Singapore Airlines Flight Review: Manila to Singapore (2010)

Throwback Thursday Trip Report: Singapore Airlines (April 19, 2010)

Image Source: Avioners

FLIGHT DATA

• Flight Number: SQ919
• Registration: 9V-SVD
• Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
• Gate: 6
• Flying Time: 3hrs35min (actual flying time was 3hrs05min)
• Scheduled Departure Time: 16.50
• Scheduled Arrival Time: 20.25

There are three reasons that brought me to Singapore on this occasion:

1. To take advantage of the rare promos that Singapore Airlines (SIA) offers (US$273) round-trip between Manila and Singapore. 
2. To try out Singapore Airlines for the first time in seven years. 
3. To match the number of Singapore trips with the number of Hong Kong trips that I have made to date or at least bring myself closer to that goal. 

Pre-Trip

I used a photo that I took of Hong Kong’s SIA lounge as my source of inspiration for my trip to Singapore.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

Nearly three weeks after my Hong Kong trip ended, I decided to take advantage of SIA’s promos between Manila and Singapore as time was running out before the US$273 fare would be gone forever. The ticket price offered is usually more than double that. I originally booked the trip for April 20 to 24 but upon the request of my parents, I moved everything one day earlier. That ended up being a good thing as it gave me two additional hours since our new flight, SQ918, departs Singapore nearly two hours later than our original flight, SQ916. It was hard to get an early flight out of Manila but at least I didn’t have to drag myself out of bed at a ridiculously early hour and I could easily perform last minute errands at home.

I was so excited for the trip that I kept returning to singaporeair.com to see how full the flights were going to be. I kept viewing the seating chart and attempting to change my seat although I was actually satisfied with the seats that I had originally chose. With 48 hours left before the trip, I checked in online and printed my boarding card.

TIP 1: Want to reduce your time at the queue for check-in? Use SIA’s web check-in feature. Once you do this, you can proceed to a dedicated desk.

Journey to the Airport

Normally, I would prefer to be at the airport three hours before a flight. But because I completed check-in online and had no luggage to check-in, I decided to leave later -- almost three hours before the flight. I thought was another advantage of not getting the morning flight as we won't have to fight morning commuters for road space. Nonetheless, traffic became heavier as we approached the airport. Ultimately, I arrived with 90 minutes to spare.

NAIA Terminal 1

It was generally a long queue at the entrance thanks to Middle East bound travellers, but because I only had hand luggage, I was placed in a shorter lane. After paying the travel tax of approximately US$36.50, I proceeded to the check-in counters.

TIP 2: Travel tax or TIEZA tax is paid by Filipino passport holders and resident aliens. One disadvantage of purchasing tickets online is that the TIEZA tax isn’t collected at the time of purchase meaning that you will need to queue at the TIEZA desk before check in at the airport.

As much as I would have liked to proceed directly to paying the terminal fees, which happens after check-in, SIA has a policy of requesting passengers that checked-in via the web to present their documents for validation whether they have hold luggage or not. They needed to verify my credit card and check my travel documents.

TIP 3: When purchasing tickets online, it helps to use a debit/credit card that uses “Verified by Visa” or “Mastercard Secure Code”. Right after you input your credit card details on the payment page, you are brought to a separate page to verify some details further. This way, your card is verified and more often that not you will no longer need to proceed to the desk. Check your boarding card if this is the case or contact your carrier.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

After the usual formalities (e.g. terminal fee, passport control, security), I spent 15 minutes in the pre-departure area. Queues were reasonable. Later, I nearly decided to go down to our gate since there was nothing much to do.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

Before heading to the departure gate, I headed to the SIA lounge to get a picture of it. A good thing about SIA is that the necessary entry documents for Singapore are provided for you at the airport and at their lounge. That means you don’t have to wait until you board to get your arrival card for immigration, which they hand out during the flight.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

It took a while before my row was called to board but that was fine because I didn't expect a lot more people to board afterwards. This made it easier for me to settle down.

On Board the Flight

We were warmly greeted at the entrance of the aircraft. At first glance, I knew I was in for a treat: a 777-200ER with SpaceBeds (though I was seated in economy). In addition, hot towels were served and a menu was provided before take-off. It took a while before the flight actually became airborne as the late afternoon at NAIA had plenty of landings.

What I found pleasantly surprising as I settled into my seat was that even though the website reported that the flight was full, I was the only one occupying the left side of row 33. I kept all three seats in that block to myself.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

KrisWorld, SIA's in-flight entertainment system, was only switched on shortly before take-off to show the safety video. When we got the signal to operate KrisWorld, I started playing around with it. At first, I took the advice of the screen to try out the relaxation video before watching the films. After which I played a few music tracks followed by George Clooney’s Up, Up and Away. 

 

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

Dinner was served later and for a meal, I chose the Chicken Inasal. It was a scrumptious feast. At least it was more full-course than my most recent flight experience on another airline. The cabin crew were extremely attentive offering beverages throughout the flight.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

Here are more photos inside the economy cabin:

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

This was actually my “fastest” flight to Singapore and I think the audio-video on demand had a lot to do with it because although I was enjoying “Up, Up and Away,” I didn’t get to finish it. They had to close KrisWorld 30 minutes prior to landing.

