NGOReview Flights & Airports: SQ861 HKG-SIN & SQ856 SIN-HKG

If I live in Singapore, or in a city where Singapore Airline (SQ) flies to, I would totally be their KrisFlyer loyalty member, even if I have to do extra connections!  The service just in economy was outstanding. Paying just CAD350 (tax included) for a return flight between HKG and SIN, approx. 4 hours each way, flying on an A380-800, with full inflight meal menus, two selection options, and complimentary drinks and liquor, plus professional, warm and friendly services, clearly it's the best airline I've ever been on.  

My last SQ flight was at the age of six when I flew the same route on a 747, except only one way from HKG to SIN for immigration purpose.  This time, not only the flight gave me a head start in loving their carrier brand, but also the country itself filled me with great impressions and excitement!  

The first sector scored 100 percent, while the return sector impressed me even more, and scored 122 percent.  Please enjoy two separate reviews of SQ861 and SQ856.   

NGOReview Flights and Airports
Flight	SQ861		Airline		Singapore Airlines	Date	02 Sep 2013	Status	On Time
Origin	HKG		Destination		SIN	Aircraft	A380-800	Seat	55C
Dept.	1520		Arr.		1910	Duration	3hr 50min	Class	Economy
Services				Comments					Score (Out of 5)
Friendliness		Airport		At Check-in ·     Check-in staff was fair (Contracted Ground Staff) Hold-room Boarding ·     Greeting was fair (Contracted Ground Staff)					3
		Inflight		·     Professional and warm greeting at entrance door ·     Flight Attendant (FA) offered to escort me to my seat while I was half way through the cabin aisle, and she did, all the way to my seat.  Wow service!!!					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Crew Announcement				·     FA’s announcement was clear and warm – the best I’ve ever heard inflight. I felt the sincerity coming from the bottom of her heart!  ·     Pilot’s PA was clear and warm too!  Again, the best I’ve ever heard.					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Terminal Service				·     Priority boarding for people with special needs ·     Kris Lounge just across from the gate (maybe just a coincidence, or specially arranged for all SQ flights in HKG)					3
Safety				·     Checked seat belts at least 5 times prior to take-off ·     Just prior to take-off, turning to runway, FA reminded again on PA to have seat belt fasten – first time heard of that! WOW!! ·   Demo video was impressive!  It was nothing fancy like Air NZ or Virgin, just a very professional normal video, but the details within the video amazed me.  The speaking pace was slow and clear.  An example:  “In case of an emergency, put your seats upright, fasten your seat belt, place your feet flat on the floor lean forward, and lock arms in position” – much more understandable than just telling people to go for the Brace Position The entire video includes a sign language translator on the screen for people with hearing disability. The video takes it time to present the importance (E.g. sufficient pauses between instructions and zoomed in demonstration, very clear spoken words)  Sample video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5xgDpZrnWk					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Cabin Style				·     Great variety of seating fabric colours!  There are colour themes and patterns in each economy cabin section (Red+Grey theme in one section, Green+Grey theme in next section) ·     Mood lighting offered in economy class – Orange and White theme, very comfy! ·     Full size pillow and good quality fleece blankets in every single economy seat ·     Clean and fresh feeling ·     Boarding music was nicely selected (classical orchestral style) ·     WOW!!!					5
Inflight Food & Drinks				·     Menu consists of a booklet – English took up 5 pages, which includes a welcome page.  Menu designed specifically for HKG-SIN, with 1 brunch and two dinners selection, plus a large variety of complimentary drinks (including liquor) ·     Nuts and drinks were given prior to serving main meal ·     Meal size retains the “back in the days” travel experience – large size tray, silver cutlery with airline logo, glass for wine ·     Quality, as expected was great (hey, considering it’s an inflight meal, and all it has to go through to preserve heat and freshness from ground to air) ·     Häagen-Dazs ice-cream distributed half way through the meal to avoid melting (unlike another carrier I’ve been on).  “May I serve you ice-cream sir?” – What else can I say about their service in Economy … AWESOME! ·     For only a 3 hour 50 min flight, this is again, WOW!!!					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Crew Uniform				·     Loved their uniforms as always!  Inflight magazine defines the different uniforms of different positions inflight.					5
Inflight Entertainment				·     Full in-seat entertainment system ·     Found an interesting section in the system that tells about cool facts about planes and flying, followed by some quizzes about aviation ·     Good quality inflight magazine and inflight duty-free purchase ·     Made an inflight purchase and the staff was friendly, despite my small purchase					5
Total Out Of 45									45
Percentage of Satisfaction									100%

 

My first A380 flight, after a long 7 years wait, finally
flying on the first delivery airline!

