În Ceasescu's footsteps: Switzerland, Serbia and Romania via SQ346/345

[RedEyeflight]

Thanks for this wonderful TR, RedEyeflight! Some really far flung places visited, especially in Eastern Europe. You are really adventurous! I enjoyed learning about these places, as well as their cuisine.

A little sad to hear that SQ standards appear to have dipped a bit. It has been a while since I have flown a long haul sector on SQ. Heading to CDG in PEY later this year so hope those flights will go ok.

Look forward to your next TR!

Thanks for reading yflyer! From my experience, PEY is generally pretty close to what it was pre-pandemic, although I did notice that it was virtually impossible to swap out my special meal for the regular menu as they had catered 'exact' for the cabin, which is something I've never experienced before. Long-haul Y to me felt like the airline was still in cost saving mode. All the best with your trip to CDG! Hope to see a TR on that sector!

[yflyer]

Thanks for this wonderful TR, RedEyeflight! Some really far flung places visited, especially in Eastern Europe. You are really adventurous! I enjoyed learning about these places, as well as their cuisine.

A little sad to hear that SQ standards appear to have dipped a bit. It has been a while since I have flown a long haul sector on SQ. Heading to CDG in PEY later this year so hope those flights will go ok.

Look forward to your next TR!

[RedEyeflight]

wow looks like a busy and adventurous trip. Thanks for sharing RedEyeflight

Thanks for reading SQ218

[SQ218]

wow looks like a busy and adventurous trip. Thanks for sharing RedEyeflight

[RedEyeflight]

- Conclusion & Final Thoughts -

Switzerland is an incredible country. However, what really ruins it are the sheer number of tourists it attracts. Otherwise, it is convenient to get around yourself and to see places on your own without much difficulty. Serbia is a little more off the beaten track. The roaming package I bought did not work and I resorted to buying an e-SIM. Nevertheless, I did not have much difficulty getting around Belgrade and never felt like I was is in danger of being robbed or a victim of crime. The people were also extremely hospitable and it is always nice to visit a less-developed part of Europe, which is becoming rarer these days as other countries in Eastern Europe develop. Romania is a country to be loved in. People are extremely friendly. My Uber driver volunteered to drive me the remainder of the way to the airport in Cluj even when I had cancelled the ride 1 km away because of the traffic. While there certainly aren't any Coliseums or Eiffel towers to be seen, one goes to the cities and towns of the country to soak in the atmosphere and the country's rich and interesting history.

RO and LX were both reliable and brought me to where I wanted to be fuss-free. Unfortunately, there really is very little service in Y these days intra-Europe. So you'll have to bear with a bottle of water and nothing else unless willing to fork out some money for a buy-on-board.

SQ, on the other hand, let's say I wasn't totally impressed with the quality of the onboard product. I'm aware that in a high inflation environment, it's hard for SQ to go back to what it was pre-pandemic. But I do feel the cost cutting has gone a tad too far. The IFE selection was good but I struggled to find content that I was interested to watch. I was under the impression that some KW sections have been shrunk a little bit or carry more obscure content. And, of course, the word in town is that service standards have dropped. I hate blaming my experience on crews because they are at the frontlines dealing with the ire of passengers and have little to no say in the quality of the hard product. However, yes, I do feel service quality has fallen a few notches, although there were a handful or extremely outstanding crew on both flights, particularly SQ345, who went out of their way to offer me things that were not normally offered. As for the food onboard, it was generally quite tasty and hearty, although I must say a bit unimaginative, particularly coming out of SIN. Chicken noodles has just been standard on European flights out of SIN, that I can't remember a time when there was something else on the menu. If there are two things I wish SQ would do, it would be to bring back menu cards, at least make them available in the IFE without having to purchase wi-fi, and to be more proactive about distributing amenities and delectables. The 77W is also showing its age and if I had a choice, I would choose not to fly on this aircraft type. However, this is outside SIA's control as B779 delays continue to mount. Overall, SQ is still a top-notch carrier and in this environment with so much uncertainty, I wish the airline the best in the years to come.

[RedEyeflight]

I tried sleeping after the meal, but I awoke with around 7 hours left of the flight. I spent the rest of the flight on the IFE system. Unfortunately, my AVOD system wasn't working properly and the video kept stopping and resuming at random parts. I got a voucher from SQ because of this.

I had some delectables mid-flight, namely a Nature Valley bar and some pastrami sandwiches.

Spacious lavatories on the 77W.



Breakfast was served 2 hours before landing. Consisted of Indonesian-style chicken noodles or pork sausage with scrambled eggs. I chose the latter.

The tray came with cut fruit, strawberry yoghurt and a bread roll.




Soon we began our descent into SIN.



It was a smooth landing on the usual runway. Quick taxi to gate B9 at T3. There were a number of connecting passengers with tight connections, mainly on flights to SGN, KUL, CGK and DPS. We had arrived 15 minutes late from ZRH. Several passengers sprinted the moment they were in the terminal building.

I am scanned into Singapore. I go to belt 46 to collect my bag. Before long, I am racing down ECP in a yellow BYD taxi.

[RedEyeflight]

Once airborne, hot towels were handed out. I'm not sure why, but they were a bit lukewarm when they came.



Peas and crackers along with a choice of drink were first handed out.



Lunch was served around 1 hour and 30 minutes into the flight. It was a choice between chicken curry or pan-fried prawn pasta. The chicken curry was very popular and cabin crew ran out of options a few seats in front of me and supplemented with PEY meals. I chose the prawn pasta.







Dessert consisted of chocolate ice cream.

[RedEyeflight]

Boarding.











My seat 52G.



This was a full flight and it took a while to seat everybody. Flight time was announced to be 11 hours and 45 minutes. Boarding was slightly delayed and so we left the gate a few minutes behind schedule.

Safety video.

[RedEyeflight]

Open-air viewing deck.

[RedEyeflight]

Flight: SQ345
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWR)
Origin: Zurich (ZRH)
Destination: Singapore (SIN)
Class: Economy
Date: April 2024

I arrived at Zurich Airport and followed signs for check-in 1 where all the non-schengen airlines have their check-in counters.





I was checked-in at the business class counter by a very jovial personnel.

Was through security in no time and lining up at passport control. The officer did make a small fuss about the Romanians who had stamped my passport on the wrong page. She stamped my passport on the same page as the other Swiss passport stamps from earlier, so there's a herd of them on one page in my passport.

Then I took the Skymetro to the E gate satellite concourse.



Gate today was E56.





FIDS.



9V-SWR.

[RedEyeflight]

The next morning, I checked out of the Hotel St Josef.







It was a 10 minute walk to the main railway station. I bought a ticket at the machine for any train going towards the airport.

[RedEyeflight]

Had dinner at Entrecôte Federal. Beef tartare.



The train from Bern to Zurich was a quick 56 minutes. I arrived in my hotel just before dark.

[RedEyeflight]

Welcome to Bern, the capital of Switzerland.



Zytglogge.









Swiss federal parliament.

[RedEyeflight]

Time to leave Montreux and head back to Zurich, with a stop in Bern.



Views of the lake from the train.

[RedEyeflight]

Lunch at La Rouvenaz.



After lunch, the weather had cleared up. So I went for a walk on the promenade.