Really great trip report, thank you for sharing ^^

You really know how to use a camera. All your photos are eye candy.

Thanks for the comments!

I guess I was comparing them to the Botanic Gardens, which are a world away from the man-made Bay.

SIN-DOH

Singapore’s self-styled aspiration to be a ‘city in a garden’ is not just evident in the downtown area. Airport Boulevard provides an oasis-like welcome to Changi, long since heralded as the pinnacle global aviation hub. For reasons that aren’t clear, Qatar Airways don’t offer mobile boarding passes for departures from Singapore. Being unable, therefore, to access airside until QR’s check-in desks opened, I arrived at T3 almost on the dot of 3 hours before departure. With another passenger already checking in at the single J desk, I was beckoned over to a Y desk to get my boarding passes through to Oslo, presented in a stylish wallet.

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I was also handed an invitation to use the third party Dnata lounge in T3, although had no intention of using that lounge given better options provided by other oneworld airlines are just a brisk walk away in T1. There was no queue at immigration and, with Changi having security screening at each gate rather than centrally, I emerged straight into the departure lounge.

Whilst Changi is undoubtedly impressive, the pervasive carpets are entirely impractical for a rollaboard suitcase, not to mention the fortune they must cost in maintenance and regular replacement. A ten-minute distance away via numerous travellators, the transit train, and stumbled suitcase moments, the Qantas and British Airways lounges are located next to each other one level above T1’s departure lounge, conveniently at the closest end to T3. I headed to The Qantas Singapore Lounge first, opened in the space of the former joint British Airways/Qantas Business lounge in 2013. It’s a combined first and business class facility and follows the familiar design cues on show at QF’s latest lounges in HKG, LHR, PER and BNE.

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I was greeted at reception and advised that no boarding calls are made for QR flights in the lounge (not entirely surprising given QR depart from a different terminal). The lounge is slightly oddly shaped through imaginative use of partition walls and the location of the kitchen. After the wood and stone-clad curved reception area, the lounge opens up to reveal the tended bar to the right, with the dining area beyond. The bar adopts the similar stylish design to those in the Qantas First lounges at SYD, MEL and LAX, albeit without the Marc Newson pattern backing the shelves. Less stylish are the cardboard coffee cups adjacent to the iced tea dispenser. Several pre-made glasses of the mocktail of the day were sitting on the bar ready for thirsty passengers to take; a nice thought, but pre-made rather takes the fun out of cocktails, whether mock or not.

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Arranged in a jaunty L shape around the kitchen, the dining area is expansive but was rather crowded at the time of my visit. Large communal tables are bordered by tables for two along the side of the lounge, with various buffet stations and an open kitchen arranged on the opposite wall. I didn’t pay too close attention to the menu as I was planning to have dinner onboard, but the impression I got was positive, with plenty of variety on offer. The design of the dining area isn’t really to my personal taste (industrial springs to mind), but it does the job of catering to large numbers in a vaguely premium way.

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Shower suites are located at the rear of the dining area; I didn’t have an opportunity to look in one, but if the bland and slightly messy washrooms (located immediately to the left after reception) are anything to go by, I didn’t miss out on much. Amenities were that Qantas staple Aspire.

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Opposite the entrance to the washrooms and the bar is a seating area with high top table, uncomfortable-looking yellow bucket chairs and a news stand integrated into the wall, beyond which the lounge really opens out into two distinct seating areas. Both offer nearly identical seating arrangements; mostly comfortable Qantas signature armchairs, with a couple of communal work tables and borders of banquette seating. One area features a small children’s play area (impractically open entirely to the rest of the lounge), whilst the other offers a small but practical self-serve drinks station. Both offer TVs and ample power sockets throughout. Perhaps the nicest seating area is adjacent to the windows overlooking the departure lounge; as good a view as you’re going to get in this location within the terminal.

