MEL-SIN-LHR-AMS-SIN-MEL on SQ and BA

[NDiddy]

An opportunistic business trip that eventuated in the last few days now sees me sitting in the Silver Kris lounge in SIN on my way to London. This is the first trip on the company dime for me so I thought I'd take the time to post a TR along the way.

Flight details

MEL to SIN - SQ 218 - A380 J
SIN to LHR - SQ 308 - A380 J
LHR to AMS - BAxx_x - A320 Y
AMS to SIN - SQ 323 - 772 J
SIN to MEL - SQ 217 - A380 J

All up it's about a 2 week trip with the majority of the time being spent in London with the rest in Rotterdam. I was quite excited at the prospect of flying the A380 for the first time and to have SQ as my first experience certainly didn't disappoint. So let's begin

The flight to Singapore was at 00:005 and I arrived in Tullamarine around 10:00pm. Check in was under 5 minutes with a small line but all processed very quickly and efficiently. Chose 15K online and was interested in seeing that this A380 was an all J upper deck. Was given an express passed and promptly headed to security/immigration.

I've kept my 100% record this year for being "randomly selected" for a explosives swab (small vent but I really wish they "randomly select" me before I place my laptop and other items back in the carry on </end rant>). Even with the unscheduled stop security clearance was very quick. The line for immi though was another story - The non express line reminded me of the lines you see in Disneyland on the rollercoaster rides. The express line was about 7 people deep and I was lucky to not have to hand in the express pass so will keep that bewdy for later the next time I travel Y.

Have never been to the Silver Kris lounge in Melbourne but did have high expectations. Made my way down the stairs and was a little disappointed at the size and selection that was offered in the Lounge. Compared to the EK lounge it has a long way to go. It was mostly full but found a nice seat and 2 Johhny Blacks later, the disappointment was long forgotten.

Call to the flight was about 25 minutes before the scheduled departure time and walked straight onto the plane. I gotta say I love the wide seat's in J on the 380's. After reading a couple of seat reviews I must say I agree that SQ's move to add a leather cushion next to the arm rest and the pillow on the other side takes away from the initial awkwardness of the seat design reported by people in the early days about where to place their hands.

Lots of seat shuffling from the other pax's to the middle cabin left me with the feeling of being completely private and isolated. Seat was very comfy and the bed was a delight to rest in for the few hours of shut eye I managed to get.

Flight left on time without no major issues and I was genuinely surprised by how quite the entire plane was. Cabin crew was fantastic as always - it's always great to see consistency from SQ is this regards. 7ish hours later and we land 5 mins ahead of schedule. I'll post some photo's when I settle into the UK as the Kris lounge internet is playing up for me at the moment.

Apart from the lounge it was another great experience on SQ and a terrific intro for me on the A380. The flight to LHR is a part J Upper deck with Y taking up the back cabin. Have chosen 22K in the middle section so will report back on how this rates compared to the pointy end of the plane.

 

[michaelj]

SQ J lounge in MEL is seriously sub-standard. I'm surprised you were only a little dissapointed. I'm AirNZ *A Gold, so use teh Koru Club if flying SQ out of MEL.

SIN, on the other hand is tremendous.

 

[Holly]

SQ J lounge in MEL is seriously sub-standard. I'm surprised you were only a little dissapointed. I'm AirNZ *A Gold, so use teh Koru Club if flying SQ out of MEL.

SIN, on the other hand is tremendous.

Yes the SQ J MEL lounge is seriously underwhelming, especially in comparison to the Krisflyer lounge in SIN. I recall the breakfast option in MEL included cup-noodles! As such, after a brief 5 minute visit, I left for the AirNZ MEL lounge instead where there was REAL food on offer. I don't have any *A status, but got entry upon presentation of the SQ J boarding pass.

 

[dajop]

SQ J lounge in MEL is seriously sub-standard. I'm surprised you were only a little dissapointed. I'm AirNZ *A Gold, so use teh Koru Club if flying SQ out of MEL.

Except now the NZ lounge closes in the afternoon, after TG depart I think, so can't use before SQ 228 Last week though I did have some nice sandwiches, some minestrone, a curry, some chicken strips and of course Maggie Beer ice cream before the flight in the KF lounge so was Ok for a mid afternoon snack.

 

[NDiddy]

MEL to SIN Pics:

 

[NDiddy]

MEL to SIN pics (cont'd):

 

[NDiddy]

SIN to LON Pics:

The loooong security line

 

[NDiddy]

SIN to LON pics (cont'd):

 

[NDiddy]

Sorry for the sporadic updates but 14 hour days at the office doesn't leave a lot of time for AFF unfortunately. However I'm on my way home now (In the Menzies lounge in AMS) and I should have some time now and in SIN to do a few updates.

