Stuck 24h in Singapore airport, left to my own devices without any assistance from the company
By a fortunate series of events I was locked up 24h in the airport in Singapore, AKA the best airport in the world
SIN
Singapore
In these summer days we have often read about airport mishaps, canceled flights, and travelers stranded at the airport without assistance, without reprotection, and without refunds.
In this article:
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Today, however, I want to tell my experience, I voluntarily locked myself inside the Singapore airport., Recently voted as the best airport in the world, for 24h. Once I disembarked from my flight from Hanoi, I did not go to the hotel, maybe to the Marina Bay with its iconic swimming pool or loitering in the brand new Hilton Singapore, but I decided to wander through the 4 terminals of Changi Airport trying to do as much as I could without spending a Singapore dollar.
Yes I know, a lot of people think I am sick, and they may be right, but to me breathing the kerosene of airplanes and the stale air of airports puts a cheerfulness in me, so I took advantage of the situation and did something "illegal."
Can you stay 24h at the airport?
The answer is NI. In the sense that if the stopover lasts longer than 23h 59′ is no longer a connection, but a stop over. One should then leave the airport and re-enter near the new takeoff, if one has an itinerary that for whatever reason has a stopover of more than 24 hours however, no one is required to leave the airport, assuming one is in an airport that is open h24. In my case, however, the tickets were completely untied. I was arriving on a Singapore Airlines flight that was not connected to my Cathay Pacific flight that would take me back to Europe after a stopover in Hong Kong.
I therefore had to force the situation. I could not check in online since a document check was required , but I would not be able to do so until the afternoon of the next day and without a ticket, I would not have been able to stay in the sterile area of the Asian airport, much less be able to use the various services since I did not have a boarding pass to show in the lounge, pool and in all other activities at the airport.
Prisoner in airport in Singapore
The first thing I did, as soon as I got off the plane, was to wait for the clock to strike 6 p.m. This was not a major challenge since the flight from Vietnam landed after 5 p.m. At the stroke of the X hour, I headed to a transfer desk to get my boarding passes for the trip from Singapore to Sofia via Hong Kong and Doha.
I must admit that this simple activity was more complicated than expected. The reason is that I first reached the Qatar transit counter at T1, the ticketing carrier, and then was sent to T4 by Cathay, the carrier of the first flight. Too bad that to get to T4 you have to take a bus, go through security and not simply take the skytrain that connects the other 3 terminals at Singapore airport.
The evening as on vacation
The best airport in the world offers just about everything. Having obtained my tickets, the first thing I did was go back to Terminal 1 and check out the the rules of access in the public swimming pool present inside the airport.
I could have also taken a dip, but I preferred to postpone the excitement of the takeoff runway view swim until the next day. This will also be the most expensive activity I will do during my 24h at the airport.
Walking around an airport is like walking around in a shopping mall, there are the stores, the restaurants, the children's areas, and if you are in the best airport in the world there is also much more. So after a quick hop into the British Airways lounge, I headed into the Best lounge in the entire airport that of Qatar.
Here I had dinner, and I'm not talking about a sandwich or a cold pesto pasta, but Shrimp tempura, sushi, seared tuna, and a fillet with vegetables. Of course, I did not drink tap water and Tavernello, but Taittinger Rosé and a cocktail prepared by the lounge bartender. Entering this lounge is only possible if you are traveling business class with a oneWorld airline; status is not enough, let alone entering with a Priority Pass.
When dinner was over, I did a little bit of work on the computer, and around 11 p.m. I headed to T3, the terminal mainly used by Singapore Airlines. The reason is that, late in the evening, this is the most alive of the 4 at the airport.
Here I decided to go to the movies. Inside the airport in fact there is a 50-seat movie theater. Movies and cartoons are shown here h24. I was very lucky because the screening scheduled when I arrived was Elvis, the biopic about the King of Rock. After the movie was over, I took advantage of my priority pass, to get into the nearby lounge and sleep for a couple of hours. Up to this point, I have not spent a single Singapore dollar in the first 8 hours at the airport.
