Homecoming! A Christmas return adventure on SQ EWR-SIN

Background

After a great fall 2023 semester, it was time to go home. Since my return ticket was already booked in August, it was time for me to fly and review Singapore airlines once again, this time through Newark. If you are interested in reading my journey to the US, click

here.

Check-In and Newark Airport

I left lower Manhattan around 5:15am and reached Terminal B of Newark airport early around 5:45am due to a lack of traffic although needing to take the Lincoln Tunnel via Midtown Manhattan.

Due to my habit of reaching early and the looming fear of missing my flight, I had reached EWR before Check-in had begun. The first time it had happened to me :). Around 6am, queues had already started to form and after a half an hour wait due to some technical glitches, check in had begun.

I was one of the first to check-in where my only checked in bag was checked all the way to AMD. After a rather smooth check-in, we proceeded to security which was crowded although it did not take much time.

Since the assigned gate was B53 for US, we proceeded to the British Airways galleries lounge which honestly was surprising for me since SQ normally uses the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse which I later got to know was closed.

British airways Galleries lounge

After security, I headed to the Galleries lounge which was just besides the gate I was supposed to board the aircraft. The lounge was just besides the former Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse which was underwhelming at best during my visit in June and was shut down for renovation for good.

I would say this lounge was quite a step up from the clubhouse with its USP being the incredible view it gave of the Aircrafts on the tarmac at EWR.

UA601 from BOS

AI191 from BOM

The food options in the lounge however were quite underwhelming as there were only basic and cold options like sausage, breads and bagels on offer. As I was super hungry, I decided to grab a bagel and coffee. After losing myself spotting planes through the enormous window, it was time to board my mammoth 19-hour flight to Singapore.

The Flight

Singapore Airlines Flight 21

Flight- Newark Liberty to Singapore Changi

Aircraft- A350-941ULR

Reg- 9V-SGB

Duration- 18 hours

I soon after arrived at gate B53 to board my mammoth 19-hour flight to Singapore.

My flight today was operated by 9V-SGB, a 2018 built A350ULR built for doing special long-haul missions like this and also to New York JFK and Los Angeles. Interestingly, the same registration was also carried by Singapore Airlines A340-500, which was the type that initially started the route back in 2004. SQ21 at that time was kind of novelty since nobody had envisioned such a long flight thus being an attraction with Av geeks. Although the route was discontinued in the early 2010s citing operational reasons, it resumed with the far more efficient A350ULRs in 2018.

Within a few moments, boarding had started, and I boarded the sparsely configured aircraft with 67 business class seats and 94 premium economy seats.

I boarded my seat 22A for my voyage to Singapore. Welcome drinks were offered with options of variety of juices and Champaigne, I ended choosing apple juice. Hot towels were offered soon after. As for amenity kits, Singapore Airlines do not offer it until if specially requested for.

Seat Tour

At around 9:24AM we started our pushback from gate B53 towards runway 22L.

G-VIIL to London Heathrow

At precisely around 9;41am, we blasted off runway 22L towards the cloudy New York skyline bidding farewell to the big apple and the United States for a while.

Since I was super tired, and sleep deprived, I decided to have my meal later on, However, I decided to get an apple bliss before I sleep which was sweet and refreshing.

However, soon enough me and the crew realized my seat was not able to recline and seeing this, the crew was quick to offer a new seat, so I ended up moving to seat 27A. After the turndown service concluded, I slept off on the wide, comfortable bed.

Although the seat feels slightly dated and the footrest is positioned in a slightly weird manner, The seat is true a flat bed and it still holds up well in terms of wideness and comfort. After sleeping for a record time of six hours and waking up over western Europe, I decided to freshen up in the washroom which was clean and well stocked with amenities.

I requested my meal to be served which the crew kindly accepted. The menu on board features a number of choices in Asian and Western options, basically everyone had something to choose from. Passengers travelling in business and premium economy also had the option for book the cook, which included further choices of western and Asian options. Although there was plenty to choose from, I felt there could be more vegetarian options as well.

I started off my meal with a salad which was fine which was served with cheese and fruits which were great. This was followed by my main meal of chicken rice which I selected through book the cook. Although the meal looked a bit sad, it was absolutely delicious, and the chicken was extremely flavorful... I ended up skipping dessert and dozed off for some more time.

After an hour's nap, I woke up and decide to tune in to Casino Royale on the Kris world system. Kris world had a number of movie options to choose from Hollywood and Asian cinema and also had a small array of European and Indian movies as well. Since India is one of the bigger markets for Singapore airlines, I felt they could have added more Indian movies however, there is still plenty to choose from in terms of movies and tv shows.

In some time, the second meal service had also commenced. I was presented with options of salmon, pork, duck confit and chicken noodles within which I went for the noodles.

The meal started off with another salad which was well, just fine along with a choice of bread within which I went for the garlic bread.

This was followed soon after by the noodles which were flavorful and pretty delicious.

The dessert was a spiced apple cake which was good but honestly, I've had better before.

After a while, being the risk taker i am, I started watching the conjuring which is said to be one of the scariest movies ever made.

Around this time, the crew came around asking if we needed anything. I must say that its always a delight flying SQ mainly because of the warm and professional service. And the best part about this is the fact that it has stayed pretty consistent throughout all my flights with the airline. Despite this being an extremely long flight, the crew seemed alert, professional and on their toes from time to time. Not only that, but the service also never felt forced and instead felt extremely warm. After successfully spending almost 18 hours of flying, it was finally time to land into Singapore. However, the landing time was slightly delayed due to the weather.

At 5:50pm, we finally landed at Singapore Changi airport.

We finally docked at terminal 2 besides a KLM 777-300ER. I disembarked the aircraft in no time making my way towards terminal 3 for my tight connection to AMD.

Conclusion

Phew...What should I say. My main intention of this trip report was not to review the hard product but instead the soft product and if they were successful in maintaining the consistency. It is extremely safe to say that Singapore Airlines was successful in maintaining the consistency in their service as not only it was professional but also extremely warm. The food, although the mains were good, could see some improvement however this may be down to the caterers more than the airline itself. Other than that, it's safe to say that it was a pretty solid flight by SQ despite the long flying hours.