Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer - Lhr-syd

Hi all
Hope I can pick your collective brains
I'm on a Singapore Airlines flight from LHR to Sydney on Friday..I'm told I'm going to be flying on a 747..and I'm in Economy class...

1. Anyone know if they have laptop rechargers in Economy class?

2. I was told to book Singapore Airlines because the legroom was particularly good on this route compared with other airlines, but reading ome of the posts here it seems like that might not be the case...does anyone know if I'm going to be in for a really cramped 25 hours? :confused:

3. When I originally booked the tickets I was told that I couldnt reserve seats until 48 hours beforehand...I phoned today to get my Krisflyer account details added to my reservation and was told that I could resever my seats as soon as I booked my tickets! GRRRRR :mad: !! Anyway predictable there are no Exit aisle seats available on any of my flights...has anyone any advice of any other seats to try and get (they wont release bulkhead because of potential babies on the flight)

4. Dont suppose theres any way of using my significant number of Virgin airmiles to upgrade?

Anyone got any other advice on how to make this a more enjoyable flight??

Thanks so much! :D
James

1. No. Unfortunately there are no power outlets on Economy seats on SQ's B747-400s.
2. Many thinks that Malaysia Airlines and Thai both beat SQ's seat pitch in Y.
3. You could only reserved "Aisle/Window" at the time of reservation. No specific seats can be booked in advance, even for SQ's highest tier frequent flyers. I wouldn't want bulkhead seats due to limited legroom on the 744s. It's either the emergency exit seats or just regular seats.
4. Dunno. :)

Advice: don't expect too much - you would have an enjoyable flight ;).

It may be too late to do anything now but, if you need more space, you could have booked on Malaysia Airlines LHR-KUL-SYD but on Virgin ticket. VS codeshares on that route. You'll get more space in Y on MH (and TG) (vs SQ Y on its 744 services) and can accrue the mileage on KF. MH does not have power outlets for laptops in Y but MH allows you to pre-book specific seats in Y (even on a VS ticket). Perhaps, for the next trip ...

Welcome to FT ingha_j :)

Or you could have gone with Air NZ (via LAX/SFO and AKL) - 34" pitch in econ (on the 747 long haul sectors) and a partner of Virgin Atlantic.

It may be too late to do anything now but, if you need more space, you could have booked on Malaysia Airlines LHR-KUL-SYD but on Virgin ticket. VS codeshares on that route. You'll get more space in Y on MH (and TG) (vs SQ Y on its 744 services) and can accrue the mileage on KF. MH does not have power outlets for laptops in Y but MH allows you to pre-book specific seats in Y (even on a VS ticket). Perhaps, for the next trip ...

And having said all that, I do not think you'll have a horrible flight. The pitch in SQ Y 744 is 32", so it depends how big/tall you are. Anyway, the service onboard should be good and the personal entertainment system (if it doesn't crash - this happens many times on SQ) should be top-notch. In Y, I'll take SQ over BA, EK or QF anytime anyday on the LHR-SYD route.

It may be too late to do anything now but, if you need more space, you could have booked on Malaysia Airlines LHR-KUL-SYD but on Virgin ticket. VS codeshares on that route. You'll get more space in Y on MH (and TG) (vs SQ Y on its 744 services) and can accrue the mileage on KF. MH does not have power outlets for laptops in Y but MH allows you to pre-book specific seats in Y (even on a VS ticket). Perhaps, for the next trip ...

Why bother with a VS codeshare when MH flight numbers on that route will be cheaper overall. Plus you still can earn miles on either VS or LX's FF programme.

Another airline to consider with same 34" pitch on a 747 as MH is TG. But TG does not have personal IFE's - only the screen ahead! But the food is great!

3. When I originally booked the tickets I was told that I couldnt reserve seats until 48 hours beforehand...I phoned today to get my Krisflyer account details added to my reservation and was told that I could resever my seats as soon as I booked my tickets! GRRRRR :mad: !! Anyway predictable there are no Exit aisle seats available on any of my flights...has anyone any advice of any other seats to try and get (they wont release bulkhead because of potential babies on the flight)




James

They will only officially allow you to request aisle or window. However, if you want a specific seat ask SQ or your TA to put the request in with the booking. The local stations look at seat requests 72 hours out and allocates seats as much as they can.

If you have joined Krisflyer you can check-in on line from 48 hours before your flight, this would be worth doing in an attempt to get an aisle seat. You never know !.

You seem to indicate you are flying alone. However, if there are 2 of you should try and get one of the 4 rows (I think) of just 2 seats right at the back.

TG and MH have 34" legroom as opposed to SQ's 32" on the 744 (34' from MAN on 772ER !) but you willl enjoy the in-flight service and Krisworld on-demand entertainment system.