lloydah

I have to arrange travel to Auckland NZ later this year and was considering Singapore First Suites on the 380. Mrs L has asked me to find out if there's any way we can use La P instead, at least for a majority of the journey. I can't find a useful route. Any ideas welcomed.
Thanks.

rosensfole

Funny you should ask! I've been researching similar. The obvious route is CDG->SIN->AKL though on the day I chose there's only business class available from SIN...



Edit: forgot to mention; when selecting flights starting in MAN I could only see business class all the way. I guess the best way to organise via La P. is by calling AF.

lloydah

Thank you rosenfole. I looked this up, after I read your post, on matrix. It appears that the return price for F on SIA - SIN / AKL - is more than the entire flight you have shown for my dates coming out at £5785pp. It may be sensible in this case to go LHR/AKL with SIA as it appears to be roughly £5K cheaper for two than combining flights. Will have to speak to my wife.......

SkyteamEP

I think you cannot connect to a SQ first class flight coming from AF on the same ticket.

Goldorak

rosensfole

You can't when booking online certainly but I suspect AF agents can work their magic over the phone.

orbitmic

I’m curious if there is any particular reason Mrs L doesn’t want to fly the new SQ F suites? They look like a fabulous product to me, and single airline itineraries have their advantages.

irishguy28

She probably doesn't want the detour via Jo'burg

lloydah

Yeah that would indeed be a bit out of the way.

As for the suites, it's not so much that she has anything against them, more that the La P experience is something we know and enjoy at every opportunity. I have mentioned the single itinerary and the problems of luggage which does seem to add unneeded stress to what is essentially a holiday.
Keen to know if anyone here has had experience of the ground services of SIA in comparison with AF. There is some info over on that site here but nothing which tells me a lot.

Klems

I did fly SIA Suites from NYC to FRA to SIN, and then SIA F from SIN to SYD just about a year ago. In terms of ground services, there's not even any possible comparison. SIA has - surprisingly - almost nothing at all.

In details: in NYC there was nothing at all, we used the Virgin Atlantic lounge (which is otherwise wonderful). During the stopover in FRA, we were escorted to the Lufthansa lounge and no one picked us up when it was time to board again. In SIN, nothing on arrival, we were by ourselves.
Spent 2 days in Singapore before continuing our trip, and this is where we noticed the only fun thing in terms of F ground services: they have a private terminal to check in. It's a separate building and entrance, and your car can drop you there directly (although you will probably need to notify the cab driver first). Then you have a private security checkpoint, and then you are on your own.

They have the Private Room lounge (which is a lounge inside the First Class lounge), but it's honestly nothing special. It's quiet, and the food is alright but that's about it. Then again you go to the plane by yourself.

So where Air France truly makes every La Première passenger feel very special, and where clearly every single aspect of the experience is thought out, SIA drops the ball on the ground services (which is not the case for the flight FYI, this was absolutely wonderful). Let me know if you have more questions or need more details .

orbitmic

Oopsie, typo duly corrected (Azerty/Qwertyuiop fun!)

lloydah

Thank you indeed. It's what I have come to believe re. the ground services. Back to the drawing board. This being a trip that includes a small amount of work (me) and a special birthday (her) I just want to get the details right. Thanks again for your time in replying so fully.

orbitmic

Yes but the new F suites look great, and what's more romantic for a special birthday than your own double bed in the sky?

Klems

You're very welcome! But like orbitmic says, the SIA suites are definitely more romantic as a couple and you can fly them almost all the way to New Zealand. So it all depends on how important the ground services are to you vs inflight experience, knowing that I don't think there are any airline that would do better, or even as good as AF when it comes to the ground services. SIA sounds also more practical as they fly to NZ, unlike AF.

brunos

Different persons value different attributes.
There is no doubt that AF strong point is ground service, in particular the escort at some stations. If you transfer at CDG, the escort service is excellent and useful.
I have significant experience of the escort service and P lounge before the new BEST seat and a single one since. I have a few experiences with SQ F.

Remember that SQ offers many, many more F seats than AF, including on some regional services. It is not surprising that they do not provide escorts to F pax, and that is not a tradition among Asian airlines. If you value escort so much, then go through the complication (and probably high fare) of connecting through CDG, then changing airline in SIN to SQ. Maybe AF has some special deal F deal with SQ, but I doubt.

Regarding SQ, I really like the Private room in SIN, as well as the check in services (private Terminal). The Private room is huge, more classy than the Premiere lounge. But that's a matter of taste. Food might be more refined to French tastes in P lounge PR is more geared to Asian taste), but I like the PR food/wines (geared toward new world wines) very much. To me a lounge is a lounge but I would not rate the P lounge over the PR lounge.
The SQ suites are more private than the new AF suite. Some might find it claustrophobic rather than private. But I also dislike the single row of AF suite on AF 77W. And if you compare to the outdated F seats on A380, it is a nobrainer.
Unfortunately, the new double SQ suites aon A380 are just starting to be retrofitted on A380, so it is unclear that you would get one.

If you had never experience SQ but are familiar with AF P, why not try SQ?
And it will be an easier hassle-free travel from LHR. Just remember that some SIN-AKL flights are now operated by 789 with no F class.

Review: The Private Room at Changi Airport (Singapore Airlines) - Best Food I Had In An Airport Lounge - I Wander