Singapore Airlines B777-300 Business Class SYD-SIN
After a very nice dinner in Sydney next to the Opera House, an early morning flight from SYD to Singapore was on the agenda. I remember having a choice. The early flight on a 777-300 with 1x2x1 business class seating, or the A330 with 2x2x2 seating later on. The choice was obvious, and wrong.
If you ever transit through Sydney, the Rydges hotel is just outside the international terminal. Plus the train to downtown is inside the terminal. It's all super convenient to take an overnight stay and visit beautiful downtown Sydney. Although be forewarned, the train fare is 50% higher from the airport instead of the first stop after at Mascot. But if you stay at a hotel at that stop you pay for shuttle bus to the airport so in the end it's a wash and only a few bucks anyway.
Another modern airport. Immigration was empty as was security. But the airport was fairly busy.
Off to the SilverKris lounge which was right above the gate.
A single room with a nice view of the airfield.
Breakfast was being served with an eclectic selection.
What's this outside the window? Is Star Alliance following me? In fact yes, after making a couple other SIN-MEL runs it was dispatched to Sydney to take me back.
Once on board because of my experience I found my seat without guidance. The flight attendant was impressed.
At least it was daytime so I could get some better interior photos.
Wait, that's not my seat. It is one of the 8 empty first class seats on this flight. Even with no one in first they still kept the curtains pulled and didn't allow deplaning through the front cabin.
Since there were no occupants I thought it was nice of them to properly place the pillows for my photos.
I fail to see the privacy in this first class cabin.
Less leg room than row 11 in business class.
Back to business, literally.
Not much has changed in a couple days.
11A. And why does business get two pillows and first only one?
11A legroom - take that first class.
Storage under the side bench, not allowed on take-off and landing.
Plenty of room upstairs.
The seats don't recline very far. And for your feet a foot rest.
Bulkhead seat phone storage.
Non-bulkhead seats have a different storage area for your phone.
This was not allowed on take-off, even when closed. And I know the phone doesn't weigh 2 pounds.
For your drink, except you can't reach it sitting down.
To freshen up, when not sitting down.
Nicely positioned seat controls.
Headphones hook.
Coat hook
Reading lamp. (and a 2nd headphone jack)
And away they go across barren Australia.
Time for breakfast. Orange juice was served upon boarding. I suppose one could have gotten some champagne. I'm not one of those AM champagne ones.
Showing the beverage menu again is pointless other than to prove a point. Skeptical of all these selections are actually available, I asked one of the flight attendants if they were. She told me absolutely. Later on I asked the other flight attendant for a Guatemala coffee. He apologized and said they were out.
My suspicions were confirmed.
I was anxious to try the Malaysian breakfast Nasi Lemak, especially after the disastrous American style breakfast on this very plane a couple days ago.
Service began with the typical fresh fruit served on nice sized tray. Have to love the salt and pepper shakers.
The muesli was tasty, and tiny.
If I thought the Melbourne scrambled eggs were bad, then I was in for a huge surprise in the bad category.
Enjoy your bowl of grease. The chicken was a wing of skin, the shrimp were not good and the peanuts had been soaked in oil I think. But the chili sauce tasted like chili sauce. For a supposedly health dish, this was not. I ate the rice.
Before arrival a light lunch was served. This time I opted for the more international cuisine.
Be wary of the last selection on that menu.
The seared tuna nicoise salad was a presentation disaster. It tasted slightly better yet the tuna loin was anything but quality tuna.
The veal was tender and flavorful with a single fondant potato lurking beneath. Baby?? carrots must be in season.
The ice cream fit nicely in the small bowl, but the name "Serendipity Salty Pistachio Ice Cream" would not have.
But wait. What is this page in the front of the menu?
Pralines for a sweet celebration of National Day. I'm in!
Here is a photo of the pralines.
Oh, they didn't have any.
Carrier: Singapore Airlines
Aircraft: 777-300 9V-SWI Star Alliance Livery
Date: August 2016
Route: SYD-SIN
Flight #: SQ212
Class: Business
Configuration: F8/C42/Y228
Seat(s): 11A
On Time: Yes
Reward Flying Rating: 5 out of 10 ✈
Departure Lounge:
Go early
✔︎Typical
Stay at Gate
Nice plane watching.
Cabin:
Gorgeous
✔︎Attractive
What were they thinking?
Dated cabin in need of a refresh.
Seat Comfort:
Just like home
✔︎Comfy
Get me off this plane
Tolerable, ok if it's daytime but by today's standards not so much. Limited recline.
Cabin/Seat Rating: 5 out of 10 ✈
Amenities:
Pajama’s
Typical stuff
✔︎Why bother?
At least I got the right size slippers this time.
Meals.
Presentation:
Fine dining
✔︎ Nice try
Aluminum trays
Food Quality:
Compliments to the Chef
Fine dining with a miss or two
✔︎No rave reviews
Get me a meal from economy
All in all I was very disappointed in the Singapore business class food on the 3 flights this trip.
Soft Amenities/Food: 4 out of 10 ✈
IFE: 3 out of 10 ✈
Can I stay and watch some more?
✔︎Watched a favorite and went to sleep
400 cable channels and nothing to watch
Glad I brought my tablet
This old IFE system drove me nuts. While I found an interesting box set show to keep me occupied, everytime I either wanted to rewind or stop, to start you had to listen to the beginning advertisement again, assuming you even hit the right button. And the small monitor was well documented in other reports.
Wi-Fi:
Yes and Free
Yes and Purchase
✔︎Not Available
Flight Attendants: 6 out of 10 ✈
Made the flight special
✔︎Did their job
Did they board?
The crew was nice, not overly friendly but efficient and responsive. I always had a bottle of water and was given the right size slippers. What more could one want?
Aircraft:
Didn’t realize was on a plane
✔︎As expected
Time for a trade-in
SQ needs to update these aircraft. Asian airlines are passing them by.
Comments:
As much as I was looking forward to flying business class on Singapore's long haul product, given the chance again I would avoid this option. There are better Asian business class products available in my opinion, at least with respect to the older business class seats. The food is a different matter. One or two meals doesn't make a legacy, but SQ is not off to a rousing start with me. Next up will be a try in first class A380 style.
How about some pics of other planes.
Looking forward to this one next trip.
And this one's sister the A330 on that trip too.
We'll see this guy next.
And this one soon too!
SQ A350
A final thought.
I don't get it.
Do you have any Singapore Airlines experiences you'd like to share? Feel free to leave a comment.
