INTRODUCTIOn
As part of Cambodia trip, we had to find a way back home and we found award availability on New Years out of BKK via SIN on SQ. In fact, with the VA partnership and Velocity points, BKK-SIN-MEL was going to cost the same as SIN-MEL, so it was no brainer to try the regional A350 product.
CHECKin AND GROUND EXPERIENCE
SQ has 4 (maybe it is 5 now) daily departures out of BKK. So, we got there early to make sure we dont get delayed.
Despite this, there was no queue on any of the checkin lines. Maybe, because we arrived early, or this is indeed a quite time of the day in BKK. Thailand had? mask rules in place in the airport and even the Yaksha were wearing them.
The immigration and security was pretty smooth via the priority lanes. Do note though that BKK makes you remove everything including your shoes.
LOuNGES
Honestly, we are spoilt for choice at BKK as it is a major Star Alliance hub.
There are 4 different airlines ones in addition to some 3rd party options.
We have an array Thai lounges, although at the time, Concourse D and E were open. Then, there is the Krisflyer lounge and the Eva air lounge as well the Turkish.
Since we had some time to kill, we visited the EVA air, Krisflyer and Thai on concourse E.
Personally, we preferred the EVA air one. It had a lot of food options, showers, and also views of the tarmac. It was also very modern and bling. The Thai comes second best as it has showers and also views. I would have to rate the Krisflyer lounge as the last of the 3 (not including Turkish) as it didnt have any showers and no views of the tarmac. Although, it does have a full bar, if you like that and the food was great.
Here are some pictures from the lounge.
EVA Air Lounge
Krisflyer lounge
Royal Silk lounge
Aircraft
Aircraft for the day was 9V-SHW, delivered in Jan 2022. As mentioned previously, it is in the regional config, which has no premium economy and the seats are same as those on the 787-10
Seat and hard product
Seats alternate between being close to the window and closer to the aisle. Lots of other airlines use the same seat too. Considering, this is a 2 hour flight, nothing to complain about. 19A has some extra space as it is behind the bulk head. The plane still has that new plane smell and feel
INFLIGHT SERVICE
Service begins with a pre-depature drink.
No book the cook on this flight, so had to go with the inflight menu
Cant comment too much on this one, as I decided to skip the mains after the lounge hopping and in anticipation of lobster thermidor on the next flight. So, this is just the starter and the dessert
As always, the SQ service was excellent, and they were worried about me skipping my mains and asked a couple of times if I was sure. The inflight manager also came by and enquired to make sure I wasn't fasting and was genuinely friendly and we had a great time talking about aircraft.
INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
Krisworld as always was extensive in its selection of movies and TV shows. The big screen here is touch unlike the 777 and the A350 medium haul flights. Really wish they have inflight cameras as some of the other A350s do, but thats not a big deal.
All the connectivity and power you would need and the headphone socket, would be nice to have USB-C. Does anyone know what the NFC reader is for?
Here is the best part.. flight had free WIFI in J throughout the flight. This is pretty awesome considering most airlines only give a limited time usage. Even in economy, you get 2 hours free if you enter KF number in the booking.
AMENITIES KIT
Probably the lowest point of the flight. It seems like SQ has really cost down on this aspect. Yes, there is an amenity kit, but it is quite stripped down. You can request for more if you need. The bag is nice though.
SQ reports are always a delight to read. How nice from them to be so concerned about your negative to have the mains!
I have always wondered where this "Kris" name comes from. Krisflyer, Kris-this, Kris-that. What does Kris mean? Is it someone's name?
I had no idea that those large characters were called Yaksha. I learned something new today.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, yea I was half unsure about writing just another SQ report, but it is always an amazing experience.
Re: Kris, it means the blade of glory: https://www.silverkris.com/airline/news-from-sia/kris-and-batik-what-you-need-to-know/
Now I get it!!!! I can't believe how ignorant I am. Thank you very much for the information!!
Lovely report once again. Fantastic to get a widebody with a nice new J cabin on a 2 hour flight and amenity kits on such a short flight are very rare.
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you! Always a joy flying SQ.
Thanks for this report! I took this route a few days ago. Lucky for you you manage to snag an A350 on a later flight in the day. For some reason I could not find another A350 flight other than the first flight, which left me sleep-deprived. You are even lucky to get an amenity kit because I didn't have any.
Turkish Airlines also operates its lounge at BKK. So I visited four lounges. With SIA's three-hour check-in limit, as well as the occasional queues at security checks, it restrains the amount of time you have to enjoy each of them.
Strange that they didnt offer you an amenity kit on the flight. Maybe because they forgot to load them? Yes, that is correct, Turkish lounge is there too, but yea, not enough time to hop between all of them. We just managed to get into 3 of them. https://youtu.be/0YcF2ObrP00
I understand the elimination of amenity kits has been happening for some time, even on their long-haul flights. Instead they just let you take what you need from their lavatories.
Also, the three-hour maximum check-in time does not help. If they allowed earlier check-in, given the potential for long queues at BKK's security checks, we could spend more quality time at each lounge.