Another photo from a layover in Perth, Western Australia.
Showing posts with label travel photos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel photos. Show all posts
April 7, 2011
March 31, 2011
Snapshot- Beach
Taken at Scarborough Beach, Perth, Western Australia during a layover earlier this year. Beautiful, isn't it? These are the things I travel for =)
November 17, 2009
Put That Down...
Conversations on Twitter earlier today got me to thinking about how some people's behaviour changes when they travel on an aircaft. They might be the sanest, most normal people in the world in their everyday lives; but put them in an airport, through check-in, past security and as most crew will know, they turn into slightly crazy weirdos who do odd things.
For example, one of my Twitter posts was mentioning how some people board through the premium part of the plane, see things set out on the counters for the service, (such as drinks) and help themselves.
The rationalisations for such behaviour include 'I paid for a ticket too', 'They looked nice' and 'I just wanted one'. That's all well and good, but what it boils down to is, to put it bluntly, stealing. If you bought an economy seat and you take something meant for premium economy, business or first (without asking first), you're technically stealing it, because you didn't pay for it. Those drinks laid out on the counter, that magazine in the book rack, the newspaper you lifted from a premium seat- they all belong to the people who paid for the seats in that class.
Another example of this is 'helping yourself' to things from galleys or other service areas when the crew aren't looking. These include things like eye-shades, alcohol, extra meals or snacks. The most serious one though, is the alcohol. Believe it or not, I've actually caught passengers with their hands inside bar carts, rummaging around for a drink and thinking this is ok. When we ask for the drinks back, they get mad, and say "I've bought a ticket, I'm entitled to it". Actually, they're not.
Alcohol is a controlled item (and on international flights is bar-bonded by Customs & inspected on landing). Taking alcohol without it being served to you by the crew actually breaches the liquor licensing laws in some countries, and is technically a crime onboard the aircraft. So if you do it, and get caught, don't be surprised when the crew cut you off from having any more drinks. It always surpises me that people ge tmad when told they cannot just help themselves to booze- I mean, come on- would you jump behind the bar in your local pub and just start filling up on drinks? I don't think the barman or bouncers would be very happy!
Then there's the other items- like extra meals, snacks, blankets or taking 3 pillows for yourself even though you only need one.
All this means that some other passenger (who also paid for their ticket) misses out because some people don't know the boundaries. If you want two pillows, fine. Wait until everyone else has got one before you take a second. Or if it's that important that you be comfortable, bring your own! (Novel idea huh?) By all means, ask for any of these things, but please don't just help yourself... because most of the time, you definitely won't be helping others.
Photos: Wine-By Hirox on Flickr, Attendant- NyDailyNews.com,
For example, one of my Twitter posts was mentioning how some people board through the premium part of the plane, see things set out on the counters for the service, (such as drinks) and help themselves.
The rationalisations for such behaviour include 'I paid for a ticket too', 'They looked nice' and 'I just wanted one'. That's all well and good, but what it boils down to is, to put it bluntly, stealing. If you bought an economy seat and you take something meant for premium economy, business or first (without asking first), you're technically stealing it, because you didn't pay for it. Those drinks laid out on the counter, that magazine in the book rack, the newspaper you lifted from a premium seat- they all belong to the people who paid for the seats in that class.
Another example of this is 'helping yourself' to things from galleys or other service areas when the crew aren't looking. These include things like eye-shades, alcohol, extra meals or snacks. The most serious one though, is the alcohol. Believe it or not, I've actually caught passengers with their hands inside bar carts, rummaging around for a drink and thinking this is ok. When we ask for the drinks back, they get mad, and say "I've bought a ticket, I'm entitled to it". Actually, they're not.
Alcohol is a controlled item (and on international flights is bar-bonded by Customs & inspected on landing). Taking alcohol without it being served to you by the crew actually breaches the liquor licensing laws in some countries, and is technically a crime onboard the aircraft. So if you do it, and get caught, don't be surprised when the crew cut you off from having any more drinks. It always surpises me that people ge tmad when told they cannot just help themselves to booze- I mean, come on- would you jump behind the bar in your local pub and just start filling up on drinks? I don't think the barman or bouncers would be very happy!
