SIN-BKK-SIN on SQ
Dec 5, 2004, 11:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: singapore
Posts: 166
SIN-BKK-SIN on SQ
My family decided to go to Bangkok for shopping/eating during the school holidays. My dad being SQ staff, we were entitled to discounted fares of only S$105 return (excluding taxes). However, it is an open ticket and thus we can only travel on a space available basis. Originally, we were supposed to fly on SQ 60 on 2/12, but it seems that all the SQ flights on that day were fully booked and thus we decided to go one day earlier. The rest of my family will be taking SQ 64 (SQ 60 and 62 were overbooked) while I will be departing on SQ 66 (SQ 68 and 974 were also overbooked) due to examinations in the morning, meeting them at the Bangkok hotel in the evening. It seems that SQ still enjoys healthy loads on its BKK flights despite the competition of LCCs.
01/12/2004
SQ 66
B777-300
9V-SYE (Star Alliance Livery)
STD: 1600
STA: 1720
Departure Gate: E11
Arrival Gate: 54
Immediately rushed home after my exam ended at 1130, grab my stuff and go to the airport. Luckily I live quite near the airport and it only took me 10 minutes by cab to reach the airport. Went to the staff check-in counter at row 5 but was told that the flight was fully booked and I will be stand-byed and to return at 1520. As there was 1 more hour to go, I went to the terminal 1 viewing deck to take some photos (the terminal 2 viewing mall is now under renovations and nothing could be seen). Saw EK B773, VN A321 (new livery), AI A310, TR A320, Bouraq B732, MU A320 and Sri Lankan A343. Also saw 9V-SYE landed from Bangkok as SQ 63. It turned out that this plane would also be taking me to Bangkok in 1.5 hrs time. Returned to terminal 2 and was relieved that seats were still available as there were quite a number of no shows. Total load = 5/16 F, less than 20/49 C, 245/265 Y. Got my boarding pass for seat 35A, a window seat at the 5th row of economy.
Went through the very efficient immigration and immediately proceeded to the gate as it was getting late. At the gate, boarding has already begun. Took some photos of the “STAR ALLIANCE” plane before I boarded. The livery does not seems that ugly after you get used to it. Was welcomed aboard by a leading stewardess and directed to my seat. Passing through the Raffles cabin, the seats in raffles are the older, light blue type. Arrived at my seat, which is at the last row of the front mini economy cabin that comprises only 5 rows. Already, there is someone on the aisle seat. As expected, there is no AVOD on this plane (only 9V-SYF and above have it). There is a pillow in every seat and hot towels, headphones were handed out before push back. Flying time was announced as 1h 45 min. Doors were closed on time but we have to allow a SQ A345 (non-stop to LA) to push back before out turn. During push-back, the safety video was played.
We taxied towards runway 02R following the A345 and an Air Asia B733, which is also going to Bangkok. Later, it seems that we beat the Air Asia plane to Bangkok by 15 minutes even though it departed before us. Looks like the B777 flies much faster than B737s. Interestingly, the cabin crew were called to their take-off stations even though we were still a long way from the runway. Lined up on the runway after the Air Asia plane departed. After a couple of minutes, we roared down the runway and departed towards Bangkok. Our flight path would bring us up to Mersing, along the eastern coast of Malaysia to Kota Bahru and then direct to Rayong before descending towards Bangkok.
Our initial cruising altitude was 35000 feet before climbing to 37000 feet (to overtake the Air Asia plane?).
Immediately after the seatbelt signs were switched off, the meal serviced commenced. First, special meals were brought out followed by the meal carts for the rest of the cabin. As no menus were offered, I will briefly explain the choices:
Appetizer
“Wu Xiang” (a type of Singapore delicacy) with salad and sweet chilli dressing (unique)
Main course
Egg noodles with mushroom (No meat/seafood??)
Or
Basmati rice with chicken (if you can consider some diced chicken and a few slices of chicken sausage as meat)
Bread roll with butter
Dessert
Coffee pudding with vanilla sauce (great!!)
