Trip Report VLog: Lufthansa 747-8i Business Class Upper Deck Frankfurt to Mexico + Lounge!

So I am getting the hang of making video reports. It is soooo much easier and more fun to put pictures into a video format!

Still, you can't put in all the info unless you do voice overs or something. So I will still have to depend on writing, just a bit.

Imagine arriving around 6 am and having your next flight at past 1 pm. In FRA. OMG. I knew I had to come up with some plan to avoid boredom.  The lounge is nice, but it isn't the most interesting lounge on the planet.

So I decided upon arrival to go through the hassle of immigration and get out to land side. For reasons I still can't understand, I thought it was a good idea to go into the city and maybe do some shopping. Of course I would forget that shops would not open until say 10 am, and that it would be brrr cold outside and  of course I would forget to bring the right clothes. Plan B it was. To get into the arrivals lounge (since I was not air side anymore). Thought I could shower, and have breakfast.

Well.

LH Arrivals lounge, I was soon to learn, was only for people coming off LH flights. Star Alliance Gold status would not get you in. Even if your flight was LH coded but operated by another carrier.

So what else was there to do?

Shop at the Worldshop for LH Rimowa luggage. Always wanted a matching carry on. Met a Singaporean lady there who was raving about how she compared prices in Singapore and how cheap it was in Germany. My shopping experience took a few hours after I learned that my luggage was a little damaged and I had to go back and exchange it.

I did think of doing the airport tour but they had limited slots and I couldn't make it work. So it was back through immigration and security. FRA is just bad with security. They always find something to gripe about. This time it was my Bose mini sound link. They literally hauled me away, put the damn thing in a box before deciding it wasn't a terrorist tool. The only upside to this experience was the officer, who was a stunner, made a pass at me. Er hm.

The rest of the time was spent in the lounge, where I chatted with the friendly bartender from the Philippines and ate average food. Tried to nap, just couldn't do it.

Boarding was easy. If I wanted to I could even use the pass noted in my iPhone. LH is good for such things. Very integrated and seamless, unlike some other airlines.

On board, the service was professional. Of course it would never be like Asian hospitality. But the ladies were pleasant enough, and they fed us all enough to not warrant any call bell.

Note: I had the first row, upper deck. The beauty of the Dash 8 is of course the extended upper deck. So it should be your first choice. And because it is single aisle up there with limited seats, it does tend to be quieter. I know because I have sat in the main deck business class too. Not pleasant.

First row however meant that your IFE monitors would be cramped together. But lucky me, I was alone in that row. Guess most HON members prefer the full seat set up with all the cubby holes etc.

Catering was of course better than pre-new business class days. And because this was the Dash 8 the service was upgraded. I must say the food wasn't bad at all. And in some respects even better than SQ. Except for the welcome nuts. In a packet, not in a bowl, and not warm. Terrible.

There were two meals on this flight. Lunch and pre-landing dinner, which was an abbreviated version. Single tray service whereas the lunch was course by course.

Amenity kit was from Samsonite. Well the bag at least. Nice, considering what LH used to give out.  Anything missing from the kit you can get from the restrooms.

The flight was uneventful, except that someone from two rows back kept eyeing me, and even shamelessly made several trips to the lavs in the front. It wouldn't take a genius to know that I was er hmm being desired.

The immigration process was simple and quick. And everyone was friendly and used whatever English they knew to welcome me into their country. It was a good start to what would be a hectic trip.

Enjoy the video!

Lounge Report: Singapore Airlines Silverkris Business Class Lounge Changi Airport T3

SQ's flagship lounge is still as 'glam' as before. But a facelift would be nice. One wonders why SQ decided to launch its new 'Home Away from Home' lounge concept in Sydney first.  Anyway, if there is ever a gripe for SQ, it sucks that the lounge gets very crowded in the evenings even though the carrier restricts entry to the lounge in a big way.

I will say though that the lounge is the perfect opportunity to learn and understand that just because some people get to fly premium cabins, that does not show breeding of any kind. Some take the word lounge as a verb, as in something you do at home. Yuk. When I look at old Pan Am pictures, I wish people would still see travel as a luxurious privilege and come to airport appropriately so.

Anyway, coming back to the SQ's lounge, I will just let the pictures speak for themselves. At the end of the day, any seasoned traveler would really regard a lounge just as a place to escape the hordes outside, until they meet hordes inside (I'm talking LH lounge Mumbai!). And of course SKL Changi T3!

It started with Check In.

Empty as usual 

The airport had tacky Chinese New Year decorations

I wondered if they had the license to use Disney characters

Really cute mobile displays

Vaguely familiar. Changi might have been doing the time honored Singaporean tradition of 'lifting' established designs and IPs and appropriating them without having to pay fees

Never saw this before, or never noticed

Nice display though

Another media wall outside the lounge

Inside, dark, luxe, and cramped

That night was like a bumper crop of hotties and everyone seemed to have lived in the gym...er hmmm...lats anyone?

