FlyerTalk Forums - JFK-FRA in SQ F, a lost Bag and the VS JFK CLUBHOUSE

My best in SQ flights in terms of inflight service in the past have been on this sector in Business class. There are a handful of German speaking Singaporeans that ply this route and go out of their way to take care of their customer, so my expectations were a little high.
I ordered a car from my favourite NYC car service, Carmel, to pick me up from New Jersey at 16:30 on this Friday evening, anticipating traffic and a wanting to spend some time in the clubhouse indulging, given that I had kept myself light all day with some yoghurt and fruit. My driver promptly called at 15:00 to confirm my address. He arrived by 16:10, and I was packed so we loaded up. I spent a final few minutes saying bye to my cousins and aunt, since I wasn’t anticipating an NY/NJ trip till April (just got one added for Jan thankfully! CX miles SIN to JFK and 9W Miles EWR-BRU in F and BRU-MAA in C).
We left at 16:25 and it was smooth sailing up until the Holland tunnel and through the city, just as we approached the Manhattan bridge, traffic started to pick up, and it took the two hours I had anticipated. We finally pulled upto to JFK T4 at 18:30. T4 is complete chaos thanks to the likes of all the middle-eastern carriers, Air India and a bunch of others – SQ and VS really seem out of place in this building. I had 3 bags to check in plus two carry-ons (you will rarely find an Indian flying longhaul not maxing their baggage allowance – there is always family and extended family who need stuff, it can get quite tiresome packing). I was flying LH from FRA-MAA on Sunday morning (23 hours transit at JFK), and after conflicting inputs from the Senator desk in the US the final consensus was that if SQ tagged by bags through to MAA they would honor the piece concept, if however I had to recheck-in at FRA, then it was up to the discretion of the check-in desk at FRA. I had some food stuff in one of my bags that needed overnight refrigeration, so I was going to try and have two bags tagged through to MAA and one at FRA. Fortunately I found a skycap, loaded his cart and we headed to the SQ counters
To begin with once I made past the KU check-in counters and found SQ First class counter, I noticed a bunch of people repacking stuff. I was worried since I knew one of my bags was over the 23kg new weight allowance on SQ PC concept flights. Anyway, once we made it to the first class counter, I placed my lightest bag (15kg, with room for goodies from the tegut at FRA) on the scale, produced both my tickets and asked for my unusual check-in request of one bag at FRA and 2 at MAA. The agent insisted she couldn’t check my bags at all to MAA since I was only departing FRA the day after tomorrow. I explained that my transit was less than 24 hours and there was no issue in through checking. Anyway, she was a Thai agent, from TG and requested her supervisor to come and assist and check. While I was waiting, I noticed the Business class agent asking passengers to place their hand-luggage on this scale, even small pieces – I found this quite shocking for a premium airline to be so rigid, but then again this is SQ.
The minute the SQ supervisor came by the tone completely changed. He was apologetic for making me wait, confirmed that he could tag by bags through to Chennai, but that it would be a problem to have one bag at FRA and 2 at MAA, it was either all or nothing. I explained my predicament about the LH two tickets, and the perishables in my bag and he suggested that he would put a manual tag on the bag I needed at FRA and tag the two others to MAA. I consented (a mistake as I would learn the next morning).
My tags were given to me and just as I was about to place my other bags on the weighing scale he insisted not to bother and came over the belt to tag my bags and hand them over to TSA – phew! He then thanked me and said his colleague would handle the rest and proceeded on to check on the other counters. I was given my boarding pass and asked “you know where the Virgin lounge is don’t you?” The tone of the question was evident, because if my answer was no, then the not so nice TG lady would have to escort me there. Not wanting to waste time with her and because I was going to step out for a cig, I quickly said yes and headed outside and then back the less chaotic way, ducking to KU counters, to the VS lounge.