Then there's the other items- like extra meals, snacks, blankets or taking 3 pillows for yourself even though you only need one.
All this means that some other passenger (who also paid for their ticket) misses out because some people don't know the boundaries. If you want two pillows, fine. Wait until everyone else has got one before you take a second. Or if it's that important that you be comfortable, bring your own! (Novel idea huh?) By all means, ask for any of these things, but please don't just help yourself... because most of the time, you definitely won't be helping others.
Photos: Wine-By Hirox on Flickr, Attendant- NyDailyNews.com,
October 5, 2009
TT is Off the Hook!
That's TT as in me, not Tiger Airways, by the way. (I was TT way before they even existed in Australia!)
Well if you have read my Tiger Airways trip report, you may recall I had a little run-in with the staff regarding taking pictures on the tarmac. It wasn't so much being told I couldn't take pictures that was the problem, but that the staff member concerned tried to fob me off by saying it wasn't a Tiger policy, but an airport one.
Boy, she picked the wrong person to use that line on. Thing is, I used to WORK for that airport, and there was never any policy in place at that time, which she tried to tell me had been a policy since 2006. (Wrong).
Anyway, just to clarify and make sure nothing had changed since then, I got in touch with the airport authority. I was referred to their security operations manager. I had a nice chat with him regarding this little exchange. (EDIT: For clarity, the airport concerned is Perth)
The outcome was that taking 'holiday pics', or photos for personal use (i.e. not to sell) is ABSOLUTELY 100% FINE according to airport rules. The only time it's not allowed is if you want to do a commercial photo shoot, in which case you just need prior permission & access agreements. In his words, taking a photo of the plane you are boarding is not a crime, it is not forbidden, and it is most certainly NOT against airport policy. So really, Tiger staff were wrong to say that the 'no photo' rule came from the airport. As the security operations manager said, if it were against airport policy, they would have signs saying so, as they do with the 'No Mobile Phones' sign at the gates.
So Tiger, please tell your staff to stop giving out incorrect information to your passengers. You can tell us not to take photos on your planes (if you really want that crappy publicity on your hands) but you can't say no to us taking our holiday pics on the tarmac!
PHOTO: Zimbio.co
EDIT: Tiger Airways responds that Melbourne Airport advise them tarmac photos are not allowed. Perhaps in the interests of clear information, Tiger should add this to their website, as currently there is no information aside from mobile phones. Interestingly, there's a Facebook group for Tiger staff and at least one photo in thhere is taken on the tarmac at what looks to be Melbourne airport. So, either it's a security breach, or it isn't...
Anyway, I'll always do what staff ask me on board flights, but in Perth at least, I'll happily snap my pics thanks very much!
Well if you have read my Tiger Airways trip report, you may recall I had a little run-in with the staff regarding taking pictures on the tarmac. It wasn't so much being told I couldn't take pictures that was the problem, but that the staff member concerned tried to fob me off by saying it wasn't a Tiger policy, but an airport one.
Boy, she picked the wrong person to use that line on. Thing is, I used to WORK for that airport, and there was never any policy in place at that time, which she tried to tell me had been a policy since 2006. (Wrong).
Anyway, just to clarify and make sure nothing had changed since then, I got in touch with the airport authority. I was referred to their security operations manager. I had a nice chat with him regarding this little exchange. (EDIT: For clarity, the airport concerned is Perth)
The outcome was that taking 'holiday pics', or photos for personal use (i.e. not to sell) is ABSOLUTELY 100% FINE according to airport rules. The only time it's not allowed is if you want to do a commercial photo shoot, in which case you just need prior permission & access agreements. In his words, taking a photo of the plane you are boarding is not a crime, it is not forbidden, and it is most certainly NOT against airport policy. So really, Tiger staff were wrong to say that the 'no photo' rule came from the airport. As the security operations manager said, if it were against airport policy, they would have signs saying so, as they do with the 'No Mobile Phones' sign at the gates.
