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Escaping Minnesnowta (MSP-LAX-SIN-LOP) - UA,SQ & MI

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  • Escaping Minnesnowta (MSP-LAX-SIN-LOP) - UA,SQ & MI

    With temperatures dropping to -30 degrees celsius, it was finally time to escape the knee-deep snow in the Twin Cities and head home to Singapore. But with DL no longer running its very convenient MSP-NRT-SIN routing (the only reason why I would fly DL are the time savings accrued on these sectors, otherwise no thank you.), I was left scouring for alternative options. Many carriers were routing me through ORD, which I try to avoid at all costs. SQ was not on my radar initially, until I recalled SQ31/32. So I go on SQ's website (which sucks!), and I couldn't get SQ31 via SFO. The least time consuming option was a 28 hour journey via IAH-MAN-SIN. Then there was a very attractive offering on PE via LAX-ICN-SIN, albeit with a 6 hour layover in LAX making for a 32 hour journey. Unfazed and curious about SQ's Premium Economy, I opt for the latter.

    My itinerary:

    UA 5194 (Minneapolis/St Paul > Los Angeles)
    Aircraft: Embraer E175 (N128SY)
    Departs: 0710
    Arrives: 0940
    Class: Economy

    SQ7 (Los Angeles > Seoul Incheon > Singapore)
    Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER (9V-SWN)
    Departs LAX: 1605
    Arrives ICN: 2235
    Departs ICN: 0025
    Arrives SIN: 0600 (Actual arrival 0513)
    Class: Premium Economy

    My journey starts at 4.30 am on the A-line, a pseudo-bus rapid transit route in St Paul. I take it to the last stop at 46th St in South Minneapolis to connect onto the light rail.



    A Blue Line train bound for the airport and Mall of America arriving at 46th St station. The Blue Line serves both Terminal 1 and 2 at MSP, and runs 24 hours between the two stations shuttling connecting passengers.



    Terminal 1 Lindbergh Station





    I then proceed to the MSP Airport Tram that takes me several hundred yards to the check-in area. I scan my passport at the United machines and it can’t be read. A grumpy United agent came over to help, and tried folding my passport in all sorts of manners to no avail. So he checked me in manually all the way to Singapore. Didn't need to pay for domestic baggage fees which amount to $25 for the first checked-in bag.



    As usual security lines at MSP, though long this morning, move quickly. And of course the TSA along with the airport staff bring h a touch of Minnesota niceness… at least that’s the experience I’ve had. Shops still waking up at MSP this morning. MSP is definitely a very pleasant airport to use in the US.



    Departing through gate E7 this morning. The E concourse houses most non DL gates at Terminal 1 Lindbergh. MSP is dominated by DL. This morning the E-concourse was fairly crowded with many early morning departures on AA, UA and NK (Spirit Airlines).



    Got breakfast in a paper bag to bring onboard from Caribou Coffee, a popular coffee joint based in Minnesota, and several newspapers.



    My little E75L that will take me all the way to LAX. Aircraft for today, N128SY, was delivered two years ago, and will be operated for United Express by SkyWest Airlines. DL A320 parked behind at the F-concourse.



    A neighboring United Express CRJ7 preparing for UA6242 to IAD.



    Our gate this morning is E7. Boarding starts just after 6.40am and is done in groups. Lines were very orderly and it didn't take long to board this 76-seat aircraft.



    The 12 seats in Domestic First were all occupied. Flight was full with a handful of seats at the rear of the aircraft. The 31 inches of legroom felt decent.

    Last edited by RedEyeflight; 22 December 2016, 08:29 PM.

  • #2
    Seat back with storage pocket.



    These slim seats come with absolutely no padding and felt uncomfortable leaning back into them after a while.



    Captain came on and announced flight time of 3 hours and 50 minutes, significantly shorter than what I had expected. He also spoke of the good weather in LA with passengers around me nodding in relief to escape the Minnesota winter.

    Thankfully, the seat next to me was unoccupied, so I could stretch out on this early morning flight.



    Exterior view of the terminal and jet bridge. Winglets with UA's (ex-CO) signature blue and gold.



    Pushback happens at 7.15am. DL738 at gate F9 and a DL320 taxiing in the distance.



    Starting engines.



    DL 767-400ER.



    DL A320 taxiing.Terminal 2 Humphrey in the background houses low-cost carriers Southwest and Sun Country Airlines as well as Icelandair's MSP-KEF flights. You will see Several WN (Southwest) tails if you squint.



