jacob_m

Haha!! Thanks a lot! ^ ^

jacob_m

I had 4 hours and 20 minutes between flights in Shanghai, at the end the transfer time got reduced a bit due to the late arrival of the flight from Seoul.
But still more than enough time for the airport formalities...and to do some other things!

It might be a bit odd, but I’m a crazy person and this was a crazy trip, so it goes well with everything else.
Since I had to enter China to reclaim and recheck the luggage I decided to leave the airport and try out the Maglev train, the superfast monorail train between Pudong airport and downtown Shanghai.

Check-in



I found the Singapore Airlines check-in desks in check-in island C. To my delight the desks were manned and I approached one of the business class desks and presented my travel documents.
However that’s where the luck ended, apparently they were only checking in for SQ 833 leaving three hours earlier than my flight.
I asked if they could not make an exception so I could get rid of my suitcase, but the agent claimed the system only allowed check-in for one flight at the time.
It sounded a bit strange, but what do I know?!



Well fortunately check-in for SQ 833 was just about to close, so it meant a mere 20 minutes wait. While waiting for check-in to open for my flight I went to the end of the terminal building to enjoy the apron view.
Pudong is certainly a rather busy airport. I could spot the Shanghai Airlines Boeing 737 I arrived on from Seoul, parked right behind a Boeing 767 from Air Canada.

At 4.05 pm I was back at check-in island C and noticed the monitors now indicated they were checking in for SQ 835.
The check-in process was very quick at one of the business class check-in desks but the female check-in agent hardly said a word and there was no smile.
Well she was certainly fast though, within less than two minutes she had tagged my luggage to Singapore, attached a priority sticker, entered my passport details, printed a boarding pass and prepared my lounge invitation.

Shanghai Maglev train

The Shanghai Maglev Train, or Shanghai Transrapid, is the monorail train that runs between Pudong airport and downtown Shanghai.

I believe it is the world’s fastest train in regular commercial service.



There are four departures per hour in each direction and I caught the 4.32 pm departure from Pudong. A roundtrip ticket was surprisingly cheap at 80 yuan (12 USD), most airport trains around the world are far more expensive than that.

Before entering the train station all luggage had to be x-rayed and after the security check all passengers had to wait in a waiting lounge. 10 minutes before departure the escalators were turned on we were allowed to descend to the platform.

The Maglev train reminded me of the German high-speed ICE-train in terms of external design.
There are two classes onboard, standard class and VIP class with better seats and more legroom. The VIP class felt quite pointless considering the short travel time.



The train was fast indeed, quite an experience! There were many camera flashes onboard.

The 30.5 km (19 mi) journey between Pudong airport and Longyang Road station in downtown Shanghai was completed in 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
The top speed was an impressive 431 km/h (268 mph). At that speed it is almost impossible to spot any details in the landscape passing outside the window (and it's hard to take photos as well).

There are speed indicators inside each car so passengers can follow the acceleration of the train.



The journey passed in absolutely no time, I couldn’t believe we had covered a distance of 30.5 km.

Transferring at Longyang station was easy, a quick x-ray check of my hand luggage and I was back at the departure platform to catch the same train set back to Pudong airport.
I was back at the airport just before 5 pm with just over two hours to spare until the departure of my flight to Singapore.

The train ride was most exhilarating! A very fun experience!

jacob_m

Time for one of the longer flights on the trip, a flight between Shanghai and Singapore with Singapore Airlines in business class, a scheduled flight time of 5 hours and 15 minutes.



Pudong airport

I was back at the airport around 5 pm after the cool ride on the Maglev train.
Despite many evening departures both security and passport control were quite quick and I was through all formalities in less than 10 minutes.
Before security all passengers in groups of 10 were checked if they had traces of any explosive substances, fortunately we were all cleared of suspicion.
At passport control they had, once again, three customer satisfaction buttons to press, they became available at the same time as the passport was returned.
I pressed the hands up button for my officer who was friendly and efficient. ^



The transit hall of terminal 2 was bright and airy. There were a few airport shops selling the standard selection of duty free items and some Chinese souvenirs, but nothing remarkable and not particularly cheap either.

