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Introduction
Sometime in 1973-1974, Singapore Airlines started flying its first Boeing 747 aircraft to London, soon after the separation of Singapore Airlines from its previous entity as Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. The B747-200s, which were the first Boeing 747 aircraft for Singapore Airlines and nicknamed “Super B”, replaced the Boeing 707s and continued the progress towards non-stop flights, which was eventually achieved in both directions for LHR-SIN by the introduction of the 747-400 in 1989.
On 29th March 2009, Singapore Airlines ended the 35 years-long history of its 747 service to London by replacing the final 747 service with the Boeing 777-300ER. As most of you know already, the other two flights have already been replaced by the A380, with its “A Class beyond First” Suites product that not many people seem interested in paying for, especially when it often attracts a huge premium over and above the prices for F on the 747/777.
The highlight of the Singapore Airlines product in recent history, for me, is the launch of the SkySuite in the B747 back in 1999. I remember being just 17 years old, phoning up the Singapore airlines office in London to ask them to send me brochures for their new 747 aircraft which had the SkySuite in F and Ultimo seats in J. I used to look at the photos, wondering when I would ever make it on one of these absolutely beautiful cabin, sitting in the seats that were covered in Connolly leather and Burr wood with barely a piece of plastic in sight, being served great food and drinks by the legendary Singapore Girls. I knew that prices for an F ticket were such that I would struggle to justify it even if I had more money than I knew what to do with, so I did not expect to experience the fantasy in the brochure for a long time yet.
Well, my “first time” for the SkySuites did not happen as planned back in April 2008 because I managed to standby for an earlier flight that had the 777-300ER F product – you can find the trip report for this linked at the bottom. Although I enjoyed the fantastic 77W aircraft, it meant I still hadn’t flown the SkySuites, and I was just itching to get myself on it as soon as possible. This turned out to be much sooner than I expected – just 3 months after, in fact.
However, my SkySuite experience on the long SIN-LHR flight in July 2008 did not bode well for writing a proper trip report since 1. I managed to lose my camera on the previous flight which meant the report would have no photos, and 2. I was on my way to collecting exam results as soon as I landed, so I was too preoccupied to really enjoy and write about the experience. So I didn’t do a trip report on that occasion, preferring to hope that I will be on another SQ 747 flight soon.
Then, when I was looking at flights to go back home for Easter, I heard that SQ was withdrawing the 747 in favour of the 77W. To me, the 77W has two major drawbacks:
1. The seat is great for sleeping but not so great for lounging and watching TV – there is limited recline and the seat is so absurdly wide that you don’t really know what to do with the huge gap between your arm and the other armrest.
2. SQ does not allow partner redemptions on the 77W (yet).
But thankfully the dates all worked out and I was able to catch the penultimate 747 service from London in First Class, which is really the best of both worlds as the flight timing makes it a fully catered flight (Dinner and Breakfast), and also allows me to experience the fantastic Virgin Clubhouse at LHR. There was, however, a catch – I would have to repeat the experience from last June and fly three flights in one day, and in fact complete four flights within 36 hours. Friends called me crazy, I did not even tell my family about the itinerary in the fear that they will have me see a shrink when I reached Korea, but I was personally very excited about it, and my friends from Flyertalk were much more understanding! Having done similar flights last June, I was not exactly a stranger to flying three flights in one day, but the last flight which was also a long-ish overnight flight made it more of a challenge.
The hectic day packed with flights involved the following itinerary:
QI5762 27MAR09 (FR) LGW-CPH 0755 1045
SK503 27MAR09 (FR) CPH-LHR 1200 1305
SQ319 27MAR09 (FR) LHR-SIN 1815 1455+1
OZ752 28MAR09 (SA) SIN-ICN 2240 0600+1
Pre-flight
Since the first flight departed from LGW, and the second flight that brought me back to London arrived in to Heathrow, I had two choices: check in my luggage on all the flights (i.e. LGW-CPH-LHR-SIN), or bring my luggage to Heathrow on the day before and leave it at the Left Luggage so that I can collect it on Friday after getting off my SK flight and check it in for my SIN flight at LHR. I decided to go for the latter option since I only had 1h15m for transit at CPH and did not want to risk missing my flight back to London if there were any delays on the QI flight, queues at CPH immigrations or problems with baggage delivery at CPH.
