X'mas A380 to Shanghai

[ycp81]

This would be my 1st TR of 2014 on my last trip in 2013, to Shanghai over the Xmas holidays on SQ. This was a incredible promotional fare of S$380 all-in when SQ launched its A380 flights to PVG, and we grabbed it shortly after the launch of the promo. However, with the return flight being an ungodly red-eyed flight, we topped up $60 each to fly on the better timed evening flight on the return. Departure day was on Xmas eve, with online check-in done prior. No hassles with luggage drop and immigration at this hour in the afternoon as it is the lull period at T3. Premium loads were poor on this flight, with 0/12 in Suites, about 10/60 in Business, and around 75% full in Economy.

Visited the Ambassador Transit T3 Lounge, compliments of our credit card / priority pass. Conclusion, not worth paying for to use it.

Seating area




Buffet, with only mediocre food selection.










Boarding pass.




9V-SKF would be flying us to Shanghai this evening.




Departure was from gate B2.




Boarding had just started shortly after we cleared security.





24 December 2013
Singapore Airlines
SQ 836
Singapore (SIN) - Shanghai Pudong (PVG)
A380
9V-SKF
Economy Class


Up the airbridge towards the upper deck of the whale.




First, passing the almost empty Business Class cabin.




And into Upper Deck Economy, where S$380 payers belong.

[ycp81]

Xmas decorations in the cabin. Guess these were recycled year after year?




At the gate.




Surprisingly, Jan 2014 inflight mags and IFE were already loaded, even though it was still 7 days to 2014.




Inflight connectivity available on this plane.






Had special Xmas menus as well!








It would only be a very short 4H25M flight to Shanghai this evening. Hot towels distributed and doors closed about 5min prior to STD. One thing to note, SQ has enabled gate-to-gate IFE, with Krisworld already available upon boarding the plane. Headsets were also pre-set on the seats, instead of being distributed after takeoff. A step forward for SQ here!




Pushback.




Safety video played.




Flaps out and starting our long taxi to Rwy 02C.

[ycp81]

Passing Garuda and T3's latest member, Lionair.




Crossing the bridge.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvJOtzbUKbY


Takeoff from Rwy02C.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W8rdYCKCZA


Climbing.




Seat belt signs switched off and service started. Due to the premium cabins being almost empty, an additional crew was sent down to our economy cabin to assist. Guess more were also sent to the economy cabins on the main deck.

First up, bar service. I had a Singapore Sling to go with the mixed nuts.




Cloudy skies during early part of the flight.




Dinner is served!




We had both the Xmas international selection as well as the Oriental selection. My Xmas selection tray of Turkey with stuffing, which came with cheese and crackers. Tasted ok but needed a bit of salt and pepper. Also, bread rolls were served cold, which I understand could be a new service procedure to prevent the rolls from hardening towards the end of the meal service.










Oriental selection, which came with a different starter and Chinese snack of pineapple pastry. I actually preferred the oriental selection.

[ycp81]

Pineapple pastry that came with the oriental tray.




Ice cream was distributed after serving of meals.




Sunset.




Enjoying my dessert at sunset.




More Chinese tea to end the meal.




Continuing with my movie "The Millers". How I wish SQ could remove those footrests so that I could stretch my legs under the seat in front.




View of upper deck economy




Almost 2hrs to go after my first movie. Settled into a second Chinese comedy. Crew came round a couple of times offering drinks.




While I was almost done with my second movie, descend had commenced. Headsets were collected but you would be free to use your own all the way till landing as the IFE system was not switched off.

Almost there.






Landing on Rwy35L more than half hour early!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z583JpToOw


We has a rather long taxi to Terminal 2 after landing, and also had to wait on the taxiway as our gate was not readied yet. So much for landing early.




Parked beside Mahan Air A340.

[ycp81]

My seat for last 4.5hrs.




Disembarking






Surprisingly, a chief stewardess was standing at the aircraft door with a basket filled with chocolates and snack bars, offering to disembarking passengers while wishing all a Merry Xmas! Really nice and unexpected gesture!


Last views of the whale.






Aircraft beside.




Immigration queues were almost non-existent as we were the only flight that landed at that time, and being at the upper deck, we were one of the first to get off the plane. Bags were retrieved rather fat and we were out of the terminal within 15min after stepping out of the aircraft!

SQ has maintained its high standards, both service and hardware, in Economy on this flight and has even made the effort to offer festive menus to celebrate the Xmas season. Now, if only they could remove the footrests...


We booked our hotel stay at SSAW Hotel Shanghai, with a lovely room at very reasonable rates, and a very convenient location (a couple of minutes walk from Yuyuan MRT) too.








Some Shanghai scenes and food.

[SQueeze]

Thanks for the report.

I actually like the footrest ...
hope it never gets to be taken out.
I guess one man's meat is another's poison

[Kyo]

Put the footrest down, put your feet through the two holes

I quite like the footrest also.

Thanks for the TR

[SQueeze]

Put the footrest down, put your feet through the two holes

I quite like the footrest also.

Thanks for the TR

That's exactly what I do!
The secret recipe to make it work,

indeed it's not that comfortable position when sole of the feet placed exactly on top of it.

[ycp81]

Night @ Shanghai




Day trip to Hangzhou's West Lake.




Meal at the famous Hangzhou chain restaurant, Grandma's Kitchen. Very affordable and delicious food!





