NCRBILL

Great to meet up with you also! I was so surprised when the first 4 people at the SQL were all FT people. Very funny running into UALBOY, and I think DUA (if this isn't correct, I sure hope he let's me know for sure) and I'm sure I will run into some more over my next flights.

I'll be completing the NRT - SFO - SAN portion soon so stay tuned for the rest of the story.

Now, I need to get some more sleep!!

Seat 2A

And menu transcripts, too?!!

Great start so far, NCRBILL, and thanks for recognizing via inclusion of the menu transcripts that premium class inflight service, without the food, is really not much more than a more comfortable seat.

Definitely looking forward to future installments... ^ ^

NCRBILL

I didn't add this little bit in my earlier post but my Nextel cell phone did work in SIN with no problems. I was able to talk with family back in the states and not have to use the hotel phones. Not sure what the cost will be but I will post that once I get the bill.

Hopefully it will not be too expensive.

NCRBILL

Well it's time to get ready for my trip back to the states so I called the concierge and asked them to 1) Have a car waiting for me at 4:45 to take me to the airport and 2) WAKE ME UP at 4:00!! The alarm clock in my room didn’t work so I was really worried about this! I asked for a new clock but one never came so I asked no less than three times if I was down for the wakeup call.

Made sure I was totally packed prior to going to bed and had everything ready so off to sleep I went. I made sure I didn’t take anything to help me sleep so I would for sure wake up on time. Since there is only one flight on UA out of SIN, you want to make sure you get on that one flight or you will be there another night. I really wished I didn’t need the miles so much because I would have like to experience SQ service in Raffles class on a non-stop to LAX. Well I will make that happen on another trip for sure.

Wake up call came just as it was requested and I was downstairs looking for the car by 4:45. Sure enough, there was a Mercedes Taxi waiting for me with the trunk open. Not bad if I do say so myself. Short drive to the airport at this time of the morning and I was able to be at the check-in counter by 5:10am. There are counters for First Class, 1k’s and Business open and I didn’t see anyone in line at all. Maybe I didn’t need to get here this early but I wanted to see what the SAT lounge was all about so it didn’t really matter. UA CSR asked me where I’m flying and I told her. She directed me to I guess you could call them the security people to ask me a couple of questions and check my passport. From there I was shown to the First Class check-in and I checked in my one bag. They didn’t ask any more or less questions than they did in the states and in less than 5 minutes, my carry on bag had the International First tag placed on it and off to the lounge I went.

Went through the first security check they had, showed them my passport and ticket and they waved me through. No check of the bag, just go through passport control. Had about 5 people in front of me and about 10 minutes later, off to find this SAT lounge. Now if you will remember, I was impressed by the Raffles lounge for SQ so I was really thinking this lounge was going to be almost as nice. Well that was not to be. I found the lounge just off to the left as I went up the escalator and up to the desk I went. I handed over my pass that was issued when I checked-in and she pointed off to the left for First Class passengers. The only thing I can say about this club is “SMALL!!!” I looked around to see if I was missing something, which I wasn’t, and got myself a cup of coffee. I walked around to the other side, trying to see if I could catch any FT tags and this lounge was a little larger but still nothing to write home about. They didn’t have much of breakfast snacks, but they did have the full array of liquor if you are one to drink at this time of the morning. Well after my disappointment with the lounge, I decided I would just walk around a little. I didn’t have enough time to get to the SQ Raffles club so I would have to make a mental note to look into that lounge once I get back in a couple weeks. Boarding was in about 30 minutes so I started my little walk over to the gate. Found the gate, checked in and waited for the announcement for boarding.


