At Singapore Airlines, No Detail Is Too Small

The guy is amazing; this is from 2014: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=77oRSCxGmYA

impressive.

IN 2014 I flew 17 RT business fares from IAH-DME. One time I flew on my birthday. Nothing. I admit I did expect an upgrade since they knew me by name there…. F was empty except for one person (I actually think F and J are almost the same so I don't feel like I missed out or anything). And bizarrely they were out of my meal choice but the very next person (who was asian) ordered it and got it. I love SQ's business seats and the routine I had when commuting to Russia but they never went above and beyond for me.

I love Singapore Airlines and adore everything about them, but "no detail is too small" is funny from an airline without business class amenity kits.

I'm looking to redeem miles for a singapore suites flight. Wanting to go NYC to Japan. I have 150k Amex MRs and 100k TY points. Is there a viable way to do this?

I love that my mind immediately went to their 2013 "Understanding Your Needs" campaign as well.

@cahbf SQ is notorious for not upgrading passengers, and will happily fly near-empty premium cabins rather than clear award waitlists, so in this case I'd say your expectations for an upgrade just because it was your birthday were unrealistic =)

Anyway I flew SQ12 SIN-NRT Suites in October. Hard product is amazing, but service was mixed. We interacted mostly with two FA's: One of them was amazing, friendly, chatty, bubbly; the other one couldn't be bothered.

Is Cathay not in the same category?

@Sean Unfortunately with recent cost-cut in the last few years, the quality of Cathay's F and J products are hardly comparable to SQ nowadays. In my most recent CX trip from HKG-BOS in business class, the FA no longer took personal meal orders but rolled out dinner cart and let you pick what you want from the cart.

@dimples I would not really expect an upgrade ever, but I did spend over 250k with them in the last 2 years so I did expect someone to say happy birthday. I have to be one of their highest revenue passengers. and having flown F many times, it can't cost them any more (it's almost the exact same thing except a slightly larger tv screen).

@Jeffrey What you said has nothing to do with cost-cut. CX had been serving meal from trolleys for many years where you are able to choose your choice of main course directly. And personally I much prefer this approach than ordering from the menu since you get a look at all the options and can choose the one that looks most appetising.

Yes, kudos Singapore... but most of all, Kudos to this artist! Holy sh&t!

I personally don't understand all that WOW around SQ. Yep, indeed business class hard product on 77W and 380 is outstanding, but the rest is just fine and nothing above and beyond. As for onboard service it varies greatly depending on a particular person serving you (I had the cutest one, the most professional one, don-t-even-try-to-ask-anything one and angry spinster one while flying SQ J).

What I found completely under any acceptable standards is their ground service. Good in the air. Awful on ground. Their call centre is just the worst one I have ever interacted, just had a joy last week trying to modify my award. The only what I wanted is to change a flight A and keep a flight B in my itinerary AB (wouldn't cause a stopover, the same region, the same award cost, slightly different taxes). I had 3 phone calls, average waiting time was about 20 min and then 30-40 min of useless talks: "No Sir, we cannot change a flight A. We have to cancel the entire ticket and then you can try to book it again. Yes, I understand that now there no availability for a flight B and most probably you won't be able to book it again, BUT we have to cancel a ticket". First I thought I got an unskilled agent, but then I spend in sum 3 hours on phone with different agents and supervisors I was so sorry about myself just wasting time. So I cancelled an award and after 10 days the miles were not even credited back to my account (could take up to 4 weeks).

SQ - Fail. Fail. Fail.

Instead I booked a DLSM award via callcenter (Diamond). Waiting time - 0, total time - 12 min, OW award, 4 segments, 3 airlines, $60 in taxes. Substantially better experience.

SQ Suites service is hit or miss. On my last flight, I was felt really tired and told the FA that I really needed to sleep and that I didn't want breakfast. I closed the suite door and put on my eye mask. Probably half an hour later, the same FA woke me up to ask if I planned to have breakfast since they were serving it. I was pretty irked since I made it clear I just wanted to sleep.

I also got bitched out at The Private Room by the lounge dragon because I had left my carryon at a chair toward the front. According to her with a condescending tone"We are not a luggage service". Not a pleasant way to start a journey. CX and JL service are leaps and bounds better and consistent than SQ.

There was once when I flew economy and the meal cart hit my knee. The flight attendant immediately made an ice bag and apologized profusely. I told him it was okay and I was not in pain. Thereafter, his supervisor came and apologised again. And before the plane landed, the flight attendant apologised again. I appreicated that they were sincere in their service and cared for the customers.

We arrived this morning in HKG off of SQ #1 in First (B777). SQ contines to be my favourite airline PERIOD.....particularly in F and Suites. Thei inflight service and comforts are excellent and their ground services are top notch. Having never booked award travel with them I cannot speak to that experience however their res. office has always tried very hard to be of assistance whenever I have called.

Flown SQ a lot over past 4 years. Def hit and miss in the air. Some FA's have been good some bad. The ground at Changi could improve vastly but they live in the past (Sorry not impressed with the Private Room) Interesting I have made several SQ FA friends and they all say the same. SQ is fine but they work way way to hard. Very little time off to enjoy life. Basically always gone regardless of how long they have been there. Right now SQ has a 40% turn over rate among FA's.

It seems that the marketing campaign extends all the way into the cabin. The soundtrack from the 2013 ad was an abridged version that played each time the plane landed. Wont be surprised if the soundtrack from this 2015 ad surfaces onboard soon. Keep an "ear-out" for it.

Best service of any airline. I agree with you. SQ on a "good day" beats any other airline without a doubt!!!