Jun 17, 2002 08:17 AM
11775 Views
(Updated Jun 17, 2002 08:17 AM)
I have only flown Singapore Airlines once and once was enough! We bought a packaged Tour that used this Airline and included 4 nights, (2 on either side of our stay in Bali), 14 nights in Bali and for an extra $100.00 CAD we could stop in South Korea.
I wasn't unhappy with this because it was a cheaper way to see our Son in South Korea than if we had just flown there.
When we checked in the lines were short because they had a lot of booths open. After we checked I asked if I could reconfirm our flights going to Bali, (because we had such a short time in Singapore I didn't want to spend my time on the phone waiting on hold for a Reservation Agent).
I was directed to a different counter where the Station Manager was sitting. He 'brought up my file' and looked at it. He asked me where we would be staying in Singapore, Bali and South Korea. After he entered the information onto our file he told me that, 'it was no longer necessary to reconfirm International Flights'.
During our 20 hour flight, (we stopped in South Korea for an hour), we were served a total of 5 meals. Even though we were in Economy Class we had a choice of 2 International meals and 2 Singapore meals. We tasted both types and they were delicious. Drinks and wine were free.
The seats were the normal small size that most planes have in Economy. We were lucky we were seated by an emergency door so we had a lot of legroom.
There was a large selection of music stations and we watched two Movies, (traveling each way). This was the first time I ever saw exercises shown every hour. Exercises are an excellent way of keeping your feet and legs from swelling. At first only my Husband and I did the exercises but by the end of the trip everyone was doing them.
Our problems began when we went to check in for our flight to Bali. The Check in Agent told me all our flights had been canceled because we were booked to go to Bali the day before. I asked her to look at our tickets and tell me what date she saw on that 'leg' of the trip. She told me she saw the day we were there but that the reservation had been canceled and changed, (in November), so we could travel the day before. She also told us we were 'lucky' because they had seats on the plane so we could go to Bali that day...but all our flights were 'wait listed after that'!
I left my Husband to check in and went to find the Station Manager. He was in the Office but when he saw me he ran into his Private Office. He refused to come out and talk to me. It took me a half an hour for me to convince the Lady working there to go and get him.
She only went to get him because she finally understood it was impossible that the reservations had been changed in November because the tickets had been 'printed out' on December 31st and she also could see the 'mark' that had been made by the Station Manager in Vancouver, (every time someone touches a reservation file their mark/number goes onto the file in order for the Airlines to see who had been looking at the file).
He did come out and confirm all our flights and was kind enough to book all our seats in the emergency row, (when you are on a Tour you can’t pre-book your seats).
The next problem came on our flight from Singapore to Seoul. An hour into the 6-hour flight 'something' died in the luggage hold below my feet. The Stewardess was very nice and gave me a white handkerchief and a bottle of Channel #5 for me to put onto the handkerchief and hold up to my nose for the rest of the trip. She also came with deodorant spray every half-hour. When we landed in Seoul she did report the problem.
We did not have to wait for our luggage to come down. When my Husbands bag went onto the turnstile we could see the handle was missing. I told him to wait for my bag and meet me at the 'damaged luggage counter'.
I went to the counter and no one was there. The people from Cathy Pacific Airlines were kind enough to page the luggage Manager. We had to change Airports, (the other Airport was a half-hour drive away and because of security reasons we had to check in an hour and a half before time). It took the Manager a half-hour to arrive and we had no time to wait much longer. We asked him to issue a damage claim quickly. He only did this when I told him we would be back in Seoul and what Hotel we would be staying at. He issued the claim and told us he would phone us at our Hotel. He had a member of his Staff take the bag and us to a leave your bag place.
When we arrived back in Seoul the Manager called as he promised. The problem was we were at the Hotel and the bag was at the Airport. My Husband and Son had to go back to the Airport and meet the Manager. . He would only issue us a voucher for the handle to be replaced
MY THOUGHTS:
Singapore Airlines has often been named the number one Airlines in the World. There were some nice things about traveling on this Airline so I hope my review will not stop you from flying with them if you want to.
©LL2002