    DL 757-200 without winglets. Probably an older 752 that will be phased out and replaced by a 739.



    Taking-off on RWY 12R.



    Chasing the sunrise as we climb to 31,000 ft according to the captain.



    Escaping Minnesnowta.



    Feeling peckish, I ate the paper bag breakfast I bought from Caribou Coffee with lightning speed. FAs began drink service about 30 minutes into the flight. There were two FAs onboard, one for First and the other for economy. Only drinks are complimentary. Among the legacy carriers, UA is the least generous with its food offerings on domestic flights as both AA and DL provide complimentary snacks. UA's buy onboard bistro on board breakfast service I believe was available on this flight, although I did not sample it. Both FAs were polite and responsive to requests from passengers.
    Last edited by RedEyeflight; 22 December 2016, 09:05 PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      I opted for Orange Juice. Note the cute tropical themed napkin. UA seems to know where I'm going.



      Overflying the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.





      Ice on the window.



      About 90 mins prior to landing, FA hands out cups of water which was a nice gesture. Went through the Hemisphere magazine which didn't feature anything very noteworthy.



      United's Polaris product seems to be a big deal.



      Safety card.



      The cabin just before our descent into LAX. There is no curtain separating First from Economy, so I could see the service provided to First Class passengers. They were clearly fed.



      Mountains give way to the desert as we near LAX.



      The coast beckons. SIN lies on the other side of the pond. Now I just need to cross it.



      Final approach. Didn't manage to capture us flying over highway 405.



      Touchdown.

      Comment


      • #4
        Landing on RWY 25L for an early arrival of 0850, 50 mins prior to our actual arrival time.




        Not so fast. Due to our early arrival, our gate isn't ready yet. So we taxi off the runway and wait on the taxiway next to the runway. LAX was clearly congested that morning with a snaking line of arriving domestic flights waiting for available gates. The captain announces that the wait will take 10 mins.



        10 minutes later and the captain announces that our gate has been given to another flight and that we'll have to wait a further 20 minutes. And so begins our tour of LAX. We were sent circling around the remote stands and maintenance areas.

        First landmark: QF A380 being towed.



        Then we pass the UA hangar with a DL MD80 and AA CRJ7 joining in our circus as well.



        NH 77W and an AA 320 in retrojet livery.



        AA 772 sleeping



        After 20 minutes is up, the captain announces that there it will be a further 20 minutes. So we join the circus once more. Line of aircraft either waiting for gates or taxiing out for take-off.



        Here's the UA hangar area again but instead we're taken by this Dreamliner.



        Dreamliner in the house.



        20 minutes later and still nothing. The captain comes on and apologizes. Says he doesn't know how long it'll actually take. So we join the circus once more.



        Alaska B737-800



        CX B77W

        Comment


        • #5
          JL B77W



          DL B737-900ER



          Alaska B737-900ER vs a catering truck. Who will win?



          LATAM Peru B767ER still wearing the LAN livery.



          QF A380



          Several passengers around me with tight connections become agitated and summon the FAs, who can only check the status of flights through the United app. Some flights have been held, obviously due to the congestion. Finally after more than an hour circling we break free and start the long trek to Terminal 8.



          International birds.



          Sichuan Airlines preparing for its flight to Jinan and Chengdu. In the distance is AA's Terminal 4 with a B738 still in the old timeless livery. God I'll miss it.



          Terminal 4 is DLand.



          Terminal 6 with a Copa Airlines B738 bound for Panama City.



          Terminal 8 for UA right at the end.



          Turning onto the apron.

          Comment


          • #6
            Terminal 8 for UA right at the end.



            Turning onto the apron.



            UA B788 preparing for departure at Terminal 7.



            We park at gate 83 next to this UA B739ER 90 minutes after we landed. My initial 6 hour transfer has been shortened to 5.5 hours.



            Welcome to LAX.



            Terminal 8.



            Expecting to catch a curbside shuttle, I was surprised to find a well-marked connection between TBIT and Terminals 4-8 behind security. It took me to Terminal 6 via the upper level of Terminal 7 & 8. And then it went through Terminal 6 up to gate 64 where a series of escalators descend into tunnels that link Terminal 4, 5 & 6.



            The tunnels are plastered with Delta advertisements with fun facts about DL destinations and other random transportation tidbits. It was fun to read. Here's the tunnel linking Terminal 4 & 5.



            Then you go up into Terminal 4, which was crowded that morning, and through the new linkway to TBIT that opened this year.



