Carry-On Fragrance Rules at Changi 2026: 100ml Cap and Duty-Free Bags

The moment that ruins a bottle of Tom Ford is not security at Changi, it is the transfer screening in Frankfurt or Doha six hours later, and by then there is no bag to check it into. Changi's own liquids rule says that duty-free liquids over 100ml bought airside must stay in the sealed tamper-evident bag with the receipt visible, and that for travel to the EU and Switzerland only sealed bags bearing the SGP code are permitted onboard. What it cannot promise is what the next airport's screener will do, and Singaporeans lose full bottles at European transits every week because they bought at the wrong end of the journey.

This article is the timing guide: when the 100ml cap applies and when it does not, when the sealed bag protects a bottle and when it stops, when to buy so the bottle survives, and which travel formats from Chanel, Jo Malone, Le Labo, Tom Ford, Diptyque and Maison Francis Kurkdjian fit in the 1-litre bag without a second thought. Every rule is quoted from the official page and dated September 2026.

The rule at a glance

Question	Changi, CAAS and airline rule (as of September 2026)	What it means for perfume
Container size in hand luggage	100ml or less; over 100ml not accepted even if partially filled	30ml, 50ml, 75ml and 100ml bottles go through; a 125ml or 150ml bottle does not
Bag	One transparent resealable bag, not more than 1 litre, completely closed, presented separately	Perfume shares the bag with skincare; glass bottles are heavy and bulky
Duty-free over 100ml	Allowed in a sealed tamper-evident bag with receipt visible	Safe on a non-stop flight; re-screened at any transit
EU and Switzerland transit	Only STEB-sealed purchases bearing the SGP code permitted onboard	Transit screening can still confiscate; buy on the last leg
Dangerous-goods limit (IATA, applied by Singapore Airlines and Scoot)	Toiletries and perfume up to 2 kg or 2 litres total per passenger, no single item over 0.5 kg or 0.5 litres, cabin and checked	Full bottles belong in checked luggage, under 500ml each
Where screened at Changi	Gate holdrooms in T1, T2, T3; central security in T4	Bag must be ready before the gate
Singapore Airlines Economy cabin allowance	One piece, 7kg, 115cm total dimensions, plus personal item 40 x 30 x 10cm	A 100ml glass bottle is 300g to 400g of the 7kg
Scoot Economy cabin allowance	Two pieces, 10kg total, larger bag 54 x 38 x 23cm, personal item 40 x 30 x 10cm; ScootPlus 15kg	Same liquids rule
GST on return to Singapore	9% on new goods above S$500 relief (48h+ away) or S$100 (under 48h); no excise on perfume	One bottle usually inside the relief; a haul is not

Why is perfume the liquid that gets confiscated most?

Three reasons, and they stack. First, perfume is sold in sizes that straddle the cap: 100ml is the most common full size and clears it, but 125ml, 150ml and 200ml flankers from Dior, Creed and Penhaligon's do not, and a 100ml bottle with the box is bulky enough to make the 1-litre bag hard to seal. Second, perfume is the thing people buy airside, which means it travels in a sealed bag whose protection ends at the next screening point. Third, it is expensive, so the loss hurts more than a toner.

The fix is timing. A sub-100ml bottle in the 1-litre bag is safe on every leg of every itinerary. A full bottle is safe only if it is bought after the last security screening before your destination, or checked in before any transit.

How does the 100ml cap apply to fragrance formats?

Changi's rule is about the container, so the printed size on the bottle is what the screener reads. The common formats sort cleanly:

Format	Typical size	Clears the 100ml cap?	Notes
Discovery and sample vials	1.5ml to 2ml	Yes	Dozens fit in the bag; useful for a week of options
Tom Ford travel spray	10ml	Yes	Refillable atomiser in a metal case
Jo Malone London cologne mini	9ml	Yes	Sold in sets; the 30ml is the next size
Le Labo travel tube	15ml	Yes	Refillable; the 50ml and 100ml are the full sizes
Chanel Twist and Spray	3 x 20ml cartridges	Yes	Case plus refills; each cartridge is its own container
Diptyque roll-on and travel	20ml	Yes	Oil roll-ons are LAGs too
Jo Malone London cologne	30ml	Yes	The sweet spot for a two-week trip
Maison Francis Kurkdjian	35ml	Yes	The 70ml also clears; the 200ml does not
Byredo, Creed, Aesop, Le Labo	50ml	Yes	The size most brands use as the entry full size
Diptyque eau de toilette	75ml	Yes	Clears, but the box must come off to fit the bag
Dior Sauvage, Chanel, Tom Ford	100ml	Yes, exactly	At the cap; a dented or oversized bottle can be queried
Dior Sauvage 200ml, Creed 250ml, Penhaligon's 150ml	Over 100ml	No	Checked luggage only, or duty-free STEB on a non-stop flight

Two things to remember. Grams and millilitres are read the same way, so a 100g solid perfume is at the cap too. And the box does not count, but it takes space; most frequent flyers travel with bottles unboxed inside a small zip bag so a leak does not scent the whole 1-litre bag.

