I step off the flight from Zürich just after 17h30 and make my way down the airbridge that ejects me into Changi’s Terminal 2. There’s a lady from SATS ground handling holding up a sign with my name. She tells me she’s been sent to accompany me over to Terminal 3, from where my connection to Sydney will be leaving. And then she’s off, speed walking at a clipped pace to the closest Skytrain station. As we go, she gives a running commentary about Changi airport without breaking into a sweat. Meanwhile, I’m panting beside her as I struggle to keep up.

The Silver Kris Lounge Terminal 3 – The Private Room

Within the Silver Kris Lounge there is a First Class lounge and then separately, the infamous Private Room. The latter is reserved for passengers travelling in Singapore Airlines Suites only. So, if you’re travelling in Lufthansa First, for example, you may use the First Class lounge but not the Private Room.

To be honest, considering how much I’ve heard of the Private Room, I find it rather underwhelming. First, there are no outdoor views at all. There are only windows on one side, and they overlook the airside shops. The interior design is rather dark, and the style is old-fashioned. It‘s basically just one big room with more or less private seating areas and a dining section at the back.

The moment I take a seat, a server appears to inquire if I’d like anything to drink. A short while later, he returns with sparkling water and the food menu with a variety of mostly Asian dishes. There is no buffet.

Before I do anything else, I want to have a shower to revive me. There are several shower rooms in the lounge, and it is not necessary to make an advance booking for one of them. You can just walk up. The showers are great. They’re very spacious and the water pressure is lovely. The amenities include dental and shaving kits, body lotion and perfume.

Boarding

I only spend about one hour in the lounge before I decide to slowly make my way to the gate. I don’t have far to go, seeing as the gate area is located one floor down from the lounge, just a few steps away. The gate area is quite large, and there are several security lines open. There isn’t a dedicated fast track. However, there aren’t that many passengers about either and there are no queues anyway. At the gate, I take the queue for Suites passengers to board the aircraft. The gate agent takes my SWISS boarding pass and passport. He then asks me to step aside and wait while they print a new Singapore Airlines branded boarding pass for me. He mumbles something nonsensical about some audit in Australia. After a short wait, he tells me to step aboard anyway, and that they will bring me a new boarding pass directly to my seat. I have no idea what that is all about.

I take the airbridge on the right, which takes me straight to the upper level of the aircraft.

The Cabin & Seat

Singapore Airlines has six Suites configured in a 1+1 layout in three rows. As I mentioned in some of my previous posts on Singapore Airlines, I have some issues with the Suites. No doubt there’s plenty of space for each passenger. However, a lot of that space is wasted. Also, the additional space does not translate directly into more comfort for the passenger.

The seat rotates, so that it can turn to point toward the window or toward the aisle. My first issue with the seat is that it has very limited recline. There is also a leg support that can be raised, but that doesn’t really give much leg support, to the point that I’m wondering if perhaps it’s broken. As a result, you can either sit upright in the seat, or you can lie in bed, once it’s been prepared. But there’s no option in between if you just want to lounge about.

A further issue is the sliding door. Obviously, the design of the Suite is intended to give passengers more privacy. In actual fact though, especially during the meal service, quite to opposite is the case. First, because the crew have to intentionally peer in through one of the slits in the door to check if you’re done eating. As a result, you permanently feel as though you’re being observed from the outside. It doesn’t help that the crew will quickly walk away when you look up and spot them. I feel like a gorilla in the zoo… The other issue with the door is that the constant opening and closing seriously gets on your nerves after a while. The solution, of course, would be to keep the door open during the meal service. However, that would then mean having to look directly at the passenger on the other side of the aisle, as the seat has to be turned toward the aisle to be able to use the dining table.

Apart from all that, I am struck by the apparent wear and tear on the aircraft. There’s damage and chipping in several places and the carpets have faded stains.

Amenities

Once I’m seated, the cabin crew bring me a bag with a pajama. They tell me that eye shades and socks are in the storage compartment of my Suite.

They also distribute a Lalique branded vanity kit that is as useless as it is ugly. This is another one of those things about Singapore Airlines I just don’t get: first, they provide an amenity kit, but the useful amenities – socks, eye shades and ear plugs – are brought separately. Toothbrush and toothpaste are available in the amenities drawers in the two Suites washrooms but not in the vanity kit. So why even bother with it?

