[rferguson]

And I have to say, I was very underwhelmed.

Maybe my expectations were too high or I had brought into the hype or they have made some cuts post COVID. I have heard nothing but amazing things about them in the past with some of their flyers almost having a cult like loyalty towards them from my experience I preferred my flights on Thai.

Just some context, I flew SQ Melbourne – Singapore – LHR and had the 777-300 on both sectors. The highlight for me was the J lounge in SIN which was fantastic but the seat, catering, amenities were all just meh. The biggest disappointment for me was the crew who people rave about and apparently represent the ‘gold standard’ when it comes to cabin crew world. The first thing I noticed was that they were mostly very young and I just felt were going through the motions. On neither sector did the crew introduce themselves in fact on the first sector the male IFM bordered on a bit hostile. I will not say ridiculous things like ‘the crew didn’t seem to enjoy their jobs’ because lets face it, most people don’t ‘enjoy’ going to work as such and as crew it is often a case of fake it to you make it (been there!). It just was not a very welcoming vibe at all and every interaction just felt very rushed. I’m not going to say they were terrible or awful but I just found them incredibly middle of the road.

On the flipside, I flew Thai the other way around (London – BKK – Melbourne) and WOW was I impressed. It was a mix of 777-300 and A350 and absolutely everything about it for me (apart from the lounge in BKK versus the SQ lounge in SIN) seemed infinitely better. The aircraft cabins, seating, catering, crews.

Did I just have bad luck with SQ or are they not what they once were?

4 users thanked author for this post.

cwoodward, sparkyflier, esselle, Bullfrog

[esselle]

Thanks for a really interesting post.

I haven’t flown either for a few years now, but your SQ experience mirrors how I’ve always felt about TG, and your TG experience mirrors how I’ve always felt about SQ! The only part of the SQ J seat I didn’t like on the 777 was the cubbyhole your feet go into when lying flat, but I got a good tip to try and book a bulkhead, where the seat joins up to a full length “shelf” (similar to the F seat on the 777) making things much more comfortable.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Jacob, Bullfrog, rferguson

[AMcWhirter]

Interesting post rferguson.

Being away you may have missed this recent report.

Had you travelled economy / premium economy on SIN-LHR you may have experienced this current trial.

Singapore Airlines criticised over use of paper catering serviceware

[Senator]

Interesting observation. I did a few segments last October and to me Thai is in complete shatters. We had a supposedly “newish” A350 and it was in poor state. Thai is IMHO, a complete shade of itself and all the first hand reports I have from other frequent travellers tell a similar tale.

I then did BKK-SIN on the regional config SQ A350 and it was smashing! The SQ lounge at BKK stellar. On the way back to Europe, I sampled the SQ A380 New Suites on the SIN-BOM including a visit to the new Private Room. Top notch all around, albeit the food onboard was slightly underwhelming. This was mainly down to SIN-BOM has regional catering rather than long-haul.

All in all, I my rather small sample size of two (SQ) and one (TG) segment leaves me with the same level of experience with SQ as before Covid, and a TG who is so far behind its former self it’s really a pity.

[cwoodward]

I dont fly Thai other than domestically but that has always worked well. However my wife who is a very frequent traveller recently flew with some girlfriends out of Bangkok to LHR and return and her comment was that the experience was excellent overall and on a par with Cathay. Mrs CW is not very easily impressed.

[Kopite]

I have been flying SQ for the past 40 years as I have lived most of that time in Singapore. Word out on the street amongst locals is a definite downgrade in terms of SQ service, food, etc. No complaints about the hard product like aircraft seats and lounge experience but definitely a reduced inflight experience overall. Their brilliant and beautifully filmed advertising campaigns have been carrying them for years, but now the real life experience doesn’t match their clever ad campaigns.

They are also way more expensive than any other carrier out of Singapore, sometimes (often) double what you’d pay on Thai. Emirates, Qatar, Finnair etc on the same J class route.

[TGRW]

As a long time user of SQ in Business for long haul, I have to agree with rferguson, the service does seem to have dropped off in recent years.

As Singapore reopened we had an incredibly pleasant sector back to Singapore and interacted with the in flight manager who informed us staff were trying to find the balance between interaction and not mixing to much.

In multiple sectors since this still appears to be the case.

On one flight recently the service was bad enough for me to complete the feedback form. There were forgotten requests multiple times, “we are just preparing the drinks” which led to “oh we dont have any on board”. it went on to “we do not have the meal selection left” which I found strange as I had pre ordered.

Book the cook is still excellent in my opinion, if available.

The business seat I understand is not to everyone’s taste, I am lucky enough to often snag a bulkhead row and the extra space improves the seat a significant amount on the A350, 777 & A380, not so much the 787 ore regional A350.

The lounge in Singapore I find hit and miss, at peak times often impossible to get a seat.

[cwoodward]

Its sad to see standards slip and at the same time as ticket costs have risen and from what I read SIA is far from the only culprit.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Jacob, AMcWhirter

[stevescoots]

I agree, I flew SQ J for the first time a while back, maybe a year or so ago and whilst it was the tail end of covid i found nothing about it that stood out Vs its peers, even the hard product felt dated.

[AMcWhirter]

Hello Kopite,

I don’t know how your photos disappeared but when I logged on this morning (using mobile phone and laptop) they had vanished.

SIA mainline and Scoot keep apart from one another. Scoot’s previous CEO was kiwi national Campbell Wilson (now CEO at Air India) made that point over and over again.

However the matter of the seat condition is concerning and does nothing for the reputation both of Singapore and the SIA Group.

From what you and other readers have noted I would have thought CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) ought to investigate.

[AMcWhirter]

Apologies. I posted this on the wrong thread.

[AndrewinHK]

I tend to agree, whilst I think SQ is certainly better than average, I have never been wowed by the experience. I would say the economy offering is a strong product and I prefer it over most other carriers, but the business class, less so. I recently took Regional J on the 787, nice, certainly better than CX regional J, but long haul J having taken the 380/777 with SQ I prefer CX.

[cwoodward]

I trust that you didn’t use SIAs Scoot!

[Anthony]

I have not had the chance to travel as much of late due to previous covid issues, but I can add that my most recent past experience with SQ on Singpaore to Perth Business class, the aircraft was in a poor state and the entire experience well below par. Where possible I will stick to Cathay Pacific business class, in my view ever so far superior than SQ.

[TonyR]

I was planning to start just such a thread but you beat me to it. Just back from an MEL-SIN-MAN leg J Class on two SA A350s. I was looking forward to it but have to say I was underwhelmed by the whole experience. There continues to be no First Class and Business Class seats were less than impressive with their sitting behind each other rather than staggered so you ended up twisted trying to fit your feet into the tiny pocket to the side. Food was very so-so and no real in-between snacking options. Cabin crew were a bit distant – not the warm and attentive service I knew on SA. The lounge in SIN was hard to find and a long way from the gate – about a 15 minute walk with the Skytrain being out of service during the night. The other airlines on my journey – Virgin BGI-MAN-BGI and Emirates MAN-DXB-MEL were far more comfortable, more friendly cabin crew and better food. SA used to come top of the international rankings but I can’t see that continuing based on this experience.

It was my first time through MAN because of availability issues through LHR and I have to say what a mess for an “international” airport. But I’ll start a separate thread on that!

[Author]

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