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An Aussie Summer in SYD & MEL on TR, TT and SQ

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  • An Aussie Summer in SYD & MEL on TR, TT and SQ

    I recently flew to Sydney (mid-January) to attend a conference, and then down to Melbourne to visit a friend and also visit the Australian Open (i am a huge tennis fan). We flew SIN-SYD, SYD-MEL and MEL-SIN. Initially, my travelling companion and i tried multiple ways of booking all 3 flights in a single itinerary when we confirmed our trip in mid-November. However, prices were already insane by then; a similar trend when booking Y tickets for my LHR trip last year. Prices for BA, SQ and QF flights booked on a single itinerary and even in separate blocks were above $1500 all-in. To cut a long and unnecessary story short, we ended up booking all our tickets one way on seperate itineraries: SIN-SYD on TR2, SYD-MEL on TT279 and MEL-SIN on SQ228, which cost a total of exactly SGD$1000. In this case, it wasn’t an issue that it wasn’t a single itinerary as we weren’t immediately connecting. The report will cover all the sectors, with more focus on TR and SQ as the TT flight was rushed, rather uneventful and i suspect few people have interest in TT anyway; its an LCC and you get what you pay for. Apologies in advance for some missing/not-so-good photos. They were the best i could manage in the circumstances. For a TL;DR, head to the end of the report.

    TR2 is scheduled to depart Changi T2 at 1:45am, so i basically didn’t sleep the entire day and hoped to knock out on the flight. We reached the airport at around 11:15pm, and proceeded to check-in. The self check-in kiosk however, kept showing an error message, so we had to get our boarding passes and luggage tags from a check-in agent. Apparently, many people were experiencing the same issue and the agent groused about the system. I guess you get what you pay for……. In any case, we had plenty of time to spare and the agent got us all squared away quickly. We entered the departure hall and went to the food court for a bite to eat.

    The prices in the T2 departure hall food court border on ludicrous to my Singaporean sense of value (though by Melbourne standards, they would be cheap), but at least they tasted good and filled us up plenty. Sated, we went to our boarding gate E4…..which greeted us with a loooong line of travellers waiting to clear security.



    Scoot’s 787-9s have a total of 336 seats (by comparison, SQ’s 77Ws only have 278 seats), and from the looks of it, the Y cabin at least would be packed. Security cleared us quickly and we topped up our water bottles (very important for an LCC flight of this length!) and waited for the boarding call. That came at 1:12am (about 10mins behind schedule) and we lined up to board. It would be my first flight on a B787 so the AVGeek in me was excited, though that was tempered by the fact that it was to be on a 9-abreast Y seat and in an LCC, and that i was tired. I noted somewhat humourously that there would be no in-flight maps to get regular position updates; a dealbreaker for some of our esteemed forum members perhaps?
    Last edited by loldude333; 27 January 2018, 02:26 PM.

  • #2
    Scoot flight TR2
    Singapore (SIN) to Sydney Kingsford Smith (SYD)
    Depart: 0202 (pushback), 0219 (takeoff)
    Arrive: 1235 (touchdown), 1245 (deplane)
    Duration: 7h15mins
    Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
    Registration: 9V-OJE
    Seat 37K


    Unfortunately, the gate did not allow me a good shot at all of the aircraft, but i did manage to note the registration number. 9V-OJE would be transporting us on this redeye to SYD. We entered the cabin at 1:25am and were greeted warmly by the crew and pointed in the right direction. The cabin ambience is definitely different, and somewhat quirky, as is fitting with Scoot’s overall branding. The LEDs were alternating between Scoot yellow and white, and the boarding music was a pretty upbeat pop/funk song. Definitely not your legacy airline experience but not a bother to me, given what we paid. I somewhat enjoyed the different feel as i settled into my seat. The overhead bins are plenty roomy and i see up to 5 rollaboard suitcases packed into some bins. A godsend for LCC passengers, because these airlines usually pack lots of people and their carry-ons into the cabin!





