SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

... will have access to the greatest lounge of all - the FCT 😍

I had ten hours in the FCT in 2008. It was a novelty, but I'm not sure it was that good. There were baths, which was nice. There was a restaurant service bistro standard a la carte food, and a bar serving a bewildering number of entry level whiskies. But, there was no view, no ambience and basically nothing to do. The seats were not particularly comfortable and there was no terminal to wander around. Compare that with, say, the TK J lounge at IST which has comfortable seats, games rooms, theatrical cooking displays - or various lounges that have spas/massages - or lounges that have tarmac views.
 
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231 with a pretty hefty 2 hour delay tonight.

Looked at app and seat 11D opened up. Lounge sent me to transfer desk to change, chap at desk made a call, and the person he spoke to blocked the seat so I couldn’t have it.

Unreal
 
231 with a pretty hefty 2 hour delay tonight.

Looked at app and seat 11D opened up. Lounge sent me to transfer desk to change, chap at desk made a call, and the person he spoke to blocked the seat so I couldn’t have it.

Unreal
Update: the amazing lounge desk agent moved me without hesitation.
 
I had ten hours in the FCT in 2008. It was a novelty, but I'm not sure it was that good. There were baths, which was nice. There was a restaurant service bistro standard a la carte food, and a bar serving a bewildering number of entry level whiskies. But, there was no view, no ambience and basically nothing to do. The seats were not particularly comfortable and there was no terminal to wander around. Compare that with, say, the TK J lounge at IST which has comfortable seats, games rooms, theatrical cooking displays - or various lounges that have spas/massages - or lounges that have tarmac views.
Agree!

I only use the FCLs in the terminal for that reason. Much better views and things to keep you occupied if the transit is anything more than 3-4 hours.

Yeah, you might miss out on a car to the plane, but often those cars are shared so no real advantage.

The biggest plus for car transfers is on arrival at a remote gate. That actually saves time and makes the whole process a lot easier.
 
It looks like they were waiting for connecting passengers from both SQ713 (ex-BKK), which was running about 3 hours late, and SQ242 (ex-SYD) which was running 2 hours late.

SQ231 (SYD), SQ255 (BNE), SQ346 (ZRH), SQ366 (FCO) and SQ402 (DEL) seemed to be the affected flights.
 
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I had ten hours in the FCT in 2008. It was a novelty, but I'm not sure it was that good. There were baths, which was nice. There was a restaurant service bistro standard a la carte food, and a bar serving a bewildering number of entry level whiskies. But, there was no view, no ambience and basically nothing to do. The seats were not particularly comfortable and there was no terminal to wander around. Compare that with, say, the TK J lounge at IST which has comfortable seats, games rooms, theatrical cooking displays - or various lounges that have spas/massages - or lounges that have tarmac views.

Will have to disagree on that one. For me FCT is the complete package and I could only think of AF Flounge as able to top that. It starts from being picked up by Porsche Panamera from the plane or parking the 911 you just drove for 3h around FRA courtesy of your F ticket in front of FCT (they will take it back to Avis). Continues with private security and luggage scanning before checking out the DF store inside, maybe grabbing cigars to smoke inside the cigar room with a fine whiskey. Not sure what you mean by entry level btw, there is an endless choice there if you know what to ask. For example, during one of the visits I had Bruichladdich Cuvée 407 which retails > €500. Next you have the fancy restaurant which serves good quality food. Shower, bath, private rooms to rest and finally the Porsche drives you to your plane. I don’t want to upload any photos here since we are already grossly off topic but everything I’ve described is backed up with photos and TRs.

Regarding TK J lounge in IST, agree it’s a fantastic lounge. My favourite J lounge in fact but it's not comparable with FCT IMO. It’s big, busy, can get noisy and there is no special arrival or boarding experience.

Finally, to somehow bring it back on topic 😬 I’d say the new TPR grew on me over each visit. Didn’t like the extra modern look at first, compared to the old English club lounge look it had previously plus there are no tarmac views in the new place. But I have to say the new showers and additional resting rooms were much welcomed addition. Overall SQ did good job 👍
 
Will have to disagree on that one. For me FCT is the complete package and I could only think of AF Flounge as able to top that. It starts from being picked up by Porsche Panamera from the plane or parking the 911 you just drove for 3h around FRA courtesy of your F ticket in front of FCT (they will take it back to Avis). Continues with private security and luggage scanning before checking out the DF store inside, maybe grabbing cigars to smoke inside the cigar room with a fine whiskey.
Most of which you get with the FCL lounges. With connecting flights you trade off the private security at the FCT with having to exit the airport and walk over to the FCT. Zero views (FCT) vs at least something interesting to look at at the FCL.
 