SIN – NRT
UA 890
Seat 2J – International First Class

They started boarding around 6:30 and the flight sure didn’t seem very full. Went on board and looked for my seat. I was glad to have the right side of the aircraft so I could see some of SIN as we left but other than that, nothing great about that side. Found my seat and stored my bag in the overhead. This was a tight fit because of the shape of the bin; but with a little coaching, it went in. They asked me if I wanted anything to drink and I asked for some OJ. They offered me the eye covers, slippers and toothbrush with toothpaste. This was not in a bag, just offered from the basket. I guess this flight isn’t long enough for them to place these in the amenity bags. Now I remember there were going to be a couple of FT’s on this flight so upstairs I went on my trek to find kluau88 and cawhite in the upper deck. I remembered I was first going to be sitting next to cawhite if I didn’t get my upgrade so it wasn’t long before we were saying hi to one another and talking about our flights. We decided we would hook up at NRT and tour the SQ lounge and then off to the NRT RCC. Back downstairs I went and they were taking our meal order. Well, let me see what my choices are.

To begin –
Your selected entrée will be served with fresh fruit, cold cereal, yogurt and breakfast breads.

Main Course –
Mushroom onion omelet a la forestiere with tomato concasse.
Rosti potatoes with corned beef, bacon strips and spinach soufflé.

Banana and apple crepe with apricot compote
Chicken sausage, clotted cream and maple syrup

Eight treasure fried rice in lotus leaf
Scallops, prawns, mushrooms and Chinese pork sausage.


Prior to Arrival –
Chicken skewer with Thai chili sauce
Prawn siew mai with chicken and char siew pork pau

Or

Chilled Mexican chicken and vegetarian wraps with tomato salsa
Mozzarella cheese, tomato, mushrooms and pine nut basil pesto

Dessert

Fruit tartlet

Chocolate mousse cake

I selected the fresh fruit to start, then the omelet for my main course and the Chicken skewer for my arrival meal.

Well we pushed back and I was able to get a great picture of the Singapore airport sign. I was glad I sat on this side of the plane just for that. Off we went and after a few minutes, we were at our cruising altitude and off went the seat belt sign. I started to read a little of the paper I got at the lounge and the first round of drink service started. I asked for another cup of coffee and OJ. One thing I keep thinking of is why I don’t bring a larger cup with me for my coffee. This little cup does nothing for me and after three sips from it, I need a refill. Oh well, must be because of the bumpy conditions we encounter. Oh well, back to my newspaper. After a little reading, I decide to watch some of the movies they had. I know they have personal movies I can watch but I’m not sure where they are and I was not in the mode to go look for them.

About 30 minutes later they were setting up for the first meal. I was happy because I was a little hungry and a little tired. I would like to rest a little before we get to NRT so I was glad they were starting now. First came the fruit which was real fresh and tasty. Next I was served the Omelet which was alright but nothing to write home about. The bacon was not cooked very well and the potatoes with the corned beef were not to my liking. Oh well, this was a short flight (about 6.5 hours) and I would be eating my lunch/dinner on the next flight and that should be better. After eating the little bit I did, I asked them to clear the tray so I could rest. Now, how do I work this bed????

Was able to figure out the bed and get it to lay flat and get somewhat comfortable. Found out I slept for about 3 hours until they were ready to serve the pre-arrival meal. I was a little hungry since I didn’t eat that much for breakfast so I was looking forward to this little snack. Out came the chicken skewer with Thai sauce and this was rather good. Very tasty and just a little bit spicy. There was just enough sauce to add flavor but nothing to call the fire department about. I finished this and the fruit tartlet and was ok. Now let me get ready for the arrival into NRT and my tour of the clubs to come. I had been in the RCC club on my outbound trip so I was looking forward to seeing the First Class lounge. Just prior to arrival, the purser brings me a business card from the Captain. Well I look at the card and find this was the same Captain that flew me from SFO – NRT a couple days earlier. So now I have two of his cards. Very nice touch if I do say so myself. I later find out he does this for all the 1k’s on his flights. Makes you feel wanted when the Captain goes out of his way to do this. So if you are lucky to fly one of his planes, Captain Palazzolo will give you a card. Very nice landing around 2:30pm and in a few minutes, we are at the gate and off the plane we go. Being in First, we were the first ones off and a few minutes later, I was waiting for my new found friends so we can get off to the lounges.