So I dutifully schlepped all the way to Heathrow from my house in Croydon with the two pieces of luggage that I was going to check in on Friday and gulped loudly when I realised that it costs GBP8 per bag per 24 hours. Total price for 2 bags for 36 hours = GBP32. By way of comparison, it costs less than GBP8 to do the same at SIN – eye-watering prices indeed.
Also, I managed to print my CPH-LHR boarding pass by doing online check-in for my SK flight, which meant that I could just walk to the gate when I arrived at CPH without even needing to go to a transfer counter. This would be very helpful if there were any delays in arriving into CPH on the QI flight.
Now, let’s re-live my crazy day of flying on Friday!
Flight 1: QI5762 LGW-CPH 27MAR (FR), B737-700, Seat 8A
STD: 0755 (On Time) STA: 1045 (On Time)
The day started early and without sleep. My worst nightmare being oversleeping and missing this first flight (which would be beyond disastrous for my plans), I decided that I will stay awake all night and hope to get some sleep on the flight instead – I would have to leave the house at 0530 anyway so I was hardly skipping a nice long proper sleep.
It was very easy to get to LGW from my house in Croydon since I just needed to catch a tram to East Croydon station and get a train down to Gatwick Airport which takes just 18 minutes, and I only had one piece of hand luggage to bring to CPH since everything else was already at LHR. The journey was uneventful and I found myself at the Departures hall at LGW South Terminal.
If you’re wondering who QI is, it’s the two-letter code for Cimber Air (which also acquired Sterling Airlines) which is a Danish operation as far as I can tell. They were by far the cheapest to get to CPH for me to start my trip (BMI’s crazy zone system again – cheaper to redeem CPH-LHR-SIN-ICN than LHR-SIN-ICN!) and my only expectation for the airline was that it didn’t crash, and it arrived in CPH on time.
Having found the check-in counter for QI easily, I joined the small-ish queue for the two check-in desks that were open. Well, it was small when I joined it, but quickly grew to the sort of length that I find so infuriating about airports. I was very glad I arrived when I did.
Once checked-in, of course I then had to do the tiresome security check by collecting a clear plastic bag, putting in all my liquids and gels into it, taking my belt off and taking the laptop out for security, taking out my phone and coins from my trousers to put on the tray, pass through the metal detector which of course did not beep, collect all my things which were now in three separate piles and try not to take too long in case they start barking at me. No wonder people fly on private jets.
There was roughly 45 minutes till the published boarding time so I went to Pret a Manger to get something to drink and sit down for a bit, using my laptop for getting online and killing time till the boarding time. Once it got quite close to boarding time, I went down the escalators to the lower level where the departure screen showed that my gate was going to be 12. Rather than hang around for much longer in the main terminal building, I went to the gate in the hope of getting some pictures of my first 737-700.
In the “holding pen”, there were thankfully some windows for me to get some pictures of the 73W and I must say, it looks rather cute with its high wingtips. I was never a fan of the 737 particularly, but at least the 73W is more interesting than most older 737s that are about as exciting as a wet fish. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, of course. Anyway, I always preferred something bigger
Boarding was called on time, I went down the jetway to the waiting aircraft, and found my seat which was just next to the engine. If this was a 77W then I would be apologising profusely to my ears which would be practically bleeding by the end of the flight, but the 73W was not quite that bad.
It turned out that I should be apologising to my knees instead, as the seat pitch was one of the tightest that I have ever sat on:
Not enough legroom to do an SQFG™ Legroom Shot!
I wished there was some way of making good use of the two empty seats next to me, but I couldn’t do anything until seatbelt sign off even if I wanted to stretch out.
