<p>My daughter will be studying abroad in Singapore in January 2014. I've been checking flights to Singapore from Chicago. Most of the flights get in early in the a.m. The office where she would go to pick up her dorm room key won't be open until 8:30 a.m. Her flight gets in around 1:30 a.m. Have anyone encountered this and what did your son or daughter do? I'm thinking that I would need to book her a hotel room at the airport so that she would have a place to stay until it was time for her to go to the office.</p>
<p>Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>I am also interested in Singapore hints. DS has applied to NUS. Classes start Monday Jan 13th, but not yet sure which day he needs to arrive. He goes to school in Boston but will be travelling from Denver.</p>
<p>TJ - DS hopes to study at NUS (he’ll know for sure in the next week or two.) We don’t know which dorm, and I’ve not found info online about dorm opening times. I’m also wondering if a night in hotel prior makes sense, to give some buffer time. </p>
<p>Have you decided to go with airport hotel room? If so, do you have recommendations?</p>
<p>Colorado_Mom - I replied to your private message but not sure if you got it. After I hit the sent button, it said that I had to have posted at least 15 postings in order for me to send a private message. I don’t think I’ve posted 15 postings so you might not have gotten my message.</p>
<p>In any event, I’ll answer your questions here. No, we have not decided on the airport hotel room. My daughter met some other students at U of I who will also be studying abroad in Singapore. They have gotten together and all booked the same flights to Singapore, so they will be traveling together. Orientation at NTU is on January 10th but they will be arriving on the 8th at 1:30 a.m. They are going to get together again and decide where to book. Since there will be four of them traveling together, they will try to find a hotel closer to the dorm that is less expensive. The one at the airport is a little bit pricier. However, if my daughter was going to be traveling alone, I would have picked that one. It’s right at the airport. You can just walk there from one of the concourses. I believe it was about $200 U.S.</p>
<p>Couple of other suggestions from a friend of my niece who studied abroad in Singapore last year. Get a Charles Schwab debit card. You can use any ATM worldwide and the ATM fee will be rebated back to you, so essentially it would be free to for any ATM. You know those fees would rack up otherwise. Also, if you book your flight on United, get a Chase Mileage Plus credit card. The first bag is free but the second bag is $100.</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any other questions. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks, TJ. Great info! It’s nice that your daughter will travel with classmates. </p>
<p>(I see now that you show only 5 posts. Sorry for causing the PM snafu.)</p>