Review of Tiger Airways flight Singapore → Chiang Mai in Economy

Having never set foot in Northern Thailand before, I recently went on a short 4-days trip to the charming city of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai, the second largest city of Thailand and the unofficial capital of the north, is not as popular as the touristy beach towns and islands in the south, but offers a very different experience for visitors, especially in the culture and sights. Chiang Mai is only a short sub-3hrs flight from SIN but unlike Bangkok and Phuket, non-stop flight options are rather limited from SIN. I woud be flying up on TigerAir and returning on Silkair.

Checked in online on TigerAir's website but only got my boarding pass printed at the airport counter.




Using my Priority Pass, I visited the T2 SATS Premier Lounge for some bites prior to departure. The lounge appeared to have undergone some refurbishment as compared to my last visit slightly more than a year ago. Definitely one of the better Priority-Pass eligible lounges in Changi Airport. It was also not too busy at this time of the day.

Seating area




Buffet selection














My food selection.








Headed to the gate 20min before STD, where boarding has already begun.




19 November 2016
tigerair
TR 2176
Singapore (SIN) - Chiang Mai (CNX)
A320
9V-TRI
Economy Class
Flight Time: 2H34M


A 3-yrs old A320 would be flying us to Chiang Mai. With the recent announcement that the tigerair brand would be intergrated with, and renamed as Scoot by next year, this could well be my last ever flight on the Tiger before the brand and livery goes down into the history books. Tiger is also celebrting its 12th (and possibly last) birthday this year.






Boarding




Took my seat at row 25. Flight was about 80% full, mainly Singaporeans going away for a holiday. Seat pitch was the usual LCC-ish tight.






Bags still being loaded.




Reading materials (aka souvenirs for my last tiger flight haha)




Spot another 2 tigers




Doors closed, safety demo performed and we are ready to go ahead of schedule. Flight time estimated to be about 2h40m. Pushed back.






Taxied to Rwy20C, where there is some wait for departure and arrival aircraft ahead.






We are next for departure after GA B738.




Lining up and takeoff from Rwy20C.














Video of the departure from Rwy20C.




Service announcement after takeoff.




Flying along the eastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.




Cabin view.




Service started with distribution of pre-booked meals followed by buy-on-board snacks/drinks. Surprisingly, there were quite a number of passengers with pre-booked meals, which meant the meal service took quite a while to complete. BOB purchases were also quite a handful, rather surprising considering the steep prices of the onboard snacks and drinks. In fact, this was the first time in many TR flights that I saw the cabin crew needing to restock their meal cart! Service was friendly and efficient, though of course not as polished as the parent company SQ. I did not purchase anything on the flight, having had my fill at the lounge earlier. However, I purchased an A320 aircraft model from the duty-free shopping as a souvenir, since the TR A320 will be no more in a year's time.






Lavatory was basic but kept clean. A number of tigerair-branded airsick bags in the amenity compartment also went into my souvenir collection.




With nothing much else to do, the only entertainment is the view out the window. It was definitely a great day to fly, with hardly any turbulance encountered during the flight.




Soon, descend into Chiang Mai begun.






Video of the descend, flying over hills.




Approaching Chiang Mai and a very smooth landing on Rwy36. We arrived 5min ahead of schedule.
















Video of the landing into Chaing Mai Intl Rwy36.




Short taxi to the terminal an parked at an aerobridge. Nok Air's Dash 8 beside us.




Disembarking.




Immigration was quick as our flight was the sole international arrival at the time. A short 15min and 150baht taxi ride later, we reached Suriwongse Hotel. The hotel is conveniently located near the Night Bazaar area. Hotel is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment, preparations for operation under the Movenpick chain in the near future. Room was large but I found the bed a tad too hard for my liking.




Streets of Chiang Mai






Warorot Market









Old city wall




Chiang Mai has many Wats (temples) in the city. Only managed to visit a few major ones.

Wat Phan On




Wat Phan Tao










Wat Chedi Luang














Wat Phra Singh