Summary:
This trip was not really planned, but suddenly I found a good fare and two friends were interested to join me since we had all wanted to go halfway “down” the to the other side of the equator. It has also been a long wish for us to experience once those seen on tv New Year celebration in Australia. Well, so the whole trip was planned and only thing was waiting for the day to arrive. This trip will have me experiencing lots of first experience on different airlines and class of service and also airports.
Be warn that this will be a long TR and I have divided it into a few parts within this report.
23 Dec 2006
LH 4229
B737-500
CDG-FRA
Seat: 9F
Dept time: 1930
The night earlier, I had spent a night at the nearby Radisson SAS. I managed to grab a good rate due to their Christmas promotion that was nice, since it included breakfast and I could leave for the airport stress free. This was my first time departing from Terminal 1 of CDG. I have always known it as the round terminal and I knew mainly the Star Alliance carriers used it. During the ride to the terminal, I managed to see the Concorde on display. Sadly, I was not able to take the photo of it due to the rather foggy weather. We arrived a bit more than 3 hours before check-in. I had tried to do internet check-in the night before, but I could not and a call to the LH helpdesk did not bring any luck either, so we decided to go earlier and try and grab a good seat. After a bit of looking around for the check-in area, we found it and were greeted by a long line. They were lots of people flying out on this eve of eve of Christmas. While my friends stood in line, I tried again to check-in using the SS check-in machine, but it still did not want to accept any of my cards and passport. So, back to the line.
LH check-in area
After about 30-40 mins in line, it was finally out turn. And what a shock when we were told that they could not find our e-ticket number in the system. We were asked to go to the ticketing desk to solve the problem out. Arriving at the ticketing desk, we managed to solve our problem, but actually on my problem were solved. We managed to skip the line and proceed directly to the next available agent to be told that they did not solve the ticketing problem with my other travel companion. Luckily a supervisor came over and managed to solve everything by calling the agent at the ticketing desk. Finally everything solved. I managed to get my bag tagged all the way to KUL even though I had separated itineraries from SIN to KUL. The check-in agent was also nice to put a priority tag on it due to the fact I was flying First on SQ to KUL. We proceeded directly to Satellite 6 where our flight would board. Getting to Sat. 6 was an adventure itself, I would say a very retro-futuristic terminal.
Escalators to the Satellite 6 area
I actually did not have any of those zip-lock bags with me thinking that they would still provide it complimentary. To my surprised at CDG, nothing was provided and I had to purchase one at a bookshop for 10 cents. How cheap can ADP be? Anyway, directly after the security check, we entered Sat.6 boarding area. There were several gates and seems that this was LH permanent boarding gates.
LH desk at Sat. 6
I did not really like the area as there were nothing after security, no facilities whatsoever. After waiting for about 30 mins or so, our flight was called. We boarded through an airbridge. No priority boarding were made, so it was a free for all boarding.
Boarding gate and flight
Although we were separated, it was ok since I got my window seat. I was surprised to learn it was actually next to the emergency exit. So, I had lots of legroom. The flight was full and boarding was completed rather quickly. We departed on time. My first impression was good about the newly refurbished interior of the LH intra EU product. Nice seats and the FA’s were friendly.
This is my first time flying with LH and I had a good impression so far.
Safety card
LH Logo
Soon, we were taxing to the runway. I took a few snapshot (sorry for the bad quality)
Star Airlines (correct me if I am wrong, was too far to see the name)
They did the safety demonstration. We took off on time and we had a nice view of the terminals. After reaching our flight altitude, service started. Since it was during Christmas season, we had an extra Christmas cookie in the shape of a star.
Snack
Everything was free including alcoholic drinks. I just had a Cola light. Some shots of the cabin
After a flight time of about an hour, we begin our descent and landed in FRA on time.
