Trip Reports - SIN-AKL on SQ in F (no pics - sorry!)

I'm really bored - can't sleep and I'm in the middle of nowhere so I thought I would report a little on my last trip with SQ on the 77W in F.

Check-in
Process was easy in T3 at the curb-side check-in. I actually came in on a different carrier in T1, so I hauled my luggage all the way over to T3 and used the exit of the F check-in area as my entrance. It was empty at the time of my departure - the flight leaves just after 9pm and most of the European flights leave around midnight.

The Private Room
I didn't get an invitation on check-in, but my boarding pass stipulated the invitation. They knew me at the entrace to the SKL so I didn't get the escort to TPR area.

To get to TPR you have to walk through the First Class lounge area. There is a seperate lounge warden that then brings you in and lets you choose your seat. There is a dining near the buffet where you can choose from a la carte dishes - I saw someone have satay but didn't have a look at the actual menu (my previous visits have always been in the morning).

I had some tid-pits from the Buffet - nothing to write home about (actually, my dining experience at TPR on previous occasions hasn't been that great either) and then headed to the gate.

Boarding
Easy and seamless. Only 2 pax in F. All the usual formalities are conducted by a very stunning crew member (i.e. menu, amenity kit, drink after take-off). The menu for the flight was as follows:

MENU TO BE POSTED TOMORROW

I had the cheese burger - and I was disappointed. To be honest, I was expecting something similar to NH's Super Cheeseburger, but the meat just wasn't wagyu!

Also, the meat wasn't hot enough (it was actually still cold). I couldn't be bothered to ask them to heat it back up - I guess to a certain extent I expect them to get it right the first time when paying for First Class. I wasn't too fussed, though...

I was asked whether I'd like to be woken for breakfast and I told the Leading Stewardess as long as it was only 45 minutes before departure (since it usually only takes about 15 minutes to eat). The Stewardess said that they can only serve breakfast 1.5 hours before arrival - when I asked why she said "because otherwise we don't have enough time to eat..."

My jaw dropped.

Regardless, my facial expression didn't make her reconsider.

MENU TO BE POSTED TOMORROW

Arrival and transfer processes were uneventful. To be honest, I'm not surprised that SQ is the only carrier with F on this particular route - with yields so low. But the experience generally was very underwhelming...

Questions? Feel free to post!

Actually EK still flies SIN-BNE-AKL and has F. SQ and EK are the only airlines flying directly between Singapore and NZ.

Your flight though sounds very sub-par. I've only experienced that bad service in F on 2 airlines - UA and BA (1 flight each).

I'm nit-picking, but SIN-BNE-AKL isn't really 'direct' ;)

If the Leading Stewardess wasn't so beautiful, I'd probably be even more disappointed :D (sad, but true). The bed and IFE were both excellent - but it was my 6th flight on the 77W in the span of 2 weeks so I was somewhat jaded by that point!

I'm nit-picking, but SIN-BNE-AKL isn't really 'direct' ;)

EK432/433 are in fact direct flights SIN-BNE-AKL and return. What they are not is non-stop SIN-AKL.

A direct flight may have intermediate stops, while obviously a non-stop does not.

But the experience generally was very underwhelming...

Didn't the Krug and the bed make up for the unspectacular service?! ;) :D

Actually EK still flies SIN-BNE-AKL and has F. SQ and EK are the only airlines flying directly between Singapore and NZ.

Not for much longer though. I read somewhere that the BNE flight will be terminating instead of continuing to AKL from next year

Right. Part of the reshuffle with A380 and extra EK flights to Australia.

The Stewardess said that they can only serve breakfast 1.5 hours before arrival - when I asked why she said "because otherwise we don't have enough time to eat..."

Maybe she meant you don't have enough time to eat... ? Regardless I agree that it's a completely ridiculous limit, especially given that (for example) CX accepts meal orders for hot breakfasts up to 45 mins prior to landing. That having said, the crew were happy enough to serve me a hot breakfast 1 hour out from Auckland on SQ last time (though not on an earlier trip).

I love SQ, but one of the downsides of the 77W in F is the lack of overhead bins. I once flew with a fairly large rollaboard and the robotic Leading Steward told me "there are no overhead bins in this cabin" when I requested a place to stow it because it was obstructing my legspace by putting it under my seat. I had to sweet talk a Junior Steward (who was later reprimanded by the Leading Steward) to stow it for me (I assume in a Business Class overhead bin).

SQ seems fond to invent and enforce rules which make no sense - like the 1.5 hour cutoff for a Continental Breakfast or 2.5 hour cutoff for a hot breakfast. I've had two ORD-LHR flights on United where a Continental Breakfast is served in Business Class 45 minutes prior to arrival....a bit later than standard procedure because the F/As know that passengers want to sleep as long as possible.

Also I'm a bit puzzled how a cheeseburger belongs on an Intl F menu, or was it Book the Cook?

Also I'm a bit puzzled how a cheeseburger belongs on an Intl F menu, or was it Book the Cook?

No there is not cheeseburger on Book the Cook

No there is not cheeseburger on Book the Cook
Correct. It was on the menu - I left the menu on the plane the other week: just waiting for my PPS co-ordinator to send it to me!

Didn't think it was going to take this long... sorry!