After a couple of days of being in "transit", I've finally arrived in Fukuoka-shi, my home for the next little while! Because I have been hopping back and forth Vancouver and SE Asia a bit for the past month or so, I had a chance to "sample" a few different airlines: Air Canada, ANA, Eva Air, Singapore Airlines, and United Airlines. So, I thought it's be fun to share my thoughts and kind of compare my different experiences.
United Airlines:
I've been joking (but actually somewhat serious) about how the best part of a United flight is Channel 9 and getting off. More often that not, the domestic flights are delayed, not cleaned properly, overbooked, and staffed with not-so-friendly cabin crew to say the least. The international legs apparently are not much better - a 15-hr San Francisco to Hong Kong flight was on an old-school 747 with no AVOD (you know, they have one big screen in the bulkhead space and then tiny monitors hanging from the ceiling every 8 rows or so), and food that was served cold! So, with VERY LITTLE expectation on my UA flight from Singapore to Tokyo, I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by the nice cabin crew on the flight. The food, while cold (again), actually tasted good (it was BBQ pork on Chinese fried noodles; sorry I know this conversation is kind of useless without photos). The only other disappointment was that the audio didn't work on my seat (hey, it's United. You are expecting things to work? You've got to be kidding me!). While the route was still flown on the same retro 747 as the SFO-HKG route, it was comfortable enough to endure a 6-hr flight. Compared to the 737 that I could've been flying if I was on the SIN-HKG route, this was quite an acceptable experience. Singaporeans and Japanese people really do have high(er) standards!!
Eva Air
I flew this route with Mother and Daddy from Hong Kong to Taiwan at the end of November. I've got to say, the cabin crew were so quick, I mean like, Superman-changing-in-a-phone-booth quick. On a 1 hr flight, the flight attendance pumped out a drink service, followed by a full hot (and delicious) meal, offered duty-free shopping, and another drink service. You have to understand that this flight is only just over one hour long....! :O So, props to them for being so efficient, and nice at the same time. =) Moreover, they flew a nice 747 on this short leg (even they had AVOD; shame on you UA!!!!), though I'm pretty sure that 1/3 of the plane was cargo space, and that the plane probably headed somewhere far after landing in Taipei...
ANA (Wings)
I only flew this after a domestic connection from my UA flight in order to go to Fukuoka. I was on a 737, which was roomy enough for the 2hr flight. My only disappointment was that there wasn't even nuts or anything during the drink service; I didn't think All Nippon would cheap out like that... However, the cabin crew were very nice. You know, the standard Japanese kind of nice (which is very very nice in my opinion). I should mention that ANA Wings is a subsidiary of ANA, kind of what Jazz is to Air Canada. ANA Wings is definitely better than Jazz, and I would definitely like to fly ANA someday on one of their international routes!
Air Canada
I really should be biased towards this airline as this is my home airline. I really wanted to be, but I couldn't. From the gate to getting off the plane, the service was terrible! My flight was delayed in the morning, which means there is a possibility that I would miss the next flight on my itinerary. The check-in agent looked at it, and said "according to your itinerary, even if the plane wasn't delayed, this would've been an illegal connection because you didn't leave at least 90mins between your international flights. The Airline is not liable for this if you do miss your connection.". I went on to explain that Expedia let me book this with no problem, the only suggestion she could come up with was that the flight usually makes up some lost time, and if you ran fast enough you can make your next flight. I just rolled my eyes and walked away; it was obvious to me that she has decided not to be helpful. Turns out the plane got delayed even more. Thank goodness there were some nice Singapore Airlines reps at the other side of the gate when we arrived, and they re-booked a good dozen of us on the next available flight to Singapore (some of these people booked directly with Air Canada, so clearly the check-in agent was a pile of BS about this being an illegal connection or whatever). The flight meals were also, not very good, to put it in a nice way. I mean, come on, I am used to eating IMPs for an entire weekend. How can anything possibly taste worse than food from a bag that was made 5 years ago..?!?! Top that off with some snappy cabin crew and viola! Recipe for a disasterous 13.5hr flight. The good thing is, I really do like the new cabins in these trans-pacific flights. When they dim the cabin lights it changes colours from a warm autumn red to a light blue-ish colour.... and you get pretty good leg room for just regular economy seats. Do they do that for flights to Europe too... anyone know?
Singapore Airlines
There definitely is a reason why this airline is always at the top of the rankings. Everyone was sooooo friendly and very well-mannered. Even the way they pour water for guests impressed me (no lie!). ANNNND they are good looking. =D Even in Economy class, they had a full menu for you to look at prior to the food service. I had a Chinese option with was spicy pork with cabbage on rice, and even after Air Canada's multiple attempts to kill my appetite, it was still quite enjoyable. My impression of Singapore Airlines is that they don't cheap out on anything, even if it is economy. They actually made me feel like a guest on their flight, and not just some annoying person they have to serve while I am stuck in my seat.
Of course, these are just my based on my personal experience, and I can't really help but wonder why large american carriers cannot afford to offer somewhat decent services (clearly a tiny place like Singapore can do it; so is it just poor business ethics and practices?). Anyways, I'm in Fukuoka now and I actually have to start work tomorrow *gasp*, so there won't be any flying for.... at least a couple of months ;)
Ta ta for now!!