There was an interesting selection of airlines parked outside terminal 2 including a Thai Airways A340, a Turkish Airlines A340, a United Airlines B777, an Air Canada B777, a Lufthansa A340 and a United Airlines B747.
On top of that all kinds of Chinese aircrafts including Air China, China Southern, China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Hong Kong-based Dragonair.
Pudong is a very busy airport nowadays!

Pics
The international departure board
The massive departure hall in terminal 2
The bright and spacious transit hall
UA, TK and TG aircrafts on the apron
AC, LH and UA aircrafts and a B737 from China Southern landing

Shanghai Airlines Business Lounge, Shanghai/Pudong

Singapore Airlines uses the Shanghai Airlines lounge located on a balcony right in the centre of the transit hall.
All Star Alliance carriers at terminal 2 obviously use the lounge, but a few other airlines as well including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air India and Eva Air.

There is an escalator bringing passengers to and from the lounge, I presented my lounge invitation at the reception desk and was invited inside the lounge.

The lounge itself was fine, it was tidy, well-maintained and in a good condition. However there was nothing special about it.

It is a very long lounge with small seating sections with brown leather armchairs and couches divided by low brown walls and plastic dividers. There is also a small restaurant section where you can sit down and eat at a table.



The selection of food was fine but nothing out of the ordinary. There were some vegetables, fresh fruits, a small selection of sushi, finger sandwiches, western and Chinese bread rolls and some miniature desserts.
There was some hot food as well, if I remember correctly noodles or rice with some kind of meat.

The drinks selection was far less impressive though. The white and red wines were all Chinese, Imperial Court, that certainly won’t win any awards. They were also served in paper cups.
There were no spirits and the selection of beer and soft drinks was nothing to get excited about.



I had some finger sandwiches, some fresh fruits and a Tsingtao beer and had a seat in an empty seating section.
There was free WIFI in the lounge, which is always nice.
Interestingly the Chinese authorities have blocked the use of Facebook in China. I had read something about it, but now I can confirm it is actually true, the only way to use it in China is if you have access to a foreign VPN.

On the whole the lounge was OK to spend an hour inside, but otherwise it was absolutely nothing special.

I left the lounge 35 minutes before departure, however there were still no indications about “go to gate” or “boarding” for the flight on the screens.

Pics
The lounge reception desk
The lounge is used by a large number of airlines
Inside the lounge
Seating sections
The restaurant section
View of the transit hall from the lounge
The self-service buffet area
Selection of wines
Different types of bread
Vegetables, fresh fruits, sushi and some hot food
Finger sandwiches

Boarding

Boarding for flight SQ 835 took place at gate D85 just a short walk from the lounge.



Boarding eventually started 25 minutes before departure. There were no pre-boarding announcements, instead one of the young gate agents passed through the waiting area and invited some passengers to board (presumably business class passengers).
I was standing just a few meters from the gate podium, I was the first one she approached and as she saw my blue boarding pass (all SQ business class boarding passes are blue) she invited me to proceed to the counter for boarding. Nice touch! ^

I don’t know if they made a proper boarding announcement later, probably they did, I was already onboard by then.



I was the first passenger onboard the Boeing 777-200.
Business class had the “Spacebed seat” onboard, which is used on most longhaul flights in business class. I was a bit surprised as I had expected the new regional business class on the flight.

Once seated I was offered a pre-departure drink: OJ, water or bubbly.
Menus were also handed out and they took orders for the first drink service after departure.

A safety video was shown on the screen before the doors were closed and the cabin prepared for departure.

Pics
Heading for the gate
The Singapore Airlines B777 seen from the terminal
The gate counter, interestingly it says “priority lane” on both sides
The business class cabin on the Boeing 777-200

Shanghai/Pudong-Singapore, flight SQ 835 operated by Singapore Airlines
Departure: 19:10
Arrival: 00:25
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Class: Business Class
Seat: 14K

Considering the late start of the boarding process we also pushed back slightly late at 7.25 pm and took off a few minutes later at 7.40 pm from runway 17L.
We were told by the captain the delay was due to congestion in the Chinese airspace.

There were a fair number of passengers on the flight in business class, but the check-in staff had not done a particularly good job with the seat assignments.
Several single travellers had been seated together, even though there were 3 or 4 empty seat pairs in the cabin. I was not the only one making that reflection.

