About four days before our trip I received a phonecall from an officious sounding member of SQ CS informing us that the plane we were scheduled on from LHR to SIN was not yet fitted with PE as they were behind schedule. There was never any apology for this, nor any explanation as to why they had waited until just a few days before the flight to let us know. In fact, I was made to feel like quite an inconvenience for having booked the seats I had at all! Very strange. We were offered two choices:
1) Take the flight earlier in the day; we would still be in PE but would need to rebook/change parking arrangements (at our own expense).
2) Take the same flight, be downgraded to economy, and receive a paltry amount of vouchers to spend in flight, plus a "free" upgrade to PE, where availability allowed, on a future flight, within 12 months.
Obviously, the latter was hardly appealing! I did mention to them that whilst we were content to take the first option, I felt the fact that they weren't offering a refund for the price of the ticket for downgrading people to Y was really poor. The CS staff made it clear they would not refund anyone the difference in flight costs (despite PE being more than double the cost of Y).
So, we opted for the earlier flight, and I rebooked parking which ended up not costing anything as it fit within the 24 hour window. We set off bright and early on Wednesday, and made good time until we hit the M25 (of course). We got to check in at the business class desks; I think being Au I get this benefit anyway, but until PE is fully up and running you check in at the business class desks. We got business class priority tickets on the luggage. Interestingly, we were given the spending vouchers--I think this was a mistake as it was only meant for people who were downgraded. I did query this but the vouchers were waiting for us in our names, so we took them.
We were through security swiftly, and out into T2, which I really like as a terminal. I have access to one of the SQ lounges as I'm Au, but I don't get to invite a guest in. If we'd both been able to gain access, we definitely would have gone to test it, but as we didn't have a lot of time we decided to skip using our Priority Passes for the T2 lounge and just get a breakfast at a cafe. Boarding was announced an hour before departure and we got to the gate pretty quickly. The boarding was a bit of a fiasco. They boarded families with small children first--makes sense. But then they announced group 4 (Y) next and there was a huge rush for the queue. Everyone gathered at the gate and the boarding ground to halt. About five minutes later they invited passengers travelling in F, J and PE to board, and we had to squeeze through the queue to find the priority lane. OH thinks it was a mistake as it seemed so chaotic.
We boarded and made out way to our seats 34 D and E on the back middle row of the cabin. Our first choice of seats weren't available and that was all that was left when we rebooked, but it actually worked out as we think, based on our return journey, that the seats at the back of the plane might recline a little bit more!
The cabin is brand new and the seats are grey with flashes of orange and pale blue for contrast. They look very modern. I'll compare with Virgin on the next few points:
Seat comfort: This is the biggest thing for me. Despite the seat being new, we feel that VS offer a more comfortable seat than SQ. SQ's seat isn't bad at all, but it has no lumbar support whatsoever, so you still have to use your cushion or a folded jacket for support behind your lower back. The seat is a tiny bit narrower, we felt, and I think you also get a little bit less leg room. This made no difference for me, but for taller or larger people, it might be something to consider. One thing their seat does have above VS's is that there is a section that pops out of the bottom to support your lower legs, as well as the footrest. This is a welcome addition, but I'd trade it in for some decent lumbar support in a heartbeat (YMMV, of course). The seat recline seemed great on the outbound flight, BUT we were on the A380 and right at the back of the cabin. On our inbound flight we were mid cabin and on a smaller aircraft and recline seemed less generous. I don't know if this was the case or not.
Inflight entertainment: SQ wins hands down here. You're greeted by a 13.3" HD screen, with a pretty impressive selection of films and television to choose from. You're also given fairly decent noise cancelling headphones to use; they're not incredible, but definitely better than any other headphones I've been given on a flight. I watched a film (Avengers 2) and felt pretty immersed. The bigger screen with excellent picture quality makes a huge difference. Sorry, VS, but you lose this round.
Food: Surprisingly, both my OH and I give this round to VS! In SQ's PE you get all your food in plastic pots, no nice dishes. You do get proper cutlery, however. The choices are usually from a meat dish, a poultry dish, and a fish dish, so if you're vegetarian you definitely need to book a special meal in advance. I eat fish but not any other meat so I was OK. We didn't have time to sort out the book the cook option for either of our flights; if we fly with SQ again I'll definitely try to give that a go. But their general meals were pretty similar to the quality you'd get in Y, in our opinion.
Service and extras: This is a mixed bag. The SQ seat have some fantastic details. You get two USB ports per seat for charging devices, some really useful cubby holes for storing your phone and documents etc., and a little hook to hang your coat. Overall it feels like a smarter use of the space than VS, but it is brand new and very much designed with the modern traveller in mind. Service wasn't bad, but the staff are very austere. Both on our flights out and back we had staff who didn't crack a smile once. Whilst I appreciate professional service, I feel more comfortable when service comes with a smile as it puts you at ease.
After watching a film I slept (my OH watched about four films), and we arrived feeling reasonably rested. There was a very small amount of turbulence during the flight, but nothing major. The A380 is a very comfortable aircraft and overall we were very happy with the flight, we felt like it was worth the extra over economy to arrive without aches and pains. When we landed immigration was a breeze, and so we waited for about 5-10 minutes for the bags. Ours were among the first to arrive, and so we set off to meet our driver.
Overall, a very interesting and largely positive experience, despite a few hiccups along the way. I'm really glad to see more carriers introducing PE and hope it's a popular trend.
I remember there being some question marks over how many miles/TPs are awarded for SQ PE? Have any posted to your account?
