SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

[Peasant]

I agree Cruiser Elite.
We don't have F where we are and the J
offering, particularly outbound to Singapore is not good. However we have little choice and I have a "thing" about Qantas.
It seems many businesses have taken "Covid" as an excuse to reduce their service. Hopefully when more flights are avaliable from Australia things may improve.

So...I probably know a little more than most about what's been going on here so I'll step in with a bit of a defence.

Without saying too much, SQ has had a lot of problems with their caterers. In Singapore, 80% of the staff at Sats left during the pandemic. For most, that meant permanently leaving Singapore, so they have had a lot of issues getting them back up to speed. It's been frustrating and explains why nearly all flights ex Singapore have operated the same menu. They have only fairly recently moved back into their own dedicated catering centre, next to T4.

Melbourne still seems to be adversely affected, but hopefully things are on the mend. They've had supply chain issues, their refrigerated transport provider went into liquidation and Dnata has had more staffing issues than Gate, who do the catering for Sydney.

You'll probably have noticed that for many months F and J ran the same menu (as pasted above). That's now been fixed - F moved to a dedicated menu on the 28th of March and J will migrate to a new menu in early May, which I'm told promises to be better.

So, I agree F&B has been a real weakness and tarnished our perception of the SQ product. That said, I've been given some assurances that things will soon improve and be back to former standards. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but the proof will be in the eating.

They are absolutely adamant that there is no cost cutting and their intention is to maintain pre-covid standards for all in-flight catering. The crew remain as excellent as ever, especially on the A380 and B777 subfleets.

 

[boomy]

Apart from the Bev service sounds like overall Sq service is still good?.

I don't do Bev other than the soda stuff so I should be Ok for the upcoming trip then

Onboard service is flawless as always.

Customer service over the phone however has declined significantly but KF is working hard to retrain agents and things are improving. The long waiting times have gone but there are still too many unprofessional agents.

 

[Quickstatus]

still too many unprofessional agents

Where are their call centres?

 

[N860CR]

I noticed that SQ have stopped releasing reward seats in the forward calendar - has been stuck at Sat 30 March 2024 for a couple days now. Is that because the new IATA seasonal schedule starts the following day? Or perhaps due to Easter / school holidays? I'm looking to book a reward flight for early April.

Yep. This seems to happen fairly regularly. Give it a week or so

 

[dajop]

Just reached the MEL First Class Lounge Hawker stall.

Last here mid Jan. Wow the menu offering has gone down hill big time. We don’t need a menu entirely composed of hawker food. It’s cheap and quality a step below your typical hawker. Even spaghetti aglio olio is a hawker staple.

 

[albyd]

I flew MEL-SIN last week - I might have gotten to be a lounge snob over the years but MEL F Lounge definitely didn't feel like an F space. Couldn't be bothered going next door to check out the Amex lounge - it's pretty underwhelming in SYD but assuming compared to SQ F lounge in MEL, it's better.

SQ F check in in SIN is pretty impressive btw.

 

[I love to travel]

Can you cancel waitlists at any time?

 

[daft009]

SQ F check in in SIN is pretty impressive btw.

Apart from the special check in entrance and building I wasn't too taken aback

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Just reached the MEL First Class Lounge Hawker stall.

Last here mid Jan. Wow the menu offering has gone down hill big time. We don’t need a menu entirely composed of hawker food. It’s cheap and quality a step below your typical hawker. Even spaghetti aglio olio is a hawker staple.
View attachment 323481

WAs exactly same Mar 24 - just not good enough - and all those items available in bulk in J section SKL - how could anybody attempt to pass this off as a-la-cate menu?

Feedback sent to MEL Station Manager but he is away until mid May - I also pointed out in feedback the thread that was running here seeking alternative lounges in MEL pre dep by SQ F pax - that is coughking disgraceful that SQ F lounge is considered to be so poor by SQ F pax that they seek alt lounges

 

[mel-world]

Can you cancel waitlists at any time?

Yes. I have done that recently when I saw all other F seats occupied. There could be a late cancellation but probably unlikely.

 

[Peasant]

Just reached the MEL First Class Lounge Hawker stall.

Last here mid Jan. Wow the menu offering has gone down hill big time. We don’t need a menu entirely composed of hawker food. It’s cheap and quality a step below your typical hawker. Even spaghetti aglio olio is a hawker staple.
View attachment 323481

This is a different menu to what I had when I was last there 3 weeks ago. Miserable indeed - the HK steamed fish on the previous menu was actually pretty good for a late lunch.

