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SIN, EK & SQ

 
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stealthpilot
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Joined: 19 Dec 2006
Posts: 2325
Location: BLR, DXB

PostPosted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 6:58 pm    Post subject: SIN, EK & SQ Reply with quote

Hello everyone. This is a picture weighted report Smile
This is not an attempt at a 'comparison' TR, but I will try and highlight the differences - what I liked didnt like etc.

I made a rushed trip to SIN (from DXB). It was my wifes (R) 10 year high school reunion and I had 3 days off work. So a 48 hour holiday it was. Getting to SIN wasnt that hard, EK flies direct 3 times a day from DXB and one goes thru CMB. The only issue was which flight to take.
R left a couple days earlier. On departure day I had an evening flight which landed at 2000 so I was hoping to make the 2330 departure (777) If I missed that there was one a few hours later @0325 (a380) technically the next morning. Ordinarily I would have taken the 380 but the earlier 777 got me in earlier (duh) so luckily I managed to make that. Loads were good- meaning I didnt have to worry with my standby ticket business had a few seats open and even if that filled up there were seats in economy.

Organizing the flight back was a headache, I needed to leave SIN on Monday because I had a flight on Tuesday. EKs 4 flights were risky. The evening one (380) was overbooked and the 777 a few hours later was quite full. It still had seats free but i didnt want to risk it. What to do what to do what to do??? I looked online for a full fare (normal) ticket. I HATE doing that, big problem with working in the airline industry is you get annoyed at having to pay real cost to travel Wink Finally a lifeline .... star alliance miles. Both R and I used miles to get on the SQ flight SIN-DXB (there's one daily 773 and a 3x 330 I believe) in J. I was super excited of course!! A huge advantage of being a normal passenger is you can wear what you want! On company travel I have to be formal/semi formally dressed, so I was looking forward to wearing shorts and sandals on a long haul flight again, it had been a while:lol: O yes and lounge access.

So tickets sorted, I landed from my flight went home changed (I was already packed) showered and headed back to DXB airport.


EK432 to SIN (and then on to BNE) - 77W
I wont bore you with details, there are enough EK J reports out there. A comfortable flight, I watched a movie (welcome to the punch) and slept. I got an isle seat, no windows available.

Menu
Service started quick, on the ground they served the OJ and wine/champagne + took the drinks order and after TO got the usual nuts.
This is just the food part, i didnt take the drinks pages etc.


first bit of the page


second bit


desert bit


Guys amenity kit


Girls




Breakfast


I skipped the soup and had the chicken starter. It was OK


I had asked for the stir fried beef, but when the mains were being served I overheard the chap across the isle saying there was cheese in the chicken (obviously I didnt read the menu) so I changed my mind, asked the steward if I could get that instead and no problem she said. I usually pick chicken last if there's an option for meat and im not a cheese person .... dunno why I got both chickens then hmmmm.

It was quite nice not dry at all, I was expecting something different tho.


Dessert was interesting. Red bean and pumpkin something .... like a hard pudding with cinnamon. It tasted good, but I had never had something like that before so i really enjoyed it. I love red bean deserts!


Finished the movie and got a few hours of sleep. Woke up and breakfast was served. Watched some Top Gear.

Fruits, yoghurt and bread. I had a plain croissant and they came around with a bread basket and I picked a danish + almost croissant. OJ + coffee.


Flight was on time, got to the gate at 1100 saturday morning and I had picked up my bag taken the cab and was in the hotel by 1140. Impressive. No waiting anywhere (5 mins for the bags maybe....) No outside pictures because of the isle seat. Sorry I forget the registration, I know most members here are gaga over which aircraft it was etc .... my apologies Smile

A few packed days in SIN with reunion stuff + meeting other friends, and monday morning meant time to head back.

SQ494 at 1505. 777-300.
checked in on my phone before we checked out of the hotel. It was quick and simple. They didnt have any seats next to one another, O well. try our luck at the airport. If that doesnt work at least ill get a window
Wink I wanted to go 3 hours early to check out the lounge. R thought I was mental, so compromise and 2:30 was settled. reached the airport a 1230 and headed to the GST (tax) refund. Again sorry for no airport pictures. got that done and headed towards check-in. We each had one bag to check in, asked the lady if there are seats next to one another she said she will put in a request and we will find out at the gate.

passport control took 20 seconds. walked around for 10 minutes. those SQ 330s are good looking!




lounge time!!!


