Most trip reports are written by frequent flyers well used to the vagaries of international travel. This… is not one of those.
The trip reports on a site like this are really excellent tools for traveling vicariously through others, especially for those of us who don’t fly very often (either for business or pleasure). However, this meant that when it was time for me to plan some travel of my own, a simple ticket in economy wouldn’t suffice. To paraphrase James May: as you can see, I’ve done this properly.
This is what I ended up with:
Index
MNL-SIN - (very) old SQ regional J (772)
The Singapore Stopover
SIN-ICN-SFO - new SQ long-haul J (77WR)
SFO-SEA - AS F
Seattle In One Week
SEA-PHX
Tucson - Planes, Missiles, and the Desert
PHX-LAX - WN
LAX-NRT-SIN - old SQ long-haul J (A380)
SIN-MNL - SQ regional J (refitted 773)
The primary destinations for this trip were Seattle and Tucson. As an avowed aviation geek, the appeal of Seattle should be obvious. While I was already in the US, I couldn’t pass up the chance to head down to Tucson, Arizona and visit both the Pima Air and Space Museum as well as take the bus tour of the US government’s aircraft boneyard. Some days were added to both destinations to visit the other non-aviation attractions of each city.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I turned out to be a lousy trip reporter when it came to photos. In some cases I have used publicly available photos that show what I’m talking about and properly cited these. All other photos are my own.
Flight #1
SQ 915, MNL-SIN
Scheduled: 7:40 AM to 11:00 AM
Actual: 8:00 AM to 11:11 AM
Operated by: 777-200 (9V-SRJ)
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport has the dubious distinction of being called the “Worst Airport in the World” by the Sleeping in Airports website from 2011 to 2013. Most of the criticism was due to the rather decrepit state of Terminal 1, which dates back to 1981. Singapore Airlines flies out of the newest terminal, Terminal 3.
Unfortunately, the first thing that greets anyone departing from MNL is… a line. Unusually, passengers need to pass through a security check even before entering the terminal itself. The area for dropping off passengers is also too small, resulting in lines for both cars and passengers, as seen here:
Image from @glenjuego on Twitter
The line wasn’t quite this bad when I got at the airport about three hours before my flight. Even at this early time there was already a sizable line at the counters - but not for business class. One would think that 5AM-ish would be a fairly quiet time, but not at MNL: there are quite a few early morning flights that head off to international hubs early in the morning.
For an outstation, Terminal 3 has quite good lounge options. All of the lounges are a floor above the main departure level, and there are four in total: both SQ and CX operate airline lounges, and there are two contract lounges.
SQ operates their SilverKris lounge…
CX operates their own lounge as well.
One of the contract lounges; this one is used by ANA and Emirates and is operated by dnata.
Four lounges may not sound like a lot, but considering that only five non-LCC airlines (CX, DL, EK, NH, and SQ) actually operate out of Terminal 3, four lounges is a lot. This produced an exceptionally pleasant lounge experience: it never got particularly crowded!
I was the first passenger to arrive at the SilverKris lounge. It’s not particularly large, but at no time did the lounge feel crowded. It’s essentially one large room: both lounging chairs and pod chairs (like those available in other SQ lounges) are present.
One side of the room has the available food. Choices are relatively limited, but adequate. Seats and tables more suited for eating are also located here.
The lounge actually has a view of the tarmac - a rarity for SQ lounges. The plane that serves SQ 915 actually arrives the night before and remains overnight at MNL, and it’s parked right outside the lounge:
Unfortunately a ledge of some sort between the room and the outside keeps passengers from catching a good view of their plane.
NH and DL also keep a plane overnight at MNL. On the other side of the airport, Terminal 2 - the hub of PR - is clearly visible from the lounge.
The lounge has its own WiFi network, with the password provided to passengers on a slip of paper on entrance. One thing this lounge gets very right is power. Each table between the lounging chairs has an AC socket and two USB ports, ensuring most seats have easy access to power:
I had a light breakfast to keep my hunger pangs at bay. I was the sole passenger in the lounge for about 30 minutes or so, but even when other passengers arrived it wasn’t crowded at all.
Soon enough, it was time to board: this lounge makes boarding calls, perhaps because it actually closes for a few hours until the next departure, which isn’t until the early afternoon.