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Whilst the catering looked good, I was left feeling underwhelmed by the rest of the lounge; it’s dark, and the design seems unwelcoming and remarkably dated for a relatively new concept. There also seemed to be a lack of private seating areas, with all armchairs and dining tables being in close proximity to one another. I spent very little time in the lounge, and soon headed across the lobby to see whether BA could improve the situation.

Opened a couple of years after QF’s lounge in 2015, the British Airways lounge occupies the space of the former joint British Airways/Qantas First lounge. As with QF’s ‘new’ lounge, the BA lounge is a joint first and business class facility, although features a Concorde Bar for BA First passengers and Premier/Concorde Room cardholders. Incidentally, with QF resuming F services through SIN as of March this year, Qantas are in the process of creating a much-needed dedicated area within their own lounge for their First passengers; it remains to be seen what this will look like in practice.

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I was welcomed at the entrance to the BA lounge and stepped through into what is a fairly narrow space, with washrooms and showers off to the left and the Concorde Bar to the right. The main lounge area opens up ahead, with the entire lounge following BA’s Galleries Evolution design, until this month the airline’s latest lounge concept now replaced by a new and as yet unnamed concept recently debuted at Rome. The Galleries Evolution design certainly feels very ‘BA’; reassuringly so in a far-flung foreign land.

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The main lounge area is broadly split into two halves; seating on one with dining on the other, although the area at the very end offers a square of comfortable seating and separate TV and work areas spanning the width of the lounge. With its distinct zones, the space is entirely practical, whilst retaining an edge of luxury. In contrast to the Qantas lounge, low dividers break up the seating areas, meaning a smidgen of privacy isn’t hard to find. Power and USB sockets are plentiful, mostly built into side tables between armchairs.

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The dining and bar areas are attractive, bordered along one side by individual banquette seating pods lit by Tom Dixon pendants. The usual extensive array of alcohol was present, although food offerings were distinctly poor in comparison to the QF lounge. I was visiting the lounge during a quiet period, so the full array wasn’t yet available, but the limited hot options on show all looked a little sad; the cold bowl of greens even sadder.

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One of the agents at reception kindly showed me the Concorde Bar. It’s a very small and dark space, with precisely no natural light and precisely no external views. Instead, large digital display screens set into the walls and ceiling project images of the Singapore skyline; call me old fashioned, but windows would’ve been nicer. A central bar offers a slightly expanded alcohol offering compared to the main lounge, whilst there are more limited food options set out on a mini buffet to the rear. A server is permanently stationed in the lounge and offers waiter service.

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Seven individual dining pods are complemented by a handful of individual high-back chairs and three individual sofa/armchair ‘rooms’, each with their own TV. The space feels inherently claustrophobic; if I’d have been eligible for access, I’d have obtained a glass of the nicer champagne and headed out into the brighter and more spacious main lounge area.

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I found a spot in the seating area near reception and whiled away the next hour or so reading as the lounge filled up with passengers recently arrived from LHR and heading onward to SYD. Before heading back to T3, I popped into the washrooms which are of a far nicer standard than the LHR lounges (although unlike at Heathrow are not individual rooms). Amenities by Elemis were to be expected.

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En route to Gate A15, I stopped off at Changi’s famed butterfly garden in T3. I have very little patience, which I feel probably played a part in this next sentence, but… I didn’t see any butterflies. What I did see was a nice view of a Singapore Airlines A380 through the window with a backdrop of the setting sun.

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Gate security was very efficient with no queue and no need to remove liquids from bags; whilst I therefore didn’t need a priority lane on this occasion, I do find it odd that one of the world’s supposedly best airports doesn’t seem to think they are required at all. Fortuitously I arrived into the gateroom just as boarding was about to be announced; seeing me approaching the gate, an agent sprang forward and took my boarding pass, resulting in me once again being the first passenger down the airbridge. Dual airbridges were in operation on this stand; I took the dedicated Business Class airbridge on the left to arrive at Door 1L of A7-ALF, a three year old A350-900.