    Our esteemed yflyer has already posted more detailed pictures of Scoot’s Y seating in his excellent Athens TR, so i decided not to snap any more. The Y cabin was completely full at any rate, which was made snapping photos difficult. My first impressions of the seat were fairly positive. Being wider in girth than the average male, i was dreading the 17 inch seat width. Yet, i did not find myself too squished, with enough room to sit comfortably. Legroom also felt surprisingly generous and the seat cushions didn’t feel too thin to keep my bum comfortable. Even the lack of an adjustable headrest wasn’t too big of an issue, with a slight curvature forwards to keep the head and neck in a comfortable position.



    I have a minor gripe about the size of the seatback pocket; it is tiny and could barely fit my 500mL bottle and an extra book. I suppose that helps the legroom, but just a bit more storage space would be nice.



    The seatback is spartan, as expected for an LCC.



    I gave the tray table a quick look over and was fairly impressed by the size and sturdiness.





    On the right armrest are the FA call buttons and the light switch. I found the positioning to be frankly rather stupid, as they are right in an area where people would accidentally press them. And that was true to form, as multiple times during the flight mine and others’ lights/call buttons came on accidentally throughout the entire Y cabin. Oh well…...sometimes you get what you pay for.



    On the inner side of the left armrest is the seat recline button. Recline was decent. Not as good as SQ or MH but i found myself able to sleep pretty comfortably.

    My seat, 37K, has a window right next to you, and you don’t have to move your head much, if at all, to take in the view. I definitely appreciate the much bigger windows on the 787, it was much easier to take in the view from outside especially once we were in daylight. However, my window was dirty and that made taking pictures hard……. In any case, it was a dark and wet night in Singapore at that moment, so i stowed my phone.

    At 1:49am, the captain come on the PA to introduce himself and explain that we will be departing soon, with a flight time of 7h20min. Also adds that we will be taking off from RWY 02C. Pushback happens around 10mins later due to a small delay. Engines start as soon as pushback is complete and we taxi almost immediately after the startup sequence is complete. The RR Trent 1000s have a very different startup sound to the GE90-115Bs and even to the Trent 900s on the A380 (or maybe my memory fails me) and are extremely quiet. They also start pretty quick; if my timing is correct within 3mins both engines were running. We make a quick taxi to RWY 02C, where we are 4th in the queue.

    Finally, it was our turn to takeoff at 2:19am. The engines spool up (again, the sound is different from the GE90s and Trent 900s and again they are quieter) and we power off into the night sky, not a particularly powerful takeoff as we use most of the runway. I suppose that’s to save the engine turbines from too much stress. There’s a teeny bit of chop as we climb, but soon we are above the clouds. Time to finally catch some shuteye!
    Last edited by loldude333; 27 January 2018, 02:27 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      4 hours into the flight, the lights come on almost full blast. There’s also the smell of reheating food coming from the galleys. I suppose that means the meal service is about to begin. I put my seat back upright as the model obedient flyer should and wait. It is now daylight outside and i try the polarising windows. They were set to the highest polarisation setting by the crew, which is dark enough for sleep, though as many would know, they don’t go completely opaque. For some reason, my window seems to take its time to polarise/depolarise. And i wasn’t banging on the controls like a demented kid. I eventually settled on the 1st lowest polarisation setting (1 below completely depolarised) as it blocks out the glare while allowing me to see the Australian subcontinent plenty clearly.

      I found the 787 to be pretty quiet, which really helped my sleep, though not quite as quiet as the A380. I recall being on flights in Y where it felt like the engine noise was blaring in my ears all the way (probably back on the 772ERs or 747s, those were pretty noisy birds and perhaps being younger, my ears were more sensitive then). This really added to the comfort of the flight. Some people say they cannot tell the difference in cabin pressure and humidity, but i think i could, and it made a fair bit of difference. I have sensitive and dry skin (yes, even in Singapore's close to 100% humidity) so it was a surprise to feel my skin still fairly supple and not showing any sign of dryness (usually 4-5 hours into a flight it tightens up and you see some dry areas marked by whitish, starting-to-flake skin; it happened on all my recent past flights and on my 77W flight back to SG from MEL). I also didn't find it quite as hard to breathe (not that its difficult at all, but to me there was a small but noticeable difference compared to the 77W flight home and previous flights).

      I paid a visit to the lavs, which were your standard 787 lavs with the motion-activated flush and all. They were spartan, but kept clean and dry. Kudos to the crew on this.