So Tiger, please tell your staff to stop giving out incorrect information to your passengers. You can tell us not to take photos on your planes (if you really want that crappy publicity on your hands) but you can't say no to us taking our holiday pics on the tarmac!
PHOTO: Zimbio.co
EDIT: Tiger Airways responds that Melbourne Airport advise them tarmac photos are not allowed. Perhaps in the interests of clear information, Tiger should add this to their website, as currently there is no information aside from mobile phones. Interestingly, there's a Facebook group for Tiger staff and at least one photo in thhere is taken on the tarmac at what looks to be Melbourne airport. So, either it's a security breach, or it isn't...
Anyway, I'll always do what staff ask me on board flights, but in Perth at least, I'll happily snap my pics thanks very much!
October 2, 2009
Fly on the Tiger... (Trip Report)
TIGER AIRWAYS TT812/813
AIRCRAFT: Airbus A320
I arrived at the airport well in time to check in ahead of Tiger's strict 45-min cutoff policy. There were only a few people in front of me, so five minutes later I was at the front of the queue.
I was greeted by a friendly older lady, who asked me for my ID. (Being a smart traveller, I put my airline ID in the license holder of my wallet, hehe) This garnered me a plum exit-row seat (on the aisle no less) without having to pay the $25 exit row fee, or the $5 seat selector fee which normally apply. There was a motive on her part though- current rules require a certain amount of passengers to be seated in 'self-help' exit rows.
As I was playing within the rules and only had a carry-on bag, she checked the bag complied with the 7kg limit, and gave me a tag to attach to my bag so that gate staff would know it was ok to board.
I also had a handbag but they didn't seem to notice/care about that. This bag contained my netbook, bottle of water and other similar items which would have certainly put my rollaboard over 7kgs. But noticed most of the other passengers had handbags or laptop bags as well. If they were on the smaller side, they didn't seem to have tags.
Once she gave me my boarding pass (the scannable kind which look like a supermarket receipt)
I headed through security. Aside from a bunch of foreigners thinking it was ok to cut the line while I was about to put my bag on the belt, security screening went without a hitch. I got pulled aside for the screening test, signed my name, and on my way to the departure lounge.
In the lounge I bought a couple of magazines & some water, then browsed the books to pass some time. Soon it was time to board. Our flight was boarding via the tarmac, front & rear stairs according to seat row. This was when I had an interesting exchange with a member of Tiger staff. I took a photo of our plane (flash off of course as it was night time)
and immediately was pretty much shouted at. When I asked what the problem was, she rather rudely informed me that taking photos on the tarmac is not allowed. (More on this issue later-I'm currently following it up with the airport authorities, as I have worked at this airport and there was never a no-photo policy for other than commercial use)
Once on the plane, I stowed my bag & rollaboard in the overhead locker, and took my seat in the exit row, reading the briefing card like a good little passenger.
One of the cabin crew came over to give the exit briefing, while it covered the main points I did note there was no advice on what to do should the exit be unsafe, other than not to open it. Personally, I brief the passenger if an exit is unsafe they must not let anyone exit and direct them to the nearest exit being used. I guess Tiger like to keep basic with this as well as their service.
Here are a few observations from my two sectors with Tiger:
* Seat pitch is pretty cramped. Worse when the person in front slams their seat back the instant the seatbelt sign goes off. When my seat was fully reclined, the (empty) seat next to me was only about 3 inches ahead. According to their website, Tiger's seat pitch on the A320 is 72.5 cm for standard rows. I think they've measured this in the reclined position, as it doesn't look like 72cm when the seats are upright.
Here's a picture taken from the side.
