Singapore Airlines SIN-Beijing
Oct 11, 2004, 10:44 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Singapore
Posts: 113
Singapore Airlines SIN-Beijing
My mum was going to Beijing on business and I asked to tag along. In the end I got 2 other friends from uni to tag along with me. Anyhow, my mum left earlier on business class which was paid for by her company, while my two friends and I left late on 19th September. I redeemed my flight using miles that were expiring in a few months (40 000 miles for SIN-PEK-SIN) while they bought a special 2-to-go fare for 598 Singapore Dollars.
SQ812, Departure from Singapore at 0120, arrival at 0715.
Did a phone checkin 42 hours before our scheduled time of departure to ensure the three of us got seats together at an exit row. We didn’t quite get an exit row, We got the three middle seats of the triple seven at an exit row (but not at the emergency exit) which meant we still would get a lot of legroom.
Also, I would have much preferred to take SQ802 which departed at mid morning from Singapore, arriving in Beijing at mid afternoon, which meant I won’t have to lose a night of sleep. However the special 2-to-go fare meant my friends could only take the overnight flight which was such a bother! (The morning departure is consistently full everyday….. so it was probably clever yield management at work on SIA’s part)
PRE DEPARTURE
Checkin was done very quickly and was a non event. My two friends checked in like an hour before me and I checked in by myself at about 10.30pm. There were quite a few people queuing in front of me but they were cleared quickly.
Changi’s Terminal 2 is undergoing major renovations which is 40% complete. It looks really chic and modern now, with much better lighting, a modern feel and a greater sense of space and depth. There are many more shops and restaurants and it really feels like a shopping centre. Is Singapore the only city in the world where crowds throng to the airport on weekends for shopping, dining (be it casual or fine) or just hanging out?
LOUNGE
After clearing immigration, we headed to the lounge where we spent a good two hours. It was beginning to get quiet past eleven after all the European departures and by midnight, there were few left in the lounge. We helped ourselves to the sumptuous supper spread (pasta, noodles, soup, pastries, ice cream, wines, chocolates etc…..) We were sufficiently stuffed by the time we left the lounge at about 0100 for boarding.
BOARDING
We headed to our gate which was rather far from the lounge and it was 0110 by the time we got there – We were one of the last pax to board. A Singapore Girl welcomed us aboard SQ812 which was operated by aircraft 9V-SQA and we headed to our seats at 45D, F, G ( think)
INFLIGHT
This is the first 777-200 that was delivered to SIA in 1997, hence the name Jubilee. Despite its age of 7 years old, it seemed rather well kept and not tired or anything like that.
The majority of pax in our section were Caucasians. The remaining Asians on board seemed Singaporean to me. There were hardly any Chinese nationals on our flight. I have a feeling Chinese nationals usually stick to Chinese carriers?
An Indian Captain welcomed us aboard and informed us that our flight time would be 5h30mins. For some reason the three of us were in such high spirits while all the other pax were dead tired.
Hot Towels were served… (I always appreciate them on SQ)The safety video was screened, the plane pushed back and before long we took off on runway 20L (This is the runway next to the road that runs parallel to it and we took off in the South West Direction towards the city….. Is this 20L??)
A wide range of newspapers and magazines were offered to pax too. I notice many airlines have stopped offering free newspapers to YCL pax.
MEALS
Menus were distributed. Here is what they had:
============
Refreshment from Singapore to Beijing
An assortment of snacks will be offered
============
That was all for the entire page. I was wondering what they would be offering. There was a full bar service (All the drinks, alcohol, etc you wanted) while the cabin crew came round with baskets of fruit (Apples, Bananas) Tidbits, Snacks like pineapple tarts and so on.
I was expecting at least a sandwich but I am not sure if this was cost cutting or just response to the overwhelming majority of passengers who would rather sleep, as was evidently the case.
Nevertheless, Instant Noodles, Sandwiches and more snacks were available in the galley and could be asked for on request.
2h40min before landing, breakfast was served. Of course before that there was the usual hot towel service which was very refreshing, considering we had hardly (if even at all!) slept that night!:
====================================
Breakfast from Singapore to Beijing
fruit
fruit appetizer
wholesome beginnings
Seafood kway teow
Fried rice noodles with prawns, scallops and leafy greens
Or
Omelette with ham and bacon, grilled tomato and potatoes
From the bakery
Breakfast roll
Butter-Fruit preserve
Hot Beverages
Coffee-Tea
Chinese Tea
======================================
I chose the western selection at first which tasted fine but was very boring. I mean, how exciting could an Omelette with ham, bacon, grilled tomato and potatoes get? My two friends chose the Seafood Kway Teow which looked real tantilising with all the prawns and scallops so I asked the cabin crew if I could have it right after finishing my omelette. She kindly obliged.
