Kaoru Kanetaka

I have to admit I am fairly new to SQ as a revenue passenger. After all, it does take some time and a set of new mind to refocus on one's flying habbits, however, since last October, I have logged well in excess of 25,000 miles in F/J cabins over ten sectors and I have been generally very impressed. But then, the most recent flight experience from SIN to NRT shocked me with the unannounced equipment change from 744 to 773! As I was so much looking forward to, and so desparately in need of, a sound sleep, I had finished my dinner at Silver Kris lounge at Chiangi earlier and headed for the gate, where I did not see any Megatop at the gate. I am not well acquainted with a wide range of cabin layout at SQ, but upon boarding, I was nearly speechless to find three rows of 2x2x2 F cabin. As it is the end of the busy New Year travel season, I was immediately afraid if the F cabin became full. Luckily there were only 6 pax but the seats did not recline 180 degrees and I felt even their new SPACEBED was more comfortable! I expressed my huge dissapointment and surprise to one of the cabin attendants as I had just changed my reservation earlier that day from the morning flight and the issue of equipment change was not even mentioned by SQ reservation agent. One of the young cabin crews was very apologetic and said he would write a report and I should expect to hear from the airline. He even said that the equipment change had been designated a few days earlier due to the lighter load. Well, I was told C was completely full and only a handful of Y seats were open. In the mean time, I saw a very very angry gentleman forwarding up to the F cabin and nearly yell at the crew for having not gotten his upper deck seat! He complained of the C class cabin with "economy class atmosphere", and did not want to be in the last row of C where he sat in front of the baby in the front row of the Y cabin. The steward told me that the pax might get upgraded to the F cabin, a matter of which I became very curious. ( having observed numerous threads in SQ forum ) The result: NOPE. I took an extra glass of Krug and managed to sleep!

A few observations:

I know CX openly admits the frequency of equipment change by designating some flights as EQV but does it happen also often at SQ? In case of CX, they have always surprised me on the positive note when it happened.

I will avoid F class in 773 for as long as I can. I can't imagine when its full on a night flight!

The chief purser should have made an apology to their premium cabin passengers. After all, when we book SQ first on 744, don't we expect nothing but skysuites? ( okay I admit
there are a couple of 744s without suites but they do go flat and are very comfortable ) The purser did not even come to greet us, the usual mannger in which I have gotten used to being treated in SQ First.

What do I expect to hear from them? I really don't. but do you actually hear from them?
I also wonder if and what the screaming C class pax was going to hear from the airline? What if I was a PPS member also? Curiosity abounds.

I do like to think this is an abberation and still look forward to more SQ experiences, but I will be a little more prudent next time around. After all, SQ is not perfect even when treating their first class pax.



[This message has been edited by Kaoru Kanetaka (edited 01-08-2003).]

jongar

Its an inconvienience, but i dont think its life threatening. I applaude SQ for doing it. The ensureed that the plane fit the load - this means that the flight was no doubt profitable - running a 747 might have lost them money. They got you to your destination on time and safely, you cant ask more than that

Kaoru Kanetaka

I do not applaude SQ for not letting me know in advance when it was NOT the last minute change. Its the courtesy that counts, IMHO.

Gaucho100K

jongar, doode... Kanetaka-san is one "the boys" (**) and a great contributor to FT. I think you may have read a tone in his post that he did not intend to give. Also, I do agree with him that a premium cabin pax should be given advance notice of this equipment change every time its materially possible (and given a choice to change his travel plans).

(**) PS: my apologies to K-san for the impertinence of including you in our "boys club"

[This message has been edited by Gaucho100K (edited 01-08-2003).]

Chiangi

Last year, I took F on 773, despite all the advice given by Gaucho-san and others here that I should avoid it like pest! It was NRT-SIN, and I regretted it! The cabin was also empty and it was a day flight, so in that sense, I didn't probably have to suffer as much as Kaoru-san.

I also had 772 .... it was even worse in F.

I am definitely going for Megatop on my next NRT-SIN in a month or so in F.

Someone in the CX forum posted several months ago that her CX flight had a last-minute equipment change at SFO or LAX, meaning her F suite were gone. She expressed her disappointment to the station manager, who, without any question, endorsed her ticket over to SQ, which had a suite.

Oh, well, I guess that's perhaps not the way SQ is run.

