Holidays and Airport 'Chaos' since COVID

Last but not least, one of my biggest peeves is the cheapening/severe quality reduction in the feel, colouring and overall value of the boarding pass you get at MEL, regardless of whether you're in Y, J or F. Getting an all-white BP without any premium feel to it is really disappointing. fortunately you can get the proper boarding pass (only for the flight ex-SIN if you're connecting at SIN) at SIN's transfer desk but that's time and effort wasted. If that version of cost cutting hits SIN as it did MEL, I'd be pretty damn furious. Fact of the matter is the MEL-SIN BP is still the coughpy version, only the SIN-xx_ BP can be reprinted at SIN.

Anyone else have similar feelings about BP quality or am I treading down the wrong path here?
Personally I couldn't give 2 hoots if the BP states Business Class what does it matter you are this at the front of the bus.
 
Personally I couldn't give 2 hoots if the BP states Business Class what does it matter you are this at the front of the bus.
Yea, couldn’t give a toss about the boarding passes either- hey, at least they print them still rather than fiddling with your app holding everyone up at boarding!

J seats are pretty cough in SQ, regardless of the plain type. Service- not what it used to be. Food- let’s not even start with that or I have to post my picture of the Singapore Airlines cheese “platter” again and I wouldn’t want to do this to my worst enemy!
 
Yea, couldn’t give a toss about the boarding passes either- hey, at least they print them still rather than fiddling with your app holding everyone up at boarding!

J seats are pretty cough in SQ, regardless of the plain type. Service- not what it used to be. Food- let’s not even start with that or I have to post my picture of the Singapore Airlines cheese “platter” again and I wouldn’t want to do this to my worst enemy!
Have to agree. 3 of our recent SQ J flights were what I would consider just average and service not what I’d expect from them. The SGN-SIN flight however was everything that I have loved SQ for and was truly memorable. The comparisons between that flight and the other 3 were like chalk and cheese
 
J seats are pretty cough in SQ, regardless of the plain type. Service- not what it used to be. Food- let’s not even start with that
I do mind the seats, sure not as good as some but wide and in IMO not that bad as there is heaps of wiggle room. As for the food, I am of the same opinion, my views on SQ food on the EWR-SIN flight late last year.
 
Personally I couldn't give 2 hoots if the BP states Business Class what does it matter you are this at the front of the bus.
Ah fair enough @Matt_01, I appreciate your input and I agree the most important thing is that you're at the front in a lie flat seat.

The only reason I'm peeved off is that I keep all my BPs to look back on travel in the future so having them look "nice" (especially the dark blue band on the top of SQ BPs) is important. I can see that for those that do travel frequently and collect 100s of BPs a year that this is less of an issue.

Thanks for the input 🙂
 
Ah fair enough @Matt_01, I appreciate your input and I agree the most important thing is that you're at the front in a lie flat seat.

The only reason I'm peeved off is that I keep all my BPs to look back on travel in the future so having them look "nice" (especially the dark blue band on the top of SQ BPs) is important. I can see that for those that do travel frequently and collect 100s of BPs a year that this is less of an issue.

Thanks for the input 🙂
I look back at photos of my travels rather than boarding passes, so I don’t care how they’re printed. Ultimately, I much prefer digital boarding passes because they’re easier to keep in case I need to follow up on missing status credits.
 
I look back at photos of my travels rather than boarding passes, so I don’t care how they’re printed. Ultimately, I much prefer digital boarding passes because they’re easier to keep in case I need to follow up on missing status credits.

Don't they have a nasty habit of disappearing when a flight is delayed?
 
Don't they have a nasty habit of disappearing when a flight is delayed?
I always export them to wallet. Wallet doesn’t auto-delete like the apps do. I started doing it when the VA app had a nasty habit of crashing when I tapped on “view boarding pass”.
 
I always export them to wallet. Wallet doesn’t auto-delete like the apps do. I started doing it when the VA app had a nasty habit of crashing when I tapped on “view boarding pass”.
True but be careful- contents of the wallet can still auto update without your knowledge (just like the boarding pass in wallet can in the background change boarding time if the flight is delayed). Had this with a movie ticket once which was suddenly market invalid because the movie (read the ads) had apparently started while still waiting in line.

So, against my own instincts, after last year travel insurance claim due to a health issue, I now again collect everything in a printed version, like it's 1980. Had too many discussions in hotels as well when somehow the rate wasn't displayed on the app anymore and it became all a big hassle. So even there, I now carry a bunch of dead trees with me, just in case.
 
So, against my own instincts, after last year travel insurance claim due to a health issue, I now again collect everything in a printed version, like it's 1980. Had too many discussions in hotels as well when somehow the rate wasn't displayed on the app anymore and it became all a big hassle. So even there, I now carry a bunch of dead trees with me, just in case.
Yup. Don’t know how many times I’ve been rescued by a hard copy itinerary/ booking / BP after ‘Computer says no’.# Thankfully people still take more notice of what’s written versus what’s displayed.

# Most spectacularly when I was only allowed into the international terminal at DEL by a soldier with a gun 😳 only when I showed them a hard copy of my eTicket. Waved my proffered phone away.
 
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Not sure how airports are faring during school holidays in 2023. I am flying international J on a 1030 flight on Good Friday which is the first day of school holidays. Any advice on how far in advance i will need to arrive at check in?

Thanks!
 
am flying international J on a 1030 flight on Good Friday which is the first day of school holidays. Any advice on how far in advance i will need to arrive at check in?

From what airport? Most places have managed to recover from the post-Covid chaos by now. As you are flying business you shouldn't face long queues at check-in. I would say 2 hours before is the sweet spot, unless you really want more lounge time.
 
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Sorry. Sydney.

I’ve been flying out of MEL, SYD and BNE international have had no issues in any of them of late. You should be fine to stick to whatever the airline advises for check in these days.

Only T3/T4 Melbourne scares me with crazy queues these days and that’s domestic and Sydney Budget Terminal can get a bit hairy too.
 
I’ve been flying out of MEL, SYD and BNE international have had no issues in any of them of late. You should be fine to stick to whatever the airline advises for check in these days.

Query was about a Good Friday flight, ex SYD. Crystal ball? :)
 

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