[ChrisFreeman]

It is very hard to beat CX ‘J’ class. My first choice. CX needs to do more in the publicity war.

[suitdude30]

Agree with all of the previous posts regarding SQ’s arrogance and declining standards, while charging fares which are far in excess of its competitors. Unlike most of my esteemed bloggers here, I don’t like the 34″ wide seats on the A380 and B777-300ER, as they do not offer any sort of recline position for movie-watching, reading, etc. It’s either upright or horizontal, with little to no in-between. Much prefer the new medium-haul model found on the refurbished 777-300 and new A330 craft. I even slept better on that than its big brother!

As for food, not only does SQ so obviously penny-pinch in offering a choice of either supper OR breakfast (but not both) on overnight flights, esp between SIN and Australia, but its food has never been that special to begin with. Especially galling when one is paying for a J class ticket. Their excuse about allowing passengers more sleeping time is hollow, as some travellers like me hardly sleep at all, and am perfectly happy to eat both meals.

Recently flew J class on MEL-BKK on SQ (via SIN of course) and back on TG. In every aspect (seat comfort, food, presentation and service), TG surpassed SQ. Therefore, unless I absolutely have to fly via Changi, or to visit Singapore, I will most almost certainly fly TG hereafter, as my travel is primarily for leisure, and TG’s fares are far better value than SQ’s. My next choice would be CX, whose new business class I look forward to sampling later this year. TG is the unsung hero!

[toonvanderheyden]

I did fly SIN-NRT business on SQ’s 777- very dirty plane! The so called wide seats were worn out..screen was dirty, very poor food . I am a frequent traveller of Lufthansa, there seats and service and food is MUCH better in business class compared to singapore. How they get 5 stars in skytrax I don’t understand.
The ANA 777-300 new business seats are also MUCH better then SQ – and their service food is significantly superior.
I try to avoid SQ as much as possible- it’s a marketing trap for not seasoned travellers. My top 3 are LH, ANA and CX…and not to forget SAA- who have excellent seats and a no frill friendly service.

[FlyingChinaman]

toonvanderheyden: I am some what surprised by your feedback on SQ Biz class service. I travel on it frequently and always find their cabin service from very good to excellent. Remember I am from Hong Kong and I am Cathay’s top tier flyer and I tend to compare these two 5-star airlines in the world and they are on par with each others. Sometime I even feel SQ is one notch better in Business and Cathay is better in First.

I also travel on LH and NH quite often. LH Biz in my humble Asian opinion is NOT in the same league as CX or SQ, while NH is very nice and attentive but the style is not international enough for my global taste.

Anyhow it is good to hear even the best airline has a off day and you were unfortunately part of that experience.

I am sure your confident with Singapore Airlines will restore if you travel on SQ again,

One Singapore swallow does not make a summer!

[toonvanderheyden]

FlyingChinaman: Thanks for your comments. I will give it another try, hopefully next time a better sq exprience aligning to the confidence you have in them. PLease from your end try LH new first class- its a wonderfull experience ;a seperate bed ( not a reclining chair but real bed and matress!) next to a fantastic reclining chair . Its available on their 380- and now gradually on 747’s.
NH pls try again they changed a lot lately in their new 777- to Fra, LHR and JFK from NRT.

[austline]

Against my better judgement I recently travelled from Melbourne to Singapore on SQ, afternoon dep, old 747, seats grubby and catering was very poor. Unfortunately SQ treat the Aussie/Sin run as a regional service. They really do need to look at their F&B, the food selection is poor and the wine list is very average, the Aussie red served was on special in our local discount store for $10.00 a bottle.

[FlyingChinaman]

toonvanderheyden:

I thank you for having enough trust in me for giving SQ another try. No doubt It is a premium airline alongside with Cathay as I would fly on the same day on CX and SQ and I get a very similar refined experience. Also get the same the thing SIN-LHR route with their A380’s.

I know other airlines have improved their in-flight service but it is the overall pitcure (air/ground) experience where CX and SQ would win over the others. I recently noticed the wine celler in SIN SQ First lounge stocks few top quality wines than it used to. I guess ALL airlines are quitely cutting back on their spending due to the escalating oil prices in the past 12 months!

