This is the second part of a very long post about my experience flying 17 hours in Singapore Air Economy Class. In case you missed it, here’s the first part:
In general, this is a part of a series of posts that I wrote about a bunch of Singapore Air flights that I booked for me and my Partner with my points. Here are all of the other posts in case you’re interested:
- Review: Singapore Air Business Class – LA to Tokyo, Japan For $5
- Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Tokyo, Japan to Singapore for $37
- Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand for $37
So let’s get back into it! When I left off, I had just finished a 2 hour layover in Singapore.
Flights Details
These are the details for this journey. I’ve indicated the specific information for this flight leg in blue since the Points Used and Taxes covered this flight and the one from Auckland to Singapore.
- When: March 2025
- Where: AKL-SIN-HND
- Flight: SQ 286 and SQ 636
- Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
- Flight Time: 10 hrs 40 min and 6 hrs 35 min
- Seat: 51K
- Distance: 8,531 miles
- Points Used: 45,500 KrisFlyer Points
- Taxes: $36.28 USD
SINGAPORE CHANGI (SIN) AIRPORT
Once we got off the plane, my Partner and I saw a TV that had connecting flight information. We were confused to see that it listed the gate we’d just come through as our gate for our upcoming flight.
To make sure we weren’t misinterpreting this somehow, we asked the Singapore Air employee that was right by the TVs and they confirmed that we were going to leave from the same gate and that security for that gate would open 2 hours before the flight.
Curiously I also received a notification from TripIt Pro that my next gate was the same one so that was helpful to see after we had walked away.
The Gate
We then checked the local time and saw that it was less than 2 hours before our flight and the gate security was closed. So we visited the restroom and then stayed close to the gate to see when it would open.
I’m glad we stayed close because security opened when boarding was supposed to start and there was no announcement that it was happening. Fair enough since it was very early in the morning, but some indication would have been appreciated 🙂 .
I just looked over, saw people in line for security and realized it must be open. So we walked over and joined the line.
Security
It took a while to get through the security line. When we got to the front, an employee asked to check our boarding passes and had me take out my laptop and put it in a separate bin.
They then had me put my bag in a second bin, then handed me a number that was also placed with my bag.
I went through the scanner, gave back my number to pick up my bag, and headed to the next checkpoint. There were more employees that scanned my boarding pass and let us into the seating area.
THE JOURNEY
Boarding
As I mentioned, we were past the boarding time at this point. We were supposed to board at 9:45am and heard our first announcement at 10:17am (less than 30 min from takeoff).
Luckily, shortly after we started boarding by groups, my group was the first one called in economy because of my seat number. So we walked up to board.
After walking down the jetbridge, we saw a bin with headphones, which I would suggest taking because regular headphones won’t work on Singapore Air Economy since the headphone jacks on the TVs require 2 prongs.
The Flight
I got to my seat and realized that this wasn’t just the same gate we just left, but also the same plane! Hilarious 🙂 .
However, I was left a new pillow and blanket and this blanket was free of the unknown crusties that I mentioned on the last flight and felt softer than the last one. Nice!
After everyone was seated a flight attendant (FA) came through with hot towels (lovely) and warned us that the towel is very hot (much appreciated) 🙂 . I then realized that for the second time on a Singapore Air Economy flight, there were no rambunctious kids in front or behind me. Such luxury!
Soon after that, we took off. 1.5 hours after take off, I received my meal. We had the choice between Slow Braised Barbeque Beef Ragout or Tori Yuzu Teriyaki, which was roasted chicken thigh marinated with yuzu flavoured teriyaki sauce served with steamed rice with sesame seeds, seasonal Japanese vegetables and tamago. I chose the chicken.
I also received an apple juice, which was surprisingly delicious and bread that was warm, which wasn’t the case on my last flight.
I was still full from my previous meal, but I still ate this since I wasn’t sure what time I’d have my next meal. The flavors were good, but I didn’t love this one as much. However, I think that was because I was full and because this dish isn’t my usual palette preference so that’s on me for choosing it.
I then went to bed and hilariously woke up when we were landing. That was quick! I threw on my new obsession High Potential as we approached Tokyo.
When we were about to land, the pilot said it was a clear day in Tokyo and that we could see Mt. Fuji on the left side of the plane. I was on the right side so just a heads up in case you want the possibility to see Mt. Fuji on approach to Haneda. I was a little bummed at the time, but luckily I got to see Mt. Fuji up close and gorgeous earlier in this 3 month trip:
Soon after that we landed in Tokyo!
TOKYO HANEDA (HND) AIRPORT
After deplaning we talked down a long hall towards passport control and immigration.
