Having just completed my first true mileage run (to SIN) I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with FT. This is my first trip report, so (constructive) criticism is especially welcome.

Background: By September it was clear to me that a variety of reasons I was going to end up with about 83,000 miles on UA this year. Well above 1P, but close enough to 1K that I felt it was worth making a run for it. I missed the low Saturday night only SIN fares in September, but grabbed one when they showed up again in October. For family reasons I needed to return early Sunday AM so I booked a SEA-LAX-NRT-SIN-NRT-SEA itinerary, yielding ~17,000 miles, leaving 12/6 returning 12/8. Upgrades on all legs except SIN-NRT cleared on booking, the SIN-NRT leg cleared the week of travel (all with SWU�s).

Trip: As mentioned above, this was my first mileage run. After explaining to my family what I was doing and why (my wife thought I was crazy and the kids wanted to come along), the hardest part of the trip was getting psyched for it. Most of my travel is for work and there is always a routine of preparation before leaving. The rest is with the family, and then there is the routine of packing, etc. This time it was just come back from work, pack a few things, and wake up the next morning and drive to the airport.

Because I wanted to be functional when I returned on Sunday, the way I decided to handle the time changes was just to stick to PDT. This would mean sleeping on the NRT-SIN and NRT-SEA legs, and trying to keep awake the rest of the time. I also didn�t want to imbibe, much, because of the disruption of sleep patterns by alcohol. (But what is a trip to the NRT RCC without a visit to the beer pouring machine (image copyright by Chexfan)?

SEA-LAX. UA771. Seat 2C. Arrived at the airport at 6 AM for the 7:10 AM flight. TV crew interviewing UA flyers, didn�t hang around to see what angle they were spinning. Most CSR�s were wearing the �United will stand� buttons. Security was slower than my last few trips�the elite line fed into the regular line, which was 15+ long (depending on which of the four machines you ended up in). Took about 15 minutes to get through. As this was my last (planned) UA flight of the year, I stopped off at the RCC with some chocolates and a card for the helpful RCC (and ex-1K room) staff there and then headed up to the gate. Not much to say about this flight: A totally full, ex-shuttle 737-300, cold breakfast, no Ch 9, and on time. Flight attendant, Diane, was pleasant and attentive. The lady in 1C told her about the WSJ bottled water from the tap story , Diane was horrified said this was the first she had heard of it.

LAX-NRT. UA897. Seat 16H. Empower on. One of the justifications for doing this mileage run was I would have hours of un-interrupted time to catch up with work-related reading and writing. Aided by a movie selection that held limited interest for me, I was able to get many hours of work done. As mentioned above I was avoiding alcohol this trip, but my seatmate made up for it by downing at least 10 mixed drinks, many doubles, during this ~10 hour flight! Surprisingly, other sleeping most of the time he wasn�t drinking, he seemed none the worse for wear when we arrived at Narita. Given all the comments about the Obento meal hear on FT, I preordered it for my US-Japan flights. While I am glad I ordered it, I was a little letdown, perhaps I was expecting a finer product. Mostly, I was disappointed by its uniform coldness and texture. The upper deck FA�s were great. Both were US-based, probably in their mid-forties, and conducted the service in a friendly and attentive fashion. Between the good service, work to keep me busy, and a comfortable seat the flight seemed to speed by. Nonetheless it was very refreshing to step off the stairs into pleasant (for a Northwesterner) weather (dusk, low 40�s, and raining) and get re-hydrated.

NRT-SIN. UA881. Seat 16H Empower on. Boarded via gate 28B, that is, the bus to the plane and got to experience more moist, and by now dark weather. Departure was delayed by both late arriving passengers and a mechanical problem that we were repeated assured was �minor.� I was dozing during much of this period so I�m not sure how delayed we were, but it was probably 45-60 minutes. In any case, it was enough to put us into SIN 45 minutes late. For dinner I chose the Thai chicken, which together with a Sushi appetizer was really quite good. The dessert was a very rich chocolate mousse, which I probably should have skipped to improve my sleep on this leg. Cabin crew was Tokyo-based, attentive and pleasant.

