A cold and frosty start to the day saw my Tristar driver arrive 10 minutes before schedule, as always, in a nice silver E class Mercedes, and a very chatty chap helped the already fast drive to Heathrow pass quickly. No need to worry about the Hammersmith flyover today as we sped through Kew and onto the Chiswick flyover at this time of the morning.
Strange to arrive at Heathrow and not check-in on the left or drive up the ramp, but instead to the E zone where, after a wait of perhaps 30 seconds a polite but unassuming check-in agent took my passport and returned printed BPs (even though I'd already printed them myself, for once) and I was off upstairs on the escalator (no lift to the private security) and into Fast Track. It’s not VS style but it was efficient, I was allowed to keep my shoes on and soon through, only marginally slower than VS but nothing like the same experience.
First score: VS 10 points, SQ 5 points – fast and efficient, but no flare and no comparison in the cruddy parts of T3.
It felt odd again passing through the shopping mall and turning left to the E lounges and not right to the Clubhouse, but soon found the SilverKris lounge and a polite and smiley greeter showed me upstairs. Well, what a disappointing place this is compared to the Clubhouse, no wonder VS stopped SQ flyers from using the CH. Small, cruddy seating, poor food and drink, very busy (the lounge seems to have the same capacity as the business class cabin of an A380. I can’t add much more, there are obviously no additional services other than a few PCs; it is really not very good. Oh and the WiFi didn’t want to load some Web sites, including BBC news strangely. When connecting through SIN and experiencing some of the KrisFlyer lounges there, I was surprised at how poor the SQ Heathrow lounge was.
Second score: VS 10 points, SQ 2 points (one for the fact there is a lounge and one for coffee.
Boarding and pre-take-off: Due to the quick journey time to Heathrow and boarding slated for 10.25 I had a little bit to long in the lounge, but boarding was announced 20 minutes before departure and it was a short walk to gate 5 with a short queue and then straight on to the upper deck and seat 15A in the forward section of the business class cabin. Pre-take off champagne was nicely supplied, I asked for another glass and that was no problem, meal orders were also taken on the ground and names were used almost always. Previously in manage my booking I had preselected request the chef options for all my flights, but then on HL’s advise I tried to deselect them and try the menu options … but no, the SQ Web site wouldn’t let me, or rather it did, apart from this leg of the journey! And then, oh no, didn’t my iPhone slip off the side into that well between the suite and the wall so it was a call for help to get it out (poor design IMO). Take off was a little late due to traffic but very smooth, it seemed to me that SQ’s engines (are they GE not RR?) were a little noisier than the last A380 flight I took on EK, but soon we were up and I was able to glimpse my house in SW… as we headed out easterly from LHR. Before take off there was a VS 747 taxiing behind us and as we turned on to the runway it was a little odd looking ‘down’ on a 747!
Third score: VS 8 points, SQ 8 points.
The business class seat is clearly large, later in the flight I observed couples sitting side by side in it for example … but I actually found it quite uncomfortable and also very uncomfortable for working – the table for example is very wibbly wobbly, too high for comfort, and the table surface doesn’t work well with optical mice. I knew about the width, which is great and very much liked, but that comes with a compromise in that the seat in front feels very close for a business class seat. The universal power socket is really useful, as are the USB inputs to the IFE, but after a while working my back ached, I think due to the seat width not really supporting a good ergonomic position and the table being too high to type comfortably. In more detail, the seat makes you want to orientate yourself at an angle, but if you want to work then the seat back is straight, and there’s the rub … you can hooch yourself up to the LHS but that isn’t ideal because your legs are forced to the right, and if you settle on the right had side there's no support on your left ... here is the seat:
And, the cabin was hot, constantly, and there were no air vents … I miss air vents.
Fourth score: VS 8 points, SQ 4 points (two of those for no air vents).