Papers....like anyone bothers to read them

The way to the showers and restrooms

Bread and Salad bar...maybe...can't remember if there were any greens there

Fruits and dessert....weakest part of catering

Food from every major culture in Singapore, from Malay to Indian to of course Chinese

Rendang, sweet and sour fish, sushi and chicken drumlets

DIY cold soba

My fave tea when I fly SQ...there is a uniqueness to the blend that just reminds me of SQ

Lounge Report: London Heathrow T2 United Airlines Lounge

Well.

After a not so fabulous flight on UA, I was so looking forward to trying out SQ's new lounge concept called 'Home Away From Home' (which by the way is also the tagline for CX's lounge in HKIA) in London T2.

The terminal had only just recently gone into operations and is dedicated to Star Alliance carriers. And it was to be the second site, I believe, after Sydney to have SQ's new lounge designs. I checked in advance and it looked like everything was all set up. But this was not to be. Horror of horrors, the lounge was not completed and we had to go to UA's lounge instead.

OMG. UA. Again.

The lady pushing our wheelchair was a nice Indian young lady that was chatty throughout. We had a great time talking about favorite airlines and lounges. She said she had a lot of opportunities to see the cabins of different carriers because of her job and she loved SQ. Yes dear, we all do.

The trek to the transit area was PUNISHING. It was far, like walking from one end of a soccer field to the other. And with a wheelchair passenger and carry on luggage for two, that was HELL. We saw buggies going by and the lady told us that we could not avail that because we had requested a wheelchair. It just did not make sense. If we had not asked for a wheelchair, we could have had the buggy??

For a while, it was "are we there yet?"

We got to security and oh well, typical. One airport says yes, another says no. They made a big deal about some liquid medication that IAD had checked and cleared, saying it was different in London. Uh hm. Difference in common sense?  The supervisor who oddly enough had an American accent that we spoke to was unrelenting. He said he could not make an exception even if it was medication that was cleared by the Americans. Ok. Whatever.

They had the cheek to say: Go to the pharmacy here at the airport. Ours is much better than this!

Well, I was just grateful they didn't trash my Tom Ford Black Orchid that I forgot to check in! Ok so Tom Ford is fine, medicine nope. Got it.

We got to the UA lounge. The lounge dragons were actually very nice. We went in. And well!  UA did something right. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Of course I had to try the showers. It was pretty full and you had to book in advance. I got my slot, and went in when it was time. The place smelled and looked like a spa. Very impressive. The rooms were also beautifully designed, but if I have to gripe, I wished they had better amenities inside.

Plane spotting: Not so much but you do get full windows to the tarmac. Oh and a view to beautiful London weather!

UA definitely shone in their product. It is just tragic that the same standards aren't followed through in other aspects of their business. But hey, even the best can falter.

Our next flight was with SQ. And again we had requested in advance, wheelchair service. The dude came over when we were in the bathroom. He told the reception he would be back in 15 minutes to get us. That would have meant 15 minutes to departure. Odd. At 10 minutes to departure, we got frantic paging on the intercom that we had to go to the gate. We made our way to the reception. Then BOOM, three SQ ground staffers showed up REALLY GRUMPY. Heard some commotion about how the passengers were not ready to be picked up earlier. Er hm. HALLO. YOUR paid for airport service didn't come back!

Then, to make sure they got an on time departure, we finally got what should have been offered in the first place. BUGGIES. Two of them. They scrambled to drive us to the gate. But the buggies were designed to lock people in, and they can't get out without someone unlatching the door from the outside. I was stuck. Until they realized they had to get me out.

It was chaos. Enough for me to write them in to HQ, which I hardly ever do. But you can't blame your passengers for service failures, and then show them your unhappiness with your black faces.

Thankfully though, when we got on board, the atmosphere immediately calmed us down. I have always maintained that the thing with Singapore Airlines is that you always feel like you are already home the moment you step on their planes. And I hear this a lot from other business travelers who fly with them. And they somehow are able to keep the cabin calm inside.

We had like 3-4 people all lunging forward to help us, especially after they saw the wheelchair coming down the bridge. We had them help us with our luggage, which some airlines by policy forbid their staff to do. And even though we were late, we were still given the full pre-take off service of drinks, hot towel and magazines.

Anyway that is for the next trip report!

Trip Report: Singapore Airlines SQ231 All Business Class Singapore to Sydney

It has been a while since I have written for SRFlyer.  My other blog explains the lethargy and other reasons. It wasn't like I had no content. Just needed a push.

