BOS-CGK via the Pacific on DL & SQ

[BOSqq]

I flew from Boston to Jakarta two weeks ago. My father was willing to give me his Air France Flying Blue miles to redeem my domestic flight sector. I was booked on Delta from BOS to SFO via JFK, and then SQ 1 and SQ 958 to SIN and CGK respectively. It was a beautiful day in Boston, lots of sunshine and perfect weather for flying. It was snowing hard in the past weekend that most offices and universities were closed. I heard it was supposed to snow the day after I left. Anyway, I took a cab to Logan International Airport terminal A. I decided to check-in at the counter, because Air France issued my ticket. Check-in went pretty quick and I was given both boarding passes for BOS-JFK and JFK-SFO. I went pass the security, and decided to get some lunch. I went to Panda Express to eat some Chinese food knowing that there will be no free meals onboard. Afterwards, I decided to walk around the terminal. My gate on that day was A19, and I needed to go through the underground pathway to get to the other part of the terminal. I arrived at my gate, and decided to sit and watch some movies on my laptop. BOS has some seats with plugs under them for passengers needed to some juice for their electronic devices. I looked at the screen and see that my flight was on-time and was quite full. The Business class cabin was full. There were 11 empty seats in Economy. The flight was DL 30: Boston to Moscow via New York-JFK. Boarding was soon announced, and people started to board according to their zones.

Some pictures of the gate:





Delta Airlines: DL 30
Dep: BOS TA @ 2.05 PM
Arr: JFK T3 @ 3.38 PM
Equipment: MD-88
Seat: 26C
Gate: A19
Date: March 5, 2009

It was a full flight, and I managed to get the exit row seat.





Boarding went pretty fast, and the aircraft is ready for departure. We pushed back from the gate and safety instructions were shown live to the passengers. We made our way to the runway, and before you know it, the aircraft halted and the captain announced that there was an inspection on the runway, so the departure will be delayed for around 15 to 20 minutes. Our expected arrival in JFK was 3.38 PM, and it was delayed to around 3.50 PM. My flight to SFO leaves at 4.45 PM, so it’s not that bad. Soon, the captain once again announced that the aircraft is now ready for departure, and we were airborne around 2.30 PM. Flight time from BOS to JFK was around 35 minutes. There were no snacks or drinks served on board, although I remember that Delta and JetBlue used to serve snacks on BOS-JFK flights. I decided to listen to some songs in my iPhone, and after 6 songs, the captain already requested everyone to turn off their electronic devices. Landing was smooth, and we touched down at JFK at around 3.24 PM which was earlier than schedule somehow. We passed through the EK A380 on our way to the terminal. The aircraft however stopped once again, and the captain announced that due to our early arrival, the gate is not ready yet, because there was another aircraft using our gate. Our arrival gate was gate 1 in terminal 3. Due to the small gap between terminals 3 and 4, only one aircraft can fit, so we were to wait somewhere else first until the other aircraft leave our gate, which is scheduled to be at 3. 40 PM. At around 3.35 PM the captain announced that the other aircraft’s departure was delayed and they have just started the boarding process. So we needed to wait until 4.05 PM to get to our gate. I was panicking wondering if I will have enough time to connect to my flight to SFO. There were a lot of people onboard that missed and have a connecting flight. They were all worried and starting to get ticked off. Finally, the aircraft started to move to the gate at around 4.15 PM. The plane finally parked at gate 1 in terminal 3 at around 4.25 PM. I deplaned and started to run to my gate at around 4.30 PM.

The gate for my flight was gate 9, which is on the other side of the terminal. So I ran as fast as I could, and somehow made it to the gate on time. When I arrived my name was just called in the announcement as my flight is leaving soon. I proceeded to the jet way after a bit of running and ready for some rest on the flight.

Delta Airlines: DL 133
Dep: JFK T3 @ 4.45 PM
Arr: SFO T1 @ 8.50 PM
Equipment: B737-800
Seat: 14B
Gate: 9
Date: March 5, 2009

It was another full flight. People were wandering around looking for empty overhead compartments to put their bags. However, most of them are full. So I needed to put my bag under the seat in front of me. I got a middle seat, which made it worse, taking most of my space away. We pushed back from the gate at around 5.10 PM, and the safety video was shown. I feel like Delta’s safety video is kind of like a TV commercial. It looks so lively, and the background music is filled with beats. We took off at around 5.20 PM. The captain keeps the fasten seat belt sign on for a while do to turbulent weather. Flight time was around 6 hours. Soon, the menu was distributed, and the cabin crew started to sell headphones, which were $2. Most people use their own headphones. Live satellite TV, pay per view on demand movies & TV shows, music, and games were available in the entertainment system. Some games can be played for free, but most of them are not. All the music can be listened for free. The PTV is a touch screen version. I decided to watch the Live satellite TV while the cabin crew serve drinks sell food. I was very hungry after running around in JFK, so I decided to get a Caesar salad with Cajun chicken for $8 and some free biscuits. After 2 hours of flying I decided to plug into my iPhone and sleep. There were a lot of turbulence in this flight, and kept waking me up. I woke up and decided to check the map:



