That Time Of The Year! | The joy of award travel!

- LHR Staycation Part 4 (final) – SQ 305 First Class
  
  Posted at 2:53 pm by TTOTY, on March 12, 2023
  
  48 hours flew past real fast and soon its time to fly back to Singapore. I was hoping to fly on either SQ 317 or 319. I had a waitlist on SQ 319 and despite Expertflyer showing only 2 of 6 seats taken, my waitlist did not clear.
  
  SQ 305 is much easier to score as it uses 777 and has the lousiest timing at 910am. I took this flight as I wanted to try out the LHR First Class lounge and for some privacy but I probably should have saved my miles and fly back on SQ 317/319 Business Class instead and try out the A380 Business Class seat.
  
  Posted in Flights, First Class | 0 Comments | Tagged Singapore Airlines, First Class, Silverkris Lounge, Changi Airport, Boeing 777-300ER, Heathrow, London
- LHR Staycation Part 3 – 48 hours in London
  
  Posted at 8:47 am by TTOTY, on March 12, 2023
  
  Being an unplanned trip, I did not plan itinerary as the main aim was to fly the A380 Suites. The intention was just to relax in the hotel and enjoy the cool London weather.
  
  After my early check in and breakfast, I decided to go for a Hyde Park stroll after my nap. Park Lane Intercontinental is centrally located with many nearby attractions such as Hyde Park, Kensington and Buckingham Palaces, Knightsbridge and Oxford Street.
  
  Posted in Others | 0 Comments | Tagged Bayswater, Buckingham Palace, Duck Rice, Gold Mine Restaurant, Hyde Park, London, Marks & Spencer, Queesnway, Staycation
- LHR Staycation Part 2 – Intercontinental Park Lane
  
  Posted at 3:26 pm by TTOTY, on March 11, 2023
  
  As my flight landed at 6am, I was still very early and I decided to try my luck for an early check in. Previously, Intercontinental Ambassador has a guaranteed 10am check in but this benefit has since been removed (although the guaranteed 4pm check out still remains).
  
  As I was nearing the hotel, the building at 1 Hamilton Place still looked the same from the time I was here in 2018. However, the hotel underwent refurbishment and I opt to stay at the newer Mayfair Floor.
  
  I arrived at 730am and to my surprised, I managed to check in (despite it being a weekend – which is why I was able to utilize my Ambassador Weekend Certificate). Check in was brisk and I was in my room in less than 10 minutes. I was upgraded to the next level accommodation (I booked the Mayfair Cozy and was upgraded to the Mayfair Classic).
  
  Posted in Europe, Hotels | 0 Comments | Tagged Ambassador Programme, Ambassador Weekend Certificate, Club Intercontinental, IHG, Intercontinental Hotel, London, Park Lane
- LHR Staycation Part 1 – SQ 322 Suites Review
  
  Posted at 11:15 am by TTOTY, on March 10, 2023
  
  2022 had been a life-changing year for me. Gone are the days where I can travel and eat without restriction with only a single kidney left. With my current immunotherapy sessions, I did not expect to travel (in case of any side effects) but after not flying for 15 months, the itch became unbearable.
  
  I started searching around for SQ 26 and SQ 25 Suites availability given that Singapore Airlines will remove the A380 from the JFK route from May 2023. Despite waitlisting so many flights, not a single one cleared (despite available seats shown on Expertflyer)! By chance, I found an opening for SQ 322 on February 10 and without hesitation, I confirmed it (using Advantage Award). It may not be the longest A380 flight, but I guess it’s a trade off as my body may not be able to take the long haul staycation.
  
  Total damage = 225,000 miles (Suites Advantage)
  
  Posted in Europe, First Class, Flights | 0 Comments | Tagged Airbus A380-800, Award travel, Changi Airport, Krisflyer, Silverkris Lounge, Singapore, Singapore Airlines, Suites, The Private Room
- Flying once again!
  
