SIN-DEL airline choices: AI 788 vs SQ A388

[shikhargpt]

I live in Singapore, will be visiting Delhi in November for a while, and two amazing aircraft are plying the route - Air India's B787-8 and Singapore Airlines' A380-841. I will be flying Y (Economy) class, and assuming the price differences as well as timing variations are of no matter, which should I fly on? I haven't flown on either aircraft type, so either way it will be a whole new experience for me. SQ, as everyone knows has the best service (in the Asian region at the very least), an excellent menu (usually) and stellar on-time performance. The only qualm I have is that SQ might use their all J class upper deck configured A380, and I would much like to fly the 380 on the upper deck (and that there've been so many recent incidents (minor or otherwise) on their 388s). I'll be flying SQ after 12 years (the last was 9V-SPQ to SYD), so I'm really out of touch with their service, cabin, route meals etc.

On the other hand AI is using their brand new B787-8, with a really nice cabin and massive PTV screen. Only I've heard that it lacks a lot of TV shows, a spotty on-time record, and doesn't have the best meals.

It'll be great if someone who has preferably flown both the AI 787-8 and SQ A388 (bonus if on the SIN - DEL - SIN route) could shed some light on this matter.

[viraj735]

Welcome to SQTalk.

SQ hands down, definitely worth the usual fare premium.

I haven't flown AI's 788 but a lot of friends and family have and I am somewhat familiar with AIs standard SOP though I am sure there are many far more knowledgable members on this forum.

AI's IFE has 12 to 15 English films and a seating layout of 3-3-3 in Y which means the seats are a lot more cramped (just under 17" wide) than SQ's 3-4-3 layout on the A380 where the seats are 19" wide. The 787s may be new but are in terrible shape with a lot of wear and tear, broken IFE and recline mechanisms. AI doesn't clean the bathrooms mid-flight so you'd be better off holding "it" in until you land, not worth the possibility of a bladder infection. AI also has a shoddy track record in IRROPS, when something's wrong, AI will make the situation even worse.

Singapore Airlines is superior. KrisWorld may not be the best IFE around but it is still great and the screens are definitely large enough. If you like Indian cuisine, SQ has a nice selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian Indian meals. There is usually 1 Indian vegetarian and 2 non-vegetarian (1 western/oriental and 1 Indian) meal options. Some may argue SQs service may not be what it was 12 years ago but IMO the crew are (mostly) very good.

I'd go with SQ.

[shikhargpt]

Thanks for the information! Didn't know AI service was that bad, and yeah I expected that much regarding IRROPS for them too. The loo seems disgusting from what you say! Gonna go with the SQ 388!

Thanks for the welcome!

[SQueeze]

Thanks for the information! Didn't know AI service was that bad, and yeah I expected that much regarding IRROPS for them too. The loo seems disgusting from what you say! Gonna go with the SQ 388!

Thanks for the welcome!

Hi Shikhar,

The above advise is based on what you originally said that price and timing make no difference.

Are you sure they don't matter?
You may want to know that AI price in J (SGD 1,250) = SQ price in Y (SGD 1,280).

Personally, I would take J class anytime. No matter how bad it is, J is J and Y is Y. And to add to that, the inbound flight is a brutal 5 hour red eye flight. AI's 787 with flat bed J will vastly exceed SQ's A380 in Y. A bad flat bad is still better than a good coach seat especially on overnight flights.

[shikhargpt]

Hi Shikhar,

The above advise is based on what you originally said that price and timing make no difference.

Are you sure they don't matter?
You may want to know that AI price in J (SGD 1,250) = SQ price in Y (SGD 1,280).

Personally, I would take J class anytime. No matter how bad it is, J is J and Y is Y. And to add to that, the inbound flight is a brutal 5 hour red eye flight. AI's 787 with flat bed J will vastly exceed SQ's A380 in Y. A bad flat bad is still better than a good coach seat especially on overnight flights.

SQ always has deals later on for November/December flights to Delhi. Last year my friend scored a SIN-DEL-SIN ticket for S$488. It's all a matter of time. Anyway, the SQ Y tickets are $903 right now, not $1280, and the S$1250 J class AI tickets are one-way only - the round trip costs $1700 in "Super Value Executive" and $2577 for "Executive". The Y class AI ticket is $530 total.

[SQueeze]

SQ always has deals later on for November/December flights to Delhi. Last year my friend scored a SIN-DEL-SIN ticket for S$488. It's all a matter of time. Anyway, the SQ Y tickets are $903 right now, not $1280, and the S$1250 J class AI tickets are one-way only - the round trip costs $1700 in "Super Value Executive" and $2577 for "Executive". The Y class AI ticket is $530 total.

Agree that SQ prices can be sub-SGD1,000 for partial mileage earning fares.

