Singapore Airlines

As a PPS Solitaire member that flies extensively all over the world in all classes I can say that the service has declined within the last 18 years. Find the new A380 economy seats incredibly hard and uncomfortable with poor pitch and lousy legroom for long journeys far prefer the old seats. SQ heats the cabin more than comfortably. Seem to offer the same food for the same route month after month after month. Far too popular so no longer can get choice of seats better value for money out there.

I am 6'4 which is the only reason I am giving the seat a fair rating. It was at least as good as I expected and if I had not had my kids with me I could have gone for a preferred seat at a very low extra of $50. Be prepared to do lots of sideway sitting and stretching if you are 6' plus. SQ experience more than compensated for any legroom shortage though.

Upper Deck : Paid extra to book 71A & C which have no seats in front of them. While this is good there is limited (a small locker usually filled with blankets or other equipment) to no overhead storage and you either have to place your cabin bags in lockers further back (making them difficult to retrieve inflight and on landing) or hope the crew will place them in the crew cupboard in the bulkhead area (some are happy to and some are not!). There is no window at these seats and also no side storage bins. Most significantly the seats are next to the bulkhead section where the baby bassinets are located (there were one or more screaming babies on each leg!). It may be advisable to go with similar seats further back where you may only have people milling around waiting for the toilets.

Had seat 59K (last row window). I found the B777 seats more comfortable (width and padding) than those of the A380. With no seat behind you can put the seat back at any time without worrying about others behind you. The bulkhead section nearby houses a galley (no toilets) and while there is some noise it tends only to be noticeable at meal service times. As the last 2 rows are only 2-abreast there is only one person to get past when getting out of your seat (I tend to prefer a window on longhaul as I have a broad upper body and so always tend to get bumped into by passersby on the aisle).

The economy class seats on the A380 are extremely hard - almost unbearably so for a long haul flight. Based on the hardness of the seats alone I would not fly on this aircraft again. We paid an extra charge to sit at the front of the upper deck economy cabin - do not waste your money - the aircraft windows are not aligned to these seats there is no side storage bin no above storage making it inconvenient to store items for take off and landing and no footrests. The only advantage is it is easier to get up from your seat. Service was not great for Singapore Airlines - and the hard seat - awful!

The footrest makes it hard to stretch your feet out underneath the seat in front of you, also there is a bar underneath the seat in front of you making it hard to get your legs comfortable.

A380 LHR SIN and return. Upper Deck Seats 71 A and C. These are "preferred" seats and need to be booked in advance on the SIA website for a charge of $50 per sector. Well worth the extra as there is no one in front of you and the emergency exit does not intrude from the side (as it does on a 747). I think these are actually better that the exit seats further back on the upper deck as no one came up and stood in front of us on either flight whereas further back people milled around waiting for the toilet. The toilets next to our seats were for business class and curtained off so no one came to look out of the window from there. Seat was OK on the outward journey but felt quite hard and was somewhat uncomfortable towards the end of the return flight (This was probably because I had already sat on a 777-200ER for 10 hours with very hard seats!). Flight felt quite hot on the way back (although there were several people with blankets and jumpers so it may just have been me. I did discover 2 fresh air vents around the emergency exit door which improved matters considerably so it is worth looking for these. A380 noticably quieter that the 777. Food and service excellent as was the AVOD. I woulld certainly choose this airline/aircraft/seat in the future if at all possible.

SIA 777-200ER SIN-AKL and CHC-SIN (all the SAI 777-200 planes to New Zealand are the ER type). Seat pitch was good. The problem was the hardness of the seat and a ridge running accross it. The padding was very thin at the back and probably old and compressed (I pulled the seat cushion up to have a look) and there is a pneumatic cushion at the front of the seat so that you can change the thigh support (via a small button on the front left of the seat cushion operating a valve. There is also a similar pneumatic lumbar support). The problem was firstly the hardness of the seat and secondly the junction between the foam and this pneumatic cushion which caused a ridge that cut into my upper thighs. The overall result is a very uncomfortable seat. Both flights had the full AVOD system which was nice and service was good (but not as good as on the A380) as was the food. The seat would not put me off flying SIA again as the A380 was good and staying overnight at Changi was excellent (40 minutes from aircraft arriving at the gate to checking in at the airport hotel and fantastic and incredibly cheap food at the food court on B2 level) but in future I'd try to fly on the 777-300ER which I believe has the same seats as the A380.

Flight in Y class SIN-PER was a miserable experience for 5 hours on the A330-300. The seat pitch was impossible for a tall person like myself.

MEL-SIN and SIN-MEL A380 service. I found the aircraft cabin to be very clean and spacious and the service standard very good. The first sector was on the main deck seat 48K (window) 3x4x3 and the next seat on the upper deck 74K (window) 2x4x2. The seats were well designed and ergonomic however the seat cushion was extremely hard probably the worst I have experienced on a longhaul flight. After two hours I was in pain and had to stand up. The seats have foot rests but these are almost useless for a tall person and when those in front are fully reclined it it almost impossible to get out without the people beside you getting up. The upper deck seating configuration in economy is generally much more pleasant typical of A330/A340 cabins.