ScootBiz (Scoot Airlines) Singapore to Hangzhou & SATS Premier Lounge Terminal 2 Changi, Voted Asia Pac Lounge of the year 2017 Priority Pass

We were going on holiday!  Our destination was Hangzhou, followed by Shanghai.  The plane was as follows:

Day 0 - Depart Singapore to Hangzhou (Scoot Airlines), Arr. Hangzhou 2135hrs
Day 1 - Hangzhou, got a driver, tour the city, including West Lake and Ling Yin Temple
Day 2 - Depart from Hangzhou to Wu Zhen (water town), and then transfer to Shanghai Courtyard Marriot near Disneyland
Day 3 - Shanghai Disneyland! (One full day)
Day 4 - Transfer to Shanghai Marriott City Center
Day 5 - Private day tour to SuZhou
Day 6 - Shanghai Free & Easy
Day 7 - Home sweet Home - Shanghai to Singapore on Singapore Airlines (Business Class)

We would fly from Singapore to Hangzhou, and we were trying out ScootBiz in Scoot Airlines for the first time.  Scoot is a wholly own subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, and it is their low-cost arm.   When Scoot was first launched, we flew with them to Sydney! That was way back in 2012.  Since then, we have flown on Scoot a few times, but this is our first time in ScootBiz.

ScootBiz is Scoot Business Class?
What is ScootBiz? Well, it is NOT the typical Business Class of a full service airline.  It is more akin to Premium Economy.  What attracted us were the seats - full learther with at least 38" of legroom, 22" of width and 6" of recline, with adjustable headrests and legrests.  You also get complimentary meal and drink, but that was less important.

Scoot flies from Terminal 2.  Check-Lines moved quickly.  You had to do self-service check in first, before dropping off your bags.  That's the new trend, self-service.  I didn't see any special check-in line for ScootBiz passengers, so we joined the same queue.

Win A Jaguar E Space!

There was some lucky draw going on, as part of the Changi Millionaire program.  Check out the car on display! 

SATS Premier Lounge Terminal 2

After clearing immigration, we headed to the SATS Premier Lounge to chill out for a while and get some food.  Note that ScootBiz does not provide lounge access with the normal ticket.  We used our Priority Pass cards to gain entry.   Here is the entrance of the SATS Premier Lounge, which was opposite the SilverKris lounge at T2.

Video of Lounge Experience

A video of our lounge experience.  This lounge was voted Asia-Pac lounge of the year, for Priority Pass.  For a Priority Pass lounge, it is decent.  In fact, a good number of airlines use this contract lounge for their Business Class passengers too.  Here are YouTube video links so lounge reviews of  SATS Premier Lounge in Terminal 1 and SATS Premier Lounge in Terminal 3.  Below is the video of SATS Premier Terminal 2.

Lounge of the Year Awards 2017 - Priority Pass
The Lounge in Terminal 2 won the Asia Pacific Lounge of the Year Awards 2017 for Priority Pass. Our credit cards provided us with Priority Pass access to Lounges, which is very nice.  We could bring the entire family in, using my card and my wife's card.

Drinks anybody?
Drink selection was decent free-flow of alcohol, if that is what you like.  The chilled white wine wasn't too bad.  Don't drink too much before you fly!

Signature Laksa, which is pretty good.  Had a bowl, together with some red and white wine.  They also had some Nasi Lemak, yellow curry chicken, pandan chicken and other hot food, plus a soup.  See my video above for what I ate.

Beautiful Orchid Display.

Lounge Buffet Area.   We stayed for over an hour, and soon it was time to head to the gate!

FLIGHT EXPERIENCE

SCOOTBIZ - FlyScoot Singapore to Hangzhou
Flight Number TR 188
Dep: 1635hrs, Arr: 21:35 Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport
No time zone changes

We had wanted to visit Hangzhou and Shanghai.  So it was great that Scoot has a direct flight.  Scoot currently operates the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft.  This was our plane at the gate, its nickname was 'Bo Jio'.