The above is all just bulk carbs or self-serve slop from the J section. Have they gotten rid of the a-la-carte chef?

 

[dajop]

I flew MEL-SIN last week - I might have gotten to be a lounge snob over the years but MEL F Lounge definitely didn't feel like an F space.

I actually don't mind the space (although would be nice to have natural light). It's decent space for an hour or so before a flight and I like the high back chairs, I hate the chairs in most lounges these days which seem to be in a race to have the shortest possible back, and therefore uncomfortable.

It's the catering that's a pale shadow of what it was pre-Covid, or even 12 months ago.

 

[lovestotravel]

I flew MEL-SIN last week - I might have gotten to be a lounge snob over the years but MEL F Lounge definitely didn't feel like an F space. Couldn't be bothered going next door to check out the Amex lounge - it's pretty underwhelming in SYD but assuming compared to SQ F lounge in MEL, it's better.

The MEL SQ F lounge is MEH and the J lounge worse

The Centurion MEL lounge is beyond pathetic - I walked in and out in less than 2 minutes last month.

The MEL NZ lounge is my pick these days

Post automatically merged: Apr 14, 2023

Onboard service is flawless as always.

Not sure much on the MEL-SIN route, it's rare to get great staff, they all seem to hate the SIN-Australia-SIN flights.

That being said the 777 crew always seem better than the A350 crews.....

 

[LadyC]

Not sure much on the MEL-SIN route, it's rare to get great staff, they all seem to hate the SIN-Australia-SIN flights.

That being said the 777 crew always seem better than the A350 crews.....

Thats interesting- do you know why that is?

 

[lovestotravel]

Thats interesting- do you know why that is?

No it was like this prior to COVID but seems to be worse now, that being said I usually end up on the A350 regional which I think lacks staff in J and causes them to run around like crazy.

 

[boomy]

Thats interesting- do you know why that is?

I think the more experienced crew can work on more aircrafts. For example 380 is the peak, crew who works there can work on other aircrafts but crew on 350 might not be certified for 380.

 

[BCons]

Yes, its a seniority thing, as with most airlines: the more qualified/senior the better choice of routes and cabin class. On a recent trip, the best crews were 2 x 777 to/from Sin whereas 2 regional 350 crews to middle east were professional but without much personality..

 

[Peasant]

I think the more experienced crew can work on more aircrafts. For example 380 is the peak, crew who works there can work on other aircrafts but crew on 350 might not be certified for 380.

Yes, that's right. All crew are trained on the 350 but they have a smaller contingent trained for the B777 and A380. Being older aircraft, most of the crew have been trained on these fleets for many years, so there's a much higher likelihood of senior crew too. And being a smaller pool, there's a greater chance that they know one another. Nowadays, the A350 is the training ground for new crew too, so a lot of crew attention will most likely be devoted to training activities. You're more likely to get a green crew (not referring to the colour of the kebaya).

One of the other complications of the A350 is its galley layout which is not conducive to good service. On the MH, all 40 J passengers are served from the fwd galley which is too small: it's insufficient for plating main courses as well as storing the second refreshment service. Coming from the forward galley also means there are more roadblocks than a central mid galley, though the long-haul variant has this.

I gather it is a point of consternation between the cabin crew and management. Ask any crew onboard and they will tell you that the A350 is their least favourite to work aboard in the fleet.

 

[lovestotravel]

Thanks Peasant - Yes the A350 crews seems to be "younger" and not sure of what to do. Two separate trips, had the "do not disturb" light on and both crew members were worried about me missing my book the cook meal. After waking me 3 times trying to serve me I reminded them of the do not disturb light

But yes the A350 layout is disgusting for a premium airline, and the regional A350 crew and aircraft feels like JQ StarClass or whatever it's called these days.

I'm awaiting the NH Winter schedule update from SQ which should come out in about a month or so and see the mix of 350/777's on the MEL route

 

[kamchatsky]

Given all the downgrades on the food and wine for F, is it still worth spending more points to book F, when you can save points and book J instead? I already booked a trip to SYD-MUC and Mxp-SYD with my family of 4 on J. I was looking to book F/Suites in my next trip.....