I would very much like to take up your suggestion (actually I enjoyed LH First quite a lot especially the Frankfurt First Class terminal) of their new FIRST. I think it is a better and more open approach than the SQ Suite where one is stowed inside a cubicle!!!

ausline: I am sorry that you are not benefiting on betterSQ hardware product as you live in Australia. It must a commercial decision as I read sometime back that the Kangaroo route is not a high-yield fare route in term of distance for the operating airlines. It seem SQ is concentrating on their more lucrative routes such as SIN-JFK, SIN-LHR and SIN-HKG-SFO.

Nice travel!

[LPPSKrisflyer]

I think one of the problems on the SIN to AUS routes is that SIA have decided to classify them as regional routes. The reality is that many people are travelling from Europe and I know I do not take kindly to a downgraded service between SIN and AUS particularly to the east coast where the flying times are still around 7-8 hours which is more that crossing the north atlantic from LHR. No one else downgrades the service so obviously, CX don’t offer first and MH don’t offer it on all services but the service is consistent with that offered from Europe.

Update: the website is still awful! I’m so glad that my title can be King rather than Mr but of course I can’t make a booking at all so it doesn’t matter! They must get a lot of call for the title King!!!

[ChrisFreeman]

Just flew to Rome on Malaysia from Sydney. Service is always good. Granted, the business class seats aren’t as good as SQ and CX and they haven’t managed to fix the hot water in their Business Class Lounge in KL in 12 months, it still represents very good value for money. They certainly look after their passengers. Will fly them again and again.

[ValentineTay]

Dear all,
I would say that the food in SQ dated last year and the previous year was bad as they outsourced. Honestly, I had been dramatic improvement in the food they delivered. At least the food is less salty and oily. Regarding F & B issue in Australia, its government has enforced one of the strictest regulation over there. Even they don’t permit freshly squeezed orange juice with pulps to be catered on board. And all the food that you received from overseas station other than Singapore were provided and catered by the overseas airport catering. The service that they have provided on board will be constantly checked and audited. There are no preferential treatment on routes. They are focusing on certain routes for a healthy growth of business. Certain aircraft are not used as overseas government are protecting their trade and do not allow the newer aircrafts in. And it all depend on each airports’ aerobridge. There are some airports facilities limitation each station. Its also involves government policies in each countries and the taxes and surcharges and other extras they pay everyday. (E.g. Euro- go green environmentally friendly fuel surcharge)
Imagine, if SQ provides A380 and B777-300ER to all their passengers in all stations, many airlines would lost their monopoly and business and go into serious bankruptcy. Governments have involvement in their national carriers. They would not want that to happen and they delay other country’s carrier before they could launch their products. Please do bear that in mind. Thanks.

[cbroo79]

ValentineTay:
Your last post makes no sense! Blaiming the lack of service and the lack of appropriate hardware on foreign caterers and governments is just not true.
Most of the stations SQ flies to are having one or more of the international service providers / flight kitchen and these can do anything an airline want anywhere they are at the same standard. It is a matter of ordering and paying for it! And it is a matter of wanting to enforce quality standards. SQ seems -and the many posts in this blog show that clearly- to have lost its focuson quality and consitency of that quality in lieu of short term monetary gains or lack of management attention. As for the government being involved in airlines? The main markets are the EU( LHR, FRA), North America (LOS,SFO,ATL,JFK) name one airline in these markets that is government controlled. SQ provides A380 to ZRH, did Swiss go into bankruptcy? No their yield, profit and seatmiles are constantly going up!
So, I agree they focus on certain routes for “healthy” growth, ie. yes, they are putting profit for the shareholder before a consistent quality product. Others seem to have a better approach and from where I stand the latter is more sustainablewith high-yielding customers then the approach and attitude of SQ.

[LPPSKrisflyer]

@ValentineTay When an airline outsources services e.g. catering they specify exactly what they want and that’s what they get. SIA are known to be one of the most exacting companies where this is concerned so if poor quality food is being delivered it’s because they are specifying that this is what they want.