The exact same thing had also happened to me. I don’t mind having a seat neighbour, it can be great fun, but I was quite tired and was planning to get some sleep during the flight.
I had been travelling since 5 am the previous morning with only a short proper sleep on the night flight between Hong Kong and Seoul, so the tiredness was really catching up with me.
After the seatbelt sign had been switched off I asked the crew if I could move to seat 11A, the first row of business class with two empty seats.
That was not a problem, even the drink order was transferred automatically to the new seat.
Two other passengers did the same thing.

My glass of Charles Heidsieck was delivered and I had a look in the menu to decide what to eat.

The menu

Pics
The business class menu

Here is the menu for the evening meal service to Singapore:

Meal service

My glass of champagne was topped-up and the first course which was satay with vegetables and peanut sauce. I love satay! My plate was emptied in no time...



However after the satay it took a long time before the appetiser arrived, nearly 30 minutes.
Although this was a long flight and there was no rush it was just too long to wait if you plan to do other things during the flight. Refills of drinks were also lacking during this time.

Eventually the table was prepared for the meal service with a white table cloth. The meal tray was handed out with the appetiser.
The appetiser was salad with prawns and eggplant puree. It was good but the portion was tiny.

I had a glass of the Italian Valpolicella Superiore red wine to drink.

Meal orders for the main course were taken rather quickly and some passengers were prioritised.
I don’t know in what order the meal orders were taken, I can imagine PPS members got priority. Since I was travelling on an award ticket (which meant my *G status was not properly displayed on the BP and probably other lists) I was not very high on the priority list.

There were four choices of main course: chicken, beef tournedos, cod or lamb.
I had the beef tournedos served with pumpkin mash and vegetables and it was very nice.
I had some more Italian wine to drink with the main course.



The dessert was ice cream, either Viennetta chocolate ice cream or vanilla ice cream with raspbertty coulis.

I declined some cheese but asked for some fresh fruits after the meal and got some grapes and pineapple.

I skipped the coffee since I wanted to get some rest after the meal, although I love that you can choose what bean you want for your coffee, there are three different beans to choose between in business class.

The meal service was rounded up with chocolate pralines.



On the whole this was substandard for Singapore Airlines. The whole meal service took over two hours, which is simply too long.

I have previously praised Singapore Airlines for their excellent inflight service which is usually coordinated to perfection with full control of everything going on.
This was not the case on this flight. There was too much time between the courses and too much time between the refills of drinks.
Obviously there can be unexpected delays, but so much time passed that I got sick of waiting, and there was nothing to drink in the glass.

Pics
A glass of champagne after take-off
Satay
Appetiser
Main course
Dessert
Fresh fruits and a glass of whisky

Seat and inflight entertainment



As mentioned I had expected the new regional business class for the flight and was actually looking forward to try it, so there was a slight disappointment for that reason.
Anyway, I’ll let more frequent SQ flyers judge if the aircraft change was actually positive and negative. I have not tried the new regional C seat so I can’t make a comparison myself.

Well I got the Spacebed seat instead which is used on most longhaul flights on B747 and B777 aircrafts. Although it’s been around for a few years it is still a fine seat, it would have been different if they had sent an aircraft with the old regional business class.

There were five rows with a 2-2-2 configuration on the Boeing 777-200.

I guess most people here have already seen or read about the Spacebed seat.
It’s a fine seat, a seat pitch of 56”, and it can be made lie-flat with a very small angle from being horizontal.
The seat was quite comfortable to sleep in, although I found it slightly tricky to adjust to an optimal sleeping position. Most modern seats have one button to press if you want to recline the seat to a bed (or whatever position they have for sleeping), there was no such button in this seat.
The seat control was in fact slightly basic by the standards of year 2010, but admittedly the seat is a few years old now.

The KrisWorld AVOD inflight entertainment system was reliable as usual, an impressive selection of audio, video and games.
However the experience was of course not as nice and impressive now that I have tried the new first class seat with the 23” high-resolution widescreen TV... (pretty much everything is underwhelming after that experience).

I watched an episode of Fawlty Towers followed by a German movie about a man who was planning to escape from East Germany.

Pics
The business class seat
Legroom and the personal screens
Seat controls
Watching an episode of the legendary Fawlty Towers

Arrival in Singapore

After the meal service I reclined my seat to get some rest while listening to some music through the KrisWorld system.
Eye shades and ear plugs were handed out by the crew and there were pillows and blankets available at the seat.
The seat was comfortable and I dozed off for about an hour.