      Service is pretty slow/inefficient (i’m not sure which), as the meal was served only about an hour after the lights come on. Passengers wanting to catch more shuteye in the dark might be disgruntled. Then again, the challenges of serving a packed 787 with a small-ish crew are pretty big.





      Finally, the meals arrived. We were given the main in an aluminium tray, a choice of a can of Coke or Green tea with a plastic cup and a 100g bar of Ritter Sport cereal chocolate. The main was a bit on the small size and not particularly appetising (it was slightly reminiscent of NS food, though still better tasting), but it’ll do. I found the plastic cutlery to be sturdy enough to tackle such a meal. At least they're not flimsy and unusable. Reminiscent of my MH4 flight last year, my seatmate got a fair bit more food than me! Seems like the catering gods are conspiring against me…...maybe a sign to lose weight? At any rate, thanks especially to the large bar of chocolate, i was sated.

      The rubbish was cleared pretty quickly and we were left with about 2 hours to landing. I decided to look out the window and enjoy the view. In daylight, the large 787 windows really make for an absorbing viewing experience. I snapped a few photos of the beautiful 787 wing and the Australian subcontinent (apologies, the window was dirty).





      At 7 hours in, the captain came on to announce that we would be commencing our descent, with a targeted arrival time of 1235, right on schedule. Just a few minutes later, he apologised that we would land 10mins later due to congestion.

      Yet, at 1230, he instructed the crew to be seated for landing. Looks like we will be on schedule after all. At 1235, we touched down in SYD, a good light landing that was textbook as far as i could tell. From there, it was a 10min taxi to our gate, where we deplaned. I couldn’t snap photos of planes on the tarmac as my phone lens is wider angle and the digital zoom is pretty rubbish. After 7h15min in the same seat, my bum didn’t feel uncomfortable, so that’s a good indicator as to the comfort of the seat. I’m not sure i would have felt the same on a longer flight though.

      As we deplaned, there were warning signs about using mobile phones so like the law-abiding citizen i am, i kept my phone in my pocket til we cleared customs. Which was unfortunate as there was a perfect view of 9V-OJE right as we stepped off the aerobridge.



      Within 30mins, we were through customs and on these cool double-decker trains to the city.

      TL;DR: Scoot offers a pretty competitive product on this medium-haul sector. At about half the price of SQ/BA/QF (inclusive of the meal and 20kg of check-in luggage), this flight exceeded my expectations a little. It wasn’t fantastic by any means, but i would gladly fly them again at this price point. The seat was more than decent (width, legroom, recline, cushioning) even for a big-sized chump like me and the food was edible. The only real minus was the positioning of the FA call and light buttons; it really takes effort not to accidentally press them. My overall experience was pretty good though. I might not even mind flying this product on a longer (10h maybe?) flight if it were half the price of alternatives on legacy carriers. The comfort (higher humidity and cabin pressure) and bigger windows of the 787 also added to the satisfaction for me. All-in-all, i was a satisfied customer.

      Stay tuned for the next 2 legs on TT and SQ!
      Last edited by loldude333; 4 February 2018, 10:50 PM.

      Comment


      • #4
        An enjoyable first installment, loldude333!

        Regarding engine noise, I don't think there is anything that compares with the earth-shaking rumble you hear when GE90's start up...

        Looking forward to the rest!

        Comment


        • #5
          Great TR loldude333. Excellent pics of the 787, I hope to fly one of these one day in my life

          Originally posted by yflyer View Post
          An enjoyable first installment, loldude333!

          Regarding engine noise, I don't think there is anything that compares with the earth-shaking rumble you hear when GE90's start up...

          Looking forward to the rest!
          Yup gotta love the 77W, having flown it several times and being used to it, I agree, GE90 engines are music to our ears.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by yflyer View Post
            An enjoyable first installment, loldude333!

            Regarding engine noise, I don't think there is anything that compares with the earth-shaking rumble you hear when GE90's start up...

