- Tunis TUN - Istanbul IST (Turkish Airlines Business, 737-800) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5504.html
- Istanbul IST - Seoul ICN (Turkish Airlines Business, A340-300) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5519.html
- Seoul ICN - Singapore SIN (Singapore Airlines Business, B777-300ER) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5534.html
- Singapore SIN - Newark EWR (Singapore Airlines Business, A340-500) [YOU ARE HERE]
- New York JFK - Frankfurt FRA (Singapore Airlines Business, A380) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5610.html
- Frankfurt FRA - Vienna VIE (Lufthansa Business, A321) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5613.html
- Vienna VIE - Istanbul SAW (Turkish Airlines Business, 737-800) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5645.html
- Istanbul IST - Tunis TUN (Tunis Air Economy, A320) http://flight-report.com/en/report-5663.html
I'm travelling for my pleasure : it's of course a totally different way to fly from a businessman for whom the primary purpose is to fly from point A to point B
I didn't sleep a lot because I was jetlagged, excited and afraid not be able to wake up
So I arrived at Terminal 3 at about 9:00 am
The Terminal was very airy and light-filled
My flight was on time
Nobody at the Business SQ check-in counters but I didn't need them because I had already gotten my BP when I arrived from ICN
Immigration was a breeze and I headed to the SilverKris lounge
Are they thinking about redemption tickets ? ;)
SilverKris Lounge entry
The lounge was very large, airy, and pleasant with different areas; the only down side is that there was no outside view.
Great food and beverage offer
Where is Numero_2 ?
My selection
The power outlets are only Singapore/UK standard
I took a shower just before leaving the lounge
The showers are a bit dark
Then I headed to the gate, it was 20 minutes before boarding time and I was the first to pass through security check and a subsequent passport check
I received this sheet when entering the gate : it's about the SQ22 discontinued route
My aircraft : An Airbus A340-500 9V-SGE, first flight was on the 06/03/2004
About 30 minutes after the boarding began and I headed to my seat 30K
In fact it's more of a couch than a seat ;)
On each seat was a pillow but no blanket
There were only two windows instead of three in the 77W
The legroom is less generous but of course still more than decent
The table in the 77W was more practical as it was rotating when needing to get out of the seat
The headphones
The footrest is much bigger at this row and exit rows: other rows have a kind of shoebox
Seat control
The menu and the Wine list (for the complete offer of beverages please see the SQ15 ICN-SIN flight because a FR is limited to 150 pictures)
PDB
Some Bollinger champagne of course ;)
Tribute to my SQ22 flight
The cabin
Beside
Seatpocket stuff
Safety card
Unfortunately someone wrote with a pen on the seat :(
The remote control was in the left armrest
I asked for a blanket and I've been given the quilt used for sleeping
An oshibori was handed out
My seat is just after the exit
View from my seat
The seatbelt was different from the 77W's
The final instructions between the flight attendants
Push back and taxi to runway
A SQ whale
A SQ 77W
Another SQ whale
The Crowne Plaza hotel should have great views on the apron
Goodbye Changi
I hope to see you soon
JetStar
Scoot
Myanmar Airways and Eva Air
Air Asia
Tiger Airways : I like this livery
And an amazing Air Zimbabwe aircraft !!!
Philippines Airline
Another Tiger
A last view of Air Zimbabwe
A Scoot with the control tower
Late take off
It was smooth and the A345 was climbing slowly
The flight is full and except the FA that was taking orders, I'm never adressed by name.
This is understandable because I've never been served twice by the same FA and that the service was in roadrunner mode
Anyway, it was a very good service but not so attentive as it used to be
Maybe because I'm not a PPS ;)
Because of the strong tailwinds the aircraft was flying too fast and the flight time was only 17:30 :(
More champagne, Sir ? ;)
And even a cranberry juice
and some nuts
The table was set and the service began with the salmon
Trilogy of salmon with mesclun salad, Slices of hot smoked, cold smoked and marinated salmon
Quite stingy trilogy :(
The bread selection was good and my choice was with garlic bread and fougasse
Then my book the cook choice
Classic lobster thermidor
A bit disappointed because the lobster was rubbery, the rice tasteless and there were only three asparagus tips, the remaining was pieces of asparagus
So I asked for another main… but only this one was still available
Please note there was no second bread service(my bread plate stayed empty) and I was not offered new cutlery for my second main either
Spring chicken with chorizo sausage, chick peas and sauteed cavalo nero leaves
I was amazed to find such a main in a SQ menu but in fact it was quite good especially because I'm fond of chickpeas
Then it was dessert time
Panna cotta with citrus compote
My water glass was empty and the FA didn't ask to or refill it when bringing dessert : not usual with SQ FAs !
