Throwaway 3K ticket for SIN F lounge access

[sudoer]

I am looking to fly SIN-SYD in a few weeks, unsurprisingly there are no oneworld/JQ awards and cash seats are quite expensive.

I'm now looking at LCCs such as Scoot, and wondering if anyone has experience booking a cheap 3K ticket (e.g. SIN-KUL) purely for SIN F lounge access, then no-showing to catch another flight? Obviously I will be HLO.

The cheapest 3K ticket I've found so far is about $70 AUD which seems like a reasonable price to join a friend who is flying SIN-SYD on QF for work.

Would this potentially cause issues with SG immigration and/or QFF?

 

[exceladdict]

I guess plans change, sometimes an emergency comes up and you need to cancel a flight after check-in.

 

[Princess Fiona]

I am looking to fly SIN-SYD in a few weeks, unsurprisingly there are no oneworld/JQ awards and cash seats are quite expensive.

I'm now looking at LCCs such as Scoot, and wondering if anyone has experience booking a cheap 3K ticket (e.g. SIN-KUL) purely for SIN F lounge access, then no-showing to catch another flight? Obviously I will be HLO.

The cheapest 3K ticket I've found so far is about $70 AUD which seems like a reasonable price to join a friend who is flying SIN-SYD on QF for work.

Would this potentially cause issues with SG immigration and/or QFF?

I think this will cause an issue with SG Immigration.

I wouldn’t bother trying for the sake of a Flounge visit.
I’m perhaps a bit more risk averse than others may be though.

 

[AIRwin]

Immigration may have details of both your flights...

 

[oz_mark]

Definite potential issues with SIN immigration.

 

[ChrisMars]

Solo foreigner man hlo with multiple bookings out of SIN on the same day... sounds like the right receipe to visit the exclusive immigration lounge. Looking forward a trip report

 

[dajop]

Immigration has problems with people accessing airside with no intention of travelling (i.e. going airside, using lounge, and then returning landside having not taken the flight they checked in for). But as you are intending to travel this shouldn't be a problem, but would definitely go airside with Scoot BP. In fact if 3K allow online checkin and mobile BP then maybe wait to checkin until airside? But don't forget to offload yourself from flight.

FWIW not ex-SIN but travelling into SIN once I had checked in for two flights Medan-SIN, one on SilkAir (it was a day return, checked in that morning), but when we saw the flight was delayed 4 hrs we booked on 3K (for about $40) which was departing 1 hr after our original schedule. As it happened it was delayed so we played a game of chicken and took SilkAir, which landed a whole 3 mins ahead of 3K. No immigration problems at either end, but I guess it was the same destination.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

agree with dajop. If you are flying anyway you will have a legitimate reason to be airside. Immigration isn’t concerned about buying another ticket so you can use a lounge.

If you had purchased the 3K ticket solely for the purpose of entering airside and accessing the lounge, and we’re to later leave the airport, that would raise a flag.

 

[serfty]

There was a situation relating to SIN some years ago where a person made a fully flexible booking that came with lounge access and would use it to get airside, access the lounge, have a meal whatever, and then rebook for another day.

In the end their activity was noticed.

The result was that Singapore Authorities enacted legislation to make such activity an offence.

I cannot say that this legislation covers the desired throw away ticketing for lounge access proposed or not. But be wary.

 

[dajop]

There was a situation relating to SIN some years ago where a person made a fully flexible booking that came with lounge access and would use it to get airside, access the lounge, have a meal whatever, and then rebook for another day.

In the end their activity was noticed.

The result was that Singapore Authorities enacted legislation to make such activity an offence.

I cannot say that this legislation covers the desired throw away ticketing for lounge access proposed or not. But be wary.

This was exactly what I was talking about, going airside without the intention to travel. I am no legal expert, but I think the legislation isn't about specific tickets per se but passing through immigration with a Boarding Pass, but no intention to travel.

 

[kpc]

For the sake of Qf Sin F lounge access and risking a run in with Sin immigration officials, it is not something i would do.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

There was a situation relating to SIN some years ago where a person made a fully flexible booking that came with lounge access and would use it to get airside, access the lounge, have a meal whatever, and then rebook for another day.

In the end their activity was noticed.

The result was that Singapore Authorities enacted legislation to make such activity an offence.

I cannot say that this legislation covers the desired throw away ticketing for lounge access proposed or not. But be wary.

The relevant legislation is the Infrastructure Protection Act 2017, s22(1)(c)(i).

The offence is to be in a protected area without a good and lawful reason.

You must not only have a boarding pass to enter airside, but you must also be intending to travel.

Provided entry was on the Scoot boarding pass, which the OP intends to travel on, the 3K boarding pass would likely be a matter for the lounge to take up, and any issues which the airline had regarding its terms and conditions (abuse of member benefits under the QFFF terms and conditions).

 

[justinbrett]

If you really wanted to do it, I'd book a short 3K flight to KUL - but actually take the flight - and then a LCC from there.

Or perhaps DPS / CGK etc.

 

[jrfsp]

For what you might spend on the flight, why not buy a pass into another lounge

 

[andye]

For what you might spend on the flight, why not buy a pass into another lounge

Not visited them for a few years but I've previously found the paid SIN lounges ordinary to grim

 

[GrahamBRI]

For what you might spend on the flight, why not buy a pass into another lounge

No way!!! We definitely need someone (not me ) to conquer this! QF, F lounge in Singapore is definitely the pinnacle. J paid lounges are all very average in Singapore in my experience. @sudoer you are on the right track, lock and load the test run and we will be here to support you with lots of advice if it fails

 

[odysseus]

As above, it sounds like it's fine... but that's a place where they take misuse seriously.

https://www.facebook.com/singaporepoliceforce/photos/a.10152380286964408/10158819545354408

 

[love_the_life]

I understand the reason for Flounge in particular is that a friend will be there travelling on QF so OP wants to meet up. Any alternative paid lounges probably would not work.

 

[GrahamBRI]

For what it is worth, the actual law covering this is actually very light:

No unauthorised entry to protected place
20.—(1) A person must not enter a protected place unless the person —
(a) has a permit issued by the authority of the protected place; or
(b) is permitted to enter the protected place by an authorised officer of the protected place who is on duty at the protected place at that time.
(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both

….. so having two boarding passes in your pocket, presenting the one you intend to use to enter the protected space and leave from the protected space to take your flight, all good. Taking out of your pocket an old junk boarding pass to enter a lounge, that is just an issue for the lounge to determine eligibility to enter. Lock it in

 

[MEL_Traveller]

For what it is worth, the actual law covering this is actually very light:

No unauthorised entry to protected place
20.—(1) A person must not enter a protected place unless the person —
(a) has a permit issued by the authority of the protected place; or
(b) is permitted to enter the protected place by an authorised officer of the protected place who is on duty at the protected place at that time.
(2) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $20,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both

….. so having two boarding passes in your pocket, presenting the one you intend to use to enter the protected space and leave from the protected space to take your flight, all good. Taking out of your pocket an old junk boarding pass to enter a lounge, that is just an issue for the lounge to determine eligibility to enter. Lock it in

As posted above the actual offence I think is s22, which is being in a protected place without good or lawful reason.

s20 would cover someone in a protected place who might have got there without authority, in this case a boarding pass. s22 goes further and says even if you are lawfully in the protected place, you can still commit an offence if you don’t have good reason to be there… hence the warning on the signs that a boarding pass alone is not sufficient.