A couple minutes later, off come kluau88 and cawhite so we are off to the lounges. Kluau88 was staying in NRT with some friends so we bid him good luck and we were off to the SQ lounge. Cawhite found out her flight was delayed and mine wasn’t going to depart until 7:15pm so I knew I was there for a few (4.5 hours to be exact) prior to my flight so I was in the mode to visit this great terminal. We went through the bag check and off to the SQ lounge. Cawhite had been to the lounge before so I just followed her. This is the first time in over 10 years I’ve been to NRT so I sure didn’t know where I was going, but a couple minutes later we were at the club. We got there a little early and found the club didn’t open until 3:30 so we went downstairs so she could pick up some Pick’s (I think that was what they were called) which she told me were so much more in the states than here. I was amazed at how cheep they were so mental note when I came back through to get some. We went back downstairs waiting for the lounge to open and ran into UALBoy. Now this is really getting to be a fun trip. This is the first time I have ever run into three FT’s during a trip. We are waiting at the door for the lounge to open, and up comes another FTer, DUA (I hope that is how you say it and if not, please let me know) from my very own SAN area! Now this is a small world at that. We all four go into the club and take a look around. DUA had to go catch his flight so off he went, leaving the three of us there at the lounge. This one is no where close to the Raffles club in SIN but it is very nice. They have 5 computers for us to log into to check our emails and see what is up on FT. Well the FT server is down and we can’t get our morning fix of FT. We sit down and enjoy the ice cream and snacks they have. We talk about our travels and then UALboy is off to SEA on the next 777. While I’m sitting there in the lounge, the lounge staff brings me a got cloth to freshen up with. Boy I’m really enjoying this SQ service. I will have to fly them more if I can!! Cawhite finishes checking her email and we decide we have a couple more hours to go so off to the RCC International First Lounge to get a look. Once there, she inquires about her ORD flight, which was still delayed, and also asks about the earlier flight, on a 777, to see if there are any good business seats only to find out there are only middle seats open so she decides to wait for the original flight because she has the coveted row 15 upstairs on the 747. We are given a pass for upstairs and up the elevator we go. Upon exiting the elevator, we are greeted by the lounge staff and upon looking at my pass, the said, “Mr. NCRBILL, we have been looking for you! Your flight has been delayed and we were going to put you on an earlier flight”. Oh well, that is alright because I have had fun with my new found friends and ask her when the flight is to depart now. Well it’s scheduled for 9:00pm now. The plane is coming from BKK and was running late. Well this means I’m going to have a 7 hour layover in NRT and I ask how my connection looks in SFO. They say I should still make it. I will have “ONE HOUR” to clear customs, recheck my bag, run to the domestic terminal, go back through security, run to the plane and depart at 2:17. Yea right. I ask her when the next flight is so I can be protected on it just in case I don’t make it. The next flight didn’t depart until 4:51. Well that would mean I would have to wait in SFO for 3 more hours so I was sure hoping we could get a tail wind to help us make up some time. They asked me if I needed to call anyone in the states to let them know I may be late arriving in SAN. I decide to call the wife, at her work phone so I didn’t wake her up, and left a message not to go to the airport until I called her from SFO to let her know which flight I was on. I was hoping I could get on the original flight but with only an hour between the flights, I didn’t think my luck would hold out. Ok I said and off we went to take a look at this great lounge. Once again there is the beer machine everyone has to see at NRT. My batteries have gone dead in my camera so I was unable to take pictures during this trip. I will make sure to have fresh batteries on my return so I can let you see what the lounge is all about. I get one of the chilled glasses for the beer and fill it up with Diet Pepsi. The small glasses just aren’t for me. I didn’t want to keep going back every couple minutes for a refill. They had some sushi, finger sandwiches and crackers to snack on. Boy was this a lot different from the Raffles club in SIN and this was a First Class lounge. Well I got a couple of the sandwiches and sat down to relax. I had about 4 hours to wait and didn’t now what more I could do with my time. Cawhite and I sat down and talked about FT and all the travels she has done. Now I can truly say this is one seasoned traveler to Asia. She can tell you all the flight numbers of both SQ and UA and almost all the crews of the UA flights. She tells me I have to take a SQ flight since they are nothing like I have ever been on. Well I am thinking of bring Mrs. NCRBILL on a trip to SIN so I will have to see how the award flights can be had. Besides, they should be flying the A380 around the end of 2006 so I might just be lucky enough to get on one of the first flights. I can only hope.