23 Dec 2006
LH 778
B747-400
FRA-SIN
Seat: 39B
Dept time: 2205
After arriving at FRA, it was time to move from Terminal A to Terminal B. It was not too long a walk. Had to go through security check again. It was not too bad, as lines were not too long and we still had a bit less than one hour before boarding time. Made a visit to the Duty Free shops to get a couple of bottle of wines. From here to the gate B22 was not too far, but it was already crowded with people and most of them were already in the holding area. At this point, I was really thirsty and decided to scout around for a drinking fountain, but no such luck, in the end had to buy a drink from the nearest bar. Too bad they ran out of Spitzi, which can only be found in Germany. By the time I got back to the gate again, it was already more crowded than before and just within 10 mins, they started the boarding process. Boarding was done with those needing assistance and families with children. First and Business class passengers were called shortly for boarding followed by Gold members. They boarded the plane according to rows, starting from the back, but later it just became rather free for all. They used the first air bridge for F and C passengers. The rest went to the second trunk. Due to the earlier incident at CDG, the three of us were all separated, I was stuck in the middle of the row. Luckily, both my seatmates were average, with an English next to me, going down to Sydney and an Indian girl (I suspect she was from Canada, due to her accent). She was a weird one in the sense she was actually virtually sleeping nearly the whole flight from boarding until arriving, only waking up for food, and once or twice for the toilet. The rest of the time she was just like a log there, I was lucky that I could step out using the armrests without waking her. Anyway, back to the flight, on my way to the seat, I enquired with the FA if there was Connexion onboard, at first she looked at me weirdly, but later she said “Oh yes, we do have the internet connection in service”. Boarding was completed rather fast. I was rather surprised to see that there was a majority of Asian FA on this flight. They were all working in the Economy section. Here is a view of the seat back
View of the monitor
Doors were closed and the safety demonstration was carried out. It was done using those small monitors that I found rather difficult to see. Here is a shot of the Safety card and the menu cum info booklet of Singapore.
We proceeded to the runway and took-off into the nightsky of Germany. It was not too long of a climb considering a full flight. Soon, they announced about the availability of Connexion stressing that it was complimentary, although we still need to use our Credit card for security reasons. I took my laptop out and started registering for it. It was not too difficult, and the signal was rather good. Though one thing I did not like was that you had to relogin after every session and no two computers can use the same login even if the other is off. So, I had two different login, one for my laptop and the other for my Pocket PC. I did encounter some login problems when I had to relogin, but it was nothing serious.
Soon, they began with service. Headphones were handed out. We were all later given those paper towels that were semi-warm, but still better than nothing. First came a round of drinks with a packet of snack. Then dinner service started. I believe the choice was as usual, beef or chicken, I took the chicken which was not too bad. I did not take any photos this time, as I was actually rather tired and also very hungry. I was also a bit uncomfortable taking photos being in the middle of two strangers. I took a white wine, which was of course Riesling, and it was good. Had 2 glasses of it. Service was good and on my side I had this Thai FA serving us. He was really friendly and actually at this point, I was rather impressed with the service in Economy on LH. I have read numerous opinions on the service, and I thought that it would be mediocre, but it was better than I expected. After collection was done, I immediately tried to get some shuteye. I managed to sleep for about 5 hours and after that I decided not to sleep anymore since I wanted to adjust as fast as possible to the time change. I managed to climb out of my chair while my seatmates were sleeping without waking them to go to the toilet to freshen up a bit. I did a walk around the cabin to the last part of the cabin to check if my friends were sleeping. They were, so Managed to take a photo of the door to the crew sleeping area.
I decided to walk to the gallery in the middle of the aircraft. I stood there to look out the window. Soon, the FA came back from his rounds (they were making rather frequent rounds with liquids). I asked him what time would breakfast be served (weird since it was like midday at out destination) and he said in about another 1 ½ hours time. He asked if I wanted the cup noodles. I thought why not. While waiting for it, he invited me to seat down with him at the crew seat. We had a nice chat about how he ended up working for LH. In general, he was very happy with his working conditions with LH, much better than Asian airlines and especially with United, his former employee. It was a very interesting talk and he even introduced me to one of his friend traveling with him. She was just back from a vacation in Europe. Anyway, after finishing my noodles, and that small talk with him and his friend, I decided not to bother him anymore and went back to my seat. Managed to climb back into my seat without waking my seatmate. I took out my laptop again to surf, and luckily the battery was still rather full. I was listening also to some of the in-flight music selection and it was quite good. After browsing and chatting to some friends online, I decided to keep the laptop and save it for my other friends to enjoy the experience later. Watched the program on show and soon, it was time for breakfast.