Despite the late departure from Shanghai we made up time enroute and landed ten minutes early at 0.15 am on runway 15R at Singapore Changi airport.
The approach was very quick and rather steep, actually my ears got rather badly blocked up.

The new terminal 3 is used for SQ flights to and from China and we were quickly parked at the gate almost opposite immigration.
Sitting in 11A on the first row I was the first passengers to disembark and was addressed by name and thanked by the crew as I got off.

I was most surprised to see a young man standing at the gate, holding a sign with my name on it.
I just couldn’t understand what he was doing there waiting for me, I had no flight connection in Singapore, no departing flight to rush to and no special requests of any kind. Could there be a problem with my checked luggage?

Well the guy introduced himself and said he was there to meet me for my pre-arranged hotel transfer.
Wow!! I mean, how cool is that? I didn’t even think that was possible to do! ^ ^

He escorted me to immigration where there was no line, met me on the other side and escorted me to the baggage reclaim where the baggage delivery had already started.
The priority tag was reliable as usual, my bag was around the 10th to arrive on the belt, he helped me with that as well and loaded it on a trolley.
I was selected for a quick x-ray of my suitcase at customs before we headed for the car.

I was very much looking forward to some proper sleep, but more about the hotel stay in the next instalment.

Verdict

On the whole the flight was fine. The FAs were friendly and courteous and addressed me by name throughout the entire flight (and even managed to learn it by heart as they addressed me by name also when I got off).

The hard product was fine although it is getting a bit old. The SpaceBed is comfortable to both sit and sleep in and the KrisWorld system is excellent with all the video and audio options on demand (although the screen felt a bit dated compared to some newer products I tried).

The meal service was underwhelming though. It was simply too long, it did not feel particularly coordinated and there was too much time between courses and refills.
I know Singapore Airlines can do far better than this, and thus I’m not going to judge the airline based on just one experience, they obviously have their days as well.

A nice touch in Shanghai that the gate staff personally invited business class passengers to board before making a proper boarding announcement.

Next it’s time to give a review of my hotel experience in Singapore, which unexpectedly started before the flight experience had even ended.

jacob_m

A summary of what I have done so far...

Here is a map of my itinerary to date

Number of flights: 20
Miles flown: 41173 miles
Airlines: CA, CX, EK, FM, KE, LA, MI, NZ, OZ, SB, SQ, TG, UA, UL, UU (15 out of 16)
Aircrafts: A320, A330, A340, B737, B747, B767, B777

jacob_m

Singapore is a heaven when it comes to good upmarket hotels, in my opinion there are few other cities in the world that has so many good hotels that are actually worth paying for.
On top of that many of the hotels in Singapore offer good rates.

This time the choice fell on the Pan Pacific Hotel.
I actually had no clue about the hotel, but it had received some excellent reviews, ratings and awards. The Trip Advisor webpage ranked it as the best hotel in the city. I know some reviews and ratings on that site can be a bit biased, but you still you don’t reach the first place for no reason.

The hotel had an interesting “Double Preferences” rate where you could choose two preferences out of: complimentary internet usage, complimentary daily breakfast, complimentary one-way limousine transfer (arrival or departure) or complimentary upgrade to the next room category.

I chose the limousine transfer and the free breakfast. Interestingly the other two options were sorted out quite nicely anyway.

Airport transfer and check-in

The airport transfer worked extremely well, I just entered my flight details when making the booking and the rest of taken care of automatically.
I was most surprised to be met already at the gate at the airport, airside, I didn’t even think that was possible. Then a full escort followed through the airport and I never even had to touch my checked luggage between check-in in Shanghai and my hotel room in Singapore.

The driver was very friendly and talkative and as there was very little traffic after midnight we made it to the hotel in just 20 minutes. I was in my hotel room 45 minutes after landing, and that’s including checked luggage and a transfer. Most impressive! ^



The check-in process was swift, after the receptionist had found my reservation she asked me to have a seat in an armchair in the lobby.
A moment later another woman arrived who was a guest relations officer. She asked me to follow her as the rest of the check-in process would take place inside the room.
It was quite clear I had been upgraded, to a room on a high floor.



We took one of the lifts going to the top floors and got off on the 31st floor where I had been assigned a room.
The rest of the check-in process took place inside the room where I also got a full tour of the room and all the features by the incredibly friendly and charming guest relations officer.