After sitting around for a while, I decided to see how the showers were. I bid farewell to cawhite and off I go to find the showers. The lounge staff opens the showers, give me a package of towels and wash clothes and I’m let into the showers. Very nice. It has a sink, toilet and very large shower by Japanese standards. This one is almost larger than the one I have at my house in SAN. They give me a bag with soap, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner, lotions, toothbrush and toothpaste, razor and shaving cream. The only thing they don’t give you is deodorant which I would think would be the one thing they would give you. After a very nice shower, other than the pressure could be a little harder, I was refreshed and ready for my next flight. I still have almost an hour before departure but I decide to walk around some because I need to stretch my legs and I’m starting to get tired. I can hear those First Suites calling my name already. So off I go to find the gate. I get to the gate and there are a lot of people waiting for this flight. It seems this will be very full and everyone wants to get on the plane. People are crowding the gate and they have to ask everyone to please move back so they can start loading the plane. They call for First Class to board and I get through the crowd to the front and I’m off to find my seat, 2J, for the long flight home. I get on the plane, grab an updated USA Today, get the menu and I’m ready to get comfortable. Next installment will be of my NRT – SFO segment.

NCRBILL

NRT – SFO
UA 838

Well after being delayed for as long as I was, I was in the mode to get home. It’s been a long run so far and I am getting a little tired of being on a plane every day for the last 5 days. Well I store my case in the storage bin so it’s not down by my feet and settle into my seat, 2J again, and look over the menu for this flight. I’m drinking my Le Crui (sp??) which is my favorite and want to see what I’m going to be eating this leg. The menu is:

To begin:

Join us in a sampling of appetizers:

Hot crispy shrimp potsticker with a mild Thai chili sauce
Proscuitto ham and persimmon roll with sour cream, ricotta, blue cheese and walnuts
Maki sushi with yukan and inari
Pickled ginger and soy sauce.

Salad
Fresh seasonal greens, cherry tomatoes, yellow peppers and croutons
Hot crispy smoked bacon
Asian citrus or Roquefort dressing

Main Course:

Filet mignon with Hollandaise roasted tomato sauce

Orange herb-roasted breast of chicken with demi-glace

The above entrees include your choice of:

Cheddar cheese and potato pie, basmati rice with vegetables or steamed rice, green beans with red onions or carrot and zucchini sauté

Broiled sea bass in yuzu mirin broth with chasoba noodles and ginko nuts.
Honshimeji mushrroms, carrot batons, green beans and grilled negi onions.

Japanese Obento selection
An appetizer of sillago roll, salmon temari sushi, grilled eggplant with walnut paste, stir-fried lotus root and soba sushi
A main course of broiled salmon, shrimp, scallops and vegetables and shiitake mushrooms, conger eel tataki and steamed rice. Served with green tea.

Dessert:

International cheese selection
Coulommiers, Danish Blue and Gouda cheese

Haagen-Dazs ice cream with sundae toppings

Fresh seasonal fruit

Prior to arrival:

Spanish style eggs with ham, mushrooms and cheese.
Mornay sauce and fresh fruit appetizer

Or

Fresh seasonal fruit plate with creamy yogurt


Well this time I selected the salad, Orange herb roasted chicken, Ice cream sundae and the Spanish eggs. Off they went and we were finally ready for departure. I wanted to get this going because I still had a very tight connection to make and really didn’t want to spend another 3 hours in SFO. The only bad part of this was if I did make my connection, I would not be able to see what the showers were like in SFO. I will just have to wait and see what happens. A few minutes later we were taxiing to the runway and off we went, once again leaving after dark from NRT. I wouldn’t mind if I could see what this place looks like without being in the dark.

