Review of Tiger Airways flight Singapore Penang in Economy

Airline Tiger Airways
Flight TR2428
Class Economy
Seat 7A
Aircraft Airbus A320
Flight time 01:25
Take-off 10 Nov 14, 19:05
Arrival at 10 Nov 14, 20:30
TR 39 reviews
marathon
By GOLD 613
Published on 26th March 2018
This was our second flight during vacations where air travel never seemed to work right:

CDG-MCT-KUL (Oman Air) : reprotected on CDG - KUL (Air France)
SIN – PEN (Jetstar) : cancelled, replaced by this flight
PEN – SZB (Firefly) : rescheduled
KUL – MCT and MCT – CDG (Oman Air) : There is a problem in your itinerary

Jetstar sent me an e-mail one week before our flight confirming that we would soon be in Penang,
photo Jetstar e-mail 1
… and proposed to buy additional services
photo Jetstar e-mail 2
The proceeds from these e-mails were probably disappointing, because Jetstar cancelled the flight two days later, offering a 25 SGD voucher that I had not chance to use and to book me on the morning flight, or the day before, or the day after
photo Jetstar e-mail 3
These flights didn’t fit my travel plans, especially since I discovered that there was space on a Tiger Airways flight, 30 minutes earlier with the same fare as the cancelled flight. Would this demerit for Jetstart translate into a good point for Tiger Airways ? This is the theme of this report which is as long as a FR by Marathon, since this is one.