When does the sealed duty-free bag protect the bottle, and when does it stop?

It protects the bottle until the next security screening, and not a minute longer. Changi's rule is that LAGs over 100ml bought in the departure transit area must stay in the sealed tamper-evident bag with the receipt visible; bottles of 100ml or less can go in your own 1-litre bag instead. On a non-stop Singapore Airlines flight to Paris, Tokyo or Sydney, nobody screens the bag again and the rule never bites.

On a one-stop itinerary the transit airport screens you again under its own rules. Changi states that for travel to the EU and Switzerland, only STEB-sealed purchases bearing the SGP code are permitted onboard, which is the mechanism by which Frankfurt, Amsterdam Schiphol and Zurich decide whether to accept a Changi bag. In practice European transit screeners have confiscated duty-free liquids over 100ml when the bag, the receipt or the code did not satisfy them, and there is no appeal at the belt. Middle East hubs such as Hamad in Doha and Dubai International re-screen but generally accept an intact STEB.

The timing rule that follows: buy a full bottle at the last airside point before your destination. Singapore to London via Doha means buy at Hamad, not Changi. Singapore to Paris non-stop means buy at Changi. For anything you want at home rather than on the trip, iShopChangi's collect-on-return option, where you order online before departure and pick up at Changi arrivals, removes the transit question entirely, and the arrivals duty-free counters do the same for a last-minute buy.

What are the dangerous-goods limits, and do they matter in the cabin?

Perfume is typically 70 to 90% alcohol, which makes it a flammable liquid under airline dangerous-goods rules as well as a LAG. The International Air Transport Association provisions that Singapore Airlines and Scoot apply allow perfumes and other toiletry articles in cabin and checked baggage up to a total net quantity of 2 kg or 2 litres per passenger, with no single article over 0.5 kg or 0.5 litres. Aerosol toiletries need a cap on the valve.

In the cabin the 100ml LAG cap is the binding limit, so the dangerous-goods rule is irrelevant to the 1-litre bag. It matters in two places: checked luggage, where a 200ml Sauvage is fine and a 1-litre splash bottle is not, and large duty-free purchases, where a 250ml Creed in a STEB is within the per-item limit and a 500ml decanter is at it.

What are the Singapore Airlines and Scoot allowances the bag has to fit inside?

Singapore Airlines Economy allows one piece of cabin baggage up to 7kg with total dimensions of 115cm, plus a personal item up to 40cm by 30cm by 10cm; Business and First allow two pieces totalling 14kg. Scoot's standard Economy allowance is two pieces totalling 10kg, the larger no bigger than 54cm by 38cm by 23cm and the personal item no bigger than 40cm by 30cm by 10cm; ScootPlus allows 15kg across two pieces. Both airlines publish the same ICAO liquids rule as Changi.

Glass is the issue. A 100ml bottle of Chanel with its cap weighs 300g to 400g; two of them plus a 1-litre bag of skincare is over a kilogram, a seventh of a Singapore Airlines Economy allowance. A 10ml atomiser weighs 30g. Frequent flyers decant for weight as much as for compliance.

Is it cheaper to buy perfume airside, in town, or as a travel spray?

Per millilitre, the full bottle wins every time and the travel format loses every time; the packaging premium on a 10ml atomiser or a 15ml tube is large and consistent across brands. Airside beats town on the same bottle because Changi's duty-free price removes the 9% GST that Sephora and the department stores include, and a Singapore resident cannot claim the Tourist Refund Scheme in town.

Town beats airside in two situations. Sephora Singapore's seasonal sale events and gift sets can take a 50ml or 100ml bottle below the airside price, and travel-size sets, which are where the sub-100ml formats live, are mostly a town and online purchase rather than an airside one. The practical split: buy the travel sprays and discovery sets in town on promotion, buy full bottles airside on a non-stop flight or via collect-on-return, and decant at home for everything in between.

When should you buy, leg by leg?

Non-stop outbound from Singapore. Buy the full bottle at Changi airside; it will not be screened again. Carry travel sprays in the 1-litre bag regardless.

One-stop outbound via Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong or Tokyo. Carry only sub-100ml bottles from Changi. Buy the full bottle at the transit airport's duty-free after the transit screening, which is the last screening before your destination.

