23 November 2004
Seoul Incheon (ICN/RKSI) – Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS)
Singapore Airlines SQ 015
Boeing 777-212ER
9V-SVI
1915-0045 – On Time
Economy Class, Seat 48C (Bulkhead)

Due to poor availability of United Business award seats, I had four days to spare. A fellow Airliners.netter also happened to be in Kuala Lumpur, a city that I had never visited previously, and Singapore Airlines had a decent fare down to Singapore. SQ 15 also had a departure time that would allow me to take my Tuesday classes at university, so a booking was made at singaporeair.com.

I arrived at Incheon after a long and boring rush-hour bus ride, and quickly collected my boarding passes at the Raffles class desk – I had already checked in online. My bag was checked in all the way to Kuala Lumpur although the SIN-KUL sector was on the next day and on a separate ticket. Security was very slow as was immigration, and I reached the SIlverKris lounge only about half an hour later. I then had some pasta and prawns for dinner before moving to the bar for a few glasses of champagne.

I also had SQ to mess up the frequent flyer data completely. I had logged in with my KrisFlyer number to make the booking. I then provided them my UA number when booking, when checking in online, at check in counter and at the lounge. The staff had no clue whatsoever when I complained that my boarding pass showed the SQ number. “Points go to SQ, miles to UA.” Now, I’d love to know what sort of points I earn in economy class in addition to miles. I still asked at the gate for them to put in the UA number – and guess what? The miles are in my SQ account that has no other miles whatsoever. I will fight this ridiculous episode with KrisFlyer until the miles appear in my Mileage Plus account.

SQ 17 with the routing Vancouver-Incheon-Singapore was an hour late, but my flight arrived on time from San Francisco and was scheduled to depart on time. Boarding started on time, and there was nobody to greet me at the door. The aircraft was full of Indians – SFO-SIN is a codeshare service with Air India. My bulkhead seat had excellent legroom as the bulkhead is not wide enough to block the C and H seats’ legroom. However, a woman with two young kids was seated in 48B. Thankfully they were very well behaved, so I didn’t need to give up the good legroom on this rather lightly loaded triple seven.

Cabin crew was predominantly Korean, and service was simply put poor and slow throughout the flight. The Singaporean LSS serving my section occasionally was much friendlier though. At times I felt I was on a Korean carrier and going to India. Menus were distributed, and had a special Indian selection for all meals listed as well. The amount of special meals was huge on this flight as well.

We were pushed back on time, and took off without delay for the rather long 5h40min flight down to Singapore Changi Airport. Peanuts and drinks were served first, but it was not until two hours into the flight when the meal cart arrived at my row. Selection was Korean beef, chicken with garlic mashed potatoes or some Indian choice. I had the chicken and it was awful. The mashed potatoes were made from the powder stuff, not real potatoes, and tasted terrible. It took another hour and no drink refills before the crew finally collected the trays. It seemed like this flight had about half of the number of flight attendants that Thai Airways has on a triple seven.

There was no further service on this flight – I listened to a playlist I had compiled from the various albums available on Wisemen 3000 and played a few rounds of SIA Inflight Challenge. Landing was a few minutes late at Changi, and I headed to the SilverKris First lounge – that’s where I would spend the night. There were still quite a few flights leaving such as those to Cape Town and Johannesburg.

Singapore Airlines SilverKris First Lounge, Singapore SG

Since the Kuala Lumpur shuttle has very cheap First Class tickets available, I decided to book one, spend the night in the lounge slumberettes and help my self to some fine drinks. The food buffet was still there when I arrived, so I had some chicken and beef with rice as I was hungry after the not so good offerings on ICN-SIN. Asked if they have some champagne still available – a bottle of Krug was soon opened for me to enjoy. I was the only one in the First lounge at this point. After making sure none of such fine champagne would go down the drain that night, I had a shower and headed to slumberette no. 4 for the night.

The slumberettes are poor to be honest. SQ offers flat beds in business and first, but no flat bed in a room meant for sleeping. I simply put a few blankets on the floor and slept there, as the chair type thing was uncomfortable. Hopefully they’ll have sleeping facilities such as the SAS Scandinavian Lounge in CPH soon. The SAS rooms have a normal bed and even a shower and toilet.