Firstly though I should really comment on the SIN - LHR flight:

Apart from the extensively long security line, boarding was as expected and although there was another long line to get onto the bottom deck of the plane, I managed to squeeze my way past the death stares of people thinking I was trying to cut the line onto the top deck ramp which was completely empty.

This was the A380 that was part J with the rear end of the cabin being Y. Chose the middle cabin for this flight and I must say I probably prefer the front cabin. I'll see what I can do about changing my seat in SIN on the way back to Melbourne but the front cabin seemed more intimate.

Flight left more or less on time and the whole trip was pretty uneventful. For the near 13 hour flight I got stuck into some champs and caught up on some movies. Food was probably the most disappointing aspect of the whole experience. All edible of course but it just seemed to be lacking some nice touches. Waygu beef was good but served with noodles was not the match it looked like in the menu. For those who love foie gras, you'll love the second course and it's quite a generous serve. Try as I might I just couldn't get through it and ended up leaving 2/3rds back on the plate.

Still - flight was great once again - Service just outstanding and the seat was as good as it was for the previous flight. I will make a point that the aircraft that I was on seemed to have a lot more wear and tear on the seat than the all upper deck J to SIN. Leather around the footrest was badly scuffed and the interior just seemed a bit older and worn out.

LHR immigration - Boy was that an experience. Even with priority lane pass in hand it was a 40 minute wait to clear immi but I felt for the Y class passengers who looked like they would be there for 2 hours. If only LHR was as easy coming in as it was going out.

Next post will be on my BA Y flight from LHR to AMS.

 

[NDiddy]

After spending a great day in London seeing the sights and catching up with old friends it was time to pack the bags and head off to Rotterdam via AMS.

Flight was at 8:30am and being in Marlow I was only 25mins away from Heathrow. Taxi arrived promptly at 6 and I was in the airport at 6:30. Although I did check in online, there was no mention of the Terminal from which I would be departing on the BP or in the Manage Booking section. So this was the start of a series of unfortunate incidents that would riddle what should have been a very quick trip to Holland.

Arrived in Terminal 3 only to be told that the flight was departing from T5...cue awkward moment. Thank goodness for the Heathrow underground and 15 mins later I was in T5. The check in line was about 6 people deep but for some reason everyone was taking about 10mins to be processed. Greeted by a surly BA check-in attendant who did not look like an early morning person :/

Check in for BA flights at T5:



Terminal view:



With the panic over I headed through immi and security without much fuss and had an early breakfast. Boarding commenced promptly and although it was a relatively busy flight everyone managed to get on the plane in a quick and efficient manner.

Originally I was on A321 metal and managed to score 10C which had 10B blocked out for either the FA or those "narrow seats" but a last minute change saw the metal change to an A320 so no special Y seat for me. Surprisingly though the Y seats in BA had to have the most space I've experienced in Y over the last few years. Big gap between my knees and the seat in front and excellent leg room underneath:

 

[NDiddy]

Push back was delayed by 30 minutes as the equipment allocated to the aircraft had broken down and the pilot was waiting for an allocation of an alternative. Still no issues and we departed at 9:00am on a very clear and sunny day in London.

"Breakfast" comprised of a coffee and a sausage and egg roll. The less said about this meal the better and one bit was all I could muster:



About 20 minutes from AMS the pilot came on the PA to announce that they were asked to circle over AMS due to a runway signal fault. The delay resulted in the ATC having to open another runway and re-allocate all inbound flights to it. Still managed to arrive in AMS at 11:25AM local time (1 hour difference between UK and Holland) so only 45 minutes delayed overall.

Waiting for the baggage at Schiphol took 30 minutes and I just managed to sneak onto the FYRA (fast train direct to Rotterdam) at 12:15 and ended up at the hotel at 1:00pm. So in all door to door took 7 hours. I would have normally taken the Eurostar to Paris and then onto Rotterdam but the price was 4x as much as I paid for the BA ticket.

Overall I found the BA "plane" experience to be quite good but they still have a long way to go in my eyes with the on-ground CS and catering. Would fly them again shorthaul.

 

[NDiddy]

After a couple of days in the office and a couple of nights catching up with some family and a friend in Leiden it was time to head back home. Work had been pretty hectic over the last week and a half and I was looking forward to coming back to my own bed and not living out of my suitcase.

