SIA A350-900 from Singapore to San Francisco in Economy (SQ32/31 SIN-SFO-SIN)

[jammed]

Thanks yflyer for another wonderfully vivid TR! Have been silently following some of yr reports over the past year but simply overwhelmed by daily routines to compliment them. But now that i have a bit freer time at the end of teh year i want to let you know that your TRs have been great - the amount of effort you took in each of these, including this TR, to focus on the user interface more than immerse the reader into the experience. You allow readers to size up and gauge each product to make travel decisions, from airlines and routes, to specific aircraft for seats and IFE, to hotels and eats (my goodness yr dining reports is another category in its own). And you are probably the only SQtalker here who features a RunReport! For some of us who try to squeeze in runs in between work trips these are vy useful info - for teh world of me though i cant fathom how you can so easily put in 10-11k with still the energy to take steady pictures. Thanks again for this wonderfully detailed TR and RR of one of my favourite cities, and as i said, all yr TRs in the past year. Happy holidays

[yflyer]

Great trip report as always!

Thanks, davidfusq!

I wonder what’s the SIN-SFO ULR flight experience will be like... gotta try them soon before SQ switches to all non ULR plane on SFO route in less than one year time.

I think nonstops like SIN-SFO are probably the "new normal" for long haul. In Y, if you are in an aisle seat, the overall experience for SIN-SFO is not too different from your typical long haul e.g. SIN-LHR (13+ hours) or SFO-HKG (As long as 14 hours). Even SFO-SIN, at 16 hours, didn't feel too much longer. I think SQ's IFE, with its massive program selection, does make a difference in keeping boredom at bay.

maybe for ULR flights, airlines can consider 3 meals with second meal at the mid flight and third meal 2 hours prior to landing

I would personally prefer a 3rd meal service as well. Maybe the reason they don't do for SIN-SFO is the impact of the additional cabin crew workload (And less rest) if they have to do a 3rd meal service. I believe during meal service, all cabin crew are working and none are resting.

these two meals can be served in half trays like below.

Thanks for sharing these half tray pics. I've never seen the half trays like the pics above on SQ, even for short SQ flights to JKT or BKK. On my flights to/from JKT and BKK, it has always been the usual trays this year. Are they now standard for SIN-JKT or similar routes?

[davidfusq]

Great trip report as always!
I wonder what’s the SIN-SFO ULR flight experience will be like... gotta try them soon before SQ switches to all non ULR plane on SFO route in less than one year time.
Anyway, I think the second meal timing in the middle of the flight is less than ideal cause it’s too near to the first meal and leave too much gap to the end of flight with no meal service. It is probably a understandable compromise cause the crews need to take turns to rest and thus to account for the shift change, meal service can only happen mid flight when they are changing shift or at the final 2 hours. Otherwise, maybe for ULR flights, airlines can consider 3 meals with second meal at the mid flight and third meal 2 hours prior to landing and these two meals can be served in half trays like below.

[yflyer]

Thank you for such a great report! Says a lot about SQ and crew that they are capable of providing such high quality service in Y on what must be a pretty tiring journey physically. Loved your pics of SF – makes me want to go back!

Thanks for reading, SQ777! Yes, agree it can't be easy to work such a long sector, even with some crew rest periods doing the flight. Have always been impressed by how SQ cabin crew still manage to look so fresh at the end of long flights, although they must be very tired.

[SQ777]

Thank you for such a great report! Says a lot about SQ and crew that they are capable of providing such high quality service in Y on what must be a pretty tiring journey physically. Loved your pics of SF – makes me want to go back!

[yflyer]

Final reflections...

This was another wonderful flight on SQ31 SFO-SIN. Both my outbound SQ32 SIN-SFO and SFO-SIN were very good flights, but the very warm and personal cabin service on SQ31, not to mention the extra touches on that flight, took my SQ experience to the next level.

As I observed the cabin crew at work on SQ31, I found that as a team, they got on very well (The CS in that section of the cabin was quite wonderful) and somehow that led to even better service delivery to pax than even SQ's regular high standards. Like in any office, a team that gets on well on a personal level is likely to deliver better results than a team that doesn't: that seemed to hold true whether your office was on the ground, or at 35,000 feet. On this flight the SQ cabin crew seemed to gel well, and as a result pax benefited from a very high level of cabin service. An exceptional set of cabin crew on SQ31 that day...



How would I compare my experience on SQ on the SIN-SFO sector compared to other airlines? Currently SQ and UA are the only two that do SIN-SFO nonstop.

While UA's non-stop 787 Dreamliner service to SFO is fine, the SQ hard product on the A350, and cabin service in Y, are a notch or two better than UA: The SQ A350 seat has better recline (Much better recline, in fact) and seat width, and SQ's IFE is ahead of UA as well. SQ's catering and cabin service in Y are also superior to UA. I would have no issues flying UA Y to SFO if needed, but if I had a choice, SQ would be on top of my list.

As for San Francisco, this city remains one of my favourite places, to visit, whether for the food, or for the wonderful running routes and stunning scenery.



