How To Avoid Airport Altercation - over an out of date passport

Good luck or bad luck? Sometimes we create our own bad luck. A woman created a fuss at an airport when she was denied boarding after she turned up late with an expired passport.

When does your passport or national identity card expire? How long does it take to get a new one? Do you have recent photos ready, for passports, or ski lift passes?

Could airlines ask for a copy of your passport when you book?

That would save you from a last minute hunt for your passport.

I can foresee objections. The risk is that the passport could be copied.

Instead, airlines could simply ask you the date of the expiration of your passport when you book the flight. The passenger would be alerted to check. 

If it is out of date they might have time to renew the passport. They might decide not to turn up and try to board with an out of date passport and stress themselves and check-in staff. 

Yes, the passenger in a hurry to book might make up a number, or lose the seat, or the airline might lose the booking. Eventually, customers would get used to providing passport expiry dates, and would keep the expiry date in their diary or phone with other vital numbers. 

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Planning A Trip To Singapore For Christmas and New Year? Some Tips From Residents

Going to Singapore? You are in for a treat. the airport wins many awards.


Changi airport. Trolleys and trees. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Booking Flight Dates And Prices

let us suppose you wish to arrive in Singapore around Christmas and leave after New Year. The air fare 9On Singapore Airlines) rapidly increases day by day for returning early January so it saves several hundred UK pounds to leave late on New Year's Day rather than the 2^nd or 3rd. You will still have eight days and nights here.

Kris Flyer Miles

If your relatives in Singapore book tickets for you and they are Krisflyer members, they cannot receive Krisflyer mileage credit as they are not a passenger (though they could receive some for using a Krisflyer Amex card). So if two of you are flying to Singapore you should both apply for a Krisflyer number – there is a link below. Mileage never expires (at least for me).

However, if you are a member of one of the Star Aliiance programme members, Such as Virgin, you may be able to claim points from them. Check conditions. 

Choosing Meals and Seats 

You should be able to log on to SIA at any time to choose a kosher/halal/vegetarian or other meal and/or select seats (Manage Booking link below). If it doesn’t work for you then your relative can do that.

You will receive a request to log in online exactly 48 hours before departure (both flights). I think doing so means you can bypass the auto kiosks (always a queue) and proceed straight to luggage drop. It’s also an opportunity to review your seating.

VISAS

If you are British you don’t need a visa for Singapore, just complete a landing form which you will receive either at luggage drop or shortly before touchdown. However, double check, just in case the rules change.

London, Heathrow

At LHR it’s terminal 3. When you enter T3 from the taxi drop, turn left and keep going to get to the correct inner entrance to the departure hall. Once inside, turn left again and the SIA kiosks and desks are at the end.

It’s a long walk to the SIA departure gates, under the apron and up the other side. Takes 15-20 minutes after security/duty-free.

Another member of my family says, "You don’t need to print anything, it’ll all be on their computer.' 

However, I like to have airline tickets and hotel reservations printed out. It reminds me of check in times. It works when your phone has no reception or no battery or you change phones in another country. It is a fall-back if the system does not recognize you because the airline or hotel has listed your surname first, Asian style, or the check-in staff are checking your first name as a surname.

When dropping bags, you may need to show your passport and booking reference number. If you can use a yellow highlighter you can find this instantly without holding up everybody in the line behind you.

Always keep your passport attached to your person or in front of you. Never put it down in a trolley behind you. My friends lost their passports in the line at Singapore's Changi, with a group of lads jostling behind them. They lost their holiday. 

Protexcting Passports
I had my passport stolen when my bag was taken from my shoulder, slashed outside a hwaker centre (food court) in Singapore. 

Replacing a passport costs a lot of money and time and you get a temporary passport which you pay for and then have to apply for a permanent passprot when you get back to London.

If you have a small bag, don't let your bag hang loose from your shoulder. Keep it under your arm and if possible keep a poncho or jacket over the bag. What happened tnse.o me was a classic. somebody bumped me from my right, but another pair took my bag from the left.

If your phone is stolen, it is also handy to have your ticket printed out and kept in another place. Make sue both of you have copies of both tickets, so that if one person has their property stolen or lost, the other person has the details.

Driving License And Identity Cards Keep copies of your driving license and international driving license whether or not you intend to drive. The driving license acts as a second form of identification if you need it, or want to leave your passport behind in a hotel, then need identiy to change money at a bank, or get into a public buidling such as an office.  For example, a colleague or new friend invites you to their Christmas party at IBM or Apple in Singapore. Their office is in the Central Business District. maybe their office is on the 18th floor. However, security in the building on the ground floor will not let you through the barrier into the lift area until you have shown evidence of your identity and they have noted your passport number. 

Since September the rules have changed. Security staff are now no longer allowed to take your passport in exchange for the pass into the building.  

Restaurants will be doubling prices at Christmas. You might fare better in Muslim Malaysia. Or try Hawker centres (food courts) at off-peak hours.


Emergency
Incidentally, 999 is the emergency number for police. For ambulance you call 995.

If you want to learn a little Chinese, use Duolingo or Chineasy. See my previous posts on the Chinese symbols.

Chineasy.

Useful Websites
wiki Chineasy
chineasy.com
singaporeair.com
duolingo.com

Author

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Is your family safe while travelling? Motorbikes in Singapore and worldwide

I am going to tell you about luck, police investigate, DIY first aid, and the cost of repairs to vehicles.

