Aussie Trip Report Part 1: Scoot Biz – my 200th Airline & what is “Scootitude”?

[Carfield]

Aussie Trip Report Fall 2014

Photo album of the whole trip report
http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...eSeptember2014

Aussie Trip Report Part 1: Scoot Biz – my 200th Airline & what is “Scootitude”?


Here is going to be another series of trip reports involving my latest trip to Australia. It will cover various airlines, including Scoot, Virgin Australia, Qantas Link, Qantas, and Thai Airways. For Australian frequent travelers, this report will possibly be little interests but hopefully it will be useful for other travelers. For me, there are a number of firsts – including Scoot, Qantas Link, and flying into Ayers Rock and Alice Springs. There will be surprises and disappointments, but hopefully there will be more surprises than disappointments.

My trip began with a trip on Scoot, one of the few long haul LCCs! I selected Scoot because I want to try a new airline and its ScootBiz (well more like a premium economy cabin) is really cheap, especially the 6:55am departure time. The total ticket price including various premium meals, snooze kits and services is $4109HKD. I even paid $120HKD for the privilege to have my luggage tagged all the way to Perth, but Scoot Thru still required me to physically check in again at Scoot’s Changi airport transit desk to get a new boarding pass. For $120HKD, I don’t think I am asking too much for an onward boarding pass printed in HK. Anyway, you are not allowed to purchase this HKG-SIN-PER thru flight without paying $120HKD Scoot Thru flight. For most days, the same aircraft operates both HKG to SIN and SIN to PER flight.

September 19, 2014
TZ 221 HKG-SIN Lv0655 Arr1040 Boeing 777-200ER 9V-OTA “Barry”

Hong Kong airport is not really accessible at these early hours. There are surely overnight buses, which involve many local stops and waiting in a lonely bus stop. Airport Express is closed during the night, so my option is limited to taking a car service or arriving at the airport the night before. I took the last Airport Express train to the airport and spent $480 for a stay at the Plaza Premium Arrival lounge. Not sure if this will be the same option if I ever have to fly out from HKG at these ungodly hours though.

Scoot’s counters are the only check-in counters that open around 4am (4:05am to be exact) at HKG. Scoot uses Aisle E. There were only two counters initially but most check-ins were simple and I only waited fifteen minutes. Please not that there was no separate Scoot Biz check-in counter in Hong Kong. However, nobody was really in a hurry and most of the shops were closed at these early hours. I noticed that five counters were eventually opened after 4:45pm. Thankfully the custom and immigration were opened around the same time and I was able to use the Plaza Premium lounge using my priority pass card. Honestly, despite Scoot recommending an early check-in at 4am, you will be fine arriving HKG after 4:45am. Two hours are sufficient, as there is only one other flight that departs at 6:55am – a Hong Kong Airlines flight to Xiamen, and the next major one is an Emirates flight departing at 7:25am.






Not much daylight, so pictures did not come out too good. Anyway, here was “Barry” getting ready to fly back to Singapore.



Gate 16 was used – one of the preferred gates – Scoot got to use this gate possibly because of airport operation reason! No shop was opened but at least it was close to the food court, which featured 24 hours eatery and some early opened fast food outlets.




The flight was actually pretty full in economy cabin, as there were many takers for this bargain flight, despite early departure. There was a separate Scoot Biz boarding lane.

The cabin manager was greeting passengers at the entrance and this service was no different from Singapore Airlines, which directed passengers to their respective aisles for speedier boarding. Scoot Biz cabin was not particularly busy this morning, but I had a neighbor. To my surprise, there was some form of pre-takeoff beverage – Water cup!


First shot of the cabin
Really nice black-leathered seats arranged in eight abreast arrangement

[Carfield]

My seat 1A for this segment



Seat Control – the poorly located service buttons and recline!


Seat is definitely not international business class style. They are a hybrid of US domestic first class and premium economy seats. It is of course not a lie flat seat, but it is comfortable for flights up to five hours. For my flights today, they are perfect, but not sure if I will fly it all the way to SYD from SIN, except if it is really cheap. I hope the 787-9s will need a better seat. I managed to take more pictures of the seat in the recline position on the next flight, and you can be the one to decide if this recline is good or not. The legroom is not too bad, as I have pre-booked seat 1A. However I was disappointed with the lack of footrest!

Boarding was completed at 6:47am and there was obviously not much traffic at HKG in these hours, except the typical long haul arrivals. Unlike previous flights, we actually took off from R/W7L, which was normally the runway reserved for arrivals only. We took off at 7:04am for our three hours and nine minutes flight. There was no flight map and flightradar was not too helpful, as we flew in and out of coverage areas.