Tribute to SQ22 with Sauternes this time
Fruits cart
The filing of sugar this excellent Sauternes is impressive
The power outlet was out of order during all the flight : I was just offered to charge my PC in the galley
Gourmet coffees & selection of fine teas, with pralines
Only the latter for me
The front cabin
Perfect sleeping position : a 3 hours nap after lunch
As usual, I listen to music on board and watch the flight map
But when I was looking at David Bowie's songs, I was amazed not to find at least a few hits, not just unknown oldies !!
Maybe because it was royalties free ;)
About 4 hours and a half after the end of the lunch, the dinner service began.
Both meals really seemed all too close especially as there was no refreshment before arrival.
An oshibori was handed out
Then they forgot to offer me a beverage but I was still able to catch an average orange juice
That was followed by the always (fortunately) very good satays
Satay with onion, cucumber and spicy sauce
No cucumber in fact ;)
I decided to try the internet connexion provided by OnAir even if it was very expensive 14,99 usd for 15Mb
So here was the Corporate picture
Megabytes were flowing very fast and it wasn't possible to use twitter
Bandwidth was very very slow :(
All in all not recommended !
The table was set and the dinner service began
As I knew that there would not have a second bread service I asked for two garlic bread and one fougasse
Service was made in roadrunner mode even if more than half of the pax were already sleeping
Cajun spiced prawns with marinated capsicums and sweet pepper pesto
It was still almost frozen, not spicy at all and the pesto was too concentrated and was not allowing to discern any other flavor
Then my book the cook choice
Chilean Bass and Kalamata olive potato
The fish was good but the sauce was a sort of industrial canned lobster bisque.
The peppers were very acidic and mashed potatoes with olives contained a spice that I could not identify and did not like.
So let's go for a second main…
Spaghetti marinara was the only choice left : that was amazing because a lot of people were sleeping as I said before
The pasta was dry : it was obvious that this dish was lacking sauce :(
Always asparagus without tips : is that trendy ?
I was not offered new cutlery for my second main and no refill of water like for the lunch
Tiramisu, Mascarpone chessecake with coffee
That was great : very good taste and texture except the not ripe strawberries
Payson breton brie, delices des bois, stokes point, smocked cheddar served with fig paste, walnut and biscuit
Gourmet coffees & selection of fine teas, with pralines
Only the latter for me
We were flying at high speed to New York
My seat
At 4 hours before New York I asked at what time the refreshment would be served
They answered that no refreshment would be served !!!
But I was asked to choose a refreshment online ???
Anyway I decided to pick a light bite !
Egg noodles soup with scallop, prawn and leafy greens
It turned out to be good
We were now close to our target
And we were allowed to open the window shades
The sun was going down when we were beginning the descent
Soft landing behind schedule
Waouh ! a great flight
I like IFE route map picture
CATERING and Service a little beat under SQ standard but
this flight still magic
Seat is like a SOFA with a huge IFE screen
Like that, it's sure, you can stay a long time inside the plane
Thanks for this Report !
Large menu with some appealing options, it makes me hungry.
Safe choice for the Bollinger onboard.
I would not expect a full flight, surprising! Shame that you haven't been adressed by name except for the order.
Fantastic route map lol
Starter is nice but as you said the portion is tiny
Miam Lobter!!! Presentation is flawless, shame it doesn't taste as good as it looks.
Desert seems fresh
I am quite shocked that no bread nor drinks were proactively offered!
Weird protocal indeed with the dinner served 4 hrs after the lunch.
I like satay too!
Thank you for this expensive corporate picture ^^
Once again I find the catering very well presented, it's a shame it tasted average.
The lack of second choice is indeed surprising, maybe they are keeping some dishes for them to eat?
I would have expect the northernmost route for this flight but it's not the case.
Thanks a lot for this report, I am a bit surprised with the rating of the FA but it's up to you.
Take care ;)
I am a bit surprised with the rating of the FA but it's up to you.
