SQ 321 LHR - SIN
To say I wasn't looking forward to 12+ hours crammed into Y was an understatement. Arriving at T3 and seeing the chaos that was SQ check in didn't make me feel much better! For just about the only time on the trip SQ were let down by poor organisation. Having checked in online I wasn't aware that I could jump the queue and wasn't told this until I'd been in there for about 25 minutes. However, once resolved I was checked in fairly quickly and then told that the flight would be delayed for two hours, was handed 10 worth of food vouchers and toddled off to get myself scanned and whatnot. Managed to avoid the shoe carnival on account of I don't know what.
So there I was 4 hours to wait and 10 burning a hole in my pocket, so off to O'Neill's for some sustenance. Wasn't too pleased when I was told I couldn't exchange the vouchers for alcohol. Eventually plonked for a burger, the only good thing about which was that I didn't have to pay for it! Got turfed out about an hour before boarding. That T3's an eerie place when it's empty save for the assorted humanity that make up the Y cabin of a 747, a few cleaners and various sprogs using it as a race course and somewher to play hide and seek - did tire the little tykes out though and nothing much was heard from them during the flight.
Boarded about two hours late, found my seat in the back row and waited with bated breath to see who the fates had put me next to. Turned out to be an Aussie who introduced himself by saying something along the lines of 'Good God, don't know how we're both going to manage in these seats'. He managed alright as it turned out, expanding to fill any gaps I left the minute I as much as shifted
Service was excellent throughout the flight. Opted for an oriental meal which was lots of veg, noodles and prawns with a few glasses of wine to wash it down. Throughout the flight the CC seemed to be everywhere. Loved the IFE and since I didn't want to sleep and wasn't allowed to look out of the window amused myself with this for most of the flight (in between jabbing neighbour in the ribs a few times to reclaim my stolen space).
Eventually arrived at Changi about 90 minutes late but immigration was very quick and in no time I was out and on my way to the hotel.
SQ862 SIN HKG/SQ1 HKG SIN
A 777 on the way out with newer cabin and a 747 on the way back. The 777 definitely had more space and much better screens. The 747, by comparison, looked tatty. The return flight was not helped by the fact that it had just come from SF and hadnt really been cleaned properly still had a number of empty wrappers from the previous occupants sandwiches in my seat front pocket. Service and food on both flights was very good, particularly the roas cod with mash and veg on the way to Hong Kong.
SQ318 SIN LHR
Again an older 747 and again somebody sitting next to me who didnt have any concept of personal space! And again, they insisted we kept the blinds down for most of the flight. I know Im repeating myself here, but the food was really quite good and the CC were as attentive and omnipresent as ever (particularly when I tried to take pictures of the world outside my window!).
SIN KUL - SIN
I also did the short hop from SIN KUL in business. What can you say about two 55 minute flights? Got a non-alcoholic drink, a snack (still no booze) and then it was time to land. Do like the lounge in Changi though, do you think theyll let me bring in a proper sized glass next time? The one at KL is nothing worth writing home about.
To summarise
Food: now Im not a huge fan of airline food and believe that there are some dishes that lend themselves to being served onboard a plane and some that dont. SQ seem to have got it pretty much spot on, their food knocks the socks off anything VS or BA have ever served me in Y or PE. If one airline can get it so right, why cant the others?
Seats and Cabins: the 747s are starting to look old and a bit tatty. The newer 777 cabin was quite a revelation by comparison, not sure if it does have more space, but it certainly felt like it. Dont honestly think theres much difference between VS and SQ on the 747 seating.
IFE: only ever flown VS out of LGW so cant compare to V:Port, but Krisworld is very impressive particularly on the newer 777. Ill get a chance to compare it to V:Port at the end of September.
CC: were very attentive, alert and omnipresent. Whilst they were friendly and helpful enough they were missing that little something that makes a good VS experience that little bit better. The best word I can come up with here is fun, in the sense that the VS CC seem to have a sense of fun about them whilst the SQ CC are friendly (and BA on my last flight just plain surely). I do wonder though whether SQ have more CC on board a flight than VS do?
Airports: except at Heathrow everything went extremely smoothly and, above all, efficiently. Ground staff were ever helpful and hapily bokked bags through on various different booking references and issued boarding passes for connecting flights.
Blinds: I dont get this. On the way from London the flight was scheduled to land sometime around 19:00, they kept the blinds down until almost 90mions before landing. I wanted to be awake all flight, get the hotel, crack open a bottle of bubbly, have a meal, finish the bubbly and crash. I didnt want to sit all flight in twilight. On the way back it was a day flight, albeit a very long one, but again I wanted to stay awake, get to the pub shattered, prop up the bar until closing time and then stagger home and sleep.
For a Y experience it wasn't quiet as bad as I'd feared it would be and I have booked again for next year but on hopefully newer planes and with access to SQ lounges. Shame SQ dont have a PE product, that would be tempting.
David