The service began shortly after takeoff. The F/As have already taken all the beverage orders and verified meal orders prior to departure. My ordered snooze kit was delivered first, along with Singapore immigration/custom forms. The cabin service began at 7:42am and no cart was used in Scoot Biz.

I had pre-ordered a premium meal, which had a reasonable surcharge, and a beverage of your choice, alcoholic or non-alcoholic was included. The entrée was a Hong Kong style stir-fried e-fu noodle with shrimps, which was very delicious. There were two deluxe sides, which were a fruit cup of papaya, pineapple, watermelon, and Melon, and a small tub of Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Ice cream. I was more than satisfied with the meal, and as expected, I slept for the rest of the flight.







Descent soon began at 9:41am local time and we landed on R/W20R at 10:13am and parked at gate F54 at 10:21am. We were more than twenty minutes early. It gave me a bit more time to casually walk towards Transfer E for the onward boarding pass. It was quite a walk from Concourse F.

I took a few shots of the empty cabin after everyone left.

[Carfield]

“Barry” here in Singapore


September 19, 2014
TZ 8 SIN-PER Lv1230 Arr1715 Boeing 777-200ER 9V-OTD “Maju lah”

Transfer E “Scoot Thru”



The agent was pretty friendly and all the counters were opened. My onward boarding pass was issued here, and my baggage tag was updated with a sticker showing that it was designated to Perth.

Gate E12



The gate area was pretty busy, as Singapore Airlines’ Manila flight was departed next door.

On most days, the aircraft used on HKG to SIN continued to Perth, but it was not the plan today, or was it?
I was surprised to see “Maju lah” here at gate E12, and it looked pretty good.




Boarding began early at 11:56am, and there were staffs telling passengers which jetway to use! The Scoot Biz cabin was only lightly occupied this afternoon and I had two seats to myself for this five hours flight to Perth. Head F/A was greeting passengers at door and pre-takeoff water cups were passed out again.


Numerous magazines and menus


I took opportunity to take some cabin shots again.
Scoot Biz Cabin

[Carfield]

The first section of economy cabin – only one passenger eventually took a seat in this section – 3-4-3 in Y looked pretty tight.




Seat in recline position




Power outlet – yes it was available in Scoot Biz, but two passengers share one outlet. Not cool here! I hope the new 787-9s will give each Scoot Biz passenger his or her own power outlet. For Y, it was okay to share, but for PE or J, it was not okay


The flight attendant was less friendly than the last flight, and some of them were not really overly helpful, but as of this point, that is the Scootitude. You don’t want them to be too “SQ” like! I honestly cannot call them “fun” and some of the scripts they read sounded so forced. They ended up sounding like a bunch of bad jokes. Anyway, they came around and took beverage order, while verifying meals. I ordered two meals for this flight, as I expected two services. Here was our conversation:

F/A: “Hi you have ordered two meals – a premium meal and a teriyaki chicken wrap!”
Me: “How many services do you do on this flight?”
F/A: “No we only do one service! You have two beverages included in your two meals! What do you like?”
Me: “Okay then I will just get a bottle of water and a Coke Zero”

As an ULCC, I guess you should not expect much right! But this story had a twist!

Door was closed at 12:24pm and an early departure was always appreciated. We pushed back at 12:32pm and I spotted 9V-OTE heading to R/W for its flight to TPE and Seoul Incheon.


Then we were not moving anyway and I thought we were waiting for traffic clearance, which was typical for Singapore. Ten minutes later, the bad news came and the computer of this plane needs to be reset and an engineer needed to take a look. We had to be towed back to the gate. Fifteen minutes later, the engineer decided that the computer reset would take hours, and they were going to change plane. I was suspicious at first. Scoot has six 777s, and as an aviation nerd, I immediately checked where everyone were. I honestly could not imagine Scoot has too many spares sitting around. As I guess correctly, only “Barry” was in Singapore. Its original plan was to fly to Bangkok in the late afternoon, but I guess Barry can fly us to Perth, while Maju lah got its computer issues resolved. At least the delay would not be too bad.

Second time again
TZ 8 SIN-PER Lv1500 Arr2045 Boeing 777-200ER 0V-OTA “Barry”

I always say that you can test an airline’s reliability by seeing it being in action during delays. Of course there is no meal voucher for the three hours delay and not even some water cups are provided. Oh yes, I almost forget that Scoot is ULCC and nobody expects anything. However I still think some bottled waters should be provided, and no one apologized for anything. The ground staffs were not overly friendly and were rather indifferent and doing their jobs. Definitely not the best impression of the “Scootitude” LOL!