It was a speedy taxi ride to Pudong T2 to catch our flight home. Check-in queues were not very long even though Economy was rather full. Premium cabins were almost empty though. Final load, 0F, 9J and about almost 100% full in Economy.




Boarding pass.




Really huge and spacious check-in hall. Reminds me of HKG, PEK etc though. Design seems rather generic.




Off through immigration and security, which were rather painless compared to PEK, and into the departure hall.

Spotted an Air NZ B772ER and an Etihad A330 in special livery parked at the remot stands.




Firstly, we went to the lounge to grab some bites. Used our Priority Passes to access the 69 VIP Lounge (as name because it is beside Gate 69). The lounge is also used by a number of airlines.



There are 2 sections of the lounge, First and Business. However, both sections were exactly similar with same seating and food offering. Also, the lounge attendants did not dictate which section you had to go to and so one can move freely between the 2 sections. There were also toilets and showers available in the lounge. As the First Class section was almost empty, we went into that section. Lounge was not too busy at this hour.






Buffet offering, which was a rather mediocre affair.

[ycp81]

Some more of the buffet selection.




Our spread.




View of the gate areas from the lounge.




Our plane arriving early from Singapore.




After we had our fill, we left the lounge and wandered around the terminal. Not too interesting shops in the terminal.






They actually sell live hairy crabs for you to take home with!




AA in new livery.




FIDS display.




Emirates A380. They are everywhere!




We will be departing from Gate D73 today.

[ycp81]

29 December 2013
Singapore Airlines
SQ 833
Shanghai Pudong (PVG) - Singapore (SIN)
B777-300ER
9V-SWP
Economy Class


Will be flying 9V-SWP today. We missed the new B773ER by a day as SWV made an unscheduled "guest appearance" on this exact flight just the day before!




Boarding was done orderly and we passed the empty premium cabins to our seats at row 55A/C right at the rear of the aircraft. Luckily, the middle seat remained empty, one of the few empty seats in Economy on this flight.




Emirates A380 beside.




With the headwinds along the way, it would be a lengthy 5+hrs to Singapore.




Hot towels and menus distributed. Again, headsets were already at the seats and Krisworld could be fired up immediately.

Just a normal menu for the return flight.








Aircraft out on the tarmac.






After all passengers had boarded.




Doors were closed 10min before our STD of 1620hrs. However, there was no sign of pushback, and the pilots then came on to announce that due to airspace congestion, we were not given a specific timeslot for departure by ATC, and they would try to negotiate for a departure time. A while later, pilot came on again and announced that departure would be delayed by an hour to 1720hrs! Apologies were also offered even it was not the fault of the airline. Luckily Krisworld was available and most pax settled into their entertainment. Crew also came through with a round of water.

Started watching a Singapore-made movie "Ilo, Ilo" on Singapore Airlines.




Finally we pushed back slightly after 1700hrs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIUCEWfx5l4


Had a very lengthy taxi to Rwy 35R.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTvA6ZdZezw

[ycp81]

Takeoff from Pudong an hour late.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvpHMyeIeC4




We actually flew past The Bund during ascent!




Flying past Shanghai Hongqiao Airport as well.




Shortly after seatbelt signs were switched off, bar service was started. I had a Campari 7-up cocktail with my pack of mixed nuts.




Bar service in progress. Again, as the premium cabins were almost empty, a few crew came down to assist in economy. I counted 5 cabin crew working in the rear Economy section, making service rather fast and efficient on this flight.




Just after I had finished with my first movie, we were somewhere between Shanghai and Hong Kong. It was also time for dinner to be served.




Again, International and Oriental choices were offered, and we had both to try.

My International selection tray with cheese and crackers. Bread roll was served warm this time round.




The International tray consisted of an average smoked salmon pasta starter and rather delicious braised beef main.






While the Oriental tray consisted of great pork salad starter, but a less tasty salt-baked chicken main.






The not-so-Chinese "Chinese snack" on the Oriental tray.

[ycp81]

No ice-cream for dessert, but we had an apple crumble instead. It was ok but I still preferred to have ice-cream!




Again, Chinese tea to end the meal.




Clearing up the cabin after dinner, before lights were dimmed.




Visit to the rear lavatory, with amenities still available.




For the rest of the flight, I settled on the movie "Monsters University",




as well as browsing through some of the audio selection.




All too soon, descent was announced. Headsets were collected as usual, and cabin secured for landing. Again, IFE was not switched off and you are free to use your own headsets. However, I stuck to the flightmap during the descent.








Rather smooth landing on Rwy02L 37min late (not the fault of SQ though). It was also my first time aboard an SQ flight where cabin lights were not totally switched off for a night landing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N9BSL5pziY


Taxied to and parked at Terminal 3 Gate A15.




Disembarking.






Overall, another good flight on SQ with high service standards maintained. With the low fare paid for this flight, it was also very value-for-money as well!

And this ends my last trip for the year of 2013. Thanks all for reading! All comments welcomed.

[Singapore Guy]

Nice trip report. Makes me wanna visit Shanghai again. The price of $380 is really a good deal.

[soarbeyond]

Put the footrest down, put your feet through the two holes

+1 For Me!

Brilliant trip report ycp81

The hotel room looks gorgeous!

Will be flying 9V-SWP today. We missed the new B773ER by a day as SWV made an unscheduled "guest appearance" on this exact flight just the day before!

I managed to catch 9V-SWV on my way to LHR the other day. She's a beaut!