Changi.....singapore

[thaiflyer1]

Right here it is........

I/m flying back to the UK for a month in April via Changi (actual route is Swampy-Changi-Amsterdam-Teeside)........reason for the route i/ll explain later.

Heres what i intend to do,

Fly down to Changi with my personal bag containing nothing but my empty (or virtually empty) "big bag"........arriving with Air Asia.

Upon arrival at Changi instead of heading straight to passport control i will take a detour into the transit hall and purchase some cigarettes which i will place in my "big bag" then exit thru passport control and approach the customs officiers who man the xray machine just before you exit the airport and explain i am in transit and ask them to escort me up to check-in so i can drop my big bag off to be loaded into the hold.

I will then clear passport control and re-enter the departure hall.............buy some more cigarettes and place them in my personal bag to travel with me..........after this i will board the plane as usual and on my merry little way.

Right........... reason for the strange route, i want to buy Lambert and Butler cigs to take back with me and although they now have them at Swampy they have the cancer pics on and are restricting you to 2 cartons per person.........changi have no limit and no pics on the cartons.

Second reason is that even with the air asia leg the route works out 3000 baht (return) cheaper and the cigarettes are 80 baht a carton cheaper at Changi.

Ive phoned the customs duty officer Changi (terminal 1) to explain i will be carrying cigarettes and have been told they will escort me up to check-in to drop my big bag off.

Air Asia and KLM both operate out of Terminal 1.

I intend to check-in online with KLM before leaving Thailand so will have my boarding pass to enable me to buy the cigarettes when i get off the Air Asia flight.

I know they have a customs bonding facility at Changi but i will not have time to use it.......my transit time is 2hr 45 mins.

So there it is.............does it sound feasible?

I should point out that i do not condone the smuggling of cigarettes and intend to pay the tax upon arrival in Europe. ....

(I assume i would not be able to hand my "big bag" in at the transit counter for KLM at Changi as i dont think they have the ability to transfer or weigh the bag from the counter?......if i could that would be problem solved)

[KhunDave]

One thing to factor into your thinking:

I use KL fairly regularly for trips to the UK. The OLCI facility can be a bit unpredictable, particularly the 30 hour before flight opening point. This could compromise your ability to have your KL boarding pass with you on arrival at Changi. If you are a Flying Blue member, I have called the FB helpline several times when OLCI doesn't open on time - they can connect you with someone at Schipol who can manually open it for you.

[thaiflyer1]

One thing to factor into your thinking:

I use KL fairly regularly for trips to the UK. The OLCI facility can be a bit unpredictable, particularly the 30 hour before flight opening point. This could compromise your ability to have your KL boarding pass with you on arrival at Changi. If you are a Flying Blue member, I have called the FB helpline several times when OLCI doesn't open on time - they can connect you with someone at Schipol who can manually open it for you.

Thanks for the reply...........i am a Flying Blue member so if worse comes to worse i could try and give them a call...............ive used OLCI using the KLM Thai website i would hope the Singapore website is at least as good.

[dekka007]

Why bother...Seems like a lot of hassle over nothing...

[thaiflyer1]

Why bother...Seems like a lot of hassle over nothing...

Maybe i've got nothing better to do......

[seonai]

Wiki ref: 'Changi is an area at the eastern end of Singapore. It is now the site of Singapore Changi Airport, and is also home to the Changi Prison, site of the former ..............'

[greenmember]

I should point out that i do not condone the smuggling of cigarettes and intend to pay the tax upon arrival in Europe. ....

I don't know if they allow you to bring more than 1 carton into Europe. My husband's friend bought 8 cartons and there were 5 adults. When they reached Don Muang Airport and almost walked out of the airport, he was stopped by some officers and paid find 25,000 Baht (twenty five thousand) in cash after hours of talks, threatening to file a record, went to their office, etc. They confiscated all the cigarettes.

[bangkapiboy]

KLM has a check-in desk within the secured area of Changi, while Air Asia does not.