BOARDING - A useful perk is that ScootBiz gets to board first.  They had just started boarding for the main cabin when we got there.  We boarded immediately as the video would show.

FlyScoot BizScoot Flight Review Video.
The 7:30 minute video below details our experience on board ScootBiz, showing you the seats and the meals.  Enjoy!


Some photos to whet your appetite.  The ScootBiz cabin was in a 2-3-2 configuration.  We were at the aisle, and I was in a window seat. We were in Row 1 & Row 2.  The seat was comfortable, no doubt about that!

Food wise, ScootBiz ticket comes with food and drink.  For the food package, you have to order in advance (online, when you book).  I didn't realise that there were different types of meals.  The most 'value-for-money' would be the Premium Meal selection, sample below.  This meal comes with 2 deluxe sides and a drink.  But there was no Nasi Lemak here.  I selected Nasi Lemak and that was packaged with a lower value meal (no ice-cream). So, hot tip, if you want a full meal with Ice-Cream, pick from the Premium Selections! 

Waiting for Luggage - Scoot Crew luggage came out first
Landing into Hangzhou was smooth and we got to the gates quickly.  The immigration clearance was fast.  What took some time was the baggage.  See the video below, for pretty much the entire aircraft passengers waiting at the luggage carousel.  Funny thing - the cabin crew luggage came out first! After we collected our bags, the Customs officials made all passengers put every bag through an X-ray machine, i.e. 100% check.  That caused a line to form, but the overall process was orderly and didn't take too long. The video also shows snippets of the taxi ride, and the room service we had.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Hangzhou City Center, and we ordered room service for supper, as we were tired and hungry.



Room Service - All the Food in the Photo for 177RMB plus 3 drinks (including beer)

Take-off Video
If you like take-off videos, here is the video I took from my window seat of the Scoot Boeing 787.  Check out the huge piece of land being developed for Changi Airport Terminal 5.


Thanks for watching!!

Guitar Singapore Travels

FlyScoot Hong Kong to Singapore TZ 221 Boeing 787-9, Regal Airport Hotel, HK International, Citygate Outlets

Now, for the flight back from Hong Kong to Singapore. This flight was most eventful because of the 8 hour delay. But first, let me tell you the plan.

TZ 221 (HK to Singapore) was scheduled for 0705hrs. Since we did not want to rush to the airport early in the morning, we decided to stay for one night at the Hong Kong Regal Airport hotel. It helped that there was a Citygate Outlet Mall quite near by and the Regal Airport hotel provided a convenient complimentary shuttle service. Or we could just take a taxi. So we decided to stay at the airport hotel. Earlier that morning, we were in Macau. So we would take a ferry from Macau to Hong Kong and then take a CityBus to the Airport.

We had arrived at the Regal Airport Hotel the day before the flight, checked into the hotel, and took the free shuttle from the Airport Hotel to the nearby CityGate outlets.

Here is a video of the hotel room as well as how you walk to the hotel from Hong Kong Airport Terminal 1. A very easy walk indeed.


Citygate outlets is a fairly large outlet mall located at Tung Chung MTR station, which is currently the western most station on the MTR network. We have been here before, on previous trips. We had planned to do some outlet shopping, so this visit was fruitful. I managed to get a heavily discounted pair of Timberland walking shoes.

Citygate has a good number of eateries. However, we chose to walk over to a smaller local mall called Fu Tung Plaza. It is directly connected via a pedestrian food bridge.

 

We had a light dinner at Cafe de Coral, a local eatery. I had the pork chop bun, which came with a red bean type of drink as well as a corn on a cob. Here is a short video of what we ate, as well as the menus.

Later in the evening, feeling hungry, I had another round of food at the Cafe de Coral in Hong Kong airport Terminal 1. Being the airport, the prices were more expensive, however, they had roasted goose which I wanted to try. Prices were still not too bad, given the size of the serving and quality of food. In this video, I show you the Cafe de Coral at Hong Kong international airport, the food and the overall surroundings.


