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Published: October 27th 2009
Why long-haul flights are like childbirth:
- You know it’s going to take longer than you’d like.
- You’re uncomfortable through most of it.
- There are too many strangers involved.
- You can't move around as easily as you would like.
- You have to make sure you stay hydrated.
- It's a big production to get to the bathroom.
- There’s nothing good to eat.
- Your ankles swell.
- There are unexpected delays and long periods where nothing happens.
- Progress can be mind-numbingly slow.
- While you’re experiencing it, you swear you’ll never do it again.
- As soon as it’s over, you develop amnesia about how awful it was, and you make plans to do it again.
We were “lucky” enough to fly Singapore Air, which has a reputation for being the best airline around. Over and over, we heard or read about how great it was, right up our check-in at JFK, where the ticket agent again advised us to “have high expectations.” The problem with high expectations is that one will almost certainly be disappointed, and oh boy, were we disappointed!
The saga began two days before we left, when they bumped us on our last leg (Singapore to Bangkok) from an 8:30 am flight to a 3:30 pm flight. They bumped Steve and me, that is, but not Miriam. A phone call to Singapore Air customer service allegedly straightened that out, putting us all back on the same flight, but when we checked in at JFK, we were back on different flights. An hour of negotiating with Mr. Lu and our ticket agents only got Steve and me as far as stand-by status on Miriam’s flight, but it seemed the best we could get. (No one could explain why we got bumped from a flight we booked over four months ago.)
We killed some time at JFK, where there is never a shortage of people-watching opportunities. We stopped for a bite to eat and spotted an actor from
Weeds. Steve threatened over and over to go speak to him and invite him to have a beer with us, while I desperately tried to convince him that celebrities would probably rather be left alone in public places. (Happily, I prevailed.)
Our gate shared a waiting area with an Air India flight to Mumbai and I was fascinated with the posse of elderly sari-clad women in wheelchairs, parked together at Gate 5 as though they were circling the wagons for safety. Sitting in the midst of the Air India passengers, I could close my eyes and feel as though I was surrounded by a gathering of customer service representatives; apparently my primary association with Indian accents (which I love) is all those phone calls over the years.
We boarded our Singapore Air flight around 9:30 pm. We were impressed by the lovely flight attendants with their elegant form-fitting uniforms, perfectly coiffed hair and identical eye shadow and false eyelashes, but that was the last thing we were impressed with for quite a long time. Things got off to quite a bad start as the pilot made announcement after announcement about problems with the cargo and the ground crew needing to rearrange the baggage containers. In fact, there were
hours of these announcements, while we sat crammed in our seats, hot and thirsty and increasingly frustrated. We took off eventually, three hours late, which meant that all bets were now off about who would make which flight on arrival in Singapore.
We endured our flight, our bad food and mediocre service, our lack of individually-controlled airflow, unpredictable temperature swings, my recalcitrant remote control, Mim’s broken seatback screen, Steve’s inability to sleep, an uneventful stopover in Frankfurt, and our eventual landing in Singapore, where we made a mad dash to discover that we were all now booked on the afternoon flight. Knowing we now had six hours to kill, we began to explore our options.
As much as Singapore Air disappointed us,
Changi airport in Singapore is the place to be if you ever need to kill time in airport. We took showers, lounged in upholstered chairs, enjoyed free wi-fi, took a stroll in the rooftop sunflower garden/smoking area, and generally marveled at the place. There were free internet stations, free iPod - and phone--charging stations, free rooms of computers and X-boxes for gaming, free mechanical foot and leg massages, a movie theatre, an oxygen bar, giant-screen TVs showing sports with an array of comfortable seats, and shopping opportunities like an enormous upscale mall. The whole airport was clean and spacious and un-crowded; you could eat off the carpeted floor, I’m sure. We happily whiled away our time in comfort. My mission was to buy a new water bottle, as I had left my trusty Camelback bottle on the plane from Frankfurt. I always lose something in transit; thankfully it’s always been something replaceable, but replacing a water bottle presented more of a challenge than I expected. After scouring the airport, I eventually found some in a toy store. Sorting through the colorful options, I passed up
Thomas the Tank Engine,
Hello Kitty and
Elmo and eventually found one without licensed characters plastered all over it. Not quite was I was looking for, but the best option available. It cost about $5, it holds water and I can drink from it: what more do I really need?
Our total transit time from leaving Burlington to arriving in Bangkok ended up being just over 36 hours, which was longer than expected, but we did eventually arrive in Bangkok and make our way to our hotel. The front desk staff was very pleasant, but they neglected to explain to us how to use our key card to operate the elevator, and in our sleep-deprived state we spent a ridiculous amount of time pressing buttons and getting on and off the elevator and wondering why it wouldn’t move. (Well, some of us were wondering, and some of us were swearing, but I won’t name names.)
Steve was exhausted, not really having slept more than a couple of hours here and there since we left Vermont. He showered and fell asleep by 7:30. Miriam had a bit more energy and took advantage of the pool for a while before calling it a night. I took a walk to find an ATM and get my bearings a little, but didn't have energy for more than that.
Tomorrow, our field trip with the monks, Sokol and Sovanna. This ought to be interesting…
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Deb B
non-member comment
Uh Oh
OMG. We are flying Singapore Airlines next month to Cambodia. I WAS so excited to be flying on a full service airline instead of the normal budget cheapies we use. You know, where you don't have to pay for everything seperate eg. food, drink, DVD's...the loo. Let's hope the service from Australia is better. Can't wait to hear tomorrow's adventures!!