24 November 2004
Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS) – Kuala Lumpur International (KUL/WMKK)
Singapore Airlines SQ 110
Boeing 777-212ER
9V-SVO
1235-1330 – On Time
First Class, Seat 12K (Raffles Class Spacebed)

I had some breakfast and more Krug in the lounge before heading to the gate for boarding. Luckily it was a Spacebed 777 scheduled for this flight, so I could finally try out the seat. Boarding started on time, and I was shown to my seat by a friendly leading stewardess. For some reason, the headrest covers had the Raffles Class logo; I thought they are usually changed to First ones on the Kuala Lumpur shuttle.

First disappointment was the pre-departure drink selection – only pre-cupped juice and water unlike the usual wide selection in First. Newspapers and hot towels were offered later. Pushback and a powerful takeoff followed – flying time to the Malaysian capital was 45 minutes this afternoon. I played a bit with the Spacebed before the meal service, quite uncomfortable in the upright position, but a very comfortable bed was what I thought. Much better than the new Swiss seats that I have tried before.

Meal was a choice of chicken or salmon – I had the salmon. It came on a huge F class plate, but there was hardly anything to eat. Two cold pieces of salmon, each about the size of a candy. My request for champagne was turned down – “there is no champagne on this flight, sorry.” I could understand offering Raffles class champagne, but no champagne in Singapore First cabin?

Trays were later collected, and we were on approach to KLIA. The approach is strange – shows you where the airport is, i.e. in the middle of nowhere. We landed on time, and I took the train to arrivals and passport control. I met my friend there, and we took the train to XKL, Kuala Lumpur Sentral that is.

JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur

Since I’m just a few nights short of hitting Marriott Rewards Platinum, I chose this hotel despite many other tempting and cheap choices such as the Ritz Carlton or the Westin in the city.

Check-in was painfully slow; the guy seemed to have no clue what he was doing. No upgrade and no information about the lounge was given. They forgot to bring my bags upstairs until I called. The room was nice, albeit a bit small. But again, there was somebody else’s platinum amenity on the desk. And it was a smoking room despite booking a non-smoking directly with Marriott. The bathroom had a separate shower and tub, and was very nice. The location is great in the middle of the touristy area, and the JW Lounge was quite nice but not as nice as at the Bangkok property. Check-out took an eternity again. Overall, it was a nice property in a good location but the staff should get additional training urgently.

Malaysia Airlines Golden Lounge, First Class

I checked in at KL Sentral – the MAS guy was not very friendly, but I was still looking forward to my first flight with the company. A quick train ride later, I arrived at KLIA and went to a MAS First desk to confirm that my KLM FF number was in the booking as there was no mention on the boarding pass. A very friendly lady confirmed that it was there indeed, and asked if I had a pass for fast track immigration and a lounge invitation.

I had heard many good things about this lounge, and my expectations were very high. However, the lounge exceeded all my expectations. I decided to have some lunch first – there is a dining area set up like a fine restaurant, with table linens, MAS First tableware etc. I had some chicken curry, smoked salmon and pasta as well as salad and desserts. The selections were fantastic. A few bottles of Laurent Perrier champagne were placed in a bucket on the bar counter. Some Baileys with the desserts didn’t hurt either.

I then headed to sit near the windows while enjoying more champagne. The lounge also has a sleeping area and showers with a sauna. Only two internet terminals were available, otherwise it is a perfect lounge in my opinion. It may not have Krug or Hennessy XO cognac, but otherwise beats the Singapore SilverKris F lounge hands down.

25 November 2004
Kuala Lumpur International (KUL/WMKK) – Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS)
Malaysia Airlines MH 607
Airbus A330-322
9M-MKR
1930-2025 (2030-2130)
First Class, Seat 1A

The flight was delayed due to late arrival of the A330 from somewhere. I really enjoyed the extra time in the lounge, although a few passengers with onward connections from Singapore weren’t as happy. Boarding was finally called about 45 minutes after scheduled departure time, and I was warmly greeted by two flight attendants at door 1L of the A330 that had spent its earlier life with Skyservice.

