Waleckdaddy From United States, joined Feb 2006, 39 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 22775 times:
Wow, a truly truly professional trip report!! What an experience that must have been; especially since you did it in the best seats. Not to mention getting those photos with the CEO, Chairman, and all of the flight attendants!! Looks like a great product start to finish, and being the first 380 flight, you will have a story to tell. The A380 is a benchmark plane, as was the 747, and thus you will be able to tell people 20, 30, 40 years from now that you were on that first flight, and did it up front!! What a great way to spend a day!!
OA260 From Greece, joined Nov 2006, 16855 posts, RR: 53 Reply 7, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 22612 times:
WOW amazing report ., I think it is the best A380 one I have seen so far!!! The photos are so amazing. The Suites actually do not look as shut off as I thought. When the blinds are up and the door is open it looks really nice. Your photos of the Suites were like actually being there!!!
The J class is very nice also and the Upper Deck at row 80 is the ones I really wanted to see also. Thank you so much for the high quality and a very well written report. The flowers for your girlfriend were a really nice gesture. Im sure you were in the good books .
Chuckles1225 From United States, joined Mar 2002, 159 posts, RR: 3 Reply 9, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 22403 times:
Top notch trip report, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It looks like SQ set the bar pretty high in terms of A380 service. It will be interesting to see what the other 380 operators do to compete.
ask not what your pilot can do for you, ask what you can do for your pilot
Crjflyer35 From United States, joined Nov 2005, 590 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 20 hours ago) and read 22149 times:
What an amazing report Sam! Thanks so much for sharing it and taking the time to make it look so darn good. Those Business class seats look almost as inviting as the Suites.
Ok, wait for the RJ to pass, cleared to push tail south Mike, and you're cleared to spin #2 in the push.
MadameConcorde From French Southern Territories, joined Feb 2007, 4613 posts, RR: 18 Reply 15, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 21662 times:
Sam Chui, you are an expert at doing trip reports.
I was in the back of the Bus flying lumpenproletariat class yet I had a terrific time.
I have taken a good number of pictures from this truly wonderful experience but you will have to give me time as I had a couple of mishaps happening during the trip to Sydney and on the way back.
a very long trip that started in KL. A succession of flights with airport layovers. KUL-SIN-HKG-FRA-NiCE. I had to stay up all night at Changi Airport as they only gave boarding passes for the United Airlines flight to HKG at 4.30 in the morning.
The first accident was on the back spiral stairs of the Big Ship. I fell by missing a step and my camera was badly damaged at 2/3 of the flight, in such bad shape that I could no longer use it. I had to get a replacement in Singapore. I still have the SD cards with all the pictures.
The serious accident was at FRAnkfurt, getting off the LH flight from HongKong. I badly bruised my right leg. This happened as I put my first foot off the aircraft and to the jetway. I tripped on the grid between the two and fell. Many people were getting off the flight at the same time as me but nobody cared. They went on their way.
I was a First Class passenger on that flight. I asked the stewardess at the door to do an accident report for the aircraft. She refused pretending I fell on the jetway not inside the plane. This was not true. I fell from inside the plane and landed flat on the jetway I hurt myself badly. She refused to take any responsibility. It is much easier that way of course. These German flight dragons are some mean authoritarian b*tches. The same goes with the captains. They are just awful. Airlines are afraid of being taken to court and having to pay.
I was so tired of the many sleepless nights in a row and huge time differences. I had so much to carry that an accident was bound to happen. So I got off that LH 744 with a badly bruised leg and the pain. I went to the First Class lounge as they also use them for arrivals for F passengers. I explained the situation to the guard at the gate and showed all my travel documents.
She offered me a "shortcut" to put me on the next direct flight to Nice instead of having to go via Zurich the next day. I could not do anything else due to my condition. I accepted. I had a bath in one of their beautiful facilities and had a bite to eat. The creme brulee tasted divine. I don't know how to make them like this. I wish the chef would give me his recipe. LOL.
