Kiwi Flyer

Singapore to Incheon Seoul (SIN-ICN) on Singapore Airlines A330-300 in business class

Our arrival gate was in T2 indicating the aircraft was next bound for India (perhaps DEL?). Rather than take the train directly to T3 I opted to walk the long way via T1 to stretch my legs. While it is a long distance it doesn't take me long as I walk fairly quickly and before long I was back at T3 SQ lounge and welcomed into the first section. Sometimes the lounge entrance staff recognise me and I do not have to show my boarding pass, while other times I do. A few years earlier when I was flying SQ more it was very rare for the boarding pass to leave my pocket as nearly all the lounge staff recognised me. Indeed I'd often have my usual drink waiting for me at the bar when I returned from dropping my bags at my seat (passing the bar en route). Those days are gone, as is the Dom that used to be available in the lounge.

Anyway, my elite status gives me access to the first class lounge, which at SIN is really an elite lounge + other airline first class because real first class passengers can use The Private Room - the lounge within the lounge. Consequently, the first class lounge is slightly nicer (and much quieter) than the business class lounge, but not as nice as you'd expect for a classy airline at its hub airport. Still it generally fits the bill - somewhere nice to seat in between flights. Good food and drink if you need it, although I skip the food for transfers of only a few to several hours. An okay shower to freshen up - or in my case to stay awake for the next flight which is a redeye (plus 5 hours later than my home timezone).

Our gate is at the end of A pier. A moderate walk from the lounge (signs recommend taking the train but I never bother), albeit less distance than the far B gates which are often used for the flights between Singapore and Christchurch or the daytime flight to Auckland. I time it late as usual to avoid long queue at security and minimise time spent waiting in the gate lounge which at SIN tends to be crowded.

Somewhat surprisingly, this is to be my first flight on A330 on Singapore Airlines. To date I'd managed to avoid the aircraft and generally keep to the preferred longhaul business class seating on 77W and A380, rather than the regional business class seating on the A330. However, for regional seating it is quite good and a big improvement on the older 772 and 773 regional seating.

I noticed the menu had changed significantly since the last time I'd flown this route. While the choice of meal straight after take-off or before landing remained, the menu items were more aligned to breakfast than a supper service. In the past on this route I've usually taken the meal after take off. My reasoning is most other passengers choose before landing meal and so the supper service is much quicker, and allows a longer sleep. With more passengers opting for breakfast they start serving a couple of hours before arrival. If not chatting with a fellow passenger of supping bubbles in first, I'm asleep in little over an hour and get an hour more sleep on this fairly short flight.

However, this time I'm too tired. Perhaps I drank too much in the previous flight or perhaps it is just a reflection of how much I needed this trip to recover from a very busy year. So I slept from before pushback and only awoke when we touched down. Can't get better than this.

At Seoul, SQ has now moved to the satellite terminal and so there is a short train ride to the main terminal to the transfer desk for my next boarding passes.