The view





The room on the 31st floor had a breathtaking view of downtown Singapore, the financial district, Marina Bay, the new casino and the massive port.

I just couldn’t get enough of the view, especially at night. Sitting on the balcony with a beer watching the entire city lit-up right in front was just incredible.

The room



The hotel was basically divided into three different section.
The lower section up to level 25 had standard rooms, level 26 to 32 were superior rooms with a better view and guests always seemed to get escorted to the room by a guest relations officer.
Finally the top three floors were used for the Pacific Club rooms with access to a club lounge.
There were separate lifts going straight from the lobby to the higher floors 26-35. Guests staying at a lower floor used different lifts.



The room had plenty of features including two roman drapes (day and night) controlled by a wireless remote control, a bedside control panel for all lights in the room, and a nice TV with all kinds of cables in a drawer.
The entire room was extremely well planned and well thought-out, to the smallest detail.

The hotel



The hotel is located in the Marina Bay district a very short walk from Suntec City and Esplanade MRT station.



There were several dining options inside the hotel including eight restaurants/bars/cafes.
Except for the breakfast buffet I only tried The Atrium in the lobby which was nice although a bit pricey.

As for health and recreation there was a rather extensive gym and a nice outdoor swimming pool.

All-in-all it was a very nice hotel and a very nice stay. Nothing whatsoever to comment about!

Fredrik74

I'm still enjoying this report. I stayed at the Pan Pacific in Singapore in the middle of this August so we might have been there at about the same time. I selected it due to its rating on Trip Advisor and had absolutely no complaints even if my view wasn't as good as yours.

kimbb

This morning I have red every word of your report from start to end and I am really amazed! ^

I am new to FT, logged in for the first time only two days ago and am already hooked.

Would love to get more insight in to how you went about planning the trip. Will write you a private message.

mjcewl1284

Terrific update!

mosburger

Jacob, a spectacular trip report again and especially the segments on Korean carriers are most fascinating.

Believe me, once you begin to travel to Shanghai regularly (it is the new Manhattan after all ), you will never take anything but "VIP" class again on the Maglev.

Eight minutes of quiet bliss before or after a longhaul or the Expo hordes in the standard class...And then back to the Shanghai rush.

UA_Flyer

This is absolutely the most incredible TR I have ever read. ^^
A :-::-::-::-::-:TR in my book!

Don't worry about having over 1,000 photos. I typically take about 1,500 photos on each trip...... it takes forever to go through them after each trip!!

jacob_m

Many thanks for the comments!

What a small world! What floor where you staying on?
I liked the hotel! There are definitely even more luxurious hotels in the city, but I thought it was great and good value for money.

I got your message and will reply once I have finished the next instalment.

Also when I have finished all flight instalments I will write a proper description how the trip was booked and what tickets were used.
I have received many questions about that, both in this thread and private messages.

Really? I can agree the standard class was crowded, especially with the Expo going on, but it just felt like a waste of money for a journey of 8 minutes.
But maybe you're right, this was my first ever stop in the city so I have not a lot to compare to.

Thanks a lot! I very much like your reports as well, some of the best photos around!
Oh yes, it takes a massive amount of time to go through all the photos and include/imbed them in the report in a structured way.

SFO777

+1000
I was so looking forward to doing a TR on my upcoming SQ RTW, but how can anything even come close to this amazing report?

jacob_m

After a very nice visit in Singapore it’s time to continue the return back home.
I feel almost ashamed saying it, but it was actually quite nice to wake up at the Pan Pacific hotel in Singapore the first day realising I had no flights during the day.

But now I was fit for fight again!! (or fit for flight maybe...) I had 15 more hours of air travels to look forward to... Yay!

Next segment is Singapore-Bangkok on Thai Airways in business class, the same route I flew earlier during the trip on Singapore Airlines in business class (and actually the third route during the trip flown on two different airlines).

To the airport

I left the hotel just after 5 pm and took a taxi to Changi airport.
The ride was very quick, the driver made it to Changi in less than 20 minutes (although I am not sure if he was familiar with the word “speed limit”).

