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Changes to United Club Access
The United Club membership offers a great opportunity to escape the madness of the airport. With complimentary alcoholic beverages and light snacks coupled with comfortable seating and ample power outlets, these lounges allow you to recharge on many levels. Check out the changes to United Club access policy before you stop by.
Starting November 1, Club Members will need to show a same day United Boarding Pass before entering the club. Historically, you could still access the United Club if you were traveling on another airline. I usually fly United exclusively for domestic travel, but on the off chance that I would fly American or Delta, I’d still pop into the United Club. That’s all changed.
Pre-Vacation United Club Bloody Mary and Banana. Breakfast of champions.
This isn’t really a shocker though. Delta and American both made these changes earlier this year too. It makes sense in some respect, but if you are buying an annual Club membership, you’d want to have access to use the lounge anytime you are flying.
This change seems pretty reasonable, but it could sure make for a frustrating surprise if you aren’t expecting it. Don’t show up to the airport early, expecting to enter the United Club if you aren’t flying on United!
Will this impact your travel plans at all?
Singapore Airlines Business Class SIN-BKK SQ 972
I was excited about this flight. Probably the most excited flight of the trip. It would be the only flight in this trek where I would be experiencing a new airline. I had flown EVA and Austrian before and of course have heard amazing things about Singapore from so many friends. Singapore SQ 972 is a short, 2.5 hour flight from Changi to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport but would give me a taste of the world class service offered by Singapore’s flag carrier.
My ride from Singapore to Bangkok – SQ 972 – Airbus 330-300
The less than glamorous terminal at Changi International Airport
We boarded about 45 minutes before scheduled departure. When I arrived at the boarding area, there were already at least 200 people waiting. Plus probably 20 children running around, Lord of the Flies style. Like my last flight, there were a couple of people already lined up in the Business Class queue, despite near constant announcements to remain seated.
Gate F31 was packed – and this was just half of the room.
Changi is unique in that each gate area has its own separate security screenings – you don’t get screened until you enter your specific gate area. Passports and boarding passes were checked four different times from the point I got to the gate until in was seated in 14F. The Business Class of this A330-300 consists of five rows of six seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. I chose the middle section so I could have direct aisle access and not worry about someone crawling over me.
Gate Specific Security – F31 Changi International Airport
Boarding
Upon boarding, I presented my boarding pass and was escorted to my seat. Daisy, the flight attendant, helped me put my bag in the overhead bin. Then properly welcomed me aboard, telling me of the flight time to Bangkok and letting me know that I wouldn’t have a seat mate. Score!
Before I sat down, I start snapping photos of the empty cabin and one of Daisy’s colleagues came up with a tray of beverages. His tray included orange juice, apple juice, sparkling and still water and champagne. He asks if I’d like a drink, “perhaps some refreshing bubbles?” How did he know? Yes please.
Seat 12F taken from my seat. Not industry leading any more, but still wonderful.
Singapore Airlines SQ 972 Business Class to Bangkok
Seat 14D & 14F on Singapore Airlines A300-300
Seat 14D & 14F on Singapore Airlines A300-300
The Flight
On board we were served the same champagne that was on offer in the KrisFlyer Business Class Lounge, which was a perfectly nice option. After champagne, he quickly returned with a warm, moist towel. I love these refreshing little treats. This flight wasn’t as empty as the EVA flight to Singapore, but it wasn’t full – 23 of the 30 seats were occupied.
This plane is an older model, but does have seats that lie fully flat. There is ample storage and several charging options including a UK/Singapore/US Outlet plus two USB ports.
The multiple charges on the A330-300
Boarding was quite quick as well. The last passengers boarded and we still had about 25 minutes until departure. I perused the in-flight entertainment selection, which was perfectly fine for our short hop to Thailand.
In-Flight Entertainment and In-Flight Selfie Reflection
A short taxi and roll to take off found us airborne right on schedule. Just as we crossed 10,000 feet the flight crew sprung into action. Taking drink orders and distributing another warm moist towel. This morning flight served a selection of western and Chinese breakfast food.
Singapore Airlines Business Class Menu
Champagne and Brunch Menu
You all know by now that I’m not big on breakfast, so I chose the Thai Pineapple Fried Rice option. It was surprisingly great.
Thai Pineapple Fried Rice with Chicken and Prawn
The elaborate tea menu. My favorite is the Vanilla Bourbon Tea.
The Vanilla Bourbon Tea. My absolute favorite flavor. Thank you TWG Tea!
After breakfast, I converted the seat into a bed and rested. I wasn’t ready for sleep, but I wanted to try the seat out. I watched reruns of Big Bang Theory, which always puts me to sleep on a plane.
Before I knew it, Daisy offered me another glass of champagne as the crew began final preparations for landing. A nice surprise.
We landed in Bangkok at 10h48. We deplaned through door 2L and the flight crew held the deplaning economy passengers while Business Class left. This practice is so elitist, but I do love it, don’t you?
Final Thoughts
The flight was very lovely. My biggest complaint was the length. The flight was just too short to really enjoy all the amenities. Two and a half hours isn’t enough.
Have you flown Singapore Airlines Business Class on a short regional route before? What was your favorite part? What is your favorite Asian Airline for short regional trips?
Experiencing United Airlines New Boarding Process
Recently the United Boarding process was tweaked. Their plan was to make the process and boarding area more clear. Instead of having five groups of people lined, up, only two groups would line up first then after those groups boarded, the next groups would line up.