A few final tips for those considering these SQ nonstop flights to the USA in Economy:

- Do sign into Krisworld on the IFE with your Krisflyer number. You do get access to a good number of additional movie and TV selections

- If you are used to eating at regular meal times, or have a big appetite, I would strongly recommend bringing your own snacks or cup noodles onboard, because on such a long flight, there are quite long stretches where no meals are served.

- Get hold of an aisle seat or preferred seat (Such as the solo row 48 window/exit seat) if at all possible. Getting up to stretch on these long flights makes a ton of difference to overall comfort!

- If you want amenities like eye shades, socks, or earplugs, just ask! Ditto salt and pepper, which no longer comes on the tray.

- Some folks had their own movies and TV loaded up on their iPads and tablets (Even phones), but I found the Krisworld IFE movie and TV selection more than adequate to keep one occupied for pretty much the entire flight. But do bring your own headphones/earbuds, as these make a ton of difference to sound quality and the overall IFE experience!

Thanks for reading!

[yflyer]

A final pic of the spacious and serene A350 Y cabin...



Final approach...



...and smooth landing on Changi's Runway 02C, slightly ahead of schedule.



At the Gate in Terminal 2...

[yflyer]

We were soon over Asian airspace, and not long after we would be at the top of descent into Singapore...



I popped into the galley once again and thanked E, A and the other cabin crew members for taking such good care of pax on this flight...

"Saying thank you already? Are you getting off first? Before the rest of us?" E asked, with a tone of mock-seriousness...

"No lah,"I replied with a big grin, "I thought I better come and thank you all now because I know in 3 minutes time you will all be very busy"...

And true enough, just moments later, the pilot came on the PA to announce that we were at the top of descent, and for cabin crew to prepare for arrival...

[yflyer]

In the last few hours of the flight, I got hungry again...and by then all the snacks had been eaten. Fortunately I had brought two bowls of cup noodles with me, and broke out the second one...



I headed to the galley, where A helped me with hot water and a pair of chopsticks for my cup noodles, as well as my request for a Singapore Sling...



"is there anything else you need?" she asked, as she came round to my seat to check on me a few minutes later...

"I'm good!" I replied...

A would have a few days in Singapore before her next SQ flight, but she was heading to Penang the day after arriving in Singapore from SFO on a personal trip, to check out an old shophouse property the was thinking of buying in Penang. Wow, now here was someone who was thinking far far ahead, with an eye on investments and property, while at the same time doing an incredible job as cabin crew on SQ.

[yflyer]

For dinner, I chose the vermicilli...



The Quinoa starter was something I had not tasted previously...



The vermicilli was quite tasty, with a generous serving of prawns...



Dessert was very good too...

[yflyer]

About 8 hours into the flight, lights were turned on, in preparation for the 2nd meal service...





It was bright daylight outside...



We were now just past the midpoint of the flight, with 8+ hours flown and 7+ hours to go...

[yflyer]

I have found that apart from sleeping onboard, time on long flights passes by quickly if the IFE selection onboard is interesting, and SIA's Krisworld was more than up to the task of keeping pax occupied throughout this long flight, with a huge range of Hollywood and international programmes, including European and Asian movies and Television.

I watched a couple of episodes of the original Twilight Zone...



...and marvelled at how gripping and thought provoking this show was, despite being broadcast years ago, in black and white...



On this flight, I also watched "The Darkest Hour", a film about Winston Churchill during WWII -- an excellent movie.

[yflyer]

During the flight I spent time checking out the IFE.

I had earlier signed into the system with my Krisflyer details, and this had unlocked additional content in Krisworld. These included additional movies and TV programs not available to pax unless they logged in.



This exclusive content was marked with an "Exclusive" label on the IFE.



Apart from movies, there was also exclusive TV content available.



This was only less than 6 hours into the flight, but I got hungry and once again brought my own cup noodles to the galley for hot water. (And a G&T)...

[yflyer]

Later in the flight, we passed close to Midway Island, the scene of dramatic air battles during World War II...



I didn't have the opportunity to take pictures of the islands out of the window, but the Voyager 3D map views did provide a fairly hi resolution view of the island on my IFE display...

[yflyer]

Our flight path over the Pacific today took us close to Hawaii...



It was now almost 5 hours into the flight, and I was feeling peckish...

I headed into the galley where an impressive array of snacks were laid out...



Some of the cabin crew had by then gone to take a rest in the the crew rest area in the overhead rear section of the aircraft, accessible via a door and steps in the the rear of the aircraft, but some the on-duty crew were in the galley...

While checking out the snacks, I had a brief chat in the galley with E and some of the other cabin crew members, inciuding A, a lovely and engaging FSS, originally from Penang, who had been living in Singapore for several years now.

"Singapore is so safe" she remarked. In Malaysia, whenever she was out, she always had to be on the lookout for snatch thieves and other petty criminals, whether in carparks or on the street late in the evening. In Singapore, she had no so such worries when out, even at night.

"Singaporeans take all this for granted" I replied...