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

[yflyer]

Seat recline was very good (By Y standards).



Seat width was good as well...



Legroom was good.



Unfortunately SQ seems to have removed all the footrests from the Y seats. I, for one, would have preferred footrests, especially for such long sector. While some pax are ambivalent about these foot rests (Some don't like them as they take up space), I have always used these footrests while resting/sleeping.

IFE was the latest Krisworld system, with a large, bright widescreen touch screen, and a huge movie and TV selection, not to mention games and flight information.



The screen could be angled for more comfortable viewing when the seat in front is reclined.



The seat back has light and call buttons, and a USB port to for charging your devices (Bring your own cable). The headphone socket is also on the seat back, and this works for both airline headphones with 2 prongs, but also works with regular headphone miniplugs: plug your headphones/earbuds into any one of the 2 sockets, and you get true stereo!



Fold-out cup holder...



Tray table with vanity mirror...





A/C power with universal socket (Which supports 3-prong UK plugs) in between the seats ahead of you.



No individual air vents. Seatbelt signs etc on an LCD/LED-type display.



Overall, a very comfortable Y seat. I would have liked to have footrests, but apart from that, this was a state-of-the-art Y seat.

[yflyer]

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Economy cabin on this aircraft had the new 2017 Y cabin product, laid out 3-3-3.



On my previous SIN-SFO flight on an SQ A350, the aircraft was fitted with the 2013 Y seat. This was also a very comfortable seat, but not the very newest. For reference, the SQ 2013 Y seat on earlier versions of the A350 can be seen in a TR here.

Row 41 bulkhead Y seats...



The row 48 window seat is a very desirable seat, as there is no seat in front of it...



For these row 48 window seats, the fold-out IFE screen is now housed in a much smaller housing than on older SQ A350's with 2013 Y, where previously the row 48 window seat IFE screen housing was larger and protruded a little even when folded, which I found a ilttle uncomfortable as it took up seat width. They have resolved this with the 2017 Y seat on the new A350's.



Restrooms and a corridor across the left and right aisles after row 47, where the exit doors were.



A view from the rear of the aircraft...

[yflyer]

This was a 3-class long haul A350...

Business class was the 2013 J product, similar to that found on SQ's 77WR, laid out 1-2-1...



I have only tried 2013 J on the 77WR/77WN, never on the A350. I tried to upgrade to J with points, but alas the flight was completely full in J.

Window-side J seat...the 1-2-1 layout is great because all windows seats also have aisle access...



Bulkhead J seats on this aircraft are more spacious in that they have no cubby hole for your feet, and instead have the full seat width available in front of the seat.



The next cabin was PEY, laid out 2-4-2.

[yflyer]

SQ32 is a 9.20am departure out of Changi T3...



Christmas decor up in the T3 check-in area...



Surprisingly, there was a fairly long queue at the Krisflyer Gold / Premium Economy check in counters. As I had no check-in luggage, I decided to use the self service check-in kiosk...



This was a very straightforward and quick process. I was also through the automated passport gates, and into the airside area, very quickly.

I made a quick visit to the temporary Krisflyer Gold Lounge aka Marhaba Lounge...



I then headed to the boarding gate, where there was a separate queue for Business Class / PPS / KF Gold / Star Gold pax...



At the gate, Airbus A350-900 rego 9V-SMZ...



On time boarding...



Newspapers and earbud headphones by the gate (Usual advice applies: Bring your own earphones/headphones...the complimentary ones sound terrible)...



A very warm greeting (And boarding pass check...) at the aircraft door...

[yflyer]

In mid-November this year, I flew nonstop from Singapore to San Francisco on SIA’s A350-900 in Economy Class, on SQ32. I returned to Singapore a week later on SQ31, also a nonstop SFO-SIN sector. After recent nonstop flights from SIN to LAX and SFO on United, it was nice to be back on SIA again for this long flight to one of my favourite cities.



SQ has, by now, a very large A350 fleet. This aircraft type serves regional, long haul, and ultra-long haul sectors. Each of these variants has a different cabin configuration and seat product. Looking just at the long haul A350-900 fleet, the most recent examples differ from the earliest A359’s in that the newest planes have the latest 2017 Economy Class cabin product (Similar to the Y seats on SQ’s regional A350), whereas the earliest long haul SQ A350's have an earlier 2013 Y product.

Both my SIN-SFO and SFO-SIN sectors were operated by 9V-SMZ, a very new plane, SIA's 42nd A350, delivered on 31 Oct 2019, less than 3 weeks before my flight. This aircraft had the latest Y cabin products, which makes the cabin product featured in this TR different from from my previous TR's on SQ's long haul A350's. I was also to find, on this trip, that the service format on the SIN-SFO sector differed from my earlier SIN-SFO on SQ in terms of meal timings. More on that later.



SQ's cabin service is usually very good, and often excellent, in my experience. But over the years, I have found that the longer the flight is, the more personalised SIA's cabin service gets. As flight times get longer, the cabin crew have more time to get to know pax, and their likes/dislikes. While you still get wonderful service on short sectors like the 2 hour SIN-BKK or 5-6 hour sectors to India, China or Japan, these flights are really too short for anything but perfunctory smiles and greetings.

I would argue that the best SQ experience is often on really long sectors like SIN-LHR or any SIN-USA sector -- on these long haul flights the crew have ample time to get to know pax and subtlely (Or not so subtlely...) tailor cabin service to pax preferences, which can really make the experience quite special. And conversely, it is an opportunity for pax to get to know the cabin crew a little better too, if one is so inclined. This is true of J and F/R...it can also be true of Y / PEY. Was this the case on these flights? Read on to find out!

TR INDEX

1. Flight - SQ32 SIN-SFO in Economy on 9V-SMZ (Airbus A350-900)
2. Hotel - Hilton San Francisco Financial District
3. Hotel - Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
4. Run - Golden Gate Bridge at Dusk
5. Dinner - Lord Stanley
6. Airport - SFO and United Club
7. Flight - SQ31 SFO-SIN in Economy on 9V-SMZ
9. Final Reflections