alanw
Jun 17, 02, 9:11 am
Hey everyone, this is my first trip report. I hope you'll offer feedback. And I hope it isn't too much. I tend to go on sometimes.
This trip is a first for me. I've flown WBC on NW to Europe about a dozen times, but this time I had a short-notice trip to Singapore come up. And in accordance with NW's "no awards during summer" policy, I had to choose between the back of the plane on a relatively direct NW flight from SEA, or picking up a bizclass ticket from a consolidator in SFO.
Granted, the flight was only $1640 RT SFO-SIN, but I wondered how the overall experience would stack up. So this is a report on the trip but also a comparison of what you get for your money.
So, here it is.
--------------------------------------------
Trip Report – SEA-SIN
SEA-SFO AS592
B734 in F, 2C
Scheduled: 5:42, actual 7:12
This flight got off to an uneasy start the night before, as I attempted to check in on the Web. The computer informed me that there was a problem with my reservation and to “proceed to the airport.” My travel agent had booked the flight and upgraded me using a WorldPerks cert. This wasn’t a full Y fare, so I suspected AS had caught this and was going to relegate me to the back of the plane. I called AS and they said my travel agent had failed to supply all the information needed, so I couldn’t check in on the Web. No problems though. Whew.
As usual, I planned to leave my house for the airport at 4:00, a little over an hour and a half before the flight. Also as usual, I pulled out of the driveway at 4:55. Luckily, 99 was wide open through downtown and I made it to SeaTac in about 20 minutes driving much faster than was prudent. I got a parking space right by the elevator and was in the F/MVP line a couple of minutes later. Still, my flight’s departure was approaching and I was afraid I would miss it. The nice lady at the AS counter checked me in, checked my bag all the way through to SIN, and gave me a sticker to get through the elite security line. Did I mention how nice AS folks are?
Security was light, and I breezed right through and jogged the 50 or so yards to the gate. I got there just in time, at 5:20. The only problem was that there was no plane. The flight had been delayed until 6:21, so I headed down to the Board Room to have a drink and check mail.
The Board Room at SEA seems to have been designed by the same guy who designs cabins on the planes. Tiny, cramped, and austere, this is no MEM WorldClub. But the nice AS folks were friendly as always, and I found a desk and passed the time.
When I walked back down the concourse to D5 about 6:00, I couldn’t help but notice that there was still no airplane. Now we were leaving at 6:49. OK, not a big deal. My flight to SIN doesn’t leave until 11:00, so I’m fine. Shortly after, the plane arrived and AS had it emptied, cleaned, and ready to start boarding in about 20 minutes.
Thanks to what I learned on FT, I hung back when they called for pre-boarding and watched as the first guy in line was hauled off for a wanding. After that, boarding was typical, including the part where they didn’t ask for my upgrade cert http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
Chilled bottles of water were waiting at our seats, and the FA came around and welcomed each passenger in F aboard and took drink orders, followed by a verbal menu presentation:
Cold turkey on a kalamata olive baguette smeared with herbed something or other
Or
Chicken breast on wild rice
I opted for the turkey. Shortly after our takeoff to the south over Olympia, the FA brought drinks and a bag-o-nuts to everyone but me (evidently she forgot). I didn’t complain as I didn’t want a bag-o-nuts anyway. A few minutes later, dinner was served. Oh, how I wish I had asked for the chicken. It looked great. The turkey sandwich was dry and bland and just, well, blecch. Soon enough, the FA took it away and I settled in for the rest of the flight.
Here's a photo of the Something-smeared Turkey. http://alan.westenbroek.com/images/sin-01.jpg
There was a very interesting man in 1D who seemed to know all the crew, and joked with them throughout the flight. In between the banter, he was reading what I’m sure was a Greek New Testament. You don’t see that every day. Behind me in 3C was a guy with the LOUDEST VOICE I have ever heard on an airplane. He was droning on and on, regaling his neighbor and the rest of F with tales from his high school reunion. I was tempted to turn around and ask him if we could please try to remember to use our “inside voices” but he eventually wore himself out and we were ready to start our descent into SFO, arriving about 90 minutes late.
