Flight Review – Singapore Airlines Adelaide to London return (Singapore stop-over)

When I learnt that I needed to get to London to see my poor sick grandmother I decided to try out Singapore Airlines as it seemed they had the best deal on flights and the shortest travel time which when you are travelling from Australia to London for 6 days, you need to be on a plane and travelling for as little time as possible!

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This is my review of each leg of my flights (4 in total):

Adelaide to Singapore

Flight time: 7 hours 20 minutes

Plane type – Airbus A330-300

Seat: 48A Exit row

Check in:

Check in at the Singapore Airlines desk (near the Virgin airlines part of the airport) was quick with no lines in sight, the service provided was very professional but still very friendly.

When boarding the plane, one of the flight attendants showed me to my seat and assist with my luggage, I saw this happen with most passengers and at first I wasn’t sure if this was a usually service or if the staff were assisting passengers in such a way as the plane didn’t have too many passengers.

Once seated, hot towels were brought around to everyone to freshen up, which was something I thought only happened in first and business class!!!

Seats:

I pre-booked an exit row seat so that I would have enough room to stretch my legs and get some sleep.

The seats were comfortable but after 7 hours your butt goes to sleep, even if you were sitting on a cloud. As the plane wasn’t very full some passengers moved to empty exit rows which were a little disappointing as I had paid extra for the seats.

I was lucky enough to not have anyone sitting next to me, so I was able to “overflow” my stuff on to the seat, rather than getting up and down all the time to get things out of the overhead locker.

Entertainment:

The entertainment system popped out from down the side of my chair and had to be store during take-off and landing (which means you might not be able to finish watching your movie). It was easy to navigate through via a hand held remote control.

There were a total of 287 movies and 378 TV shows to watch, 804 songs and 23 radio channels to listen to, 80 games and 20 applications. More than enough to keep me entertained for the long flight.

The movies varied from new releases, Hollywood blockbusters, Chinese movies and European movies. There were also plenty of things for the kids to do and watch, I was tempted to watch some cartoons but was too entertained by the blockbuster movies.

You can also follow along with your flight through the flight tracker. It’s interesting to be able to look out of the window and then back to the flight tracker to see where you are.

The only really annoying thing with all of my flights was the 2 prong plugs for the headphones, which means you can’t you your own headphones unless you have an adaptor.

The provided headphones never seem to fit me as I have a particularly small head. I would recommend purchasing an adaptor to ensure you are able to use your own headphones.

Food:

Airline food is often thought of and compared to hospital food, as it’s usually bland or “mushy”. I was pleasantly surprised to be handed a menu when I was seated, the menu gave me a break down of what meals would be offered and what was included in those meals (and the different choices).

The drinks menu was very extensive (for an air plane) and there were plenty of snacks to keep you from starving, however, the meals provided were massive, so snacks weren’t really needed!

Dinner

Smoked salmon with potato salad was an entrée

Wok fried chicken

Bread roll and butter

Cheese and crackers,

A magnum mini ice cream

Tea and coffee (or soft drink or wine or beer)

Light Snack

Beef Curry pie

Tea and coffee (or soft drink or wine or beer)

Flight goodies:

I always thought flight goodies were only ever for business or first class but on this flight I received a pillow and blanket and a little goodie bag of a toothbrush, toothpaste and socks.

Service:

The service on the Singapore Airlines flight was excellent, from the moment I stepped on the plane, I was shown to my seat and received assistance with my bags, hot towels were

provided, snacks, drinks and meals brought out throughout the flight and of course all the Flight Attendants were very friendly and always smiling.

Singapore to London

Flight time: 12 hours 35 minutes (which I thought was a 7 hour flight!! What a shock!)

Plane type – 777-300ER

Seat: 31J Exit row

Check in:

There was no need to check in as I had a connecting flight. However I did have to sprint from one terminal to another terminal at Singapore airport as there was only 30 mins between flight times.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to do any shopping or take advantage of Singapore Airlines “Changi Transit Programme” which gives you $40 Changi Dollar Voucher when you transit through Singapore.

Unlike my first flight, this one was packed! So boarding the plane took a little while longer.

Seats:

I pre-booked an exit row seat so that I would have enough room to stretch my legs and get some sleep. The seat I was booked into was the middle seat of the exit row, which wasn’t ideal as I didn’t know either of my flight companions and it was difficult to sleep without disturbing the people on each side of me (or accidently cuddling up to them).

Entertainment:

The entertainment system was the same as the previous flight, which popped out from down the side of my chair, however on this flight, the monitors on this plane were little bigger and looks much newer, it made a big difference as the picture was much clearer.

