kaffir76

So do I but not to make a point but because QR PJ's are the only PJ's I have (except maybe a set from Uniqlo)

I think u meant "insincere"? In what sense are they insincere?
They are there to do a job, and not to be a friend of family member to you.
So I'll have to disagree on this one - but it really depends on the set of crew you get on each flight.
Imagine trying to complete a long list of tasks while serving & smiling to pax all the time.
Seriously, I wouldn't be able to do that.

And I think it might be a cultural thing as well, the cabin crew I've met are friendly and more than happy to chat & make small talk with me.
Perhaps, they have to behave in a certain way when they interact with foreign pax? I'm not sure ....

IMO - SQ Y is a darn good way to travel from SIN within Asia & especially LH to the US and Europe (when the price is right).
In the newer aircraft, you get an awesome product and they feed & water you well.

As for the "honesty" of Western crew, you obviously have not flown with United or AA in Y before, have you?
Or by Western, are you referring to European countries?
British, German or French, perhaps?

That can be said of all airlines in the world ... but to me, the measure of how good an airline is by how they treat the pax seated in the back of the plane.
If the cabin, service, meals & snacks and IFE are all present & done decently well - then it's a good airline (ESP. not 10 across seating on a 777!)

YMMV of course.

gilbertaue

Kaffir, I don't know you, but correct my English when you can speak, read and write 7 languages like I do.

So maybe I should expand a bit. I have a direct family member of mine who's a SQ crew and I can happily say that many of them (his friends and him included) are insincere when doing their job.

Basically they do their job because they have to and generally aren't friendly because they are genuinely nice people. They act friendly, but that's because it gets drummed into them (like everything else in Singapore).
Hence, give me the cold shoulder of a TK or MH staff anytime - at least I have a feeling that the second crew who is friendly is so because they want to be.

cmd320

I'm not sure I really understand the logic. As long as they're attentive and friendly when they're serving me and in my presence, I couldn't really care less about how insincere they are behind the scenes.

gilbertaue

Maybe I am in a unique position to have to sometimes listen to the nonsense that comes out of their mouth and that puts a spin to my logic.

I rather have a crew who has a day off serving me, rather than a crew who is nice to me, but treats the next guest, for whatever reason, like dirt.

nancypants

stevendorechester

I agree with the OP to a point. While I wouldn't' t say it' s the most overrated airline in the World I would say that it' s not miles ahead of most airlines like it used to be say in fifteen years ago. I haven' t flow them lately but in the past I found that they set the standard that airlines around the world have since caught up to, and to a certain extent at least in economy and premium economy they are still ahead of most airlines. The same could be said for their Suites product; few airlines can match that class of service. As for business class I think most airlines have caught up; pretty much every airline has flat bed seats in business class these days; I just flew DL suites and found it to be as good as what I experience on SQ in the past, and other US airlines have caught up although they can still be inconsistent. The soft product might still be better on SQ, especially the catering. Now if you want to compare lounges The United Polaris lounges and the Air Canada Signature suite as good or better than the any SQ J lounges I' ve been to. Another advantage with North-American airlines in my opinion is that they their employees seem to be empowered to work with their passengers with schedule changes or IROPS, unlike foreign airlines that tend not give their employees much leeway.

SQ is still a great airline but other airlines have caught up. In a way we can thank foreign airlines for setting the standard and forcing other airlines to up their game to stay competitive. In 2002 I remember flying the SQ Space-bed on a Trans-Pacific flight while my outbound flight to Asia in United had cradle seats with 49 inches of legroom, along with a mediocre soft product to say the least. Things have completely since then; I wouldn' t go out of my way to fly SQ J anymore if I had the choice, although their long-haul Y-PE product is still better than most in my opinion.

vsepr

Thank you for your input!! Totally agree with you except 1 point:

Regarding this "The same could be said for their Suites product; few airlines can match that class of service." I don't agree with this statement.

I have flown on Qatar Airways "Qsuite" Business Class & Singapore Airlines New A380 Suites to London. Only the seat itself, the new A380 Suites is First Class because of its size, everything else like service, food, lounges, Qatar Airways "Qsuite" Business Class is better. I'm serious.