My netbook is only about 8 to 9 inches long from front (screen) to back, and was resting right up on the seatback in front. I wasn't leaning forward, so you can see there isn't much room. I had to prop my elbow up just to type. It wwasn't very comfortable. I suggest don't work on Tiger flights! :P
* If you're right handed & want to use a laptop, go for a seat on the RHS, sitting in the A seat means you can hardly type, without getting pins and needles, especially if the seatback in front is also reclined all the way.
*There was a giant wad of chewy on my tray table, and in both airsick bags in the seat pocket. Menu card wass really tatty. Tiger would do well to spend the extra 10c laminating each card, instead of having to replace them all the time. Crew were obliging when I asked for wipes to clean table, but didn't take them away again. I had to go to the lav to dispose of my trash as only one trash run was done on the whole flight- understandable on a SYD-CBR perhaps but not a 3 hour flight.
* Although the cabin crew walk around while the seatbelt sign is on, at least they DO enforce it, asking pax who stand up to be seated until it is off.
* For a newish A320, the toilets sure reeked a lot! Not just 'during the flight' smell, but the deeply-ingrained smell of pee that a men's toilet in a park might have. Not sure why this is, maybe they don't deep clean them very often. As you can see, the pee spends a bit of time on the floor of the lavatory.
* Service consists of one run-through with the carts (selling small snack items & some beverages)
followed by the trash cart. No more trash runs, even toward the end of the flight. Seeing as TT crew get comission on sales, you'd think it'd be worth one more quick run with the cart on night flights, as not everyone sleeps, and they'd make more money on sales. Not to mention that there's plenty of time on a 3 hour flight, and the crew seem quite bored (judging from the huge pile of magazines on the galley bench that even a well-read mag hostie would be amazed by)
* Another interesting thing to note: While soft drinks are served, the only choices are Coke, Diet Coke & Solo Lemon (like Lift or Mountain Dew). No lemonade to be seen. The Tiger website also advertises their menu as having the good old cheese & crackers pack that Virgin also sell. The crew tell me they haven't had them on board for quite some time, around 6 months I believe. Seemsan update is in order!
* With regard to alcoholic beverages, Tiger really cater to the 'bogan' stereotype, serving only wine or the pre-mixed bourbon & Coke in cans. Not even a pre-mix Smirnoff! What about vodka drinkers, Tiger??? While I'm sure they do very well with old Jim, it couldn't hurt to add vodka to cater to a wider audience.
RETURN FLIGHT NOTE: Check-in was fairly quick, although enforcement of the 7kg carry-on luggage limit seemed to be a bit hit and miss. Most of the check-in staff seemed oblivious to the old 'hide the bag' game, which I witnessed several passengers play as I waited in line. trust me, you wouldn't get away with that at Virgin! Tiger also make you put a tag on your bag which means it's passed the weight check at check in. The only fault with this system is I freely bought bottled water, several magazines and some food items which would have taken my bag above the 7kg limit. (Let's not talk about the handbag on my shoulder, which I would have happily given up for weighing if they had actually asked to) Then again, I don't think other airlines weigh bags after check-in, unless they're obviously heavy-looking or oversized.
Overall impressions? if you want to get somewhere cheaply, albeit a bit uncomfortably for my 5'5" frame, then Tiger is for you. The service is about what you'd expect at your local Coles, but then again there's not much chance for the crew to go 'above and beyond'.
If you want more comfort, a bit of a laugh and a reasonable selection of food, drinks & entertainment, fly Virgin. If you want better legroom on Virgin, book your trips on the Embraer E190 (no tv's but the legroom is way better than the 737, and leaps ahead of Tiger)
If you want pretty good seats, the chance to upgrade on points to 'real' business class and unlimited booze (between capital cities weekdays & Perth and everywhere else 7 days a week) fly Qantas' CityFlyer service.
Tiger: Cheap A-B, but they'll growl if you don't read the T&C's...
PS- Don't take photos... well, at least until we find out if this 'no-photo' policy is enforceable or not...