One of the F lounge agents then escorted me to the LH flight to Nice. It was a race through that huge aiport. She helped me through security because of the accident. There was only 20 minutes left. The only problem about changing the flight was that my checked bag was already in the system so she could not put them on the flight I was to go with. She said this was all she could do and she would take care of the paperwork after she get back to her office. She said goodbye and I said thank you. Boarded the bus from the gate to the aircraft on a different side of the airport.
I was the only passenger in the small business cabin. I could not even eat anything. I just had a cup of coffee. Weather overcast and rainy. Plane landed without any problems.
The checked bag arrived at the aiport in Nice today. It was traced. They agent in Nice took my address and phone number to bring it here to my place. They brought it to me this afternoon.
I arrived in Nice last night well after midnight not in good condition. I looked if they had coaches to Monaco but there was noting more at this late time in the night. Should I have wanted to take a helicopter there were no more either. There was no more transport from the airport to Monaco whichever way. Some night busses exist but only on the weekends for the late night and party goers.
I looked if there was a city bus that would take me to the central train station. Fortunately there was still one running so I took it. It came some 1/2 hour later. A few people boarded the bus and it left. I noticed that the driver went the other way around. He went to the port and made the last stop at the train station.
I went to the train station and looked about a train to Monaco. There was going to be one in the next hour coming from Cannes. I bought the ticket and went to the right track. I waited some more. Finally the train came. It was awfully slow, old and made stops at every station on the way.
When I got to Monaco I went out the station to the taxi stand. I knew I was in Monaco. A taxi came immediately. Got on the taxi. The ride up to my place took less than 10 minutes. No traffic at this hour in the middle of the night. Monaco taxis are extremely efficient. The driver knew where he was going. He got me to my place in no time. When I arrived in my place I looked at the clock: it was quarter to three in the morning. At least I was home.
This made me the whole inaugural trip in 5 days instead of 6.
My leg does not look good and I felt some terrible leg cramps during the night and this morning.
From the minute I deplaned from the HKG flight getting to my place was certainly not easy. I missed out on the chocolate shopping in Zurich but there will be other chances.
I am back home badly bruised but still alive and safe.
This was a most unusual trip to say the least. I went all the way to Sydney and did not see any of the city. The same thing happened in Singapore and Hong Kong. Then I had to cancel Zurich my final destination before home because of the accident in Frankfurt.
There were quite a few pictures taken at the time the wonderful cabin crew presented my birthday cake on the A380 flight, the SIA chairman came. I had a long talk with him. The discussion was more about Concorde than about the A380. I have no idea who has the pictures. I had even placed my Concorde on the cake!
If somebody has these pictures it would be great. I had a first accident on the spiral stairs in the back coming down from the upstairs C and Y cabin. I tripped and lost balance. My camera fell down and got badly damaged to the point where I could no longer use it. This happened at about 2/3rd of the time in the flight.
I missed out on all the final pictures, the deplaning and the reception in the arrivals gate at Changi, the band with the drums and dancers and the photos with the captain, flight attendants, and Mr Lelaie from Airbus who supervised the cockpit crew during the inaugural flights. It felt like being off some VVIP flight somewhere on a Hawaiian Island as we were all given flower leis (garlands) as we came off the A380.
More to come.... Please be patient... I have not even unpacked yet as I got here right in the middle of last night.
There was a better way to fly. It was called Concorde.
N178UA From Australia, joined Jan 2001, 1421 posts, RR: 76 Reply 20, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 20933 times:
Hi All
Thank you so much for your comments.
May I say, the flight just exceeded every expectations I have set. I am still coping to survive the hangover after this flight, (never have a flight got me talking and thinking so much after flown it....)
Now I have a couple of SQ A380 model around my desk , makes the day goes easier and some daydreaming in the office.
Singapore Airlines have pushed the benchmark to the very top end, other airlines cannot compete or come close to its fame and glory. I would like to thank SIA for organising such grand event, a masterpiece truely goes down to the history books of aviation.