I was particularly excited. Ive been to airport lounges etc, but I have never been to an airline lounge before.


Dont asks me which lounge this was, because im assuming SQ has a few dotted over the terminal?


All the pictures are from the phone, sorry about the quality.
It wasnt crowded when we got there, when we left it had filled up a bit.




The food!!!!
I have no idea about comparisons to EK coz iv never been to the EK lounge.


Drinks, seemed standard. I'm not much of a drinker but even R skipped the wines, we just got coke.





The seating area earlier was separate from the dining area. The food part had a few seats, but most ppl took their plates back to the main seating area and chilled with their papers etc. We sat in the dining area and ate.
This cracks me up for some reason.


salad and sushi counter. Was quite small.


Cheese and make your own sandwiches.


Fruits and dessert, quite disappointing.


Tom yum soup on the left, and add your ingredients. Smart I guess ....


Whenever im in that part of the world I try to get my hands on red bean deserts (soup/dim sum anything) so I was quite happy with this!


I dunno where my pics are of the mains? Food was OK nothing to go on about. Some were good most were just there the desert and this chicken thing were quite bad. Enough to nibble on before the aircraft food tho Wink They had rice and noodles, an indian vegetarian + fish curry (nice). some chinese veggies, pork (was ok) and chicken (bleaahhhh) + lasagne and potatoes i think didnt try that.

A little phone are + computers on the right at the entrance. There was free wifi in the lounge but im pretty sure the whole airport is free wifi like DXB.



Like everyone on this planet I think SIN is a great airport


Not our ride


Ours. Nope thats not the window she really is that dirty Laughing


There's the registration for those interested.




Flight was delayed by about 30 mins, maybe a bit more. They made the delay announcement in the lounge so we knew about it (no other regular boarding announcements were made in the lounge, they informed us when we entered that none would be made which I think is a good thing)

We got to the gate and good news, we got seats together. they were already boarding so walked right in.


Sat on the right. I dont have a preference (or a favourite side like jishnu and some members) .... As long as its a window and away from the sun I don't care. I didnt have much of a choice on sides anyway the only one free was on the right, should have booked seats earlier.

Orange juice.


Seat control


Storage + power port on the side of the seat. Similar to EK.




Taxi views. This 777 didnt have that usual horrible rattle on startup .... maybe its mainly the GEs?


Truly KLM


Normal departure






Observations
As you can tell this was an older 773. I was secretly hoping for the newer 77W which have the gigantic business class seats (the 1-2-1) .... these were 2-2-2.
EK as we all know have 2-3-2 in J, I was trying to figure out if these seats were noticeable bigger.
Now I have flown 3-3-3 in a 777 and found no difference to 3-4-3 .... all the same to me.
this 2-2-2 seating did seem a tad bigger. For me the only area I felt there was more space was near my shoulders and head. I could put my palms on my head and stretch my elbows out better, and the seat design made it a bit more comfortable to put a pillow up to the side and rest.

There was no towel service on boarding. Turns out there was but we were skipped.
I got a happier greeting from the EK crew when I boarded, both offered OJ + champagne on the ground.
Ek took the drinks order on the ground and got them with nuts in the air, SQ took the drinks order after take off and their nuts were not as yummy.

No amenity kit on SQ, or chocolates after the meal. EK had the usual.
SQ did do a towel run after the meal and before top- they didn't forget us those times Smile

This SQ aircraft was older, and had a smaller non AVOD TV. Actually my window seat entertainment did not work at all.
So keep that in mind, im sure if you compare it to the older EK 330s this was better, but both airlines have newer and better products out there now.

SQ had these nice bottle holders which you can see, convenient. Well it would have been if they gave you water bottles. On EK they are left at every seat, I guess its on request on SQ?

