Welcome aboard for a series of flight reports around the Asia Pacific.This series will contain reports on 6 segments and cover 3 airlines. So, to borrow a phrase from many pilots, sit black, relax and enjoy the reports.
The routing and procurement method were as follows:
American Airlines LAX-ORD A321 First (Cash - No Report) American Airlines ORD-DTW CR7 First (Cash - No Report) Delta Air Lines DTW-NRT 747-400 Business (NRSA - Here) Delta Air Lines NRT-PVG 767-300ER Business (NRSA - Here) Singapore Airlines PVG-SIN 777-300ER First (Krisflyer - Here) ***Bonus Singapore food section at the end*** Singapore Airlines SIN-HKG 777-300ER First (Krisflyer - Here) Asiana Airlines HKG-ICN 777-200ER Business (Cash - Here) Singapore Airlines ICN-LAX 777-300ER First (Krisflyer - This Report)
Welcome back readers. I have to apologize for the lack of detail in this report. I was at the end of a long travel day and I was a bit thrown off my game as I had not planned on this path home. I am a fastidious planner and when the plan has to be pitched int he bin I don't deal that well with it. As a result of the change in plans 0I had to part with a large pile of points that I could have used for another purpose, so that left me in a strange mood. Anyhow this set of circumstances put a cloud over the experience for me. Of course SQ was flawless, as usual.
We pick up the trip at Seoul Incheon airport with an early morning arrival from HKG. After a deserted transit security experience I was in the main concourse hall adorned with fancy Samsung TVs.
I had a few hours to kill so I wet off to the Asiana F lounge to start. It's a woefully inadequate F lounge.
The food in the morning hours is scarce.
They did have a quiet room with "cubicles" and comfy chairs with ottoman that allowed for a nap.
I stopped by the SQ lounge and it was very crowded so I didn't take any pictures inside. I used the shower facilities and they were adequate but the wait was about a half hour. There is no F section.
Spotted these signs used to mask areas under renovation. Gave me chuckle.
Suffice it to say the transit on SIN-LAX via ICN is grossly inferior to SIN-LAX via NRT, from flight timings to lounge accommodations.
As soon as practical I made my way to the gate.
The usual welcoming committee warmly greeted me at door 1L. There is always someone there to greet the F passengers as they board. When there are only a few this can mean standing there and waiting for any amount of time as there is no way of knowing when we'll arrive.
This would be my first time seeing the 4 F version of the SQ 777-300ER. It's an intimate cabin for sure but of course I lament the perception of less award availability.
I selected seat 1A. Interesting chat with the gentleman sitting next to me in 1C was in 1A for the SIN-ICN sector. Weird that somehow my last minute booking on miles could select 1A for the ICN-LAX sector. Perhaps he was an op-up or even booked after i did. Anyhow, i was happy to be by the window.
Seat 1A is a a fantastic F seat with the new SQ finishes.
My preferred refreshment in SQ F was furnished promptly. I requested a glass of water as well.
The cabin was full 4/4 for this flight. It also appeared that we were 4 that partook in all of the service. Normally I observe one or more F passengers that hit the bed and don't move for much of the flight. Not this time. This made for a busy flight for the flight attendant doing the majority of the in aisle service. Of course this was not perceptible to me as she was spectacular in the SQ way of tailoring the experience to each person. No sense of urgency, pouring wine tastes, chatting, yet still maintaining a great flow and pace.
We departed on time and made the taxi out to the runway.
Takeoff was to the southeast on runway 16. Hazy views on departure.
I was asked when I would like to enjoy the lunch serivce and I oped to go straight into it. Between the poor lounges and limited service red eye flight on OZ I was ready for a meal.
Satay was up first. paired with the Krug, as in customary.
The tabel is set for lunch and the bread basket is passed by teh steward. Couldn't resist the garlic bread and a focaccia loaded with olives and mushroom.
A light crab salad is offered for an appetizer. Rather pedestrian but of seemingly good quality and flavor.
A creamy cauliflower soup. Nicely presented with the crouton and fennel seed.
I really dig having the screen on the IFE controller for the moving map while enjoying a move on the main screen.
The main was a very nice piece of peeled cow.
The Bordeaux was a fine companion to the main.
The dessert followed and it was very lovely. I really favor a light clean dish in this spot. The lemon sorbet was a perfect amount of acid and the watermelon "soup" was a great base.
Say cheese. Not the most inspired selections but I enjoyed them none the less.
To quaff with that cheese.
The Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee presented with a plethora of sweets.
There can't be anything left on the airplane, right? Wrong. A night cap.
The turn down service followed shortly after, as you would imagine. I might prefer the bed in F to the bed in Suites. Especially in the bulk head seats. I think it's wider.
