SFO777

Mrs. SFO777 and I are off to Tokyo and Kyoto and Cherry Blossom season in Japan. And best of all we're flying Singapore Airlines A380 First Suites from LAX. And more good news as it looks like we lucked out with timing as blossoms opened this week and are expected to peak next week.





-United First Class Denver-Los Angeles
-Star Alliance First Class Lounge at LAX TBIT
-Singapore Airlines A380 First Class Suites Los Angeles to Tokyo
-The Peninsula Tokyo
-Tokyo
-Nozomi Bullet Train First Class Tokyo to Kyoto
-Ritz-Carlton Kyoto
-Kyoto
-Nozomi Bullet Train and Narita Express Kyoto to Narita
-ANA First Class Lounge at NRT
-Singapore Airlines A380 First Class Suites Tokyo to Los Angeles
-American Airlines Admirals Club at LAX
-American Airlines First Class Los Angeles to Denver

But before our Singapore Suites flight, we need to get to LAX. AA's noon Eagle flight was too late for comfort so we are on United, which offered a reasonable $275 one way First Class (P) fare. The south PreCheck was empty this morning and we were through in no time.





Remarkably for UA, no gate lice at all at Gate B20 this morning. And a couple minutes after we arrived, boarding started.



Denver DEN to Los Angeles LAX
United 781
A320
10:05A-11:37A (sked)
10:05A-11:20A (actual)
March 29, 2014
Lunch

I'm not a big United fan, but I have to give them props today. One time departure, early arrival and one of the best domestic FAs of the year, DEN-based Connie. She's been doing this for a long time and unlike other bored senior FAs, she seemed to love her job. Wow, what a refreshing change to the usual domestic crews. WiFI? on United? We'll have to test this out.



Pretty tight seating in this A320 especially in row 1.



And not much storage space underneath the middle area.



PDB and great inflight service.



Time to test out United Wifi.







Uh-huh.



This thing was slower than molasses. Makes gogo feel like a hypersonic experience. And UA waited 5 years for this??

Lunch today was a choice of... surprise, surprise... shrimp salad or chicken wrap and cream of mushroom soup. Unlike AA which has great variety and great catering, UA pax are not so lucky. Even Delta is better which says a lot. Mrs. SFO passed on lunch deciding to wait for the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX. I took one for the team and chose the chicken wrap. Can this presentation be any uglier??



Looks a lot better when you dig inside and peel away to wrap. Heads will roll at catering on Monday when someone discovers they actually used a whole 2 ounces of chicken. Was OK, but better with the chipotle sauce.



After lunch, time to watch grass grow or so it seemed. 7.5 Mbps?? I don't think so.



And no point even trying to upload anything.



To finish, a white chocolate and cranberry cookie.





UA catering? Meh. Wifi? Meh. But service today was outstanding.

SFO777

With nearly four hours before our Singapore flight and a pleasant day in LA, we decided to walk to the new TBIT and check-in.















This may be a new terminal but security is an awful experience. The good news is that there is a priority lane. The bad news is that it is virtually useless... the lane goes to an ID checker about half way thru a single queue for all pax. So we joined a queue of about 75 pax.

The Star Alliance First Class Lounge is a major improvement over the old one. But really nothing exciting.

















The FCL has a made to order menu which one can eat at your seat on in the dining area.







Limited self serve area which supplements the order menu.













The Star Alliance Gold/Business Lounge is actually far more inviting.















Especially the outside terrace overlooking the new TBIT shopping mall.















And back inside, a couple of themed sitting areas.





Up next: In the air, it just doesn't get much better than Singapore.

LH4116

By judging the rate at which you have posted your previous report I'd say that it's been a little while since your last report. Needless to say I have been looking forward to this one, since you hinted that SQ Suites was on the horizon last year.

UA domestic First catering looks rather underwhelming, but interestingly enough it seems that the wrap served was the same that I got as the 2nd meal on SNN-EWR. I too had to "take one for the team" and frankly it wasn't the best of wraps. At least yours looked bigger with the contents being rather identifiable as opposed to mine…



Looking forward to the rest!

avm2806

To be honest, I was expecting less from UA for a 2 hour hop.... But that just goes to show what we've come to expect from them... the Suites should make up for it on SQ though, looking forward to the next installment

glasman19

SFO, looking forward to another great report! I think I would have let the team just imagine how lunch was. So excited AA will be an option out of my hometown in a few weeks.

glennaa11

Looking forward to this one. I took SIN Suites the long way around last fall (SIN-FRA-JFK) and really enjoyed it. Most sleep I have ever gotten on an airplane.

AA_EXP09

Good report so far.
I do agree with regards to UA Wifi-looking at the PAX beside me trying to use it, I didn't even bother (this was EWR-SFO)
The *A international lounge isn't that bad (after all, it is better than the domestic lounge, and for liquor, it does have complimentary Belvedere, though admittedly before SQ F I would want to stay sober. If departing in UA Y, on the other hand...)
I also like the USB chargers just so I don't have to find heads (and sometimes adapters) when I travel.
(after all, YVR and HKG have them as well.)

themapelligroup

I was looking forward to this trip report, SFO777.
I'll be in Japan for the first time in ten days and my itinerary is similar to yours (I'll also go to Hiroshima) and I hope to get some insights and tips from this trip report.
Can't wait to read the rest !

AhogZ

Great beginning, I am in, as the Japan trip is planned for the next year. Thanks for the first chapter

Digital01

Here we go, another great TR in the making. Can't wait to see the SQ Suites and sites of Japan!

