First experience on SQ
 

well, everyone rants and raves about Singapore airlines, I traveled LAX-NRT-LAX and back with them last week and it was pretty average, worse than British Airways (with whom I fly pretty often).

The food was not that good, on my flight back they ran out of the main course and I was given some substitute food that was even crappier with an apology. When I asked for some white wine I got a small plastic cup with wine filled 1/4 level (about 5 sips) :confused: (on BA they cheerfully give me the whole half-size bottle), not sure why they were "rationing" the food or drinks. Asked for beer once and they said they didn't have anything except Budweiser even though the menu claimed "variety of beers". I feel sick if I drink Budweiser so I passed on the offer and drank water instead :( Yeah, and if you think I requested too many drinks, not so, I have 1 or 2 drinks for the whole 10 hour flight just to clear that up.

The entertainment system was among the worst I have seen, the plane was old and rickety..granted it was a 747 but I have flown on BA 747s that were better, PA system was so horrible I could not hear a word of what the captain or crew were saying.

Yes, the crew were very polite but the amenities are very poor.

Not flying Singapore Airlines ever again if I have a choice.. it was one of the worse flying experiences but I am totally stunned about it since SQ has been rated so high everywhere.

oh, and another thing Singapore Airlines needs to learn how to do correctly is how to board the plane. Everyone was allowed to board all at once so once you get on the plane the aisles are all blocked. The plane needs to be boarded starting from the back to the front in order. Seesh! Singapore Airlines does not seem to have even the basics down!

SQ is not without its flaws but inflight experiences are generally favourable even amongst FTers. I just think you were unlucky and/or had too high expectations (again SQ is not infalliable). BTW, having your preferred meal choice unavailable happens. I've had it happen before even in C I think. Surprised that they only had Bud. I would have thought that if SQ only carried one beer on board it would have been Tiger or one of the standard Euro brews like Heineken.

Also the difference between SQ Y (I presume from the plastic cup that you were in Y) and Y in many other non-stateside airlines is not as large as say SQ F/C vs other airlines and even then in the premier cabins, SQ *can be* overrated.

I'm not surprised that the SQ 747 cabins are not in great shape. The last time I flew an SQ 747 was probably in 2006 and the cabins even in C weren't in such great shape back then already. The 747s are in the process of leaving SQ service, and if I understand correctly, the 747s would have left SQ service earlier if not for the A380 delays. So in a way they are in service longer than anticipated by SQ.

SQ does have this practice but I don't know if all the stations apply it equally or equally well. I know that the application of this policy across the various SQ stations is uneven but I suspect this would be the case for many/most airlines.

Also I guess if a particular flight has beaucoup KF or Star Alliance Golds in Y and who were exercising their privilege to board first, this might also have a bit of effect on boarding for the rest even if there was some proper order.

I do understand that I am being harsh in my judgement about the airline but only because they are 5 star rated and received all these various awards, given this I don't expect any shortcomings.

OK, I am no SQ apologist, but you are kidding aren't you?

Re: food. The menu apologises if they are out of your first choice, and you will always get your first choice for one of the two meals because they reverse the direction of the trolley for the second meal

Re: wine. BA offers quarter bottles (which airline were you thinking of that serves half bottles?), and SQ will always give you a top-up or give you a full plastic glass (equivalent to a quarter bottle) if you ask

Re: beer. You can always ask for another type of beer, except when they are doing a pre-poured tray drinks service and want to serve everyone quickly (e.g. night flights) so they can get to the meal. SQ always has Tiger when there is a trolley service

Re: rationing. Plenty of drinks and snacks are available between meals in the galley (BA has abolished the Y tuck box due to cost cutting) - try pressing the call button on SQ - unlike on most US/European airlines, it actually works!

