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The Albatross wings his way to Singapore
My trip to BNE-SIN-BNE was a quick jaunt to visit an industry tradeshow in April.
The Booking Process
I had originally intended to book the flight direct with SIA and the accommodation direct with the hotel. I ended up contacting Flight Centre whom proposed a package through Qantas Holidays for slightly less than I can get myself. I had very happily flown SIA last year but thought I’d give Qantas international a go after not using them for the past 10 years.
Booking process was long. It took ages for Flight Centre to issue the ticket. I’ve notice that ticket issue with them is more focused around ‘monthly targets’. Previously I’ve been ticketed on the last day of the month and in this case ticketing was conveniently carried over until the first day of April although the credit card was processed in mid-March.
The Departure
I worked from home in the morning then took QRail and the AirTrain ($15.30 fare) to the International Airport. Contrary to the trip suggestion on transinfo.qld.gov.au I prefer to change from my Ipswich line train at Eagle Junction instead of Roma Street. Whenever I’ve changed at Roma Street it involves platform changes. Changing at Eagle Junction (or Bowen Hills) doesn’t require a platform change to board the AirTrain. The AirTrain was lightly loaded and no problems boarding, managing two bags and getting a seat. On train discussion between fellow travelers revolved around how far each person could individually teat the carry-on bag limits today.
Check-In
Economy check in was pretty standard fare. Pleasant unmemorable operator. Was awarded seat 37K as per the indication on the Qantas website earlier. Generally I was disappointed with having to check-in at the airport…spoiled by the SIA online checkin. When will Qantas get international OLCI?
Qantas Club
I was lucky enough to be in QP. It has been a few years since I was a regular. I’d be disappointed if I was a serious business traveler. The lounge on Monday midday was quite crowded. All of the supplied workstations were in use. I did try and connect my notebook to the free wireless but was unsuccessful as I couldn’t locate the network. Normally I’d relocate to another seat to try for better reception but space was limited.
Now being about 12:30 the limited food bar was bust with a rotating 3-4 people in the queue for the sparse selection of a tasty noodle dish, ubiquitous Qantas pumpkin soup and the colds cuts. Tasty but certainly fell into the ‘light snack’ category.
On Departure Upgrades
Prior to the boarding call for the flight there were 4 people called to the service desk. My guess was confirmed upgrades or possibly op ups. Interestingly 3 of the 4 people called had professional titles, Professor, Doctor & Doctor. There is a conspiracy theory there somewhere.
I approached the service desk to relocate from the window seat to an aisle seat. I was advised that the aircraft was full. (With my status I didn’t even ask for anything else). They made some calls and relocated me to 27G. On the flight I ended up with a spare seat beside me so I wonder if I got the seat of a no-show couple. I was sharing the row of four seats with 50% of a travelling family. In the interested of their family harmony and me being a single traveler I swapped my seat with the other half of that family.
The menu
Shortly after boarding we received our menu. I liked the section at the bottom “Your Journey Planner” which had a small gant style chart showing the flow of the cabin service from Departure, Hot Towels, Arrival Documents, Meals, Relax & Unwind, Duty Free, Meal 2, Arrival. Probably help sin avoiding a lot of questions. Interestingly although noted in the planner we weren’t offered hot towels.
In flight food was mediocre. I opted for the Heat Foundation approved “Chicken with Oyster Sauce, Jasmine Rice and Asian Greens”. Edible but tasteless. I used the entire sachet of pepper to add some flavour. Dare I mention the standard of asian food on SIA? I enjoyed the SIA variety. The heart tick may have been annulled by the red wine vinaigrette on my salad and the cinnamon rice custard.
In-flight Entertainment
My last trip with SIA had been on the 777-300 and that astounding IFE. I glanced through the Qantas IFE and felt that the choice of movies wasn’t as wide. When I saw the heading of “Australian” Movies I was hoping for classic like Priscilla, The Castle. No luck, they really do have classics, Candy, Two Hands, Strictly Ballroom, The Man from Snowy River and Ten Canoes. I settled on working my way through the available music CDs. I didn’t get to all of these categories but here they are if you are interested.
New Releases, Pop, Rock, Classical, Operal & Choral, Australiana, Easy Listening, Jazz, Country, Alternative, Soul/R&B, World, Chill Out, The Best Of, Reeling in the years, Comedy, Sound Tracks, Children.
Arrival into Singapore was just 15 minutes late. The Qantas Holidays transfer driver was polite and a careful driver. Within 60 minutes of touchdown I was in my Little India hotel.
Now, to find the best curry in Singapore.
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