To Tokyo on ScootBiz and SQ Business

[ycp81]

Did a short 4 nights trip to Tokyo recently to join my friends who were holidaying there. For the trip, I flew up on Scoot's ScootBiz class on a rather reasonable fare, and return on SQ Business Class.

ScootBiz is Scoot's answer to a premium cabin and offers bigger seats and seat-pitch with meals and baggage included. However, it is nowhere near full-service airlines' Business Classes on mid-long hauls, preferably to compare it with Premium Economy offerings. Anything more than the 1 meal offered per sector and baggage would still be chargeable. But with the regular promotions offered, ScootBiz still offers a value-for-money experience, which sometimes could be quite similar in price with Scoot's Economy, and even much lower than economy on full-service airlines.

Check-in at Terminal 2 where Scoot has 3 rows of counters opened for check-in. Scoot has a large departure bank of flights in the late evening. Check-in was done at dedicated ScootBiz counters, though regularly counters do not have long queues either. Surprised that Scoot does not have common check-in counters for flights, which could make the check-in process more efficient.




No difference between ScootBiz and regularly economy boarding passes.




FIDS




View of the tarmac from T2's Sunflower Garden.




It was a very long trek to the departure gate at F60. Judging by the number of passengers at the gate, the flight seemed to be very full.





09 April 2016
Scoot
TZ 202
Singapore (SIN) - Taipei Taoyuan(TPE) - Tokyo Narita (NRT)
B787-9
9V-OJA
ScootBiz
Flight Time: SIN-TPE 3H58M


ScootBiz pax were invited to board ahead of economy pax and it was another trek to board. Tonight, Scoot's first Dreamliner, 9V-OJA, would be operating the flight.






Boarded through Door 1 and took my seat at 5A, the last row of the ScootBiz cabin. However, the cabin filled up and almost all seats, including the seat beside me, was taken up. 2 crew, including the crew-in-charge, were working in ScootBiz tonight.




ScootBiz seats are in a 2-3-2 configuration. Seatpitch is 38" and recline is reasonable. Seats are equipped with calf rests and power sockets. Inflight power is complimentary for ScootBiz but payable in Economy. Comparable to Premium Economy seats. IFE is through wifi-streaming, though not available on my flights, and internet wifi connectivity is available for a fee. Pillows and blankets are payable though. (Pictures are taken on the TPE-NRT leg).






Welcome drink of a cuplet of water were pre-set on the armrests.




Legroom is decent.

[ycp81]

Scoot Magazines




View out the window.




Waiting for the last few passengers to board.




Doors were closed on time and we pushed back for the short 4hr flight to Taipei. Safety demo was performed manually. We taxied to Rwy02L.

Crossing the bridge to Rwy02L.




Departing from Rwy02L.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw_g9NfrzTA


All dark outside.




Shortly after seatbelt signs were turned off, meal service started in ScootBiz cabin. A meal cart was rolled out and crew delivered the pre-chosen meals to pax, along with a selection of 1 drink from the BOB menu. I had pre-booked the premium meal, which is a Hainanese Chicken Rice dish. The meal came with a starter salad and a Haagen Daz ice-cream. I chose a Choya soda to accompany my meal.






Corn and beans salad and Haagen Daz chocolate ice-cream.




The chicken rice was good. Portion was rather big as well.




Sweet ending.




Cabin towards the end of meal service. Service was very fast and completed within 30min after departure, allowing more time for rest. Crew were efficient and casual, though nothing memorable. Well, this is a budget airline, so expectations have to be moderated.




Visited to the lavatory, which is only equipped with the bare necessities.




Then it was lights off for the rest of the flight where I managed to catch some sleep under my brought-on-board blanket.

Before long, we were already arriving into Taipei, landing well ahead of schedule due the the sub 4hr flight time on the faster-flying B787.

Landing into Taoyuan's Rwy05R.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-32ZU-qscXw


Only Door 2 was used for disembarking so economy pax in the Quiet Zone had priority disembarkation ahead of ScootBiz. Not much of a big deal though. With the early arrival, there was more than 1.5hrs of transit. For NRT bound pax, we had to bring along all cabin bags and clear transit security again.

[ycp81]

Prior to transit security, NRT-bound transit pax needed to present their boarding passes in exchange for a transit card,




Then it was through a round of security screening before we were allowed into the departure hall.