Re: entertainment. The older SQ AVOD is as good as the BA AVOD, and still amongst the best in the industry. Other 5* airlines still have films on a loop (e.g. OZ), while on a UA 747 (which is on average 10 years older than an SQ one) you'll get only a tiny overhead screen

All I can say is that if you think the SQ experience is bad, you are going to be sorely disappointed when flying other airlines...

SQ is better than BA in Y. Better AVOD, better service, better drinks, better food.

If you want a Singapore Sling at three am, press the button and you will have one, within 2 minutes. Try that on BA.

You are paying for an ECONOMY product.

There are therefore shortcomings BY DESIGN. Your choice run out? Not loading surplus food keeps their costs down.

Drink service not enough? Press the button, they will give you what you want. Press it again after that if you want.

I'm not sure what entertainment system you experienced, but SQ had VOD, Nintendo games, etc. years ago, and that is better than most.

It's true that A380 SQ is a better product than 747 SQ, but to compare to BA, BA subject passengers paying thousands of pounds in First to their ridiculously outdated 3" screens with no AVOD on some flights, and SQ's worst, oldest economy option is better than that.

Is SQ really that bad? .... seems like everyone else must be wrong then!:rolleyes:

F seems to be excellent on the 744s... C looks quite fine too... dunno abt Y though..

A345, B77W, A333, and A388 are all great in every respects in F, C, and Y.. Since probably they're all still quite new..

On my end, every services I have received from the FA seems to be always excellent.. I couldn't ask for a better carrier than SQ especially with the crappy US airlines I have to fly to connect to SQ hubs in the US..

SQ C soft-product is fantastic - absolutely no comparison. We recently flew UA, CA, SQ, CX, BA, RJ, QF and OZ in business class. SQ has the best soft product of them all, with OZ coming in at second. Our *A travel has been on MP award in the last seven years and I haven't traveled long-haul Y in over 14yrs; so, I can't comment on OP's observations.

We've flown UA Business a few times and recently flew SFO-PEK and the FA service was excellent. The crew was both professional and jovial. The food was average and there was no AVOD but we wouldn't hesitate to fly international UA in premium cabins in the future. Of course, SQ or OZ would be awesome but it's not a deal breaker.

well, I guess I was just unlucky then to have a bad experience! But that is the experience I had. I don't have unrealistic expectations, all I want from a good airline is that the entertainment system works properly (mine was broken - the earphone contacts were not working properly and the system would reboot every now and then), that I can have decent food and some decent drink options (not "all we have is Budweiser")..is that too much to ask from a airline rated 5 star?

My best experience has been on Emirates LHR-DXB, and this was in 2006, superb service, state of the art on demand entertainment system etc. I was at least expecting a match to that.

Boarding procedures are planned by the airline contract staff, and not up to SQ to decide how to board.

Food: SQ at least tried to give you an alternate choice .. as you said, with an apology. If you took another airline, say, AA, they'll just say sorry, your choice is, take it or leave it.

Drinks: Budweiser is the only option cos teh flight originated from the US and that is only what is boarded as a 'local' beer. If you had told the staff that you are 'allergic' to Bud, then maybe they might have sourced out something else but if its all due to taste, then sorry, that's it. The 1/4 fill of glass is due to safety reasons. If they fill it up to even half, in SQ's experience, may cause spillage when turbulence occurs. If you want more, then just tell them to top it more. They are not rationing, trust me.

But overall, SQ even in economy class, will go out of their way to please you. Hot towels, immediate answering of call button. I was rather pleased with them when I flew them in economy a few months back after an absence of over 10 years (of flying SQ coach). Abeit in the A380, I was still surprised with the level of service one got. Even befriended a FA and we're still writing each other on Facebook ! ;)

I am flyign SQ for the first time tonight on SQ 21. I am really looking forward to it but I am having a hard time understanding SQ's carry on rules. If I have a small laptop bag and a roller carryon will I be ok? Thanks,

They have a 7kg restriction and Y pax allowed 1pc, R/F/J pax allowed 2pcs.

http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_U...p??v=21051181&

cheers.