The cabin crew on Qatar Airways is very polished in the way they talk and deal with passengers, SQ is not. The lounges in DOH are better than the ones in SQ's SIN & LHR. The way the caviar is presented on SQ cannot compare with the one on Qatar Airways First Class, because there is mother of pearl spoon and comes with container. The presentation of food on Qatar Airways Business Class is so attractive, you won't believe it's Business Class (see pics attached). You get a choice of cold of hot towels served on a towel plate, not with a pair of tongs like on SQ. Qatar Airways' drinks menu has photos of the wine bottles, SQ's just listings of the wine. There is turn down service even in the Qsuite!

The only advantage of taking SQ to SIN is its direct and have free playing cards! Qatar Airways' playing cards are not free, need to purchase from in flight duty free.

kaffir76

Finally .. a reasonable post from OP @:-)

I will respond then in this case - but note I have not flown on QR F or SQ Suites/F so this i based on QR & SQ J class (& obviously Y as well)

In terms of hard products, QR & SQ are both innovative & strive to be world class / industry leading so both are winners.

In terms of soft products, mainly cabin crew - I agree that QR's crew are more polished & perhaps better at conversation in general, and it's very evident in the IFM / Cabin Senior vs SQ IFM / CS (off topic but who agrees that CX CSD are all awesome, especially the SE Asian CSD's!)

But all I can say is that QR crew are based in DOH & it's LIKE a mini UN where they live on crew housing so they'll have to learn to mix & socialize and get better at interaction with people.
Singapore on the other hand, is a pretty homogeneous society and we are lacking in many forms of social graces & conversational skills but there is a change, and I can see it in the younger set of FSS/FS to CS/CSS though the IFM/s are mostly older & male so it's hard to change them.

p/s LOL on the playing cards. if that's an interest of yours, I believe TG still offers them for free

vsepr

Thai Airways does not have free playing cards anymore when I flew with them in Oct 2016. Did you flew with Thai Airways recently in 2019? The last Thai Airways playing cards I had was the one with Thai Airways A380 design I got in Sept 2014. Same for Asiana Airlines and Japan Airlines, no more free playing cards, confirmed. I heard Etihad Airways also does not have free playing cards anymore. Anyone can confirm this? Etihad Airways' design is the most posh and high end looking. Gold colour plating at the sides in a plastic box and paper box to cover the plastic box.

That's the reason why I started this thread. The new SQ Suites totally cannot match with Qatar Airways Qsuite Business Class. Only the seat for new SQ Suites is better than Qatar Airways Qsuite Business Class because of it's size. Everything else, Qatar Airways Qsuite Business Class is better. That's why I find it ridiculous that SQ kept boasting that's they are the most awarded airline in the world, best airline in the world, best in this and that.....and there is no justification!

Unionruler

- I really like interacting with QR cabin crew too. The rate at which you get stand-offish QR CSDs is significantly less than stand-offish SQ IFMs, but in defence of SQ there are still some very warm and kind IFMs. I wish SQ would import a few Japanese/ Thai/ Filipino IFMs to 'level up' though.
- I have come across a number of Singaporean CX ISMs, but yet to find an awesome one. Singaporean is still SE Asian, no?
- There are also stand-offish local (HK) CX ISMs so not all of them are awesome.
- What is a QR IFM/ CX CSD lol.

EGW1

lokijuh

We're now almost getting into OMNI territory here. I've never noticed this in my 350+ SQ flights. Ever.

EGW1

lokijuh

Probably because I don't do "luxury" brands And perhaps being a guy. I think they're just looking for point of reference/something to discuss (which as you point out in Singapore is all about the brands). Sometimes, one of the crew will notice the book I'm reading and ask me about it, or mention that they've read it or something like that. Or make small talk about my trip (usually assuming my flight into SIN is the going away part, not the coming home part, particularly if travelling back from AU, US or EU). All pretty innocuous. But as one who travels in economy usually, but with companion Solitaire privileges, usually they are quite welcoming and chatty. I suspect that helps.

sydunipete

I prefer picking up my own bags as I'm usually at the carousel before they arrive.

However - I very much appreciate arrivals lounges and often make use of them when available. I feel this is the biggest omission from the SQ J product.