This one was in Adelaide, for testing purposes. Once again, Tiger staff pounced... Interesting, as photos on the tarmac have never been a problem when taking Virgin Blue or Qantas flights at this airport...
Adelaide Airport check-in area
Tiger check-in desks
Baggage collection
AIRCRAFT: Airbus A320
I arrived at the airport well in time to check in ahead of Tiger's strict 45-min cutoff policy. There were only a few people in front of me, so five minutes later I was at the front of the queue.
I was greeted by a friendly older lady, who asked me for my ID. (Being a smart traveller, I put my airline ID in the license holder of my wallet, hehe) This garnered me a plum exit-row seat (on the aisle no less) without having to pay the $25 exit row fee, or the $5 seat selector fee which normally apply. There was a motive on her part though- current rules require a certain amount of passengers to be seated in 'self-help' exit rows.
As I was playing within the rules and only had a carry-on bag, she checked the bag complied with the 7kg limit, and gave me a tag to attach to my bag so that gate staff would know it was ok to board.
I also had a handbag but they didn't seem to notice/care about that. This bag contained my netbook, bottle of water and other similar items which would have certainly put my rollaboard over 7kgs. But noticed most of the other passengers had handbags or laptop bags as well. If they were on the smaller side, they didn't seem to have tags.
Once she gave me my boarding pass (the scannable kind which look like a supermarket receipt)
I headed through security. Aside from a bunch of foreigners thinking it was ok to cut the line while I was about to put my bag on the belt, security screening went without a hitch. I got pulled aside for the screening test, signed my name, and on my way to the departure lounge.
In the lounge I bought a couple of magazines & some water, then browsed the books to pass some time. Soon it was time to board. Our flight was boarding via the tarmac, front & rear stairs according to seat row. This was when I had an interesting exchange with a member of Tiger staff. I took a photo of our plane (flash off of course as it was night time)
and immediately was pretty much shouted at. When I asked what the problem was, she rather rudely informed me that taking photos on the tarmac is not allowed. (More on this issue later-I'm currently following it up with the airport authorities, as I have worked at this airport and there was never a no-photo policy for other than commercial use)
Once on the plane, I stowed my bag & rollaboard in the overhead locker, and took my seat in the exit row, reading the briefing card like a good little passenger.
One of the cabin crew came over to give the exit briefing, while it covered the main points I did note there was no advice on what to do should the exit be unsafe, other than not to open it. Personally, I brief the passenger if an exit is unsafe they must not let anyone exit and direct them to the nearest exit being used. I guess Tiger like to keep basic with this as well as their service.
Here are a few observations from my two sectors with Tiger:
* Seat pitch is pretty cramped. Worse when the person in front slams their seat back the instant the seatbelt sign goes off. When my seat was fully reclined, the (empty) seat next to me was only about 3 inches ahead. According to their website, Tiger's seat pitch on the A320 is 72.5 cm for standard rows. I think they've measured this in the reclined position, as it doesn't look like 72cm when the seats are upright.
Here's a picture taken from the side.
My netbook is only about 8 to 9 inches long from front (screen) to back, and was resting right up on the seatback in front. I wasn't leaning forward, so you can see there isn't much room. I had to prop my elbow up just to type. It wwasn't very comfortable. I suggest don't work on Tiger flights! :P
* If you're right handed & want to use a laptop, go for a seat on the RHS, sitting in the A seat means you can hardly type, without getting pins and needles, especially if the seatback in front is also reclined all the way.
*There was a giant wad of chewy on my tray table, and in both airsick bags in the seat pocket. Menu card wass really tatty. Tiger would do well to spend the extra 10c laminating each card, instead of having to replace them all the time. Crew were obliging when I asked for wipes to clean table, but didn't take them away again. I had to go to the lav to dispose of my trash as only one trash run was done on the whole flight- understandable on a SYD-CBR perhaps but not a 3 hour flight.