            Here's the full map from the LAX website. Unfortunately, there is no connection to Terminals 1,2 & 3, so you'll have to really on the bus to do that.

            http://www.laxishappening.com/assets...Tunnel-Map.pdf

            And then it's through...to the...past the KE lounge...TBIT.


            In all the walk from Terminal 8 took me 30 minutes, winnowing down my transfer to 5 hours. I decided to pass the time Netflixing but Wi-Fi in LAX is only free for the first 45 minutes, after which one has to pay $4.95 for the next hour or $7.95 for 24 hours. Once 45 minutes were up, I paced up and down TBIT to spot aircraft at different locations. I didn't do much shopping as stores were are generally overpriced and I'm not much of a shopping person either. I grabbed a simple sandwich from the food court.

            TBIT was busy that day.



            FIDS at TBIT. Note that SQ7 is wrongly labelled as Seoul via Singapore. That's a really long way to get to Seoul.



            Fiji Airways A332 arriving from Nadi.

            Comment


            • #7
              British Airways B744 preparing to cross the pond to LHR.



              Saudia B77W to Jeddah & Riyadh beside an AF A380.



              SAS A333 to ARN. The CI tail is a B77W bound for TPE.



              Air Berlin A332 going to DUS.



              KLM B744 departing for Schipol meets a tiny WN bird.



              LATAM B788 in the new livery preparing for its SCL departure.



              And finally, the SQ bird that will take me to SIN. 9V-SWN was delivered 8 years ago.



              Gate 131 for today's flight.



              The podium remains empty until 2.30pm when a frazzled SQ agent appears and putters around getting his computer ready. I ask him about whether my bags will make it from UA, to which he responds that he'll need to check me in. I was quite puzzled as I thought the UA agent in MSP had checked me in all the way. He said that my bags needed to be transferred from UA to SQ and that they may or may not be transferred without me checking in again. He enters my passport details and issues me a new SQ Premium Y boarding pass. I keep the UA boarding pass issued in MSP for memorabilia. Other passengers coming from domestic UA flights were called up to the podium, checked-in, and issued new boarding passes. Can someone explain to me why the need to re-check in?



              Boarding starts promptly at 3.30pm with Premium economy passengers allowed to board with J passengers. Don't know why it says boarding starts at 10.05am.



              Settled into my very comfortable Premium Y seat. It comes with 38 inches of legroom, 8 inches of recline, a 13.3 inch touchscreen TV, a footrest and legrest. Seats are arranged in a 2-4-2 format vs the 3-3-3 arrangement in Y.

              Comment


              • #8
                I could stretch out fully with loads of room to spare.



                FAs handed out newspapers and I chose the Straits Times to catch up on Singaporean news. A South Korean family with an 8-month old infant handed out bags of sweets and ear pieces. I felt it was very nice and considerate of them, although I wouldn't go to such lengths to appease other passengers. Babies will be babies, and at some point one has to accept that reality.




                Giant wingspan. Boarding is completed just before 4pm. Premium Y is full, Y is nearly full, while J sees a light load. A majority of passengers are South Koreans heading to Seoul. Captain announces a flight time of 12 hours and 40 minutes to ICN.



                Pushback occurs at 4.15pm and we're pushed out of Terminal B's apron completely before we start our engines.



                Can you tell the difference between the Virgins? There are two Virgin America planes at Terminal 3, while the one furthest away next to the Hawaiian A332 is a Virgin Atlantic B789 at Terminal 2.



                Starting engines. JetBlue A321 will be departing as B6 1024 to JFK.



                ANA B77W arriving from HND in Star Alliance livery occupying the gate next to ours. As you can see we were towed quite a distance to start our engines.



                Number three for take-off. WN B737-700.



                LH A380 bound for FRA.



                Turning onto runway 24L.



                Terminal 1 is used solely by WN. Goodbye LAX, I had fun spotting!

                \

                Parallel take-off.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Leaving the coast behind.



                  Hot towels were distributed once the seat belt signs came off.



                  Packet of nuts similar to that in J was given out.



                  A350-themed amenity kits were given out with socks and toothpaste/toothbrush. But no eyeshades! These are the same kits given out in Y.



                  90 minutes into the flight dinner was served. Premium Y has the option of three meals vs two in economy. Apologies for the poor photo. It should read "mashed potato" and "steamed rice". I opt for the third option.



                  Meal comes on a tray with linen. The shrimp salad had a generous amount of shrimp while the entree was essentially pure carbo with only three pieces of chicken. Rather disappointing.