The main courses are horrendous!! There is no visible meat/seafood in it. I chose the basmati rice with chicken and while expecting to see some whole chicken meat, only saw diced chicken and sausage slices. The egg noodles don’t even have any meat at all!! After asking my dad, it seems that this flight (SQ66) is a sort of “low-cost” SQ flight as the average economy fare paid is much lower than on the rest of the Bangkok flights (SQ 68 is also a “low-cost” flight. Not sure about SQ974 though). Thus, the main courses will be of poorer quality to compensate for the lower fares. On SQ64, they were offered roasted chicken with potatoes or stewed beef with rice. At least, they were generous with the drinks. One other change I noticed (for the better) is that while wines are still poured into wine glasses and coffee/tea into coffee cups, all other drinks are offered in plastic cups (same on my return flight) and so it meant larger cups of drinks. Previously, they will offer all drinks in the wine glass, which can be drunk in one gulp. Coffee/tea are also offered together with the meal, which is different from other flights where coffee/tea are only offered after the serving of meals.
During the collection of meal trays, more coffee/tea is offered. For the flight, I watched “Shark Tale”, saving myself $8 for the movie ticket. Actually manage to finish the movie just before headsets were collected back. I also took a stroll along the economy cabin (a stroll cus the cabin of the B773 is really long!!). Even though the crew were not overly friendly and chatty, they were very efficient and did their job well. What could you expect for a 1H 45 min flight with almost a full load in economy.
Soon we started our descent into Bangkok. Headphones were collected back as the crew prepared for arrival. The Bangkok area is quite hazy and thus nothing much could be seen until shortly before touchdown. We made a few turns before making our approach to runway 21L, touching down using idle thrust reversers as we could only turn off right at the end of the runway. We arrived about 10 min early and taxied to gate 54. We parked beside a Qantas B744. While disembarking, I noticed that the crew did not hold back the economy passengers before allowing the premium passengers to disembark. Maybe because the premium load is light? Overall, the service is the standard SQ service, but the main course of the meal sucks. To those who want better meals, avoid SQ66 and 68 on your trips to Bangkok.
I have uploaded some of the photos taken here.
http://community.webshots.com/album/227971280GTgyYx
05/12/2004
SQ 65
B777-300
9V-SYD
STD: 1330
STA: 1655
Departure Gate: 42
Arrival Gate: F42
After 5 days of intense shopping and eating, its time to return home. On arrival at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport, I saw 2 SQ 777s preparing for takeoff, holding at the runway. I know the 773 is operating as SQ63, but the 772? I thought maybe it is SQ 61 which is delayed but on returning home, I saw on Changi airport’s website that it is SQ 351 that is diverted to Bangkok enroute from Copenhagen to Singapore. Anyone knows why? We will originally booked on SQ 67 but after calling SQ’s office and knowing that SQ 973, 67 and 69 are overbooked, we decided to go back slightly earlier on 65.
Checked-in immediately as there were still seats available, even though the flight was still quite full. Was allocated seats 33 G, H, J and K. Proceeded to the gate immediately after check-in. Won’t bore you with other details as the sequence of service is identical to the incoming flight. Took off from runway 21R and landed on 02R. Just before takeoff, I saw SQ 973 (9V-SRD) landing from Osaka. Idle reversers were also used for landing. No AVOD on this flight as well and so watched a Korean movie to pass the time. However the meals are much better on this flight:
Appertizer
Tuna salad
Main Course
Pork with garlic sauce, roasted vegetables and rice
Or
Fish with red curry, pumpkin and rice
Bread roll with butter
Dessert
Blackforest cake
I have uploaded the pictures taken on this flight here.
http://community.webshots.com/album/227983962LsJrZt
I have also taken a video of the landing (about 25mb). Anyone kows how I can upload the video?
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment. Watch out for my upcoming flights, tentatively SQ 860 SIN-HKG on 23/12 and SQ 865 HKG-SIN on 27/12, provided I can get onto the flights if it is not fully booked.
01/12/2004
SQ 66
B777-300
9V-SYE (Star Alliance Livery)
STD: 1600
STA: 1720
Departure Gate: E11
Arrival Gate: 54
Immediately rushed home after my exam ended at 1130, grab my stuff and go to the airport. Luckily I live quite near the airport and it only took me 10 minutes by cab to reach the airport. Went to the staff check-in counter at row 5 but was told that the flight was fully booked and I will be stand-byed and to return at 1520. As there was 1 more hour to go, I went to the terminal 1 viewing deck to take some photos (the terminal 2 viewing mall is now under renovations and nothing could be seen). Saw EK B773, VN A321 (new livery), AI A310, TR A320, Bouraq B732, MU A320 and Sri Lankan A343. Also saw 9V-SYE landed from Bangkok as SQ 63. It turned out that this plane would also be taking me to Bangkok in 1.5 hrs time. Returned to terminal 2 and was relieved that seats were still available as there were quite a number of no shows. Total load = 5/16 F, less than 20/49 C, 245/265 Y. Got my boarding pass for seat 35A, a window seat at the 5th row of economy.