SFO-HNL-MNL PR115
A340 in C, 12A
Scheduled: 11:00, actual 11:20
This was my first time in the SFO international terminal. Very nice. I made my way to the PR checkin counters, and even though monahos had prepared me for the sight, it was still startling to see eight or so long lines crammed with people, each pushing a cart with two enormous cardboard boxes on it. Despite being in a long line, the crowd was generally boisterous and excited. The Mabuhay (Bizclass) line had about ten people in it, and the F line was empty. The agent at the F desk just sat there, staring off into space while the agent at the C desk took people one at a time. All in all, the process was terribly disorganized. It took me 55 minutes to get to the counter where I asked for an aisle seat and got an invitation to the Mabuhay lounge. I couldn’t help but think that if I were flying NW I would have been checked in long ago.
The lounge is grouped with all of the others, past security and up to the fourth floor. Once inside, it was even tinier than the AS lounge in SEA but modern and nicely appointed. There was no place to sit, so I stood around for a minute and decided to head for the gate since we were getting close to departure. It was about this point that I really began to wish I was flying good old NW. As I walked down the stairs, I passed a nice, big, new WorldClub. <sigh>.
The gate was at the end of the A concourse and there were already two lines formed from the gate across the concourse and wrapped back to the gate. There was no preboarding, but they did go by row and I was in the first group. While standing in line, I could look out and see a NW 747, probably going the same general direction as me. At that moment I cursed Beth Shultis for the lack of upgrade awards on NW.
I had been expecting a dilapidated older plane from what I had read on FT, but this was a nearly new Airbus 340, clean and in good condition. Arriving in the Mabuhay section, I again wished I was on a NW plane right about now. Business Class on PR is very similar to domestic F on NW or AS. They claimed 50” of pitch, but I find that hard to believe. There were footrests that caught me mid-calf and about 10” of recline. On a shorter flight of a few hours, this would be OK. On a 16 ½ hour haul like this, it was miserable. My neighbor was an older lady in a wheelchair who ate some kind of nut one after the other from a large plastic shopping bag the entire duration of the trip. In front of me were two people who just LOVED the reclining seats. Before takeoff they reclined/sat up over and over again. As soon as we were in the air, the seats went all the way back and stayed that way even through meals and bathroom trips. Being a fat man, I found it impossible to actually get to the aisle with the seats all the way back and the disabled lady sleeping next to me. Finally, she had to go and I was able to stop doing the pee-pee dance and go as well.
Shortly after takeoff, dinner service started, with a choice of several entrees:
Beef tenderloin with whipped potatoes and julienne of vegetables
Pan-fried salmon with whipped potatoes
Some kind of mushroom pasta I didn’t get to remember before the FA took my menu away(!)
It was nice to have the entire meal (save the entrée) brought on a single tray. This was much more efficient than the excruciatingly pretentious two-hour ordeal that was dinner on my last CO BizFirst flight. I mean, it’s airplane food for cryin out loud. I don’t need nine pieces of silverware to make it through a meal of airplane food! Anyway. The food was OK as airplane food goes, about like what you get on a transcon domestic F flight. I had the beef, which was just as overcooked and bland as the beef always is on an airplane. But the alternative was fish, and I’ve watched enough movies to know that you never have the fish.
Here are photos of the appetizer and main courses.
http://alan.westenbroek.com/images/sin-02.jpg
http://alan.westenbroek.com/images/sin-03.jpg
After the meal was cleared, I settled in to watch Monsters Inc. on the IFE main screen. Maybe it’s just my experience with NW’s rickety fleet, but the projector seemed to have a nice picture, with all the colors converged and shapes the right…shape. They also had personal screens but nothing was showing except the same thing as on the main screen. Sometime during the film I dozed off (anyone know if the little girl gets back to her bedroom?) and awoke when we started our descent into HNL for refueling. We were there for about 45 minutes (“everyone stay in your seats!”) and then started the 10 hour flight to Manila.
I pretty much slept the entire time, only climbing over my neighbor twice for a trip to the lav and a short walk to get some circulation back in my legs. About 90 minutes from MNL, the crew served breakfast. I had the sausage and eggs which were about as bad as sausage and eggs get on an airplane. I think the scrambled eggs had been “cooking” since SFO. No surprises there though.
Overall, the crew was friendly and polite, but not very attentive. I got one water glass refill the entire flight. After we took off from HNL, they passed out a slice of French bread with some turkey on it and then disappeared until it was time for breakfast—about 7 hours. I saw one passenger roaming around in the dark galley looking for something to drink at one point but I’m not sure if he got it.