Pre-ordered take-off drinks came around very quickly, but no snacks with them, however quickly remedied by a question and being brought some ‘chips’. This was followed ten minutes later by a trolley with nice satay, then the meal itself.
Despite my reservations, the duck from the book the chef that I ordered was lovely, very tender, very tasty, but with bland vegetables. The starter of mixed salmon was delightful, and I liked the cheese board offered (didn’t sample pudding). Almost everything comes from a cart however, which, when compared to VS, seems poorer. Also, and I can hear my mother’s words, the crew stacked plates from peoples trays on clearing up!
My recent flights on VS have featured really good food, so I am scoring this one evenly, there are elements to the VS service that are more like first class, like the way food and cutlery is served individually and not from a cart, but the quality of the duck kept SQ on level pegging.
One thing though, the wines were lovely, good quality middling wines (see return TR for the wines, they were the same).
Fifth score: VS 7 points, SQ 7 points.
OK so to KrisWorld …. What a wide choice but could I find anything to amuse me for more than a couple of hours. Clunky navigation too and after a while I ended up leaving the flight map on and watching the Bourne Identity on my iPad. I understand the need for so many Asian language films, and even though I couldn’t find anything to amuse me, I score it slightly higher than V:Port. Could not connect my iPad to the screen though to watch movies from it.
Sixth score: VS 6 points, SQ 7points
The seat really comes into its own as a bed, it’s a very manual affair to flip over the seat but once done the space is great and the mattress is soft and deep without that irritating UCS metal bar in the middle of the VS bed. Two pillows helps hugely and sleep came easily. The best business class bed I have tried anywhere, so SQ gets “dix points”.
Seventh score: VS 8 points, SQ 10 points
On breakfast …
Eighth score: only had coffee so no comparison to score
On the cabin crew, they are polite, efficient, attendant when visible, but heck give me a chatty VS CC member any day. I travel on my own a lot and it’s lovely to have the sociability and the chat. Long periods were a chore when no one could be seem, should I use the call bell? But the crew were good and lovely and responsive when I did.
Ninth score: VS 9 points, SQ 6 points
Social – well I created this category to include the bar on VS. EK manage a pretty great bar on board their A380s (actually better than VS's for space and choice), and for these long journeys it really does create a zone to relax, stretch legs, and talk with interesting, and not so interesting people. SQ has a little stand up area to get sodas and snacks, not quite the same, even QA manages a lounge on their A380s, so SQ is downgraded here, there's very little onboard atmosphere.
Tenth score: VS 8 points, SQ 2 points
On arrival …
Changi is easy but is just a big shopping mall. The Changi SilverKris lounge in T2 is very good – much better than LHR. Since we arrived into T3 but were departing from T2 I cannot compare the SilverKris lounges or the different terminal facilities, T3 did look nicer, but still a high end shopping mall. One thing that spoke in volumes was just how polite the staff were – there’s something Western about how when we put people in uniform they become jumped up tyrants, whereas in the east people still retain their manners, including all at the security scanners (where there were no queues at all).
Here's a poor snap of the SilverKris lounge in T2:
Eleventh score: VS LHR experience 7 points, SQ SIN experience 7 points (VS gains on it’s DTCI through the to Clubhouse experience, but loses on T3 issues and bad tempered staff, even if out of VS’s control!).
Overall … the bed is great, the seat isn’t, and as for the rest, I think VS has got a lot going for it in comparison and I came away surprised. Previously I’d held the perception that SQ was a notch above VS, now I don’t believe that to be the case, my scores tell the overall story:
VS score: 91
SQ score: 58
When I have more time I’ll add the Manila legs.
There's a plane at JFK, to fly you back from far away
all those dark and frantic transatlantic miles
all those dark and frantic transatlantic miles
Love the comparisons you have made and thought the scoring was fair fom the comments you made. Sounds like a decen flight out!
and I can't fault your scoring. I rated the Silver Kris lounge slightly higher than you mainly because there was a light load that night and so it didn't get too crowded.