About 30 minutes after take off they start the beverage service. I can say for one thing around NRT the air is very bumpy and the plane is always bouncing around. It settles down after awhile and we can enjoy our drinks. I make sure my glass is not over half full because it spills if I have more inside. After the first beverage round, it’s time for them to serve dinner. The salad and chicken were very good and I thought it was a good choice. After having the beef twice, I really wanted to see what else they had to offer and see how it tasted. I was not disappointed. After dinner, the best part came out, the sundae. I don’t know how they can keep the ice cream so hard! It takes a while to eat because of this but I enjoy it just that much more. They come around and ask if we want an after dinner drink and I just want some water. They also bring around the movies this time for the video player. I select my movie choice and get settled in. I’m watching a movie already that was on the movie selection and will watch this one after I’m finished. I can say the movies on all the flights are good and enjoyed them. I will have new movies to look at since I will be going back in December. I’m glad for that because I don’t like having to watch the same movies over and over again. After finishing the first movie, I put in the PVM movie and start to watch it. Well about 5 minutes into the movie it doesn’t work anymore. I can hear the sound but there is no picture, just a bunch of lines. I try to see if it’s the player or movie and I decide it must be the movie. I try to get another one and they didn’t have one. Since there were no further movies I wanted to see, I decided to try and get some sleep. I was tired so it should not be too hard to fall asleep. Once again I get all the things I need to sleep and get settled in. They have one small pillow, one large pillow and a good blanket. I’m not sure what the small one is for. It is so small it doesn’t do me any good. I use the large one and get ready for a good nights sleep. We are traveling during the night so it’s not too hard to sleep. Besides, with the shades down, it is dark in the front also. Most of the cabin is getting ready or are already asleep because I can hear the people around me snoring. I put on my eye shade and ear plugs. I lay the seat down flat and the next thing I know, I’m off to sleep.

I wake up after about 4 hours of sleep. I can’t believe I’ve slept this long because I’ve never been able to do this before. It must be the seat or should I say bed. I feel rested but not completely. I know I will be tired tonight and I’m glad I didn’t sleep too long because that would have effected what I would do tonight. I get out the paper and start to read. It seems I got up just in time. A little while later, they were getting ready for the pre arrival meal. I got the eggs and wasn’t very hungry but I wanted to see how they tasted. They were not that bad but I would think they would have a little bit more flavor. I ate a little bit of the eggs and finished the fruit. Had a cup of coffee and started getting ready for us to land in SFO. I looked at my watch and saw we were making good time. It looked like we would still land around 1:00pm and my next flight was leaving at 2:17pm. I decided oh well I might have to miss that flight and get on the next. I didn’t want to but I just didn’t see how I would make it through passport control, get my bags (I just knew they wouldn’t come out as fast as they did in SIN) go through customs, recheck my bags, go down and go through security for the domestic side and then make it to the gate for the flight. I would try but I wouldn’t be too upset if I didn’t make it.

