Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - SQ321 Spacebed report

Just came off SQ321 LHR-SIN. Was very fortunate to find out that this is the first flight to receive the new Spacebed. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Here are my impressions,

General/non-specific:
* Looked big and bulky, especially at the head end.

Good:
* Flat with a recline. Able to sleep on side.
* 110V international power socket for laptops.
* Large LCD screen.
* Lots of logical storage spaces.

Bad:
* Many plastic parts with flimpsy feel eg. Wabbly arm rests, tray table and central divider screen.
* Tray table unsteady in use and difficult to return to slot.
* Tend to slip down the flat bed.
* Head support can not be angled up. Had to use a pillow to improve head/neck support in half recline position. Also, the head rest floats around due to loose attachment.
* Inability to just recline the seat back indepently of other seat movements.
* A few electrical teething problems where the parts of the seat didn't work properly eg. Arm rest got stuck in the lowered position.

Well, I would give a 8/10 score. According to the staffs in LHR, SQ321 is first, then progressively it'll be phased into the other two LHR flights. Completion by Sept 2002. I also hope that SQ would start to address some of the short-coming of the present seats.

In a way, I miss those old blue seats.

thanks for the report. at least we now know they actually exist and aren't just figments of the imagination. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

IMHO, wobbly armrests and tray tables are quite unacceptable. what was the angle of the flatbed?

G'day MillionMiles

Did you manage to get the rego of the aircraft you were on? That we we will know exactly which 744 to keep an eye out for.

If not can you pls tell me the date of departure from LHR, and I will find out the rego.

Many thanks,
MD

What is the actual pitch?
They claim the bed is 74" long.
But that is not the pitch because the bed is downhill and your head goes over the next passangers feet.
Is the pitch more then 60"?
What was the pitch on the old seats?

Unfortunately I did not have the rego no for that aircraft. It was LHR-SIN SQ317 6 June. According to the staffs in LHR, all SQ317 flights have Spacebeds. Then progressively the next two LHR-SIN flights by Sept.

Unfortunately I did not measure the pitch nor angle. And I really can't estimate them nor compare with any other similar offering. UA F Suite is my only comparison and I didn't think it would be fair.

Just a couple of questions,

1) Does anyone know what the layout is like on the main deck? I've heard It's 2-2-2 but then again I'm not really sure.

2 ) Is Row 17 still the holy grail to shoot for on the upper deck?

It's actually 2-3-2 just like before.

Finished by trip on a blue seat 744. How nice (solid construction) apart from the flat surface and big screen.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MilesDependent:


Did you manage to get the rego of the aircraft you were on? That we we will know exactly which 744 to keep an eye out for.

If not can you pls tell me the date of departure from LHR, and I will find out the rego.
</font>

The rego was 9V-SMM.

MD

The two aircraft with the Spacebeds to this date are 9V-SMM AND 9V-SPQ

Hope this helps, WISEMEN

WISEMEN: Please state your sources.

I agree with Wiseman, one of the 744 aircraft is 9V-SPQ as I have just arrived from SIN to LHR on one and it had SpaceBed. The configuration is 2x3x2 on the main deck and 2x2 on the upper deck.

My trip report on the SpaceBed
===============================
The first impression that one gets when they enter the cabin is "okay, what is this". It is only when you settle into the seat when a passenger comes to appreciate the various features of this product. I must admit that there are simply too many different things to play around with. There are parts that are not very strong and they wobble.

The size of the meal tray is very small and not good for working. I also found the headphone plugging area to be in the wrong position as I found it to be destracting whilst sleeping. I am not sure if the AC power outlet is also in the right place. My belief is that SQ's brief in developing this product was to make sure that it was the widest and longest bed in J class. But unfortunately, they have failed in delivering a good product design that is simple in operation.

As the airline claims to have the widest seat in the sky, this is only when the arms are retracted down but a note must be made that the arms do not retract full to the lines of the main base of the seat and hence the total width really doesn't extend to 27 inches as SQ claims. I think having the seat at 22 inches in width is more than sufficient. The 5 inches are taken into account when the armrests are retracted when the seat is in flat mode.

The seats use fake suede material and fake leather which will wear and tear in short time. To be honest, the seats already started to look worned out. Apparently, the airline had to reduce the weight of the seat as it was too heavy when they released the first prototype last August.

The cabin crew are also complaining that the seats have taken alot of space in the cabin which limits them when serving meals. They continously bump into the seats as there is no room for the trolley. This will result in a quicker wear and tear of the product.

Above all, the product is okay. I personally think SQ hasn't given to much attention in the finer details of this product. They have certainly failed in key aspects of the design with too many items that require moving around and bottons to fiddle with during the flight.

The remote control is located inside a covered compartment where passenger have to retract the unit and place it on the armrest. What SQ should have done is to have a little cut out where passenger can have access to the remote control without having to retract it from the unit. Similar to Cathay Pacific's idea (their new J class).

If anyone would like more details, please let me know. I will do my best in answering any queries relating to the new SpaceBed product. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a good product but with few faults in the design. It certainly is comfortable but a little more attention to the overall design would have given this product a better feel.

All in all, SQ, CX, BA, VS offer flat-stretch sleeper seats in the sky and it is these airlines that consistently win awards. In future, I will make sure I am on one of these airlines when travelling either First or Business Class.

Nice report.

Given my experiences (as a passenger) with new seat introduction on UA and LH. I would say, and hope, that SQ will use these first aircrafts to be their beta and get a chance to fix some of the problems pronto.

Fingers crossed for all who enjoy flying on SQ.