I noticed that the breakfast selection was slightly less than what they serve on the intercontinental flights. Usually there is yoghurt and pack of cereal as well as an assortment of breakfast rolls (as oppossed to a single breakfast roll) I am unsure if this is usually the case with shorter flights.
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Being the oldest 772 in SQ’s fleet, the aircraft was equipped with the standard Krisworld IFE with no AVOD. It had 22 channels of entertainment which I felt was more than adequate – after all I got too tired to watch anything after enduring an hour of a strange French movie.
INFLIGHT SERVICE
Most of the crew were Singaporean with 2 Chinese national “Singapore Girls” who made the announcements in mandarin. I was not really paying attention to the service but it was the standard SQ service that I (and probably most of us who fly SQ) have grown used to over the years flying with them. There was nothing out of the ordinary….. We asked for postcards and got about 30 of them between the 3 of us and we wrote 28. I was tasked with going to the galley of handing the 28 postcards to the Singapore girl for free posting. I felt really embarrassed handing a whole stack to her to ask her if she “would kindly post this for us.” I didn’t wait for her reaction – I just turned my head and rushed back to my seat in shame.
We speculated that the FA would have thrown our postcards away in horror but our friends text messaged us during our stay in Beijing that they received our cards.
In short, the service was good. Nothing eventful though. SQ772 would know what I am talking about, judging from how he talks about his trips with SQ.
Eye Candy… Well. There wasn’t much eye candy on this flight. The Singapore Girls looked markedly ordinary. The best looking one was from China I think. The most beautiful set of crew I have ever seen was on Brisbane-Singapore in August. If I’m up to it I’ll write that trip report!
LANDING and DISEMBARKATION
Our flight path took us through the South China sea straight to Hong Kong, from where we entered mainland China to head straight up to Beijing, skirting Guangzhou, Wuhan and some smaller cities in between.
We landed in Beijing at 0700 and I saw an IranAir 747-200 for the first time! We disembarked into the terminal which seemed relatively new to me and very modern. There was a huge queue at immigration though that took about 30 mins to clear.
Our bags were already on the carousel when we got there and I noticed all the priority-tagged bags were pre-lifted off the carousel into one corner by the ground staff, allowing premium pax fast and easy access to their luggage. A very impressive move on the part of the Ground Handler in Beijing Airport!
We were then met by my mum’s friend, which marked the start of an excellent 8 day long trip in Beijing.
Last Thoughts
In short, the flight was what anyone would expect from SIA. Good catering, Attentive service and well-maintained aircraft was great IFE. In any case, it was miles ahead of the competition on this route. I have taken China Eastern from Singapore to Shanghai and wasn't all that impressed. I shall write about my return trip on SQ801 soon……
SQ812, Departure from Singapore at 0120, arrival at 0715.
Did a phone checkin 42 hours before our scheduled time of departure to ensure the three of us got seats together at an exit row. We didn’t quite get an exit row, We got the three middle seats of the triple seven at an exit row (but not at the emergency exit) which meant we still would get a lot of legroom.
Also, I would have much preferred to take SQ802 which departed at mid morning from Singapore, arriving in Beijing at mid afternoon, which meant I won’t have to lose a night of sleep. However the special 2-to-go fare meant my friends could only take the overnight flight which was such a bother! (The morning departure is consistently full everyday….. so it was probably clever yield management at work on SIA’s part)
PRE DEPARTURE
Checkin was done very quickly and was a non event. My two friends checked in like an hour before me and I checked in by myself at about 10.30pm. There were quite a few people queuing in front of me but they were cleared quickly.
Changi’s Terminal 2 is undergoing major renovations which is 40% complete. It looks really chic and modern now, with much better lighting, a modern feel and a greater sense of space and depth. There are many more shops and restaurants and it really feels like a shopping centre. Is Singapore the only city in the world where crowds throng to the airport on weekends for shopping, dining (be it casual or fine) or just hanging out?
LOUNGE
After clearing immigration, we headed to the lounge where we spent a good two hours. It was beginning to get quiet past eleven after all the European departures and by midnight, there were few left in the lounge. We helped ourselves to the sumptuous supper spread (pasta, noodles, soup, pastries, ice cream, wines, chocolates etc…..) We were sufficiently stuffed by the time we left the lounge at about 0100 for boarding.
BOARDING
We headed to our gate which was rather far from the lounge and it was 0110 by the time we got there – We were one of the last pax to board. A Singapore Girl welcomed us aboard SQ812 which was operated by aircraft 9V-SQA and we headed to our seats at 45D, F, G ( think)
INFLIGHT
This is the first 777-200 that was delivered to SIA in 1997, hence the name Jubilee. Despite its age of 7 years old, it seemed rather well kept and not tired or anything like that.