We arrived on time in MNL at 6:32AM, two days after we took off. It took me less than five minutes to go through a transfer desk, security, another transfer desk (didn’t ask), and find my way to the Mubahay departure lounge for my flight to SIN some seven hours later. The new terminal is very nice. Modern, airy, and well laid-out. It reminds me a little of AMS in terms of style and architecture, except the whole terminal is smaller than the KLM Business Class lounge at AMS.
The lounge in MNL is very nicely appointed and quite large. There is a “quiet area” with tables and chairs for working, and two private cubicles with desks (one has net access). A large TV (off), and an adjoining bar area with a variety of snacks and lots more seating. In the back of the lounge is a masseuse doing chair massages, which is a nice touch. Furnishings in the lounge are especially good, and it looks like they could have furnished it from Kasala in Seattle though I am sure they did not.
While writing this I just overheard that there was an earlier flight to SIN, and I could have saved myself 6 hours of sitting in the airport but it was too late to change. This is the price you pay buying from a consolidator, I guess. Now to explore the MNL airport for a while.
OK, that was quick. Without going outside security, there is nothing in this terminal aside from the lounge, a Christian bookstore, and a kiosk selling coffee and candy. Oh, yeah. A “duty free” shop full of cigarettes and booze. Back to the lounge to watch a movie on the laptop and sleep for a few hours.
MNL-SIN PR501
A330 in C, 12A
Scheduled: 2:10, actual 3:00
Boarding by row number, no preboarding for F. This was another nice new Airbus, this time a 330. The A/C was turned off for some reason, and it was stifling inside the plane. Everyone was fanning themselves with the menus, but still we all had sweat pouring down our faces. Not a nice condition when you’ve already been traveling for 28 hours with no shower. If you know what I mean. Once the plane was loaded up and the door was shut, we sat. And sweated. After about 20 minutes I asked the FA what was up and she said she’d ask the captain. A minute later he came on the PA and said there was a wait to taxi.
Finally, we took off. Service and food were identical to the SFO-MNL route: so-so food, polite but inattentive service. After takeoff, the plane cooled down some but was never less than warm. We arrived into SIN about 20 minutes late.
I’ll post the actual Singapore experience and return trip once I’m back.
-alan in seattle
[This message has been edited by alanw (edited 06-17-2002).]
[This message has been edited by alanw (edited 06-25-2002).]
This trip is a first for me. I've flown WBC on NW to Europe about a dozen times, but this time I had a short-notice trip to Singapore come up. And in accordance with NW's "no awards during summer" policy, I had to choose between the back of the plane on a relatively direct NW flight from SEA, or picking up a bizclass ticket from a consolidator in SFO.
Granted, the flight was only $1640 RT SFO-SIN, but I wondered how the overall experience would stack up. So this is a report on the trip but also a comparison of what you get for your money.
So, here it is.
--------------------------------------------
Trip Report – SEA-SIN
SEA-SFO AS592
B734 in F, 2C
Scheduled: 5:42, actual 7:12
This flight got off to an uneasy start the night before, as I attempted to check in on the Web. The computer informed me that there was a problem with my reservation and to “proceed to the airport.” My travel agent had booked the flight and upgraded me using a WorldPerks cert. This wasn’t a full Y fare, so I suspected AS had caught this and was going to relegate me to the back of the plane. I called AS and they said my travel agent had failed to supply all the information needed, so I couldn’t check in on the Web. No problems though. Whew.
As usual, I planned to leave my house for the airport at 4:00, a little over an hour and a half before the flight. Also as usual, I pulled out of the driveway at 4:55. Luckily, 99 was wide open through downtown and I made it to SeaTac in about 20 minutes driving much faster than was prudent. I got a parking space right by the elevator and was in the F/MVP line a couple of minutes later. Still, my flight’s departure was approaching and I was afraid I would miss it. The nice lady at the AS counter checked me in, checked my bag all the way through to SIN, and gave me a sticker to get through the elite security line. Did I mention how nice AS folks are?
Security was light, and I breezed right through and jogged the 50 or so yards to the gate. I got there just in time, at 5:20. The only problem was that there was no plane. The flight had been delayed until 6:21, so I headed down to the Board Room to have a drink and check mail.
The Board Room at SEA seems to have been designed by the same guy who designs cabins on the planes. Tiny, cramped, and austere, this is no MEM WorldClub. But the nice AS folks were friendly as always, and I found a desk and passed the time.