In theory this makes sense, but as I mentioned before, I was pretty sure that people would still line up and it would be a mess. This change also altered which flyers were in which groups. This second change was what really concerned me. I usually only travel with a roller bag and I was afraid I’d get stuck putting my bag well behind my seat, meaning I’d have to fight through the crowd to collect my bag upon landing.
United Airlines’ New Boarding Process
Last week I took my first flight with this new boarding arrangement. I flew from Chicago to Toronto and the process was quite smooth. I chock this up to a few things 1) My flight didn’t have many elite flyers, so I ended up being the 6th person on board and 2) Canadians are nicer rule-followers. My bag was directly above my seat too.
In the boarding area people the Group 2 boarding line was relatively long, but Group 1 was very short. All of the seats in the boarding area were taken and no one was crowding the boarding door either. I’m not sure this will happen on a flight without courteous Canadians making up most of the manifest.
How have you fared in the United boarding changes? Have you been screwed out of overhead bin space at all? Do you think it makes the process any better?
Lufthansa First Class Amenity Kit
I love Airline Amenity Kits. A Lufthansa First Class Amenity Kit made it’s way to me – after some issues on Austrian Airlines forced a flight change. Amenity Kits are really hit or miss nowadays. You’ve got airlines like EVA and Thai who still offer the beautiful Rimowa kits and then you’ve got United who will sometimes provide a tin. The sign of a good amenity kit for me is two fold: 1) The design itself and it’s reusability and 2) The contents and their immediate usefulness.
The Kit
I love to reuse an amenity kit. Currently, I’m using a simple Lufthansa Business Class kit to house my various cables while traveling. It’s compact, sturdy and strong. The current First Class Amenity Kit is quite a bit larger and is in a strange quasi-heart shape. The two-toned color looks good at day one, but I’m sure with regular use, the light suede will really start to show the wear.
The quasi-heart shaped First Class Amenity Kit.
As you can see there is a folding snap in addition to the proper zip closure. The flap appears to be just decorative, which I don’t care for. It is just another piece to get in my way or get damaged. It does add a nice aesthetic though.
Sunburst detail on the flap.
The Contents
Like any good amenity kit – either in First Class or Business Class, I think you’ve got to have an eye mask, ear plugs and socks. Those are the absolute bare minimums, otherwise it’s just a complete waste. This kit included those items, of course, and they were quite nice. The eye mask included a velcro adjustable strap and the mask itself was quite broad, easily covering the area around my eyes. The earplugs were pretty standard, but they came in a great little carrying case. I think this case was pretty useless, but I thought it really upped the presentation. The socks were traditional thin airline socks, but they were much longer than normal – traditional sock size.
In addition to the minimum requirements, this kit also included a plastic shoe horn, a compact brush and la prairie moisturizing creams. The brush isn’t at all useful for me (have you see a recent picture??), but I love the shoe horn – I keep one in each of my suitcases, backpacks and briefcases. They are strong, compact and lightweight – you can always use a shoe horn. The moisturizing creams were pretty creamy and smelled fresh, but they took a while to properly absorb into your skin. I felt a little greasy. Nice effort – use these before you pull down your eye mask and take a nap.
The contents of the kit – even tied so elegantly with ribbon.
The kit, fully unpacked.
The interior of the heart-shaped amenity kit
The Results
The contents were spot on for in-flight use, but the kit itself missed the mark for reuse. It was a bit too big for what I would use it for, plus that extra flap just frustrated me. After a few weeks of traveling, I am confident that the light brown suede would look a bit dingy. So unbecoming of a lovely First Class Amenity Kit.
What do you think of this kit? Do you like to reuse the Amenity Kits you get whilst traveling or do you leave them behind? What other purposes do you task you kits with?
Duration versus Frequency of Travel
As an American working at an American firm, I get a very limited amount of vacation time. After being at my current employer for more than a decade I get just 15 vacation days each year. That’s three weeks total. That’s not enough to go and do what I want to do, so I have to really plan my trips. People often ask me if the frequency of travel is “worth it.” Why go away for such a short period, they ask? For only three full days in Europe is it worth the expense of the airfare, the jet lag and everything else. To that, I say a resounding YES! If I didn’t love short, frequent trips, I wouldn’t have flown to Singapore for 68 hours last month!
Singapore by night
You don’t have to have a month long sabbatical to disconnect and recharge your batteries. Taking a few days can help you reset and re-energize. You just need to be in the right mindset.
Frequency of Travel
Last year, my best friend got married. We had a couple of quick trips to associated with the wedding, but each time we added just a single day to the festivities and made a proper vacation out of the time. Weddings are always busy, but we came into the weekends knowing that we had a single day for a proper vacation and we fully used that day.
For example, the ceremony was in Palm Springs. The wedding events were from Friday through Sunday (not all day though). We arrived on Thursday morning and spent that day and most of Friday properly vacationing. With only two days away, we planned and we executed. Our offices knew we completely out of pocket. We didn’t do any work once we landed in Palm Springs – we disconnected; not even email. We ate; we drank; we didn’t really DO, we just were. It was fabulous.
One of my favorite podcasts, Happier, with Gretchen Rubin, focused on Duration versus Frequency this week. Gretchen and Liz talked about their trips to see each other, their parents their friends and even trips just with their spouses. They posited, and I agreed, more frequent vacations or contact is much better than long duration and much less frequent.
I’ve been a firm believer of this for years and have even written about it here before. If I felt I had to take a two-to-three week vacation each year, I would take just a single trip – and that would kill me.
What do you think? Do you prefer frequency or duration? I know, I’d rather have frequent, long trips, too, but that’s not really an option for most of us. What has been your favorite small duration trip you’ve taken this year?