Thai Airways uses terminal 1 at Changi. Terminal 1 is currently undergoing a major refurbishment, which is probably a good thing as it’s been around for quite some time and was starting to show its age.
But this afternoon it just meant inconvenience, a large part of the taxi drop-off area was blocked and both the departure hall and transit hall had many temporary facilities.

Check-in - SATS Premier Check-in Lounge

There were no Thai Airways check-in desks open when I arrived at the airport around 5.30 pm.
I went to the designated check-in island (as indicated on the departure board), I could see some Thai and Star Alliance signs on the desks, but there was not a human being in sight.

However in my case there was a solution to the problem - the SATS Premier Check-in Lounge!



The SATS Premier Check-in Lounge is basically an imitation of the Singapore Airlines first class check-in lounge, but nevertheless it’s a great idea!
The check-in lounge at terminal 1 is available to first class and business class passengers of most airlines using the terminal, including Thai Airways.

I was greeted at the entrance to the check-in lounge by a young man. He asked me what airline I was flying and also double-checked I had a ticket in business class.
When he was satisfied he escorted me inside and asked me to have a seat in one of the comfortable armchairs while waiting for a counter to become available.

I believe the goal is that there should be no wait whatsoever, but this was a very busy afternoon and there was a short wait (around five minutes) before I could check-in.
To me it was still considerably better than having to spend an hour or so in an airport cafe waiting for the regular check-in to open.

There were seven or eight check-in desks manned in the check-in lounge and they all seemed to handle different airlines/alliances.
The man at the entrance kept an eye on the counters and clearly remembered (or at least had notes of) what airline each waiting passenger was flying.
After a short wait he approached me, apologised for the delay and told me it was now my turn to check-in. He showed me to an empty desk and also helped me with my checked luggage.

Very nicely there are comfortable armchairs in front of each desk, so you can have a seat while the check-in formalities are taken care of.
A middle-aged man was handling Thai Airways/Star Alliance. The whole process was quite quick and he managed to print boarding passes for all connecting flights as well.
My luggage was priority-tagged and I received an invitation for the Thai Airways lounge.

There was a separate exit from the check-in lounge with a dedicated boarding pass check.
As you exit the check-in lounge you find yourself standing right in front of passport control.

A rather nice facility that should be available at far more airports around the world! ^

Pics
The SATS Premium Check-in lounge
The waiting area

Singapore Airlines Silverkris Lounge, Singapore Changi Terminal 3

There was still plenty of time before my 8.50 pm departure to Bangkok.
I had a lounge invitation for the Thai Airways lounge, however since I was travelling in business class I knew I would also have access to the Singapore Airlines lounges (my TG business class boarding pass should give me access, but not my Star Gold card).

So it was an easy decision to head over to terminal 3 and make another visit to the great Singapore Airlines Silverkris business lounge.
Changi is excellent for lounge hopping as there are no boarding pass and security checks when going between terminals and there are Skytrains running between all three terminals.

The lounge dragon was a bit surprised when I arrived at the lounge entrance in terminal 3 and showed him my TG boarding pass.
I smiled and nodded with a friendly “I know” before he had even asked the questions I knew he was going to ask.
Well after a quick reminder no boarding announcements will be made and that the monitors will not show terminal 1 departures he welcomed me inside.

No right turn for me this time and no à la carte dinner in The Private Room, but the business lounge is still a very decent place to kill some time inside, one of the better lounges around (otherwise I would naturally not have bothered going there).

The lounge was reasonably crowded this evening, but still no problems finding an empty seat.
Since I had not eaten any dinner (and just a very light lunch) I was looking forward to some proper food in the lounge.



The very large self-service buffet had plenty of nice food including both western and Asian dishes.
The hot food included chicken clubs, pasta, sweet and sour chicken and Indian curry with rice (and some other things I can’t remember).
Furthermore there were sandwiches, sushi, vegetables, fresh fruits and very nice miniature desserts.



I made myself a proper dinner, poured a glass of chilled Tiger beer, and had a seat in front of one of the widescreen TVs.
The food was pretty tasty! I got some more Tiger beer and finished off the dinner by trying some of the lovely miniature desserts in the buffet.



On the whole the lounge in terminal 3 is very nice. The lounge is vast, I very much like contemporary design and there are plenty of facilities to keep you occupied for some time.
The food is definitely above average, however the selection of drinks is not up to par with the rest of the lounge, just one red and one white wine and a very limited selection of spirits. That’s a bit poor for a flagship lounge! Even the small Silverkris lounge at London/Heathrow (which I have used many times) has better drinks.

