RayG

Spot on. Personally don't care for western style breakfasts so this is preferable, tho I manage only a couple of bites and never finish the second meal.

jasonNYC85

SQ25 in F vs SQ23 in J - how meaningful is the experience difference? Good saver availability for SQ23 (vs waitlist for SQ25) on my travel dates and the direct aspect of it is attractive to me - but i do love the idea of the A380.

BR787

Suites is a significantly better experience than Business class. Clearing waitlists however is a coin flip.

truncated

Did VS kick SQ out of the clubhouse again? (Or did SQ decide they no longer wanted to pay more $ for J passengers?) SQ was still sending J pax to the clubhouse earlier this year (post-LX move) but I guess that must have ended at some point since the website also says Wingtips again

RayG

We can only speculate as to why the access rules have effectively reverted back to pre-covid era (minus the AI access for *Gold travelling in Y/PEY), ie only Suites and TPPS get access. However, it is true that SQ capacity out of JFK has increased significantly since covid with the introduction of SQ23. As SQ was sending all of its premium pax, incl *Gold travelling in Y/PEY to VS lounge, you can imagine tt tt is a lot of pax each day for the lounge to handle.

The changes are effective this month. July still had the old (interim rather) rules when I swung by.

There is still the option of accessing the VS lounge with amex plat, should you have it.

AAMCI

AMEX website says access to Clubhouse is 5am-8:30am, is that wrong? I hope so, because I have Platinum card and am booked on SQ25 in business class at end of Sept. I'd really like to visit VS Clubhouse based on what I've read.

Can anyone confirm if AMEX Platinum does get access to Clubhouse in the early evening before SQ25?

Thanks.

ijgordon

There have been sporadic reports of the VS lounge not admitting Amex Platinum holders due to crowding, but for all intents and purposes, you can access the club all day (max 3 [possibly 2] hours before departure though). The info in the website/app is incorrect.
There's a thread in the Amex forum specifically on this topic.

traveluxe

Hi all, I’m looking to fly this route specifically to enjoy the A380. I know SQ doesn’t have a reputation like Qatar does for changing planes, but I’ve read online that SQ have only confirmed their schedule/aircraft up until March 25th 2023 and that routes beyond that date can be more likely to have an equipment change.

I was hoping to travel April 2023, but upon reading this I’m willing to bring my trip forward to March to travel on the A380.

Would you recommend travelling before March 25th to reduce the risk of equipment change (perhaps back to a 777 again) once they finalise their schedule for April onwards? I’m not familiar enough with Singapore Airlines to make a judgement re: aircraft changes.

Andrew35K

Given the high loads on this route and the high demand for Suites (completely sold out most dates until 2023) it seems unlikely that SQ would switch it to a 77W (fewer pax in all classes, including 6 in Suites vs. 4 in First). At the same time it’s hard to know exactly what will happen, but historically there has been an A380 on that route - in the past with the old Suites. In regards to how common equipment swaps are with SQ, someone else is probably more qualified to answer.

BR787

SQ is not going to take the A380 off this route short of another early Covid level decimation of the air travel. This route will always be flown by an A380.

terbangalways

Based on my recent equipment swap, choose your best timing. If April is your priority then April. And IF you can secure immediate seat.

should SQ swap equipment, you will have a lot of options - all to your advantage!
My example is ZRH-SIN from suites to first. So I managed to reroute to sq25. All my equipment swap experiences have been good with SQ. You do have to push hard. Know your rights!

whitecastle

Just saw that Germany expanded its mask mandate for flights to and from the country until April 2023.

Flying this route in J and F and not really excited to have to wear a mask after flying the last year or so without one. Anyone have experiences with how strict they are in F and J?

demue

In J you were reminded / asked to wear the mask outside of eating / drinking though so hence folks seemed to nourish a glass of whatever beverage of choice for almost the entire flight.

In First / Suites I have only read in other threads that enforcement was more relaxed (basically they left you alone) if you were in your Suite or so. YMMV.

FlyerEC

Yes , so sharing this on our friendly FTer community forum & since things will be somewhat relaxed come Monday .. and here are the May / June flights strategy FYI , awake whole flight , so drinking iced water , etc & eating the entire return flights , with paper cups during landing ( s ) and take off( s ) / taxiing .

RayG

Germany has not expanded its mask mandate as of now. A legislative proposal is currently being discussed to come in to effect from October 1st to April '23 where Germany will require FFP2 to be worn on all flights to and from Germany, affecting SQ25/26 (and SQ's MUC flight obv). Currently you can wear surgical as well. This is meant to change come October. I hope SQ will continue its leniency due to the more relaxed (and less kiasu ) culture in SG. However, this purported law is strict from a German perspective as it is specific on the FFP2 requirement (unlike most other countries still requiring masks), so it will be interesting. Funnily enough people won't be required to wear masks in German airports -- this won't change, regardless whether the law gets passed in this form or not.