            Looking forward to the rest!
            Originally posted by SQfanatic View Post
            Great TR loldude333. Excellent pics of the 787, I hope to fly one of these one day in my life

            Yup gotta love the 77W, having flown it several times and being used to it, I agree, GE90 engines are music to our ears.
            Thank you both for your kind comments. Yes, i really agree about the engine noise of the GE90s.......nothing like that deep, throaty rumble as they start, and that low rumble to highpitched whine and roar as they go from idling to full power on takeoff. So sexy. Haha. Love the 77W, and i felt that it still gives a very good customer experience, probably helped by SQ's superior on board product.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by loldude333 View Post
              Thank you both for your kind comments. Yes, i really agree about the engine noise of the GE90s.......nothing like that deep, throaty rumble as they start, and that low rumble to highpitched whine and roar as they go from idling to full power on takeoff. So sexy. Haha. Love the 77W, and i felt that it still gives a very good customer experience, probably helped by SQ's superior on board product.
              Couldn't have agreed more No problem. Looking forward to more TRs of your's.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by loldude333 View Post
                Yes, i really agree about the engine noise of the GE90s.......nothing like that deep, throaty rumble as they start, and that low rumble to highpitched whine and roar as they go from idling to full power on takeoff. So sexy. Haha. Love the 77W, and i felt that it still gives a very good customer experience, probably helped by SQ's superior on board product.
                Yeap love that noise from the GE90s
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2mgROnUzJs

                Pump up the volume

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by SQ218 View Post
                  Yeap love that noise from the GE90s
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2mgROnUzJs

                  Pump up the volume
                  More GE90 fans (pun not intended)! Funny how this TR is kind of becoming a gathering point for us heh.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Looking forward to the next part, loldude333. Well done!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by CarbonMan View Post
                      Looking forward to the next part, loldude333. Well done!
                      Thank you for your kind comment! Next part will be out probably next week as i'm super busy this week.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by loldude333 View Post
                        More GE90 fans (pun not intended)! Funny how this TR is kind of becoming a gathering point for us heh.
                        Still, as long as you enjoyed your experience then that's all that matters

                        Looking forward to part 2 as well

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Continuing with the TR:

                          I spent 2 days in Sydney before heading up to the conference in Katoomba, a lovely town in the Blue Mountains approximately 3 hours’ drive from Sydney. We did the cheap tourist walks: across the Sydney Harbour Bridge



                          And the ferry from the pier to Manly Beach. This is the view from the ferry just as we left the pier and passing by the naval base. As you can see, it was a perfect summer day. Air temperature was a relatively comfortable 26 degrees Celsius.



                          Here’s another view from the ferry about halfway through the 30min ride.



                          I’m not much for touristy stuff and we were there on a budget, so no glamourous meals/thrills to share.

                          5 days later, we were back at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport for our flight to Melbourne on Tiger Airways flight TT279. Just a stub of a TR here, given that the flight was bog-standard LCC.

                          We arrived and had a meal at the food court in the domestic departures terminal (there are plentiful food options, though a little on the expensive side), then headed to our gate. That’s when we discovered that the plane flying in from MEL was late (which is normal). We finally boarded about 35mins later, using airstairs. Since we were on the tarmac, I took the opportunity to snap a photo of the B737-800 flying us to MEL…….before being cautioned by an airport staff. Whoops.



                          We boarded and settled into our seats. The last time I’d been on a 737-800 was in June 2015, on a redeye from LAX to ANC on Alaska Airlines. Having just come off SQ J on the A380, the differences were certainly felt on that flight, especially given the 6 hour length. However, the seats on the TT 738 were fairly comfortable, with legroom that could almost be described as generous. This compared favourably with TR’s A320 (which i flew from Ipoh-SG in June 2017) and definitely to AirAsia’s A320 (which i flew SG-KL-SG in 2014).



                          Unfortunately, the tower changed our departure runway just as we were about to pushback. My guess is that it was caused by the earlier delay. Another 20min delay…...sigh. I guess you get what you pay for on an LCC. I was glad to have eaten my fill earlier on.

                          Finally, we pushed back almost an hour late. A quick taxi and we blasted off into the night sky. In a little over an hour, we got to MEL and went to a friend’s place.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            We spent 4 days in Melbourne chilling and catching up with that friend. Again, we didn’t do much touristy stuff, but as a tennis fan, I absolutely had to visit the Australian Open.