Then I realized for this blog that as much as I like to share, I also have not had a record of my past trips other than loads of pictures. And unlike the old days when you can write behind the kodak prints, typing in metadata in huge volumes of jpegs can be tedious.

So this blog, as much as it is for others, is also for me.

So here goes. First trip report EVER. Please be kind.

Trip: Australia / New Zealand 2013 (OZNZ 2013)

Reason:   Miles Burn from BMI sale to BA (ick)
Itinerary:  SIN - SYD - MEL - AKL - SYD - SIN
Dates:      28 Feb - 13 Mar 2013

Business Class

First Sector: SIN - SYD
Carrier: Singapore Airlines
Flight: SQ231
Equipment: A388 (All Business Class Configuration)
Departure: 0045
Arrival: 1150
Seat: 12K
Book the Cook: Chargrilled Soya Beef Steak (Culinary Panel selection)

Like many others who had to burn their miles, this was booked like a year before. I had timed the trip to coincide with Mardi Gras 2013 (might as well), without even knowing the cost implications of that decision. It became something that I ended up regretting a bit, more on that later.

The good thing of such an advanced booking was that I was able to get my fave seat 12K and lock that down.  Also, I learned to use the system to be able to retrieve SQ's own PNR code for my booking, which was separate for BMI's booking reference. That helped out A LOT when it came to making changes to my BTC later. I also managed to get the Air New Zealand code, which helped initially to get my seats, but once BMI closed operations, I was locked out of making any amendments. This should have hinted something about what would happen during my first Air NZ flight. Oh well. More on that later too.

When the day rolled along to go for the trip, I made sure I got reminders that I had to check in the night before for the early morning flight.

It had been a while since I flew on SQ's A388, so I was psyched.

Started out with the cab ride. Like many Singaporean cab drivers, they would switch on the meter even before you got into the cab and told them the destination. It is a small annoyance, and it is crazy to me that they would think doing something which is forbidden by their rules, would earn them that much more!

By the time I got to the airport however, I made peace with that and had a good time talking to the driver about his camouflage driving gloves. Quite rad!

Got to check in. I had already done OLCI a few hours before. Wanted to get fragile tags on my new Lufthansa Rimowa luggage. I love love love my Rimowa and really prayed that baggage handlers would respect it!

There were quite a few people checking in. I noticed this Caucasian guy standing behind me taking pictures of the process, and I figured, that's a great idea and followed suit.

When it was my turn, as usual, I had a fun time bantering with the agent. She found it humorous that I loved my Rimowa so much but she said she understood. It ain't cheap for one. And I was not the first! Soon I was on my way.

I made sure I arrived slightly earlier because I wanted to do the full airport shopping, lounge and boarding experience.

Trust me to gauge the time wrong.

Wanted to check for Longchamp bags but was told that the stores were in the other terminals. So off I went scrambling from terminal to terminal. Then back to T3 for about an hour's worth in the Silver Kris Lounge.

The lounge dragons welcomed me in without much fuss. Going in, it was like revisiting Old Faithful.

SQ's lounge is dependable. And yes it is sorta glamorous I suppose. Except that there were a lot of flights taking off that night and finding a pocket of solitude meant moving to a far corner.

Looking around it never fails to amaze me why some people think think that business class travelers are somehow more privileged and well off.

Class and Class of Travel are not mutually exclusive.

I saw people who were wearing flip flops, raggedy t-shirts, unshaven. Gone are the days of Pan Am and dressing decent for a flight.

I headed towards the food bar.

It might have been late but SQ did not disappoint. There was a whole range of dishes from local, to Asian, to Western. Soups, Noodles, Cakes, you name it.

Knowing that I would be fed on board, I decided to do taste tests of the dishes instead of going for entree portions.

Let's just say for the variety, the end conclusion in terms of quality and taste was: Meh.

I was however grateful that the spread was as generous as it was. If you were in the lounge on a Gold Frequent Flier card and flying cattle class later, the food would be great as a pre-flight meal. Then again, SQ's Silver Kris Lounge policy denies entry to Gold cardholders. And you would have to be flying SQ Business Class to gain access. Or at least have a very high leveled Krisflyer membership.

My Club Chair

I got back to my seat. Could not be bothered to use their wifi and sent messages on my phone's network instead. Ate, drank, took pictures.

Then I spotted the same Caucasian man from check in. He came from the back and planted his behind on a seat in front of me. Let's just say he was making himself conspicuous. Mardi Gras was starting early.

Bathroom amenities same as premium inflight amenities

Time to board. No announcements. Went to the bathroom and yes, everything was as it was before. Same amenities.

Went to the gate. Got through security easy. I made sure NOTHING metallic was on me.

The boarding had begun. I bypassed the lines to the priority line. And then something interesting happened. Security was checking all the business passengers' hand luggage. Unusual for sure.