When I walked back down the concourse to D5 about 6:00, I couldn’t help but notice that there was still no airplane. Now we were leaving at 6:49. OK, not a big deal. My flight to SIN doesn’t leave until 11:00, so I’m fine. Shortly after, the plane arrived and AS had it emptied, cleaned, and ready to start boarding in about 20 minutes.
Thanks to what I learned on FT, I hung back when they called for pre-boarding and watched as the first guy in line was hauled off for a wanding. After that, boarding was typical, including the part where they didn’t ask for my upgrade cert http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
Chilled bottles of water were waiting at our seats, and the FA came around and welcomed each passenger in F aboard and took drink orders, followed by a verbal menu presentation:
Cold turkey on a kalamata olive baguette smeared with herbed something or other
Or
Chicken breast on wild rice
I opted for the turkey. Shortly after our takeoff to the south over Olympia, the FA brought drinks and a bag-o-nuts to everyone but me (evidently she forgot). I didn’t complain as I didn’t want a bag-o-nuts anyway. A few minutes later, dinner was served. Oh, how I wish I had asked for the chicken. It looked great. The turkey sandwich was dry and bland and just, well, blecch. Soon enough, the FA took it away and I settled in for the rest of the flight.
Here's a photo of the Something-smeared Turkey. http://alan.westenbroek.com/images/sin-01.jpg
There was a very interesting man in 1D who seemed to know all the crew, and joked with them throughout the flight. In between the banter, he was reading what I’m sure was a Greek New Testament. You don’t see that every day. Behind me in 3C was a guy with the LOUDEST VOICE I have ever heard on an airplane. He was droning on and on, regaling his neighbor and the rest of F with tales from his high school reunion. I was tempted to turn around and ask him if we could please try to remember to use our “inside voices” but he eventually wore himself out and we were ready to start our descent into SFO, arriving about 90 minutes late.
SFO-HNL-MNL PR115
A340 in C, 12A
Scheduled: 11:00, actual 11:20
This was my first time in the SFO international terminal. Very nice. I made my way to the PR checkin counters, and even though monahos had prepared me for the sight, it was still startling to see eight or so long lines crammed with people, each pushing a cart with two enormous cardboard boxes on it. Despite being in a long line, the crowd was generally boisterous and excited. The Mabuhay (Bizclass) line had about ten people in it, and the F line was empty. The agent at the F desk just sat there, staring off into space while the agent at the C desk took people one at a time. All in all, the process was terribly disorganized. It took me 55 minutes to get to the counter where I asked for an aisle seat and got an invitation to the Mabuhay lounge. I couldn’t help but think that if I were flying NW I would have been checked in long ago.
The lounge is grouped with all of the others, past security and up to the fourth floor. Once inside, it was even tinier than the AS lounge in SEA but modern and nicely appointed. There was no place to sit, so I stood around for a minute and decided to head for the gate since we were getting close to departure. It was about this point that I really began to wish I was flying good old NW. As I walked down the stairs, I passed a nice, big, new WorldClub. <sigh>.
The gate was at the end of the A concourse and there were already two lines formed from the gate across the concourse and wrapped back to the gate. There was no preboarding, but they did go by row and I was in the first group. While standing in line, I could look out and see a NW 747, probably going the same general direction as me. At that moment I cursed Beth Shultis for the lack of upgrade awards on NW.
I had been expecting a dilapidated older plane from what I had read on FT, but this was a nearly new Airbus 340, clean and in good condition. Arriving in the Mabuhay section, I again wished I was on a NW plane right about now. Business Class on PR is very similar to domestic F on NW or AS. They claimed 50” of pitch, but I find that hard to believe. There were footrests that caught me mid-calf and about 10” of recline. On a shorter flight of a few hours, this would be OK. On a 16 ½ hour haul like this, it was miserable. My neighbor was an older lady in a wheelchair who ate some kind of nut one after the other from a large plastic shopping bag the entire duration of the trip. In front of me were two people who just LOVED the reclining seats. Before takeoff they reclined/sat up over and over again. As soon as we were in the air, the seats went all the way back and stayed that way even through meals and bathroom trips. Being a fat man, I found it impossible to actually get to the aisle with the seats all the way back and the disabled lady sleeping next to me. Finally, she had to go and I was able to stop doing the pee-pee dance and go as well.