Will have to disagree on that one. For me FCT is the complete package and I could only think of AF Flounge as able to top that. It starts from being picked up by Porsche Panamera from the plane or parking the 911 you just drove for 3h around FRA courtesy of your F ticket in front of FCT (they will take it back to Avis). Continues with private security and luggage scanning before checking out the DF store inside, maybe grabbing cigars to smoke inside the cigar room with a fine whiskey. Not sure what you mean by entry level btw, there is an endless choice there if you know what to ask. For example, during one of the visits I had Bruichladdich Cuvée 407 which retails > €500. Next you have the fancy restaurant which serves good quality food. Shower, bath, private rooms to rest and finally the Porsche drives you to your plane. I don’t want to upload any photos here since we are already grossly off topic but everything I’ve described is backed up with photos and TRs.

We will definitely agree to disagree. I was transferring from another flight. The car meeting me off the plane took me to a doorway in the main terminal and I was expected to find my way from there. It was not a memorably special car. The private security and luggage scanning was, well, security and luggage scanning. The duty free store was tiny and would have occupied me for 2 minutes if I had been so inclined. The bistro served me meatloaf and fried potatoes. I know my whiskies (I was a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting panel at the time) and they had many malts, but all at the cheap (NAS, 10 yo, 12yo) end - absolutely nothing unusual. I don't smoke, but if I did I would not take a fine whisky into a smoke filled room. When it finally came time to go to the plane, I was taken with one other passenger in a people carrier.
 
Most of which you get with the FCL lounges. With connecting flights you trade off the private security at the FCT with having to exit the airport and walk over to the FCT. Zero views (FCT) vs at least something interesting to look at at the FCL.

FCL is nice too although I prefer those in MUC over FRA.

We will definitely agree to disagree. I was transferring from another flight. The car meeting me off the plane took me to a doorway in the main terminal and I was expected to find my way from there. It was not a memorably special car. The private security and luggage scanning was, well, security and luggage scanning. The duty free store was tiny and would have occupied me for 2 minutes if I had been so inclined. The bistro served me meatloaf and fried potatoes. I know my whiskies (I was a member of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society tasting panel at the time) and they had many malts, but all at the cheap (NAS, 10 yo, 12yo) end - absolutely nothing unusual. I don't smoke, but if I did I would not take a fine whisky into a smoke filled room. When it finally came time to go to the plane, I was taken with one other passenger in a people carrier.

Sounds like we had very different experiences. They might upped the ante since your visit in 08. My visits were all between 2014-19. Sadly I heard they lowered the bar since covid but I guess RF will tell us in few weeks.
 
I was on SQ235 which left on time. Noticed SQ 255 had a significant delay on arrival into BNE.

Was the lounge still a zoo? 1.5hour wait for a shower when I was there.
We have ~90 minute delay on SQ255 last week. They announced they were waiting on 2 late connecting flights.

Pre-covid I do no think they would wait that long for connecting flights. Now with full flights and limited schedules they are forced to wait for connecting flights as they'd have issues accommodating passengers on other flights?
 
It looks like they were waiting for connecting passengers from both SQ713 (ex-BKK), which was running about 3 hours late, and SQ242 (ex-SYD) which was running 2 hours late.

SQ231 (SYD), SQ255 (BNE), SQ346 (ZRH), SQ366 (FCO) and SQ402 (DEL) seemed to be the affected flights.

I was on this flight (SQ 231). What you said is correct, as per captain announcement before we depart.


I was on SQ235 which left on time. Noticed SQ 255 had a significant delay on arrival into BNE.

Was the lounge still a zoo? 1.5hour wait for a shower when I was there.

Yes, I was there between 10pm to 2am. About 80% full at 9pm and then maybe 50% at 1am.

Booked for shower at 1030pm and got called at 1145pm.
 
Sadly I heard they lowered the bar since covid but I guess RF will tell us in few weeks
as I think I mentioned before, I don’t do whiskeys or cigars, so they’ll be pearl before swine if they do occur. :)

I’ve also heard that there are no more Porsches - a nice shared van to the plane.

The biggest plus for car transfers is on arrival at a remote gate. That actually saves time and makes the whole process a lot easier.

arriving at ZRH on Swiss first, we got met at the plane door by a lady who said she was going to take care of us to passport control. Down the airbridge stairs to the tarmac without our carry-on ( so the wheelchair pax and partner missed out) and then into a nice comfy van. It was a very remote place the plane pulled up at, so the car to the main terminal was definitely an advantage. We 4 were dropped off at private passport control area, then back in the van and then dropped off at the luggage arrival hall.

it was very cold, so going down the stairs of the airbridge and getting in and out of the van wasn’t necessarily a premium experience, but overall it definitely got me out of the terminal in my hire car at least half an hour before I would’ve done otherwise.
 
I’ve also heard that there are no more Porsches - a nice shared van to the plane.

Porsches are still in service according to OMAAT.
Ben got one from lounge to plane in MUC recently.

I should also mention that if you are lucky enough to be the only passenger you can ask the driver to give you a cheeky tour on the tarmac ;) I’ve done it couple of times in MUC, not yet in FRA as it’s hard to be the only pax driven there.
 

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