This is a continuation of my round the world trip in August/September 2014. You can read the other sections of this trip report as follows: Flying the Emirates A380 in First, The Grand Hyatt Dubai, The Grand Hyatt Singapore, Flying the Emirates A380 in First for a second time, and The JW Khao Lak.
Normally, I wouldn’t bother writing anything about a short 90 minute regional flight, but I thought it was appropriate given the amazing experience my wife and I had.
Introduction
I burned more miles than I probably should have on this flight. I made the executive decision to fly business from Phuket to Singapore for two reasons. The first: we had been through Phuket International Airport 4 times previously, and they were a mixed bag. Having lounge access would be comfortable, and quiet. It did in turn become valuable, except for the lack of reliable charging power.
Power or (lack thereof) in Phuket Lounge.
We happened to be going at a time that there were a lot of people traveling, but once we got to the lounge there weren’t more than 10 people there. Add in the free wi-fi (and we made some purchases for our FBA business too—admittedly risky), We were already getting value.
The flight
Completely unintentionally, we were the 4th and 3rd last to board. A couple was taking photos on the jetway that we rushed past, so, really we probably should’ve been the last to board. Ironically the captain noted “Good afternoon ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, because of your efficient boarding, we were able to leave early.” I’ll take that as a benefit, as the crew still made the time to offer us a pre-departure beverage.
Awesome Seat
Pre-departure Drink
Once in the air, and I really mean once, because I don’t think we were in the air for 10 minutes before we had our inflight meal, along with beverages. It was almost a game with drinking my wine, because I couldn’t seem to get below half a glass before either Sharon or Shafrina appeared with a bottle to refill my glass. The meal (below), wasn’t the best I’ve had, but it was in the upper half when considering it against regional and domestic US in flight meals.
Menu
In-flight meal
We got to talking to Shafrina about the great service and the aircraft (a brand new 737-800 with the Sky Interior – which, by the way, fit our carry-ons beautifully).
Shafrina offered to let us fill out a comment card, which we happily obliged. When she came back, she brought a couple of decks of cards, and a puzzle. My nephews and niece will hopefully enjoy these.
Conclusion
While burning nearly twice the amount of KrisFlyer miles may not be the answer for many, for us, it was a nice splurge, an indulgence if you will. The business class cabin was only 4/12s full (ironically, all 4 of us were in row 2). Was the food and service worth paying 2x the points, I’m not sure, but I can tell you that my wife was happier, and in my experience, a happy wife leads to a happy life. Finally, I would say, you can’t go wrong splurging with SilkAir, as they put out a quality product, even if it is just a 90 minute flight.
You can read more about using Singapore KrisFlyer here, as well as some examples.