The IFE was not switched on when we boarded, they turned it on later. on EK you can get into your movie right away if you wish.
No external camera on SQ Crying or Very sad

Coming back to the seats, the foot extension part on SQ seemed a tad longer which was nicer.
There is less privacy between SQ seats, EK has a privacy blind or whatever which you can raise/lower. That can be an advantage or disadvantage however you want to look at it. With EK even if the privacy thing is lowered you still cant really talk to the person next to you, so not good if you are travelling with someone.
SQ the cup holder + nuts area seems better (larger?)

Both airlines had same stowage next to seat + power ports.

Slightly more storage on sq ... you can see the compartments below the IFE. not particularly nice looking and I fit my stuff in the storage near the seat (they called it laptop stowage) but useful if you have lots of stuff I guess.
EK has the side storage + one front pouch although they have an area to stow your shoes and plastic trash etc.

SQ seat was more or less the same as the EK one actually, both angled flat. as I mentioned SQ was wider- but for me it was mainly noticeable around my shoulders which was great, and the bottom seat extension near the legs was longer which was nice. The SQ blanket was not as comfy tho ....

This SQ aircraft didn't have wifi or the aeromobile system.


Enough of that .... lunch time!!!!!


Here's the menu. It had the return sector DXB-SIN on it as well.


Pre arrival snack, landing around 1830 DXB local






Im pretty sure EK doesnt have these last 2 pages, the non alcoholic drinks and coffee menu.




Socks and eye shade, blue in SQ brown in EK.


Baileys and nuts


My not working window seat screen. Crew said she would reset it but no luck I guess it didnt come back and she didnt come back to check. R was on her ipad most of the time so in cruise we switched seats and I watched Oblivion.


Starter. Spicy prawns but not much of a papaya salad. It was good.




R had the lamb chop, OK
I had the beef which was much better, forgot to take a pic tho.


For desert I picked the stewed white fungus and something something pudding. I was sold at stewed white fungus sounded weird so obviously had to try it. I liked it a lot.


R got the other. Wasnt cream caramel from any angle but it was nice.


Random cabin shot


The isle seat was the one with the working screen. Non touch screen and non AVOD, so caught Oblivion as it was starting.

After that played around, it had a lot of adds.


I dont usually play the games but gave it a go


Well I tried too at least .....


Approaching home


The snack, my sandwich was good. salmon with cucumber which gave it that crunch + chips.


R had the chicken + noodles


I have a few arrival pics on another phone, ill upload them when I download them Confused
Arrival was quick, no delays. vacated 30L at the end so was a quick taxi in to a F stand.

All in all a good flight, slightly old aircraft. Better than EK 330/340 but id pick the EK 777 (even the slightly older ones). Im sure the newer SQ biz is miles ahead of most airlines.
Thanks for reading.
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Last edited by stealthpilot on Sat May 16, 2015 3:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Karan69
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Capt,

Thanks for that

Nice observations, i must say though you got to try their next gen products, if i am not mistaken this is their regional refurbished J class product , which is found on their 333s and some 772s

Capt SQ has AVOD fleet wide infact their 773As were the first aircraft to consistenty get them ,i flew them in DEC 2005, as at the time AVOD on 772/744s were dependant on your luck,

On the remote there is a mode button , you got to press that to get to the AVOD screen , the first screen is the standard loop system which plays. second one takes you to AVOD mode

An annoying thing as even a tech savy person like yourself could not figure it out,
I noticed this quirk on my recent trip witt them [on the refurbished 772 not the 345] and even my seat neighbours were wondering how i was pausing my screen

Thanks for sharing, and yes i do believe SQ should give pyjamas and a kit they dint give me either even on my ULH leg

Also your observations on the SQ lounge are apt, it has a dull look and lacks the vibrancy of anothers airlines lounge

Keep em coming we love to read, BTW how tempted were you to jump into that SQ 333 and fly it yourself to DXB:D Very Happy

Karan
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jbalonso777
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Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Captain Nikhil, good TR this one.
And thanks for that mention Wink

Wow. Another SQ v EK battle, the first one being TAG4E's Y comparison.
By the looks of it, it is even up front.

Food looks, simply exceptional! Amazing stuff, especially with the nice photographs! Arabic mezze - why didn't I try it while I was in DXB. Every EK flight out of DXB seems to have it!

And for me personally, I like the EK options more than the SQ ones.