Nikki, my favourite waitress from there, who has also been mentioned with affection in other TR’S by other OPs was taking care of me and by now I was famished. The strip steak is no longer on the menu, so I ordered the Angus burger and a diet coke. Once I placed the order I realized I had forgotten to ask for a change of seat. I was in 3A and prefer a window in row 2. Also, I checked with my agent, while row 2 was available at my time of booking, it wasn’t showing up as a choice online – probably because of mine being a redemption (in keeping with SQ’s old policy of not allowing redeemers into the TPR at SIN T3). I told Niki I’d be back and went back to the Desk. There was one person at the counter and FCL queue was empty. I waited in line, and when it was my turn the TG lady said out loud “oh, its you again.” I decided rather than make issue I’d make a joke and responded “yes, you just can’t get rid of me”. Anyway, I was offered 2D as 2A and 2F were both gone, I decided to stick with 3A and headed back to the VS lounge. I arrived back at my seat to find my drink and food ready, and covered with a napkin. Before I could unveil it, Nikki came by to do the honors and said she’d be right back with Ketchup. I asked for mustard as well, and both of these appeared instantly. The VS lounge was quite full and I was fortunate to have Nikki as my server – she was brilliant.
I still had and hour and a half to go, so I decided to take a break for desert and explore the neighbouring LX lounge. I was intrigued to see how my entry would be handled given other FT’ers experiences trying to get in. I showed by *A FCL boarding pass and the gentleman noticed by *G status and asked to see my card. As I was taking it I enquired as to why this was necessary since I had a Star Alliance International first class boarding pass, which granted me to FCL lounge of any star carrier except FCT at FRA, special lounges at ZRH, MUC etc. and the TPR at SIN. He came up with some BS about this being a carrier lounge and not a Star alliance lounge as I presented my card to him. I was going to make some noise, but invited me into the First class section, which meant unpleasantries were avoided. Nothing to write home about, very average FCL lounge, buffet style dining with limited choices that were quite bad, but nice chocolates and a Nespresso machine. I indulged in two cups and went back to the VS clubhouse which was less crowded now. My bags were in the cloak room there as well. I decided to approach Nikki for advice on desert, between the special of the day a Tres Leches Flan and the Apple and Berry Crumble tart a la mode. Nikki didn’t bat an eye lid in recommending the crumble, so I agreed and asked for an espresso to go with that. This arrived within 5 minutes and was divine – light, fruity and very tasty. The espresso left a lot to be desired and given my high caffeine intake, I decided to give it a miss and go for my second at the Swiss lounge before leaving. Boarding was announced at 8pm, because of the need to go through security, and a quick pit stop at the Swiss lounge for a nespresso and I grabbed a couple of the Swiss milk chocolate bars to go, which were divine. I approached the security line and was very worried given the throbbing mass of humanity trying to make it through TSA’s check point. Fortunately there was a discrete priority line which I entered, just ahead of a family of 4. The KU crew barged in and made this is a slower process, but such is life. Just as I was approaching the belt, I was hustled to another line, which was longer. When I tried to return a TSA guy screamed at me “you moved, if you don’t like the line, deal with it!”. In any other city this rudeness would have been unacceptable, but hey, this is New York. I made it to the gate which was at the far end of the terminal by 21:40, but I wasn’t concerned since many an SQ boarding pass was spotted in the security much behind me. I was the 3rd of 8 first class passengers to board. I noted that 2F was vacant, and waited in hopes that it would remain that way since 3C and 3D were occupied. As a cabin, the 12 Sky suites do feel a little cramped in comparison to say CX’s old 12 seater first class, but the seat itself is brilliant – I believe SQ’s new FCL on the 77W’s is a horrendous seating experience. It may be a great bed, but as a seat lacks the flexibility with limited recline, needing to flip similar to VS to go into bed mode. On 16hour transpacific flight, the seat is very uncomfortable for sitting and dining, needing many a cushion to prop oneself up.
Anyway, once on board I made a few obligatory phone calls saying farewells to family and college friends. Newspapers were being distributed, and since I was on the phone I was missed and also forgotten. It took ten minutes for someone to approach me with a hotel towel and a drink order, after my phone was switched off and stowed. Not looking good in terms of efficient SQ service that I expected from this route. I waited to see if I would be offered a newspaper or magazine and noted that those who boarded after me where shown the rounds while I wasn’t. Door 1 was closed once all 8 passengers had been occupied, and I think a couple had moved from 2F and 3F to 4CD to sit next to eachother. I also went to the washroom and a sink was clogged, not draining and reading lights weren’t working on half the seats. I enquired with the IFS who showed me on board whether I could switch to 2F, he said yes, but only for this sector, as if he was doing me this huge favor. I told him I was only flying to Frankfurt, so there was no issue. Once I moved, without any assistance from the cabin crew, who were harrowed as if this was a full flight, which it wasn’t, I was given a menu and the safety briefing began. I had also asked for an M size sleepsuit on boarding, before they ran out of all sizes, and this was brought to me. My drink order (yes Moomba, I did you justice – Krug it was). I also requested to have a word with the IFS after take off. I got out my B&O head sets and set them up for Krisworld, since I knew the AVOD would be on, but headsets would not get distributed till after take off. A short taxi later and once again I felt the magnificent thrust of all 4 engines. Once airborne, I began watching a TV episode which I had queued up to the right point during taxi.