Inside the Singapore airport there are also two transit hotels, which are facilities that offer travelers real sleeping rooms, the cost is that of an expensive hotel room, they can be booked through booking and similar platforms. I didn't take advantage because they were sold out and in any case I would never have paid 200SGD to sleep a few hours, better to mooch the seats in the lounges.
The morning has gold in its mouth
My alarm clock went off at 6 a.m., for two reasons. The first is that the maximum stay with Priority Pass in this lounge is 3 hours, but I did not see any control or Increased payment as is the case at an Italian airport, and the second was that I had to check in to participate in theFree excursion offered by the airport to all transit passengers.
Having checked in, I had to momentarily "unpack" my trolley. I then went to the baggage room to leave my carry-on luggage. A discount is also given for those who leave personal items if they are Free Singapore Tour participants.
Of the 4 excursions I opted for the one leaving early in the morning, which, fortunately, was also the most interesting one because it allowed tourists to visit the area around the airport.
The nearly 3 hours literally flew by and the tour was super interesting and I highly recommend it to everyone. Eventually the bus took us back to the airport and I decided to get off at T1, the one closest to the Jewel and, before going through security and returning to the airport, I popped into this unique facility.
No matter how many times you have passed inside this structure, each time will be like the first time. For those who have little time in transit, it is possible to leave the airport and take a quick tour; if you wish, one of the tours also allows you to have a guide take you around and tell you the secrets of this architectural marvel. At 12 noon I then decided to return to the airport. Over the course of the morning I spent 7SGD for a cappuccino (in the lounge it was made with powdered milk from the machine) and 8SGD for luggage storage.
If you have a connection to Singapore you have the option of leaving the airport, going through customs, only once. So it is good to calculate the time well. Thanks to the new biometric checks, getting out is super easy and super fast, but you have to remember to have the QR to enter Singapore.
What to do inside the Singapore airport
The first destination was, of course, the pool. Bar and pool open at 12 noon, and when I arrived there were already guests sunbathing and children playing in the water. There is a fee for access (27SGD), but you can enter for free if you sleep in the nearby transit hotel.
As in a bathhouse, or a hotel, there are deck chairs and sun beds, there is a hot tub and a cooled pool. If desired, food and drinks can be ordered at the nearby bar. If by chance you do not have the costume no problem for a local $20 you can take it directly at the checkout.
After the pool, I took a tour of the different gardens that are present inside the airport and scattered around the various terminals. The most beautiful are definitely the Butterfly Garden, or a garden where thousands of butterflies flutter among people, and the Cactus Garden an area to relax on a terrace where there are hundreds of different succulents of all sizes.
Around 2:30 p.m., less than 3 hours before my flight's boarding time opened, I decided to pop into Qantas' first-class lounge., penultimate stage of my captivity.
First of all, I took a shower. After 24 hours as a vagabond and a swim in the pool was absolutely necessary.
Then I had lunch, again not shy and got everything I wanted from the menu to the carté, obviously without spending anything. To enter this lounge the important thing is status, since if you have the right card you can enter even with a basic economy ticket.
My last stop before boarding Cathay Pacific's 777/300 was in the Hong Kong company lounge in terminal 4, a few meters away from the gate of my flight.
At 5:35 p.m., 24 hours after arriving at the airport, I put my foot back on a plane and took off again happy with the time spent under house arrest inside the world's best airport.
In conclusion
Going downtown and back to the airport, staying in the hotel having dinner and lunch somewhere would have cost me no less than 200€, net of staying in the hotel and not moving around the beautiful city. My choice to remain captive resulted in a total expenditure of less than 30€. Savings aside I toured, had lunch and dinner at two "restaurants," not at the buffet, and even took a dip at the airport.