Now onward to the delay. The flight was scheduled for 0705hrs. The plan was to wake up early, check out of the hotel and check in for the Scoot flight. All this changed when we received this SMS. Very bad delay!!


Was this for real? The flight was delayed to 1440hrs? Everything about this SMS looked real and the email came about 30 minutes later. Still, we didn't want to risk it and called the Singapore Scoot call center. Their staff confirmed that the delay was indeed genuine.

This episode reinforced the need to check your mobile/email in case there were changes to the flights that you were on. I would have been very unhappy to turn up at the Scoot check-in counter at 5am, only to be told that the flight was now delayed to 1440hrs!


So, we could sleep a bit later that morning. At around 9am, we went to the check-in counter at Terminal 1, to be greeted by 3 staff who were looking most tired. Anyway, they could check us in, give us our boarding passes, as well as four breakfast vouchers. As the vouchers were for breakfast only, we had to consume them by 11am, which was fine with us.

With check-in complete, we headed off to look at the various eateries where we could use the vouchers and settled with Tsui Wah. We ordered some breakfast and we liked such food. Here was the video I made of the breakfast experience.

We checked out of the hotel at 1pm. I asked for a delay in the check-out timing from noon to 1pm and the hotel kindly agreed, which was nice. We cleared immigration (the lines were quite long!) and headed off to the restricted area. It would be a long stroll to Gate 44, for our gate. We were early at the Gate. There were already many passengers there, some sleeping. Anyway, since I had nothing to do, I did some plane watching from the gate and made this video.

By 1430hrs, the plane hadn't arrived and the flight was supposed to depart at 1440hrs. The staff at the gate said that the plane was on the way and should be arriving soon.

Well, the passengers were all very patient. Maybe we were all too tired! Fortunately, the plane did arrive, close to 1500hrs. I made a video of the plane landing and taxi-ing to Gate 44, Hong Kong International. When we flew to Hong Kong, the plane was called 'Dream Start' This time round, the plane was named 'Barry'.

Flight back

Passengers on the plane had to disembark before we could get on! Regardless, a long line quickly formed even though boarding hadn't commenced. By this time, we all wanted to get on board and make our way back to Singapore.  We were now onboard.  I took this photo of the window.  Yes, this is the B787 - windows were bigger than usual.


Boarding started quite soon and we got to our seats quickly. I made this flight review video of the trip back. In the video, I look at the window (which could block out a lot of light). I also look at the light and call buttons on the seat. The buttons are put in a position where many there are many accidental calls. Watch the video to see why.

This feature of the Scoot inflight magazine had a neat set of infographics called Scoot Secrets. I enjoyed reading.

1. Scoot has passed the 4 million pax milestone
2. Cabin crew are called Scootees, pilots are called Scooters.
3. Scoot has acquired 20 B-787 Aircraft.
4. 117 pilots from 26 countries
5. By 2018, Scoot will be the first low-cost carrier to have an all B-787 fleet.
6. Rolls Royce Trent 1,000 engines power Scoot planes, the engines are made in Singapore!
7. Scoot has 900,000 fans on Facebook.
8. 582 Scootees hail from 32 different countries

We made it back to Singapore safely The landing at Singapore Changi by Captain Jesper was very smooth and gentle. Glad to be home. Thanks for reading!

FlyScoot Singapore to Hong Kong TZ 220 Boeing 787-9

FlyScoot - TZ 220, Singapore to Hong Kong.  We were going to Hong Kong for a short holiday.

Booked very cheap flights (total less than SGD700 return) for my family of 4. The flight departed at 0155hrs and flight time was short, slightly over 3 hours.

Here is the video review.


Flight departs from Changi Airport Terminal 2.  Flight departed on time.  As FlyScoot is a low-cost carrier, expect zero frills.  We had some food (for a light supper) at the Changi Airport Terminal 2 at a place called Wangz before the flight.  We had boiled eggs, toast and a hot drink.  The place was rather crowded at about midnight.