After take off, amenity kits, socks, eyeshades and slippers were distributed. I was given the smaller size and requested for the large slippers. Shortly there after the Krug was brought along with macadamia’s and honey roasted walnuts. Headsets were not distributed till 20 minutes after the seat belt sign had gone off. (SQ’s safety policy means that headsets can not be worn during take off and landing, which I can appreciate, however they usually are the first thing to be distributed, not in this case). The Krug was not cold enough so I had requested that they stick on some ice, since I liked it really cold and I was the only person drinking it (all other champers drinkers were on Dom for some reason). The IFS approached me to enquire on my request to speak with him. I explained that my first flight on SQ was when I was 6 weeks old, and I have grown up flying with them between MAA and SIN and I was so disappointed to see the way in which their attention to detail had declined. I event went to so far as to tell him that when compared when almost all other airlines they were still excellent, but compared with what they used to be they are not a fraction of their former self. I went on to explain how I wasn’t given newspapers, how headsets still hadn’t been distributed by that point and I had to resort to using my own etc. etc. He was very apologetic, thanked me for my feedback and from then onwards the service moved to being stellar. I even mentioned this to him on deplaning. I find when SQ crew are politely informed that they are not living up to your expectations, they usually react quite quickly, because they are not used to hearing any negative feedback. When compared with CX crew who are right there, always.
A simple comparison, when I was on board at HKG on the way to SFO, on CX – I was again on my cell phone. The SP was walking with the papers, caught my eye, and without making a noise placed them in front of me to select and cleared them once I had chosen my IHT and WSJA, without the slightest disturbance to my phone call.
I know it sounds crazy, but it is this attention to detail that made SQ what it was 15 years ago, and is making CX today.

During order taking, I enquired if my BTC Lobster was on board, which it was. Again, this is normally confirmed to me during menu distribution, and not by me checking. Most passengers were just having a light snack and getting sleep, but I was going to have none of that. I told the crew that I was in no hurry to dine, and noted that they had many passengers trying to rush to sleep, so they could serve me when they were done with everyone else, which was much appreciated by them.
I started with the Caviar, which was of excellent quality – better than CX, but didn’t come with any of the good accompaniments – and dry melba toast. (I had the best Caviar the next day on LH, with real crème fraiche). Nevertheless the Krug was the perfect accompaniment and by now it was perfectly chilled. After finishing one plate, I asked for seconds (not offered), and since there was only one other Caviar consumer of the 8 of us, this wasn’t an issue. No 4 plates like on SQ, but I wasn’t enjoying as much with the missing accompaniments. I moved to the Chinese sweetcorn and crabmeat soup which was excellent and accompanied with vinegar chilli slices, perfect!
The Caesar salad was fresh, and I asked for the dressing on the side since I don’t like it with too much dressing. As others have commented on here and on sqtalk.com, the Lobster was tiny in portion, quite dry and largely a plate of saffron rice – nothing like it used to be (only had it ex-Sin, so I can’t compare to previous JFK options). I wasn’t too hungry given the better found on ground at the VS clubhouse so I returned almost half of it. I skipped the cheese and dessert for now, and watched 2 great movies (including In the name of the father, with Daniel Day Lewis, an older movie that I had always been meaning to watch). Flying time was only 6h30, as opposed to a published of 7:50 (which I am guessing includes a budget for delays at FRA and JFK, both busy airports).
I had a couple of varieties of Tea from the new TWG menu, including the Alphonso tea and the Singapore-Paris tea, both of which were great.
Half way through the flight, I requested for some desert, and since neither of the FCL options were that appealing to me, they managed to get me some cheesecake from Business class which was perfect. On a trip to the restroom, the leading stewardess offered to make up my bed so that I could lounge and watch the rest of my movie which I happily accepted.