The Service & Crew

While boarding is under way, I am handed a refreshing towel. Unlike SWISS, which serve you the towel on a small tray, here the towel is handed to me directly. Which is okay, I guess, because it’s not properly wet anyway, so it’s not as though there’s any risk of scalding your hands.

Next, I am brought a glass of sparkling water and the menu for the flight.

The crew are friendly and very polite, and have obviously been well trained. For example, when they bring me the sparkling water, they turn away as they open the can of Perrier so I don’t accidentally get sprayed with water. Other than that, the service is quite hectic. I get that they’re trying to make the service efficient to allow passengers to get as much rest as possible, but the rushed atmosphere during the meal service is hardly pleasant. The service also seems overly and unnecessarily fussy. For example, instead of just leaving the can of Perrier with me, they take it with them. As a result, they keep interrupting my reading by asking permission to enter the Suite simply to top up the water.

The Meal – Dinner

With a flight time of only seven hours, the meal service starts immediately after takeoff. To drink, I have a glass of the Taittinger Comte de Champagne 2012.

The meal starts with the signature satay with peanut sauce, which is lovely. The meat is fine, I guess, but I just love the sauce!

Next, the table is set for the actual meal service.

With that, the crew serve garlic bread and rolls from the bread basket. However, they only pass through the cabin with the bread once.

I start with the caviar service with traditional trimmings. This is quite nice, and the blinis are nice and fluffy.

Next, I try the hot and sour soup at the cabin crew’s recommendation. This is quite nice, although I had hoped it would be a little spicier. It has an interesting texture that is thicker than expected.

For the main course, I’ve booked the cook and pre-ordered the lobster thermidor, which is just lovely.

As soon as I’m done with the main course, the plate is removed and another cabin crew appears with a tray with two dessert options. I would have preferred to have the cheese, but that does not seem to be an option. So, I just have the strudel instead, which is okay.

The crew then make up my bed for the night while I go brush my teeth.

The Second Service

The second service starts about ninety minutes out of Sydney. First, I am handed another towel before the crew come to set the table.

As nothing on the menu for the second service really appealed to me when I booked the flight, I’ve pre-ordered the Asian vegetarian dish. This consists of two moderately spicy dishes served with parathas. It’s very tasty!

The cabin crew tells me there are still quite a few desserts left from the dinner service, so I ask her for some fruit. To drink, I have an orange juice and a coffee.

Arrival

It‘s still dark outside as we start our descent into Sydney. I can‘t believe we‘re nearly there. That‘s the thing about air travel: it‘s so fast that it takes your brain a moment to catch up with what‘s going on. We land and taxi to our stand next to the QANTAS A 380 which arrived a short while ahead of us from London and Singapore. Immigration in Sydney is a bit of a mess. The idea is that you scan your passport at one of the self-service kiosks and then proceed directly with your ticket to the e-gates. There are plenty of kiosks available. The only problem is that you don‘t know that when you arrive the first time because there‘s a huge arrivals duty free shop in the way.

Getting into Town

From arrivals I head for the railway station in the basement of the international terminal to catch a train to Wynyard on the city circle. The journey takes about thirty minutes by train.

I‘m staying at the Mantra Hotel on Bond Street, which is about five minutes on foot from Wynyard station. Luckily, I‘ve been upgraded to an apartment which is already available, even though it‘s only just 07h30 in the morning. I dump my stuff in the apartment and then immediately head out again to catch the ferry to Manly for Sunday brunch at The Pantry. Sydney, I missed you so much!

Conclusion

So, what about my Singapore Airlines experience? Ultimately, it comes down to a question of managing expectations. Singapore Airlines is an expert on brand management. Otherwise they would not have succeeded in establishing the airline as an industry leader. My concern, though, is that in doing so, they may have created expectations that they are unable to meet.

On the SWISS flight to Singapore there were two cabin crew serving the First Class cabin with seven out of eight seats occupied. The service was efficient and still managed to feel intimate. It felt well paced and unrushed. In contrast, on Singapore Airlines there were four cabin crew serving six passengers and the service felt very rushed and hectic.

Then there‘s the seat, which is certainly not as private as one might think. And the constant knocking, opening and closing gets to be quite irritating at some point. The airline’s saving grace on this flight was the cabin crew. They were great! They had very polished manners and were charming and engaging.