Qantas early check-in at Singapore’s Changi Airport

How early can you check in for your Qantas flight from Singapore?

By David Flynn, June 5 2023
Qantas early check-in at Singapore’s Changi Airport

Even with the benefits of a late check out at your hotel in Singapore, you’ll typically need to be out of your room before 3pm – and if you’re laving the Lion City on a Qantas flight, that leaves plenty of time on your hands.

And sure, you can always take a final dip in the hotel pool or laze around soaking up some rays, or browse the shops.

But with most Qantas flights from Singapore to Australia departing between 7.30pm and 9pm, not to mention the 11.30pm wheels-up of QF1 from Singapore to London, many travellers find themselves at a bit of a loose end and looking for an early check-in.

There’s the added appeal of some excellent lounges at Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 1: the Qantas First Lounge is the go-to for Platinum frequent flyers, while the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge is recommended for first class and business class passengers. And the Qantas Business Lounge remains a reliable spot for Gold-grade frequent flyers and Qantas Club members.

Early check-in lets you enjoy more time at Changi's excellent Qantas (or Qatar Airways) lounges.
Early check-in lets you enjoy more time at Changi's excellent Qantas (or Qatar Airways) lounges.

(Just note that, depending on the day, Qantas lounge opening hours vary between 7:50am and 2.30pm, with the Qatar Airways lounge unlocking its doors around 5.30pm.)

If you’re travelling light, with only cabin baggage, then online check-in using the Qantas app or website should see you issued with a boarding pass so you can proceed straight through immigration at Singapore’s Changi Airport.

However, if you’re lugging some checked luggage it’s a very different matter.

The Qantas check-in counters at Changi T1 are open four hours before each flight’s scheduled departure, which is still pretty generous: this means check-in for the 7.30pm-9pm wave of flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane opens from around 3.30pm-5pm.

The early check-in facility at Changi Jewel is open from 8am daily.
The early check-in facility at Changi Jewel is open from 8am daily.

If that’s still too late – perhaps you’d like to ditch your luggage and wander around Changi’s Jewel – then make a beeline for the convenient early check-in lounge at Changi Jewel level 1.

It’s not a ‘lounge’ as we know it – there are no comfy chairs, snacks or cocktails – but there is a row of self-service check-in machine plus bag drop facilities.

Changi’s Jewel early check-in is open from 8am, and in addition to Qantas is also covers Air France, Emirates, Finnair, Jetstar, KLM, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Scoot.

XWu
XWu

09 May 2020

Total posts 573

Considering the connectivity of Singapore CBD, if your hotel is near one of the MRT stations and allows luggage pickup later in the day after you checkout in the morning, there are plenty to do and wanderlust in town, from Garden by the Bay to strolling around the Chinatown, Little India or Kampong Gelam etc, still get back to the hotel after lunch and reach the airport by 3-4pm to check in (taxi or share ride probably more worthwhile for groups more than 3) Then you can spend a couple hours around jewel waterfall/ rain vortex from day to evening light show, or lounge around if you want (and save the Jewel experience for another time when transiting SIN).

Probably more worthwhile than just early check in at Changi, unless they have those early check In stations in the CBD like in HK and Seoul

Thai Airways International - Royal Orchid Plus

15 Jan 2013

Total posts 464

What you could do is have a last day of sightseeing and from memory you leave the city for the airport 3 hours before the flight home to Australia after hotel check out.Why doesn't Qantas have such a system when you could check in the city and all you need is drop the bags at the airport.you already have the boarding pass.


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