                  Ben & Jerry's cookie-dough ice-cream.



                  Toilet in Y.





                  Vanity mirror.



                  Premium Y passengers use the Y toilets. The curtains between Y and Premium Y were not drawn throughout the flight. Note SQ's new Y product.



                  After watching a movie and several TV episodes, I settle in to get some sleep about 2.5 hours into the flight. Seat fully reclined with legrest out.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    8 inches of recline.



                    I wake up with 4.5 hours to go. We hugged the West Coast, Alaska and the Russian Far East, before swinging over Japan into ICN.



                    Stabiliser feature available on the Flight Path.



                    FAs hand out mid-flight snacks consisting of chicken or vegetarian sandwiches, cup-noodles and chips. I take the chicken sandwich. Half-asleep I forget to take a picture, but here's the packaging as proof.



                    The new Krisworld system is well laid-out and comes with a responsive touchscreen. Main menu.





                    As usual the Jazz selection leaves a lot to be desired.



                    Watched Cafe Society prior to landing in ICN.



                    The remote is also touchscreen and was fairly responsive.



                    Enables one to control a plethora of functions on the touchscreen itself.



                    The remote is tucked away which can make it annoying when putting it back, and is quite sensitive when knocked against by your legs. So, my screen kept turning on unexpectedly when I was sleeping. Note the controls for the recline and footrest.



                    The seat comes with a reading light.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      About 2 hours before landing the crew hand out hot towels and start the supper service. Again, there were three options and it slipped my mind about photographing the menu card. I opted for a beef burrito since you can't get that wrong in LAX. Indeed, the beef was tender, although he Brownie was a tad too sweet for my liking. Premium Y has noise cancelling earphones, but they're the older kind so while a huge upgrade from the ear pieces now given out in Y, they're not the best that SQ has to offer.



                      SilverKris magazine.



                      Krisworld magazine.



                      We land on runway 33R slightly ahead of schedule and taxi for a bit to gate 111 at the A-concourse. Parked next to a Peach A320.



                      The seat during disembarkation. Note the USB port. The seat comes with two USB ports and an AC power socket.





                      Passengers continuing on to SIN have to proceed through security. ICN is dead that morning and so it's a breeze. Transit time in ICN is an agonising 1hour 50 minutes. At this point, I just want to be in SIN.



                      We are one of the few departures that morning.



                      9V-SWN.



                      KE and OZ birds at the Main Terminal.



                      Next to a TK B77W bound for IST.



                      Boarding started at 11.50pm, and is completed well before our scheduled departure of 12.25 am. Load is full in both Premium Y and Y, with again another light load in J. Hot towels are handed out while we are still at the gate.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Flight time for tonight is 5 hours and 50 minutes. Pushback happened at 12.25 am on the dot. We take-off on runway 33L.



                        Meals served on the SIN leg.



                        Less than an hour into the flight refreshment are served. I chose the Tuna sandwich.



                        After the meal service I instantly took some shut eye for the next 3 hours. Breakfast was served 90 minutes prior to landing. I had the omelette with cheese. Potatoes were well cooked and the omelette had just the right amount of cheese. Well done!



                        Nearly there...



                        Cabin before landing in SIN. The 24 seats in Premium Y (3 rows of 2-4-2) were served by 2 FAs rotated amongst the Y FAs.



                        We land on runway 20L at 5.10 am, 50 minutes prior to our scheduled arrival time. The taxi to gate E4 at Terminal 2 takes about another 10 minutes. Parked next to TR and MI A320s.



                        De-planing in SIN.





                        The Changi ambience. Bags take about 15 minutes before they appear.



                        My bag made it with the UA tags from MSP!



                        Before 6am I'm on a cab racing down ECP.

                        That's it for now. Look out for my MI leg to LOP which will feature a bus gate in Changi!

                        This is my first TR and I know I left it hanging for a while which is not good. Please let me know your sincere feedback and I look forward to writing better TR's in the future.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Hi, i thought your TR was perfectly fine. Good amount of commentary to break the monotony between photos (not too much for me), and importantly it doesn't sound like it was churned out of a template. A few missing photos is no biggie to me, i enjoyed reading it! Thanks!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Hi RedEyeflight!

                            First TR? If you didn't mention it, I would have thought you were a seasoned pro...great first thread!

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Cheers for the TR RedEyeflight!
                              God must have been a ship owner, he placed the raw materials far from where they are needed and covered two-thirds of the earth with water...

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