The Shutterwhale for iShopChangi: Pre-ordering and Picking up Travel Essentials before your Flight - Exclusive Discount Code!

Changi Airport in Singapore needs no introduction as it is constantly rated as one of the best airports around the world and it is not difficult to see why. The airport is home to a wide range of stores, restaurants and world-class airport lounges that travellers can take advantage of. One of the things that I personally look forward to each time I travel is the usage of Business Class and First Class airline lounges. Therefore, as much as I would like to do some last minute shopping (at duty free prices), I tend to rush through it so that I will actually have more time to spend in the lounge to enjoy some food and Champagne before the flight. In fact, what makes it worse is how everything I want may not necessarily be from the same store.

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On my latest trip to Japan where I checked out Japan Airlines' Business Class product for the first time, I decided to take up iShopChangi's offer to check out their duty-free e-store which has over 10,000 products from across 500 different brands and it allows me to purchase things like wines and spirits to high-end electronics from Bose and DJI. Instead of being able to just purchase these products prior to your flight, iShopChangi allows all eligible passengers to select from the e-commerce portal 30 days in advance and up to 18 hours before your flight. In fact, if you do not wish to lug your purchases with you throughout your trip, a convenient home delivery service can also be arranged for selected beauty and electronics purchases that are more than S$380. 

Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones (Series II)

There are people who dislike spending time at the airport and I sympathise with that since not all airports are created equal but Changi Airport is different. In fact, I have deliberately made plans to stay longer at the airport (since Singapore Airlines allows you to check-in up to 48 hours prior to your flight's scheduled departure time) by staying at the Aerotel Singapore just so I have more time to enjoy and review The Private Room or The Qantas Lounge. 

Since I spend a fair bit of each year in the air and I have a number of long-haul trips planned for the rest of 2018, I decided to order a pair of Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones (Series II) from iShopChangi prior to my trip so I could pick it up at the airport before heading straight to The Qantas Lounge for dinner and drinks. While browsing from the rest of products available on iShopChangi, I also decided to order a few gifts for friends that I was visiting in Tokyo. I have always wanted to bring them the famous Salted Egg Fish Skin snack from Irvin's but I have never been motivated enough to actually queue up for them so imagine my surprise when I found them on the shopping portal. 

Once you have everything you need in your shopping cart, simply check-out to review the items and final amount. Depending on which terminal your flight is going to be departing from, these items that you have just purchased will automatically be arranged for you to pick-up from the appropriate terminal. For example, since I was departing on JL36 (SIN-HND) from Terminal 1, my shopping was automatically arranged for pick-up at Terminal 1. 

Collection on the actual day was as straightforward as it could be - based on the Collection Slip that was sent to me via email, all I had to do was to proceed to the dedicated iShopChangi Collection Center which was located right next to the GST Refund counter in the case of Terminal 1 and provide my passport and boarding pass to the customer service representative there. In less than a minute, I was handed over my bag of shopping and I was quickly on my way to The Qantas Lounge for that delicious bowl of laksa. 

From a miles point of view, purchasing from iShopChangi makes a lot of sense since it is an online transaction and therefore the DBS Woman's World Mastercard allows you to accrue up to 4 miles per S$1 on eligible spend here. Otherwise, you will most likely be stuck with a general spend card that will give you somewhere between 1.2 miles to 1.4 miles per dollar. Additionally, you will also be able to earn Changi Rewards loyalty points while you shop - you may choose to redeem your points here instantly to save more!

For all readers of The Shutterwhale, enjoy an exclusive 7% off (capped at S$30 discount) with no minimum spend from now until 31 March 2018 (11:59PM Singapore Time) - to fully maximise this discount, your total cart should not be above S$428.57 since the max discount is capped at S$30. Kindly use the following promo code upon checking-out: SWXISC7. 

With plenty of time to browse through an entire collection of products on iShopChangi, I can now breeze through immigration, pick-up the travel essentials that I have purchased ahead of time and head straight to the airport lounge where I get some work done (while sipping on Champagne). With a comparatively higher mileage earn rate and added convenience, iShopChangi can save you plenty of time since you will be able to get most of what you want across four terminals in one spot. 

This article was created in partnership with iShopChangi.