The cabin stirred up and towels were again distributed. I think it was a nice move to do this. First a round of drinks were served. I believed they had only one choice, which was the sausage and eggs. It was not too bad, and since I was hungry again, I managed to finish all. Though I noticed that my seatmate, she was not really into it, after a few picks here and there, she just left it and went back to sleep. Again no photo of the breakfast. Soon, breakfast was cleared and it was around 1h15m to landing. The other guy at the window decided to go to the toilet, so this time, I had to wake the girl next to me and I took this opportunity to also visit my friends. Passed them my laptop and login details. I managed to grab a shot of the cabin inflight
Sadly since I was not near the window, they were shut nearly throughout the flight, as the guy next to me was trying also to get as much sleep as possible.. most probably to adjust to the time in Australia.
Soon, we were passing over Malaysia and we had another 30 mins before arriving in SIN. The crews were handing out landing cards and than they started to prepare the cabin for arrival. I did take this opportunity to ask the Thai FA if by any good luck chance I can visit the cockpit after the flight, but sadly I was told that it would not be possible. I did not want to push him into asking so I just said thanks. The last part of the journey was rather bumpy due to the thunderstorm.
We arrived at a very wet Changi airport.
We landed on time and deboarding was rather quick. We left through the 2nd door. It was really weird to be hit by the humidity and later again the air condition. Anyway, waited outside the gate for my other friends. I had to get out with my friends since I was going to take one of their bags with me to KUL. I also wanted to experience the first class check-in room at SIN. So, we proceeded to immigration and bags were actually already on the belt. It was a very short wait and I could see that here Priority tags do mean something at last. After going out and repacking the bags, we proceeded to Departure. I passed by the normal First-class check-in counter, but went pass that to the First-class check in room.
24 Dec 2006
SQ 118
B777-200 Jubilee
SIN-KUL
Seat: 14K
Dept time: 2000
I arrived and was immediately greeted by two of the ground staff. They asked if I was traveling First and gave them my passport. My bags were immediately taken off my hands at that point and I was asked to wait at the lounge and everything was done for me. She came back later to ask if I would like a window or aisle. I said window. Later she came back to me with my passport and boarding pass, and explained everything to me, but only problem was that she gave me an aisle seat. I pointed this and she was apologetic and immediately went back to correct it. She came back again with the boarding pass with a window seat and advised me that my other luggage from FRA was confirmed to fly with me to KUL.
First-class check-in room at SIN
Interior of the check-in room
After that I said my goodbyes to my friends and I went again through passport control. I had some problems locating the lounge, but after asking at one of the service desk, I found my way there. I was directed to the First class lounge. I enquired directly at the desk if I could use the shower, and I was told that I was free to use any one and there was no need to make any booking. Some photos from the shower room
I would say that the shower room was rather small and actually outdated. Though amenities were of Bvalgari, which is normal for First. They provided also some much better quality toothbrushes compared to Raffles class. After the nice shower, when I wanted to deposit my towels into the rattan baskets provided outside of the stall, I was forbidden to do so by the shower attendant, looks like First class passengers are not allowed to do “dirty” their hands. I just obeyed him and he just opened the cover of it and dropped it in for me. Next I went to the customer service area to order my “book the cook” meal for my flight to Sydney. However, service was not up to standard that day as I was kept waiting for more 15 mins and still not able to get any confirmation. In the end, I told the service agent to forget about it and I will do it myself. I was actually rather disappointed with the service. I know it was Christmas eve, but for such a thing, she could have easily found some easier way to do it. I went into the lounge passing through the bar area and the dining area. I decided to sit at the dining area. I went to the buffet area and they had some nice spread, including some Christmas traditional dishes such as roast turkey, potatoes and salads. They had also some really nice starters such as fried scallops, which tasted splendid. There was the famous satays which was was great. I had a really good meal. The lounge was not crowded.