After getting our food, we took a slow stroll to the gates, which was rather far away. Anyway, we had plenty of time. 

At the gate, we got in quickly and waited in the waiting area.  Here is a picture.  There were a good number of kids on this flight as this was the March Singapore school holiday week. 

Boarding was swift and we got to our seats quickly.  We didn't purchase any checked luggage.  Instead we travelled light and had 3 cabin bags for the 4 of us. I had no problems finding overhead space for our bags.  Here is a photo of the cabin, in a 3-3-3 configuration on the Boeing 787-9.

Another view of the cabin in the 3-3-3 configuration. Seat width were rather cramped.

The flight was uneventful. Everybody just wanted to sleep. Take note Scoot is a low cost carrier and no blankets are available, unless you pay for them. ($12). The plane was rather cold. All of us brought our jackets and we slept wearing our jackets.

We were all awoken when the pilot announced that we had started our descent. This was about 30 minutes before landing. Landing was smooth and the flight arrived on time. The plane turned on these rainbow lights during disembarkation. Quite cool!

The flight landed on time. However, the gate that Scoot used was very far from the Immigration counters and the people mover only started operations at 0620hrs. So all of us had to take a long walk to the Immigration counters. The sign-posting was not clear and many of us made a wasted trip down to the people mover area first before realising that the trains were not yet operational.

When we arrived at the Immigration area (after a long walk), the lines were really long. Credit to the HK Immigration officers, they were working at break-neck speed, just 8 of them, to clear a super long line. Other flights (including one an Emirates A380 from Dubai) had landed at about the same time.

To be continued.,.

Back to Hong Kong and Macau Landing Page.

Fly Scoot - $65Mil loss

Scoot's $65 Mil loss. Oh dear. The competition is cut throat. Our experience with Scoot has been ok so far. Fares are cheap.

Hope they can turn the company around.

Safe travels!

FlyScoot - Singapore to Bangkok - TZ 302

FlyScoot to Bangkok

We are headed off to Bangkok (again) on a short family holiday.  Bangkok has become our favourite nearby destination, just to take a break from Singapore and do nothing.  Flight time is 2.5 hours (actual flight time only 2 hours, but these days air traffic and taxi-ing can be rather time consuming too).

The last two times to Bangkok, we flew with FlyScoot.  Why?  Cheap fares. It cost $623 SGD return for the four of us.  We did not buy any meals and no checked luggage outbound, but 20kg checked luggage coming back to Singapore.

Fly Scoot to Bangkok - TZ 302 - Singapore Changi Airport.  The flight was scheduled for 1745hrs.  Very short lines for check-in.

Making our way to the gate on a sunny afternoon.

Gate E8 - a long walk from immigration.  Good to stretch the legs though.  FlyScoot allocates seats, so there is no need to rush to board, unless you need more overhead luggage space.  Fortunately, the Boeing 777 has plenty of overhead storage.

"Goin Scootin" will take us to Bangkok today.  Plane was loading food, though most passengers on board would not purchase the food.  We find FlyScoot food to be very expensive, and not exactly good to eat.

Where are you Scooting to today?

Looks like the plane was ready to go.

Flight Delay
Unfortunately, there was a delay.  There was some preventive maintenance work that had to be done and boarding was held back by about 20 minutes. Fortunately, we were not in a rush.  We had brought some food and snacks, which we dutifully consumed at the waiting gate, since FlyScoot's policy was not to allow external food on board.

Delay again!
Boarding the Aircraft after the short delay.  We all got strapped in and the plane was pushed back from the gate.  Shortly after, the pilot announced that we had to go back to the gate because some problem cropped up.  He needed the ground engineer to take a lot.  Oh well, more delays!

Here is the safety card, Boeing 777-200.  Well, I guess safety first.  If there is a technical problem to be fixed, better fix it.  Don't try to fly a faulty plane.