But flexi saver is currently priced at SGD1,093 and Flexi at SGD1,283.

AI price in J is SGD1,248 round trip, not one-way. For Web Special Z class

It boils down to your priorities.

Mine is for miles and flat bed.
Even at 300 dollars premium, I still pick the flat bed over the coach seat.

[shikhargpt]

*nothing to see here*

[shikhargpt]

*nothing to see here*

[shikhargpt]

*nothing to see here*

[shikhargpt]

*nothing to see here*

[cscs1956]

Agree that SQ prices can be sub-SGD1,000 for partial mileage earning fares.

But flexi saver is currently priced at SGD1,093 and Flexi at SGD1,283.

AI price in J is SGD1,248 round trip, not one-way. For Web Special Z class

It boils down to your priorities.

Mine is for miles and flat bed.
Even at 300 dollars premium, I still pick the flat bed over the coach seat.

Support that. Added to that is if you are on mileage claim. AI J is also more than SQ Y.

[shikhargpt]

Agree that SQ prices can be sub-SGD1,000 for partial mileage earning fares.

But flexi saver is currently priced at SGD1,093 and Flexi at SGD1,283.

AI price in J is SGD1,248 round trip, not one-way. For Web Special Z class

It boils down to your priorities.

Mine is for miles and flat bed.
Even at 300 dollars premium, I still pick the flat bed over the coach seat.

Uhh, no the AI is minimum $1722 for a round-trip in J: http://i.imgur.com/FCo66GL.png

Also, I did say there will be a sub-$550 fare deal later on in the year. Surely you can't possibly want to pay $1200 for J and miles?? Unless you're rich of course... No contest there.

[shikhargpt]

Support that. Added to that is if you are on mileage claim. AI J is also more than SQ Y.

Agree that SQ prices can be sub-SGD1,000 for partial mileage earning fares.

But flexi saver is currently priced at SGD1,093 and Flexi at SGD1,283.

AI price in J is SGD1,248 round trip, not one-way. For Web Special Z class

It boils down to your priorities.

Mine is for miles and flat bed.
Even at 300 dollars premium, I still pick the flat bed over the coach seat.

Er, I did say that there will be deals later on in the year going below $500 round trip SQ Y class. And no, AI price in J is not S$1248 round trip, the minimum is S$1722, not S$1248. $1248 is for the normal Executive class, and S$856 is the web special - one way only. You need to select the returning flight manually too, if not it only shows one way. I'd post the screenshot to show you, but the damned forum doesn't allow me to post pics/links without mod approval (which has taken over 5 hours since I originally tried to reply to you).

Screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/FCo66GL.png

So now the price difference is $1200. Are you really saying that the price of 2 extra SQ Y class tickets is worth one person being bumped to J? And that too for AI?

[shikhargpt]

Support that. Added to that is if you are on mileage claim. AI J is also more than SQ Y.

Agree that SQ prices can be sub-SGD1,000 for partial mileage earning fares.

But flexi saver is currently priced at SGD1,093 and Flexi at SGD1,283.

AI price in J is SGD1,248 round trip, not one-way. For Web Special Z class

It boils down to your priorities.

Mine is for miles and flat bed.
Even at 300 dollars premium, I still pick the flat bed over the coach seat.

Er, I did say that there will be deals later on in the year going below $500 round trip SQ Y class. And no, AI price in J is not S$1248 round trip, the minimum is S$1722, not S$1248. $1248 is for the normal Executive class, and S$856 is the web special - one way only. You need to select the returning flight manually too, if not it only shows one way. I'd post the screenshot, but the forum only allows me to post links/pics with mod approval (I've been waiting 5 hrs).

So now the price difference is $1200. Are you really saying that the price of 2 extra SQ Y class tickets is worth one person being bumped to J and earning miles? And that too on AI?

[SQueeze]

Er, I did say that there will be deals later on in the year going below $500 round trip SQ Y class. And no, AI price in J is not S$1248 round trip, the minimum is S$1722, not S$1248. $1248 is for the normal Executive class, and S$856 is the web special - one way only. You need to select the returning flight manually too, if not it only shows one way. I'd post the screenshot, but the forum only allows me to post links/pics with mod approval (I've been waiting 5 hrs).

So now the price difference is $1200. Are you really saying that the price of 2 extra SQ Y class tickets is worth one person being bumped to J and earning miles? And that too on AI?

I think you are set on SQ. It's ok.
We have different priorities.

I have flown that short redeye sector too much to know I won't put myself in coach in any airline including SQ. The coach supper service will eat half the flying time leaving practically no time for any meaningful rest unless you are one of those who can rest with food smell wafting through the cabin and sounds of cutleries.

AI in November is showing as 1296. And SQ's lowest fare is around 903 now for the 50% miles sweet deal fare 1063 for flexi saver and 1283 for flexi fare.