Aquarium with the buffet area behind
After finishing my meal, I went to find a spot where I could use my computer and make some calls. It was great to learn that they had free wireless in the lounge too. Connection and signal was very good. Here are some shots of the lounge area
After finishing what I needed to do, I went to the bar area. I was thinking if I should get something from the bar, but in the end I decided not too. I grabbed some newspaper and was surprised they had some Dutch ones too. I had a nice port while reading the papers. After about an hour lounging around, I noticed that it was 30 mins to boarding time. I left the lounge and headed towards the gate. It was not too far to the gate. Went through security and entered the departure hall area. Soon, we heard that our flight out be delayed by another 15 mins due to late arrival of the aircraft. It did not matter to me. I noticed that the plane today had mostly Asians with just a handful of Caucasians traveling with this very prominent Dutch family traveling too with their kids. They just went to one corner of the hall and sat on the ground playing with their kids, with one of them running round. The mother was trying to control the kid by just sitting there shouting to the kid in Dutch. Anyhow it was not too loud that they bothered anyone. Soon, boarding was called with passengers needing assistance, family with children and First and PPS members to board first I boarded and this was done through two bridge, the first for First class and the second for economy. Flights between KUL and SIN consists only of either First or economy with no first. Just last year, it used to be a small difference in fare between both, but this year, I was a bit surprised that the difference was significant, but I still not too big a difference to deter me from flying First. At the door, I was greeted warmly by name by the leading stewardess. I was surprised to see the Spacebed. The interior was decorated in a festive mood.
Soon, the rest of the passengers in First started to board. I was offered a pre-flight drink and a second FA came and offered me some reading materials. It was raining outside, some snapshots of the gates
Soon, warm towels were distributed. The First cabin was not very full. I did ask about the aircraft in use and was told that they do have some last minute swap and this includes using the Spacebed configured aircraft. I did take this opportunity to play around with the seat
Some other features of the seat
It was a good introduction for me since in about a weeks time I will be in the same seat on my overnight flight to Sydney. It did feel comfortable in the seating position and rather spacious. I did doubt the pitch, which looked rather cramped when the seat was in the angled position.
Anyway, after the safety video and apology from the captain on the delay, we thundered off into the night sky of Singapore. Our route today would be rather straightforward towards Kuala Lumpur. Flight time would be a mere 30 mins. Directly after take-off, the chime came for the FA to get into action. Immediately, they asked every passenger if they would like a light meal. I ordered the chicken salad with cheese. My table was laid and prepared. Soon, my meal arrived.
I asked if they had ice tea, and at first they said no, but when she came back, she asked me how I would like it, told her sweet. She did come back with the ice tea, but it was not really what I was hoping for.
Anyway, I just drank it, which was not too bad, but not too great. Well, due to the short flight time, they cleared the meals as soon as they noticed that the passenger had finished. They offered another round of hot towel. Soon, we began our descent into the nightline of KLIA. We landed with a delay of about 20 mins, which was not too bad. The airport was rather empty at this hour with on Malaysia airlines aircraft and just a couple of foreign ones. We parked next to a couple of Japan Airlines.
Leaving the aircraft, we had to leave through one door. Passengers in economy were held back and we were warmly wished when leaving. I proceeded directly to the aerotrain. Passed through a very empty passport control area and into the baggage reclaim area. My bags were one of the very first to arrive and I was out of the terminal in less than 20 mins from stepping out of the plane. Over all, it was not bad of a flight, but I thought compared to my last time in First with Malaysian Airlines on the same route, MH did a better job compared to SQ. Food offering was better and the FA’s were much more natural in their service.
