Sq - bne-sin-ams>>cdg-lin>>zrh-sin-bne

[albatross710]

Currently enjoying my business travel on the ground in Amsterdam and found time to write my notes from the first leg of the journey.

BNE-SIN-AMS
The word that strikes me about traveling in J with SQ is "attentive'.

Checkin at BNE was quick and effortless. I wasn't expecting the priority pass through BNE customs. It made a big difference and I was through about 20 minutes before my Y travelling associate.

I used this time to locate the SQ lounge and try my chances at gaining access for 1 visitor. I did receive the standard company reply ie no visitor unless *G. Fair enough. The front desk gentlemen was very polite and the lady (girl) looking after the buffet was always attentive, offering food and clearing away the mess of the lounge travelers.

J was full out of Brisbane on this day and also full Singapore to Amsterdam.

On board the aircraft cabin crew were meticulous in ensuring every last loose item was stowed. The regional J seat was great and the IFE impressive. It did take me a while to find my way around the seat, controls, plugs, sockets, adjustments etc. At 6'`1" it took me a while to find the head rest extension. At full tilt for sleeping this seat was probably 5-9 cms too short for me, my feet were just over the end.

Doors closed at 14:34 for our scheduled 15:45 departure.

In flight I opted for a Singapore sling. Enjoyed the warmed nuts which was a nice touch.

In flight meals were super . Here's a pic of the salmon entre.

We did use the in-seat calling a couple of time sin the flight. Both the J & Y handsets had crackly poor audio.

Through out the flight the cabin staff were on hand to deliver services.

iPhone operation
I took the opportunity inflight to find out what sort of interactivity I could achieve with the iphone. The standard USB cord doesn't provide any functionality other than to charge the battery. I asked 'Yvonne' for the apple lead. This lead enabled the phone to play my music through the IFE. I also tested the video functionality and was able to play my vidoeo podcasts through the IFE. Pretty impressed with that. See picture.

Flight arrived on time 8:50 local.

 

[albatross710]

Completed the CDG-LIN Easyjet flight last Friday.

Although the airline and originally airport were troubled by the strike, we were happy just to arrive at or destination. The check-in process was operating in a temporary facility. They had done to relocate their IT to have it running. It was pretty obvious that the staff were getting towards the end of their tether dealing with the adversity.

On checkin I was pinged Euro 22 for having an oversized cabin baggage. This is for the same bag that I have been traveling with for the past 4 years. They ended up making me check it as they said I would probably not be allowed to board. Stupid me decided to go the easy route and pay and check the bag as an additional piece.

When it came time for boarding, it was obvious that everyone else new the system - don't go near the baggage counter with larger bags. They mush have all been hiding their oversized carry-ons. Predictably there was virtually no remaining cabin stowage even though the flight was only 70% capacity.

When buying the tickets online a few months ago, easyjet offer a Priority option for boarding first. Easyjet have a free seating policy so it is first in first served. On each boarding pass is A or B, the A people get to board first. Of all the people passing through the gate 80% of people had priority boarding.

As it turned out, we had quite a pleasant boarding experience and ended up seated in the last row. This turned out well as when we landed in Linate we were first off and onto the bus.

During the flight I ordered a toasted sandwich and coffee. Neither of which I would recommend. The toasted sandwich was cold on the inside. Coffee was tasteless.

I have made up for the bad airline coffee with plenty of good Italian shots over the past few days.

PS: Really looking forward to folding back the SQ seat on Friday night and being comforted by the SQ staff. It has been a bust week on the road.