For the first time on a QR sector this trip, I wasn’t escorted to my seat, but the welcome was genuine and I was soon settling into 4A, a pretty much identical seat to 4K on the outbound sector to Singapore.

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A pillow and thin blanket were waiting on my seat, with headphones in the armrest and Vittel water bottle and tan-coloured amenity kit on the side shelf. Jackets were taken and hot and cold towels offered, along with a choice of drink; I opted for another of the mint and lime concoctions together with a cold towel.

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The CSD came around to welcome each passenger individually, after which newspapers, menus, wine lists (the same as on both previous sectors) and old-style pyjamas were handed out. I actually prefer these PJs to the new White Company ones; they cut a smarter figure, although the trade-off is slippers aren’t included in the pack (and weren’t available on request). A passenger behind me in 6A liked the PJs so much that he asked the crew whether he could buy them! Thankfully the crew member took it in her stride and informed the gentleman that he could take them with him when he left the aircraft.

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Dinner orders were taken on the ground just before pushback; I was informed my first choice of both starter and main course had run out, but the crew member checked the opposite aisle and came back a few moments later to inform me that there was enough of each dish loaded after all. This wasn’t a great first impression given the fact I was only in Row 4 of 9.

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After takeoff just behind BA’s 77W headed to Sydney, I popped to the washroom to change into the PJ top. I was surprised to find the washroom not in such good condition as my other two QR sectors so far this trip, but it was nonetheless cleaner than those you would expect to find on the vast majority of other airlines. The crew member serving my aisle saw me arriving back at my seat and offered to hang my shirt for me; it’s the little touches such as this that make the difference between good and great service.

As I fired up the IFE to watch Wind River (quite a compelling use of the best part of 2 hours), dinner service commenced with a glass of the Lanson Black Label and warm nuts. This was followed by an unspecified amuse-bouche, served on the beautifully laid table with individual bread basket.

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The pumpkin and lemongrass soup with herb crème fraiche was very palatable, although I found the grilled prawns with chunky pomelo salad (served with quail egg, cucumber, roast grated coconut and chili tamarind dressing) to be a little too variegated for my taste. Once again, the breads that accompanied this dinner service were on the cheaper end of the spectrum.

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My chosen main course of grilled beef tenderloin with grain mustard sauce, sautéed potatoes with chives, roasted cherry tomatoes, asparagus and mushrooms was super flavoursome if a little tough and lacking in any visible asparagus. I appreciated the fact that the mustard served on the side (of which I had a choice of type) was in a mini glass bottle rather than a sachet.

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The mango sticky rice cake with pandan coconut sauce was excellent, accompanied by a peppermint tea and Godiva chocolates. It’s a small thing, but QR crew always brew tea in the galley and remove the teabag before serving to passengers; no need for the drip dish game here.

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I slept for a good few hours following dinner. When I awoke around an hour out of Doha, a crew member emerged from nowhere to offer me a drink or something to eat; they were out of sparkling water at this point in the flight, but still wasn’t a difficult compromise – I opted for an Americano to keep me awake as I listened to the soundtrack of Violet Skies.

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At the top of descent, I managed to capture a full width shot of the beautiful forward cabin of the Qatar Airways A350, which illustrates the amount of space afforded by no middle overhead bins and showcases the exquisite ambient mood lighting that is particularly vibrant on the A350.

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The CSD popped by at this point to say goodbye to each passenger. QR tend to finish each flight with an ‘open skies’ promotional film, mainly aimed at sources of resistance in the US to Middle Eastern airline competition; I’m not sure how appropriate or worthwhile this is to screen to passengers who have already made a choice to use a Middle Eastern carrier. With 10 minutes of air holding announced by the captain, we landed into Doha 35 minutes behind schedule, arriving at Gate D4 where, despite dual airbridges being used, the one to Door 2L was once again the first to be connected to allow us to disembark.

I presume as a consequence of our late arrival, or perhaps in recognition of Singapore’s stringent security, connecting passengers were directed straight into the departures gate area, bypassing transfer security entirely.