* Although the cabin crew walk around while the seatbelt sign is on, at least they DO enforce it, asking pax who stand up to be seated until it is off.
* For a newish A320, the toilets sure reeked a lot! Not just 'during the flight' smell, but the deeply-ingrained smell of pee that a men's toilet in a park might have. Not sure why this is, maybe they don't deep clean them very often. As you can see, the pee spends a bit of time on the floor of the lavatory.
* Service consists of one run-through with the carts (selling small snack items & some beverages)
followed by the trash cart. No more trash runs, even toward the end of the flight. Seeing as TT crew get comission on sales, you'd think it'd be worth one more quick run with the cart on night flights, as not everyone sleeps, and they'd make more money on sales. Not to mention that there's plenty of time on a 3 hour flight, and the crew seem quite bored (judging from the huge pile of magazines on the galley bench that even a well-read mag hostie would be amazed by)
* Another interesting thing to note: While soft drinks are served, the only choices are Coke, Diet Coke & Solo Lemon (like Lift or Mountain Dew). No lemonade to be seen. The Tiger website also advertises their menu as having the good old cheese & crackers pack that Virgin also sell. The crew tell me they haven't had them on board for quite some time, around 6 months I believe. Seemsan update is in order!
* With regard to alcoholic beverages, Tiger really cater to the 'bogan' stereotype, serving only wine or the pre-mixed bourbon & Coke in cans. Not even a pre-mix Smirnoff! What about vodka drinkers, Tiger??? While I'm sure they do very well with old Jim, it couldn't hurt to add vodka to cater to a wider audience.
RETURN FLIGHT NOTE: Check-in was fairly quick, although enforcement of the 7kg carry-on luggage limit seemed to be a bit hit and miss. Most of the check-in staff seemed oblivious to the old 'hide the bag' game, which I witnessed several passengers play as I waited in line. trust me, you wouldn't get away with that at Virgin! Tiger also make you put a tag on your bag which means it's passed the weight check at check in. The only fault with this system is I freely bought bottled water, several magazines and some food items which would have taken my bag above the 7kg limit. (Let's not talk about the handbag on my shoulder, which I would have happily given up for weighing if they had actually asked to) Then again, I don't think other airlines weigh bags after check-in, unless they're obviously heavy-looking or oversized.
Overall impressions? if you want to get somewhere cheaply, albeit a bit uncomfortably for my 5'5" frame, then Tiger is for you. The service is about what you'd expect at your local Coles, but then again there's not much chance for the crew to go 'above and beyond'.
If you want more comfort, a bit of a laugh and a reasonable selection of food, drinks & entertainment, fly Virgin. If you want better legroom on Virgin, book your trips on the Embraer E190 (no tv's but the legroom is way better than the 737, and leaps ahead of Tiger)
If you want pretty good seats, the chance to upgrade on points to 'real' business class and unlimited booze (between capital cities weekdays & Perth and everywhere else 7 days a week) fly Qantas' CityFlyer service.
Tiger: Cheap A-B, but they'll growl if you don't read the T&C's...
PS- Don't take photos... well, at least until we find out if this 'no-photo' policy is enforceable or not...
This one was in Adelaide, for testing purposes. Once again, Tiger staff pounced... Interesting, as photos on the tarmac have never been a problem when taking Virgin Blue or Qantas flights at this airport...
Adelaide Airport check-in area
Tiger check-in desks
Baggage collection
September 25, 2009
Flying the A380- Singapore Airlines Trip Report (Part 2)
Once I had boarded & stowed all my stuff, I set about getting some pictures. As I hadn'tdone much long-haul flying as a passenger, I erred on the side of caution & requested an aisle seat. It was a bit annoying as I usually like a window seat for that reason, but the people sitting in my row were nice enough to let me lean over them to snap a few pics.