Singapore is one of my favorite cities and I like to go there : I know that Mr DURIAN has a gun, so I'd like to stay safe for my next trip ;)
A very good FR , thanks.
Air zimbabwe to singapore ?
This is a great flight ! Too bad the route map shows is eastern bound at the beginning...it's doesn't look like a RTW this way :)
I find you very picky on the catering ! Obviously, there are a few lacks (no other choice when everybody's asleep, no third service when it was booked online...) but the lobster does look good. I can understand it's not perfect, but you're on a plane, don't expect calamari to be still shaking in lime ;) The marinara looks great to me : come on G. ! you're not in TK, everything must not be drowning in olive oil ^^ Fruits coming in the plastic box is a real mistake.
A great flight. It's an award, so let's be nice :)
I don't agree : flying an award or paid ticket is not making a difference or maybe you agree with an AF FA who told my neighbour during a IAH-CDG in J : You're not entitled to ask for a mimosa because you are flying on an award ticket
BTW it's a M&M award ticket, not so easy to earn with their poor earn rates and even more difficult next year
SQ is THE reference and I had great expectations because I already had great meals on board.
I will show you a concrete example on my next flight JFK-FRA on how it was and how it is now.
I agree and I didn't make myself clear. For me an award ticket passenger is maybe even more valuable then an paying ticket passenger : because if he's on an award it means he has been loyal, valuable and paying for quite a time. And a return customer is more interesting than someone who may have bought its first and one-time J ticket.
What I meant is that when I paid for my ticket, I can myself more the sense of its real value. Whether it costs me 1000 or 1500€ does make a difference. When I am on an award ticket, I don't really care if the flight was commercialized at 2000, 3000 or 4000...I loose the real value of it (and don't really care). So I tend to be more flexible and tolerant than with paying tickets (but that is how I feel it ; again not how the company should feel about me).
To another extend, you can read in my FR on short haul european flights that I let everything go with 99€ tickets and raise the bar much more in J...whereas J and Y are more or less the same story in these flights...
Beautiful report! The lounge is great, too bad that there are no windows facing outside. The catering looks really good, surely because of your great pictures, shame that it was disappointing. I'm surprised that for an 18h flight, in Business, there are only 2 meals--although technically you ate 4 meals :-)
The A340-500 is a beautiful aircraft, too bad SQ is getting rid of it. It's a shame they coudn't make these flights work, even with the prices they charge.
Thanks for sharing your trip on this iconic and soon-to-be history flight !
The lounge section of your FR is unusually short, probably because the flight was so loooong lol
I flew my SIN-LAX in June this year also on 9V-SGE, same type of seat, 11K front row seat.
Row 30 is just in front of the toilets in the middle of the cabin, right... not too noisy or too much traffic ?
Air Zimbabwe was in Singapore as the infamous Mugabe was there because his daughter was graduating from a local university... Mugabe come regularly for medical treatment as well.
Not being addressed by your last name is unusual... and no excuse your last name is not difficult to pronounce... BOND, B-O-N-D ;)
Ha ha I feel like crying when I see the sad salmon without the salad on top ;-)
I've picked only once the lobster in BTC. I'm not used to eating lobster so often and cannot compare but that was not fantastic if I remember well.
Not surprised there are leftover chicken meals, how can one pick chicken in J ? (and also how can an airline put such a basic dish on their menu is another question).
Overall I can understand your disappointment, it's all about expectations... you expected great you got good (or so). I won't comment on the catering as it's personal taste but the service indeed seems substandard SQ on this flight, that's surprising...
Anyway, you had your dream flight, congrats :)
Lounge section is short because I'm only allowed 150 pictures to post ;)
It was a great flight and I enjoyed every second
I had great expectations about catering because I had the best meals on board on SQ flights but now everything has changed and cost cuttings won't allow to have such great experiences any more
@Durian:
In the past, SIN was a regular service of UM network... i wonder if this B767 is as confortable as this A345!
@Papoumada:
Despite its poor financial state, UM operates few daily services to JNB and some domestic routes
I would have bet Air Zimbabwe was there because of Mugabe. (BTW, do they have any other aircraft?)
I naively thought that guy was not welcome anywhere...
Thanks for this great FR:it is a very long flight but with this service it seems short!
Just a little desapointed by the presentation of the lobster.
I have never travelled with SQ but when I read your reports I hope to do it soon;)
Your warning address is important as the devils lies in the details.