DOH-OSL

A good 15-minute walk to Gate A6 right at the other end of the terminal meant that there was no time for a visit to the Al Mourjan lounge on this connection. Arriving at the gate, there was a clear priority lane for the boarding pass check, after which each part of the gate seating area was clearly marked with zone numbers corresponding presumably to boarding pass zones; premium passengers had a dedicated zone at the forward part of the gate, which was well policed by ground agents. I was once again first through the doors after passengers requiring assistance, and headed through the forward of two airbridges to Door 1L of A7-BCV, a three year old 787-8.

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As on the previous sector, I was pointed but not escorted to my seat. I’m not sure what QR’s policy is here; I assume whether you get an escort or not is down to whether there are enough crew at the door at the particular moment you step onboard. The by now familiar routine of jackets being taken, an offer of a drink and delivery of said drink with hot or cold towel played out as I settled into 2K.

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On my seat was a pillow and the Qsuite blanket, with blue amenity kit on the ledge and headphones and Evian water bottle inside the armrest. Menus were handed out and White Company PJ and slipper packs distributed.

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I changed into the rather oversized PJ top in the washroom before pushback, returning to my seat just in time for newspapers to be offered and dinner orders to be taken for what would be my second dinner that evening.

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As we got airborne just slightly behind schedule, I turned from the camera view to watch The Hitman’s Bodyguard. If you suspend reality for a moment and are in the mood for comedy, this is a laugh-a-minute watch. I do object to the excessive editing QR do to censor language in films (although oddly, expletive-ridden music tracks are offered aplenty).

Dinner service commenced with drinks and nuts; as I was planning on sleeping for the middle portion of this short flight to top up my sleep from the last sector, I went with the sensible option of water as the CSD came around to welcome each passenger. QR crews can be pretty variable; I’d lucked out with two excellent crews on the SIN sectors and one good crew on the ARN sector so far this trip. Looking after my aisle on this final sector to OSL was a rather robotic crew member completely lacking in warmth, but she thawed somewhat as time went on and was always professional.

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As this was a late night departure, the main meal service was breakfast, so only ‘light’ options were offered for dinner. I jumped straight to the main course of Arabic spiced chicken breast with cinnamon spiced sauce, served with rice with mince lamb and herbs, and golden fried onions. The chicken was pretty overcooked and tough, and whilst nicely flavoured and textured, the entire dish was luke warm at best; a disappointing blip in an otherwise good run of QR meals.

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For dessert I opted for the dacquoise biscuit with chocolate ganache, crushed nuts, Florentine and Chantilly whipped cream. Divine. Dinner concluded with a cappuccino, Godiva chocolates and a hot towel.

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Once the film had finished I slept pretty well for a few hours, despite the noticeably noisier cabin when compared to the A350. I wasn’t particularly hungry when I woke; not fancying any of the three main course options (two of which were cheese-infested in a nod to AA) I opted, after another hot towel, for a few Continental options, starting with the Greek yogurt, strawberry compote, and toasted granola with nuts.

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Next up was the beautifully presented seasonal fresh fruit, with the meal completed by the always-excellent Bircher muesli, an Americano and a third hot towel.

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The CSD stopped by to thank each passenger for travelling with Qatar Airways. We landed around 5 minutes behind schedule which earned ‘sincere apologies’ from the CSD. A single airbridge had us disembarking from Door 2L into a freezing Norwegian early morning. For reasons I have been unable to fathom but assume was due to poor signage, I ended up in the wrong queue for passport control for connecting passengers and got stuck behind a significant queue of non-EU passengers from another arriving aircraft. Ten minutes later I was through the efficient transfer security and descending into the departure lounge.

OSL-LHR

British Airways use the third party OSL lounge at this airport, located on the mezzanine above the departure lounge. It’s a pretty large space, separated into a standard pay-in offering on the left and a ‘premium’ side to the right for airline-eligible passengers. The premium side of the lounge doesn’t open until 09:00, so I was initially directed to the left for the first 90 minutes or so of my visit.