I don't take long hauls on SQ but I still can't convince myself their premium cabin services are any better than CX's.

[This message has been edited by Chiangi (edited 01-08-2003).]

Kaoru Kanetaka

Not at all, Gaucho san. OTOH, I feel immensely privileged.

To be sure, I do not expect anything from SQ regarding this matter. As Jonger insists, I did arrive in NRT on time and safe, and I even managed to sleep for four hours plus en route. I have been traveling so much that I specifically booked all of my travel sectors in first in SQ 744 whenever possible including a direct flight on SQ 25 from JFK to SIN just over a week ago. When it comes to comfort, as Chingi san says, there really is no comparison between 773 and Megatop 744. I was just curious as to the fact such equipment change occurs fairly often at SQ and if it does, does SQ contact their premium customers about it? During the course of my experiences with SQ of late, I had come to expect SQ to work like clockwork and this incident really took me by surprise.




[This message has been edited by Kaoru Kanetaka (edited 01-08-2003).]

NielsK

for day flights, i actually happen to quite like the 772 & 773 F seats. they're silent and sturdy, and the deep blue colour scheme is (to my mind) nicer than the skysuite with its fake wood trim!

i also find the skysuite electric motors too noisy, and dislike how the footrest always folds first when moving to a more upright position for meals.

of course, there's no comparison for the red-eyes.

B Watson

I get so angry when I read comments like this - I really don't think it was necessarily a life threatening event, but I can assure you that if something is represented to me, I expect to get it. I fly SQ from SFO to HKG and if they substitute an A340, I would want to know so that I could change to the CX flight - I would NEVER fly on a 777 or 340 with SQ if I could switch to a new F CX flight - simple choice - and it is mine to make, not the airlines to impose without notice, assuming the substitution is not done at the last second.

This argument always implies that as long as you arrive "on time and safe" we do not have a right to expect any more - sounds a lot like UA to me.

jongar

Mr B,

I didn’t have time to write the post I intended. I get increasingly aggrieved these days reading so many whining posts on the FT forums - that’s when I read them, something I do maybe a quarter of what I used to. There always seems to be a gamut of 'it wasn’t perfect, I want the head of customer services on a stick' ect. Now I understand where that is coming from - woe betide the VS special service women, if Ladybird the 744 with new J seats wasn’t in operation when it was promised (this was when there were only 2 planes with the seats) But now, I just find it easier to say, well that’s a bugger and get stuck into a John Stienbeck (I just reread all the books I read at school - amazing, I never saw the detail back then) It runs two ways, a few weeks ago, I was on DPS-SIN and it was scheduled as a 343, fine by me (this was J) however it was changed to a 310, my least favourite plane (used to live on the 310 that did the early morning LHR-FRA with LH. But later that day on my BKK-SIN I got the chance to fly on a 772 from KIX instead of my ultimo row 14. I had a great flight and enjoyed it more than the 744. Swings and roundabouts - there are a lot of things we can control, some we cant. I put a lot more effort into the things I can control/influence than the things I cant.

I guess I just put a non-commercial price on time

All the best for the year ahead

Jon

B Watson

To you as well Jon - I trust you have left the RSA at this point??

jongar

I have, I did 2 days consultancy, a once over for someones IT security (ended up with the usual discussion on the merits of upgrading from Novell 3.11 to a Directory structed sysem - they have 12,000 employyees, many connectred by 2400 baud modems - the discussion has been going for 2 years now, but public companys dont have the money) on my way through, flew out on the 23rd to spend xmas with the family - hindsight says I should have stayed and gone to Durban with my SA friends. Anyway Ill be in JNB soon enough, i have been offered a weeks consultancy, and given the lack of action here and the -6 temp, ill take it

Jon

jtrader

I've never experienced this sort of equipment change on SQ during the last 1.5 years of PPS travel. I'd certainly expect some type of response from them.

However, I have seen equipment changes in NRT-SIN route...they just always let me know. It may be that I asked them specifically and in your Kaoru's haste to make a change, he didn't specifically inquire. I'd hope they would mention it anyway but, I think the lesson here is to specifically ask SQ about this type of stuff.

I agree with the above comments that the fully flat 744 seats while, not as nice as a suite, are still very comfortable. I really wouldn't want a 777 on a night flight. While the 777 seat is ok for a day flight, IIRC they don't have any laptop power (annoying on the long ICN-SIN sector).