Changi. Guided and inspired by legendary Chexfan�s excellent SIN trip report my impression was that late-night SIN was great for bars, but not so good for shopping, so I decided to just stay at Changi. I felt this was a good decision. First order of business was to find internet access to contact home and catch up on work e-mail. Both T1 and T2 internet centers were good, but the T2 center had more terminals, also plenty of high speed internet jacks (bring your own cable) and is beside the orchid garden. Use of the terminals is also free between 12 and 6 AM! As others have mentioned the SkyTrain connecting T1 and T2 shuts down between 1 AM and 6 AM, but the walk between to terminals isn�t bad after many hours of sitting and can be aided by the automatic moving sidewalks if the walk seems daunting.

After finishing with e-mail and internet I went up to try my luck with the Silver Kris Lounge as the reviews of this lounge have been so favorable (especially compared to the SATS lounge). Given the warnings about the difficulty of admission, I had tried to get my SIN-NRT boarding pass the prior day at two of the NRT RCC�s, without success. The receptionist wanted a ticket or a boarding pass and was decidedly un-impressed by the printout of �My itineraries� showing the upgraded flight and my 1K card. Her explanation was that UA pays SQ for each passenger that uses the Silver Kris Lounge. If UA determines that one of their passengers uses the lounge who is not eligible then they won�t pay SQ that head charge and SQ will come after the receptionist for the $�s. By this time it was almost 4 AM, so I figured I�d check in when the ticket counter opened at 4:30AM, get my boarding pass, and try again. The lady at immigration thought I was crazy for going out to check in (instead of using the transit desk, which it turns out also opens at 4:30). But since I had gone that far I figured I might as well get the passport stamp and see what the outside of the terminal was like. After passing immigration I realized that I was carrying a copy of �Understanding Marijuana: a new look at the scientific evidence� that I had been reviewing as part of my work I was doing on the flight. Perhaps not the wisest book to be carrying into Singapore. (Especially with the �death penalty for drug trafficking� emblazoned in red letters on my immigration card.) Fortunately, customs was uninterested in the contents of my bag, or me in general.

Check-in went efficiently, and I returned to the Silver Kris Lounge to try again. This time there was no problem, my name was duly recorded, and I was courteously invited in to take advantage of the facilities. To have an opportunity to shower, shave, and change clothes was great (and needed!). I then decided that I needed to ensure that United got their money�s worth by putting a dent in the Movenpick ice cream supply . (Thanks Empress for pointing out that they stock that ice cream .) Next I grazed my way through the breakfast items as they were put out. My favorite had to be the sweet potato congee. The lounge was relatively uncrowded at 4 AM, but was reasonably busy by the time I left at 6 AM. I spent the trip back to the departure gate wandering through shops buying a few gifts for family and friends back home.

My thoughts on Changi. Definitely a very comfortable place to spend the overnight portion of a SIN run if doing a 7 hour turn around. The Silver Kris Lounge was a welcome diversion. Many options abound for internet connectivity , attractively free in the public areas between 12-6 AM. Also in the Silver Kris Lounge and presumably other lounges are similar. I didn�t try wireless connectivity while I was there. While a few shops are open 24 hours, these are mostly of the duty free liquor sort. Many more interesting shops open at 6 AM (and still others at 7 AM).

SIN-NRT. UA882. 17A Empower on. This flight was about 80% full (based on an overheard CSR comment). For breakfast I chose the Fried Singapore noodles; which were served with some very fresh shrimp. My choice for the pre-landing snack was the spaghetti with meat sauce. While this was okay, the cold chicken salad looked more appealing. Service by the upstairs cabin crew (Tokyo and Taipei based) was very professional. The best way I can describe it was as warm and precise, without being intrusive. The flight itself was pleasant enough, but unfortunately a thick layer of clouds covered Japan obscuring Mt. Fuji. This is one of my favorite views from a plane. That and crossing the Japanese coast after flying across the Pacific.

