Thoughts on SIN - SYD
Oct 31, 2013, 4:06 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold;BA GGL; hhonors lifetime diamond; Marriott lt Gold; IH Plat Amb; Amex Centurion
Posts: 4,739
Thoughts on SIN - SYD
This cannot really be classed as a TR but I did have some thoughts (few of them positive) about a recent trip with my husband on BA15. We had been in Singapore for a few days at my law firm's annual partners' meeting and were going on to Sydney for a week's R&R so it counts as a stand alone flight. I was not over impressed.
The timings and flight time are the rough equivalent of JFK-LHR overnight and it was against this I was comparing it.
Lounges The BA one did not have as wide a range of food as either JFK or any of the lounges in T5 in London. There was no pre-flight dining, which meant that if one wanted to eat one was dependent on the on-board meal service.
In-Flight Service Timing This was sooooo slooooow. I have nothing against the food that I got (so far as I could tell no menu cards had been loaded so the crew had to show each punter a handwritten piece of A4 with the choices handwritten: these things happen and I doubt it slowed things down very much). But it was nearly three hours out of SIN befofe, even skipping desert, my meal tray was removed. This surely should be quicker on a short overnight flight.
Service Generally Brusque. Two points stand out. First, when my husband woke up in the middle of the short night, abandoned sleep and asked for a cup of tea the reaction from a crew member was one of complete startlement (if there is such a word) and query, "You want a cup of tea?", as if he had asked for braised elephant's trunk garni. Secondly, we were both dozing and the same crew member dragged us back to the land of the living with a loud "Duty Free? Sure you don't want any?". No, go away!!
At least there were bacon rolls.
I feel that if this service is to continue the whole way in which service is carried out might be looked at afresh. In particular pre flight dining and a speedier service on board. And some sort of arrivals lounge and fast track would be nice.
A last tip. Do not book seat 10K or I think 10A on the 777. I may be the only person in the entire civilised world not to know thatthere is a missing wondow at that point!
The timings and flight time are the rough equivalent of JFK-LHR overnight and it was against this I was comparing it.
Lounges The BA one did not have as wide a range of food as either JFK or any of the lounges in T5 in London. There was no pre-flight dining, which meant that if one wanted to eat one was dependent on the on-board meal service.
In-Flight Service Timing This was sooooo slooooow. I have nothing against the food that I got (so far as I could tell no menu cards had been loaded so the crew had to show each punter a handwritten piece of A4 with the choices handwritten: these things happen and I doubt it slowed things down very much). But it was nearly three hours out of SIN befofe, even skipping desert, my meal tray was removed. This surely should be quicker on a short overnight flight.
Service Generally Brusque. Two points stand out. First, when my husband woke up in the middle of the short night, abandoned sleep and asked for a cup of tea the reaction from a crew member was one of complete startlement (if there is such a word) and query, "You want a cup of tea?", as if he had asked for braised elephant's trunk garni. Secondly, we were both dozing and the same crew member dragged us back to the land of the living with a loud "Duty Free? Sure you don't want any?". No, go away!!
At least there were bacon rolls.
I feel that if this service is to continue the whole way in which service is carried out might be looked at afresh. In particular pre flight dining and a speedier service on board. And some sort of arrivals lounge and fast track would be nice.
A last tip. Do not book seat 10K or I think 10A on the 777. I may be the only person in the entire civilised world not to know thatthere is a missing wondow at that point!
Last edited by hsmall; Oct 31, 2013 at 5:50 am
Oct 31, 2013, 4:36 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Programs: Mucci des Hommes Magiques et Magnifiques
Posts: 19,093
What date did you travel Harry?
When I have had the situation where no menus were loaded I made a brief PA before take off explaining the meal choices which helped to speed up taking the meal orders after takeoff.
You should have been given fast track forms for Sydney.
When I have had the situation where no menus were loaded I made a brief PA before take off explaining the meal choices which helped to speed up taking the meal orders after takeoff.
You should have been given fast track forms for Sydney.