Pics
The entrance to the lounge, the business lounge to the left
Inside the lounge
Sitting areas
Very nice large widescreen TVs
The self-service buffet area
Hot food
Sandwiches and cheese
Miniature desserts
The drinks area
Tiger beer on tap
Spirits
Soft drinks

After an hour in the Silverkris lounge I spent my last Singapore dollars in the tax-free area before taking the Skytrain back to terminal 1.
I actually managed to find a very nice new laptop bag in one of the shops, my old one was getting very worn.
The shop assistant was in a very good mood and asked me if I really needed a bag for the bag. Haha!

Pics
The skytrain station at terminal 3

Thai Airways Royal Orchid Lounge, Singapore Changi



The Thai Airways lounge is located on a balcony above the transit hall at terminal 1 and looked about the same as on my last visit.
The only difference was that the restrooms outside the lounge were temporarily closed due to the refurbishment, so if you had any needs to take care of you had to use the public restrooms in the main tax-free area and it’s a ridiculous long walk from the lounge (3-4 mins each way).

The lounge was quite crowded, it was clear the flight to Bangkok would be rather full, still no problems finding an empty seat.

The selection of food was perhaps not comparable to the Silverkris lounge, but there were some rather nice sandwiches, some hot snacks and some muffins and pastries.
The selection of drinks was pretty good including beer, wine, soft drinks and a decent selection of spirits.

I got a cup of coffee and some snacks and surfed the internet using the free WIFI (login details are available at the reception). There were also three internet computers in the lounge.

Pics
The entrance to the lounge
Inside the lounge
Newspapers and magazines
Sandwiches and muffins
Hot snacks
Spirits

Boarding

As always in Singapore the monitors gave very misleading flight information.
When I left the lounge 40 minutes before departure the gate was closing according to the monitor (although no boarding announcement had yet been made in the lounge). That was of course not correct.
I made a quick last visit to one of the tax-free shops and when arriving at gate D42 a few minutes later boarding had not even started yet.

Security was quick and boarding started the same moment as I entered the gate lounge. Priority boarding was offered for business class and Star Gold passengers as well as passengers who needed extra assistance.
As usual I was one of the first passengers to board the aircraft.

I was welcomed at door 1L with a friendly “Sawadee Krup” and directed to my seat 15K.
More passengers boarded after me and it was again clear the flight would be very full.



The aircraft in use to Bangkok was a Boeing 777-200 with a refurbished business class cabin and proper lie-flat business class seats onboard.
There were five rows of business class in a 2-2-2 configuration.

Pre-departure drinks were offered: water, orange juice or apple juice, but no champagne this time. Well a glass of orange juice was still fine...
Newspapers and magazines were offered in the cabin from a trolley, although due to the high load they ran out of English magazines.

Pics
The transit hall in terminal 1, under refurbishment!
The business class cabin onboard

Singapore-Bangkok, flight TG 410 operated by Thai Airways
Departure: 20:50
Arrival: 22:10
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Class: Business Class
Seat: 15K

Boarding was completed rather quickly and once the doors were closed the safety video was shown on the monitors.
I like the Thai Airways version, it has a very oriental feeling to it with the serious Thai captain in the beginning assuring all passengers that “safety is our priority”.

Flight time to Bangkok was expected to be 2 hours.

We pushed back slightly before timetable at 8.45 pm and took off at 9.10 pm to the north from runway 02C.

The flight was rather interesting in the sense that it felt more like “Scandinavian Airlines light” than Thai Airways. There were so many Scandinavians onboard!
I would guess half the business class cabin consisted of either Swedes, Danes or Norwegians. It felt very strange!
As for myself I was seated next to a Norwegian woman.
Well the flight connected to a large number of flights to Scandinavia and Europe in Bangkok, so of course that was the reason. This was also a Friday evening which for many probably meant the return home after a business trip.

The menu

Menu were handed out after take-off and here is the menu for the dinner service to Bangkok:

Pics
The business class menu

Meal service

After departure a first drink service was performed in the cabin. Since I did not get any champagne before departure I asked for a glass of bubbly now instead, they served the Piper Heidsieck brand onboard.