Amenity kit looks nice - in fact, I was surprised to get it in Y class in 2012! (DXB-CPT)

Singapore and its efficiency. 5 minutes in immigration compared to DXB's almost 2 hours of nightmare is...quite a bit. Rolling Eyes

Strange to see a slight let down in the SQ lounge selection. Shocked

SQ hasn't updated the IFE..that is weird to be honest! As you saw in CX TR, they have updated the seats, interiors, IFE, everything on the 15 y/o B773s. When I read that SQ are updating the interiors of the B773s, I expected them to do something about the IFE, too.

Quote:
Sat on the right. I dont have a preference (or a favourite side like jishnu and some members)

Well.
Let me explain.
That is because: usually when I fly into BOM, I like getting pictures or videos of the international wide beauties parked. And maybe because its sunset/sunrise time. And because of this habit, I usually prefer to sit starboard on the first flight, then port on return.
Okay that is quite a lame excuse, so yeah, I'll admit: I have preferences Razz

4 B773 start ups for me, 4 B77W start ups for me.
And yes, the B77Ws were quite loud and rattle-y. The monster GE90s sure do rattle the whole fuselage!

Quote:
Now I have flown 3-3-3 in a 777 and found no difference to 3-4-3 .... all the same to me.

Being a proud widebody, I too have had no issues with 3-4-3 or 3-3-3.
Agree with you on this.

Matt Moran?!?!!?! WOW!
I wonder if Gordon Ramsay will make it to this industry!

Anyways, another fantastic TR from you, with amazing pictures and nice observations made. We sure do look forward to more!
Thanks for sharing!

Regards
Jish
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What a lovely trip report! When a front office bearer decides to sit slightly behind, it is a different experience for all readers out here. I have been enthralled as I have checked out your food pictures and the detailed description, and notes with some delight, the little husband-wife banter, and the differences in food preferences. The comparison part had me in rapt attention, though I do not believe I will get too many J experiences. I guess I am one of the few who find SIN over-rated and less-than-friendly. I have been there twice (2002, 2004) on Indian Airlines and Air India, and did not find it as attractive as people generally drool over. I guess the next time, I will take some time on my hands to explore the airport completely, and do some thorough homework on the sights (and smells, of course).
Thanks for sharing this report with us, stealthpilot - we also look forward to you sharing reports from the front office as well!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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stealthpilot
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a lot guys for the comments.

Karan69 wrote:
On the remote there is a mode button , you got to press that to get to the AVOD screen , the first screen is the standard loop system which plays. second one takes you to AVOD mode

AAAARRGGGGGG!!!! Sheessshhhh I was pushing every button i could find, i guess that was my problem Embarassed
I quite liked the lounge, then again it was my first airline lounge so i have nothing to compare it too. I wasnt too happy with the food but the rest was nice.

jbalonso777 wrote:
Anyways, another fantastic TR from you, with amazing pictures and nice observations made. We sure do look forward to more!

Yup the Arabic mezze is always on the menu. It's a bit of lots of things
Seat preferences, I prefer to avoid the sun Smile

sumantra wrote:
Thanks for sharing this report with us, stealthpilot - we also look forward to you sharing reports from the front office as well!

Front office reports- sorry not anytime soon ....but i hope to have a way more interesting TR by the end of the month Smile
SIN as a city is not 'friendly' .... it's just there. But yea hopefully your next trip will change your view on the airport. It is great!
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

^ Great report Nikhil - glad R & you had a good flight there and back! Why is this the first "Airline" lounge you've been to? Don't you guys have access to the lounges when flying J (whether on holiday or work - clearly tickets are not revenue, but boarding pass still says J right?)
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Spiderguy252
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Top report. As always, the comparison seems to suggest that SQ is the more personal of the two, in terms of product and service.
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stealthpilot
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nimish wrote:
Don't you guys have access to the lounges when flying J (whether on holiday or work - clearly tickets are not revenue, but boarding pass still says J right?)

Boarding pass says J but it's just the seat (on holiday or work)... no lounge or miles etc.

Spiderguy252 wrote:
Top report. As always, the comparison seems to suggest that SQ is the more personal of the two, in terms of product and service.

Thanks- actually I thought EK crew were friendlier but overall no big difference.
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