We landed at 1:00pm and got to the gate around 1:10pm. This was going to be close and I decided I would try. One good thing was I was in First and they allowed us to get out fast. There were a couple of other people who were also in the same problem as I was. So once the door was opened, we were off to the races. I got to the passport control in about 5 minutes and I was the first one in line to have my passport checked. It only took about 5 minutes more to do this and I was off to the baggage area. I knew this was going to be the one part that would cost me the most time. Sure enough, I waited and waited for my bags to come out. I saw some priority tags and mostly missed bags with no tags at all. I really wish they would understand what is meant by PRIORITY! Well about 15 minutes or so later, I finally see my bag come out. I grab it and see I have 30 minutes before my flight. I go right through the customs area since I didn’t have anything to declare and I’m off to find the place to drop off my bag. I really don’t care if it makes it and just want to get to the gate. I turn in my bag and off to the security area. I’m hoping for the one to be open on this side of the terminal but I come up and find it’s not open. Now I know I’m going to cut it close because I have to go down and see which line is better, the non-status or the 1k line for security. I decide the non-status line is too long and get over to the 1k line. Not too bad so I get in line and hope for the best. I can always hope the gate is on this side of the terminal. I go through security with no problems and look at the board for the gate. Sure enough it is just off to my right. It’s looking good for me as I head over to the gate. Sure enough just as I get there they are calling for first class to board. This is great!!! I think this is the fastest anyone has ever cleared customs from an International flight and made it to the domestic side. I’m happy but sweating from the rush to the plane. I sit down in 2A and get ready for my next short flight. Boy I sure feel good now. A little over an hour and I will be in my home airport.

Last flight of the first trip is coming soon.

NCRBILL

I would agree with this statement on my UA metal but I can say the SQ is by far the best service I've had in a long time. I really look forward to doing this kind of run on SQ metal!!

Kiwi Flyer

I've just started reading this report. Nice one. Sorry I didnt see it sooner as I could have met up with you in SIN lounge (and gotten you into F side to boot) on 12th.

Have a great trip.


Great report so far NCRBill ^

NCRBILL

Boy I would loved to have seen that. Was that at the SFO SIN Lounge or at SIN? I would have loved to see it since I didn't get to at first. I will try to get in when I return to SIN on the 3rd of Dec.

Kiwi Flyer

SQ F lounge at SIN. Here is a link to the SQ lounge meets thread.

To access you need to be travelling first class on SQ or LH from SIN, or PPS or guest of one of the above.

NCRBILL

Well I guess I'll just go to my hotel instead of trying then. Too bad we couldn't have meet up when we were there last week. We will have to stay in touch just in case we are there together again.

NCRBILL

SFO – SAN
UA 352

Well what can I say about this flight other than it is good to be home. A good A319 plane and in seat 2A at that makes this all so much better. I was happy to be home and will write my next installment when I start my second trip here in two weeks. Have a great Thanksgiving and I will talk with you later.

CGK

Enjoy reading your report! And thank you for the menu. At least it will give me an idea what to expect on UA for my 1K-run early next month.
If you want to do run on SQ metal, perhaps you should come to SIN DO Jan 13-15, 2006. I will attend the main dinner Saturday night, and whatever party later on that night. Then, will do the CMB turn-around Sunday night. And will take SQ 2 which departs SIN at 5pm, through HKG, and arrives at SFO at 5:55pm. I know there are two FTers in F, and one in C at this moment (from HKG).
Well, if you can make the DO, it will great!

Savage25

Or an F boarding pass for a departing flight on any *A carrier.

SAtransplant

A couple nit picks :

1. You were entitled to free deluxe hotel accomodation, meals and transportation in SIN between your arrival from CMB on SQ and departure on SQ to NRT. Any lay over exceeding 6 hours when travelling in Business or First gets this. You have to ask ...

2. Telephone calling rates from hotel rooms in Singapore have to be the cheapest in the world, just pennies per minute to the USA. This is mandated by the Singapore Government.

I am also guessing that your UA outbound flight to NRT was a daytime one.
In my experience, those are killers. I have no problem with night time departures ex West Coast to points in Asia.

NCRBILL

Can you please expand on what your talking about? How does someone get free hotel, meals, and transportation in SIN? Who do you talk to and when? Does this work when you book from the states and do I have to pick up the ticket in CMB, meaning I have to spend a night in CMB before I start? Would this be true on the nonstop SIN - LAX also?

I will see how the rates for the phones compare. I will be going back on the 3rd of Dec so I'll be able to post for sure what the fee was. Is this rate dialing direct using the hotels long distance or using your own calling card?

Thanks for the help.