us on flights we didn't want. UA says Singapore Air releases empty seats to UA as they see fit. SA won't allow us to change the flight because UA, not we, booked it. We are caught in the middle.

Our plan now is to 1) book a flight on our own; 2) cancel the flight U made; 3) try to get our $ back w/help from suggestions made.

If we fly on to Singapore the evening of the 9th, can anyone tell me what the process will be since we won't be leaving the airport? Do we go through both Security and Immigration before rechecking our bags?

 

 

Thanks!

 

I would not think you need to pick up your luggage if you are flying on the same airline. You would just check your bag all the way to SIN from DFW. Your airline should be able to help you with this question or check HK Airport website for info.

 

What if you fly from DFW to SIN then purchase a one-way ticket from SIN to HKG? There are flights from DFW to LAX to SIN.

 

Good luck. I hope everything works out for you.

[Globaliser]

If we fly on to Singapore the evening of the 9th, can anyone tell me what the process will be since we won't be leaving the airport? Do we go through both Security and Immigration before rechecking our bags?

• After you disembark at HKG, follow the signs for arrivals - I think that they actually say "immigration", as that is the first step, but I have to admit to doing this on autopilot now without ever really looking at the signs.
  
• If you need to take the transit to reach immigration, try to board towards the rear of the train; you will understand why when you see the arrangement of the escalators when you get off.
  
• Clear immigration, pass through into the baggage reclaim area and collect your bags.
  
• Exit through the customs channel into the landside meet and greet area (it doesn't matter whether you use exit A or exit B - just go to the closest one) - the officers work on a random stop system, but I would be very surprised if you are stopped.
  
• Take a lift (elevator) up to the departures level where the check-in area is, and find the check-in desks for your onward airline.
  
• After checking-in and dropping your bags, clear security through the nearest checkpoint, immediately followed by immigration.
  

You will need to complete an immigration form when you arrive, which is a two-part carbonless copy. I think that it asks for an address in Hong Kong; the usual convention that I use everywhere else is to put "in transit to [singapore]".

[Globaliser]

I would not think you need to pick up your luggage if you are flying on the same airline. You would just check your bag all the way to SIN from DFW. Your airline should be able to help you with this question or check HK Airport website for info.

 

What if you fly from DFW to SIN then purchase a one-way ticket from SIN to HKG? There are flights from DFW to LAX to SIN.

If you read the original post setting out the problem, I think it'll become clear that neither of these suggestions will work.

[RJake1]

The concern with those saying "it's enough time" is that allowance is made for unexpected delay, etc. It might be enough time in an ideal world, if everything goes perfectly, but who lives in THAT world?

 

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[RJake1]

The concern with those saying "it's enough time" is that no allowance is made for unexpected delay, etc. It might be enough time in an ideal world, if everything goes perfectly, but who lives in THAT world?

 

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[Katesowner]

Finally got the problem solved. We have reservations on CP leaving in the wee hours but getting us to Singapore in plenty of time. They have at least one other flight leaving later but still time to make the cruise, so that's our back-up if the first flight has difficulties. UA is refunding in full the price of our original flight because they cancelled it.

 

We're paying more for our new flight, and the time is less than ideal. However, it's a lot better and cheaper than having our ship sail away without us, missing 1 1/2 days of the cruise, and having to fly to join it at the next port. We are happy with the outcome.

 

Thanks for your help!