The majority of pax in our section were Caucasians. The remaining Asians on board seemed Singaporean to me. There were hardly any Chinese nationals on our flight. I have a feeling Chinese nationals usually stick to Chinese carriers?
An Indian Captain welcomed us aboard and informed us that our flight time would be 5h30mins. For some reason the three of us were in such high spirits while all the other pax were dead tired.
Hot Towels were served… (I always appreciate them on SQ)The safety video was screened, the plane pushed back and before long we took off on runway 20L (This is the runway next to the road that runs parallel to it and we took off in the South West Direction towards the city….. Is this 20L??)
A wide range of newspapers and magazines were offered to pax too. I notice many airlines have stopped offering free newspapers to YCL pax.
MEALS
Menus were distributed. Here is what they had:
============
Refreshment from Singapore to Beijing
An assortment of snacks will be offered
============
That was all for the entire page. I was wondering what they would be offering. There was a full bar service (All the drinks, alcohol, etc you wanted) while the cabin crew came round with baskets of fruit (Apples, Bananas) Tidbits, Snacks like pineapple tarts and so on.
I was expecting at least a sandwich but I am not sure if this was cost cutting or just response to the overwhelming majority of passengers who would rather sleep, as was evidently the case.
Nevertheless, Instant Noodles, Sandwiches and more snacks were available in the galley and could be asked for on request.
2h40min before landing, breakfast was served. Of course before that there was the usual hot towel service which was very refreshing, considering we had hardly (if even at all!) slept that night!:
====================================
Breakfast from Singapore to Beijing
fruit
fruit appetizer
wholesome beginnings
Seafood kway teow
Fried rice noodles with prawns, scallops and leafy greens
Or
Omelette with ham and bacon, grilled tomato and potatoes
From the bakery
Breakfast roll
Butter-Fruit preserve
Hot Beverages
Coffee-Tea
Chinese Tea
======================================
I chose the western selection at first which tasted fine but was very boring. I mean, how exciting could an Omelette with ham, bacon, grilled tomato and potatoes get? My two friends chose the Seafood Kway Teow which looked real tantilising with all the prawns and scallops so I asked the cabin crew if I could have it right after finishing my omelette. She kindly obliged.
I noticed that the breakfast selection was slightly less than what they serve on the intercontinental flights. Usually there is yoghurt and pack of cereal as well as an assortment of breakfast rolls (as oppossed to a single breakfast roll) I am unsure if this is usually the case with shorter flights.
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Being the oldest 772 in SQ’s fleet, the aircraft was equipped with the standard Krisworld IFE with no AVOD. It had 22 channels of entertainment which I felt was more than adequate – after all I got too tired to watch anything after enduring an hour of a strange French movie.
INFLIGHT SERVICE
Most of the crew were Singaporean with 2 Chinese national “Singapore Girls” who made the announcements in mandarin. I was not really paying attention to the service but it was the standard SQ service that I (and probably most of us who fly SQ) have grown used to over the years flying with them. There was nothing out of the ordinary….. We asked for postcards and got about 30 of them between the 3 of us and we wrote 28. I was tasked with going to the galley of handing the 28 postcards to the Singapore girl for free posting. I felt really embarrassed handing a whole stack to her to ask her if she “would kindly post this for us.” I didn’t wait for her reaction – I just turned my head and rushed back to my seat in shame.
We speculated that the FA would have thrown our postcards away in horror but our friends text messaged us during our stay in Beijing that they received our cards.
In short, the service was good. Nothing eventful though. SQ772 would know what I am talking about, judging from how he talks about his trips with SQ.
Eye Candy… Well. There wasn’t much eye candy on this flight. The Singapore Girls looked markedly ordinary. The best looking one was from China I think. The most beautiful set of crew I have ever seen was on Brisbane-Singapore in August. If I’m up to it I’ll write that trip report!
LANDING and DISEMBARKATION
Our flight path took us through the South China sea straight to Hong Kong, from where we entered mainland China to head straight up to Beijing, skirting Guangzhou, Wuhan and some smaller cities in between.
We landed in Beijing at 0700 and I saw an IranAir 747-200 for the first time! We disembarked into the terminal which seemed relatively new to me and very modern. There was a huge queue at immigration though that took about 30 mins to clear.
Our bags were already on the carousel when we got there and I noticed all the priority-tagged bags were pre-lifted off the carousel into one corner by the ground staff, allowing premium pax fast and easy access to their luggage. A very impressive move on the part of the Ground Handler in Beijing Airport!
We were then met by my mum’s friend, which marked the start of an excellent 8 day long trip in Beijing.