One-stop outbound via a European hub to a European destination. The strictest case. Carry sub-100ml bottles only, and buy the full bottle on arrival in the destination city, where the VAT refund on departure is the better deal anyway.

Inbound to Singapore, non-stop. Buy at the foreign airport or at Changi arrivals duty-free. There is no liquids screening on arrival.

Inbound to Singapore with a transit. Check the bottle in at the foreign airport, or buy at the transit airport, or buy at Changi arrivals. Do not carry a foreign STEB through a transit and hope.

Japan and Korea hauls. Until 31 October 2026 Japan sells tax-free consumables including perfume in a sealed bag that must stay closed until departure; from 1 November 2026 that requirement is abolished under Japan's refund model. Either way, move the bottle into checked luggage before any onward flight.

What does Singapore charge you on the way home?

Perfume is not a dutiable good in Singapore, so there is no excise; the only charge is 9% GST on the value of new goods above your GST import relief, which Singapore Customs sets at S$500 after 48 hours or more away and S$100 for shorter trips. A single bottle usually sits inside the relief; a Paris haul does not, and 9% applies to the amount above S$500. Declare and pay through the Customs@SG web portal before landing and keep the e-receipt, or go to the Red Channel at Changi. Work permit, employment pass, student pass, dependant pass and long-term pass holders do not get the relief and pay on the full value.

Verdict by traveller type

Traveller	What to carry	Where to buy the full bottle
Weekend in Bangkok or Bali, non-stop	One 30ml or a 10ml atomiser in the bag	Changi airside on the way out, or arrivals duty-free on the way back
Two weeks in Europe via Doha or Dubai	Two travel sprays in the bag	Transit airport outbound; destination city with VAT refund; never Changi STEB
Non-stop to Paris, London or Tokyo	Travel spray in the bag	Changi airside outbound, foreign airport or Changi arrivals inbound
Frequent business flyer, one signature scent	A refilled 10ml atomiser, always	Full bottle in town on Sephora promotion, kept at home for refills
Gift buyer bringing bottles home for family	Nothing over 100ml in the cabin	iShopChangi collect-on-return, or Changi arrivals; declare above S$500
Work pass or student pass holder	Same as above	Same, but no GST relief on return

Where cashback fits

The travel sprays, discovery sets and refillable cases in this article are bought before the trip, and that is where cashback via ShopBack applies. Sephora Singapore carries the Tom Ford, Jo Malone London, Le Labo, Diptyque and Maison Francis Kurkdjian travel formats and the seasonal sets, and iShopChangi sells full bottles for airside collection on departure or collection on return; both are ShopBack merchants for Singapore. Activate ShopBack before you click through, complete the order in the same session, and cashback tracks on the paid amount at the rate shown on each merchant page. For the collect-on-return route, cashback on a bottle that never faces a transit screening is the best version of this whole article.

The second place cashback fits is the trip around the bottle. Singapore Airlines, Scoot, Agoda, Booking.com, Trip.com, Klook and KKday are all ShopBack merchants for Singapore, and on a two-week Europe trip the hotel cashback is worth more than any perfume. Activate ShopBack, click through to the merchant, and finish each booking before starting the next so tracking fires cleanly.

Frequently asked questions

What is the rule for carrying perfume in hand luggage from Changi in 2026?

Perfume is a liquid under Changi Airport's liquids, aerosols and gels rule, which follows the International Civil Aviation Organization guidelines applied by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. Each container must be 100ml or less, all containers go together in one transparent resealable plastic bag of not more than 1 litre that must be completely closed and presented separately at screening, and each passenger gets one bag. A bottle over 100ml is not accepted even if it is nearly empty. The only way a larger bottle travels in the cabin is as a duty-free purchase made airside, sealed in a tamper-evident bag with the receipt visible, and that protection lasts only until the next security screening.

How does the sealed duty-free bag work for perfume bought at Changi?

When you buy a bottle over 100ml in Changi's departure transit area, the retailer seals it in a security tamper-evident bag (STEB) with the receipt displayed inside. Changi's rule is that the bag must stay sealed and the receipt visible, and bottles of 100ml or less can simply go in your 1-litre bag instead. The STEB satisfies screening at the next airport only if that airport accepts it: Changi states that for travel to the EU and Switzerland only STEB-sealed purchases bearing the SGP code are permitted onboard, and transit airports apply their own rules on the day. On a non-stop flight the bag is never screened again and the question never arises.

What are the airline dangerous-goods limits on perfume, separate from the 100ml rule?

