New York to Singapore - Stop in Frankfurt?

[legalistic]

Hi fellow AFF'ers,

I'm trying to decide between two J routes (same points):

Newark to Singapore Direct with the A340 (18 hours $312 taxes) - Given that this is my first and probably last chance to fly this route before they can it, I thought it would be a good aviation experience?

JFK to Singapore via Frankfurt A380 first leg, 777ER second leg (11 hour stopover, $443 taxes) - Departs 10:50pm, Arrives Frankfurt 10:45am, then departs 10pm - I have never been to Europe, am travelling on my own, so am thinking of paying $130 more in taxes for the privilege of running around this German town for half a day. Is it enough time/worth it?

Was wondering what would fellow AFF'ers do in my shoes?

Cheers for the comments!

 

[casanovawa]

If there is a chance to do something that you won't be able to do again, that would probably rate pretty high for most AFFers... Having been to FRA and spent a day/night there, i have to confess it didn't knock my socks off... Maybe i missed something astounding... But I don't think so...

I would probably lean towards the all-J SQ flight is it??? Say you flew on it once, was the longest commercial flight in the world and might be for a bit until a 787 or 777 takes it sometime... There will be other trips to Europe, and hopefully to more interesting cities than Frankfurt...

 

[albatross710]

I like spending a day in cities to which I haven't been. That length of stopover gives you a little time to look around the town or a local city. You say you've never been to Europe so it's a chance to immerse (albeit briefly) in a foreign city, foreign and delicious foods and some German beer.

Just my thoughts.

Alby

 

[Paddy55]

I'd lean towards the soon to be ended EWR-SIN non-stop.
FRA will still be the next year, and 1/2 day sightseeing is at best scratching the surface.

Then again, that's just me, and I'm still scarred by passing up a CDG-JFK Concorde trip thinking I'd do it again 'soon'.... and 'soon' never happened! :shock:

 

[sergeyvzn]

give Frankfurt a miss. Boring. The best thing there is the airport, you can get on to the roof deck and watch planes

 

[casanovawa]

Is there a roof deck at FRA??? I went through there 4 times last year and didn't know about this??

I was actually pretty taken with the arrival lounge...

 

[sergeyvzn]

Is there a roof deck at FRA??? I went through there 4 times last year and didn't know about this??

I was actually pretty taken with the arrival lounge...

It's in Terminal 2, Concourse E, right next to McDonalds

 

[legalistic]

Thanks for all the great advice fellow AFFers!

It was a really tough decision; aviation versus ground life experience, but I see the logic on both sides... I'll aim to give Frankfurt and greater Europe justice by doing it proper via a longer trip, hopefully sometime in the near future...

So saying hello and goodbye to A340 for the first and last time seems to be the course set... I'll give it a few more days thought and lock it in Wed.

Thanks again all,

Cheers!

 

[casanovawa]

Not sure if you've seen them or not, but there's always some trip reports on different sites of the all-J SQ flight if you want more info on that option...

 

[eastwest101]

Not sure if you've seen them or not, but there's always some trip reports on different sites of the all-J SQ flight if you want more info on that option...

Surprisingly difficult to find a review of the all J SQ A340 but I did find one:

http://thepointsguy.com/2012/03/flight-review-singapore-airlines-all-business-class-flight-from-newark-singapore/

If it were me - the end of the all J A340 and the decreasing likelyhood of it continuing in the future sort of makes it a bit of a "bucket list" flight for me as well. I would not do it only if you don't like 19+ hours in the air, are an avid pajama collector or are very tall...

Think of it this way - there will be more opportunity to see Frankfurt and the inside of an A380 in the future.

 

[Paddy55]

I'm a OneWorlder... but I wish I could a SIN-EWR experience :-|

 

[dajop]

I'm a OneWorlder... but I wish I could a SIN-EWR experience :-|

Some oneworlder's have with CC spend, but made the decision early on not to direct points to QFF. On 1:1 earning cards, the cost of SIN-EWR in business on SQ is about the same number of points as SYD-LAX in premium economy on QFF.

 

[Pollywaffle]

I would do the longer stopover.

Instead of heading into Frankfurt, go to Mainz instead. The trip from the airport is approx the same both time and price wise for Mainz as it is for Frankfurt city.

I did this last time I flew into FRA. I was booked to fly FRA-JFK early in the morning. I flew into FRA the afternoon before, dropped my bags at an airport hotel and headed to Mainz. It's a beautiful city. Green parks, pedestrian piazzas with many outdoor cafes all surrounded by old fashioned architecture and it's right by the Rhine river as well.

It's a great way to spend the day.

 

[WA flyer]

I'm on the non-stop SIN -EWR next month

 

[Alanslegal]

If the EWR-SIN was the very last flight ever, I would have zero hesitation getting on that flight. However if not, I'd take the JFK-FRA-SIN route and spend 8 hours exploring Frankfurt. IIRC the train into town only takes around 25 minutes and from then, you can easily wander around and explore. Definitely sufficient time, even if only spending 6 hours in the City.

 

[docjames]

I vote the direct flight.

FRA will still be there in a year's time.

 

[legalistic]

Thanks all for the great advice!

Please be informed that I have now locked in the A340 EWR to SIN.

But I will definitely visit FRA sometime, hopefully in a couple of years time.

Thanks again!