Sometime in 1973-1974, Singapore Airlines started flying its first Boeing 747 aircraft to London, soon after the separation of Singapore Airlines from its previous entity as Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. The B747-200s, which were the first Boeing 747 aircraft for Singapore Airlines and nicknamed “Super B”, replaced the Boeing 707s and continued the progress towards non-stop flights, which was eventually achieved in both directions for LHR-SIN by the introduction of the 747-400 in 1989.
On 29th March 2009, Singapore Airlines ended the 35 years-long history of its 747 service to London by replacing the final 747 service with the Boeing 777-300ER. As most of you know already, the other two flights have already been replaced by the A380, with its “A Class beyond First” Suites product that not many people seem interested in paying for, especially when it often attracts a huge premium over and above the prices for F on the 747/777.
The highlight of the Singapore Airlines product in recent history, for me, is the launch of the SkySuite in the B747 back in 1999. I remember being just 17 years old, phoning up the Singapore airlines office in London to ask them to send me brochures for their new 747 aircraft which had the SkySuite in F and Ultimo seats in J. I used to look at the photos, wondering when I would ever make it on one of these absolutely beautiful cabin, sitting in the seats that were covered in Connolly leather and Burr wood with barely a piece of plastic in sight, being served great food and drinks by the legendary Singapore Girls. I knew that prices for an F ticket were such that I would struggle to justify it even if I had more money than I knew what to do with, so I did not expect to experience the fantasy in the brochure for a long time yet.
Well, my “first time” for the SkySuites did not happen as planned back in April 2008 because I managed to standby for an earlier flight that had the 777-300ER F product – you can find the trip report for this linked at the bottom. Although I enjoyed the fantastic 77W aircraft, it meant I still hadn’t flown the SkySuites, and I was just itching to get myself on it as soon as possible. This turned out to be much sooner than I expected – just 3 months after, in fact.
However, my SkySuite experience on the long SIN-LHR flight in July 2008 did not bode well for writing a proper trip report since 1. I managed to lose my camera on the previous flight which meant the report would have no photos, and 2. I was on my way to collecting exam results as soon as I landed, so I was too preoccupied to really enjoy and write about the experience. So I didn’t do a trip report on that occasion, preferring to hope that I will be on another SQ 747 flight soon.
Then, when I was looking at flights to go back home for Easter, I heard that SQ was withdrawing the 747 in favour of the 77W. To me, the 77W has two major drawbacks:
1. The seat is great for sleeping but not so great for lounging and watching TV – there is limited recline and the seat is so absurdly wide that you don’t really know what to do with the huge gap between your arm and the other armrest.
2. SQ does not allow partner redemptions on the 77W (yet).
But thankfully the dates all worked out and I was able to catch the penultimate 747 service from London in First Class, which is really the best of both worlds as the flight timing makes it a fully catered flight (Dinner and Breakfast), and also allows me to experience the fantastic Virgin Clubhouse at LHR. There was, however, a catch – I would have to repeat the experience from last June and fly three flights in one day, and in fact complete four flights within 36 hours. Friends called me crazy, I did not even tell my family about the itinerary in the fear that they will have me see a shrink when I reached Korea, but I was personally very excited about it, and my friends from Flyertalk were much more understanding! Having done similar flights last June, I was not exactly a stranger to flying three flights in one day, but the last flight which was also a long-ish overnight flight made it more of a challenge.
The hectic day packed with flights involved the following itinerary:
QI5762 27MAR09 (FR) LGW-CPH 0755 1045
SK503 27MAR09 (FR) CPH-LHR 1200 1305
SQ319 27MAR09 (FR) LHR-SIN 1815 1455+1
OZ752 28MAR09 (SA) SIN-ICN 2240 0600+1
Pre-flight
Since the first flight departed from LGW, and the second flight that brought me back to London arrived in to Heathrow, I had two choices: check in my luggage on all the flights (i.e. LGW-CPH-LHR-SIN), or bring my luggage to Heathrow on the day before and leave it at the Left Luggage so that I can collect it on Friday after getting off my SK flight and check it in for my SIN flight at LHR. I decided to go for the latter option since I only had 1h15m for transit at CPH and did not want to risk missing my flight back to London if there were any delays on the QI flight, queues at CPH immigrations or problems with baggage delivery at CPH.