Singapore Flag

Lucky Numbers And Sale Prices In Singapore
 In Singapore buyers of motorcars and bicycles are interested in the car or bike having lucky numbers in the numberplate.  Eight is lucky. Number four is unlucky inspiring death because the word for four sounds like death. The good news is that if you have to sell your vehicle, you will get a better price if it has eights in the numberplate, and if you are buying you can pay a lower price for a vehicle with fours in the numberplate.

Flag of India

Indian Safety & Insurance
I am a Westerner, a Caucasian, so I am more inclined to rely on caution and prevention - and insurance. I was amused in India to see vehicles plastered with images of sacred cows and Gods, supposed to protect the vehicle.

I was less pleased to learn of the high accident rate, to see cows wandering along the motorway towards or across traffic, or lying dead in the road. The accident rate was scary.

Superstition & Prevention
I read a book about superstitition and an investigation was done in hospitals. It was found that the days 12 and 14 were no luckier than the 13th of the month in terms of admissions and deaths. Another finding was that swift attention and acurate diagnosis of  illness and injury affect statistics. So a quick response by medics on bikes to both heart attack victims and road accident victims saves lives in countries such as states in the USA which have introduced such a service.

 At weekends and holidays when medics are in short supply, overworked by drunk drivers causing accidents, or junior doctors are on call in hospitals and reluctant to attend quickly at evenings and weekends and national and relidigous holidays you get less attention and less quick attention and less accurate diagnosis.

My Many Accidents
I have been in several accidents. Once as a driver turning right at the lights in the UK.

UK flag

Now I understand why many junctions do not allow right hand turns, or prevent traffic oncoming, only allowing each lane to move seaprately.

Once, in 1984, as a pedestrian in a crowd crossing the road in Corsica. The moral of the story was, look both ways when starting to cross and reaching the centre of the road. Try not to cross a road below the brow of a hill. Remember that in the UK, cars are on one side of the road, in France and Corsica they drive on the other side.

Later, my car was hit from behind on a motorway in England. (By a dozy driver who had just come to the UK on an overnight flight from the Indian subcontinent.)


In Singapore I waw a passenger in a car which hit a pedestrian. (The pedestrian was jaywalking so was deemed at fault. The driver was in a hire car so any fault in maintenance was not the driver's fault.)



Singapore flag

I was reminded of all these factors this week when my husband came off a bike after being hit by a vehicle in Singapore. Since he rides for business and pleasure, on public roads and on racetracks, has taken courses by professional drivers, and watches racing on TV, he has been in or seen many accidents. You need to think of prevention of accidents and cure.

As far as I know, he was not doing anything wrong or careless. His bike was not out of fuel. He was wearing a helmet.

He claimed another vehicle hit him from behind. Fortunately they were near a junction so public independent cameras recorded the incident. In any case drivers have a duty of care and if it can be shown that you are hit from behind, even if you are stationery, it is the fault of the driver which hits you, in the UK as well as Singapore. (You can check with the insurnce company, the AA, or your lawyer.)

Photo Records
It is useful to take a picture of the position of the vehicles after the accident, to remind yourself and as evidence. Photos might show signalling and skid marks on the road. The length of the skid mark might indicate direction, position and speed. You also need the damage to the vehicles.

I like a record of the people involved (in case they give false identities or you lose their details). But they probably won't want to be photographed, suspecting you might have some ulterior motive such as blackmail, character assassination, revenge, who knows.

If you have a dashcam (dashboard camera) that will automatically record the other vehicle with the people inside and them as they get out, without them taking issue with you for photographing adults or children.

Statements
Insurance companies tell you not to admit you are in the wrong (to the other party) as this can be used against you by the other party's insurance company. Your insurance company might take issue with you. Check your insurance document. You will probably be able to find the clause which tells you not to say anything, because that might invalidate your claim.

Preserving Personal Documents
It would be handy to have your identity on your person, not in a bag left behind in a broken down or inaccessible vehicle. Imagine trying to claim for a car which burns out when you have jumped out and left all your documents in the glove box with no record on your person nor at home nor in the workplace.

So it's handy to keep records duplicated on your person and elsewhere. Also a credit card or travel card in your pocket in the event that you have to leave your vehicle and travel onwards or back home on public transport or must hire a vehicle.

The same goes for a driving license, even if you were not planning to drive.

Another useful item is some kind of first aid. Even a plaster to cover a wound, and a length of sterlile bandage and a piece of waterprrof tape or a safety pin. Plus a quick link to a first aid book or website and a knowledge of  first aid. I have a first aid kit in the boot (Americans say trunk) of my car in the UK. However, if you are hit from behind and the boot is not accessible it is handy to have a plaster in your pocket or purse. (The British word purse is more like wallet, whilst the Americans use the word purse to mean a small bag.

First Aid
By chance the very day of his accident, the Singapore government had delivered to every resident in the neighbourhood a fridge magnet with advice on DIY first aid for burns, scalds and accidents and emergency number.

The Magic of Ice Packs
The ice pack advised for reducing pain and swelling for minor scalds was also useful in reducing the swelling on his leg. First he photographed the injury, the blood and the swelling. Then showered to remove dirt which could infect the grazing. Finally we secured an ice pack to his leg with large rubber bands. We used face flannels to protect his skin from ice burn or being indented by the rubber bands.

Morale
Often you are busy tending to the injury and trying to reassure the patient. Only the next day or the next week do you start to feel anxious, especially as you tell family or friends or colleagues or relive events for a hospital report or police or insurance assessors who look at the vehicle, as well as the repair shop.

By now we are quite philosophical. Although shaken, we keep telling ourselves, we were very lucky. It could have been much worse. We are the survivors.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_emergency_telephone_numbers

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.