The menu.  You can purchase food on board.  Do so, only if you're very hungry.

Finally, we managed to get underway.  The plane took off almost 2 hours late.  We had been stuck in our seats for more than 1 hour before the plane took off.  Still, better late than never.

Short video of the legroom, or lack of, on the Scoot plane.

We have arrived in Bangkok, after a 2 hour delay. Flight landed at about 9pm local time, when it was scheduled to land at 7pm local time.  Everybody was eager to get off, but the lines were orderly.

Once we got into Bangkok international airport terminal, it was a very long walk to immigration.  Clearance was quite fast.  We didn't have checked-in luggage, so we got out rather quickly and went straight to Level 2 of the terminal to look for food!  That would be the subject of my next post.

Overall Experience
Thus far, our experience with FlyScoot has been cheap fares but not a very good on-time record.  Our maiden Scoot flight from Singapore to Sydney was also delayed by 2 hours.  Of course, fares were cheap, compared to full service carriers.  Bottom-line is that if you fly Scoot, be mentally prepared for delays.

Also, good to bring along some food & water with you, especially if you have kids. Our kids always have their water bottles with them.  As for food, yes, you are not supposed to eat on the plane.  However, they don't really check.  Bring along easy-to-eat stuff like cereal bars, kit-kat, cookies in small packets etc.  I don't think the attendants will have any issue if your kids snack on these while on board.  (Of course, clear the mess up!)

Safe travels!!

Back to my Bangkok, Thailand page.

Fly Scoot! Scoot Away to Sydney, Australia, Dec 2012 (澳大利亚悉尼)

FlyScoot!  We took advantage of Scoot's launch and managed to snag cheap fares for our family to Sydney, Australia, in Dec 2012.  The return flight cost about $600/pax.  

从新加坡到悉尼，600元，机票

The Big Yella Fella (Scoot's idea of fun) 

This picture was taken at Sydney Airport.

Inside the Scoot cabin.  We didn't purchase these yellow seats (more legroom) but two of us were given them.  See our neck pillows, for the 8 hour flight.

黄色座位有更多的腿部空间，但更昂贵

颈枕头都没有提供，这是一个低成本航空公司

甚至没有毯子！

Much more legroom on the yellow seats, compared to the blue ones.

Kid having a meal.  This was the soya chicken rice.  Food is rather expensive on Scoot, compared to AirAsia.  The taste wasn't great too.
食物是昂贵，但飞行很长，我们饿了

Factory looking, isn't it? It even has a batch code.
不好的味道。

At least my kid could eat the food.

This was at Sydney Airport.  Emirates A380.

 Sydney Airport, Departure area, after immigration.  This was on our way back.

 Sydney Airport, Departure area, after immigration.

 We had Macs before boarding the flight back.
麦当劳统治世界。

This was the bill, self explanatory.

A shop in the terminal.

There was our ride home.

Caught this jet star jet.

 More jets.

Boarding pass, for flight home.  Flight TZ1.

This time round, the plane was called 'Barry'.

Hey Barry, bring me home!

All the pax waiting to board.  You'd be amazed how many pax they can squeeze into a B-777!
很多人都在等待登机。耐心是需要的。

 Here is how they do it.  It is a 3-4-3 configuration.  On a typical B-777, it is a 3-3-3 configuration.

This was a meal.

Now, I figured out how to hold the small Evian bottle. Isn't that neat?

The Scoot flight departs Singapore at an unearthly hour (almost 3am).  However, the flight was very cheap, compared to a full service carrier, perfect for the pocket. 

Scoot班起飞新加坡在一个的超凡脱俗小时（几乎是上午03点）。然而，飞行是很便宜，一个全方位服务的载体，良好的价值。

Check out my Austrian Airlines Review (Helsinki to Vienna)!

If you are interested in cruising, why not check out our Celebrity Silhouette 13N Med and Adriatic Seas Cruise (Nov 2013).