The only other Ultimate trip comparable to this is the Concorde flight I have done.
MadamConcorde,
Very sorry to hear such misforunate things on your LH flight. I agree some of them are just flying Dragons. How could they not care about a falling passenger! I hope you still have the SD card ok to share photos and trip reports with us here.
The other trip report posted by TsenTsan, has your pics in there! Happy Birthday! I wish could of meet you in person.
A340600 From United Kingdom (England), joined Aug 2003, 3976 posts, RR: 60 Reply 21, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 20817 times:
Lovely report, beautiful pictures, stunning work, well done and thankyou for sharing,
Buck3y3nut From United States, joined Jul 2006, 730 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 20521 times:
Sam,
what a marvelous trip report this was. I enjoyed reading every word of it. The pictures are of the highest quality and the SQ Suite just looks amazing. all i can say is: WOW!!!
thanks for sharing this unique experience on the A380. Looks one heck of a beast
Congrats on getting to fly on it first, and that too in the suite
MeanGreen From United States, joined May 2006, 113 posts, RR: 0 Reply 24, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 20261 times:
Thanks for doing this report! I really want to fly one of those someday. I find it anazing how something like that can fly, the captain of that plane is truly in command of a ship! Maybe I can get a job flying for Singapore! The F/As looked pretty nice
Crdaus From Australia, joined Jan 2006, 136 posts, RR: 1 Reply 25, posted (2 years 1 month 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 20251 times:
Absolutely brilliant Sam. Thank you. I was almost tempted to buy a ticket so that I could write a trip report, but it would never have matched your eye for detail. You have raised the standard yet again. Well done. Being an airline foodie I was most impressed with the menu offered. QF will have its work cut out competing with this when its first 380 flies next year.
26 CO7e7: Sam.... after reading your report all i can say is WOW! Thank you for a wonderful report and great pictures. You are by far the best when it comes to
27 NZ107: Awesome, Sam! Not much else to say.. Absolutely speechless. Great pics. Just one thing I may like would be using a normal lens in places you have fish
28 EK20: Fantastic pictures Sam. I was inside the terminal on Monday at SYD boarding a flight to NZ and I saw the 380 at the gate. I went upto the window and w
29 Ants: Great TR Sam, thanks for posting it. Really interesting to read what the experience was like in the Singapore Suites. I agree with you that the SIA st
30 LACA773: Sam, Thankyou for writing the beautiful TR on SQ's first A380 flight SYD-SIN. I enjoy it immensely and am a great fan of your's. BTW, what are in the
31 InbarD: Excellent trip report. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us, it seemed like an awesome experience. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
32 CXfirst: Seems Qantas are trying to give the SQ inagural a hard time Fantastic report!!!!! Interesting to note the incredible head room, which can be clearly
33 Zkpilot: Excellent TR... you sure put a lot of effort into it! You must have had a Whale of a time! all good glad you had a great trip... sure looks amazing.
34 N178UA: Thanks very much guys, although I cannot reply to each of you, but I have read your comments with great interest and really appreciate all of your inp
35 Ronerone: Hi Sam, That was an absolutely fantastic report! The Suites look so good, as is the service that came with it. You even got to meet the CEO! WOW! As y
36 Fbgdavidson: Sam, what an excellent report and the pictures are just superb! I was reading the report at work and the food looks top drawer, especially considering
37 Alessandro: I shall rock the boat a bit, nice pictures as always, but what I miss is how the take-off and landing was, any turbulence, was it tailwind or not? Mme
38 N178UA: Hi Fbgdavidson I was so surprised to hear from FA on the inaugural saying this is your complimentary headset. (Bose , brand new one with pouch case) I
39 9VSWA: Hi Sam, What an awesome report! Stunning pictures of the Suites as well. I was wondering how it was like up front in R compared to back of the bus in
40 AirPacific747: Hi Sam, Awesome photos!!! You're really fortunate indeed! Thank you very much for writing this awesome trip report!