Half an hour after desert, I was offered breakfast, which I was told would be served 2 hours prior to landing – seems a little early for continental breakfast. I have say, the most efficient transatlantic breakfast service in my experience has been on British Airways First class, they will serve you continental 30 minutes out and a hot breakfast 45 minutes – allowing you to maximize on sleep, and of course there is the arrival lounge after that. Since this was a Friday night and I didn’t need to be working the next morning it didn’t matter, but had I been on a work transatlantic, I would have been pretty peeved to have all the lights on 2 hours before landing and that being the only time to have breakfast.
I decided to skip and asked if any of the noodle soup from the dinner mains was available, unfortunately this was all gone by then, so I settled for a Blue Mountain coffee and some water.
An hour out, my movie was almost done and I decided to break, get ready for arrival and changed backed into my civvies, brushed my teeth and packed my belongings, switched back to my headsets, since I knew they would ask for theirs back quite soon and I enjoyed the end of a great film.

We arrived at FRA 1 hour early, and our stand was occupied by an Air India aircraft (seems to be the case often with this flight). The AI flight pulled out by 10:15 (I think this was the scheduled dep for BOM at 1005), and we pulled in around 10:30, still 30 minutes early. On arrival I enquired as to whether my manually tagged bag would be offloaded at the belt and I was told yes. I waited for all the bags to come off, and no luck. I spoke to one of the SQ ground staff, who was very kind, found the manual tag unnecessary, since she explained the system would allow one tag to be pulled for FRA and then a connection to be added, and that this was a JFK goof up (one of many she added). She said she was going to have someone check the belly to make sure my bag didn’t end up going to Singapore, which was our main concern. Anyway after an hour of waiting, it turns out the bag was no where to be found, so we filed a report. I even mentioned checking on boarding that my bag was loaded, and the same person who put the manual tag on it confirmed it had. My main concern was that I had put all my fresh clothes for the next 24 hours in there and my food stuff as well. I was given an overnight kit, a 100euro for necessities and the report. They told me if it surface they would deliver it to the Sheraton across the road where I was spending the night. Both the Lufthansa and SQ staff at FRA handling this were great and very apologetic, and grateful for me patience. I explained that it wasn’t their fault, and I was just worried about my stuff going bad in it. I proceeded to the hotel, checked in, and waited some response. Finally gave up and the fatigue got me and I went to sleep.
I awoke at around 5:30pm FRA time, and decided to walk to the airport to see the much lauded tegut supermarket and also try and get some cheap socks and undies. By this point I had taken my moderately fresh clothes, hung them and changed into the Givenchy tracksuit from SQ, so that I would have something decent to wear to the FCT and all the way home the next day, since LH usually only gives out sweaters on First class day flights.
Fortunately, they look very civil, so I was ok wearing them out in public. I was very impressed by the Tegut and its pricing, and hunted to find moderately priced underwear and socks. Unfortunately FRA isn’t the best place for this, and the best I could do was 23euro at Hugo Boss, and 4 euro for socks from the supermarket – well I needed to be civil the next day and SQ was paying for it. I also bought a small duffel bag from the gift shop for 29 Euro to buy some food stuff from Tegut, that I was planning on filling my other bag with in any case. I spent time exploring FRA which I thought was actually not a bad airport at all, and also swung by the SQ desk where check for the night flight to Sin was going on. Fortunately a wonderful gentleman handling the First class check-in and the SQ agent handling the Customer service desk were very active in tracking my bag down, calling JFK etc etc. They also made sure that by bags through to MAA where In FRA and would get loaded on my flight to tomw, which fortunately was a yes. Still no news of my lost bag, but at least I could reach people and they were actively looking, much more than I can say for BA who lose my luggage once every couple of months, including recently at T5, which is supposed to be working like clockwork.
I got a call on my cell from a wonderful gentleman named Chris at JFK SQ lost and found at 10pm FRA time informing my bag had been located at JFK and would be sent to FRA tomw to catch my flight to MAA. I explained to him that it wouldn’t make my flight and consequently be stuck at FRA for a day, and given the mess I’ve heard FRA can be on baggage, I suggested that he put it on SQ all the way to MAA via SIN. I even gave him the SQ flight number. He told me he had to check whether this was possible and would get in touch with FRA since they opened the file, they would have the final authority. My friends at FRA were ofcourse more than willing and, I arranged with SQ at MAA to pickup my bag on Monday night, a day after I arrived to get my stuff back in the fridge as soon as possible.
Finally, I could sleep easy, and set a 5am wake up call so I could be at the FCT as soon as it opened.
Will begin posting that tomw…