username

I consider myself a pretty seasoned flyer but have never flown SQ all these years. So, I was really excited when I finally had the opportunity to fly on SQ, even in Y - AKL-SIN 777-300ER redeye flight.

I was really disappointed on 2 fronts:

1 - ground service in AKL. The inbound was late so our flight was delayed by 1/2 hour. They never updated the display in the airport and the NZ Lounge person said the flight was on-time. I could have sat in the NZ Lounge for 30 more minutes! Then the boarding process was chaotic (I guess partially because of the delay) - they went from F to J and then they opened the Y line and everyone started boarding. They skipped status passengers

2 - seat pitch. While it was great the 77W was still 3-3-3, I found the seat pitch horrible (I am 178 CM and I saw how painful it was for the taller and larger people). I think it was made worse by the thickness of the seat and the great recline. The small woman behind me told me to not recline my seat (during non-meal time)! I told her to look at how much space I had left when the person in front of me reclined. Then she relented

The crew is good - I kind of whined to an FA about the poor ground service when I boarded. Then they followed up multiple times. I didn't find them to be better or worse compared to carriers like ANA and EVA - other than they gave me 3 sets of playing cards when BR gave me 2 [Hello Kitty] sets and NH gave me 1 set

The food was not bad - maybe a little better than NH and BR overall (decent snack offering). The crazy thing was that there were so many special meal orders, it was really painful to see the FAs delivering the trays one-by-one and trying to find the passengers. I guess given the demographics of SQ flyers, this probably happens a lot? Could there be a better process?

I don't like the cabin decor - it just felt very dark. I guess most people like it and that is why it is the way it is?

So, the seat pitch is really a deal breaker for me. Because of that, it really did not turn out to be a great first time and it was not a flight whose memory I will treasure (on the same trip, I also did NZ for the first time, NH 789 first time and they were nice and memorable) Is the seating better on other SQ aircraft types? Is AKL ground service worse than other stations?

Thanks.

freed0m

next time, buyt J or F to enjoy J/F pitch and service.

Audio

Wow!! I recommend you taking CX 777-300ER. You'll love it!!

(Audio)

sbs2716g

10 across? Haha

Firemansam

At 193cm and a largish person I've never had a problem with seat pitch on any SQ aircraft including the 77W's in Y.
​​​​​​I'm sorry but moaning about the color scheme truly is right up there with first world problems.

adenzin7

30min more in the lounge? Holy cow, you should ask for compensation!

definitelynotafrequentflyer

I think it�s within your right to recline the seats since you paid for the seat, need not to mind others request.

dici

In general, the economy seat is just economy seat, unless you talk about AA, CX 10 abreast in 777, or compare with JL 8 abreast with 33 in pitch in 787... The SQ economy service I would say, it is consistent above average, which is the key points in service industry. The consistently above average will make anything become very good. But for the ground service, it is more depending on the contracted company.... After flew on different airlines via their outstation airport, I felt that it is always miss or hit when comes to the ground service

SilverChris

Many of these complaints shouldn�t surprise a seasoned traveller � tight Y seats, late inbound aircraft, rushed boarding process to make up for the delay, special meals.

Any reasonably seasoned *G would know they can board with the J pax so I�m not sure how they were skipped.

I�d personally take thicker seats over thin/slimline Y seats. The pitch doesn�t get any better AND they�re less comfortable.

fimo

Cosign this! Hate those slimline seats with white hot passion!

maccymac

SQ are a funny beast. Flew long haul on the SQ A350-900 in J and honestly disappointed. The tiny footwell in non-bulkhead seats are terrible and having to contort to try and sleep was impossible for me. I really wonder where the hype for SQ J comes from.

SQ Y in an A330 was delightful however... I think it was the older seat.

fimo

Until seats like the Q-Suite and the new ANA business class (not tried in person but looks promising), I much prefer the SQ wide J seats to the narrower ones from competitors. I would have to get creative when booking business travel to ensure and SQ flight was the best logical lowest fare option! LOL...

To each their own - I know my sleeping positions fit better with SQ J seats.

lokijuh

Compared with Japanese carriers, who tend to have more generous seat pitch I understand where OP is coming from.

But I've always liked the 77W economy seats. In fact, I have a simple test - can I work on my laptop or not. With the person in front reclined (I had to recline a little, but not the whole way), once I worked all the way from LAX to NRT on SQ in 77W economy seat. Likewise from SIN to LHR on the A380. On recent QF A330 flight between MEL and SIN, my knees were constantly touching the seat back, and the only way I could use my laptop was turn around and rest it on my knees (as the seat next to me was empty), no way I could use it on the tray table. Not that comfortable doing this. As always YMMV.

username

Judging from some of the posts, I can see some people really love SQ I really don't want to get into an argument with these people. However, I also want to address some of these things as some of the comments are kind of personal / sarcastic and I don't want to hear those same people ask "Where is OP"

I obviously really looked forward to this flight (in fact, I went out of my way to try SQ - and on a longer flight), I documented the pluses and minuses and wanted to see if there are better SQ alternatives (different aircraft type), if AKL was just a fluke, etc.

Obviously, if I were willing to spend the money/miles, I would pay for PE or J. However, not everyone can or want to spend the money/miles for an airplane ticket - especially when one was under the impression that their Y was pretty good I obviously don't follow the SQ forum. I remember reading years ago that the Y pitch was good and NH was good. So, I was expecting the seat pitch to be at least as good as NH.

My problem is not with the flight is late. My problem was they never updated the departure time on the FIDS (which might be an airport issue - however, I would have expected a wonderful airline like SQ to have worked that out with the airport). The NZ Lounge agent also did not know the flight was late. At that time of the day, all the stores at AKL was closed.

Each Star Alliance carrier boards slightly differently. In general, I "respect the higher class" so I keep a distance from the gate until called. At AKL that night, they were calling First then Business, which is what I would expect an airline like SQ would do. So, I would have expected Elite (SQ, *A Gold) passengers to be called next. It was not. Instead, they started boarding the Y passengers on the other line.

I guess I have never been on a flight with so special meal orders. I was not complaining. I was just feeling the pain of the FAs - carrying the trays and looking for the passengers.

Some of this is obviously the result of high expectation - expected it to be perfect and it was not.

Again, I am here to share my experience and see if there are solutions (flying SQ in Y) so I can give it another try. If you are going to be sarcastic or rude, please just skip it. Thanks.

freed0m

If you want the true SQ experience, start from SIN, not outstation.