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:
So let’s get back into it! When I left off, I had just finished a 7 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 Tokyo to Singapore.
- When: February 2025
- Where: NRT-SIN-AKL
- Flight: SQ 11 and SQ 281
- Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A350-900
- Flight Time: 7 hrs 40 min and Β 9 hrs 50 min
- Seat: 51K
- Distance: 8,531 miles
- Points Used: 45,500 KrisFlyer Points
- Taxes: $74.16 USD
SINGAPORE CHANGI (SIN) AIRPORT
The Gate
A little before my boarding time (7:45am for a 8:50am departure), I walked to my gate. There were chairs outside as well as inside the gate, but the glass doors to the gate were locked because we had to go through a security checkpoint to get inside.
They opened the gate 5 minutes before my boarding time and I didn’t hear any announcements about it. There also wasn’t a screen I could easily see except one one that was right at the entrance. To know the gate was open I just saw people lining up and going through security so I got up to investigate. And I’m glad I did π .
Security
There were 2 lines through security at my gate (B10) and they wanted us to take off jackets and take out laptops. I then had to present my boarding pass and held it while my bags went through.
Once I was done with security there was another line that was separated by cabin class where they checked my passport and boarding pass. Once I was done with that, I was let into the seating area within the gate.
THE JOURNEY
Boarding
30 minutes before our departure time there was an announcement that we were boarding. There were two boarding doors: A and B. Business Class, Special Assistance and Premium Economy were called first and then they started calling Economy by row numbers.
The first Economy section they called was Row 51 and above, which was my row! Nice. I headed through the Economy door, which was different than the one for the higher plane classes.
The Flight
Once I reached the plane, a FA looked at my boarding pass and directed me to my seat. Outside the plane door there were more headphones to grab for the 2 prong headphone jack.
I got to my seat and there was a pillow and blanket once again. I love it π .
I then used my 2 prong headphones to start watching a movie right away. I love that they don’t lock you out of that until take off like some other airlines.
Then the FAs came around asking if anyone needed headphones. That’s nice if people like me assumed their regular headphones would work and learned that wasn’t correct.
Soon after that, we were taking off! Once we reached cruising altitude the Wi-Fi started working. As I mentioned in last week’s post, you can use the Wi-Fi for free in Economy for the entire flight if you’re a member of their frequent flyer program, KrisFlyer. It’s free to join and I obviously am a member because I booked these flights with KrisFlyer points π .
The FAs then brought around hot towels for everyone (Lovely π ) and soon after collected them. They then came around to ask if we wanted juice or water. My seat mates asked for juice AND water. They’re hardcore π . When we were finished, the FAs picked up our glasses.
I took out my headphones to say thank you and realized that the wall of the plane was making a seriously static-y noise. Oh my – how old is this plane? I then did some further investigation and realized the side of the plane was kind of coming off next to my seat. I could see some inner workings of the window. So I don’t love that π .
Then a FA came by and gave me a meal when they were handing out the specialty meals and I was too confused to refuse. Then I looked at it and I think it said 57K, not my seat of 51K.
So I flagged down the FA and gave it back to them untouched so 57K still got their vegetarian meal on time. When it was my real turn to pick a meal, a FA asked if I wanted chicken noodle or something that I couldn’t hear so I said “noodles” and also got a coffee.
It turns out the second option was eggs, but I’m happy with my choice because it was much more substantial than the alternative. I even had a roll with New Zealand butter! What a way to prepare to enter the country π .
The noodles were good, but could have used a little more seasoning in my opinion. There was some sauce at the bottom that helped a little, but still.
Then the people next to me asked for two drinks again. These badasses. I really need to learn from them π . Once my meal was picked up I chilled and watched movies for a bit.
Relaxation-wise I didn’t have great luck on my last flight with two loud kids in front of me. Well this time my bad luck continued because there were two very loud kids behind me, but it was worse with them kicking/pushing my seat as well as yelling nearby. Maybe I’m in some unknown family area that I need to steer clear of in the future, but it made the flight less than ideal π .
Luckily despite running on like three hours of total sleep, I wasn’t sleepy because taking a nap through that challenging kid situation would have been impossible. Anyway, 2.5 hours before landing the FAs started the second meal service.
I chose the chicken and rice and got a (free) whiskey on the rocks and also a coffee (I learned from my double ordering neighbors π ). The usual meal kit comes with milk so I used that with my coffee. There was also more bread with NZ butter, crackers and this time a Singapore cheese as well as a sweet sauce that I assume is for the special Chinese New Year dessert.
