After checking out of the hotel, we proceeded to Pudong Terminal 2 for our flight back to Singapore. The flight back would be the highlight of the trip!
At the departure kerb side.
Prior to the aircraft's departure, I was pretty nervous as SQ had sent the old A380 on the flight rather regularly. Hence, it was a relief that the new A380 took off for Shanghai in the morning, and it would also be the exact same aircraft I flew on into Shanghai. According to the check-in staff, the load in Suites was 3/6 today.
Checking in at the SQ counters and Golden boarding pass received!
Immigration and security was fast as there were not many departing travellers. Soon we were in the departure hall, and spotted our A380 which had arrived early and being serviced.
Up a level to the Air China First Class Lounge. Not sure of the lounge policy of other SQ/Star Alliance lounges, but each Suite passenger was allowed to guest in 1 guest into the First Class lounge.
The First Class lounge was pretty empty with lots of seating areas.
Restrooms were individual cubicles, and was cleaned by attendants after every use.
The dining area consisted of a simple buffet selection.
Bar area
An ala-carte menu was also offered.
Placed our ala-carte orders, which needed some preparation time, and grabbed some bites from the buffet and an Air China signature cocktail from the bar to start.
Shanghainese Xiaolongbao and Iced Tremella soup
Salmon fillet, fried rice and Shanghainese wanton soup.
Left the lounge and headed to the gate, where boarding has just begun.
02 January 2019
Singapore Airlines
SQ 833
Shanghai Pudong (PVG) - Singapore (SIN)
A380-800
9V-SKV
Suites
Flight Time: 5H29M
Boarding the whale.
And welcomed into the brand new Suites cabin! First impression: Stunning! As someone who has never flown First and only once in the old Suites, the New Suites certainly did not felt like an aircraft seat. It was more of a cabin on its own! Amazing! I would be in 2A this evening.
After welcoming us onboard, the crew in Suites introduced themselves. The leading stewardess also gave as a brief on the features of the Suite. At the suite entrance, there is a personal closet large enough to store carry-ons and hang your coats. Slippers, socks and eyeshades were also placed in the closet. No amenity kits and PJs provided on this mid-haul flight.
Huge TV monitor with great resolution.
Simple IFE controller and seat/monitor controls. As others have reviewed, you can swirl the armchair round and round for your own amusement.
B&O headphones already placed at the seat.
Suites guide in the literature pocket.
Welcome beverages offered. A Dom for me please.
As well as a selection of warmed nuts. Mix of everything please.
More storage compartments, wireless controller, window shades/lighting controls and call buttons.
A peek into Suite 1F, which remained empty for the flight.
In the midst of being overwhelmed with the seat and space, the captain informed that due to a tropical depression, the flight would be longer than usual due to a rerouting required to avoid the bad weather. Estimated flight time of 5h30m. Yess!
Pushed back on schedule.
Safety video was played, followed by an introduction video to the New Suites.
The awkward moments of being able to see your fellow Suites passenger across the aisle, with a vase of decorative fake orchids. This was made worse inflight during dining when the armchair needs to be angled towards the suite door.
Taxied to the runway Rwy34L for departure.
More champagne after takeoff? Sure, Krug please.
A leather-bounded menu was presented, meal choices confirmed and preferred dining time noted. We decided to have dinner 1.5hrs after takeoff.
Satay was served shortly after departure.
Another serving of mixed nuts with a refill of Krug offered.
Setting sun
The wireless touchscreen IFE controller was easy to use, but required a restart by the crew as the IFE system hanged on me.
Popped into the XL-sized lavatory, which was so huge that one can do yoga in it.
Suite 1A with the divider down. You don't need to be a crazy rich Asian to fly in one of these luxurious suites haha.
We requested to lunch to be served at 6pm local time, which is about 1.5hrs after departure. But first, lets take a look at the menu.
Beverages selection. For unknown reasons, none of the Chinese teas were stocked on this flight again, similar to the previous SIN-PVG sector.
Dinner service commenced, with the dinner table nicely set up with a selection of breads. Oh, the awkwardness of staring straight at your fellow passenger while dining. Luckily, the crew discreetly asked the passenger across if he would preferred the suite door to be closed, and proceeded to close it between serving of courses.
For the starter, I chose the oven-baked lobster, which was presented in the most crazy way with a huge standing lobster head. Taste-wise, it was a bit dried out but still acceptable.
Next was the soup, which I had the oriental Double-boiled duck with pork soup.
The soup was rather flavourful.
Grilled asparagus salad. The asparagus were still crisp and had a nice grilled aftertaste.
For the main, I had pre-ordered the Chicken Ballotine stuffed with Foie gras, spinach and mushroom. Not sure if it was a China catering issue, but it was too salty for my liking.
The dessert of Passionfruit mousse cake with vanilla ice-cream was very good.
We were just off the coast of Philippines at this time. A detour away from the usual flight path to avoid weather.
Cheeses and fruits to end.
And a Blue mountain to wash it all down.
My friend has the Shi Quan Shi Mei cuisine, which he felt was very average. The assortment of starters.
Shi Quan Shi Mei main course.
Warm creamy walnut soup for dessert.
After the dinner service, the crew offered to set-up the beds.
Double bed all made! The bed was certainly very comfortable, though I thought was slightly harder than on the old Suites.