TPE FIDS. We were one of the earlier, if not earliest departure for the morning.




"Dream Start" having a 1.5hrs rest before the continuation journey.




Our departure gate from B8 would be a Glamourous Textile Art themed lounge. There was quite a number of TPE-joining passengers.








CX B773 at the gate beside.




Our Scoot-liner awaits.





09 April 2016
Scoot
TZ 202
Singapore (SIN) - Taipei Taoyuan(TPE) - Tokyo Narita (NRT)
B787-9
9V-OJA "Dream Start"
ScootBiz
Flight Time: TPE-NRT 2H33M


Boarding commenced, again with ScootBiz pax first. Same set of crew operating up to NRT. Forgot to mention, there were Taiwanese and Japanese crew onboard as well, and all announcements were made in English, Mandarin and Japanese.

Settled in after boarding. Less pax in ScootBiz on this leg, and as usual, a cuplet of water was awaiting at the seat.




Another legroom shot.




Pushed back on time and departure from Rwy05R. The flight up to Narita would only be a quick 2.5hrs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-joCFA9NM


Climbing through the clouds.






After seatbelt signs were switched off, all windows were half-dimmed by the crew. However, they were still operable by us pax. Here, I am playing with the dimmable windows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzdOtP6J7nY

[726]

Looking forward for the next sector

[ycp81]

Similar to the previous sector, meals were delivered once the seatbelt signs were turned off. As ScootBiz on this sector was only half full, crew came around prior to takeoff to ask for our drink choices with the meal, and delivered the meals individually from the galley during the meal service.

Again, I had the premium meal, which is a Teriyaki Chicken with rice. It came with a potato salad and a peach jelly dessert. I chose the Coco water (coconut juice) for my drink. For this sector, it seemed that the starter and main of the premium meal were catered from TPE.






Starter and dessert.




Teriyaki chicken with rice. The portion was good, taste was ok.




After the rapid meal service, almost everyone went back to sleep. Similarly, I knocked out till the pilot announcement prior to descend.






Starting our descend into Narita.




Coastline




Approaching Narita










Landed 15min early into Narita's shorter Rwy16L, and taxied to Terminal 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOYQ9skZX3I

[ycp81]

Turning into the gate and parked.






Again, the aerobridge was only connected to Door 2 and thus ScootBiz pax could only disembark after the economy pax in the "quiet" cabin. Last views of the cabin and seats.








Economy seats in the "Quiet" zone, which are fitted with headrests. The standard economy seats are not fitted with headrests.




Last look at "Dream Start".




Overall, I find ScootBiz a pleasant experience on short-mid hauls. Once you set your expectations right that this is not a full-service Business Class model, the offerings are definitely value-for-money. If the price difference is not too great, it is definitely worth it to get a ScootBiz seat. The only downside would be the lack of amenities (everything else except a meal and drink are payable) and the brutal half-way transit stop on the SIN-NRT flight which hindered rest. But for the fare paid, I guess it is worth it.


Spotted a T-Way aircraft in a cute livery while on the long trek to immigration.




JAL Dreamliners




Immigration was rather fast and bags were already out on the belt after clearing immigration.




Managed to get into a short queue for customs check and in no time, I had cleared the checks and managed to get tickets for the 1120am bus to Shinjuku.

The last of the sakuras in Narita.




And an almost 1.5hr bus ride later, I was right smack in Shinjuku!

[Mlee888]

Great report! Looking forward to the next chapter.

[ycp81]

Some of the food I had:

Tempura at a famous eatery in Shinjuku.






Yummy cakes from Harbs café.




Ramen at a joint opposite the hotel.






Tonkatsu meal




Savoury and sweet freshly cooked Calbee!




Eggs and pancakes with mountain of whipped cream!






Limited edition Haagen Daz!




Ichiran Ramen! Though touristy, it is still a must on every Japan trip!




Royce ice-cream. Never seen this before.

[ycp81]

By now, you may have realised why is there no sashimi featured when I was in Japan. Truth is, I don't eat raw fish and meat. Wasted, you might say. So it was to more cooked food! Haha.

Famous Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart. Luckily there was no queue. The previous trip to Fukuoka, the queue was snaking!






My second tonkatsu meal. This restaurant, Maisen, was great!






And chilling out with some flowery desserts and teas at Aoyama Flower Market Teahouse.






Yakitori joint, which is more famous for its fried chicken.