So it was back on the FYRA to Schiphol for me AMS-SIN leg. Up until August they were operating the 777-300ER which I believe is now on the SIN-LHR route and SQ now use the 777-200 for the SIN-AMS route. It's still got the "old" Skybed in J but after flying a 747 from SIN to MEL earlier this year I wasn't too fussed. I could have chosen to route back via LHR, CDG or FRA but the cnxn times and additional travel didn't appeal to me.

Check in was very quick with no line in J and hardly a pax in the Y line either. After immi I made straight for the Menzies lounge. This is an interesting setup where they sub-divide the lounge depending on carrier/alliance and each sub division has it's own food/bar with a much bigger central option being shared. For those interested there is also an on-site smoking room as well.

Given that there are 36 J seats on this flight, the lounge certainly has more than enough space to accommodate everyone without feeling too crowded (unlike the SQ lounge in MEL). I was one of the first to arrive so the SQ area was virtually deserted.

Very comfy individual leather seats:





View of the tarmac:

Food/Beverage area. Food selection was poor but the beverages were plentiful and well stocked:

Coke in a bottle - Don't care what anyone says, it just tastes better:

 

[NDiddy]

Flight departure time was 11:15am and I arrived at the gate at 10:40. Not too many spare seats to be had so slowly ambled my way to the front near the gate. As I approached one of the boarding gals grabbed a sign which had Business/PPS passengers on it indicating that we could board. No announcement made but I think this helped in preventing the inevitable made rush by everyone.

J class is configured in 2 - 2 - 2 and I was seated in 14D. There weren't a lot of options as this was a last minute booking but I would def recommend any seat in the first row with direct aisle access.

Pics of the plane en route to the gate:





The seat:

 

[NDiddy]

Some more seat pics:








The obligatory slippers and eye mask:

 

[NDiddy]

Push back from the gate was at 11:10AM but the taxi to the runway took 20 mins. Once up in the the air it was time to start the lunch service.

Satay starter:



Salmon entree - best meal on this flight:



Good size beef main:



And finished with a chocolate mousee cake with raspberry sauce:



There was a breakfast service just before we touched down in SIN but I forgot to bust out the camera. I found the meals on this flight slightly better than the previous 2 legs but the salmon was a hands down winner in my book.

Flight arrived promptly at 5:45am and I did manage to get about 4 hours shut eye on the angled sleeper. Towards the end it did start to get a bit uncomfortable in "bed" mode but the seat was still very comfy.

 

[NDiddy]

Back in SIN and I was pretty tired with the work catching up on me plus the jet lag. I arrived in T2 and quickly xfered to T3 and made my way to the Silver Kris Lounge. There are plenty of photo's in other TR's of the lounge so I didn't take any but I did want to take advantage of the shower facilities:







Feeling like a new man, I did a quick spot of duty free shopping for Mrs Diddy and some colleagues at work and settled in for a good breakfast back in the lounge.

 

[NDiddy]

Last leg of the trip home and back on the 380. Unlike the MEL-SIN this was the part J/Y upper deck. Flight again was pretty full and I could not get a seat in the front cabin so it was seat 21K for me. Flight time of 6hrs 25 mins and I settled into the lunch service again:

Crab starter - delicious:



Lamb loin - which was pretty good as well:



And had to have another bite of the satay before we landed:



When the flight path software first came out, I remember as a kid being completely mesmerised by the graphics and the abundance of info it had on it. However more recently I usually just glance at it at the start and near the end of flights. This was the first time I had ever seen such a big tail wind and the ground speed being over 1000kmh:





So overall it was a great first experience on the A380 and another tick in the box for SQ. The result of this trip has just resulted in me being upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Silver status and I'm about 1/3rd of the way to PPS (though I do not forsee making this kind of dent again in the short term). Still happy with the points and will give me a chance to start looking for some cheap J savers for next year.

 

[jetlagger]

Thanks for the SQ TR & sharing those delectable food options with us

 

[lovestotravel]

A great TR, and having not flown SQ for a while, those J pics really make me want to fly to Europe again!

SQ J is definitely my favourite for the seat, service, food and SIN lounge

Flying QF, NZ and VA just isn't the same!

Thanks again for a great TR :mrgreen:

 

[NDiddy]

Thanks guys - Must admit the SQ J on the 380 was about the best I've been on. Pity the trip was for work and if I wasn't so tired I would been a bit more verbose and taken a lot more pics.

I do have a USDM F trip to Europe coming up in December so I'll def post a better TR up. After tasting SQ J twice in the last 9 months, I'm looking forward to seeing how TG F goes