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Posts: 988
Sep 26 14 5:25 AM
September 19, 2014
TZ 8 SIN-PER Lv1230 Arr1715 Boeing 777-200ER 9V-OTD “Maju lah”
Transfer E “Scoot Thru”
The agent was pretty friendly and all the counters were opened. My onward boarding pass was issued here, and my baggage tag was updated with a sticker showing that it was designated to Perth.
Gate E12
The gate area was pretty busy, as Singapore Airlines’ Manila flight was departed next door.
On most days, the aircraft used on HKG to SIN continued to Perth, but it was not the plan today, or was it?
I was surprised to see “Maju lah” here at gate E12, and it looked pretty good.
Boarding began early at 11:56am, and there were staffs telling passengers which jetway to use! The Scoot Biz cabin was only lightly occupied this afternoon and I had two seats to myself for this five hours flight to Perth. Head F/A was greeting passengers at door and pre-takeoff water cups were passed out again.
Numerous magazines and menus
I took opportunity to take some cabin shots again.
Scoot Biz Cabin
The first section of economy cabin – only one passenger eventually took a seat in this section – 3-4-3 in Y looked pretty tight.
Seat in recline position
Power outlet – yes it was available in Scoot Biz, but two passengers share one outlet. Not cool here! I hope the new 787-9s will give each Scoot Biz passenger his or her own power outlet. For Y, it was okay to share, but for PE or J, it was not okay
The flight attendant was less friendly than the last flight, and some of them were not really overly helpful, but as of this point, that is the Scootitude. You don’t want them to be too “SQ” like! I honestly cannot call them “fun” and some of the scripts they read sounded so forced. They ended up sounding like a bunch of bad jokes. Anyway, they came around and took beverage order, while verifying meals. I ordered two meals for this flight, as I expected two services. Here was our conversation:
F/A: “Hi you have ordered two meals – a premium meal and a teriyaki chicken wrap!”
Me: “How many services do you do on this flight?”
F/A: “No we only do one service! You have two beverages included in your two meals! What do you like?”
Me: “Okay then I will just get a bottle of water and a Coke Zero”
As an ULCC, I guess you should not expect much right! But this story had a twist!
Door was closed at 12:24pm and an early departure was always appreciated. We pushed back at 12:32pm and I spotted 9V-OTE heading to R/W for its flight to TPE and Seoul Incheon.
Then we were not moving anyway and I thought we were waiting for traffic clearance, which was typical for Singapore. Ten minutes later, the bad news came and the computer of this plane needs to be reset and an engineer needed to take a look. We had to be towed back to the gate. Fifteen minutes later, the engineer decided that the computer reset would take hours, and they were going to change plane. I was suspicious at first. Scoot has six 777s, and as an aviation nerd, I immediately checked where everyone were. I honestly could not imagine Scoot has too many spares sitting around. As I guess correctly, only “Barry” was in Singapore. Its original plan was to fly to Bangkok in the late afternoon, but I guess Barry can fly us to Perth, while Maju lah got its computer issues resolved. At least the delay would not be too bad.
Second time again
TZ 8 SIN-PER Lv1500 Arr2045 Boeing 777-200ER 0V-OTA “Barry”
I always say that you can test an airline’s reliability by seeing it being in action during delays. Of course there is no meal voucher for the three hours delay and not even some water cups are provided. Oh yes, I almost forget that Scoot is ULCC and nobody expects anything. However I still think some bottled waters should be provided, and no one apologized for anything. The ground staffs were not overly friendly and were rather indifferent and doing their jobs. Definitely not the best impression of the “Scootitude” LOL!
Gate E5 this time
Waiting and waiting – the cockpit crews and the ground staffs were getting concerned that Barry was still not towed over to the gate. The plane still needed to be refueled and re-catered. Finally at 2:41pm, Barry was towed to the gate and finally at 3:01pm, boarding resumed, and things went pretty smoothly. However we were not ready to go yet.
My seat 1K again
Finally door was closed at 3:43pm, and thankfully traffic was rather light at this time of the day, and we took off from R/W20C at 3:58pm for our four hours and forty-two minutes flight to Perth. We flew south passing Batam and Lingga Island before reaching 39,000feet, and than crossing Bangka Island, Jakarta and Soreang. We climbed further to 41,000ft before hitting the coast of Western Australia. We passed Carnavon, Shark Bay, Morawa, Moora, and then Perth Airport.
The meal services began quicker this time, as the load was ever smaller in J and Y. It was obvious that the F/As wanted to help out in the back.
My first meal was delivered at 4:30pm and this time, a different F/A served me!
She asked if I wanted the second meal to be delivered later. Anyway, due to the delays, I just wanted to eat and sleep. She said okay and both my meals were served.
Premium meal for this flight was Chicken Parmesan with Pasta, which was pretty taste. The sides were the same – fruit bowl and Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream. It was obvious that they did double catering for the SIN-HKG and HKG-SIN flight.
I had originally ordered a “Beef Kway Teow” but due to catering change, it was no longer offered, and I got a chicken teriyaki wrap instead. It was pretty tasty, but the portion was pretty small, compared to wraps I bought at other LCCs in the US and Europe.
Entertainment wise – Scoot Biz gets free access to wifi streaming entertainment system, and I did not even bother to try. I just wanted to get some sleep.
There was a second round of BOB and duty free service at 8:05pm. So you could order two meals in the future on this flight, and asked for the second meal to be served at a later time. It was obvious that that first F/A was a bit on the lazy side. But Scoot needs people to buy food.
Sunset over Western Australia
Descent began at 8:17pm and we landed on R/W21 at 8:40pm and parked at gate 55 six minutes later, next to a Qatar Airways Boeing 777-200LR A7-BBE.
One last shot of the cabin:
Immigration was quick, as there was no wait, and I used the e-passport channel, which was even faster. Baggage delivery was speedy and the first bag arrived at 8:57pm, eleven minutes after we parked at gate. It took a while for my bag to show up but I honestly can’t expect Scoot to offer priority baggage service to Scoot Biz passengers.
Honestly I think I have mixed feelings about Scoot, but for this price, I really can’t complaint. You really get what you pay for, and I am just grateful that Scoot actually learns its lessons and puts in a spare. That’s what Norwegian long haul units need to learn about the importance of a spare, especially your specialty is on long haul flights. I just wish Scoot can offer some basic beverages for the delays at the new gate, and most importantly, the ground staffs need to do a better job in keeping the passengers informed. We are not stupid, when we don’t see a plane sitting at the gate. Singapore Changi Airport has a mixed departure/arrival area, so each departure gate/cluster has its own security. There are often no bathroom facilities inside those gate areas, which made even lengthy delays more painful. The Scoot Biz seat is really misleading, and in reality, it is really a premium economy product with a premium economy seat. Air Asia X can somehow can its lie flat seats business class because it features much legroom with a seat that goes fully flat, even at an angle. Service wise – the F/As were a mixed bunch and don’t expect Singapore Airline Girls. They are nothing close to it, and they are also not fun. Management, Please stop writing those horrible scripts for them to read. My only comparison point is Air Asia X, which definitely has a better premium product, and despite of a slightly higher price, Air Asia X is better run. However, I somehow am hesitant to book Air Asia X because I have to fly those A320s from HKG to KUL, unlike Scoot, which is Scoot Biz all the way. For HKG-SIN-PER flight, I think I can fly Scoot again but hopefully it will be on their new 787-9s.
Carfield
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