(The seat layout on the SQ 380 is 3-4-3 on main deck economy- I think it's the same for upper deck as well, though I only got a brief look)
I'd also like to add I really love the seat pockets- not only was there a section for the afore-pictured magazines & safety card, but additional elasticised pockets for iPod, camera, water bottle or whatever else one wants to cram in there. I could fit all the essentials near to hand without having to resort to rummaging in the overhead every 10 minutes.
Another neat feature (sadly forgot to photograph it) was the footrest. I found it a bit awkqard when sleeping, but good when I was awake watching tv,and wanting to take the weight off my feet. I think this might be better than the foot-net that Qantas have, but as I haven't yet tried that I can't be certain.
After take-off, the crew came around with a drinks service. Looking at the menu, I saw they were offering a Singapore Sling. Of course, I had to try it, in honour of my first trip on the SQ A380. I had thought it would be made with a pre-mix, but no, the friendly Singapore Girl mixed it all to order from the drinks cart:
That was really cool, but quite strong, so I also got a lemonade to have with the peanuts.
Next was our meal, which was really tasty. Again with the metal cutlery, which is kind of strange to see after dealing with plastic knives for so long! I ate pretty much everything, and then they gave out some icecream which was small pieces of icecream covered in chocolate. They were really good!
After lunch, most people went to sleep or watched movies, so I took the chance to have a wanfder around and look at the plane. I'm still kicking myself, at the time I felt like I was taking lots of photos but later when I looked at them I realised I didn't have any of the stair case or upper deck. Oh well, next time!
View out of the Right 5 door viewing window. The clouds were really cool, but they also gave us some turbulence. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found it odd that the seatbelt sign didn't seem to be enforced. An announcement would be made, but after that people still got up and walked around with not really any interference from the crew. (They do things differently I guess!)
The plane nerd in me had to take a picture of this...
Airbus logo on each of the doors.
One for my flight attendant readers:
The door mechanism is a lot different from what we might be used to... although it does have similarities to others in the Airbus family.Just think, it once took a week to make this trip! Now it's under 14 hours.
Getting there...
About an hour and a half before we arrived we also got a supper/dinner. This was chicken with noodles and was really good! Kind of like chicken noodle soup, but without the soup :P
And a few final 'plane geek' photos :)
The Heathrow Express train from Paddington to the airport. It's pretty high-tech, a lot like a plane itself. See the exit-row lighting, and the folding seats near the door which look like crew jumpseats. It even had wi-fi!! Took about 15mins to make the trip, which was well worth 16 pounds. (Hint: If you're crew, show your airline ID, the nice guy at the ticket counter gave me a crew ticket for 8 pounds!!)
The iPod connector on the seatback entertainment console:
The A380 also has AV input for a portable DVD or similar, and also allows you to view content from a USB stick like PDF files and Word documents. If you're not sure about what plane you're flying, or what facilities it has on board, check the airline website or the ever-handy Seat Guru website.
The IFE handset. The reverse side has a keyboard (for seat to seat messaging that hot guy ;) and gaming buttons for the multitude of games such as Mummy Mania and WHo Wants to Be A Millionaire. Hours of fun!
And I found this amusing:
The A380 is so big they give you a map to fiure out where your seat is!!!
Overall, I really enjoyed the flight and the crew were great- nothing was too much trouble. It's true- Singapore is a great way to fly!
Stay tuned for a Singapore Girl pic on the Galley Curtain blog =)
September 21, 2009
Trip Report- Flying the Skies With Singapore's A380 (Part 1)
Finally I'm in the mood to make a blog post, and seeing as my main theme of my blog is aviation, I thought I'd start with writing about what it was like to fly on the Airbus A380- giant of the sky.
Airline: Singapore Airlines (SQ)
Route: SIN-LHR (London Heathrow)
Aircraft: Airbus A388 (A380-800)
Before joining this flight, I had another sector with SQ from my home town to Singapore Changi Airport. Transit time was approximately 6 hours.
So many flights... and only about 3 or 4 hours out of the day!