As I disembarked, I couldn’t recall a flight where the flight attendants had provided service as well as they did on this flight. They were even nice enough to allow me to take pics of the C cabin. 

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

Arrival at Changi Airport

Although we arrived at Terminal 2, I had some time to spare so I decided to seize the opportunity to visit Changi Airport’s Terminal 3. I used the SkyTrain to travel between the terminals. I expected the terminal to be very empty because of massive European flight cancellations after a volcanic eruption in Iceland blanketed the continent’s skies. It was indeed pretty nice and spacious. Terminal 3 had a wide selection of stores to choose from. It made me think T2 was for dining while T3 was more for shopping.

TIP 4: Singapore Airlines' arrival terminal assignments are not fixed. In theory, regardless of your destination, you will arrive at either Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 or Terminal 3 depending on your aircraft’s next assignment. However, one way to tell which terminal you will arrive at will be to know the kind of aircraft you are on. An older regional Boeing 777-200 or 777-300 which only features recliner business class seats will more likely than not park at Terminal 2. An Airbus A340-500, A380, most Boeing 777-200ER and most Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will most likely park at Terminal 3. SIA’s Airbus A330s and older, reconfigured Boeing 777-200's and 777-300's are a bit more challenging to predict.

I bumped into a fellow passenger of mine from Manila hoping to catch an SIA flight to Milan. Due to the messy situation over European skies, there was uncertainty over whether he could still fly. But he crossed his fingers hoping that something would come up.

Copyright Photo: HybridAce101

After taking some pictures of T3, I headed over to passport control. Indeed, it was quite empty as I was the only one who cleared it at the time. The officer questioned me a bit. I told him that a friend had told me that I could clear passport control in Terminal 3 as long as I had no check-in luggage. He then asked me if my friend was an immigration officer and I said no. I was eventually given clearance after I convinced him that I had no hold luggage and proceeded to the public area.

TIP 5: If you have no hold luggage, you can clear passport control at any of Changi Airport’s three terminals. I would recommend Terminal 3 since it has plenty of desks as well as a nice array of stores before passport control. Use the Skytrain (Changi’s automated people mover) to travel between the terminals.

I was going to use Singapore’s MRT to get from the airport to the hotel that my parents were staying at. Terminal 3 was also connected to the MRT but was farther away from the station than Terminal 2. I had to take a lift and go through the basement shopping area and another corridor. After that, it was the beginning of my fifth trip to Singapore.

THE FINAL SCORE

These are rated from 1 to 10 with ten being the best score. This covers aspects of the flight experience that SIA and its ground agents are responsible for with a focus on Economy Class.

• Check-in (8/10): I was glad SIA provides a special lane for passengers who checked-in via their website. Although I know they owe it to the public to take security seriously, I felt they needed to use more common sense by allowing passengers who don’t have hold bags and checked-in previously to directly proceed to the next steps at the airport. Although I was not an elite member of SIA’s Kris Flyer, I observed that unlike other airlines whose second-level tier members are entitled to use a separate line, SIA’s Kris Flyer silver members are not. They need to use the standard economy class or the web check-in lane. If SIA provides a separate lane, this will also reduce the queues and mitigate what is already a fairly unpleasant NAIA Terminal 1 experience. 
• Boarding Process (8/10): It didn’t take too long before my row was called. There weren’t that many passengers on this occasion. But again I hoped SIA could consider allowing its Kris Flyer Silver members to use the same lane as its Kris Flyer Gold, Star Alliance Gold and PPS Club members. 
• Seat Comfort (9/10): It was a miniature version of PAL’s business class seat so I felt a bit like travelling on business class. It had reasonable legroom and a standard seat pitch. 
• Food (9/10): The chicken inasal was very delicious. It was a full-course meal with bread, dessert and appetizers. 
• Cabin Crew (9/10): The crew was quite polite and friendly. They were a bit strict though with the rules on electronics, such as when I was about to film the final approach, one of them stopped me from doing so. 
• In-flight Entertainment (9/10): For a regional three-hour flight, having an audio-video on-demand system sure helps make the flight “shorter”. As I said, they had a great selection with me not being able to finish the film I watched entitled Up Up and Away. However, not all SIA flights between Manila and Singapore offer audio-video on-demand capabilities. You are most likely to get this on SQ912/919 or SQ916/921. The rest may just offer in-flight entertainment with rolling audio and video channels. Another point where SIA could improve is that for some of its older aircraft with AVOD, the moving map/airshow channel should be linked to a customised audio playlist a passenger has set up; under the set-up of my flight, the airshow was linked to a rolling audio channel instead. 

With Singapore Airlines, you can be assured that you will be well taken care-of. It was worth every dollar of the US$273 spent. You just need to watch out from time to time for promos from five-star airlines. They do actually happen. 

-HybridAce101

Author’s Note: As this is a repost of a past trip, it is important to remember that the information contained in this report was mostly relevant for 2010. Airport amenities, airline features, flight data, and exchange rates, were current at the time of travel but much has likely changed since. This trip report is a modified version of what originally appeared on this blog.