Gate E5 this time

[Carfield]

Waiting and waiting – the cockpit crews and the ground staffs were getting concerned that Barry was still not towed over to the gate. The plane still needed to be refueled and re-catered. Finally at 2:41pm, Barry was towed to the gate and finally at 3:01pm, boarding resumed, and things went pretty smoothly. However we were not ready to go yet.



My seat 1K again


Finally door was closed at 3:43pm, and thankfully traffic was rather light at this time of the day, and we took off from R/W20C at 3:58pm for our four hours and forty-two minutes flight to Perth. We flew south passing Batam and Lingga Island before reaching 39,000feet, and than crossing Bangka Island, Jakarta and Soreang. We climbed further to 41,000ft before hitting the coast of Western Australia. We passed Carnavon, Shark Bay, Morawa, Moora, and then Perth Airport.

The meal services began quicker this time, as the load was ever smaller in J and Y. It was obvious that the F/As wanted to help out in the back.

My first meal was delivered at 4:30pm and this time, a different F/A served me!
She asked if I wanted the second meal to be delivered later. Anyway, due to the delays, I just wanted to eat and sleep. She said okay and both my meals were served.

Premium meal for this flight was Chicken Parmesan with Pasta, which was pretty taste. The sides were the same – fruit bowl and Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream. It was obvious that they did double catering for the SIN-HKG and HKG-SIN flight.







I had originally ordered a “Beef Kway Teow” but due to catering change, it was no longer offered, and I got a chicken teriyaki wrap instead. It was pretty tasty, but the portion was pretty small, compared to wraps I bought at other LCCs in the US and Europe.



Entertainment wise – Scoot Biz gets free access to wifi streaming entertainment system, and I did not even bother to try. I just wanted to get some sleep.

There was a second round of BOB and duty free service at 8:05pm. So you could order two meals in the future on this flight, and asked for the second meal to be served at a later time. It was obvious that that first F/A was a bit on the lazy side. But Scoot needs people to buy food.

Sunset over Western Australia

[Carfield]

Descent began at 8:17pm and we landed on R/W21 at 8:40pm and parked at gate 55 six minutes later, next to a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR A7-BBE.



One last shot of the cabin:


Immigration was quick, as there was no wait, and I used the e-passport channel, which was even faster. Baggage delivery was speedy and the first bag arrived at 8:57pm, eleven minutes after we parked at gate. It took a while for my bag to show up but I honestly can’t expect Scoot to offer priority baggage service to Scoot Biz passengers.




Honestly I think I have mixed feelings about Scoot, but for this price, I really can’t complaint. You really get what you pay for, and I am just grateful that Scoot actually learns its lessons and puts in a spare. That’s what Norwegian long haul units need to learn about the importance of a spare, especially your specialty is on long haul flights. I just wish Scoot can offer some basic beverages for the delays at the new gate, and most importantly, the ground staffs need to do a better job in keeping the passengers informed. We are not stupid, when we don’t see a plane sitting at the gate. Singapore Changi Airport has a mixed departure/arrival area, so each departure gate/cluster has its own security. There are often no bathroom facilities inside those gate areas, which made even lengthy delays more painful. The Scoot Biz seat is really misleading, and in reality, it is really a premium economy product with a premium economy seat. Air Asia X can somehow can its lie flat seats business class because it features much legroom with a seat that goes fully flat, even at an angle. Service wise – the F/As were a mixed bunch and don’t expect Singapore Airline Girls. They are nothing close to it, and they are also not fun. Management, Please stop writing those horrible scripts for them to read. My only comparison point is Air Asia X, which definitely has a better premium product, and despite of a slightly higher price, Air Asia X is better run. However, I somehow am hesitant to book Air Asia X because I have to fly those A320s from HKG to KUL, unlike Scoot, which is Scoot Biz all the way. For HKG-SIN-PER flight, I think I can fly Scoot again but hopefully it will be on their new 787-9s.

Carfield

[eminere™]

If we're comparing LCCs Air Asia X's J product looks so much better than Scoot's.

[SQflyergirl]

If we're comparing LCCs Air Asia X's J product looks so much better than Scoot's.

I wouldn't call D7's product "J" ... but the hard product IS indeed better than TZ's

And the first row 11 (maybe it's been renumbered to 1 as per the TR here) is the worst row in the cabin - there bulkhead is pretty close to your knees.

[Guitarsingapore]

We have flown with FlyScoot more than a couple of times by now. Reason is simple - good price. It does add up with you are travelling as a family.

The legroom is very cramped in economy, I think. This video demonstrates.

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

[eminere™]

I wouldn't call D7's product "J" ... but the hard product IS indeed better than TZ's

And the first row 11 (maybe it's been renumbered to 1 as per the TR here) is the worst row in the cabin - there bulkhead is pretty close to your knees.

J in name.