SQ32/31 to SFO in Y on the A350 XWB

[SQGamespeed]

Hello SQTalk,

After being on this forum for over 4 years, I am at last publishing my first TR. For a recent trip to the US, I flew on the much-anticipated nonstop SQ32 from SIN to SFO (and SQ31 for the return). As many of you know, this flight marks SQ's return to nonstop flights to the US since the A340-500s were retired. It also marks a personal first for me: my first time on the A350.

So far, Carfield wrote an excellent TR of the J service on the inaugural flight that took place on 23 October, and yflyer wrote an also excellent TR on the long-haul Y service on the DUS-SIN route (also operated by the A350). In light of that I feel like I should share my impressions on the Y service on SQ32 and SQ31.

Cheers,
SQGamespeed

Here is one of the pictures I took during the first flight, and also a "test picture" (please let me know if it is too big):

[SilverKrisSRG]

The pix looks fine for me, good size. Happy New Year... Cheers!

[SQGamespeed]

Thanks SilverKrisSRG! Happy New Year to you too!

SQ32 had a scheduled departure time of 9:20 AM, with a published flight time of about 14.5 hours. The arrival time at SFO was just before 8 AM... on the same day. In my view, this arrival time is great for making many domestic US connections from SFO.

Like all US flights, this one departs from Terminal 3, and that morning, the departure gate was A15. The flight was operated by, I think, 9V-SMG, which was then the newest A350 in the fleet. However, I almost forgot to take a picture of the aircraft before boarding, and was only able to get this rather poorly-timed one:



Once I stepped onboard, the newness was immediately evident: there was the factory-fresh new plane smell (although the plane may have had already been used for a few flights) and an immaculate cabin.

The seating configuration consists of the latest J, PEY, and Y seats, which have been reviewed on SQTalk, so I won't get into great detail on them in my TR.

I have KF Gold status, so I boarded before many other Y passengers, giving me a bit of extra time to get a feel for the seat and cabin. Y is configured in a 3-3-3 layout. At first, I was concerned that this would mean seats as cramped as on a 9-abreast 787, but fortunately this wasn't the case. I found the seats to be almost as wide as those on a 9-abreast 777. Legroom was fine for me, and a footrest is provided:



My seat was 45E, which is the very middle seat at the back of the front Y cabin. This picture illustrates the relative location:



Although not pictured, I found the recline to be fairly decent.

Just like every other SQ flight I have taken in my life, hot towels were given out before departure. This is one example of SQ's consistency I notice in many areas of its service.

[SQGamespeed]

The aircraft had the newest version of Krisworld, which has a responsive touchscreen, a wide and excellent array of movies, TV shows, music, games, and more. The quality of video and sound was excellent too (I used my own headphones instead of the appalling ones provided by SQ).





A handset is also provided for control:



3D maps are also available, which would make some SQTalkers pleased .



As the last picture in the previous post indicates, WiFi was available. I didn't use it on this flight, however, as I didn't have any pressing need to browse the Internet.

[SQGamespeed]

The flight departed on time, but we joined most aircraft in the departure queue for runway 02C. It was a busy morning, and we didn't takeoff for another 20 minutes or so. Once we did, our routing was as follows: we turned in a northeast direction, flying parallel to the north coast of Borneo, flew between the Philippines and Taiwan, briefly along the coast of Japan (which provided a great photo opportunity which I will show later), then over the north Pacific Ocean until nearing SFO.

The A350 is said to be a "quiet" aircraft. However, while I certainly found it quieter than the 777 and even the 787, especially during takeoff, I still find the A380 to be quieter overall.

About an hour after takeoff, breakfast was served (I forgot to take a picture). Two choices of the main course were available: Western-style omelette and sausage, or Asian-style seafood vermicelli. Served with the main were fruits, yoghurt, a bread roll with butter and fruit preserve, and orange juice. I chose the vermicelli, and it was very good! The shrimp was tender, and everything else was cooked fairly well.

Ambience in the front Y cabin:



The flight was 100% full in Y, and also looked to be in PEY. J was also nearly full from what I was told. My return flight was also mostly full. Looks like this route is doing well in its first few weeks of service!

