Talking to one of my mates who now lives in Singapore on MSN, he complained that no one up there wants to go clubbing with him and that he misses living in Perth. I had a quick look at prices and hit back with "What you doing next weekend?"
And so began my first trip out of the country in 20 years. (I was 5 last time, so it doesn't really count)
Tiger Airways were offering flights for $360 return (including tax) PER-SIN (as opposed to QF's $960), officially ending any excuse about it being too expensive. I booked the tix straight away and got some travel insurance from Travel Insurance Direct. I decided to make it a long weekend and took Friday off work.
So last Thrusday night I arrived at Perth International two hours ahead of departure for the flight. Tiger was running four check in desks, one dedicated to people who had payed the $4.50 to use 'Seat Selector'. I had, so I hopped in that queue with only two people in front of me. The other queue was also very short, only about six or seven people in it. I handed over my completely unused passport (I know, the shame) and was handed my already printed boarding pass. Tiger only allows you to bring 15kg of free checked in luggage (you can pay in advance to increase) and since I had no working scales at home I was worried I might be over limit. Dropped my bag on the belt and was surprised to see 9.5kg flash up. Apparently I pack lighter than I thought. Wandered upstairs and had a late dinner at the Dome cafe, before heading through towards the gate. Found that by sitting near the QP I could easily take advantage of the free wireless with very good signal strength while waiting for boarding. Once boarding started I headed over to the gate and the waiting Airbus A320. Tiger's staff are very professional, but the airline has a close relationship with Visa, and so the Visa logo was promienently emblazoned on all the staff uniforms. As soon as I boarded I realised that leg room was one of the reasons my ticket had been so cheap. The seat pitch is as small as they can reasonably make it, and I have a feeling they had decided 'reasonable' on the leg length of Asian people. Since I'm 6'1" I can get a bit squeezed in pretty much any economy seats. While it's certainly bearable, you do have to watch out for the person in front of you reclining their seat suddenly. The A320s are nearly new and have upholstered, rather than vinyl seats. We took off pretty much dead on 2135.
As soon as they were able the cabin crew came around offering portable AVOD units for a charge, much like JetStar, but since I'd brought my laptop I didn't bother. Food service was also quite good, though you do need to pay for it and they don't accept any silver Australian coins. Your change is also given in Singapore currency. We touched down in Singapore around 0300. Tiger uses the Budget Terminal at Changi which has no AeroBridges, so as soon as I stepped off the plane I was hit with the humidity. Straight into the terminal which is air conditioned though. The arrivals at the Budget Terminal is very simple and efficient. Straight through Immigration in a matter of minutes (she seemed a little startled that my passport had nothing but an AU exit visa in it) and then into the small duty free shop to get some cheap booze for my mate. I quickly collected my luggage and was able to walk pretty much straight out of the terminal, all very simple and efficient.
Return trip on Sunday was a little trickier though. I arrived two hours before departure at the Budget Terminal and went to the Tiger check in desks. However, there were only two, one marked "Perth - Visa Check" and the other marked "Perth - Passport Check". I hopped in the passport check line and waited. And waited. And waited. When I finally got to the front, my passport was scanned, had a small sticker placed on it and I was then directed to a different check in desk. So I then queued up again. And waited. And waited. And waited. When I finally got the the front of this new queue I was checked in and handed my boarding pass. All up though I had been queuing for 55 minutes. Wasn't too impressed. I had lunch very quickly and went towards the gate. Emmigration was very quick and efficient though. Two minutes and I was through. Security were also fast and I was through still with some time to spare. Departure in the budget terminal is also fairly simple. There's a cafe, a small Duty Free store, a newsagents and a money changer. There's also some public internet computers and a laptop area with seats, power points and WiFi coverage. Since I only had a little time, I got my money changed quickly and headed straight for the gate. Staff at the gate were also quick and I was able to walk out onto the tarmac almost straight away. Wheels up at 1550, dead on time. Having had virtually no sleep the last few nights I dozed most of the flight back to PER. Touch down in Perth and I picked up more Duty Free booze for my mates at this end, then headed for Immigration and customs. Much slower at this end than at Changi, but still not bad, I was out into the freezing night air and getting my jumper out of my luggage within about 30 minutes.
All up, it's been quite an eye opening trip for me and I've had a great time. My main complaint with Tiger was the seat pitch, but for the price of the ticket and given it's only a five hour flight, I can't really complain at all. Hopefully they'll make check in at Changi as good as the check in at Perth was. All up, I don't think it'll be too much longer before I'm up there again.
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