On the flight up I traded watching tv for legroom, as the exit row at door R3 was unoccupied due to broken IFE. I asked one of the crew if I could sit there, and they were at first concerned I should know the tv's didn't work. When I assured them I was fine with it, they let me sit there, so I had the two seats to myself.
Strangely enough, I ended up receiving a special meal, even though I am neither Hindu or vegetarian, it ended up being tasty enough.
As a bonus, I got my meal before anyone else. If you tend to be hungry on flights, I recommend ordering a SM so you get to eat early. You will sit with your tray a bit longer too, though.
During my transit, I mostly looked around at the shops in the Terminal 3 transit mall. It certainly is a very traveller-friendly airport.
They had recharging stations for all possible gadgets (except USB for digital cameras, boo) a butterfly garden, free massage chairs and lots of other cool stuff.
Flowers in the butterfly house
Some really pretty butterflies, they were everywhere & there were lots of fake flowers with nectar pots in the middle to feed them.
The only thing lacking for an airplane nerd like me was a proper observation deck. The windows were big but didn't afford a view of the entire landing runway. I still got some good pics though.
SQ Boeing 777
QF A380
After lots of waiting around, we were finally ushered into the new boarding lounge which included gates for the A380.
While there, I tried to get a pic of my SavvyNavigator bag tag. Sadly the cool ones got corrupted on my camera card so this is the best of the remaining shots.
(Yes that is the A380 engines you can see in the background)
Our crew assembling to board the plane. I counted about 23 all up, that's a big crew!
After being welcomed on board & settling in, hot towels were passed out before take off which was a nice change. After departure we were given the amenity kits. Oddly, they had no eye shades, which I thought was really strange. Just some airplane socks & a small toothbrush. Of course I souvenired them for later, maybe I'll use them for a give-away later on.
As this is quite a big post, I'll write the rest of this one in the next day or two.
Airline: Singapore Airlines (SQ)
Route: SIN-LHR (London Heathrow)
Aircraft: Airbus A388 (A380-800)
Before joining this flight, I had another sector with SQ from my home town to Singapore Changi Airport. Transit time was approximately 6 hours.
So many flights... and only about 3 or 4 hours out of the day!
On the flight up I traded watching tv for legroom, as the exit row at door R3 was unoccupied due to broken IFE. I asked one of the crew if I could sit there, and they were at first concerned I should know the tv's didn't work. When I assured them I was fine with it, they let me sit there, so I had the two seats to myself.
Strangely enough, I ended up receiving a special meal, even though I am neither Hindu or vegetarian, it ended up being tasty enough.
As a bonus, I got my meal before anyone else. If you tend to be hungry on flights, I recommend ordering a SM so you get to eat early. You will sit with your tray a bit longer too, though.
During my transit, I mostly looked around at the shops in the Terminal 3 transit mall. It certainly is a very traveller-friendly airport.
They had recharging stations for all possible gadgets (except USB for digital cameras, boo) a butterfly garden, free massage chairs and lots of other cool stuff.
Flowers in the butterfly house
Some really pretty butterflies, they were everywhere & there were lots of fake flowers with nectar pots in the middle to feed them.
The only thing lacking for an airplane nerd like me was a proper observation deck. The windows were big but didn't afford a view of the entire landing runway. I still got some good pics though.
SQ Boeing 777
QF A380
After lots of waiting around, we were finally ushered into the new boarding lounge which included gates for the A380.
While there, I tried to get a pic of my SavvyNavigator bag tag. Sadly the cool ones got corrupted on my camera card so this is the best of the remaining shots.
(Yes that is the A380 engines you can see in the background)Our crew assembling to board the plane. I counted about 23 all up, that's a big crew!
After being welcomed on board & settling in, hot towels were passed out before take off which was a nice change. After departure we were given the amenity kits. Oddly, they had no eye shades, which I thought was really strange. Just some airplane socks & a small toothbrush. Of course I souvenired them for later, maybe I'll use them for a give-away later on.
As this is quite a big post, I'll write the rest of this one in the next day or two.
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