Went through the very efficient immigration and immediately proceeded to the gate as it was getting late. At the gate, boarding has already begun. Took some photos of the “STAR ALLIANCE” plane before I boarded. The livery does not seems that ugly after you get used to it. Was welcomed aboard by a leading stewardess and directed to my seat. Passing through the Raffles cabin, the seats in raffles are the older, light blue type. Arrived at my seat, which is at the last row of the front mini economy cabin that comprises only 5 rows. Already, there is someone on the aisle seat. As expected, there is no AVOD on this plane (only 9V-SYF and above have it). There is a pillow in every seat and hot towels, headphones were handed out before push back. Flying time was announced as 1h 45 min. Doors were closed on time but we have to allow a SQ A345 (non-stop to LA) to push back before out turn. During push-back, the safety video was played.
We taxied towards runway 02R following the A345 and an Air Asia B733, which is also going to Bangkok. Later, it seems that we beat the Air Asia plane to Bangkok by 15 minutes even though it departed before us. Looks like the B777 flies much faster than B737s. Interestingly, the cabin crew were called to their take-off stations even though we were still a long way from the runway. Lined up on the runway after the Air Asia plane departed. After a couple of minutes, we roared down the runway and departed towards Bangkok. Our flight path would bring us up to Mersing, along the eastern coast of Malaysia to Kota Bahru and then direct to Rayong before descending towards Bangkok.
Our initial cruising altitude was 35000 feet before climbing to 37000 feet (to overtake the Air Asia plane?).
Immediately after the seatbelt signs were switched off, the meal serviced commenced. First, special meals were brought out followed by the meal carts for the rest of the cabin. As no menus were offered, I will briefly explain the choices:
Appetizer
“Wu Xiang” (a type of Singapore delicacy) with salad and sweet chilli dressing (unique)
Main course
Egg noodles with mushroom (No meat/seafood??)
Or
Basmati rice with chicken (if you can consider some diced chicken and a few slices of chicken sausage as meat)
Bread roll with butter
Dessert
Coffee pudding with vanilla sauce (great!!)
The main courses are horrendous!! There is no visible meat/seafood in it. I chose the basmati rice with chicken and while expecting to see some whole chicken meat, only saw diced chicken and sausage slices. The egg noodles don’t even have any meat at all!! After asking my dad, it seems that this flight (SQ66) is a sort of “low-cost” SQ flight as the average economy fare paid is much lower than on the rest of the Bangkok flights (SQ 68 is also a “low-cost” flight. Not sure about SQ974 though). Thus, the main courses will be of poorer quality to compensate for the lower fares. On SQ64, they were offered roasted chicken with potatoes or stewed beef with rice. At least, they were generous with the drinks. One other change I noticed (for the better) is that while wines are still poured into wine glasses and coffee/tea into coffee cups, all other drinks are offered in plastic cups (same on my return flight) and so it meant larger cups of drinks. Previously, they will offer all drinks in the wine glass, which can be drunk in one gulp. Coffee/tea are also offered together with the meal, which is different from other flights where coffee/tea are only offered after the serving of meals.
During the collection of meal trays, more coffee/tea is offered. For the flight, I watched “Shark Tale”, saving myself $8 for the movie ticket. Actually manage to finish the movie just before headsets were collected back. I also took a stroll along the economy cabin (a stroll cus the cabin of the B773 is really long!!). Even though the crew were not overly friendly and chatty, they were very efficient and did their job well. What could you expect for a 1H 45 min flight with almost a full load in economy.