I watched TV once again to kill time. I asked for a cup of water twice, because I was so thirsty. Thankfully, I brought along a snack in my bag to keep me alive in the domestic flights. I slept once again, and got woken up by turbulence. Many passengers were wandering around the cabin to stretch and the cabin crew asked them to return to their seats. We were above Nevada when I woke up, and I decided to stay up and watch some more TV. After a while, we finally reached the San Francisco bay area and started our descend to SFO. We touched down at around 9.00 PM San Francisco time, and headed to our gate. The arrival gate was gate 42 at Terminal 1 boarding area C. Deplane was quick, and I then head off to the International terminal for my SQ flight.

More to come...

[BOSqq]

I decided to walk to the International terminal, because it is not that far and also to get a little exercise after sitting for 6 hours. I passed through couple check in counters in Terminal 1 such as Delta and Alaskan. Finally arrived, at the International terminal and take the escalator to the departure level. The Virgin America check in counter was packed with people. Some other airlines such as Philippines are also open. I got to the Singapore Airlines check in counter and started lining up for check in. One of the SQ staff redirected me to check in at the First Class counter. Check in went by fast, because I did not check in any bags. I received both boarding passes for SFO-SIN & SIN-CGK.





I wandered around the International terminal’s main hall for a while and decided to go pass the security. I followed the sign to boarding area G, which SQ leaves from. Security line was not long, because most flight leaves from the boarding area A of the International Terminal. I passed through the security very quickly. Made my way to the right to the Silver Kris Lounge. The lounge dragon told me that the lounge would not be busy tonight. I guess meaning that there are not a lot of people flying J or F tonight. I then proceeded to the J side of the lounge. I got to say that the SKL at SFO is one of the smallest SKL I’ve ever been to. I really needed to take a shower and requested a towel and reserve a time for the shower, because somebody else is planning to take a shower. I guess it is good for SQ to provide a shower service in the SFO SKL especially before a long haul flight. The shower to me is not bad. Here are some pictures from the shower room:







After a nice refreshing shower, I settled down beside the window, and decided to grab some food. Not a lot of food selection. There are some Cup Noodles, Spring Rolls, Samosa, fruits, and some kind of mini pizza. I see that SQ now uses the new cutlery in the SFO lounge besides for the teacups and the plate. The glass and eating utensils are the same as the one on the new J. Free wireless Internet was available, so I decided to check up my email. Boarding time is at 11.35 PM, and I decided to leave the lounge at 11.00 PM to walk around the terminal. There was couple of duty free stores. The terminal felt so empty, because the only flights leaving from boarding area G at that time were SQ and 2 or 3 UA flights. Other flights leave from boarding area A. I proceeded to gate G91 for boarding. I went down the escalator to the gate, and see the bird that will fly me to Singapore, which was 9V-SWQ. It was the same bird that flew me to IAH back in August. Boarding was soon started to begin. Priority boarding began for First & Business class passengers as well as PPS club and KrisFlyer elite Gold members. I proceeded to the aircraft and was the first passenger on Y to board the aircraft.

Singapore Airlines: SQ 1
Dep: SFO T-Int’l @ 12.05 AM
Arr: HKG T1 @ 6.55 AM+1
Equipment: B777-300ER (9V-SWQ)
Seat: 34A
Gate: G91
Date: March 6, 2009

Load of the flight was so-so. I believe there were 2 or 3 people in F. J was around 50%-70% filled, while Y was probably 85%-90% filled. Boarding process took a while, because some passengers requested seat changes to be close with their travel companions. The first Y cabin was full, and there were couple of empty seats in the second Y cabin. I requested a window seat so I can rest my head on the window with my pillow. Menus were distributed at that time, as well as hot towels. I wasn’t able to get the menu, so I couldn’t post it this time. The captain made an announcement that the departure will be a little delayed, because they are still figuring out the best route due to the strong winds on the course of the flight. Flight time will be around 14 hours and 50 minutes. There will be two sets of crew in the cockpit due to the long flight. We pushed back at around 12.20 AM. The usual safety video was shown, and the loud roar of the 77W engine started. We then proceeded to the runway, which took a while, and took off around 12.30 AM. After the fasten seat belt sign is switched off, the mood lighting starts to turn on. It was the usual pink mood lighting. The Givenchy “Amenity kit”, which was socks and toothbrush set was distributed. Headphones were also distributed. I started to settle down: putting on the socks, setting up the headphones, and covering myself with the blanket.



