With the announcement of the WA border opening (it’s where I live), I’ve been frantically booking trips left, right and centre. Some of them I had booked speculatively over the last 12 months. Of course, the benefit of booking with points means I’m flexible and can cancel whenever I want.
That said, it made a rookie mistake which I shouldn’t have made, but oh well…
You see, Singapore has this fun thing called “VTL” flights; these vaccinated travel lane flights are for those who are fully vaxed, with the idea being that you don’t mix with the unvaxed. Of course, there’s zero logic to it, but so are many of the rules we’ve seen implemented over the last 2 years.
Anyway, I digress.
To make things more confusing, there are also VTL countries from which you can take a non-VTL flight via Singapore. These non-VTL flights are required for those who are not vaccinated or can’t be vaccinated due to medical reasons.
Until February 22, non-VTL flights are shoved into “holding pens” within Changi Airport because, god forbid, those people might actually mingle with the vaccinated… the horror!
Anyway, from February 22, the holding pen concept will be scrapped, which means anyone can roam around the terminal freely. However, those who fly to Singapore on a non-VTL flight can’t enter the country (unless you’re a resident of Singapore). That’s the case, EVEN if you’re fully vaccinated.
Once again, zero logic, but rules are rules…
My Error
I booked a trip to the Maldives for March to check out the new-ish The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands. Considering that Singapore has relaxed its entry requirements, I planned to go into the city on our layover on the way back.
However, when booking flights last year, I didn’t pay attention to the little “VTL” mark next to the flight. From Male to Singapore, there are 2 daily flights. One departs around 1 PM and arrives in Singapore around 8 PM; the other one departs around midnight and arrives in Singapore at 7ish.
Guess which one of these flights is non-VTL… yes, that’s right, the one departing at 1 PM!
Of course, I booked the best flight at the time, not paying attention to the VTL mark, which means unless the rules change again, we will need to spend a whole night and day in Changi terminal until the flight back to Perth. Not the end of the world since there are plenty of airport hotels but still annoying!
Summing up
If you’re just like me and excited to be booking trips abroad, make sure you’re booking the “right” flights when transitting through Singapore! While Changi Airport is a pleasant transit experience, It’s much more enjoyable to go into the city if you have a whole 24h layover. So flights marked with the “VTL” label will be the ones you need!
There are some rumours that VTL flights will be scrapped altogether. After all, they make ZERO logical sense.
Yes agree. Hopefully they scrap VTL requirements soon! From This week no PCR required anymore for transit passenger via Singapore… first good sign!
Definitely a good start!
My wife and I have booked flights to Singapore in December using Qantas Points. We are flying to Singapore on British Airways and returning on Qantas. I understand all Qantas flights are VTL flights. Is this the same with British Airways?
Hi Ryan, it’s extremely unlikely the VTL scheme will exist for that long. I’m guessing we will see it scrapped by April. In any case, British Airways operates VTL flights exclusively out of Australia.