Trip report: IAD-FCO-SIN, SIN-LHR-IAD on UA and SQ economy

[borntofly]

I figured I'd finish this report before the new year. It's been a long time coming. But here is the last half of the trip:

December 27th, 2010
SIN-LHR
Singapore Airlines Flight 308
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Engine: GE90-115B
Class: Economy
Meal Service: Breakfast,Lunch and Snack
Departing from: Singapore Changi International Airport: Terminal 3
Departs: 9:05 AM
Arriving at: London Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom: Terminal 3
Arrives: 3:05 PM
Flight Time: 14 hours
6757 Miles



On December 27th, 2010 I arrived at Changi at around 7am, checked in and went down to the food court to have a one last meal before returning to the US. Once I finished eating, I proceeded to my gate Gate B8.

Some pictures along the way:








Beautiful GE engine on our aircraft


Our Aircraft 9V-SWK



This aircraft had come from Manchester and arrived at around 8:50am. I was a bit panicked as our layover in LHR was only an hour and 15 minutes. We didn't board the plane till 9:40am as the crew said it needed to switch the navigation system.

On board

Wingshot


Raked Wingtip



Once on board, the flight time was estimated at around 13hrs 20mins. We pushed back at 10:10am and the flight departed at 10:32am off of runway 02L 20R.








Just before takeoff


Lifting off out of Singapore

[borntofly]

Shortly after takeoff we flew over Malaysia and then over the Bay of Bengal.

Picture of IFE at my seat: 36K


Picture of Cabin:


Flying over Malaysia:


Shortly into the flight Breakfast service was served. The Menu was as follows
Breakfast

Fruit
Fruit appetizer

Light Starter
Cereal

Wholesome Beginnings
Fried noodles with char siew style roast pork, vegetables and mushroom

or

Omelette with chicken sausage, glaced tomato and hash brown

From the Bakery
Assorted breakfast rolls
Butter - Fruit preserve

Hot Beverages
Coffee - Tea

Naturally I chose the noodles. They were DELICIOUS. Definitely top 5 airline meals I've ever had.




After breakfast was finished, we flew through India and Pakistan, over Afghanistan and at about 6 hours into the flight we were at 35K feet. After Afghanistan, we flew over Turkmenistan.

A few more pictures along the way:









Over Afghanistan




So much sand, it looks like a river.

[borntofly]

8 hours into the flight we were over Turkmenistan and lunch was about to be served:



The lunch menu was as follows:

Lunch

Appetiser
Pasta and tuna salad

Main Courses
Pan roasted chicken breast with mushroom sauce, sauteed green beans and smashed olive potatoes

or

Stirfried fish fillet with celery in garlic sauce, seasonal vegetables and fried noodles

or

Gulai kambing
Lamb in light curry sauce with stir fried vegetables and steamed rice

cheese
Cheese and crackers

dessert
Chocolate delight

from the bakery
Roll and butter

hot beverages
Coffee - Tea

By the way, I love how SQ offers 3 main courses, it really gives you a great selection on a flight

I chose the Gulai kambing, also very delicious!


Once lunch was over, we flew over Kyrgystan and the Caspian Sea before making our way over Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, across the English Channel to LHR.

Since our flight was delayed, we told the flight attended about our connection in LHR and she said that she would come and get us and put us up in business class before we landed at LHR. Sounded great to me!

Sure enough, she came and got us about 35mins before landing and moved us to business class, specifically seat 21K for me. Here are some pictures:








flaps up


I love the Christmas decorations:






And some more pictures of the approach:

[borntofly]

Sorry about the slight blurriness, it was the best the camera could do with the lighting. Anyways we landed at 3:54pm, only 26 minutes before our flight was to depart, there was no way were going to make it.

On the ground:

Qantas A388


NH 773


We quickly deplaned and found out that the doors had already been closed for our UA flight back to IAD. SQ ended putting us up at the Holiday Inn and gave us a buffet dinner. Additionally, they told us to be at the airport at 530am so we could try and get on a standby flight. For those of you who do not remember, this was a few days after the epic snow storm struck LHR making it so travelers had to stay in LHR for days on end. We assumed that we would be in London for a while being as people were still trying to get on flights.

We got up the next morning at 4:10am to go to the airport as early as possible so we could get on standby for the flights. The first flight they put us on standby on was for UA923 which departed at 7:40AM. Lucky for us we got on the flight and I was pleased the we ended up in Economy plus with a window!

[borntofly]

December 28th, 2010

United Airlines Flight 923
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER
Engine: P&W PW4062
Class: Economy
Meal Service: Dinner and Breakfast
Departing from:London Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom: Terminal 1
Departs: 7:40am
Arriving at: Washington Dulles Airport, Virginia: Terminal C or D
Arrives: 11:00am
Flight Time: 8 hours 20minutes
3677miles

Our aircraft was N644UA. We left from gate 249 at 7:40am and I was snugly in my seat 26A.
We ended up taking off at 7:57am off of runway 27L- 09R. We took off to the east and the announced flight time was 7hrs and 36mins. It was rainy and dark, so I only got a few pictures:







Lifting off out of cloudy London:


Neat picture of the moon and an aircraft:


And a bit of the sunrise:

[borntofly]

Breakfast was served soon after takeoff. There was no choice and it was a cheese omelet with sausage, hash browns, fruit, orange juice, a roll and yogurt. It was not very good, especially after being spoiled from SQ's great meals:


One picture of the IFE:


I slept a bit after this and before I knew it we were on approach to IAD.. a few last pictures:


and back on the ground:




Overall, I was impressed with SQ's service and even though there were mishaps along the way, SQ seemed more than willing to help us out. It was a very eventful journey and I hope you enjoyed reading the report. The main reason I am putting this up is because I am actually going back to Singapore within the next couple of days except in with be on NH, specifically IAD-NRT-SIN-NRT-IAD. I look forward to writting that report up as well and appreciate everyone who read my TR.

Thanks and I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

-borntofly

[SilverChris]

Glad everything worked out for you Thanks for the TR btw.

Just curious, why did you choose LHR to connect?

[borntofly]

I am too! The reason why I chose to connect through LHR was because the tickets were free from miles. I had a choice between stopping in Frankfurt on LH or this particular SQ itinerary. Basically I figured I would take the risk of missing a flight just so I could have SQ's service. I know LHR is a terrible connector airport but I still feel like it was worth it, even with the overnight.

[eriond]

Just to clarify, am I right to say that since you were connecting through LHR on a single itinerary, APD is not levied?

[borntofly]

Well, the tickets were absolutely free so I didn't have to pay anything.