Fine by me. The officer opened my bag, moved a few things gently around, thanked me and off I went. Love Changi for that, they make the process respectful, discreet and painless.

Got on the plane, and there were big smiles from the crew of course. It felt like leaving home, but coming home at the same time. This flight was special. It had a purple kebaya!

Ok that's not her, but crew members came out to say hello

I was shown to my seat.

See the extra head cushion? That is for the All C Upper Deck

All the formalities of offering drinks and reading material were done efficiently. Their special mocktail was ordered. And of course my usual list: Vogue. Business Traveler Asia Pacific. Any other fashion magazines.

They came back with Business Traveler. Check. No Vogue. Sad. The crew member said she would look around for one.

A few minutes later, VOILA, Vogue! Ah SQ, you know me so well!

My Vogue under my Menu!

The door was closing. Someone came in. He sat in 11K in front of me. The crew members fussed over him. Oh no. Lifetime Solitaire member. Or worse. Politician or some guy from a local family dynasty.

He stood up from his seat, scanned the back of the plane, saw and stared at me. STARED. I thought: Oh Gawd. Phobe. How appropriate. I said hello. He went back to his seat. Hmm.

Of course later, I learned that he was an incredibly nice person. But that is another story.

There were some rain drops on the window. I love flying in rainy weather. So romantic. Now find me a partner to share it with! ;-)

While I may not go ra-ra about the comfort, I love the privacy of SQ's Business Class seat. And in a late night flight, with darkened cabins, there is something special about it, like you are on a private plane for one.

Towards Suites. One day SQ. One Day.

The seat in the all business class A388 has been modified slightly. SQ added a head cushion which honestly makes a HUGE difference. Still, you can see the age of the seats. On the regular two class upper deck, it is far worse.

Everyone was in flat bed mode fast!

A crew member came around asking for post take off drinks. Initially I wanted something naughty. I later changed that to a more appropriate tea.

SQ uses TWG teas for Business and First Class. 7 bucks I believe in town for a cup. Time to drink like there's no tomorrow. Bwahahahahahahaha! Ok not very classy I admit.

I was asked if I wanted a snack now or the Book the Cook meal. SQ serves one main meal for overnight flights like this one. I decided to eat that for 'breakfast / lunch' although timing wise, it would have been only five hours into the flight.

The crew member asked me what I would like to snack post take off. They didn't have much. Ick. The Inflight Supervisor came to my rescue. He first offered a sandwich which he would customize for me. I wanted something soupy. He then said he would get some seafood noodle soup made for me, and I don't even believe it was on the menu.

Special Noodle Soup

Ah SQ. Love. I heart your delicious local dish!

The dish hit the spot, inflating my stomach to a point that I could not eat the other nibbles like Ferraro Rocher chocolates and chips.

I made my bed, yes girls, I know how to do it. Not an SQ virgin, and grateful for it. Annoys me when passengers expect the crew to do the beds for them. GET YOUR ASS OFF AND DO IT YOURSELF!

The gentleman in front of me also made his bed and he was out like a light right after! I went to do my inflight, pre-zzzz beauty ritual, returned and tucked in with my bear Brownie. Yes Brownie was lucky this time, he got to travel with me.

Brownie was given to me by a friend when I worked in television. He is 20 years old.

There was nothing in the IFE, had seen most of the movies already. Found a HBO documentary on ex-Supermodels called About Face. If you can find this, watch it. Very interesting.

I don't usually sleep on a plane. But I must have been way tired. I got about 3 hours of sleep.

About 2 hours before landing, I got woken for my BTC meal. I half contemplated to give that up but I really wanted to taste this dish.

The Japanese dish. Not bad but a little soggy.

Got up. Got fed. Got the same reaction as in the lounge: Meh.

Before long, the cabin was prepared for landing. Lights came up, windows were opened. Passengers scrambled to the washrooms last minute, as usual.

I was ready.

The crew passed out express passes for customs and immigrations. Very useful. They had a few conditions but most of the passengers would meet them. Later I would learn that no one really checks these. So....

I didn't get to see any views below. Pity. It is like any other flight. We touched down soon enough. Pretty smooth, but it is SQ and it is the A388. We arrived slightly earlier but another plane had not vacated our gate, so we had to wait a while. No issues. Love being in a plane anyway.

I thanked the crew for yet another great flight.  Disembarkation was smooth. And so were immigrations and customs. It was quite a surprise actually as I had heard so many horror stories about how they would check everyone's bags and basically behave worse than the TSA in the US. Not so. At least not for me.

So it was a fine extension of the whole flight. I was quite relieved actually. But maybe it was because I was walking out with someone that was distinguished looking.

And that, again, is another story.

:-)