Short hair Francis

SFO777 back in action, and what a great idea, you brought me another couple weeks for me to finish my TR
Oh God, this week has been the living hell!
Gong Show Galore
And I was trying so hard to finish the current TR before starting another trip tomorrow.

No Gate Lice is really rare for a United Flight
The wrap once you look inside is ok, again it's not hard to beat United Brand Baseball Glove or Jeff McMuffin.

Talk about slow wifi, and i believe also no power on a UA 320.
Still no worse than my 90's United flight back in Nov.
Transpac with no streaming, no audio, no video, no power, no nothing.
I am scared not bringing a book for United flight these days.

SFO777, the trick for TBIT security is take the last red-eye like CX 881 and don't show up to the counter til 75 mins out, by that time most of the flights are gone or people have gone airside already.
I've never failed with that plan in years doing YYZ-JFK-LAX-HKG, stay in the AA Flagship until 90 mins out then go over.

LAX Star Lounge looks much improved, no more Dark/Gloomy Dungeon like feel to it
Balcony especially looks great, reminds me of the HKG Canteen otherwise known as CX F "the Wing"

Looking forward to seeing some Japanese food from you! ^
And my regards to the Mrs

sky303

Glad to see that you're back at it with another report! Excited to see what you make of the suites. And that wrap looked...interesting.

injian

Weeee another great TR from SFO777. Looking forward to the rest and also pics of Japanese food, mmmmm sashimi.

roastpuff

Another trip report, another aspirational goal to add to my list.

Looking forward to this trip!

SFO777

Los Angeles LAX to Tokyo Narita NRT
Singapore SQ 11
A380-800
3:15P-7:15P +1 (sked)
3:15P-7:05P +1 (actual)
March 29, 2014
Departed 5/12
Suites 3CD and 2CD

At around T-40, our SQ representative Tanya came to escort us to the gate.



Other than the group hug in the elevator with a dozen J pax, it was a pleasant 5 minute walk to Gate 152. Wow, the new TBIT is a major improvement over the old dump.











No waiting at the gate as Tanya escorted on board to the private Suites jetway where we were met by one of the three FAs working the Suites cabin today. Beautiful and spacious cabin, soothing colors. No bling or faux gold like Bling Air. Lower deck and no useless fru-fru makes the suites feel much larger than EK. As spacious as MH but the doors make this much more private. And unlike the position of the galley on MH, the SQ galley is well designed and completely hidden and away from the cabin. I heard no galley noise at all despite our 3CD being directly in front of the galley.





Looking across the aisle at 3A.



Suite 3A.







Meanwhile, back at 3CD.













Singapore's IFE is one of the best. Lots of movie choices from around the world. I opted to start with Grudge Match.







Very cool subtitle on/off feature. ^







Shortly after take-off, our FAs were prepping for today's meal service. My usual G&T to start.



Let's go to the menu.









Today's wine list. Other than Dom and Krug, a rather uninspiring selection. Not in the same league at Emirates or even BA's A380 list. That was my only complaint today and sticking with Dom solved that one.





Showtime!











I started with the malossol caviar and a shot of chilled vodka, offered without prompting by our own gorgeous Singapore Girl, Lead Stewardess Stella.





Then the delicious Cream of Prawn soup with porcini, button mushrooms and watercress, and more Dom.





Followed by the excellent Meculin salad with marinated tomatoes and shaved parmesan. I opted for the chili salsa dressing and more Dom.





For our main, we pre-ordered the Boston Lobster Thermidor off the Book the Cook menu.





It was positively sensational. So were two more glasses of Dom.





For dessert, we both had the amazing Pouch of caramelized apples with apple jus and vanilla ice cream, and more Dom.







After dinner, tried out SQ's wifi service. About as slow as United but way more expensive. $14.99 for 15 MB. Wow, compare that to Emirates where you get 100MB for $25. Didn't use this too much tonight.

With the F cabin on the lower level, the lavs are not as spacious and elaborate as EK or LH. Nevertheless, better than the BA A380 lav.



Amenity kit? Meh. None of these smell very good IMO, and I didn't bother taking them home.





Some time after dinner, we both decided to retire to our bedroom and double bed. Pretty cool feature as the center console lowers and a murphy bed folds down from the back wall. Not really a double bed in that you can't easily roll back and forth. And as Mrs. SFO predicted, no mile high club tonight.







I slept for three hours then moved back to 3C to download and edit pics and watch the rest of a French comedy and then a much better than expected Stallone/Schwarzenegger action movie Escape Plan.

At about T-2, second meal. Neither of us were particularly hungry, but decided to have something since we'd be hungry later if we didn't eaten. So many options on the good looking light menu selections.





We both started with the delicious Thai spicy seafood and glass noodles salad, with more Dom naturally.





I went with the Stir fried Oriental Style Lobster with leafy greens and egg noodles.
It was outstanding but way too much. My new friend joined me for the meal.







Mrs. SFO had some sort of noodle dish which she loved.



I was stuffed and declined dessert. But I'm a sucker for beautiful women and I couldn't resist Stella who insisted that the L'Orange, soft orange sponge with blood orange cream, apricot compote and crunchy almond crumble, was very small. It was indeed very good.





Shortly after our meal, we started our descent into NRT.









Very strong winds tonight produced a rock and roll approach and landing. We touched down just before 7PM and were at the gate 5 minutes later. What can I say? Simply another sensational and most enjoyable Singapore Airlines flight.