I had a few hours of fitful sleep and then found myself awake. What to do? Try the snack menu, of course. A pastrami sandwich sounded nice on paper. It wasn't very special but I took a bite or two.
Breakfast was offered about an hour outside of LAX. I obliged for some pictures.
The fruit was very nice.
The eggs, bacon, and sausage were all fine. I'm sure I at least tasted them.
We arrived slightly early and this marked the end of the journey. Thank you for coming along on this, albeit incomplete, trip report.
See more
Verdict
Singapore Airlines
8.5/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering8.0
Asiana Airlines First Lounge
7.5/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering7.5
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Services7.5
Seoul - ICN
8.5/10
Efficiency8.0
Access9.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness9.0
Los Angeles - LAX
6.5/10
Efficiency7.0
Access5.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0
Conclusion
The Ground Service: None.
The Lounge: I'm very underwhelmed by the F lounges of the Korean airlines. Both KE and OZ are sub-par when compared to their regional peers.
The Cabin: It's smaller but still quite beautiful. The style and finishes applied in the refresh are top notch.
The Crew: With every journey I take with SQ I am more impressed. Don't they at least have some average staff? Not in my experience. Perhaps I'm setting the bar too low, growing up on US airlines and all? This crew was stellar.
The Food and Beverage: I have to say I was pouty about the lack of caviar. I don't really understand an SQ daytime, long haul, First Class flight not offering a caviar service. Otherwise the food on offer was all well and good. But no caviar.
Overall: I was in a weird mood and very tired so I didn't embrace this experience as well as I should have. To be in a position to travel in this manner at all is a great privilege and I am very appreciative of that.
Thank you for reading and please join me for the next adventure.
11 LIKESLIKE TO THANK THE AUTHORTHANKS ! FLIGHT-REPORT LIKED
Hi SoCal. The 4 seat fc cabin looks nice. I find your comment on the bed being better than the suites interesting. I guess that would suggest the new suites should be even nicer. Accompanied with the reduced availability unfortunately.
Is this your first long haul flight with no caviar? The fra-sin flight is an afternoon departure and it serves the egg I believe. Wonder if it's icn-lax only?
Btw: confirmed they combine sq and *a awards. Did one recently where it was 7,500 less miles when adding a Thai flight instead of all sq for that route. Have to think they will close that loophole at some point tho. Thanks for the ride.
Greetings Rewardflying and thank you for the comments and tip!
"Is this your first long haul flight with no caviar? The fra-sin flight is an afternoon departure and it serves the egg I believe. Wonder if it's icn-lax only?" -I believe it is the first time on SQ First, daytime, long haul, that I have not been offered caviar. Both legs of SQ25 had a caviar service when last I was on board. Same with SQ11. Makes you wonder about the LAX-ICN segment.
For your mixed *A and Krisflyer redemption what are the routes? Is the longer segment on SQ or TG? Spinning the TG equipment swap wheel...good luck!
The Asiana F lounge looks more like a mountain chalet in the Alps rather than the interior of a Hanok. Odd considering how proudly ICN integrates the modernity of the airport with the cultures of Korea.
"I don't really understand an SQ daytime, long haul, First Class flight not offering a caviar service." -Maybe they don't get as much demand for caviar for this particular route? But the breakfast actually looks good!
Where will your next adventure take you? Any hints for us readers?
"Maybe they don't get as much demand for caviar for this particular route? But the breakfast actually looks good!" -Perhaps the Korean palate is not inclined to caviar? I recall seeing a caviar service on OZ when i flew F on JFK-ICN, however.
"Where will your next adventure take you? Any hints for us readers?" -Starting a series of reports on LAX-HKG-TPE-HKG-CGK-SIN-PVG-LAX from earlier this month (May). Some CX F and SQ F/Suites in there.
I absolutley agree with you, the First bed is more comfortable than the Suites one as it is wider.
Catering is nice and well presented, champagne, wines and spirits are fantastic. The Macallan is very nice. Too bad though for the caviar At least, you had satay ;-)
Hi SoCalNow, JFK-BKK, SQ25 JFK-SIN and TG SIN-BKK (another attempt at their A350, first 2 have failed). So there is no First Class from SIN-BKK, even TG on the 747 only sells business. If you took all SQ the points are 120K as a Zone 13-Zone 2. The *A chart is 112,500 for North America to S East Asia 1. .