A round of drink was then serve, with a choice of wine, beer, water, or orange juice. Followed by supper. If I remember correctly I had a Chinese style fish with steamed rice. It was not bad. Ice cream sandwiches were served as a dessert, but it was frozen solid. I took a bite and it was as hard as a rock, so I needed to wait for a while so the Ice cream is not frozen anymore. I was too exhausted to stay awake, and decided to sleep. Took quite a long rest. I then decided to check our current position:







I couldn’t sleep and decided to eat some snacks that the crew offered. They offered some sandwiches, chips, and cookies along with drinks. Enjoyed some snacks while watching a movie. The main new releases in KrisWorld were Quantum of Solace, Twilight, Australia, and Slumdog Millionaire. I decided to watch Twilight. I can feel the turbulence due to the wind just as the captain mentioned. After finishing the movie I decided to browse around KrisWorld and noticed some differences such as the Screen off and Quick select menus on the home menus. As well as the weather in the origin and destination cities. One other thing that I thought was only available on the A345 and the A333:



The iPod instruction and the Quick select instruction are actually available in the KrisWorld magazine, which previously were not. I believe they were available after the launch of the A330-300. Anyway, I was actually hungry and asked the crew for an instant noodle, but sadly they ran out of instant noodles and told me that breakfast will be serve soon. I decided to sleep once again until the cabin light is turned on for breakfast. Thankfully the mood lighting was on, so the cabin is not too bright to wake up the passengers. Hot towels were distributed, followed by breakfast. I had a Chinese fried rice with chicken, vegetables, and dumplings. It was really good. However, the strong wind once again caused some turbulence. One hour prior to landing the captain announced the weather in Hong Kong, which would be cloudy with a temperature of around 13 degrees Celcius. The crew then started to distribute the Hong Kong immigration cards. There were couple of people stopping in Hong Kong, but most passengers in Y continued to Singapore. It was a sunny above the cloud as we started to descend. However, as we entered the clouds, we could not see anything until we really reached ground level and see some lights on the runway. It was a very cloudy morning in Hong Kong. We touched down at around 7.20 AM on March 7, 2009. Transit time is one hour. For some reason, SQ allows passengers to stay on board for transit. Usually SQ would make all transit passengers to deplane for transit. Anyway, I decided to deplane to stretch and walk around HKIA as I haven’t been there since Christmas of 2005.

I deplaned and walk through the jet way, and SQ’s ground staff gave me the transit card and place a green SQ transit sticker on my Jacket. They notify that the boarding gate will be at gate 21. Originally the flight will leave HKG at around 8.00 AM, but due to our late arrival the flight will leave at 8.25 AM. We were directed to security for transit passengers and immigration to those passengers who are staying in Hong Kong. Security was fast and no problem. It felt so long since I went to Hong Kong, I forgot how big the airport is. I was too lazy to got the SKL, and decided to walk around the airport. I did saw the banner showing SQ’s new product on SQ’s flight from Hong Kong to San Francisco. I walked around the airport and decided to use the HK$20 I had from my last visit to Hong Kong. I thought I could get a drink from Starbucks, but I couldn’t, so I decided to get a canned milk coffee for HK$15. Our gate was located right behind Starbucks. I walked to the gate and people were already lining up at the Economy Class door. The ground staff announced that Boarding would start at 8.00 AM, and that our arrival in Singapore will be delayed. I went to her and said that I have a connecting flight to Jakarta at 12.40 PM., which gave me less than 1 hour connecting time in Singapore. She told me to not worry about it, and that the ground staff in Changi will make sure I got to my flight on time. Boarding process then started. There were two doors, one is for the priority line: F, J, PPS, and *G, and the other one is for Y. I made my way to the priority line and reboard the aircraft.

To be continued...

