Recently, on my way back from Taiwan to Japan, I stopped for a week in Singapore to see friends and co-workers, and no quarantine was required! I used the Air Travel Pass, a travel green lane to enter Singapore that is open to the following countries as long as you have been there for the last 14 days (subject to update, check https://safetravel.ica.gov.sg/atp/requirements-and-process for the latest requirements):
- Australia
- Brunei Darussalam
- Mainland China
- New Zealand
- Taiwan
Singapore Citizens (SC), Permanent Residents (PR), and Long-Term Pass holders don’t need the Air Travel Pass to travel back to Singapore, but I am unsure whether quarantine applies when coming back from those countries.
One benefit is that you don’t need a COVID test to travel to Singapore; instead you do one on arrival, and then stay in a list of designated hotels until the test comes back, and if negative, you are free to go. This was great, as tests were harder to come by in Taiwan, and supposedly hurt a lot more. From the experience of various people including myself, the test comes back very quickly, as fast as 4 hours.
You need to submit an application for the Air Travel Pass between 7 and 30 calendar days before your intended date of entry into Singapore. The date of entry is flexible for up to 7 days after the date you apply for, and you can apply for multiple if you are unsure of your plans. The application is totally free, and are generally approved very quickly: mine only took a day to be approved, with the result coming by email.
If you need a visa to visit Singapore, you can then apply for the visa separately after receiving the Air Travel Pass.
Table of Contents
Pre-departure to Singapore
Book accommodation to serve out your isolation period for 1-2 nights. Any non-residential accommodation with its own bathroom and toilet will work, though here is a list of hotels accepting Air Travel Pass travelers. I suppose you can book 1 night, and if the result doesn’t come back fast enough, extend by another night. The list of hotels is quite good! I wanted to stay in the Andaz, but it looks like they don’t accept ANY non-Singapore residents currently. I ended up booking the Grand Hyatt for two nights, with the note that I was coming in on the Air Travel Pass. They requested that I forward my Air Travel Pass to them.
You need to buy COVID-19 insurance, in case you test positive and need to be treated. The ATP site links to some Singapore based carriers who offer policies. I was going to buy AIG, which was the cheapest, but waited until the day before and it didn’t let me buy a policy anymore. Instead I searched for “COVID travel insurance” which lead me to Squaremouth’s insurance search engine, where I bought a policy from Tokio Marine, which ended being cheaper than any of the linked providers.
You need to fill out a Singapore Arrival card no earlier than 3 days before arriving, which you can do here.
You are supposed to pre-pay for the COVID-19 test, which you can do here, but you can also pay on arrival. The cost of the test is SGD 160, including GST.
You also need to download the TraceTogether app, Singapore’s contact tracing app, and setup your profile but not activate it yet.
Flying to Singapore
I booked on Singapore airlines business class TPE-SIN for 30,500 KrisFlyer miles for business class. Technically I could have flown EVA business for cheaper, but it was at 7:40AM in the morning and I couldn’t be bothered to wake up that early.
At the airport, they checked my Air Travel Pass and that I had downloaded TraceTogether. The Singapore lounge was closed due to low traffic during COVID I assume. Some of the EVA lounges were not in operation or were only for transit passengers, so I went to hang out in the Infinity lounge after showing my Star Gold status, where instead of a buffet, it was manned service. Other than that, it was a smooth flight over.
We landed around 9:30pm, and I went to go clear immigration. There are some signs to take a COVID test pre-immigration, but that doesn’t apply to Air Travel Pass travelers, who take it after clearing immigration and customs. At immigration, I showed my Air Travel Pass, the digital arrival card, and the TraceTogether app. No one checked my COVID insurance information. They put a green sticker on me for later COVID testing purposes.
After clearing immigration, I turned on TraceTogether, grabbed my bag, and headed towards the COVID testing area. I attempted to stop by the airport McDonald’s but apparently that was against the rules and was not let in. We were separated into multiple lanes at the COVID testing area by sticker color. Since I hadn’t prepaid for my COVID test, I was put into an area until I paid for the COVID test online. I got swabbed around 10pm, then took a Grab to the Grand Hyatt. Initially, the Grand Hyatt put me in a separate tower for isolation, without an upgrade.
Next morning, I woke up to see that my negative COVID swab result came in 3:16am by email! So it only took 5 hours or so to process. I forwarded the negative test result to the Stay Home Notice team at Hyatt, and then the front desk contacted me that I could come down to switch my keys. I went down, got my keys, caught the last bit of breakfast, and found myself in a suite in the main tower!
Last words
During this world locked down by the pandemic, travel is still possible with careful planning and some luck! If you happen to be coming from a safe country and have stayed there for the last 14 days, it is a smooth process to enter Singapore with no quarantine!