  Posted at 5:39 pm by TTOTY, on January 20, 2023
  We are in 2023 and I have not had a single post in 2022. 2022 had been a rough year for me, mainly from a life-changing health event. I fell sick in February and not long after, I had my right kidney removed due to a growth which turned out to be cancerous. Right now, I am undergoing 17 doses of immunotherapy (of which I had my 11th dose today).
  
  I have been refraining from traveling (short of a short road trip to Kuala Lumpur in December 2022 to visit my mom) due to the side effects I experienced in my first few doses. With the returning to near normal for air travel, the itch just got more intense and when I chanced upon an opening on SQ322 Suites, I decided to jump on it.
  
  After being grounded for almost 15 months, I will be flying again (finally) to London in February. Looking forward to the following:
  1. SQ 322 Suites
  2. SQ 305 First Class
  3. Intercontinental Park Lane (last stayed there in 2018)
  4. Club Intercontinental Park Lane
  5. The new SilverKris Lounge and The Private Room
  6. LHR First Class SilverKris Lounge
  I hope that I can remain well and healthy for my upcoming trip! Really looking forward to it.
  Posted in Others | 0 Comments | Tagged Airbus A380, Changi Airport, First Class, Heathrow, London, Singapore, Singapore Airlines, Suites
- VTL Experience Part 3 – Homecoming (SQ23 Business Class Review)
  
  Posted at 5:26 pm by TTOTY, on November 30, 2021
  For a big part of 2020, EWR and JFK were abandoned until Sept 2020 when SQ24/23 were launched as a direct SIN-JFK service. It remained the only service out of JFK until October 2021 when SQ26 between FRA-JFK was reintroduced. Now, Singapore Airlines has 2 services out of JFK just 1.5 hours apart. Although counters for SQ25 open much earlier than that of SQ23, one cannot check into SQ23 using SQ25 counters. I made the mistake of going in early. Despite being stuck on the expressway for 1.5 hours, I was 1 hour early.
  
  Check in counter will need to sight the following:
  - Pre-departure negative test result (PCR or ART done 2 days before travel)
  - Vaccination status (for the VTL flight)
  - Trace Together app (for Singapore residents)
  They will also remind you to fill in the online health declaration form before entering Singapore.
  Posted in Business Class, Flights | 4 Comments | Tagged A350-900ULR, Changi Airport, JFK, New York, Singapore, Singapore Airlines, VTL
- VTL Experience Part 2 – New York City Ground Experience
  
  Posted at 1:51 pm by TTOTY, on November 30, 2021
  
  My original plan was to book a room in TWA hotel (in JFK Terminal 5) and spend my time there watching plane take off and land from my room. After calculating the cost of stay (including late check out), it works out to be > $500 USD! I decided to go with a more cheapskate option – 44,000 IHG points for 1 night at Times Square Intercontinental hotel (with FOC early check in and 4pm late check out) even if I were to factor in a to & fro cab to Manhattan which cost about USD 75 – 80 per trip (inclusive of tips as the fare between JFK and Manhattan is a flat fee).
  
  Posted in Hotels, North America | 0 Comments | Tagged IHG, Intercontinental, Manhattan, New York, PCR test, VTL
- VTL experience Part 1 – a short getaway to NYC (SQ 26 First Class Review)
  
  Posted at 1:07 pm by TTOTY, on November 30, 2021
  
  Ahhhh – I can finally smell the cabin at altitude after 22 months of being grounded! How VTL finally allowed me to scratch my flying itch after so long. Covid-19 has changed the way we know about international travel with the biggest bane being the Covid-19 swab and post-travel quarantine. Although we still can’t run away from the pre & post travel swab, we at least can avoid post-travel quarantine that can potentially eat into our annual leave entitlement.
  
  The Booking Process
  
  Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) was first launched in September with routes from Germany (Frankfurt and Munich) and Brunei. How VTL became a traveling game-changer is that flying back to Singapore on the designated VTL flight will allow us to avoid the need for 7 to 14 days of post-travel quarantine. More info on VTL on Singapore Airlines website.
  