Shortly after takeoff, dinner service started, with a choice of several entrees:
Beef tenderloin with whipped potatoes and julienne of vegetables
Pan-fried salmon with whipped potatoes
Some kind of mushroom pasta I didn’t get to remember before the FA took my menu away(!)
It was nice to have the entire meal (save the entrée) brought on a single tray. This was much more efficient than the excruciatingly pretentious two-hour ordeal that was dinner on my last CO BizFirst flight. I mean, it’s airplane food for cryin out loud. I don’t need nine pieces of silverware to make it through a meal of airplane food! Anyway. The food was OK as airplane food goes, about like what you get on a transcon domestic F flight. I had the beef, which was just as overcooked and bland as the beef always is on an airplane. But the alternative was fish, and I’ve watched enough movies to know that you never have the fish.
Here are photos of the appetizer and main courses.
http://alan.westenbroek.com/images/sin-02.jpg
http://alan.westenbroek.com/images/sin-03.jpg
After the meal was cleared, I settled in to watch Monsters Inc. on the IFE main screen. Maybe it’s just my experience with NW’s rickety fleet, but the projector seemed to have a nice picture, with all the colors converged and shapes the right…shape. They also had personal screens but nothing was showing except the same thing as on the main screen. Sometime during the film I dozed off (anyone know if the little girl gets back to her bedroom?) and awoke when we started our descent into HNL for refueling. We were there for about 45 minutes (“everyone stay in your seats!”) and then started the 10 hour flight to Manila.
I pretty much slept the entire time, only climbing over my neighbor twice for a trip to the lav and a short walk to get some circulation back in my legs. About 90 minutes from MNL, the crew served breakfast. I had the sausage and eggs which were about as bad as sausage and eggs get on an airplane. I think the scrambled eggs had been “cooking” since SFO. No surprises there though.
Overall, the crew was friendly and polite, but not very attentive. I got one water glass refill the entire flight. After we took off from HNL, they passed out a slice of French bread with some turkey on it and then disappeared until it was time for breakfast—about 7 hours. I saw one passenger roaming around in the dark galley looking for something to drink at one point but I’m not sure if he got it.
We arrived on time in MNL at 6:32AM, two days after we took off. It took me less than five minutes to go through a transfer desk, security, another transfer desk (didn’t ask), and find my way to the Mubahay departure lounge for my flight to SIN some seven hours later. The new terminal is very nice. Modern, airy, and well laid-out. It reminds me a little of AMS in terms of style and architecture, except the whole terminal is smaller than the KLM Business Class lounge at AMS.
The lounge in MNL is very nicely appointed and quite large. There is a “quiet area” with tables and chairs for working, and two private cubicles with desks (one has net access). A large TV (off), and an adjoining bar area with a variety of snacks and lots more seating. In the back of the lounge is a masseuse doing chair massages, which is a nice touch. Furnishings in the lounge are especially good, and it looks like they could have furnished it from Kasala in Seattle though I am sure they did not.
While writing this I just overheard that there was an earlier flight to SIN, and I could have saved myself 6 hours of sitting in the airport but it was too late to change. This is the price you pay buying from a consolidator, I guess. Now to explore the MNL airport for a while.
OK, that was quick. Without going outside security, there is nothing in this terminal aside from the lounge, a Christian bookstore, and a kiosk selling coffee and candy. Oh, yeah. A “duty free” shop full of cigarettes and booze. Back to the lounge to watch a movie on the laptop and sleep for a few hours.
MNL-SIN PR501
A330 in C, 12A
Scheduled: 2:10, actual 3:00
Boarding by row number, no preboarding for F. This was another nice new Airbus, this time a 330. The A/C was turned off for some reason, and it was stifling inside the plane. Everyone was fanning themselves with the menus, but still we all had sweat pouring down our faces. Not a nice condition when you’ve already been traveling for 28 hours with no shower. If you know what I mean. Once the plane was loaded up and the door was shut, we sat. And sweated. After about 20 minutes I asked the FA what was up and she said she’d ask the captain. A minute later he came on the PA and said there was a wait to taxi.
Finally, we took off. Service and food were identical to the SFO-MNL route: so-so food, polite but inattentive service. After takeoff, the plane cooled down some but was never less than warm. We arrived into SIN about 20 minutes late.
I’ll post the actual Singapore experience and return trip once I’m back.
-alan in seattle
[This message has been edited by alanw (edited 06-17-2002).]
[This message has been edited by alanw (edited 06-25-2002).]