propensityscore

Hey there,

I need to travel from YYZ to Seoul this autumn and am weighing my options inre: AC vs. Singapore Air. The AC flight is direct and costs ~$2K less than Singapore in biz class, but the Singapore itinerary involves, well, Singapore biz class and a stop in San Fran. (The YYZ to SFO portion is on AC metal.) I don't head to Asia on business much and, as such, have never hopped on a Singapore Air jet. Any thoughts on Singapore Air vs. AC to Asia, Seoul in particular? Is it worth the extra $2K, for starters?

Cheers,
PS

global happy traveller

may i confuse you a bit more with OZ (Asiana) that flies directly to ICN from ORD? Can a 1 hr CnX to YYZ on AC/UA.

payam81

Is it worth $2K more? It really is something you should ask yourself. How much is $2K worth to you? Of course SQ is, generally, an arm and a leg above AC in both the hard and soft product, but honestly the pods on AC are quite nice as well. Frankly last month I did an SQ J SIN-NRT followed by an AC J NRT-YYZ and I must admit, the crew on AC were so fantastic, they seemed almost like they were trained in the SQ FA school! So if/when you get a good crew, AC could be a fantastic choice.

Personally I'd pick AC just because its a direct flight. I'd rather spend less time transiting etc. and more time with my family.

P.S: Consider yourself warned about SQ's Bangalore Call Center! Even simple requests/interactions could quickly lead to phone-rage when you communicate (or lack thereof) with their robots. AC's call center shines like a beacon in comparison.

yyzgigi

SQ is good, but I wouldn't pay $2k for it, particularly if it forced a connection in the US. Arriving in the US on an international flight as a Canadian is a pretty horrible experience, quickly erasing any joy you may have gotten from the SQ service.

In addition, going down to SFO is going to make the flying time a lot longer and you're going to have domestic business for 10 hours of your return, so on balance you're not gaining a lot.

Ichinensei

OK, not that you got my attention. can you please be more detail? I will be in that exact situation in a month's time.. Arriving at ORD from NRT and connecting to YYZ

Ichinensei

OK, not that you got my attention. can you please be more detail? I will be in that exact situation in a month's time.. Arriving at ORD from NRT and connecting to YYZ

global happy traveller

SQ is great.... AC is great.... Let me compare the two

SQ Features:
- Book the cook
- A largeeee meal (App, Mains, Desserts, Cheese, Fruit, Fresh Noodles for midflight snack, A typical breakfast)
- Flat / wide bed facing forwards
- A real large screen TV
- Toiletries in the washroom
- Bag with just socks and eye cover
- Connection via US (outbound you can use the CNX shuttle, inbound you need to clear US Customs, walk across terminal and Security)
- Incur one more flight between SFO/YYZ (5 hours more) and flight CNX may be missed (protected if you buy it in one through ticket or made arrangements with both airlines of the CNX)
- Standardized protocol service with a desire to please the passenger (sometimes people feel its a lil overkill)
- To be honest I am not too pleased with SQ's SFO ground staff (the language I heard in another language was relatively rude)

AC Features
- 4 main courses along with Apps, Desserts, Cheese, Fruit, Packaged snacks and dim sum, cup noodles for midflight snack and a typical breakfast)
- Herringbone seats with widescreen TV (narrower than SQ) I beleive its a little harder back too
- Toiletres bag with toothbrush, socks, eyeshades, Lotion, Lip Balm
- You clear one customs only to canada.... (at first port of entry)
- AC will look after you from start to end and not be bounced around by two airlines laying blame if something goes wrong
- Canadian attitudes and intimacy service
- Less entertainment choices than SQ

Is it worth 2K? Dunno, its up to the individual.... I am happy with the sleep and service I get on AC

jarusoba

I love SQ way more than AC. They are simply a better airline.

Having said that, I would still choose AC over SQ in this case, just because I have to transit thru the US if I fly SQ.

1. Longer flights
2. 2 customs to clear
3. Ridiculous security (especially at YYZ going to the US)
4. Can't lock bags

These would negate any benefits I would get from flying SQ.

I don't like YVR, but I would prefer YVR to any US airports.

If SQ had a YYZ-SIN non-stop flight, I would take SQ even if there was an even bigger fare difference!

will5404

There are no priority lines for Canadian citizens, and customs is typically lined up. You can't use Nexus arriving Intl->US and Global Entry is only available to American citizens.

In short you have to bear with a potentially long queue, plus deal with US customs. I've been on the UA flight and it was 30-40 mins from on the plane to being cleared. Luckily I didn't have checked baggage, the lineups to recheck baggage would of easily added another 30+ minutes.

If I was the OP I think I would rather avoid transiting the US.

ylwae

If flight time and cost were the only issues, I'd take SQ. But I'd like to avoid the security and immigration hassles, which would make AC the winner.

Yukonprince

I did the same thing last year - absolutely painless!

KKT

Totally agreed. Entering US from YVR was a nightmare experience for me. Never again!

yyzgigi

Pretty good summary. Depending on the timing you can have a fine experience or a bad experience. My last flight arriving at ORD from ICN took about an hour to process customs. I was traveling in F, so was in the earlier group off the plane. However, landed just after an SAS flight that was heavily European. With blue forms and finger printing it took forever with lots of people sent back for not filling out the forms properly.

The American passengers from my flight had all long cleared customs by the time I got to the front of the line.

Perhaps I'm just spoiled by Nexus, but just feel a little more herded in the US than other ports of entry.

airbus320

airbus320 Travel Rule # 1 : If possible, avoid travel to the USA either as final destination or as a transit point. Too much hassle !

GlennH

Totally agree....

Last October I came back from Munich via Washington. The line up was horrendous and I only just made my connection that I had 2.5 hours for!
It's not just clearing immigration that is the pain. You then have to pick up your bags and re-clear security. God forbid you purchased any liquid duty free on board the aircraft or you are screwed! (unless you remember to put it in your checked luggage) I swore I would not fly international via US again after this, but time passed and it was time to take the family on a trip to the UK.
This time we went to Manchester (UK) via PHL. Coming back through PHL was the single most painful afternoon of my life. A wife, mother-in-law and 3 children under the age of 5, forced to stand in line for over 1.5 hours just to get through immigration! Then more waiting to clear security again. To rub salt into the wound our flight was an hour late leaving PHL as well.

My trip to Dublin in August has been booked from YYZ via LHR. No more US International connections for me...ever.