[BOSqq]

Singapore Airlines: SQ 1
Dep: HKG T1 @ 8.25 AM
Arr: SIN T3 @ 11.50 AM
Equipment: B777-300ER (9V-SWQ)
Seat: 34A
Gate: 21
Date: March 7, 2009

Boarding went by fast. I believe there were more passengers in F and J this time, and Y class is almost completely full. Hot towels, menus, and headphones were distributed. However, those passengers who travelled from San Francisco still have their headphones, menus, and “Amenity Kits”. I don’t think that the seat pocket was checked when we were transiting in Hong Kong. Some of the trash I had in my seat pocket was still there. I also forgot to eat the cookie that I put in my seat pocket earlier. They did not change the pillow and just put our old blankets in a plastic cover. It was still very cloudy in Hong Kong at that time, and the captain estimated that it would be a smooth flight to Singapore, although there is a chance of thunderstorm in Singapore. Flight time is going to be 3 hours and 15 minutes. Expected time of arrival in Singapore is at 12.00 PM. We pushed back and safety video was shown. Once again, the huge roar of the 77W engine can be heard. We passed through another SQ bird. I believe it was a 3 class B777-200 (9V-SQ*). We proceeded to the runway and was number 3 to take off. It was a rather bumpy take off due to the clouds, but we finally break through the clouds and into the sun. Fasten seat belt sign was turned off and the crew started to give out drinks. I decided to watch a movie while breakfast was being served. I had an Oriental style noodle with vegetables and chicken. After I finished the movie, we only had 1 hour left to Singapore. So I decided to go to the lavatory to get my teeth brushed. I returned to my seat and checked out our arrival information and my connecting flight. Our arrival gate is going to be gate A10 in Terminal 3. My connecting flight to Jakarta will be leaving from gate F52 in Terminal 2. Soon, we started our descend into Singapore, and unlike the captain said, weather in Singapore turned out to be nice and warm. It was partly cloudy, but there are still sunshine. We touched down at 11.55 PM at proceeded to our gate. We landed on the runway in front of terminal 2, meaning that we needed to cross the bridge from terminal 2 to terminal 3. We pushed into the gate and soon deplaned.

Ground staff was seen asking for passengers that have tight connections. I told them that I have a connecting flight to Jakarta, and they told me to proceed to the skytrain and to my gate in terminal 2 immediately. Got into the skytrain, and luckily my gate was right across the skytrain in terminal 2 departure area F. I proceeded to my gate and passed security. Most passengers are already boarded. I was given the yellow Indonesian custom form and proceeded to my first A333 flight.

Singapore Airlines: SQ 958
Dep: SIN T2 @ 12.40 PM
Arr: CGK T2 @ 1.25 PM
Equipment: A330-300 (9V-STA)
Seat: 35A
Gate: F52
Date: March 7, 2009

I noticed from the seat map that 34A is a windowless window seat, so I decided to go with 35A since rows 31, 32, and 33 were all full. It has been awhile since I have been on an Airbus aircraft. The last time was on SQ 37 last June when I flew from LAX. I noticed the “Turn off electronic devices” sign. There was couple of people coming in late. I was really curious of the iPod/iPhone connection to KrisWorld that I asked one of the crew if they have the cable to connect my iPhone to KrisWorld. Unfortunately, she said that it is not available on this flight, because it is a short haul flight. However, it will be available on longer flights. I guess I will try it out next time then… Oh well… We pushed back a little late, due to some people connecting late. So we pushed back at around 12.45 PM. The safety video was shown; the only difference I saw was the part where they showed where the life vests are. They showed the new regional J life vest location. Other than that everything is the same. The A333 engine was really different from the 77W, it’s much quieter. We needed to line up for take off, so that was another 10 minutes delay. After take off, I decided to see the map for this route, because it is a short route.





SIN and CGK are so close that it appeared that we just flew a step away from Singapore on the map. Anyway, I decided to play some Sudoku on Krisworld. I noticed that the handset on the A333 has a different texture than the ones on the 77W. It is a little rougher than the ones on the 77W. Lunch was served and I had the Beef Rendang with rice. I still wished that I could try out my iPhone on KrisWorld. I saw the RCA jacks and the iPod/iPhone jacks instead of the usual video and Ethernet ones on the 77W and the A380.



I went to the lavatory in front of row 31 and did not notice that it was the Business Class lavatory. The design is similar with the lavatory in the A380 and A345 all J. Took a quick peek of the new regional J, and I got to say it looks really nice. The PTVs were indeed huge. SIN-CGK is a very short flight indeed, and it was time for landing in Jakarta. It was cloudier than Singapore. We touched down at 1.30 PM and proceeded to our gate, which I believe was gate D7. Deplane process was really quick, but there were long lines in Immigration, because of some other flights arriving in the same time. I believe it was China Airlines. I proceeded past immigration and since I did not have any bags checked I proceeded through customs declaration, and this concludes my trip report. Thank you for reading.

[Kyo]

It was lovely to read - I hope you get a chance to connect your iPhone somehow on your next trip, even if on short-haul, maybe by purchasing a cable at Changi or elsewhere...

[SQflyergirl]

cool report! enjoyed it