[SQGamespeed]

My partner and I traveled together for this trip, but were not seated together as two seats together were not available when we booked the flight, nor when we checked in. This resulted in separate seating arrangements, but part way through the flight we swapped seats (at her insistence), and my new home for the remainder of the flight became 48A, a Preferred Seat. This seat costs extra, but provides much more legroom (as there is no seat directly ahead of you), and unlike the emergency exit row, you have a window seat.

As I mentioned earlier, the flight briefly passed along the coast of Japan, specifically the island of Honshu. Thus, I had a good opportunity to view Mount Fuji! I was hoping there was no cloud cover over it, and I was not disappointed (apologies for the rather hazy picture):



The sun was setting as we were leaving the vicinity of Japan:

[SQGamespeed]

About 7 hours into the journey (4:30 PM Singapore time), dinner was served, although the menu indicated it as "lunch". The choices for the main were a Western-style Basquaise chicken with polenta and peppers, or a Chinese-style fish with sweet potato rice and vegetables. The appetiser was a shrimp salad, and dessert was banana chocolate cake. In addition, bread roll with butter, as well as cheese and crackers, were also served.

I chose the fish option, and requested a Singapore Sling for my drink:



The fish was very tasty! The vegetables were fine too, although the rice was slightly on the dry side. The appetiser and dessert were pretty good too. All in all, a very satisfying meal.

However, the timing of the meal baffled me a bit. Normally, flights I have been on have had one meal served near the beginning, and the second meal near the end. This one, however, was served about halfway through the flight, and no third meal was served before landing. A suggestion for future SQ32 flights may be to serve lunch first, then breakfast before landing, or perhaps the first meal could be brunch.

That said, the range of "delectables" was ample. Sandwiches, chocolate, chips, biscuits, fruit, and dried fruit were all available in the galley. About 3 hours before arrival, sandwiches were also proactively offered to passengers by the crew, which I thought was a nice touch.

[SQGamespeed]

Even though it has now long been a common feature in aircraft, the novelty of mood lighting has never worn off for me. Here are a couple of pictures of the lighting during different times of this flight:

[SQGamespeed]

The sun began to rise as we approached the Northern California coast:



Eventually, we passed by the city of San Francisco itself, including the Golden Gate Bridge, which allowed me to take the picture in the first post. Unlike some of my previous SQ flights to SFO, no announcement was made about being able to see the bridge.

Landed at SFO at 7:45 AM, and arrived at International Terminal G next to an Air Canada A320 (or perhaps it was an A319):



Something unusual I noticed is that the flight arrived at an even-numbered gate (G96 if I remember correctly), when SQ usually seems to use an odd-numbered gate at SFO such as G93, at least in my experience.

Immigration was relatively quiet when we arrived, so I was through customs within 30 minutes of arrival (admittedly, no checked in luggage and nothing to declare), which is very good compared to my previous arrival experiences in the US. We were left with plenty of time to go to Terminal 2 to connect to our next flight, a Virgin America flight to San Diego (SQ has extensive codeshares with VX on domestic US routes, including for SFO-SAN).

Overall impressions? I found this to be a great flight, all things considered! The service was what you would expect from SQ, being warm, friendly, and efficient. The flight attendants on this sector were especially friendly and also quite conversational. Food was of good quality, although the timing of the second meal was odd to me. Krisworld was excellent, although it would be nice to have camera views available like some other airlines.

Up next: the return flight, SQ31.

[yflyer]

Thanks for a very nice TR so far, SQGamespeed!

I love your first picture flying over San Francisco...a very clear day. It is often very cloudy, and not many flights take that route on approach, so that was a lucky shot...

However, the timing of the meal baffled me a bit. Normally, flights have been on have had one meal served near the beginning, and the second meal near the end. This one, however, was served about halfway through the flight, and no third meal was served before landing. A suggestion for future SQ32 flights may be to serve lunch first, then breakfast before landing, or perhaps the first meal could be brunch.

I agree that for such a long daytime flight, they should retime the 2nd meal towards the end of the flight, or better still provide more than 2 meals. I think a meal after take-off, a mid-flight hot snack (or even a full meal), and then a full meal at the end of the flight would be about right.