Tasty Japanese-styled pasta and caramel lava cake.

[ycp81]

As it was a rather short trip, I did not do much touring out of Shinjuku, except going to Odaiba and DisneySea, both of which I had never been to.

Gonna cross the bridge to Odaiba.




One of the shopping center's interior, which is modelled after Las Vegas's Caesar Palace.






Park in Odaiba






Replica of Ms Liberty




Giant Gundam.




Off to DisneySea!!




Spot Mickey




Arabian Land. Yes, there was barely a crowd on the Monday.




Toy Story ride




The icon of DisneySea

[SQ218]

ohh I'm not the only one who don't eat raw fish in Japan.

What is the thing on the second plate? Tofu or something?

By now, you may have realised why is there no sashimi featured when I was in Japan. Truth is, I don't eat raw fish and meat. Wasted, you might say. So it was to more cooked food! Haha.

My second tonkatsu meal. This restaurant, Maisen, was great!

Thanks for the report. Can't wait to return to Japan again.

[726]

By now, you may have realised why is there no sashimi featured when I was in Japan. Truth is, I don't eat raw fish and meat. Wasted, you might say. So it was to more cooked food! Haha.

still better than me. I am semi veggie, or more like pesce-pollotarian. meaning fish and chicken eater only. and that means no ramen for me, no tonkatsu for me, no gyudon for me. Sashimi? I only eat salmon's. Nothing else. That is wasted...
Though i do eat tori paitan ramen from time to time, but it is such a rarity to find it in Japan - though some contains lard, which is fine for me. Jakarta is the best place to eat tori paitan ramen.

that reminds me, I have a japanese language homework to do (yes, I have japanese lesson each friday), and then i'm off to chicago via tokyo by ana (5 days stopover on return flight). Can't wait to experience their staggered business class for long haul flight (previously med haul).

PS. still waiting for the business class return report... looking forward for it

[ycp81]

Now, for the premium J class flight back on SQ. It was again a 1.5hrs bus ride back to Narita, where we arrived almost 3hrs prior to departure as we wanted to do some last minute shopping for Jap tidbits in the terminal.

Narita Terminal One.




Checking in for my flight. Both SQ12 to LAX and SQ11 to SIN were being processed for check-in, but there were no queues at all at all of the counters.




ANA Dreamliners




UA Dreamliner and SQ Whale (SQ12) at the far end.




After immigration and security, as well as packed my carry-ons full with Japanese snacks and Royce chocolates, I proceeded to the lounge. ANA Lounge is located one level below the departure level, and hence there is no view to speak of from the lounge. With this aspect, I much prefer Haneda's ANA Lounge with the sweeping view of the tarmac.

Stars Wars Battle Pod simulator at the entrance of the lounge.




Star Alliance Dreamliner welcomes you.




The lounge, as expected, is designed in a Japanese modern utilitarian style.




Lounge seating.




Work cubicles.




FIDS




Anyone here a Million Miler?




Buffet area.

[ycp81]

Cold selection




Hard liquors




Selection of noodles from the Noodle Bar




There is even a sake bar!




My selection of ANA Chicken Curry with rice and Soba with Kariage.




A bit more food and a cappuccino.




Left the lounge about 40min before boarding as it was gradually getting very crowded. Our plane, which has just arrived from Los Angeles, was still being prepared.




Gate area.







13 April 2016
Singapore Airlines
SQ 11
Tokyo Narita (NRT) - Singapore (SIN)
A380-800
9V-SKL
Business Class
Flight Time: 6H49M


Boarding called and performed by priority. Walked down towards the awaiting whale.




Up the jetbridge to the Upper Deck and was welcomed at the door. Proceed to my seat at 92A, which is at the aft Business Class cabin. This aircraft is fitted in a full Business Class Upper Deck layout.

Bulkhead seats at row 91.




Old Long-haul Business Class seat on the A380.

[ycp81]

My seat, picture taken from later in flight.




Out the window. It was a rainy evening.




Welcome drinks and hot towels offered. I opted for the Taittinger of course.




Cheers!




Newspapers and magazines were offered. Noise-cancellation headphones were of the older version. Anyone knows why is there inconsistency in using the older and new "Phitek" headphones on different flights?




Inflight magazines and menu.




Lets have a look at the menu before departure.

LAX-NRT Sector








And what would be served on this continuation NRT-SIN sector.







Champagne and Whites