Full pillow, high quality fleece blanket and headphone

Inflight magazine presenting uniform guide

A wide selection complimentary menu

Full complimentary meal and liquor with silver cutlery and glassware

The awesome A380 wing

Mood lighting in economy (orange sunset)

NGOReview Flights and Airports
Flight	SQ856		Airline		Singapore Airlines	Date	05 Sep 2013	Status	Delayed 30 min (Weather Storm)
Origin	SIN		Destination		HKG	Aircraft	A380-800	Seat	55C (Econ)
Dept.	0930		Arr.		1330	Duration	4hr 00min	Gate	A10 (T3)
Services				Comments					Score (Out of 5)
Friendliness		Airport		At Check-in ·     Warm and friendly Hold-room Boarding ·     Warm and friendly					5
		Inflight		·     Professional and warm greeting at entrance door ·     Once again, like the previous flight, the Flight Attendant (FA) offered to escort me to my seat while I was half way through the cabin aisle, and she did, all the way to my seat.  Wow service!!! ·     After take-off I walked to the gallery requesting coffee (early morning flight, just what I need!).  The FA kindly asked if I can wait till they distribute snacks as they are preparing the trolley and drinks.  For some people, they may think of it as a refused service, but for me, because of the polite tone and reasonable request (I understand they are scrambling to get snacks out, followed by meals within 4 hours), I was totally fine with it, except that I was thinking if she will remember.  When it came to snacks distribution, the FA remembered my request!  ·     During the main meal distribution, the FA initiated conversation with me while picking out my chosen brunch and drinks. After knowing about my trip, she said, “Congratulations to your friend’s wedding!” at the end as a conclusion.  WOW!!! ·     When collecting my finished meal tray, the FA asked, “How was your meal sir?” – Little things like this, really make my flight so much more enjoyable!  Another WOW!!!					5 + 2 Bonus = 7
Crew Announcement				·     FA’s announcement was clear and warm – the best I’ve ever heard inflight. I felt the sincerity coming from the bottom of her heart!  ·     Pilot’s PA was clear and warm too!  Again, the best I’ve ever heard.					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Terminal Service				·     Boarding wasn’t clear, as there was no announcement inside the hold room. However, it did not caused any issues, and the configuration of the hold room made it worked I guess. The configuration of the hold rooms at SIN is a bit different (in a very good way) and this might be why no boarding announcement is required in the confined area. ·     Newest terminal for SQ’s use – the best terminal I’ve ever been to					5
Safety				·     Checked seat belts at least 3 times prior to take-off ·     Just prior to take-off, turning to runway, FA reminded again on PA to have seat belt fasten. Same for prior to landing. WOW!! ·   Demo video was impressive!  It was nothing fancy like Air NZ, just a very professional video, but the details within the video amazed me.  The speaking pace was slow and clear.  An example:  “In case of an emergency, put your seats upright, fasten your seat belt, place your feet flat on the floor lean forward, and lock arms in position” – much more understandable than just telling people to go for the Brace Position The entire video includes a sign language translator on the screen for people with hearing disability. The video takes its time to present the importance (E.g. sufficient pauses between instructions and zoomed in demonstration, very clear spoken words)  Sample video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5xgDpZrnWk					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Cabin Style				·     Great variety of seating fabric colours!  There are colour themes and patterns in each economy cabin section (Red+Grey theme in one section, Green+Grey theme in next section) ·     Mood lighting offered in economy class – Orange and White theme, very comfy! ·     Full size pillow and good quality fleece blankets in every single economy seat ·     Clean and fresh feeling ·     Boarding music was nicely selected (classical orchestral style) ·     WOW!!!					5
Inflight Food & Drinks				·     Menu consists of a booklet – English took up 5 pages, which includes a welcome page.  Menu designed specifically for SIN-HKG, with 2 brunch and 1 dinner selections, plus a large variety of complimentary drinks (including liquor) ·     Nuts and drinks were given prior to serving main meal ·     Meal size retains the “back in the days” travel experience – large size tray, silver cutlery with airline logo, glass for wine ·     Quality, as expected was great (hey, considering it’s an inflight meal, and all it has to go through to preserve heat and freshness from ground to air) ·     For only a 4 hours flight, this is again, WOW!!!					5 + 1 Bonus = 6
Crew Uniform				·     Loved their uniforms as always!  Inflight magazine defines the different uniforms of different positions inflight.					5
Inflight Entertainment				·     Full in-seat entertainment system ·     Found an interesting section in the system that tells about cool facts about planes and flying, followed by some quizzes about aviation ·     Good quality inflight magazine and inflight duty-free purchase					5
Total Out Of 45									55
Percentage of Satisfaction									122%

 

The big storm that caused the delay

Another full meal service!   The famous Singaporean radish cake, with
great amount of shrimps.

 

















Note:  Review(s) completed and copyrighted by registered user of spotting-aeroplane.blogspot.ca. 
Reviews based on personal experience and does not represent other individuals' views.
When a "WOW" comment is given, likely chance there will be bonus scores added.