On my UA2 SIN-SFO, they had a meal at the start and one before landing, but I had to eat something in the middle of the flight, otherwise I would have felt very hungry.

Once I stepped onboard, the newness was immediately evident: there was the factory-fresh new plane smell (although the plane may have had already been used for a few flights) and an immaculate cabin.

I recently flew 9V-SMH DUS-SIN, also a very new A350...but I could not detect any new plane smell. Maybe they forgot to spray it on...

[CarbonMan]

Overall impressions? I found this to be a great flight, all things considered! The service was what you would expect from SQ, being warm, friendly, and efficient. The flight attendants on this sector were especially friendly and also quite conversational. Food was of good quality, although the timing of the second meal was odd to me. Krisworld was excellent, although it would be nice to have camera views available like some other airlines.

Thanks SQGamespeed for the TR. Am wondering how "sleepable" are the Y seats. The missus and I are booked on PY for this flight in June. Personally, I've flown J to the US for business all this years, so I'm a bit apprehensive as to whether I can sleep on such a long haul flight.

[Pinkfloyd]

Cheers for the TR SQGamespeed!

[SQGamespeed]

Thanks for a very nice TR so far, SQGamespeed!

I love your first picture flying over San Francisco...a very clear day. It is often very cloudy, and not many flights take that route on approach, so that was a lucky shot...



I agree that for such a long daytime flight, they should retime the 2nd meal towards the end of the flight, or better still provide more than 2 meals. I think a meal after take-off, a mid-flight hot snack (or even a full meal), and then a full meal at the end of the flight would be about right.

On my UA2 SIN-SFO, they had a meal at the start and one before landing, but I had to eat something in the middle of the flight, otherwise I would have felt very hungry.




I recently flew 9V-SMH DUS-SIN, also a very new A350...but I could not detect any new plane smell. Maybe they forgot to spray it on...

Thanks yflyer!

Yes, that was indeed a lucky scenario when landing into SFO, allowing me to take such a picture. Years ago, before I used to fly to SFO frequently, I had no knowledge of the approach route, and often missed a chance to see the bridge, even though the weather was clear, because I sat on the wrong side of the plane...

As for a mid-flight meal, perhaps they should do something similar to the "refreshments" they serve for many of their Australia flights, or maybe even a hot snack like on the Penang route when SQ itself still used to fly there. Or they could offer noodles as a choice since they are fairly popular.

Thanks SQGamespeed for the TR. Am wondering how "sleepable" are the Y seats. The missus and I are booked on PY for this flight in June. Personally, I've flown J to the US for business all this years, so I'm a bit apprehensive as to whether I can sleep on such a long haul flight.

Thanks CarbonMan!

I flew on PEY to/from HKG and AKL early last year, and I personally found it fairly comfortable. While it certainly can't match J in providing comparable sleep comfort, I found that the extra recline in PEY compared to standard Y, and especially the leg rest, helped me get slightly better sleep than in Y.

Cheers for the TR SQGamespeed!

Thanks Pinkfloyd!

[SQGamespeed]

Continuing with the TR, here is the return segment, SQ31. With a flying time of 16 hours 55 minutes, this is the second longest flight I have ever taken after the LAX-SIN nonstop I took in 2006 on the A345.

The flight had a scheduled departure time of 9:25 AM. Unlike the inbound flight, this one may not be ideal for passengers arriving on domestic connections, unless you stay overnight in the area. However, we had spent a few days in and around the Bay Area before leaving, so this wasn't a big concern for us on this trip.

Check-in went smoothly, and security didn't take horrendously long (an issue at SFO and several other US airports in my experience).

The flight was operated by an older A350, 9V-SMD. This time, I managed to take a much better picture:



Boarding was slightly delayed, apparently due to late cabin preparation, but it wasn't more than a 10 minute delay in the end:

[oxymoron1984]

If I'm not mistaken, back during the days of the SIN-LAX & SIN-EWR non-stop flights, they served a pretty substantial "light refreshment" in between 2 full meals. I think they even gave out snack boxes mid-flight. I sound delusional saying this, but I think I remember this happening on the flights I took on those sectors.