Singapore Airlines F to London: First time Traveler to UK

[balajih67]

Hi everyone,

Starting this post early as I'm too excited to contain it.

Hope everyone has been keeping well.

You would know me for my previous trip reports, primarily covering Trichy, Chennai or KL. Truth be told, I haven't flown to any other country other than India and Malaysia in the past 11 years. My last such flight was a trip to Beijing in October 2011 and prior to that, Bangkok in 2008.

Therefore, this trip had a number of firsts for me apart from flying First. The first class Journey was part of a reward that I had earned for accomplishing certain goals back in 2016 but only got the chance to experience it now. Thank you to my close fam for covering the airfare.

Some other Firsts of this trip include,

- First Flight longer than 6 Hours
- First time flying outside of Asia
- First time flying a long distance flight

While technically this is not my first time flying in F, my mum used to say I flew with her when i was a toddler on SQ F in the old days when SQ used to operate the 747 to South India, though I have no recollections of that.

While choosing the flights, It did become a pain when choosing between One stoppers or SQ but decided to go with SQ in the end for the convenience of a nonstop flight.

The convenience of having a SG passport cannot be understated as well, providing Visa free entry to the UK.

The trip kicks off on SQ306 on 29 November, departing SG at 0110 on a 777-300ER.

Until then, Stay safe everyone.....

[balajih67]

I will be maintaining a very informal way of writing in this TR to convey my excitement.

The day of reckoning is finally here. Currently typing this out from TPR at T3. Realised First class is all about being private. Private Check In, Private Immigration and Private Room followed by Private Seat.

I was just carrying a couple of check in suitcases and instructed the driver to turn into the first class check In at Terminal 3, located just before Door 1.

My PHV driver was very excited to be turning in there as well. Excitement is Contagious. What an exciting start. As soon as we pulled in, a porter helped with the unloading of check In Baggage and told me to just go in and the baggage will be handled by him.

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Wow Man, This is like how the doorman assists with my baggage at 5 star Hotels. 5 Star service, I must add. Went Into the facility, which had its own array of chairs in the waiting area and as many as 6 desks with agents to process check in.

Damn Son, 6 First Class Counters!, Not even economy/Biz counters handling all SQ flights at T3 normal check in have that many counters. I can never imagine a scenario where all 6 agents would be serving passengers at the same time. Even a full load 777/380 has only max 4/6 seats, But it is good for the evening block with b2b first class flights and for solitaire PPS members as well.

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After all, you wouldn't want to keep your top tier premium customers waiting......

Check In was smooth as silk. With the red passport, most countries don't need a visa and its just checking in baggage basically. With covid restrictions lifted, no more vax checks or forms needed.

Baggage tags were printed along with the red priority tags for my 2 bags. Hope they arrive first at LHR and safely.

The agents were also very kind and wished me well for the trip, a change from the usual economy check in I have experienced so far.

Exited the Check In area to the Changi recommends booth near Door 7 to collect my UK sim.

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[balajih67]

Passed by Row 1.... Brings back memories of when me and my mum took malindo to Trichy back in Dec 2019 to visit my cancer stricken grandmother. Little did I know, that would be last time we would be happy together.

Getting too serious ain't it, Whats happened has happened. Now getting back to the TR,

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Row 1 is used by Malindo, Lion, Batik. All 3 whom belong to Lion Air Group. At the time, check in was ongoing for Flight ID7158 to Jakarta.

Passed by SQ economy class check In at Row 3. I think is 100% self check in unless you need assistance or what. Then drop bags at counter. The boarding pass from the machine is card or paper format? I don't know as I haven't tried it. Anyone can chip in? Thanks

If its paper, reminds me of the cheap Tigerair boarding passes/receipts that I got back in 2012 haha.

Row 3 was gradually getting crowded, A huge bank of India Flights followed by European Routes in the evening and night.

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Comparatively, SQ J and F at row 6 were empty. Wonder why there is a F counter where they have their dedicated facility at T3.

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Soon, It was time to go airside. Decided to try out the first class immigration. Walked back from Row 7.

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How cool is this? A private entrance for F class guests. If this is not luxury, what is? Im blown away by this lads. I'll probably drop when I see emirates private floor for F passengers at DXB or Lufthansa Private Terminal at Frankfurt.

Also got an invitation to the private room.

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Handwritten Invitation. Stop, Im already gleaming from the personalised and private services offered on ground. Its like there is a terminal for passengers and part of it is cordoned off to First class passengers. Awesome/Shiok/Sedap/Amazing, Call it whatever, But can't wait to check out TPR.

[balajih67]

First class immigration was lightning quick. Like Duh, It was just me in there. 2 Auto gates with 1 manned counter. There will never ever be a line I guess.

It brought me out to the escalator taking me upto the lounge. No more of the clear immigration, Turn left and walk a short distance to take the escalator. Man, First Class is like "Above and Beyond". No words......

The lounge staff scanned my boarding pass and escorted me personally into the lounge, how cool is that? being escorted in like your some celebrity. She explained to me the facilities offered and as soon as I sat down a lounge attendant came to take my order. Menu Items too high SeS for my localised tastebuds. Variety of meat like Octopus, Prawn, Chicken, Beef etc but no Fish. Sad life, as I only take fish nowadays for western dishes.

Ordered a Paneer tikka masala dish along with some still water, I don't drink Champagne. I do take alcohol but can't withstand more than a glass/can a day haha. Very low tolerance.

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Taste was Good.

Good for privacy but lack of any kind of entertainment. I bet the business and first class lounges have TVs showing the world cup. Anyway, the 6 and 9PM matches today were not appealing so i decided to stay on in the TPR.