Passport Control & Immigration
Once we reached immigration there was an employee saying that visitors should go to the right so that’s what we did. I knew from my visit to Japan about a month before that we need to fill out a form before reaching the front of the line, so I asked this employee where I could find a form and he directed us to tables that looked like they were behind ropes and in a secure section, but it’s apparently not so I’m glad I asked.
We went to those tables and filled out the immigration form. It asked for standard stuff like Arrival Flight info, duration of our stay and the address of where we’re staying. It also asked for a phone number for where we’re staying, but I gave my own since I don’t want to share Airbnb hosts’ phones numbers randomly.
There was a shockingly short line – maybe because Haneda airport seems to have way more employees than Narita airport and is better organized. Employees here were directing people to empty lanes, which was helpful and we were through in moments compared to my long wait time in Narita. The fact that it was 6am could also have had something to do with it.
We then entered the line and when we were gestured forward to an immigration employee, they took our form and looked at our passports. They then took our photo and scanned the index fingers on both of our hands. And then we were done and headed towards baggage claim and customs.
Baggage Claim & Customs
Once we reached baggage claim, bags from our flight were already coming out so we grabbed our luggage. Taking knowledge from my last visit to Japan, I then found the required customs form on the far side of the baggage claim hall.
Luckily English forms were readily available. They also asked the usual customs questions and asked for our passport numbers.
Once I was done with the form, I saw that there were multiple customs lines and an employee directing people to smaller lines. We joined the line and when we reached the front, another employee looked at our passports, took our customs form and then we were done!
Interestingly, there were no prominent signs at this airport like there were in Narita about jail time for bringing in vitamins and medication that they have made illegal in this country (heads up that this includes things like NyQuil and melatonin).
Also just a heads up that I realized after this flight that you can apparently fill out all the forms I mentioned above online at Japan Web so I’ll be doing that if/when I return to Japan to avoid filling out all these paper forms.
Ground Transportation
Once we entered the arrival terminal, there were signs to “Taxi” that indicated we should go down an escalator, which we did and there was a line of taxis waiting outside without anyone waiting to enter them. Nice!
We got in a taxi and showed them the address of our Airbnb on Google Maps on my phone. And then we were off!
THE REVIEW
So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience 🙂 .
Customer Service
As I mentioned in the first part of this trip review, the customer service on Singapore Air was fantastic as always. That’s one of the main reasons I love flying with them so much and I was happy to see that their wonderful approach to customer service applies to Economy as much as it does to Business and First Class. Also after this flight just like the last one, I got an email asking me to fill out a survey. I love a company that asks for feedback 🙂 .
Seat
Since this was the same seat and plane I experienced on the last flight review, I will reiterate how much I enjoyed this plane configuration’s space between the window and seat divider, which is a perfect resting place for my foot. There’s also no under seat divider bar between the window and middle seats so it’s one big space and that made it feel like there was more foot room overall.
As I mentioned in the last post, I continue to be impressed with how relatively comfortable these seats are. They fit my wide hips and have enough cushion that I don’t feel like I’m sitting on hard plastic like on some airlines 😉 . This was a seat I didn’t mind sitting in for almost 18 hours in one day.
Food
Once again, the food was surprisingly good for Economy. The flavor was great on my last flight and good on this one. And the portions were very filling, which was great to see.
In-Flight Entertainment
As previously mentioned, I love Singapore Air’s entertainment system for the number of interesting movies they offer. No other airline I’ve flown has beaten their number and variety. I always leave a Singapore Air flight, no matter how long (and my record is 33 hours 😉 ) still having films on their list that I want to see. That’s awesome 🙂 .
- Review: 33 Hours In Singapore Air Business Class – $7,734 of Flights for $75 [Part 1]
- Review: 33 Hours In Singapore Air Business Class – $7,734 of Flights for $75 [Part 2]
CONCLUSION
And that’s it for this travel saga! I was curious what the flying experience would be like with Singapore Air in Economy after sampling all of their Fancy Classes, and I continued to be impressed.
In fact, I would happily fly their Economy product again, especially given the wonderfully low number of KrisFlyer points required to do so. Those are fairly easy to rack up on the only credit card I use regularly, my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which is currently offering a 75,000 point sign up bonus if you spend $5K in the first 3 months.
On this flight, I found the entertainment amazing, the customer service fantastic and the seat comfortable enough to want to fly across the world again. So you’ll be seeing me again soon on Singapore Air Economy 🙂 .
Nyquil and melatonin are illegal in Japan? Yikes. That’s not something I would have thought to check before going!
Yeah the US embassy website has a lovely photo of handcuffs when describing Japan’s restrictions 🙂 . I can’t remember how I found out about that info, but it wasn’t anything intentional like my airline didn’t mention it in their emails or anything, but I’m glad I learned about it. It was annoying to have to count my pills before entering the country (they also only allow 3 months supply of most things, even vitamins), but I prefer it to being imprisoned abroad.