Soon we started our descent into Bangkok. Headphones were collected back as the crew prepared for arrival. The Bangkok area is quite hazy and thus nothing much could be seen until shortly before touchdown. We made a few turns before making our approach to runway 21L, touching down using idle thrust reversers as we could only turn off right at the end of the runway. We arrived about 10 min early and taxied to gate 54. We parked beside a Qantas B744. While disembarking, I noticed that the crew did not hold back the economy passengers before allowing the premium passengers to disembark. Maybe because the premium load is light? Overall, the service is the standard SQ service, but the main course of the meal sucks. To those who want better meals, avoid SQ66 and 68 on your trips to Bangkok.
I have uploaded some of the photos taken here.
http://community.webshots.com/album/227971280GTgyYx
05/12/2004
SQ 65
B777-300
9V-SYD
STD: 1330
STA: 1655
Departure Gate: 42
Arrival Gate: F42
After 5 days of intense shopping and eating, its time to return home. On arrival at Bangkok’s Don Muang International Airport, I saw 2 SQ 777s preparing for takeoff, holding at the runway. I know the 773 is operating as SQ63, but the 772? I thought maybe it is SQ 61 which is delayed but on returning home, I saw on Changi airport’s website that it is SQ 351 that is diverted to Bangkok enroute from Copenhagen to Singapore. Anyone knows why? We will originally booked on SQ 67 but after calling SQ’s office and knowing that SQ 973, 67 and 69 are overbooked, we decided to go back slightly earlier on 65.
Checked-in immediately as there were still seats available, even though the flight was still quite full. Was allocated seats 33 G, H, J and K. Proceeded to the gate immediately after check-in. Won’t bore you with other details as the sequence of service is identical to the incoming flight. Took off from runway 21R and landed on 02R. Just before takeoff, I saw SQ 973 (9V-SRD) landing from Osaka. Idle reversers were also used for landing. No AVOD on this flight as well and so watched a Korean movie to pass the time. However the meals are much better on this flight:
Appertizer
Tuna salad
Main Course
Pork with garlic sauce, roasted vegetables and rice
Or
Fish with red curry, pumpkin and rice
Bread roll with butter
Dessert
Blackforest cake
I have uploaded the pictures taken on this flight here.
http://community.webshots.com/album/227983962LsJrZt
I have also taken a video of the landing (about 25mb). Anyone kows how I can upload the video?
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment. Watch out for my upcoming flights, tentatively SQ 860 SIN-HKG on 23/12 and SQ 865 HKG-SIN on 27/12, provided I can get onto the flights if it is not fully booked.
Dec 6, 2004, 12:31 am
#2
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: CVG
Programs: SQ PPS, DL Gold Medallion
Posts: 2,508
Very good report, b777er. ^ Great pictures too! Although I fly SIN-BKK-SIN frequently, it is interesting to read all the details you provided and the additional insight on SQ (good suggestion to avoid SQ66/68 if possible!). Maybe you can ask your dad about why there doesn't seem to be priority disembarkation on many SQ flights anymore (there was a recent thread on the SQ forum wondering about that).
Dec 6, 2004, 2:14 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Living in SIN™
Programs: TK/QR Gold, Marriott/Accor Plat, IC Dia Amb, Avis/Hertz PC
Posts: 6,706
Good report ^
Having done every single flight number on the SIN-BKK and BKK-SIN sectors this year, I find no reason to avoid SQ68. In fact its my preferred flight to get to BKK. The food is not "low-cost" by any standards. I can't remember the food on SQ66, but its just a light meal for a 4pm flight.
The food on SQ973/974 is much better than the others in Y though - and the only ones where they give out menus...I guess because its part of a longer flight to KIX.
The crew really don't have much time to chat on these sectors because the timing is very tight, especially on a 773.
Having done every single flight number on the SIN-BKK and BKK-SIN sectors this year, I find no reason to avoid SQ68. In fact its my preferred flight to get to BKK. The food is not "low-cost" by any standards. I can't remember the food on SQ66, but its just a light meal for a 4pm flight.
The food on SQ973/974 is much better than the others in Y though - and the only ones where they give out menus...I guess because its part of a longer flight to KIX.
The crew really don't have much time to chat on these sectors because the timing is very tight, especially on a 773.
Dec 6, 2004, 4:37 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: singapore
Posts: 166
A "light meal" in SQ is actually no different from lunch/dinner, having taken SQ 880 to Bangkok in july which serves a light meal. The meal served on SQ66 is really below the normal standards on SQ. It looks more like a meal on Valuair.
