A Singapore Airlines A380 Suite Experience
Jul 10, 2008, 7:22 am
#20
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Nice trip report, very good pictures. This brings back memories...
I was lucky that friend Gino (the hero) lended me his A380 Suite (2A) for a good couple of hours on the inaugural flight from Singapore to London while he went upstairs to play around and drink with his friends.
I did not even feel like being on a plane being in there. I sampled the bed and the TV. It was great!
I had the same experience with the FAs opening and closing the boxes by row 1 but I wasn't going to complain...
Those who can afford to fly in the Suites are really lucky folks. I bet some of them are so used to this fabulous service that they take it for granted and find it normal. They don't realize how lucky they are to be able to enjoy the ultimate luxury evey time they fly so it makes no difference to them.
Me I will take another two hours of SIA A380 F Suites any time!
I was lucky that friend Gino (the hero) lended me his A380 Suite (2A) for a good couple of hours on the inaugural flight from Singapore to London while he went upstairs to play around and drink with his friends.
I did not even feel like being on a plane being in there. I sampled the bed and the TV. It was great!
I had the same experience with the FAs opening and closing the boxes by row 1 but I wasn't going to complain...
Those who can afford to fly in the Suites are really lucky folks. I bet some of them are so used to this fabulous service that they take it for granted and find it normal. They don't realize how lucky they are to be able to enjoy the ultimate luxury evey time they fly so it makes no difference to them.
Me I will take another two hours of SIA A380 F Suites any time!
Jul 10, 2008, 11:55 am
#21
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IME the "no schedule" meal service, turn down, etc, is offered on all SQ flights in F, not just R.
Jul 10, 2008, 1:56 pm
#22
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In suites, however, they did not come out with the cart at all. It was on demand. ^
What route in Suites did you fly? NRT or SYD?
Jul 10, 2008, 4:13 pm
#23
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Sure, you can inform the crew whenever you'd like to eat in F making it whenever. However, the FAs still come around the cabin in F (with cart) to serve meals shortly after takeoff, which can be instrusive if you chose not to dine.
In suites, however, they did not come out with the cart at all. It was on demand. ^
In suites, however, they did not come out with the cart at all. It was on demand. ^
SYD.
I have a few NRT-SIN RT's coming up though and I've decided not to book the suites. The extra cost is not justified over the 747 F IMO. If they had upgraded the soft product, I might tend to, but as is the hard product alone doesn't justify the cost on these short sectors.
Jul 10, 2008, 4:29 pm
#24
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Yup, my NRT-SIN flight was totally full in F. The FA+1 came out with all the table setup on a cart. Even if they don't do it with the cart (i.e. my LAX-NRT segment), they still come out to serve meals after takeoff. They didn't do that for Suites. They told me to press the button when I wanted to have my meal, anytime.
I was quite satisfied with my kyo-kaiseki meal via BTC (pics above), which is essentially the same, if not better, for the earlier SIN-NRT flight on 747. If you like Japanese food, then that would be a good choice.
Did you like the little commemorative gift left on the bed at turn down?
Did you like the little commemorative gift left on the bed at turn down?
Jul 10, 2008, 5:55 pm
#25
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SYD, Australia......Hotels: HHon LT Diamond, Hyatt LT Glob, Marriott AMB (LT Gold), IHG AMB (20 years of SCC and RoyAMB dropped 2024)...Airlines: BA GGL (OW Emerald), LH FTL (*S), QF Plat (LT Gold), VA, UA Silver (*S), SQ Silver (*S)
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BlissWorld, thanks for this great report. This looks like what I have always imagined First class to be like!
I have two comments/questions:
1) I'm a bit surprised that they served the meal on a tray and did not place the China on your table cloth as they do in LH F. I think trays just do not belong into First class.
2) I must say that your pictures look very professional. May I ask you how you took them? Did you use a tripod for them? Or did you have a fantastic camera/lens? They look so real and lighting is always so difficult on planes! Can you share your secret?!?
I have two comments/questions:
1) I'm a bit surprised that they served the meal on a tray and did not place the China on your table cloth as they do in LH F. I think trays just do not belong into First class.
2) I must say that your pictures look very professional. May I ask you how you took them? Did you use a tripod for them? Or did you have a fantastic camera/lens? They look so real and lighting is always so difficult on planes! Can you share your secret?!?
Jul 10, 2008, 6:15 pm
#26
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BlissWorld, thanks for this great report. This looks like what I have always imagined First class to be like!
I have two comments/questions:
1) I'm a bit surprised that they served the meal on a tray and did not place the China on your table cloth as they do in LH F. I think trays just do not belong into First class.