So I dutifully schlepped all the way to Heathrow from my house in Croydon with the two pieces of luggage that I was going to check in on Friday and gulped loudly when I realised that it costs GBP8 per bag per 24 hours. Total price for 2 bags for 36 hours = GBP32. By way of comparison, it costs less than GBP8 to do the same at SIN – eye-watering prices indeed.
Also, I managed to print my CPH-LHR boarding pass by doing online check-in for my SK flight, which meant that I could just walk to the gate when I arrived at CPH without even needing to go to a transfer counter. This would be very helpful if there were any delays in arriving into CPH on the QI flight.
Now, let’s re-live my crazy day of flying on Friday!
Flight 1: QI5762 LGW-CPH 27MAR (FR), B737-700, Seat 8A
STD: 0755 (On Time) STA: 1045 (On Time)
The day started early and without sleep. My worst nightmare being oversleeping and missing this first flight (which would be beyond disastrous for my plans), I decided that I will stay awake all night and hope to get some sleep on the flight instead – I would have to leave the house at 0530 anyway so I was hardly skipping a nice long proper sleep.
It was very easy to get to LGW from my house in Croydon since I just needed to catch a tram to East Croydon station and get a train down to Gatwick Airport which takes just 18 minutes, and I only had one piece of hand luggage to bring to CPH since everything else was already at LHR. The journey was uneventful and I found myself at the Departures hall at LGW South Terminal.
If you’re wondering who QI is, it’s the two-letter code for Cimber Air (which also acquired Sterling Airlines) which is a Danish operation as far as I can tell. They were by far the cheapest to get to CPH for me to start my trip (BMI’s crazy zone system again – cheaper to redeem CPH-LHR-SIN-ICN than LHR-SIN-ICN!) and my only expectation for the airline was that it didn’t crash, and it arrived in CPH on time.
Having found the check-in counter for QI easily, I joined the small-ish queue for the two check-in desks that were open. Well, it was small when I joined it, but quickly grew to the sort of length that I find so infuriating about airports. I was very glad I arrived when I did.
Once checked-in, of course I then had to do the tiresome security check by collecting a clear plastic bag, putting in all my liquids and gels into it, taking my belt off and taking the laptop out for security, taking out my phone and coins from my trousers to put on the tray, pass through the metal detector which of course did not beep, collect all my things which were now in three separate piles and try not to take too long in case they start barking at me. No wonder people fly on private jets.
There was roughly 45 minutes till the published boarding time so I went to Pret a Manger to get something to drink and sit down for a bit, using my laptop for getting online and killing time till the boarding time. Once it got quite close to boarding time, I went down the escalators to the lower level where the departure screen showed that my gate was going to be 12. Rather than hang around for much longer in the main terminal building, I went to the gate in the hope of getting some pictures of my first 737-700.
In the “holding pen”, there were thankfully some windows for me to get some pictures of the 73W and I must say, it looks rather cute with its high wingtips. I was never a fan of the 737 particularly, but at least the 73W is more interesting than most older 737s that are about as exciting as a wet fish. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, of course. Anyway, I always preferred something bigger
Boarding was called on time, I went down the jetway to the waiting aircraft, and found my seat which was just next to the engine. If this was a 77W then I would be apologising profusely to my ears which would be practically bleeding by the end of the flight, but the 73W was not quite that bad.
It turned out that I should be apologising to my knees instead, as the seat pitch was one of the tightest that I have ever sat on:
Not enough legroom to do an SQFG™ Legroom Shot!
I wished there was some way of making good use of the two empty seats next to me, but I couldn’t do anything until seatbelt sign off even if I wanted to stretch out.
Jasmine took orders for the meal and post-takeoff drink.
I was right behind you in 22H! Thanks for the TR. Did you notice the lady in the dark suit supervising the crew and occasionally helping out? I guessed she was either a trainer or performing a spot check.
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