Vancouver - Los Angeles - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore - Dubai - Doha - New York

Join me as I travel around the world in 9 days
on four of the world's five-star airlines

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Singapore Airlines...it's the little things

Maybe not surprising, Singapore Airlines is like the country it represents. Welcoming. Industrious. And driven. But before we get to my Singapore Airlines experience, a few comments about Singapore's Changi Airport.

Originally built in 1981, the airport handles more than 36 million passengers annually, and has climbed into the top 20 busiest airports (in terms of passengers) in the world. If LAX was a dump as I wrote earlier, then Singapore's Changi Airport is anything but. There is good reason why it is considered one of the best airports in the world. It's the kind of airport, where you may miss your flight, because of the wide range of things you can do.

Orchids and koi ponds in the terminal building. It's just the beginning. Want to catch a movie before your flight? Then head to terminal 1 or 2 for a free film. Looking for some quiet time before your flight, then check out the orchid, cactus, fern, or sunflower gardens. Play games or watch television in the entertainment lounges, catch up on your email with free internet terminals throughout the terminal. And what airport offers a free 2-hour city tour for passengers with more than 5 hours before their flight?

I arrived at Terminal 2 for my flight to Dubai, and checked-in within four minutes. I aksed for a window seat, and the agent was almost apologetic that the only window seats were at the rear of the Boeing 777 aircraft. I guessed the flight must have been heavily booked. My trip through immigration was just as quick.

Once at the gate, I was surprised at how few passengers were waiting for the flight, and then almost very casually, the we were invited to board the aircraft. The minute we boarded, the infamous Singapore Airlines service began. The first person I met smiled, welcomed me aboard and looked at my boarding pass, directing me to my economy class seat by name.

Turned out the passenger load was quite light on this flight, so in the rear cabin everyone had a lot of space to spread out. The seat was comfortable and had some extra support that most airlines don't offer. Before take-off, we were offered hot towels. Real towels...not the wipes that some airlines offer.

As we climbed away from the airport, I looked at the hundreds of ships in the water below, and realized why Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world. Once we leveled off, flight attendants came through with a menu card and offered passengers a drink. I ordered a Singapore Sling, which according to the menu card was created in 1915 at the Long Bar of Singapore's Raffles Hotel. It is a concoction of dry gin, Dom Benedictine, Cointreau and cherry brandy, shaken up with lime and pineapple and a dash of Angostura bitters and Grenadine.

Now before you think that the flight attendant was making like Tom Cruise in the movie cocktail, the drink was pre-made, so all she had to was add a few different things. It tasted great, nonetheless, as we flew across the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.

I had often commented that there was one big difference between economy and business class. Okay, there's more than one diffrence, but only one really counts. In business class the buns are warm, whereas in economy they are cold (good luck trying spread cold butter on a cold bun). But Singapore Airlines shattered this notion, because my dinner bun was warm. Damn Singapore Airlines for wreaking all my great theories.

Malaysia Airlines has a great in-flight entertainment product, but Singapore Airlines kicks it up just a notch. Choose from 80 movies, 106 tv shows, 180 CDs, and 60 video games. You can even play some games against other passengers. When opening multi-player games there is an option for other passengers to join. I clicked on the Tetris game, but then realized with such few passengers, I'd be waiting a while for a challenger.

And the telephone that airlines have at the seat that no one ever uses, you can actually call another passenger on the aircraft. Admit it though, you've always wanted to make that call from the airplane to one of your friends. The conversation would go something like this. "Hey Geoff (or Sean), how are you doing?" "Great, Ken, but you seem a little far away." "Oh, that's because I'm currently 38,000 feet above the coast of India." We all would like to do that until we learn that it will cost us $6 per minute. Mind you, that's what I paid once to call home from a train stration in Zurich.

For good reason Singapore Airlines is a 5-star airline and with continuous innovation and excellence, I don't expect them to lose that distinction anytime soon. I tried hard to find a fault, but I came up empty. The Singapore Airlines service is genuine and polished, and I don't mean in that rehearsed sort of way.

In the next few days, I have two more airlines to experience, and since the sun has just come up in Dubai, it's time for me to go out and explore the city.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Needless to say, the next words out of Geoff's (or Sean's) mouth would be "You Bastard".

Anonymous said...

Couldn't agree more with the title. I did a RTW 2 years ago on *A (yyz-sfo-hnl-nrt-bkk-sin-fra-gru-scl-yyz, sorry took 14 days). We covered a fair number of *A and the difference between best (SIA) and worst (AC), and we were on varig for a leg, was the little things. Someone in the aisle all the time offering beverages, as opposed to hiding in the galley. Turning off the overhead lights during a overnight flight, or knowing how to operate the IFE properly. Singapore was spectacular, I've since had a chance to go Biz with them, WOW great.

Anonymous said...

What would be equally fun would be to phone you from a different plane.