Its was lights out for the next couple of hours till we were nearing Singapore. Visited the other lavatory, which was still big but not crazily so as the one on the right.
Crew offered more drinks prior to descent and I had a chamomile tea.
Nearing the end of the Suite life.
Landing into Changi Rwy02L right on schedule.
Taxied to Terminal 3.
Last look (and more pictures) of the amazing Suites before disembarking.
A narrower stairway down to steerage on the new A380s, with a lovely crew posing for me haha.
Thanks for reading!
Hello TerryYong!
“The flight back would be the highlight of the trip!”
- Oh, I can imagine!
“Checking in at the SQ counters and Golden boarding pass received!”
- Sing along with me. “Oh, I’ve got a golden ticket… I’ve got a golden chance….”
I think this is the first I’ve seen of the CA F lounge at PVG. It looks nicer in many regards than their flagship lounge at PEK, with the a la carte menu especially. That food actually looks very good!
Although a short flight, what a great way to have one’s first exposure to international First Class products. Nicely done!
I don’t think I’ve seen the choose-your-own-mix-of-nuts thing before. What a great idea.
“In the midst of being overwhelmed with the seat and space, the captain informed that due to a tropical depression, the flight would be longer than usual due to a rerouting required to avoid the bad weather. Estimated flight time of 5h30m.”
- Oh no. More quality time with your new friends Dom and Krug. The horror!
You offer a thorough tour of the SQ F product, and the lav. Much appreciated!
And ha! Is there a better movie to pick for flying SQ F than Crazy Rich Asians. I heard they were offered the airline sponsorship for that flight, but decided against it. I wonder how much they regret that decision today?
Catering looks lovely, though I’m not sure about being presented my lobster’s head. But that’s just me. Unfortunate to hear about the salty main.
Excellent choice on the blue mountain.
Nice to get pics of your companion’s meal too, even if it was just average. That creamy walnut soup sounds very interesting.
The beds look nice, and what a space it creates with the two suites combined into double-bed mode!
Looks like a very nice flight. Did you manage to stop by The Private Room on arrival? Is that even allowed?
I’m curious if you’ve had a chance to read Rewardflying’s recent review of the new SQ F, and your thoughts on his criticism of the suite, especially it surrendering functionality and usability for style?
Thanks for sharing this report… looks like it was a great time. Happy flying!
"Looks like a very nice flight. Did you manage to stop by The Private Room on arrival? Is that even allowed?"
- It is allowed, I've already been fully investigating this as we are landing in Singapore and not connecting onwards. Yes it is allowed if Singapore is your destination although I'm not sure what happens to your bags! I'll be giving it a try later this year, will form part of my hopefully comprehensive report!
"I’m curious if you’ve had a chance to read Rewardflying’s recent review of the new SQ F, and your thoughts on his criticism of the suite, especially it surrendering functionality and usability for style?"
- I'll be happy to offer my thoughts too later this year that's of course if we end up flying the new Suites. Given my propensity for terrible luck I would not be at all surprised to get a swap to the older product. Which I know is still an amazing product and won't be worthy of any of my whining, but I did book this flight specifically to try the new suites. In the days leading up to departure I'm going to be driving myself crazy checking ExpertFlyer by the hour for any changes!
Hi TerryYong
-Lucky you!
So 2A is laid out completely different than 1A. At least you have access to some of the controls the you don't in 1A. Seeing this reaffirms they didn't think this suite concept out.
I also heard the bed was firmer, didn't get a chance to try on the short HKG-SIN. And they didn't serve Satay's either!
I don't know if you tried Book the Cook, but they don't have that option for flights out of PVG. That may give some hints why your food wasn't up to SQ par.
Anyway, nice comparisons. Happy reward flying
Ohhhhh I've been waiting for this one for sometime, although I did catch bits on your thread over at Flyertalk.
I'll be doing this flight in Suites in May and my excitement level is off the carts. First time in SQ F so this gives me a great idea of what to expect.
I'm a little irritated by the fact that there is no BTC from PVG and no pyjamas on this flight. Given that it arrives after 10pm and is over 5 hours I think SQ could reasonably expect people to want to have a bit of rest.
Thanks for the great insight into the Air China F lounge. I was really interested to get a good look at this as I've never heard anything good about lounges in China. Dare I say it this looks actually quite decent.
I'm hoping Crazy Rich Asians is still on when I travel as I haven't seen it yet but its a movie I really want to see!
The one thing I do wish SQ had thought about more is the awful staring at your neighbour while eating. That's a massive fail in my opinion and its hard not to think that Rewardflying has some valid points about the design, concept and testing that went into these new Suites. I wonder if the fact that Emirates announced a brand new F around the same time led to the project being rushed a little?
It's also disappointing that you can't really dine with a travel partner, although my wife and I have 1A and 2A so we will have a combined Suite with the wall down, but its not going to be easy to hold conversation from so far away. That's about the most First World Problem I can possibly imagine!
Thanks for a wonderful and really useful for me, report. Appreciate it very much
"In the midst of being overwhelmed with the seat and space, the captain informed that due to a tropical depression, the flight would be longer than usual due to a rerouting required to avoid the bad weather. Estimated flight time of 5h30m. Yess!"
can totally relate to that! :D