Immigration takes seconds, not queues
Any passport carrying an NFC chip clears the automated gates, and that includes non-Singaporean passports. You walk up, the gate reads the chip, it opens. There is usually no officer and no stamp.
Fill in the SG Arrival Card online before you fly. It is free, it takes two minutes, and it is the only paperwork the country asks of you. Do it on the plane if you forgot, but do it before you reach the gates.
Baggage tends to be on the belt before you get there. If you are travelling hand luggage only for the conference, budget fifteen minutes from the aircraft door to the taxi rank.
Which terminal, and why it matters
T1, T2 and T3 are connected by the free Skytrain and by walkways. T4 is separate and needs a shuttle bus, so if you are connecting through T4 give yourself longer than the signage suggests.
Jewel sits between T1, T2 and T3, under a glass dome with the tallest indoor waterfall in the world running down the middle of it. It is inside the airport, not a trip out, so a long layover here is genuinely pleasant.
Security in Singapore happens at the gate rather than in one central hall. It clears in under five minutes even at peak, which is why you can arrive later than you would dare anywhere else.
Getting from Changi into town
A taxi to Marina Bay is around twenty minutes outside rush hour. Grab is usually a little cheaper than the metered taxi, and both have marked pickup points.
The MRT runs from T2 and T3 on the East West line and needs one change at Tanah Merah. It is the cheapest option by a wide margin and takes about forty five minutes to the city.
Airport taxis do not haggle and do not need to be argued with. The meter is the meter, there is an airport surcharge, and that is the whole transaction.
Before you leave the terminal
Switch your travel eSIM on while you are still airside. It registers on a Singapore network in seconds and you can book a Grab before you reach arrivals.
There are no queues worth joining for a physical SIM, and the counters are more expensive than anything you would have bought online.
If you want cash at all, the ATMs in arrivals are fine. You will barely use it.
Landing the day before the conference is the difference between walking into the first keynote and watching it from a taxi.