White table cloths were laid on the tables and the meal tray was handed out with the appetiser which was a rather nice duck foie gras.
A selection of bread rolls was also offered from a basket as well as more drinks, i.e. more bubbles for me.



There were three choices of main course and I chose the stir-fried chicken with noodles.
It was fine if yet a bit unremarkable.

The meal tray was cleared and shortly afterwards a trolley passed through the cabin with dessert, coffee, tea and a rather extensive selection of spirits.
The Thai dessert was very nice, it tasted like some kind of sweet pudding. I had a cup of coffee as well.

As a nice touch all ladies in the business class cabin got an orchid by the crew during the dessert service.



All-in-all the meal service was quite nice.
The food was tasty even though my choice of main course was rather uninspiring.
There was a decent selection of drinks onboard including two red and two white wines (out of the four of each kind mentioned in the drink list).
Frequent refills were offered and my glass was never left empty.

Pics
Appetiser
Main course
Dessert and coffee
The business class cabin during the meal service

Seat and inflight entertainment



The Boeing 777-200 had the new refurbished business class seats onboard which are rather comfortable and can be made lie-flat.
I slept pretty well in the seat during the overnight Bangkok-Seoul flight.
The legroom was also extremely good in the cabin, the seat pitch was apparently a rather nice 60”, which I can absolutely believe. The cabin did by no means feel cramped.

The inflight entertainment system onboard was rather strange though. There was an impressive selection of movies onboard, but it was not AVOD.
Also when we boarded the aircraft in Singapore the IFE system had not been reset, so many passengers got to see what the previous passenger had seen or used, in my case a game.
The previous person in my seat was apparently Thai as he/she had chosen Thai as language for the menus and it took me some time to figure out how to switch to English.

This was certainly not the end of the world and as the flight was rather short anyway there was not much time to use the IFE. However not resetting the IFE did reduce the first impression a bit.

Pics
The business class seat
Seat controls
The business class cabin onboard
Very decent legroom
Flight map

Arrival in Bangkok

Most of the flight was very smooth, but unfortunately I can’t say the same thing about the approach and landing.
There were heavy thunderstorms in the Bangkok area which meant it rained extremely heavily and there was limited visibility. When looking out of the windows there were flashes pretty much everywhere.

During final approach the aircraft was shaking quite heavily and all of the sudden the captain applied full thrust. Since it was really dark outside it was very hard to see what was going on, but most of us quickly realised he had aborted the approach.

No announcements were made until nearly five minutes later when the captain came on the PA and said he had aborted the landing due to the bad weather and we were going to try another approach from another direction.
I turned on my flight map and could see we were meant to land from the north (runway 19L/R) but were now flying around the airport to make a new try from the south instead.

My Norwegian seat neighbour was very nervous, she was seriously uncomfortable with the situation. The same thing can be said about a few others in the cabin.

We made a new try from the south, this time the captain seemed satisfied with the weather conditions and completed the landing.
We finally touched down on Thai soil at 10.20 pm on runway 01R. Not the smoothest landing of my life, but I think most of us were just happy to be on the ground.

The weather at the airport was really bad indeed, a thunderstorm of the worst kind with the type of heavy rain that actually hurts if you stand outdoors.
Visibility was very low and the captain taxied very slowly to the terminal building.

Pics
Just landed at a very rainy Suvarnabhumi airport

Verdict

I flew the exact same route earlier during the trip, also an evening flight Singapore-Bangkok, but on Singapore Airlines.

Thai Airways is a fine airline, but it lacks the finesse of Singapore Airlines. For example I was never addressed by name onboard, no one kept track of what wine I was drinking, and the service was not as polished and well coordinated as SQ.
Other than that the inflight service was nice and attentive and the FAs were both friendly and courteous and were almost always seen smiling.

Both food and drinks were pretty good, especially considering the length of the flight.

The seat was nice with a massive amount of legroom, the IFE could have been better though.

All-in-all a nice regional business class flight!

glennaa11

I guess it's lucky you didn't get stuck with a dreaded bus gate...err I mean "remote stand" at BKK in that storm.

jacob_m

Well then go for it and challenge my TR!
A RTW on SQ sounds like great fun! I'm looking forward to read it...

Thanks for the kind words! ^

I actually joked about that with my terrified Norwegian seat neighbour.
But fortunately we got a gate at the terminal...