Oct 31, 2013, 4:51 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: MAN/BHX
Programs: ABBA
Posts: 6,027
In-Flight Service Timing This was sooooo slooooow. I have nothing against the food that I got in row 10 but (so far as I could tell no menu cards had been loaded so the crew had to show each punter a handwritten piece of A4 with the choices handwritten: these things happen and I doubt it slowed things down very much). But it was nearly three hours out of SIN befofe, even skipping desert, my meal tray was removed. This surely should be quicker on a short overnight flight.
Service Generally Brusque
asked for a cup of tea
"Duty Free? Sure you don't want any?"
Oct 31, 2013, 7:16 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold;BA GGL; hhonors lifetime diamond; Marriott lt Gold; IH Plat Amb; Amex Centurion
Posts: 4,739
This was the BA15 that left Singapore on Sunday 27/10.
No. They didn't think of that!
We weren't, though TBH the fast and slow track queues looked much the same length at 0620...
We weren't, though TBH the fast and slow track queues looked much the same length at 0620...
Oct 31, 2013, 7:29 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: LGW
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 762
The timings and flight time are the rough equivalent of JFK-LHR overnight and it was against this I was comparing it.
Lounges The BA one did not have as wide a range of food as either JFK or any of the lounges in T5 in London. There was no pre-flight dining, which meant that if one wanted to eat one was dependent on the on-board meal service.
Lounges The BA one did not have as wide a range of food as either JFK or any of the lounges in T5 in London. There was no pre-flight dining, which meant that if one wanted to eat one was dependent on the on-board meal service.
Oct 31, 2013, 7:33 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: MEL
Programs: BA Gold; VA Velocity Gold; LH FTL; Marriott Gold; ICHG Platinum AMB; Hilton Gold
Posts: 5,393
I have to admit I had an OK but not spectacular experience on my first LHR-SIN on Mixed Fleet recently (BA15). Crew attitude was fine, but seemed a bit overwhelmed (not great given that this flight often seems to be full or near full in F and Club).
In SIN, head for the QF lounge - could not be more different to the BA lounge. Much nicer environment, food cooked to order, and practically next door to the BA lounge in any event!
In SIN, head for the QF lounge - could not be more different to the BA lounge. Much nicer environment, food cooked to order, and practically next door to the BA lounge in any event!
Oct 31, 2013, 7:43 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold;BA GGL; hhonors lifetime diamond; Marriott lt Gold; IH Plat Amb; Amex Centurion
Posts: 4,739
The reason we didn't was that we had read (here?) that Qantas tried to push BA customers back into the BA lounge and I didn't want the hassle (despite being a litigator...).
Oct 31, 2013, 7:46 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London
Programs: British Airways Silver, Tesco, BA Amex, Kris Flyer
Posts: 533
Oct 31, 2013, 7:47 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, United Kingdom
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold;BA GGL; hhonors lifetime diamond; Marriott lt Gold; IH Plat Amb; Amex Centurion
Posts: 4,739
I understand why you compare these two due to the flight timings but they are completely different markets, and frequency. BA has 2 flights to SIN, compared to JFK where there are 12 flights. This means BA will spend more on JFK lounges and the route is heavy with business PAX that need to be fed before due to the short sector, and with SIN-SYD ba probably just look at the people on BA15 going the whole way through and therefore they have been fed twice on the first sector already and dont/wont eat in the lounge.
Oct 31, 2013, 8:12 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
A practical difficulty was that BA15 had arrived late and BA was trying to get it out as fast as possible. After entering it, we discovered that the QF lounge had no information about our BA flight, so we could not have known when boarding started. So after having the showers that we'd planned to have, but before sampling the food, we went over to the BA lounge after all so that we wouldn't run the risk of missing the flight.
Oct 31, 2013, 7:53 pm
#14
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
I' flying down to SIN tomorrow to pick up BA15 down to SYD. I'll keep an eye out for the problems you mentioned, although the lounge situation is well known. QF is the best of a bad bunch. Not really sure why SIN keeps winning all the awards.
Oct 31, 2013, 8:32 pm
#15
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 3,809
I strongly disagree with this. The QF lounge is not the best of a bad bunch at SIN it is one of the best J lounges in the Oneworld network. As for SIN winning lots of awards, I'm not so sure either, but that's not related to the lounge situation.