41 Tsentsan: Damn, I shld have juz bid for Suites..... Great TR, Sam. Its great remembering the journey all over again. Sending you the pics shortly.
42 MadameConcorde: Was no fun. I guess I was too tired from all the flying and no sleep during all the time I had to spend between the time I flew out of my home airport
43 Bok269: Excellent report and pics. What a great opportunity to take part in the first flight. It is incredible how many SQ "celebrities" you were able to meet
44 WN230: Wow, I'm absolutely stunned at how wonderfully written and presented your tr was. I can't say enough to describe it Congratulations. WN230
45 N178UA: MadameConcorde, I know it must be really hurt when you fell and camera broken....BUT, let's think about the up side. We've all made history on the 1s
46 MadameConcorde: This is why I have kept everything quiet while on the flight like if nothing had happened. It was a very nice experience, even sitting in the back of
47 Thai744: Sam, Wonderful trip report - that must have been an experience like no other! The only think I disagree with you about is how you can rank United abov
48 N178UA: Hi Thai744! Good question. I am certainly aware of many negative feedback/opinion/experience of United Airlines around the web and travellers mind. A
49 Singapore_Air: An amazing trip report from the perspective of the Singapore Airlines Suites with great photograhy as always! I must ask, how did you get such VIP tre
50 N178UA: Hi All I've added a video link, hope it works. This is the only video clip survived from my camera, as I erased the takeoff and landing by accident. N
51 NZ107: Very impressive! I'm glad at least that one video made it.. Wow you must get tonnes of points with UA.. Do you get more bonus flying Suite than SQ F?
52 Triple7man: Thank you for your report. You have done so much flying all over the world, and of course with your excellent pics (especially at LAX), I'm glad you h
53 Triple7man: Thank you for your report. It's excellent as always as well as the link to the website. I've appreciated your website as well especially with your pic
54 N178UA: UA didn't even credit the miles on SQ380 flight. I suppose they haven't recognise R suite class and SQ 380 it is a one off charter flight. Hi T7man !
55 TACAA320: I really hope you for a prompt recovery.
56 Tsaord: Great report! Very well put together. WOW 1 male FA out of how many woman?? Same makeup?? Their hair is done?? They look so great together. Better tha
57 Kereru: Excellent trip report and video Sam! You have a gift of explaining your excitement that moves the reader to feel they are their with you. Well done. C
58 ThaiA345: Hi Sam! Hows in hanging back home. Gosh although I last went back in Aug, it seems like an eternity! Anyway great TR and nice to see you enjoyed the T
59 Flying Belgian: Awesome and stunning report. I thought I was inside before a hard landing on earth Many thanks. FB.
60 PlaneHunter: Excellent picture report about a very special flight - not that I had expected anything else. Nobody has mentioned it yet, so maybe I'm one of very pe
61 N178UA: Hi Herbert ! Now we're talking. I also collect some 1:400 and currently got 2 SQ models here (unopen) Any idea the manfacturer of the 1:400 diecast mo
62 SASDC8: Absolutely fantastic photo report of a great milestone in aviation history I am truly envious Cant wait to give SQ 380 a go. Thanks a lot for giving s
63 Honcircle: Hi, first of all that's a great trip report and it must have been amazing to be one of the first in the new F class. But I have a question do you thin
64 N178UA: Hi Max Standard Caviar Serving Size should be like this: http://samchuiphotos.com/Russia07/IMG_7275.JPG But on most occasions, they have left overs fo
65 Nicholaschee: Great trip report. Thanks for sharing. I'm a fan of your photos!
66 Honcircle: yeah, I know how the standard size looks like and I've often tried to get more but they told me that they don't have anymore. I just thought that may
67 BP1: Sam, It was great meeting you in Sydney on the inaugural A380 flight on 26 October from SYD-SIN. Great pictures. Even the thunderstorms could not put
68 Tsentsan: Sam, u r shown on last night's The A380 Saga documentary on Discovery Channel.
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