Most fine fragrance is 70 to 90% alcohol by volume, so it is a flammable liquid as well as a LAG. Under the International Air Transport Association dangerous-goods provisions that Singapore Airlines and Scoot apply, perfumes and other toiletry articles are permitted in cabin and checked baggage up to a total net quantity of 2 kg or 2 litres per passenger, with no single article over 0.5 kg or 0.5 litres. That is why a 200ml bottle in checked luggage is fine but a 1-litre splash bottle is not. In the cabin the 100ml LAG cap is the binding limit, so the dangerous-goods rule only matters for checked bags and for large duty-free purchases.

Is it cheaper to buy perfume at Changi duty-free or in town before the trip?

Changi's duty-free price removes the 9% GST that Sephora and the department stores include, so on the same bottle the airside price is usually the lower one for a Singapore resident, who cannot claim the Tourist Refund Scheme in town. The exception is promotions: Sephora Singapore's seasonal sets and its 20% and 25% sale events can take a 50ml or 100ml bottle below the airside price, and travel-size sets are rarely stocked airside at all. The practical rule is to buy sub-100ml travel sprays in town on promotion, and buy full-size bottles airside only on a non-stop flight or via iShopChangi's collect-on-return option so the bottle never faces a transit screening.

Is a travel spray cheaper per ml than a full bottle?

No. Travel formats carry a packaging premium: a 10ml Tom Ford atomiser, a 15ml Le Labo tube or a 9ml Jo Malone cologne costs more per millilitre than the 50ml or 100ml bottle every time, and a refillable travel case with three 20ml cartridges such as Chanel's Twist and Spray sits between the two. What the travel format buys is compliance and risk: it goes in the 1-litre bag, it survives every transit screening, and if it breaks you lose 15ml, not 100ml. For a frequent flyer who wears one scent, decanting a 100ml bottle into a 10ml glass atomiser at home is the cheapest compliant option by a wide margin.

When should I buy the full-size bottle so it is not confiscated at a transit?

On the last airside leg before your destination. If you fly Singapore to Paris non-stop on Singapore Airlines, buy at Changi. If you fly Singapore to Paris via Doha or Dubai, buy at Hamad or Dubai International, because the Changi STEB will be re-screened at the transit point and the Changi rule only guarantees EU acceptance for STEBs bearing the SGP code, which transit airports have not always honoured. Coming home, buy at the last foreign airport or at Changi arrivals duty-free, where the bottle never boards a plane. If you want it for home use, order on iShopChangi before departure and collect on return.

When do I need to have the perfume in the clear bag at Changi?

Before the gate. Changi screens departing cabin baggage at the gate holdroom in Terminals 1, 2 and 3 and at central security after immigration in Terminal 4, so the sealed 1-litre bag has to be ready by then, not at check-in. That gate screening is also the last point at which an over-100ml bottle can be surrendered, and there is no option to go back and check it in. Pack the bag at the top of your cabin bag. There is no liquids screening on arrival in Singapore, so a bottle bought abroad is only ever at risk at the foreign departure airport or at a transit.

Can I carry a refillable atomiser or a decanted perfume through Changi security?

Yes, as long as the container is 100ml or less and it goes in the 1-litre bag. Screeners do not require a branded bottle or a label; a 10ml glass or aluminium atomiser filled from a 100ml bottle at home is treated like any other sub-100ml liquid. Two practical points: fill it to 90% so pressure changes in the hold or cabin do not force the pump, and wrap it in a small zip bag inside the 1-litre bag, because a leaked eau de parfum will scent everything else in there. Refillable cartridge systems such as Chanel's 20ml Twist and Spray or a 15ml Le Labo tube are the same thing, just with a brand name.

Do I pay GST on perfume I bring back to Singapore?

Only on the value above your GST import relief, which Singapore Customs sets at S$500 of new goods if you have been away 48 hours or more and S$100 if less. Perfume is not a dutiable good in Singapore, so there is no excise, just 9% GST on the excess. A S$400 bottle of Maison Francis Kurkdjian from Paris sits inside the relief; two of them do not, and 9% applies to the S$300 above it, about S$27. Declare and pay through the Customs@SG web portal before landing or at the Red Channel. Work permit, employment pass, student pass, dependant pass and long-term pass holders do not get the relief and pay GST on the full value.

What happens to perfume bought tax-free in Japan or Korea if I transit on the way home?

If you fly Narita or Incheon to Singapore non-stop, the bottle is screened once at the foreign departure airport, usually in the retailer's sealed bag, and never again, because Changi has no liquids screening on arrival. If you transit, the bottle is screened again at the transit airport and anything over 100ml not in an intact STEB with receipt is discarded. In Japan, tax-free consumables including perfume are sold sealed until 31 October 2026 and must stay sealed until you leave the country; from 1 November 2026 Japan abolishes the sealed-bag requirement under its refund model, which makes it easier to move the bottle into checked luggage before an onward flight. In either case, check the bottle in before any transit.