However there is a more intriguing one that I did not try and that is JFK-SIN-HKG. The new SQ chart charges 135K for this, Zone 13-Zone 4. But the *A chart is 100K and what *A partner flies SIN-HKG non-stop? None other than UA. So theoretically you could get JFK-SIN on SQ and SIN-HKG on UA for 100K. And UA regularly opens space on this route. Plus it's part of the ORD-HKG-SIN route which FC doesn't look to be going away anytime soon. Of course the SFO-HKG direct flight on SQ 777 is 92K, but from the east coast....
You are some mad genius Rewardflying! That's excellent. Just finding SQ25 Suites class saver award availability is is a small miracle but then to be clever enough to combine it with *A for the better redemption. Well played. I hope to try this eventually. I just drained my AMEX points to do the Virgin Atlantic ANA deal which was surprisingly easy to ticket. Thanks again for the education on this and looking forward to your reports. Happy flying.
"Looks like "anytime soon" is October 27 when they will quit this segment. Oh well. LAX-SIN direct on UA 787. How's that for a miserable 18 hours!" -I can't begin to imagine. I don't think I want to be on any flight of that length regardless of cabin. (OK, maybe Emirates F with the suite/shower/bar combo...) I must say Jetsetpanda's report on the SFO-SIN experience was not as negative as I anticipated.
Anyhow, you had better book your SQ -> UA *A award soon!
Not many détails, you say , but the photos of the french and scottish bottles are enough details for me. Sorry for the caviar , i would have missed it too. I hope i could check this level of on board staff on SQ. Thanks again to share this luxury place with us
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15 Comments
Is this your first long haul flight with no caviar? The fra-sin flight is an afternoon departure and it serves the egg I believe. Wonder if it's icn-lax only?
Btw: confirmed they combine sq and *a awards. Did one recently where it was 7,500 less miles when adding a Thai flight instead of all sq for that route. Have to think they will close that loophole at some point tho. Thanks for the ride.
"Is this your first long haul flight with no caviar? The fra-sin flight is an afternoon departure and it serves the egg I believe. Wonder if it's icn-lax only?"
-I believe it is the first time on SQ First, daytime, long haul, that I have not been offered caviar. Both legs of SQ25 had a caviar service when last I was on board. Same with SQ11. Makes you wonder about the LAX-ICN segment.
For your mixed *A and Krisflyer redemption what are the routes? Is the longer segment on SQ or TG? Spinning the TG equipment swap wheel...good luck!
Thanks again and happy flying.
The Asiana F lounge looks more like a mountain chalet in the Alps rather than the interior of a Hanok. Odd considering how proudly ICN integrates the modernity of the airport with the cultures of Korea.
"I don't really understand an SQ daytime, long haul, First Class flight not offering a caviar service."
-Maybe they don't get as much demand for caviar for this particular route? But the breakfast actually looks good!
Where will your next adventure take you? Any hints for us readers?
Thanks again for this report. Cheers!
"Maybe they don't get as much demand for caviar for this particular route? But the breakfast actually looks good!"
-Perhaps the Korean palate is not inclined to caviar? I recall seeing a caviar service on OZ when i flew F on JFK-ICN, however.
"Where will your next adventure take you? Any hints for us readers?"
-Starting a series of reports on LAX-HKG-TPE-HKG-CGK-SIN-PVG-LAX from earlier this month (May). Some CX F and SQ F/Suites in there.
Thanks again and happy flying.
I absolutley agree with you, the First bed is more comfortable than the Suites one as it is wider.
Catering is nice and well presented, champagne, wines and spirits are fantastic. The Macallan is very nice.
Too bad though for the caviar
At least, you had satay ;-)
I really enjoy the satay but will trade you all my satay for some caviar. :)
Thanks again and happy flying.
However there is a more intriguing one that I did not try and that is JFK-SIN-HKG. The new SQ chart charges 135K for this, Zone 13-Zone 4. But the *A chart is 100K and what *A partner flies SIN-HKG non-stop? None other than UA. So theoretically you could get JFK-SIN on SQ and SIN-HKG on UA for 100K. And UA regularly opens space on this route. Plus it's part of the ORD-HKG-SIN route which FC doesn't look to be going away anytime soon. Of course the SFO-HKG direct flight on SQ 777 is 92K, but from the east coast....
Looks like "anytime soon" is October 27 when they will quit this segment. Oh well. LAX-SIN direct on UA 787. How's that for a miserable 18 hours!
-I can't begin to imagine. I don't think I want to be on any flight of that length regardless of cabin. (OK, maybe Emirates F with the suite/shower/bar combo...) I must say Jetsetpanda's report on the SFO-SIN experience was not as negative as I anticipated.
Anyhow, you had better book your SQ -> UA *A award soon!
Sorry for the caviar , i would have missed it too.
I hope i could check this level of on board staff on SQ.
Thanks again to share this luxury place with us
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