  I was initially hesitant to fly as I anticipate there will be a surge in demand and securing a ticket will be difficult. Moreover, getting away from work was not easy during this period. By mid-October, the itch got unbearable, and I decided to make the plunge. After looking around at both Munich and Frankfurt, I decided on Frankfurt as their availability was better and more importantly, SQ 325 has First Class. I was initially booked on SQ26(still on A350-900) in Business Class and SQ 325 in First Class. Not long after, more VTL routes were announced including New York (JFK). After 24 hours of consideration, I changed my booking.
  
  At 237,000 miles for First Class on SQ 26, this represent a very very hefty redemption since it is just to scratch my flying itch! My 3 previous redemptions on this route were 93,500 (my first SQ26), 93,500 (my second SQ26) and 120,000 (SQ25). . After almost 2 years of not flying, the brain is no longer rational … and TADA! To come back, I cannot take SQ 25 as it is not a designated VTL flight (yet). My only choice was to fly back on SQ 23 on the A350-900 ULR (which is another flight that I would love to try) and this flight cost me 140,000 miles (vs. 135,000 which I paid for SQ 21 back in 2018).
  
  Booking myself on the SQ 26 was a risky gamble as I am technically not allowed to enter USA via Germany at the time of booking. There were however talks on USA loosening its border and I was counting on it. That announcement finally came in which the border will open on 8 November for vaccinated travelers (Yippie!) otherwise I will have to change my booking to SQ 24 instead.
  
  Posted in First Class, Flights | 0 Comments | Tagged America, Changi Airport, First Class, JFK, Silverkris Lounge, Singapore, Singapore Airlines, SQ26, VTL
- Intercontinental Hotel Bugis Singapore
  
  Posted at 8:49 pm by TTOTY, on December 25, 2020
  So, 2020 has been a bummer for all of us especially travel nerds like me. For someone who is constantly scouring Singapore Airlines website for availability, I end up cancelling more trips this year than making them. So, what have I achieved in 2020? Let’s see:
  - Flown a total of 368 miles this year
  - Spent a total of 1 night outside of Singapore
  - Came into contact with the 1^st unlinked Covid-19 case in Singapore (and hence pushing Singapore from yellow alert to orange alert)
  - Spending 11 nights in quarantine in a Government Quarantine Facility (and being able to review it)
  - Countless interviews with Zaobao
  - Having the privilege to have SQ crews working with me
  - New business partners – CL who had the courage to fly on UA1 / UA2 last year in Economy and RC
  - Dine@380
  - Inside SIA
  - Amassing more than 1.5 million miles ready to burn them!
  Posted in Asia, Hotels | 0 Comments | Tagged Bugis, Club Intercontinental, IHG, Intercontinental Hotel, Singapore, Staycation
- SQ380 Business Class a.k.a Dine@A380 – Flight of Hope (or desperation)
  
  Posted at 2:52 pm by TTOTY, on October 27, 2020
  
  Oh, how 2020 had been an exciting year for all of us – we were introduced to many new things like toilet paper rush, queuing up and stocking up of food, safe distancing, circuit-breaker among the many new experiences. Now with 2020 drawing close, we have flight to nowhere, cruise to nowhere and fresh from Singapore Airlines – Dine@A380! Although I wasn’t keen on SIA@home, Dine@A380 was something that was harder to resist.
  
  Many has written detailed reviews on how good the whole event was – which I have to agree it was an excellent job done by the crew who volunteered their time and effort for it. You can tell that those who were there that day were proud to be part of the event!
  
  I shall then write on my experience on the bad and the good side of the whole experience starting from the booking process leading up to the event day.
  
  Posted in Business Class, Flights, Non-Travel | 0 Comments | Tagged Airbus A380, Business Class, Changi Airport, Covid19, Dine@A380, Safe Distancing, Singapore Airlines
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