Getting the most out of Scoot & Singapore

[shbap]

Hi AFF'ers

I'm a newbie here, came across the site when googling for tips n tricks! What a great site...

I am flying to Singapore (we are in Sydney) this week on Scoot with the fiance for a very short trip (3 nights, 4 days). First time on Scoot but not Singapore - the last time I was in Singapore was Aug last year on an extended stopover, stayed at Marina Bay Sands with an SQ discount but it was wasted as I was mostly sick in bed due to nasty Delhi belly from New Delhi. So, I'm looking to make the most out of this trip...

We are on a fairly tight budget and I was hoping to get some tips/tricks/suggestions from this community on everything from start to finish. We are staying at the Holiday Inn Orchard City Centre and the stay includes buffet breakfast. Planning to enjoy hawker food (despite the Delhi belly experience last year) so most meals should be very cheap - going to rely on the suggestions on a cool blog I found (I eat. I shoot. I post). Also, picked up a great tip from this site about getting on the guest list at the Ku De Ta bar with the Platinum concierge (thanks Febs).

Any other suggestions? I doubt there is much we can get out of Scoot (aside from the disturbed sleep due to the call buttons and bright yellow)!! Is there anyway we can score lounge access given that the Scoot return flight to Sydney leaves Singapore at 2:00AM? And tips on upgrades at the hotel would be most welcome...

Thanks

 

[richie9x]

For hawker food in Singapore I would recommend the Old Airport Road Food Centre, it is generally regarded as the best. There is also the Smith Street Food Centre in Chinatown if you are after somewhere a bit closer to the central city. There is a market in little India that has a lot of good food stalls, but I forget the name. There are also some good banana leaf restaurants in Little India that are generally very good value for money.

There is also a chicken rice shop that is quite famous, yet still quite cheap. Sorry I forget the name again. But it is just behind Raffles and a good cheap option if you are nearby.

I flew on Scoot SIN-SYD about two weeks ago. On the whole I was quite happy. Although they said the check in opened 3 hours before departure I actually think it opened before then. As I got their just before 3 hours and they were already open. So you could try to check in a bit earlier if it suited you. There aren't that many flights leaving from midnight onwards so a lot of the shops start to close at midnight or 1am.

In terminal 2 there is the Ambassador Transit lounge that you can pay to get in or some credit cards give you free access. You can either pay for lounge access or just pay to have a shower. See Harilela Hospitality . As far as lounges go it is average. Free non-alcoholic drinks and a basic slection of food. The food was mainly chicken nuggets and similar snack foods. But just having a shower and changing into new clothes felt fantastic after a hot day in Singapore. And a good chance to recharge the batteries, both metaphorically and literally.

They said to be at the gate an hour before departure. But that wasn't really necessary as they didn't start to board until an hour before departure and people were still arriving.
Boarding just seemed to be a total mess on Scoot. They were boarding by rows reading out a very particular script. They were boarding by two airbridges sending people down either one at random, this resulted in traffic jam on the plane with people boarding from the rear airbridge wanting to go forward and people from the front air bridge wanting to go back. I think one airbridge would have been more efficient.

I chose a seat with no one behind be so I could recline as soon as possible. The call button and light switches are still very easy to bump and turn on by accident, so I would recommend bringing ear plugs and an eye mask. Despite being a 2am flight they try to squeeze a meal service in after take off, which seems crazy who eats at 2am? I was told the lights didn't go out for about an hour and a half. I managed to get a very good sleep, but I can sleep very well on planes.

 

[shbap]

Thanks for the suggestions richie9x.

Was the Scoot flight you were on full? Just wondering because I haven't selected our seats yet, planning to do so closer to the time of departure and hoping to land seats with no one next to us or at least behind. I struggle to sleep on planes - never can seem to get my head in to a comfortable position - so definitely not looking forward to the call buttons. Hopefully the chicken rice makes up for all of it...

I'll check out the Ambassador lounge. Just got my CBA Diamond credit cards in the mail today, so keen to find out what privileges they can now get me.

 

[richie9x]

I was seated up the front of economy in the 'super' yellow seats in a mini cabin behind business. It was probably 2/3 full. I had an empty seat next to me. After the seat belt light went off passengers did move around a bit into empty rows. I didn't really take a close look at other sections of the plane, but would guess there would be a similar load.

I was a bit surprised by the load. As I flew on a Sunday which I would have thought would be one of their busiest days. I wonder what sort of loads they get during the week.