                            The day before, I consulted the fixtures. I had tickets to Rod Laver Arena in the day and Hisense Arena in the hopes of catching the world’s best. I was not to be disappointed, as Roger Federer was scheduled to play his 4th Round match as the final match of the day on RLA. Score!!!!! Especially since up till then he had always played in the night sessions.

                            I started the day with a coffee, because in Melbourne, you drink coffee.



                            A very smooth flat white, with hints of chocolate and berries. Lovely! I then excitedly made my way to Melbourne Park via the free trams from the city centre to Flinders Street, walking distance from the grounds. I was greeted by this amazing sight



                            As you can imagine, I was more excited than a kid in a candy store. After passing security, I virtually hopped, skipped and jumped my way into Melbourne Park. I snapped a couple more pictures





                            Before making my way into RLA. View from my seat:



                            It was still early in the day, hence the kids programme was still on. The first 2 matches on RLA were to be women’s matches. But there were also several tantalising matches on the outside courts, especially a Legends Doubles match featuring Mansour Bahrami and Fabrice Santoro. To the uninitiated, these 2 men are probably the best tricksters on the Legends tour. They pull off amazing trickshots with regularity and are amazing entertainment. And then I spotted the practice schedule on my app. Roger was scheduled to practice at 12pm! However, I knew I would have to be there early to snag a good spot. So at 10.45am, I decided to go over to the court to wait in the hot sun. I would miss some other really high quality matches, but being a huge Federer fan, I just had to catch him up close. I baked for 1.5 hours under the relentless Aussie sun, but it was all worth it when I finally caught my first glimpse of the man himself (in the pink shorts)



                            Watching his practice, especially as a tennis player myself, was inspiring. His serve and volley drills were especially insane. I was so stoked to watch his match later, and to go back home and try all those shots!! The sun was out in full force, though the air temperature was a cool 23 degrees Celsius. He cut his practice short by 20mins, and so I headed back for the shade in RLA, skin tinged red, stopping by the food garden for lunch. But it was worth missing all those matches and the suntan to see him up close!!

                            Back on RLA at 1.45pm, I caught the tail end of the Angelique Kerber-Hsieh Su-Wei match. It was an intriguing match, with a huge variety of dropshots, flicks and outrageous angles coming off Hsieh’s racket. She's on of the very few players (male or female) to use 2 hands off both forehand and backhand and even on the slice and volleys! Fabrice Santoro, whom I mentioned earlier, is another notable player who does that.



                            But the Taiwanese maverick ran out of steam and Kerber eventually overpowered her. Still, it was a good match and I soaked up the atmosphere on RLA while waiting for Roger’s match to begin.

                            At 2.45pm, the umpire finally said ‘play’. I could not believe my good fortune to see the best tennis player of all time play a match in front of me in the flesh!!





                            Perhaps it was the heat, but Roger wasn’t quite at his scintillating best. He played safer than usual and missed a few shots that top form Roger would have buried. His serving was also not quite as consistent. But that was still enough to overpower his opponent in straight sets.

                            While watching Roger, I also kept an eye on another match on Hisense Arena. World number 5 Dominic Thiem was taking on unseeded American Tennys Sandgren, who’d played really well to get to this stage of the tournament. As Roger’s match ended at around 6pm, I rushed over to Hisense to catch the unfolding spectacle. Thiem was being pushed to the limit by the solid American, and the Austrian eventually slumped to a loss in a thrilling 5 setter. I was privileged enough to catch the last 2 sets, which featured some high quality tennis by both men.

                            As the post-match on-court interview was being conducted, I made my way out of Hisense. My day at A02018 had ended, but what a day it had been! What a privilege to catch these players in action and see my favourite tennis player and best of all time in action! I hoped to come again.

                            One final leg on SQ228 to be posted. It should be up hopefully in 2 weeks' time. I hope you enjoyed the short account of my time in SYD, on TT279 and in Melbourne!
                            Last edited by loldude333; 19 February 2018, 11:02 PM.

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                            • #15
                              Great pics of Sydney and Melbourne and your TR flight, loldude333. I'd definitely love to visit Australia one time in my life.

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