SIA allow online check-in 48 hours before departure and so we checked-in on Monday morning, chose seats 34H/J and printed off our boarding passes. This flight is a 2:20pm departure so we got to KL Sentral at 10:35am to catch the hourly (12pm, 1pm, etc) coach to KLIA. There is the facility to check-in at KL Sentral although this is currently restricted to Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Royal Brunei (I think). While we were in Malaysia, the press reported the opening of a further 30 check-in desks to allow further airlines to offer check-in facilities in the future.
The coach left KL Sentral just after 11:00am and we arrived at KLIA at 12:10pm. Didnt mention this before, but the coach station at KLIA is a fair (15 minutes) walk to the departure/arrival area. The online check-in desk had 1 person currently being served so we were served promptly. We were given proper boarding passes in exchange for our printed ones which wasnt expected as the information on the SIA website states that the printed boarding pass is the one that you will use to travel with.
Immigration/security was moving smoothly (no shoe check) and we were off on the areotrain to the satellite building by 1:00pm. Gate C2 opened at 1:30pm even though the plane was yet to arrive and again we were subject to another security screen. The aircraft, a B777-200 arrived at 1:50pm and boarding began at 2:15pm. Pre-flight announcement was made by the captain apologising for the delay and that the flight time would be 45 minutes. We pushed back from the gate at 2:40pm, taking off at 3:00pm.
There were seat back TVs on the aircraft but as it is such a short flight, headphones were not handed out and the only channel running was airshow. The drinks service began quickly after take off with tea, coffee, orange and mango juices being served. There was just enough time to clear away the drinks before we descended and landed at 3:40pm. Again, immigration was a breeze and our luggage was already waiting for us on the carousel. Found the godparents and we were on our way to the car park by 4:00pm.
Jonathan
