In mid-November this year, I flew nonstop from Singapore to San Francisco on SIA’s A350-900 in Economy Class, on SQ32. I returned to Singapore a week later on SQ31, also a nonstop SFO-SIN sector. After recent nonstop flights from SIN to LAX and SFO on United, it was nice to be back on SIA again for this long flight to one of my favourite cities.
SQ has, by now, a very large A350 fleet. This aircraft type serves regional, long haul, and ultra-long haul sectors. Each of these variants has a different cabin configuration and seat product. Looking just at the long haul A350-900 fleet, the most recent examples differ from the earliest A359’s in that the newest planes have the latest 2017 Economy Class cabin product (Similar to the Y seats on SQ’s regional A350), whereas the earliest long haul SQ A350's have an earlier 2013 Y product.
Both my SIN-SFO and SFO-SIN sectors were operated by 9V-SMZ, a very new plane, SIA's 42nd A350, delivered on 31 Oct 2019, less than 3 weeks before my flight. This aircraft had the latest Y cabin products, which makes the cabin product featured in this TR different from from my previous TR's on SQ's long haul A350's. I was also to find, on this trip, that the service format on the SIN-SFO sector differed from my earlier SIN-SFO on SQ in terms of meal timings. More on that later.
SQ's cabin service is usually very good, and often excellent, in my experience. But over the years, I have found that the longer the flight is, the more personalised SIA's cabin service gets. As flight times get longer, the cabin crew have more time to get to know pax, and their likes/dislikes. While you still get wonderful service on short sectors like the 2 hour SIN-BKK or 5-6 hour sectors to India, China or Japan, these flights are really too short for anything but perfunctory smiles and greetings.
I would argue that the best SQ experience is often on really long sectors like SIN-LHR or any SIN-USA sector -- on these long haul flights the crew have ample time to get to know pax and subtlely (Or not so subtlely...) tailor cabin service to pax preferences, which can really make the experience quite special. And conversely, it is an opportunity for pax to get to know the cabin crew a little better too, if one is so inclined. This is true of J and F/R...it can also be true of Y / PEY. Was this the case on these flights? Read on to find out!
TR INDEX
1. Flight - SQ32 SIN-SFO in Economy on 9V-SMZ (Airbus A350-900)
2. Hotel - Hilton San Francisco Financial District
3. Hotel - Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
4. Run - Golden Gate Bridge at Dusk
5. Dinner - Lord Stanley
6. Airport - SFO and United Club
7. Flight - SQ31 SFO-SIN in Economy on 9V-SMZ
9. Final Reflections
SQ has, by now, a very large A350 fleet. This aircraft type serves regional, long haul, and ultra-long haul sectors. Each of these variants has a different cabin configuration and seat product. Looking just at the long haul A350-900 fleet, the most recent examples differ from the earliest A359’s in that the newest planes have the latest 2017 Economy Class cabin product (Similar to the Y seats on SQ’s regional A350), whereas the earliest long haul SQ A350's have an earlier 2013 Y product.
Both my SIN-SFO and SFO-SIN sectors were operated by 9V-SMZ, a very new plane, SIA's 42nd A350, delivered on 31 Oct 2019, less than 3 weeks before my flight. This aircraft had the latest Y cabin products, which makes the cabin product featured in this TR different from from my previous TR's on SQ's long haul A350's. I was also to find, on this trip, that the service format on the SIN-SFO sector differed from my earlier SIN-SFO on SQ in terms of meal timings. More on that later.
SQ's cabin service is usually very good, and often excellent, in my experience. But over the years, I have found that the longer the flight is, the more personalised SIA's cabin service gets. As flight times get longer, the cabin crew have more time to get to know pax, and their likes/dislikes. While you still get wonderful service on short sectors like the 2 hour SIN-BKK or 5-6 hour sectors to India, China or Japan, these flights are really too short for anything but perfunctory smiles and greetings.
I would argue that the best SQ experience is often on really long sectors like SIN-LHR or any SIN-USA sector -- on these long haul flights the crew have ample time to get to know pax and subtlely (Or not so subtlely...) tailor cabin service to pax preferences, which can really make the experience quite special. And conversely, it is an opportunity for pax to get to know the cabin crew a little better too, if one is so inclined. This is true of J and F/R...it can also be true of Y / PEY. Was this the case on these flights? Read on to find out!
TR INDEX
1. Flight - SQ32 SIN-SFO in Economy on 9V-SMZ (Airbus A350-900)
2. Hotel - Hilton San Francisco Financial District
3. Hotel - Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
4. Run - Golden Gate Bridge at Dusk
5. Dinner - Lord Stanley
6. Airport - SFO and United Club
7. Flight - SQ31 SFO-SIN in Economy on 9V-SMZ
9. Final Reflections
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