Nathan's Insights

Thursday 08 June 2023
Highlights: Business Class flight on Singapore Airlines, Lounge Access, Exploring Singapore (Changi) Airport

Today started on the longest flight of my journey home a 10.5 hour flight in Business Class on the excellent Singapore Airlines from Istanbul (see review here). Using points for long haul business class is always worth it especially when you have a long way to go.

The flight arrived a little late at 05:10 but I wish it was a lot later so I could have enjoyed the comforts of the plane. After clearing Immigration I headed to the Jewel Early Check In area in which is located just off Terminal 1. Using the free and quick airport wifi I watched some videos before the check in service opened at 08:00 and checked in with a little help from an attendant. At this point I had 10 hours to go to my flight.

While I now had my tickets for my remaining flights before going airside I went and visited the famed Jewel attraction at the airport. Unfortunately being so early in the day very few shops were open but I still sat in the main area and enjoyed the quiet and the greenery.

After a while I moved into the airside part of the airport walking around for a while and exploring Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Since I didn’t have access to a lounge until 14:30 I eventually found a ‘quiet area’ setup with lounge chair design to sleep and managed to catch a couple of hours of snoozing over three hours. Changi airport is 24 hours and has people on long transits in mind so you find quiet areas and attractions to fill your time.

I bought lunch in one of the food courts and wrote up a last night’s flight and yesterday’s lounge visit. I then moved to the Qantas Business Lounge (see review here) and was the second person in when it opened. A much needed and appreciated shower was the major highlight of the lounge stay. I also watched some highlights of the Test match in England and that turned out to be a conversation started with some many Australians in the lounge 🙂

I left the lounge early as I had to change Terminals plus I know you need to go though security again at your departure gate. It actually took a lng time to get there. The flight did board a little early. This flight was to Kuala Lumper (Malaysia) which is a very short flight. Once again I had a redemption business class flight (linked to the later flight to Melbourne). This was a nice flight which was very short in duration (see review here).

On arrival I had to catch a bus to Terminal 1 Satellite which is were most of the international long haul flights depart. After arriving at the terminal it took me a while to find the International Golden Lounge (see review here) which is run by Malaysian Airlines.

After a short stay of around an hour I went to find my departure gate. Again you have to clear security at the gate which slows things down and requires you to get there early. We boarded on time and I was finally on my way home and looking forward to hopefully a lot of sleep on this 7 hour 40 minute flight.

Today was a very tiring day made a lot easier by flying in business class and having access to lounges. Although having 9 hours between landing in Singapore and the lounge opening was far from ideal.