NRT-SEA. UA876. 9A Empower on. I do most of my international flying to Europe, so I�m much more accustomed to the 777. In that plane I prefer the 8/9 rows for their relative isolation from the rest of the plane. This was the most disappointing leg of my journey. (Although this was the only leg with Channel 9 on.) After the spaciousness of the 747 upper deck, the forward section of the 777 felt cramped. The cabin crew while pleasant were quite disorganized (not knowing seat numbers, missing menu items from trays, not refilling tea during the meal, etc.) which resulted in mediocre service. This was not a �prison matron� flight as the FA ages ranged from (probably) mid-20� to late 50�s, with no correlation between age and enthusiasm. Perhaps it was a morale issue from the situation at United or, as one of our UA FA posters mentioned previously, a purser who had not managed to get a diverse crew to work well together. The sushi appetizer and Obento meal were much better, particularly in texture than the offering from LAX. Certainly, it was quite good for an airplane meal. After the previous night�s experience I skipped the chocolate mousse and slept quite well until breakfast was served 1:20 out from Seattle. The cheese omelet survived the 8-hour incubation from NRT, remaining tasty.

The approach into Seattle was pretty, with a lot of low-lying fog over the sound and city, with just a few trees on the high points showing through. Landing was quite interesting (especially with channel 9). Landing from the North, visibility was a mile plus on the approach and touch down, and then rapidly dropped to a few hundred feet by the end of the runway. The trip over to the South satellite seemed unusually slow, giving the illusion of the pilot �feeling� his/her way to terminal.

Another advantage of the 8/9 section is that it allows for very rapid exit from the plane. With my book and mindful of the likelihood of the first person through immigration being selected for additional inspection, I managed to be number 2. The agent couldn�t quite understand why I went to Singapore for the miles, and kept asking if I had friends there. Finally, she seemed convinced that the miles were the reason I was flying and let me through without a search.

The fog had burned off over SeaTac by the time I retrieved my car and headed home to Christmas tree harvesting and other holiday pastimes.

My impressions of the trip: The strategy I used of keeping on West coast time worked quite well for me for a �short� SIN run. I was able to get decent rest on the NRT-SIN and NRT-SEA legs, which roughly corresponded to my usual sleep times. Sunday I felt pretty normal. Of course if I had been in economy my sleep which have been much poorer and I would have been toast by the end of the journey. Changi is a very interesting and easy place to spend the night. Although the next time I go to Singapore hopefully I will be able to stay for a few more days. Four of the five cabin crews I had were very good to excellent. This matches my usual experience on UA, so I certainly didn�t see evidence of widespread low morale. I�m glad I got to experience the 747 upper deck, especially if UA phases out most of their 747-400�s, I certainly preferred it to C on the 777. Finally, it�s good to be back home!

(edited for UBB coding)

[This message has been edited by nwff (edited 12-08-2002).]

Bravo trip report, nwff!

You did everything right, from pre-ordering the Obento to keeping on Pacific time.

Sure, the Obento is mediorce at best by sea level standards, but at FL370 its about the best a health-conscious pax can do.

Agreed that Changi is a terrific place to turnaround in. Plenty to keep yourself occupied for 7 or so hours if you choose not to snooze at the transit hotel. I've not done the transit hotel shuffle myself, but wouldn't hesitate to try it the next time a good fare from PDX comes up.

I hope you do get a chance to spend a day or two in SIN. Not only is it a great bang for the mileage run buck, but it's just a great place to spend a couple of days. And I could wax rhapsodic about staying at the Conrad ...

I'm looking forward to my third excursion there in March,

Very good "first report"! Just got back from a SIN run myself and enjoyed comparing notes.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

Excellent trip report, nwff! Just reading it is making me anxious to get back to SIN (even if only for seven hours). Glad to hear you got into the Silver Kris lounge without too much trouble - next time I'm there I'll definitely have to check it out. The SATS Premier Lounge leaves much to be desired.

Excellent report! Glad you enjoyed the 747 upper deck. However, just imagine what the service was like up there a few years back, when THREE flight attendants served the 30 seats. Subsequently, United removes four of the upper deck seats (13%), yet does away with one of the three attendants (33%).

Great trip report... I actually walked right past your gate at NRT on Sunday on my way to the LAX flight.

Upper deck on the 747 is the best.

Well, in C at least

As opposed to in the cockpit?

I did similar run this year...upstairs on 747 is like being in your own little club...Definately the best seat in the house.