The food was all yummy and had a great taste. When I was done I perused the in-flight menu and noticed that even in Economy you can ask for an Amenity Kit on flights over 7 hours with socks, a dental kit, eye mask and earplugs. Nice! I brought my own of all of the above, but it’s good to know that’s an option.
So I finished watching another film and then we landed on time at 11:26pm.
AUCKLAND (AKL) AIRPORT
I then got off then plane. I had finally arrived in New Zealand!
Passport Control
First I headed to Passport Control, which is now called eGates for US Citizens of 10+ years, which is to the right. A machine had me scan my Passport face down, step through and then a machine took my picture.
Customs
To find customs I went down an escalator and there was an employee as well as giant signs that said if you have nothing to declare to go to the left. So I did.
Then I reached a line with an employee at the front. Once I was waved over, they checked my Passport, confirmed I had nothing to declare, put a sticker on my Passport and told me to go to the Express Lane after I had my bags. At this point I was through all of the security measures and hadn’t had to wait at all. The only lag time had been when I was walking to these checkpoints.
Baggage Claim
When I reached the baggage area, bags were shockingly already coming out. However, none were my bag – though they seemed to be from my flight.
I waited for 25 minutes and then something strange happened: the bag belt stopped and a loud beeping started. Uh oh. I hadn’t seen that before, but it seemed like something was stuck and employees quickly came over to fix it despite the late hour.
Once the belt started again my bag came out a few minutes later, so in total I waited about 30 minutes for my bag after breezing through Auckland’s security. I imagine if I had been in another airport I would have arrived at baggage claim right when my bag was coming out.
So I grabbed my bag and headed to the Express Lane which was to the far left on my way to the exit. There an employee checked my Passport and and let me through.
Adorably there was a cute Beagle patrolling and sniffing bags, which might be the grown up version of Beagle puppy I saw on duty here a year ago. They was my favorite airport employee who I couldn’t tell was doing a great job since they were working π .
Ride Share
Since I was in the Auckland airport about a year ago, the location of their Ride Share Pick-Up changed a bit. However, it was all clearly marked and explained in the Ride Share App, which I appreciated.
I took a left after my Beagle experience and then exited the airport. I walked across the street and followed the giant Ride Share signs. I then hopped in my ride once it arrived and paid $52.90 NZD (aka $31.75 USD) to ride downtown at midnight on a weekday to my next adventure.
THE REVIEW
So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience π .
Customer Service
The customer service on this flight was top-notch as always with Singapore Air. I felt well taken care of and everyone was kind and friendly from the second I entered the gate area to the second I left the Auckland airport.
I continue to be wildly impressed with Singapore Air’s service in every cabin class. Also after my flight, I got an email from them asking for feedback, which I appreciate. I then forgot about it and they emailed me again 24 hours later to remind me – thank you!
Seat
So this flight differed from the previous leg on this journey because I was on the Airbus A350-900 and I found it less comfortable than the Boeing 777-300ER I flew to Singapore.
There were a few differences on this plane, such as there was no TV remote, which isn’t a big deal for me since I never used it in Economy before. However, my perfect little nook for my foot by the window doesn’t exist on this plane and that was an unexpected and comfy highlight of the last one.
There was also a larger TV box under my seat so I couldn’t stretch my feet back under my seat to rearrange and stretch. There was still a USB charger on the TV and a regular one between the seats, but the actual seat felt less plush to me and the seat in general felt narrower.
Overall the seat was still comfortable enough that I didn’t feel cramped on this long flight, but I found these differences interesting since this was a larger plane than I was on during my last leg.
Food
The food was good! Everything was almost perfect and with a little extra seasoning on those noodles we would have reached perfection. Once again, the portions looked relatively small, but were very filling. I wasn’t hungry the whole flight.
In-Flight Entertainment
I’m still obsessed with Singapore Air’s entertainment options. Despite flying for 17 hours on their planes, I still didn’t finish all of the films I was interested in watching and watching movies was the only thing I did on this flight. I continue to love their abundant selection.
It was also great to know in advance that I needed to grab their 2 prong headphones and that I could use their free Wi-Fi through this whole flight. That is a perk I won’t take for granted.
CONCLUSION
And that’s it for this flight saga! I was curious what the flying experience would be like with Singapore Air in Economy after sampling all their Fancy Classes, and I was 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 easily racked up on the only credit card I use regularly, my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which is currently offering a shockingly highΒ 100,000 point sign up bonus if you spend $5K in the first 3 months.
Anyway, on this flight, I found the entertainment phenomenal, the customer service top notch and the seat comfortable enough to want to fly across the world again. So you’ll be seeing me again soon Singapore Air Economy π .
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