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I was unable to find any mention of showers in the lounge from online research but asked at reception as soon as I arrived on the off-chance that they were available. Surprisingly the lounge does indeed have a lone shower room; I was handed a towel and escorted through a staff door to the right of the reception desk and a short way along a corridor to the room. Whilst pretty basic, the shower room follows the interior design of the premium side of the lounge and offers basic pump-operated shampoo and shower gel. There is no bath mat or hairdryer, and the design of the shower door appeared to be modelled on a sieve, as the powerful rain shower half-flooded the floor.

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The pay-in/standard side of the lounge offers plenty of different seating areas, basic washrooms and a limited buffet that for a third party lounge are perfectly adequate. Expansive windows look out over the apron, but the view is hampered by automatic external blinds that seemingly constantly adjust.

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The premium side of the lounge offers near-identical catering, but the space is significantly more modern and smarter in design, if still a little eclectic. This side of the lounge also has its own dedicated washrooms. Views are internal, looking out over the check-in area.

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Group Boarding hadn’t quite made it to Oslo at the time of my trip, so the usual free for all ensued as Priority Boarding was announced at Gate F19. For my final flight of this trip I would be travelling on G-EUOE, an A319 delivered new to BA in 2001. Inauspiciously, this was the very aircraft that lost its engine cowlings after takeoff from Heathrow to Oslo in 2013 and turned back to perform an emergency landing and subsequent evacuation on the Northern Runway.

The Mixed Fleet crew welcomed me at the door, with the CSM stopping by 1F to collect my jacket and welcome me by name. What is this, Qatar Airways?! Today’s aircraft had six rows of Club Europe seating, but a fairly light load meant that nobody was beside me in 1D.

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The captain announced a flight time of 1h50 cruising at 38,000ft, and we pushed back ten minutes early with a manual safety demonstration due to a short taxi.

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After some spectacular snowy scenes on takeoff, hot towels were handed out and the bar service commenced from the trolley; as I would be driving home from Heathrow, an apple juice accompanied my packaged cashew nuts (since sadly replaced by almonds). Without prompting, the CSM also brought a bottle of Highland Spring water, which was appreciated.

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These Medium band flights offer a pathetic choice of warm sandwich or miniscule salad on lunch and dinner sectors; not liking the sound of the tiger prawn salad, I was left with the alternative of chicken Caesar panini which was hand delivered from the galley. This dreadfully presented cheap but weirdly tasty lump of carbs was served on a tray inexplicably containing some butter and milk; the chocolate mousse dessert was edible but unmemorable.

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I finished lunch with a peppermint tea, which was, in a klaxon-sounding moment, served unprompted with a drip dish.

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We landed onto a wet and grey Runway 27L at Heathrow, parking at the Northern end of T5A on a domestic stand that necessitated a bus transfer to the terminal. A dedicated Club Europe bus was available, but more than a few rows after CE were let on, somewhat defeating the point. There was no queue for the eGates at immigration, and with no bags to collect I was soon on the way home after a very enjoyable trip.

Thanks for following along with me to Singapore. Your comments and questions are, as ever, very welcome.

Great trip report, enjoyed it very much.

I must admit to being very confused initially..... World's Best Business Class in a trip report in the BA forum?? The I went on to read it is indeed QR, I have my own love fest going on with QR J, very hard to beat them, it is an awesome product.

Great report, I enjoyed it a lot. I have my first long-haul with QR (in J) in two months so I learned a lot about what I can expect.

Thanks for the great report. Just a query on the Changi lounge hopping-presume you can simply walk between the terminals, no security or immigration checks? Other than the new T4 of course.

thanks

Very nice report, with great pics. Thanks for sharing.

Excellent report with great photos, thank you for sharing!

Thanks for the recent comments!

Yes, that's spot on. You need to go through immigration to get airside in your operating carrier's terminal of departure, but T1, T2 and T3 are all connected airside with no checks between them. Security is generally at the gate in these three terminals.