Tofino87

Hi all, just a quickie. If travelling on a OneWorld partner (not BA) from SIN in First, can you access the Bar at the SIN lounge?, or are rules akin to the Concorde room at LHR?

An initial search suggests the latter, but thought worth double checking! TIA

Howard Long

As a data point, a few years ago I accessed the old CCR in JFK T7 with a connection, incoming BA in F, and departing CX in F.

At the time, there wasn't a consensus on this board whether I should have enjoyed that access.

I am guessing no to your specific scenario, but to soften the blow, you're not missing much: the Qantas F lounge in Sin is a far better experience except for it being less exclusive.

Koru Flyer

Personally, I find that The Bar is now my choice of SIN lounges, in order of BA, QR and then QF F. But I have no idea on the question, as they have opened up access to GGL they might be more accommodating.

BA The Bar now offers a full menu, the server in their is proactive and personable, and it is quite and relaxing (for now). Large and comfortable couches, lots of power sockets, individual large TVs. I get the feeling they are trying.

The QF F lounge has better showers (cold and low water pressure), arguably the best food of the QF network (as the ponytailed one seems to keep his distance), but is like a large shopping centre/mall food court, it is not a lounge but a place where people can feed themselves as much food as fast as possible (about 80% of space is tables), with very poor acoustics, a very very small couch area and shockingly cheap wine list. Mixed drinks are quite good though. If you hit it after say 6pm when the QF bank of flight starts it can be very crowded. And as a parent so not judging, just noticing, it does get affected by the QF guest rules that children are not counted. So lots of families. If in a family or a group, i.e. the ones making the noise it is probably fine, and a lot of fun", if you are flying single, it really is an assault on the ears.
("although even my family said let's leave...).

QR has best food, best bar, best showers, but is so quiet, and as I am usually connecting and tired, I get concerned that I will miss my flight as you cannot see the flight board easily. It is eery being the only one in a large lounge.

So no matter the answer from the BA lounge, there are options, and luckily each cater to different groups so you should be able to find your people.

KF

carrotjuice

Interesting, your ranking of SIN lounges. Do you have a copy of The Bar menu by any chance?

bisonrav

The Bar menu has always been stuff from the buffet plated up for you in my experience. I'd always eat in QR or QF F which is a la carte cooked to order. The Bar is now open to GGLs I think but in the days where it wasn't it was a peaceful place to sit just prior to the flight.

Koru Flyer

Unfortunately not as it was QR coded, but from memory it consisted of salads, warm starters (i.e. chicken satay etc), warm mains (fish & chips, beef stew, pasta, steak, vegetarian) and desert. Basic menu of around 5 items per category.
Nothing exciting, and not overly regional, and I would rank it in food below QR (best - quality and presentation), QF (some decent dishes, esp. laksa and the fish are often good), The BA lounge is a step up from where it was pre Covid. And the people they have serving in there are just brilliant.
I think the food is now beyond what they have on the buffet, but I have not gone to the tasks of a comparison.
(My observation of the QF lounge kitchen is that for many dishes it is a buffet that is plated for you, esp. at peak times, otherwise they could not do the volume).

I would rank QR as absolutely the best in every category, but it needs some more people in there - it is a large space and I find I am literally the only one there, so with 4-5 staff watching on I feel like I need to order or do something.
Also I have come very close to missing the BA flights from the QR lounge, as there are no calls, and the board is located at the door, so cannot be seen from the lounge, if I wait until it says boarding, by the time I am at the gate I am last on - remember SIN has the security at the gate with the holding pen, so the boarding is very prompt. I know I should just make my timing on what it says on the BP,,,,,

KF

carrotjuice

True. Even as GGL, my go-to approach would be:
- travelling Y as OWE, use QF F.
- travelling J, use QR.

Slightly OT, but if you have Priority Pass with unlimited visits, go to Crystal Jade at T1 before the lounge, and take away their chicken egg fried rice. You'll thank me later upon arrival and you don't want to leave your home / hotel for a delightful one dish meal.

TGflyergirl

Kinda begs the question (at least for me) - apologies if posted elsewhere, but is GGL flying another OW carrier permitted into the SIN CCB?

Tobias-UK

No, you must be travelling on BA, see more information here: Updated lounge access and 'Group 0' boarding benefits for GGL card holders

crazy8534

No, the rules are that you have to be on a BA flight:

Gold Guest List Members travelling on British Airways flights, in any cabin, can enjoy our First Dining, Concorde Dining and ‘The Bar’ facilities with 1 guest.*
*Accompanying guest must be travelling on the same British Airways flight with the eligible Gold Guest List Member and access may be subject to capacity on the day. Gold Guest List Members may invite 2 guests when travelling in First only.

I also think the answer to the OP's original question is no, access would not be allowed in that situation.

Edit: X-posted with Tobias-UK

HFHFFlyer

I can’t actually remember what the F&B is like in here but I do recall finding the atmosphere to be rather dark and dingy. It’s a small, windowless room with low lighting.

The woman sitting in booth next to me had her phone on ring mode and it pinged constantly for 40 minutes as doubtless all her friends whatsapped her to wish her well for her journey,

I go through SIN a fair amount and always use the QR or QF lounges depending on my mood.

Fife_Flyer

So what would be the recommendation for lounges when travelling through Singapore on BA15, two of us travelling Club, myself with a gold card? I assume from above that the CCB is not available to us. We'd be looking for a quick shower and a meal, and our default would probably be Qantas First lounge. Is the QR lounge better?

bennos

I can't believe I did not know there was a Crystal Jade in T1, thank you for this post.

Koru Flyer

If you are connecting to SYD, then the only real choices are QF F, QF J or BA J - as the QR lounge does not open until around 18.00/18/30 but stays open until around 2am (check timings as the BA flight retimes with daylight saving changes etc. I think QR opens 4 hours before the QR flight - the QR lounge website is generally correct). So you could nip in before the flight for a bit but does not seem worth it to me, other than curiosity. On the return QR is open.
My personal preferred is QR over QF for all the reasons I have said here and in the QF similar thread.
It may not say First but QR is only available to J/F passengers and just wins on every category (food, drinks, seating, restaurant, showers, power sockets etc) - except some people find it a little too empty with a high staff to pax ratio.
The QF lounge IMHO is more of a OWE lounge and an acoustical assault, is very focused on feeding QF pax heading from SIN to AU - with a flight time of around 7 hours is very short so people like to eat and drink in the lounge and then pass out on the plane - which reflects in the cafeteria atmosphere (Not judging, just calling it s as I see it from probably 30+ transits). If you like Singapore tastes then the QF lounge does do a good laksa and the fish is usually very very good. So I will admit that if I doing the BA11 to BA15 I will stop in QF for food and then chill in the BA lounge.

Do one one-way and the other the other way. There are no bad lounges in SIN and each has a differentiator (QR, BA, QF F, QF J). We are just all a bit spoilt....

KF

carrotjuice

Yes, it's a recent addition to the PP network, where members can choose 1 of 3 menu sets:
​​​​​​Combo A: Chicken Fried Rice
Combo B: Sweet & Sour Fish with Rice
Combo C: Black Pepper Chicken with Rice
Each comes with a pork and vegetable dumpling soup and a beverage (Chinese tea or soft drink).

​​​​Other locations include:
- Kaveri Indian Vegetarian (T2/T3 - transit area)
- Chutney Mary Indian Fast Food (T2 - public area)
- Crystal Jade Go (T4 - transit area)
- Connect @ Changi (T2 - transit area)

If you have time during long transits and can be bothered, you can actually "restaurant hop" and take away different foods from these places ahead of your flight (although that isn't the intention of the PP program).