Row 1 had great legroom (60” at least I’d say), and the old style business class seats were comfortable. The cabin was spacious with no overhead bins in the middle, although it caused some problems as well since the F cabin was full tonight. Hot towels, newspapers and various juices were offered before pushback.

Since Singapore Airlines had pretty dismal service on the sector, I wasn’t expecting much. However, service on Malaysia Airlines was from a different world. Hot snacks were offered – I had some chicken and beef satay. Extras were offered as well. I asked if they happened to have champagne – “Of course we have champagne if First class” was the guy’s reply. He even refilled my glass twice on the remainder if the 45-minute flight.

All the stewardesses in First were very friendly and attentive, much better than on Singapore Airlines I must say. No wonder MAS was voted the airline with best cabin crews. We landed at Changi late, needless to say. Immigration was quick as usual, and my bag with First priority tags came out quickly. Most passengers seemed to be connecting to BA/QF services that evening.

Before heading out, I asked one of the MAS baggage guys what aircraft it was – 9M-MKR was the reply. It was dark in both KUL and SIN and I was unable to see it from the gate. I then took a taxi to the Singapore Marriott.

Singapore Marriott Hotel

Check-in was quick, and I was promptly upgraded to executive floor due to my Gold status. They had only twin rooms left, but since I had booked via Priceline, I didn’t care much. The room was on the top floor with great views. It was also nicely appointed, and the bathroom had the usual shower and separate tub. I also got a card detailing all the executive floor benefits, but unfortunately had no time to take advantage of them. The location is unbeatable on Orchard road. I usually book Cebu Marriott and this time booked JW KUL via Marriott.com. Neither property seems to give a rat’s ... about the preferences you select or MR Gold status. I always book JW Bangkok via Priceline and most of the staff there greet me by name.

26 November 2004
Singapore Changi (SIN/WSSS) – Seoul Incheon (ICN/RKSI)
Singapore Airlines SQ 886
Boeing 777-212ER
9V-SQA
0800-1510 – On Time
Economy Class, Seat 45C

I checked in online for this flight as well – snagged 45C which has no seat in front. The exit row has only two seats, thus 45C and H have great legroom. Boarding pass was printed quickly and my bag was priority tagged to Incheon, Korea. Immigration was very quick and painless as usual, and I was soon in the room for worthless individuals who gain status by not flying Raffles or First – SIA Premier Lounge that is. Breakfast selections were poor – I had a tasteless sandwich and some Pringles before heading to the gate.

Boarding started on time, and the SATS staff held back the huge Korean tour group coming from Male, so that premium passengers could board. There didn’t seem to be many passengers in first or business on this flight. My seat had very good legroom obviously, but no seat in front meant I had about 50 people of the abovementioned tour group to smash their bags into my arm.

We were pushed back a few minutes late, and took off shortly thereafter for the 6-hour day flight to Incheon. The menu listed a continental breakfast and lunch as meals on this flight. I decided to sleep and skip the small breakfast – this is apparently impossible on Singapore Airlines. I was woken up by a Korean flight attendant who tossed the small tray into my lap without taking out the tray table, and said “your breakfast”. On ICN-SIN, two different flight attendants woke up the woman with two kids next to me and tried to offer the same meal. On Asiana, they place a sticker in front of you that basically says “you missed the meal, go to the galley if you want one”.

I ate the croissant and few pieces of fruit in about three minutes and waited another 40 minutes until the tray was collected. No drink refills were offered. After the forced breakfast I managed to sleep for the rest of the flight until lunch was served. I don’t remember the choices right now, but it was an average airline meal – not great but nothing to complain about either. I’ll post the exact menus once I’m in Finland and unpack my stuff if there is interest.

I slept for the rest of the flight after tray collection, and only woke up as we touched down on Korean soil. Immigration lines were long, but moved rather fast this time. I then took the shuttle to the Hyatt Regency Incheon where I’d spend the night before my United flight the next morning. Thinking about it, I guess I could have re-deposited the UA miles to my account, caught Air Asia to BKK from Singapore, and flown back on SQ later, but I was really looking forward to United Business class.