You spent your miles on an iconic experience that will soon be just memories.
I guess you were pleased to find a lounge which offer can be compared to IST !
Despite a deceiving service and maybe catering -certainly due to high expectancies, you had a delightful and soon historical experience.
Did u enjoy the Bolliger?
Thanks for sharing.
I really enjoyed the Bollinger as my alter ego ;)
So do I usually ;)
Thanks for this masterpiece of flight history.
Your a very lucky man. AF001 and SQ022.
Satay chicken slurp ;)
Your second first main meel look like so-so to many brown colors.
Second servie if better sadly served too close from the first one.
Light bite seems to be ok.
Thanks for sharing your dream!
Inspite Frwstar2's numerous reports, i'm not used to see the wing ahead on a J class trip!
How many aircrafts are (were) configured in all-biz?
For the rest of the report, it makes me just feel very hungry :-D
What else can you do on a ultra-long haul flight except sleeping and eating?
I'm kinda disappointed by the catering. The fruit cart is not attractive at all.
Bollinger... That's my boy!!!
Reading an SQ report is always a pleasure. Thank you for sharing your flight with us.
East African: there were 5 A345 until 2 months ago, now down to 2-3 I think. The last flight I believe is tomorrow Saturday.
Thanks for this report on an incredible flight.
I love the design of SQ's business class.
Air Zimbabwe ? Nice shot !
Thanks for this report.
After reading your FR, it seems you had another disapointement with SQ, but your grades arent't that bad actually.
The meals don't look that inviting again, which is a shame.
Was the crew friendly in between the meals?
How much time will the flight to NYC through FRA add?
Not really a disappointment because the most important was to fly this aircraft et this route as you did with the MD11
The crew was crossing the aisles very often all along the flight
It will add a bit more than 6-7 hours to this flight time depending of the tailwinds
Thanks for sharing this amazing trip and the detailed report. Too bad you couldn't load more pictures.
It's a shame that some disappointing elements continued on this leg of your trip. I'm surprised that catering was not spectacular as it should be leaving out of their hub station. I find that for a premium cabin, it is unacceptable to not be offered refills, particularly on a very long haul flight. Also there is no excuse for the hurried service on a flight of this length. It appears that you derived more enjoyment from your flight on TK than on legendary SQ. Perhaps I should tone down my expectations.
I find the fruit presentation on SQ's J to be poor. Who can eat a whole fruit after a multi course meal? The pineapple pieces in plastic containers look so cheap. It gives the feeling of something that you would pick up from a convenience store like 7-11. A nice cheese and fruit service should be done with cheeses presented from a board and with tags identifying them. Not everyone is knowledgeable about cheeses - unless you happen to be French ;) - Being able to tell one type of cheese from the other would be especially helpful for Asian customers who are not accustomed to this delicacy. Of course, the FA can always give the descriptions but after a while this could be very time consuming and delay the efficiency flow of the service. Fruits should be presented in small portions and small ones like grapes, strawberries and figs are ideal. If you serve more exotic products like pineapples, papayas or mangoes (after all, SIN is a delightful tropical destination), have them sliced and nicely arranged on a tray.
Addressing you by name makes for a good impression, but this is a matter of personal taste and for some casual cultures like U.S. or Australia, it might be too formal. Personally I like it and it speaks about the professionalism of the company. At least I prefer that to being called honey or hon.
It would be interesting to read your next installment on SQ from JFK-FRA. Those are two highly competitive financial centers so the demographics of the passengers would be a bit different. Maybe we will see a consistency in being addressed by name.
Thanks for this awesome report !!
To bad SQ never buy 77L to continue this flight ^^ :(
SQ21/22 ends today, november 23th. But the last SQ21 will land at SIN on november 25th due of the jetlag.
A again a great flight but the catering is little disappointing...
Nice spotting at SIN :D !
Thanks for this wonderful FR 007, you summed it up well. It's hard to imagine being in the air for 18 hours, even half of that, 9 hours counts as a very long flight, so 18?!?!?! I think so that like you if I were travelling in business, I would enjoy every moment of it, the luxury of flying in an all business class airplane too!
Everything looked good, of course it's hard to keep catering fresh 18-24 hours after it was prepared. Do you know if SQ prepares eggs on board like other airlines?
Thanks again for sharing this epic trip.
Great flight report. Would love to have done the worlds longest flight.