The first FIDS on my way in Singapore was on the subway platform.
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And it confirmed that everything was OK for all travelers ex-SIN that afternoon.
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A spectacular escalator reached the Departures level of Terminal 2
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… where we were welcomed by mascots which did not seem very local.
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Yes, there was a Silk Air flight, five minutes earlier… and double the price
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Too bad for the Singapore girls and their little sisters!
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For the nostalgic of split flap displays,
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… there was one here, but I didn't see it change the display
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Tiger Airways’ deadlines. What was not mentioned was that checking in started at STD-2h.
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The line was very short
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It was even more obvious from the mezzanine which overlooked the check-in counters.
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Low right in the picture above, this self serve scale at the end of the check-in counters gave an opportunity to check the weight of your luggage.
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My laptop was not all that light, but there was a lot of other stuff in my bag ;)
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There were various restaurants on the mezzanine, including this Japanese restaurant
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Like many self-respecting Japanese restaurants, it displayed its long menu as very realistic (and costly) plastic models of the dishes.
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How about the toilets ? They were clean, and you could comment about them.
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Back to our flight’s check in: with its allowance of two pieces of carry on luggage with a total weight of 10 kg, I would not rate Tiger Airways as stingy.
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Our checked luggage allowance was 15 kg each (for a few extra SGD, it could have been 20 kg): the first suitcase was 15.4 kg, the second one well below. The check in staff did not demand transferring some items from the heavier suitcase to the other, like they some fussy airlines do (LCCs and Japanese legacies seem to be most prone to that nonsense)
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There was no problem for checking-in ; a staff checked when you left that the BP and the passports matched.
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I masked the details, so you won’t be able to do the same :)
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An Indian lady departing to BOM passed us without any consideration when we reached the line to the immigration, which was slow: 18 minutes to process 10 passengers.
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We were then airside, since the security check is at each gate in SIN
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We reached this garden decorated with orchids
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… surrounding a pool with carps
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I wonder how many passengers tried swiming in this pool, or getting supplies for self-made sushi before this sign was installed.
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Passengers can give their opinion about the immigration, the cleanliness of the toilets or the beauty of the floral decoration.
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A pastel pencil rubbing animation for children.
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Self serve computers for internet access.
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I could display the corporate home page of the day
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After extended orchid spotting pause for my wife, came extended plane spotting pause for me (fair game), on the way to the boarding room. Let’s start with a Tiger Airways A320, a twin of that operating our flight.
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One of SQ’s many 777s
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The yellow tailed 777 was not completely out of pla there, since Scoot is a low cost subsidiary of SQ.
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Another one, or maybe the same one, seen later.
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MH 737 (?) climbing out
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Let’s call this a relaxation zone, on the way to our boarding gate.
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And then a long walk on a carpet which felt less deep than that of the long haul flights terminal, but I did not have a suitcase with wheels for comparing its resistance to motion.
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The boarding room was soon to open
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There was a free internet access by wifi, but you needed to receive a code by SMS, or at a counter that I did not localize.
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A cell phone appears to be close to mandatory these days, because local etiquette does not tolerate any delays.
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A SMS later, I had the corporate home page.
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There was a reasonable number of power ports in the boarding room as well as in the corridor.
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My neighbor was a young Taiwanese who was checking the program of her four nights – five days trip to Singapore and Penang.
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The security check opened and gave access to this boarding room where there were power ports too, the same internet access,
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… and better for me, windows providing a good view on one of the runways. Arrival of a Silk Air A320.
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SQ 777 ready for take-off
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… and aloft while the Silk Air A320 was taxiing to the terminal
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The same Silk Air A320, with image processing
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KLM waiting to depart home
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Arrival of a Tiger Airways A320
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In case of emergency, the firemen are there
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Arrival of a Firefly ATR72, similar to that of our next flight
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A private jet ready to go
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Air Asia A320 taking off
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Our own aircraft was hidden between a windowless jetbridge decorated with the logo of the Jetbridge Bank.
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Internet access by wifi was free, and there were two free use computers for internet access too.
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There was a cold water fountain, but we were to receive a small bottle of water with our prepaid meal on board.
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Boarding by row numbers
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Going down the jetbridge which had no more windows inside than outside.
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A very smiling welcome by this young FA
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… who waited patiently here until this passenger showed him his BP
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There was a “Relax with more legroom” at the first row: a FA announced an upgrade offer “for a modest fee” which was not specified. It did not seem that passengers bought this option.
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The seats were clean, but better not give a detailed look.
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There was a leftover plastic wrapping in my wife’s seat pocket
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… and a used disposable handkerchief in mine. Cabin cleaning had been sketchy.
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The seat width was of course standard, like in any A32x in 3+3 layout.
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On the other hand, the seat pitch (measured from the edge of my seat to the seat pocket with its contents) was not generous.
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The seat pitch measured another way, with passenger legs
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… and without passenger legs, just before deplaning
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The seats could recline symbolically
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The seatback had advertising for Tiger Airways mobile internet applications.
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The safety card both sides
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In flight literature, i.e. the in-flight magazine and the duty-free catalogue
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Duty free items on sale included inevitably cosmetics.
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The in-flight magazine was mostly focused to the BOB, with 12 SGD dishes
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… and a selection of drinks
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Reactor and winglet before it was completely dark
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Safety demonstration the old way, in the absence of any IFE screen
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The plane left the gate at 19:03, i.e. on time
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The orientation of the runway had just changed: we would take off from Runway 02C, whereas plane spotting had been on Runway 20A. Four thousand meters of runway should do it!
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But air traffic control seemed to hesitate about it: we were the first on the waiting line and nothing was happening after several landings.
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Ten minutes elapsed – I saw headlights in the distance on the runway – before the captain announced: “You must be wondering what is going on. A plane which just landed hard a bird strike and the airport wants to make sure that there is no problem. As soon as it is OK, we’ll be first to take off.”

An A320 is less vulnerable than a Concorde to debris fallen from an aircraft, and has been demonstrated to land smoothly on water after multiple bird strikes, but I was OK to not try again.
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The waiting line had grown behind us in the mean time
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image]http://flight-report.com/photos/86552Pa0rO/IMG_1293a.jpg
A Silk Air aircraft just behind us
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These four enormous reactors could only belong to a single type of aircraft : an A380 (SQ)
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We took off at 19:22, after the runway had been declared fit to use.
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Take-off to the east, which meant that we were quickly above the dark palm oil plantations of Malaysia.
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I should have recorded the post take-off announcement which was fast, but the most important piece of information seemed to have been the start of the duty-free sale which was described as the activity that all passengers were yearning for. It ended with an inimitable Happyyyyyy shopping !.