2) I must say that your pictures look very professional. May I ask you how you took them? Did you use a tripod for them? Or did you have a fantastic camera/lens? They look so real and lighting is always so difficult on planes! Can you share your secret?!?
I have two comments/questions:
1) I'm a bit surprised that they served the meal on a tray and did not place the China on your table cloth as they do in LH F. I think trays just do not belong into First class.
2) I must say that your pictures look very professional. May I ask you how you took them? Did you use a tripod for them? Or did you have a fantastic camera/lens? They look so real and lighting is always so difficult on planes! Can you share your secret?!?
1) The meal that I had was kyo-kaiseki...which is a Japanese style meal. There is a meaning for the tray....it's not that the FAs got lazy and served all the food on an airline tray. Some of the dishes were hot, some were cold...they really had to prepare each dish separately...so its not that they were lazy. I think kyo-kaiseki is a style of eating (correct me if wrong), and it's meant to have many smaller dishes served all together...I think Guava knows more about it...
The international/western selection was not served on the tray. It was served course by course.
2) I didn't use a tripod but my camera takes excellent pictures in the dark (It came with a excellent preset value for brightness). It also has a wide angle lense and image stabilization feature...It's a canon.
Jul 10, 2008, 7:03 pm
#27
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SYD, Australia......Hotels: HHon LT Diamond, Hyatt LT Glob, Marriott AMB (LT Gold), IHG AMB (20 years of SCC and RoyAMB dropped 2024)...Airlines: BA GGL (OW Emerald), LH FTL (*S), QF Plat (LT Gold), VA, UA Silver (*S), SQ Silver (*S)
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Ah, thanks for clarifying on the meal service. Makes sense now.
Re your great photos, I'm also using a Canon but without the image stablizer. Always thought this was some gimmic that's not really necessary. But now after seeing your pictures I am convinced that this is what I need. Just to clarify, you did not use a flash, just the image stabilizer and maybe a high ISO setting, right? If you did use a high ISO setting such as 200 or 400 the pictures look still so smooth...well done ^
Re your great photos, I'm also using a Canon but without the image stablizer. Always thought this was some gimmic that's not really necessary. But now after seeing your pictures I am convinced that this is what I need. Just to clarify, you did not use a flash, just the image stabilizer and maybe a high ISO setting, right? If you did use a high ISO setting such as 200 or 400 the pictures look still so smooth...well done ^
Jul 10, 2008, 9:18 pm
#29
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There must be some economic logic to providing that level of service on such "short" routes, but from a practical standpoint, I don't really get it. Flying R SIN-LHR makes sense in that you can get a real night's sleep and be awake long enough to use/enjoy the suite, but on a 7-hour hop, it seems like overkill. Not that I'd pass the chance to ride it, but still...
If I recall correctly, the SQ red-eye is one of the earliest arrivals at NRT, getting there sometime around 7:30 AM, so it's perfect if you have business all day in Singapore (or elsewhere in Southeast Asia) and need to be back in Tokyo first thing the next day.
Jul 10, 2008, 9:24 pm
#30
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Awful. Although I would assume it was to get the full cabin served quickly ... still, I don't like it. To clarify, it was just for the table set up and not the rest of the meal, right?
OK, but I think you're nit picking. You can have your meal at anytime in F. I've been offered this flexibility before, unprompted, and other times I've asked for it when I particularly want to eat at a different time. It has never been a problem and is not an R only thing.
I love the kaiseki meal and enjoy it often, but you missed my point.
Besides the suite itself, there is really *NO* improved aspect to the product. For a while they had a distinct red wine (the aussie Mr. Griggs shiraz) but that is now available in regular F too... and that is hardly any differentiation anyway. Differentiated meals and nicer wines would be a good start. A nicer lounge (TPR is paid F & R) would be nice too. Different BP's certainly don't make it "a class beyond first" that is for sure.
I haven't got anything like that? 
... you weren't on the inaugural were you?
The FA+1 came out with all the table setup on a cart. Even if they don't do it with the cart (i.e. my LAX-NRT segment), they still come out to serve meals after takeoff. They didn't do that for Suites. They told me to press the button when I wanted to have my meal, anytime.
Besides the suite itself, there is really *NO* improved aspect to the product. For a while they had a distinct red wine (the aussie Mr. Griggs shiraz) but that is now available in regular F too... and that is hardly any differentiation anyway. Differentiated meals and nicer wines would be a good start. A nicer lounge (TPR is paid F & R) would be nice too. Different BP's certainly don't make it "a class beyond first" that is for sure.
... you weren't on the inaugural were you?