Last Thoughts
In short, the flight was what anyone would expect from SIA. Good catering, Attentive service and well-maintained aircraft was great IFE. In any case, it was miles ahead of the competition on this route. I have taken China Eastern from Singapore to Shanghai and wasn't all that impressed. I shall write about my return trip on SQ801 soon……
Oct 11, 2004, 6:41 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,348
Thanks
Thanks for a great report!
Well it is a redeye flight, so some airlines don't actually serve a refreshment after takeoff. But SQ is one of the few exceptions... at least, they have fruit basket, sandwiches or instant noodles. But breakfast prior to arrival sounds nice. It is better than any redeye flights in the US.
Your trip reports are very good. Keep them coming...
Carfield
I am on the flight to San Francisco
Here I go, on my way, and I think I’ll be Okay
Los Angeles, Anchorage, Montreal, Toronto
And here I go, I think everything will be okay
Los Angeles, Anchorage, Montreal, and then who knows
I’ll take my chances from San Francisco – “CL 411”
Well it is a redeye flight, so some airlines don't actually serve a refreshment after takeoff. But SQ is one of the few exceptions... at least, they have fruit basket, sandwiches or instant noodles. But breakfast prior to arrival sounds nice. It is better than any redeye flights in the US.
Your trip reports are very good. Keep them coming...
Carfield
I am on the flight to San Francisco
Here I go, on my way, and I think I’ll be Okay
Los Angeles, Anchorage, Montreal, Toronto
And here I go, I think everything will be okay
Los Angeles, Anchorage, Montreal, and then who knows
I’ll take my chances from San Francisco – “CL 411”
Oct 11, 2004, 8:58 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
Originally Posted by docpepz
.............An Indian Captain welcomed us aboard and informed us that our flight time would be 5h30mins. For some reason the three of us were in such high spirits while all the other pax were dead tired. ............…
Oct 12, 2004, 4:46 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Singapore
Posts: 113
Yes an Indian Captain indeed! From his accent I gathered he was Indian from India and not a Singaporean who was ethnic Indian. The First officer was evidently an ethnic chinese Singaporean, judging from his accent.
For those of you who don't know, Singapore's permanent population of 3.2 million (excluding the foreign residents who number slightly over a million) is as follows:
77% ethnic Chinese
14% ethnic Malay
7% ethnic Indian
2% eurasian and others.
(Just off the record I am ethnically half Indian and half chinese!)
We were speculating whether the Captain would actually find his way properly into Beijing's Capital Airport and not end up somewhere else.... But he did. hahahahaha. His accent was quite thick.
For those of you who don't know, Singapore's permanent population of 3.2 million (excluding the foreign residents who number slightly over a million) is as follows:
77% ethnic Chinese
14% ethnic Malay
7% ethnic Indian
2% eurasian and others.
(Just off the record I am ethnically half Indian and half chinese!)
We were speculating whether the Captain would actually find his way properly into Beijing's Capital Airport and not end up somewhere else.... But he did. hahahahaha. His accent was quite thick.
Oct 12, 2004, 10:22 am
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: SEA(sia)
Posts: 5,181
Originally Posted by djjaguar64
No offense but what's the significance of the pilots background when writing a trip report ?
Oct 12, 2004, 10:35 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: YYZ
Programs: A3&O6 Gold,IC AMB & HH Diamond
Posts: 14,132
Originally Posted by mario33
Maybe the OP just found it highly unusual that an Indian national would be flying for SQ, just as I would if I saw an African "Singapore Girl" onboard an SQ flight to China.
Oct 13, 2004, 1:13 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Singapore
Posts: 113
Hi guys thanks for your replies...
djjaguar64 it was just a casual observation..... After all you too observed that it was an Indian Captain flying for SQ into China. There are quite a few Indian nationals flying for SQ and I saw an ad in their website asking for Indian nationals to apply to fly for them.
The Captain on my return flight was obviously Australian, judging from his accent. It is just a habit of mine to note (or perhaps, try to guess) where the commanders of my flight come from. I'm not sure if any of you do it but even if you don't intentionally look out for it, don't the different accents we hear somehow make an impression on us, especially when we're overseas?
I'll work on PEK-SIN and perhaps after that I'll do a comparison of QF and SQ on SIN-CDG flights I took earlier this year.
djjaguar64 it was just a casual observation..... After all you too observed that it was an Indian Captain flying for SQ into China. There are quite a few Indian nationals flying for SQ and I saw an ad in their website asking for Indian nationals to apply to fly for them.
The Captain on my return flight was obviously Australian, judging from his accent. It is just a habit of mine to note (or perhaps, try to guess) where the commanders of my flight come from. I'm not sure if any of you do it but even if you don't intentionally look out for it, don't the different accents we hear somehow make an impression on us, especially when we're overseas?
I'll work on PEK-SIN and perhaps after that I'll do a comparison of QF and SQ on SIN-CDG flights I took earlier this year.