I had some doubts on the efficiency of these bracelets containing negative ions would, quote, ”inspire me toward a healthy lifestyle, unleashing my natural charms and make me look refreshed and energized”, unquote, and I did not invest 84 SGD – more or less the price of my plane ticket on that flight – to find out about it, with a one-year manufacturer warranty which might not extend to the unleashing of my natural charms.
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This was our selection of hot meals, ordered together with our tickets. We found them decent, no more. Teriyaki chicken for my wife:
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And Nasi Lamk Meal for me. The quantities were not very generous, but this meal saved us the hassle of going to a restaurant after reaching our hotel rather late.
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Any dish was served with a hot drink (tea or coffee). We rated the coffee “barely satisfactory”. We received a small bottle of water too.
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Did you notice the silverware in the presentation of the BOB in the in-flight magazine ? They were a shameless lie: everything was served with plasticware.
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The role of the fourth FA was simple : show the duty free catalogue for those who hadn’t caught the message.
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I found the bottle of water interesting because it was labeled Product of Singapore. The center of Singapore has several artificial lakes fed with rain water and guarded by Singapore’s army like any other strategic facility. With them and reverse osmosis desalination plants, Singapore managed to void the water weapon out of the hands of Malaysia by reaching self-sufficiency for this vital supply.
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あついのでごちゅういください。(Be careful because it is hot).
Good thing that this warning is a language as universal as Japanese. It’s in hiragana phonetic script so that kids who do not master characters can read it too.
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For aircraft floor covering specialists (I met one during this trip)
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A detail of the carpeting, which was not as showay as that of a US airport.
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Detail of the galley’s floor.
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This gave me the opportunity for showing the cabin from the rear, where there was ample space: the majority of the passengers had chosen the option for a seat in the front of the aircraft (as part of a bundle like us, or selectively) and we packed 3+3 in the corresponding rows, whereas the penny-pinching passengers had the comfort of having three seats each.
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I did well to first take a picture of the galley floor because the FAs had drawn the curtain to isolate themselves when I emerged from the toilets.
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The toilets were nondescript
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Changing a baby’s diapers is for women only, here too.
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Touchdown at 20:20 and deployment of the thrust inverters.
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We had arrived in Penang’s International Airport where it was hot and humid: the window was instantly fogged out after touch down. It was 20:27: the last announcement of the crew underlined that the flight had arrived on time, which was no feat when the scheduled duration for a 600 km leg is 1h25’.
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The registration number which was invisible in SIN and hard to photograph in PEN due to the reflections.
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Passengers of an Air Asia flights ready for boarding at the lower level.
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There was very little walking, going through immigration was ultra-fast, and yet our suitcases were already waiting for us at 20:41, i.e. 14 minutes after readching the gate!
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This is the end of this FR, and time for a retrospective of our six well spent days in Singapore

Bonus : Click here display

Thanks for reading this report !
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Verdict

Tiger Airways

7.1/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Buy-on-board menu8.0

Singapore - SIN

9.6/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness9.5

Penang - PEN

8.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

The base fare was 86 SGD ; after adding a 16 SGD bundle (15 kg checked luggage, choice of seat in the front of the aircraft, a meal on board), Tiger Airways’ offering was similar to that of its legacy competitors, for half the price. I had no complaint about the staff on the ground and on board.

Tall passengers may object to the limited seat pitch, and airmiles / status collectors moan their absence. Apart from this, and on the basis on this flight only, Tiger Airways is a commendable option for a short haul flight like this one.

Information on the route Singapore (SIN) Penang (PEN)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 12 avis concernant 6 compagnies sur la ligne Singapore (SIN) → Penang (PEN).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Singapore Airlines avec 8.7/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 18 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 440070 by
    Rl 777 802 Comments
    Thank you for sharing this FR with us!

    “Another one, or maybe the same one”
    - Seems to be another one, judging by the registrations.

    “MH 737 (?) climbing out”
    - Indeed.

    “with 12 SGD dishes”
    - Including melt-in-your-mouth chicken!

    “Teriyaki chicken for my wife:”
    - Did your wife think the chicken could be described as “melt-in-your-mouth chicken”?

    “and yet our suitcases were already waiting for us at 20:41, i.e. 14 minutes after readching the gate!”
    - Impressive.

    Thank you for the nice bonus!

    Have a good one, see you.

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