Plenty Of Seating. Individual Pod Like seating, one of which I took.

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Armchairs,

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Cool Looking Sculpture

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Had some ice cream later,

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[balajih67]

Paid the lounge restroom a visit. And it was so clean and luxurious. Changi public washrooms are already the gold standard, this takes it up a notch,

A walkway leading to the restroom,

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Wash basins stocked with Lalique Amenities.

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TPR Wine Cellar, Just Pics only. I dont drink wine or Champagne.

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Outside View,

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If i do shower later, will add in shower room pics. As of now, another 4.5 Hours till Boarding. Here's Hoping I dont get a A1 - A8 or B1-B4 or A16-A20 Gate. Hate shared gates.

[SQfanatic]

I'm looking forward to the rest of your TR, balajih67.

So far great pics. About the self check-in, I just went to Dubai for a week a few weeks ago and last week I returned back to the US and in DXB airport, there was a self check-in and self bag-drop kiosk and I initially encouraged my parents, why not try this way, and we decided to do the old fashioned way in-person and drop our bags and get the boarding pass from the person. The sad part is for EK, DXB being its home/hub, you can't just check in from ANY counter like you would for SQ at SIN or CX at HKG, UA at any hub bases (SFO, etc), there's a specific counter based on countries and continents (i.e. counter for Europe, counter for Canada, counter for all US flights, etc). Crazy and disorganized in some way in Dubai.

I would like to try using the self check-in at an airport at least once for an international flight; I had a good experience for domestic flights personally.

[balajih67]

On the way to have a shower,

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Proper shower Area with handheld shower and soap and shampoo,

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Full range of amenities provided,

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A control Panel to control the Loo, Screaming Luxury from all angles,

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Bench provided to change,

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Soon after the shower, It was time to head to the gate.

Today's Gate was A5, Good that its just below the lounge but there were 4 other flights in the same gate room. By the time I went down It was already "Last Call" lol, Boarded everyone within 5-10 minutes.

[balajih67]

Today's Aircraft was 9V-SNB, a 7 Year Old 77W.

SQ306

STD: 0110
ATD: 0152

STA: 0720
ATA: 0710

Flight Time: 13 Hours 18 Minutes

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First Impressions Of the Seat,

Its wide, huge with loads of legroom even for a 190cm person like me.

Carry On Bags stowed underneath the front ottoman.

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Each seat also comes with this leather Cushion, Perfect for lounging,

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A handy storage compartment at the front to store items like passports and other accessories for easy access.

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Mirror beside the 24 inch TV,

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[balajih67]

AC Power plug and HDMI slot,

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Headphone Hanger and personal reading light, The sliding door below houses the touchscreen remote for the TV,

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Various Seat Controls,

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Cabin Ambience prior to takeoff,

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Another 777 Taxiing for takeoff behind us,

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[balajih67]

Lets Take a look at the menu for this flight,

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[balajih67]

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None of the meals sounded appetizing to me, I had pre ordered the Hindu Non Veg meals prior to the flight. BTC and inflight menu were both dull. Business class BTC Menu is wayyy better than F BTC menu for me.

Service started with some nuts and beverage, I chose Milo. I don't drink Alcohol while travelling. So the thought of drinking money through expensive wines and champagnes in F is not for me.

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Nuts were warm and savory, well complemented by the Milo.

Soon it was time for Supper,

Table set and Starter arrived,

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This was Ice Milo number 2, Salad tasted good but seriously, for a Indian non veg meal, starter was a plain salad. Expected More but oh well.

Some warm Breads to go along.

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[balajih67]

Soon, the main course arrived.

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Biriyani Rice with cashews, Roti, Yogurt, Chicken Curry, Sambar (Indian Lentil Gravy) and another Indian Gravy. It was awesome. SQ Indian Mains never disappoint and this was another feather in their cap. Just missed the papadum but understandable since its not an Indian Flight.

Dessert was a cake.

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Soon Supper service concluded and I asked for the bed top be made.

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[balajih67]

Being an Ardent Soccer Fan, It was great to be able to watch the World cup Live.

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Midway through the flight,

Had some fishball noodles from the snack menu, along with more nuts and coke.

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This was great as well.


I didnt really enjoy the bed, the pillows were too soft, couldn't get a good viewing angle of the TV from the bed. But the bed was wide and long which is good. Probably good for pure sleeping.


Soon it was time for Breakfast,



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Roti with spinach and egg curry. Expected a meatier option but this was not too shabby.

Break of dawn as we began descent,

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Landed and parked at Terminal T2B, beside an Air Canada 777.

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A long walk to T2A, Singapore passport enabled me to use the E gates saving lot of time. Baggage claim was quick due to the priority baggage status. Met my driver and headed to the hotel.


Final Thoughts on the first leg:

Great hard product with an awesome crew and good food and drink. Appreciate the full sized ottoman instead of Cubby hole in J.

But in future, J should be enough for most. F is certainly not worth the few thousands extra.

Next Part will contain some pictures of London

[SQfanatic]

Excellent flight TR so far, balajih67. Great to know you got one of SQ's youngest birds to LHR. They tend to use the younger birds more to LHR and they did that a lot with SFO via HKG when it used to operate.

Meals in First class look great. The fact of the matter regarding F is that it is really just it's really gradually going away from many large carriers as J seems to suffice. I am yet to even try Premium Economy, and maybe in the future the more Star Alliance carriers I fly, the more points so maybe will try SQ J in the future if not F, probably when they get their 777-9's onboard.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your TR.