The boarding call was perfectly timed, as I was able to walk all the way from the lounge to the airplane without breaking a sweat. There is something to be said about early boarding and not spending any time waiting at the gate…
At Terminal 3 the actual gate is a level below the departure area, with a long ramp that leads to the plane. This gave me a marginally better view of the plane:
The trip reports on a site like this are really excellent tools for traveling vicariously through others, especially for those of us who don’t fly very often (either for business or pleasure). However, this meant that when it was time for me to plan some travel of my own, a simple ticket in economy wouldn’t suffice. To paraphrase James May: as you can see, I’ve done this properly.
This is what I ended up with:
Index
MNL-SIN - (very) old SQ regional J (772)
The Singapore Stopover
SIN-ICN-SFO - new SQ long-haul J (77WR)
SFO-SEA - AS F
Seattle In One Week
SEA-PHX
Tucson - Planes, Missiles, and the Desert
PHX-LAX - WN
LAX-NRT-SIN - old SQ long-haul J (A380)
SIN-MNL - SQ regional J (refitted 773)
The primary destinations for this trip were Seattle and Tucson. As an avowed aviation geek, the appeal of Seattle should be obvious. While I was already in the US, I couldn’t pass up the chance to head down to Tucson, Arizona and visit both the Pima Air and Space Museum as well as take the bus tour of the US government’s aircraft boneyard. Some days were added to both destinations to visit the other non-aviation attractions of each city.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I turned out to be a lousy trip reporter when it came to photos. In some cases I have used publicly available photos that show what I’m talking about and properly cited these. All other photos are my own.
Flight #1
SQ 915, MNL-SIN
Scheduled: 7:40 AM to 11:00 AM
Actual: 8:00 AM to 11:11 AM
Operated by: 777-200 (9V-SRJ)
The Ninoy Aquino International Airport has the dubious distinction of being called the “Worst Airport in the World” by the Sleeping in Airports website from 2011 to 2013. Most of the criticism was due to the rather decrepit state of Terminal 1, which dates back to 1981. Singapore Airlines flies out of the newest terminal, Terminal 3.
Unfortunately, the first thing that greets anyone departing from MNL is… a line. Unusually, passengers need to pass through a security check even before entering the terminal itself. The area for dropping off passengers is also too small, resulting in lines for both cars and passengers, as seen here:
Image from @glenjuego on Twitter
The line wasn’t quite this bad when I got at the airport about three hours before my flight. Even at this early time there was already a sizable line at the counters - but not for business class. One would think that 5AM-ish would be a fairly quiet time, but not at MNL: there are quite a few early morning flights that head off to international hubs early in the morning.
For an outstation, Terminal 3 has quite good lounge options. All of the lounges are a floor above the main departure level, and there are four in total: both SQ and CX operate airline lounges, and there are two contract lounges.
SQ operates their SilverKris lounge…
CX operates their own lounge as well.
One of the contract lounges; this one is used by ANA and Emirates and is operated by dnata.
Four lounges may not sound like a lot, but considering that only five non-LCC airlines (CX, DL, EK, NH, and SQ) actually operate out of Terminal 3, four lounges is a lot. This produced an exceptionally pleasant lounge experience: it never got particularly crowded!
I was the first passenger to arrive at the SilverKris lounge. It’s not particularly large, but at no time did the lounge feel crowded. It’s essentially one large room: both lounging chairs and pod chairs (like those available in other SQ lounges) are present.
One side of the room has the available food. Choices are relatively limited, but adequate. Seats and tables more suited for eating are also located here.
The lounge actually has a view of the tarmac - a rarity for SQ lounges. The plane that serves SQ 915 actually arrives the night before and remains overnight at MNL, and it’s parked right outside the lounge:
Unfortunately a ledge of some sort between the room and the outside keeps passengers from catching a good view of their plane.
NH and DL also keep a plane overnight at MNL. On the other side of the airport, Terminal 2 - the hub of PR - is clearly visible from the lounge.
The lounge has its own WiFi network, with the password provided to passengers on a slip of paper on entrance. One thing this lounge gets very right is power. Each table between the lounging chairs has an AC socket and two USB ports, ensuring most seats have easy access to power:
I had a light breakfast to keep my hunger pangs at bay. I was the sole passenger in the lounge for about 30 minutes or so, but even when other passengers arrived it wasn’t crowded at all.
Soon enough, it was time to board: this lounge makes boarding calls, perhaps because it actually closes for a few hours until the next departure, which isn’t until the early afternoon.
The boarding call was perfectly timed, as I was able to walk all the way from the lounge to the airplane without breaking a sweat. There is something to be said about early boarding and not spending any time waiting at the gate…
At Terminal 3 the actual gate is a level below the departure area, with a long ramp that leads to the plane. This gave me a marginally better view of the plane:
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