Australia quite rightly has quarantine control on the import of food stuffs. That does not mean that fresh orange juice may not be served on services to Australia only that he residue must be destroyed on arrival which it would be no matter where the destination was. A new supply which meets the very high standards of Australia is available for return flights.

Governments may protect their national carriers to a point but that is only in terms of volume not product. For instance, to focus on Australia again in terms of seats (capacity is not restricted between SIN and Australia) and the very variable offering on SIA to SYD, the Australian government do not interfere with this at all. The mixed and inconsistent offering of SIA is their own doing and fault. No where else in the world is a 7.5 hour service branded as regional except by SIA on these routes. Their service can be good or it can be abysmal.

Before you become an apologist for SIA perhaps you should do a little more research and gather some knowledge and facts. Those of us who have travelled with SIA for many years now, in the main see the company as a falling star. That is not being stopped and the snipping at the edges of service in the premium cabins is annoying in a world where their fares keep on rising. First class is now about as good as business class was ten years ago, business class is like other carriers premium economy services. No one forced these changes on SIA, they are internally driven by a company that is greedy and believes everyone wants to travel with it no matter what.

One day they will wake up but it won’t be soon as the fiasco of the new website demonstrates so well.

[cbroo79]

spot on, LPPSKrisflyer!

[ValentineTay]

Dear cbroo and LPPS, before you put my blood level in the higher mode for not understanding and blowing my Small Fly cover, trust me, governments have certain amount of control in each airline carrier’s route and entry. You heard Mr Fernandez talking about Singapore Government not allowing his AirAsia entry in Changi Airport previously. Do you recall? And are you aware of the Australian authority preventing SQ from flying the lucrative routes SIN-Aussie-U.S.? The project had to be abolish because government interference.
The SQ staff can exercise a certain amount of control in the F & B section. But not directly. They control the after effects. They depends on the passenger and crew feedback. They will, in turn, report to the company. And it is for the management to do the follow-up. The staff have had numerous reports on the situation for many months. But sometimes the management does not change things immediately. The staff got to patiently hand in their reports everytime.
It depends heavily on the external control in the overseas. You don’t believe how heavy they rely on the SQ overseas counterparts. Then please do fly often on the Milan and Paris routes. You will see that there are strikes and riots among the caterers in overseas frequently. And, if you are not aware and are comfortably being served and sitting the the seats, its because the ground staff and crew have worked their asses out and cracked their brain to load your meals and clean up the cabin on board before you even board the aircraft! And they continue to serve you on board!
And, talking about zurich flight, why other airlines are not in a bad shape? Can it be the attractive low price that they offer? And did other airlines, like Qatar or Emirates or Virgin airlines, were using A380?

Are you a Singaporean, LPPS? Or you are some government official protecting your own ass? And could you give me your email so that I can explain to you certain things? Then, you will realize I am a small fly. Of course, I will see if I can help you in anyway if its within my SMALL FLY power.

[cbroo79]

@ValentineTay:
Don’t get all upset! Neither LPPS nor I blame the inflight crew or ground for the shortcomings, we clearly stated that management is to blame and for that opinion I stand and I believe the blog shows plenty of examples. Again, I strongly disagree with you on blaming foreign governments on service or hardware maintenance related issues (such as often broken IES or seats that do not work properly -even when leaving SIN). Yes, the Oz gov blocked the SIN-SYD-LAX route and yes to protect QF, but as LPPS pointed out that has nothing to do with the issue discussed.
I am very disturbed about your language though and do not appreciate that you assume that LPPS and I do not appreciate the hard work ground crews or FA’s do to try to make us welcome. To the contrary, their efforts are almost sabotaged by penny pinching executives in SQ that don’t provide the tools and amenities for a top notch service experience that we the customers expect for our good money – I don’t think value for money is an unfair request to that end!
Your comment on the ZRH flight also misses the point – I delibeartely mentioned LX not EK! Are you truly trying to say that LX is a low price airline? You must be kidding!
Again, just as LPPS said in his comment, check your facts, don’t get upset, don’t use bad language and continue to work the best you can inside SQ (I assume you are inside from your comments) to make it a rising star again. Right now it is not!

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