Food:

Dinner

Thai spicy seafood and glass noodle salad

Indian style Rogan josh chicken with braised lentil and eggplant, saffron basmati rice

Cheese and crackers

Mixed berries mousse cake

Roll and butter

Tea and coffee (or soft drink or wine or beer)

Breakfast

Fruit appetizer

Cereal

Tomato scrambled egg with pork sausage, broccoli and potatoes

Assorted breakfast rolls

Butter – fruit preserve

Coffee or tea

Flight goodies:

I received the same little bag of flight goodies which was great!

Service:

The service on this Singapore Airlines flight compared to the previous was a little lacking; I think it was because of the sheer volume on people on this flight. Whenever I rang the call bell, it would take a while for the flight attendant to come over, at times so long I would forget what I called for. The flight attendants did apologies for the long wait and were very quick to assist me.

The annoying thing about this plane (not the service) was there were less toilets than the previous plane (A330) which was a smaller plane. It didn’t make much sense to me.

One thing I found great was that the staff put all of the window shades down and dimmed the cabin lights to assist in getting your body clock into the right time zone. I made the mistake of opening the blind (at what would have been 3am) and it was bright and sunny outside (which was silly of me!)

RETURN:

London to Singapore

Flight time: 12 hours 35 minutes

Plane type – Airbus A380

Seat: 78A (upper deck)

Check in:

London airport is HUGE so make sure you check which terminal you depart from. I departed from Terminal 3. The line for Singapore Airlines check in was very long (I think I spent about 40mins waiting). There was 3 lines, business class, online check in and general check in. The staff did their best to get through everyone as quickly as possible while still being professional and friendly.

I did get to my gate and realise that I hadn’t gone through customs, however was advised that the check in at the gate acts as a type of customs.

Seats:

This was my first time on a plane with an upper deck so it was very exciting! The upper deck is a lot less crowded (as it was mostly taken up by business class).

This time around I was unable to get exit row seats however I did get a window seat which was great! The seats were fairly comfortable and actually felt a little bigger than seats through Qantas on a domestic flight. There was even a little foot rest that popped down.

The BEST feature of my seat was a small compartment for personal storage, next to my seat and under the window, so I didn’t need to try squeezing my handbag and legs under the seat. It was big enough to fit my handbag, jacket, neck cushion and laptop in (with room to spare!).

Entertainment:

The entertainment system was in the back of the seat in front to of me which meant I didn’t need to store it away for take-off or landing (yay!).

The screen tilts slightly so if the person in front of you puts their seat back, you can still see your movie without having your neck at a funky angle, plus you get an awesome wine holders… well drink holder but works for wine well 😉

Food:

Lunch/Dinner

Pasta salad with marinated shrimp and lettuce

Braised beef brisket with rosemary sauce, vegetable medley and mashed potato

Bread roll and butter

Cheese and crackers

Ice cream

Tea and coffee (or soft drink or wine or beer)

Breakfast

Fruit appetizer

Cereal

Tomato scrambled egg with pork sausage, broccoli and potatoes

Assorted breakfast rolls

Butter – fruit preserve

Coffee or tea

Flight goodies:

I received the same little bag of flight goodies which was great!

Service:

The service on this Singapore Airlines flight was excellent, hot towels, food and drinks provided happily.

When using the call button (and I did quite a bit) the flight attendants were prompt in answering my request (which on this flight was wine and water!)

Singapore to Adelaide

Flight time: 7 hours 20 minutes

Seat: 44A

Check in:

I arrived at Singapore Airport and had the option of walking to my gate within the same terminal or catching one of the shuttles (I chose the shuttle).

I didn’t need to go through the normal check in procedure as I was on a Singapore Airlines connecting flight.

Seats:

This plane was a lot smaller than the giant airbus I was just on for the last flight. I was unable to get the exit row for this flight too however I did get a window seat which was great! The seats were fairly comfortable and there was another little foot rest that popped down.

Entertainment:

The entertainment system was the same as the previous flight, in the back of the seat in front to of me which meant I didn’t need to store it away for take off or landing (yay!).

Food:

Breakfast

Fruit appetiser

Fruit yoghurt

Egg noodles with braised beef brisket, mushrooms and leafy greens

Assorted breakfast rolls

Butter – fruit preserve

Coffee or Tea

Lunch

Soy vermicelli with shrimp

Roast chicken with tomato olive sauce, seasonal vegetables and mashed potatoes

Lemongrass chocolate mousse cake with raspberry coulis

Roll and butter

Tea and coffee (or soft drink or wine or beer)

Flight goodies:

I received the same little bag of flight goodies which was great!

Service:

The service on this Singapore Airlines flight, yet again was great! The flight attendants did wake me up for breakfast which was good as I was starving! I’m not sure everyone would want to be woken up but you do pay for food within your airline ticket so you may as well take advantage of it. (Update) Since writing this article I have found out that Singapore Airlines have stickers that can be placed on the top of passenger’s seats noting if they don’t want to be disturbed at meal times ( just as long as they let crew know ahead of dozing off), what a great idea!