This would be a short report of the weekend trip I did to Macau and Hong Kong over the weekend and also my first trip of 2012. As Jetstar was offering a rather good deal on the dates I wanted, at around S$300 return (Starter Plus fare) inclusive of meals and drinks, one-way luggage from HKG, priority boarding, free seat selection and QFF miles/$30 Jetstar voucher, i pounced on it and booked the weekend trip. The main focus of the trip was food, food and more food! As most of us here are well-versed on service provided by budget airlines, I will keep the descriptions short and let the photos do the story-telling.
12 January 2012
Jetstar Asia
3K 575
Singapore (SIN) - Macau (MFM)
A320
9V-JSB
Economy Class
This would be one of 3K's last flights to Macau as 3K would be suspending the route from early Feb. Guess the SIN-MFM route is really hard to sustain, with SQ, MI and now 3K pulling out, leaving Tiger and Air Macau serving the sector. Guess the lack of business travellers is a major disincentive for serving the city.
Just some comments regarding the flight, I feel that Jetstar provides the best cabin service among all budget carriers operating from Singapore. The cabin crew are mostly friendly and professional, very willing to assist in boarding (assisting in stowing luggage, showing passengers to seats), keeping a strong cabin presence during flight, answering call-bells promptly etc, just as in any other full-service carriers. This flight is no exception, with really good service for a LCC. On my past experiences on Tiger and AirAsia, the crew would mainly use their eye-powers to welcome passengers onboard, rush through cabin service and followed by the disappearing act. If I would to rate cabin service among the 3 major budget airlines, I would rate:
1. Jetstar
2. AirAsia
3. Tiger
However Jetstar still have some way to go regarding punctuality. 2 out of my 6 flights with them in the last half year have seen more than 2 hours delay, including my flight back from HKG on this trip. Enough of ramblings, on to the photos proper.
Jetstar issues proper boarding passes now! Supermarket receipts are a thing of the past.
Some plane-spotting. China Southern A320.
My plane to MFM being catered.
A Sweet China Airlines A330. And more Jetstars (A320 and A330).
Another view of 9V-JSB.
Boarding. The flight was not too full, probably about 60% full at most. Some of the pax could get a whole row each.
Legroom at row 25 was really tight! Learnt my lesson, avoid rows 25 and above on all budget airlines' A320s. Row 24 on my flight back had slightly more legroom.
The stuff in the seat pocket. Inflight magazine was quite worn.
At the gate.
Pushback. Myanmar Airways A321 just arrived into the gate beside.
Safety demo by the crew. The crew member at the front is a Japanese crew.
We had a tour of Changi during taxi to Rwy02C. More Jetstars at T1.
SriLankan Airlines A320 at T3.
SQ A333 and B772.
Of course couldn't miss the A380!
SQ B773.
Garuda baby Boeing B735.
Crossing over the bridge to the other side of Changi.
Finally reaching the runway after a very long taxi! A Firefly ATR72 ahead of us.
We are next for departure.
Takeoff from Runway 02C.
View of eastern Singapore. My place of residence could be seen from here!
Ascending over Malaysia.
Post-takeoff announcement.
Climbing. Not sure at what altitude were we flying as the pilot did not address us during the entire flight. It was very cloudy for most of the flight with patches of light turbulence, but the seatbelt signs never came on.
As our Starter Plus fare includes a meal and 2 drinks, a crew approached us shortly after the seatbelt signs went off and asked for our choices. 4 choices of meals were offered. Just like in Business Class! Hahaha!
The choices on this flight were:
- Nasi Lemak
- Vietnamese Curry Chicken with Rice
- Japanese Curry Chicken with Rice
- Rendang Chicken with Rice (Chef's special)
I chose the Rendang chicken while my friend had the Nasi Lemak.
Meal with drinks.
My chef's special, Rendang Chicken. Seriously, it is almost tasteless. I wouldn't fork out S$8 for this. Bad!
My friend's Nasi Lemak. Slightly better choice, but still not that fantastic.
Conducting the buy-on-board meal service. There were quite a number of takers for snacks and drinks.
Cabin view.
This was the scenery for most of the flight enroute to Macau. White…
Jetstar Business class lie-flat seats. We had a row each to relax in.
Finally the clouds cleared.
But not for long and it was clouds again below.
Descending into Macau. More clouds.
Final approach into Macau. Nothing but fog and the sea below. Really dreadful weather.
Landing into Macau.
Sands VIP B737-300.
and their B747SP. Luxury charter for the high-rollers!
Welcome to Macau! Air Macau A319 beside.
Landed 5 minutes early into Macau despite our late departure.
I was wondering where Taipa is - it looked like Taipei with a typo. That's the result of Flight Report's quaint choice for Version 2 of listing the name of the airport, rather than that of the city it serves . Anyway, even though the plane landed some 80 minutes away from my favorite Asian city, this is an interesting report, with the comparison of the local budgets airlines. Thanks !