I’ve flown quite a lot in my short life but nothing could prepare me for flying to Sydney from London via Singapore! The BA15 flight to Sydney took more than 27 hours with a 4-hour layover in Singapore and I was absolutely exhausted when we arrived in Australia!
Problem is, the conference I was attending started five hours after touchdown, so there was no time to chill!
So, instead of sleeping, I went for a nice long walk in Sydney early in the morning and then headed to the conference. In the evenings I managed to go for long walks around central Sydney and discover quite a lot of the surrounding suburbs like Bondi Beach.
The conference was only three days long and afterwards I decided to drive to the Australian countryside to visit Mungo National Park.
BA15 Flight Review
But back to the BA15 flight review! The plane was a Boeing 777 operated by British Airway on this epic 10,876 kilometer journey!
The boss was actually quite generous and signed off on a Premium Economy seat costing a whopping £2,300 return with a layover at Singapore. I booked this ticket in March for a flight in June 2014.
Flying Premium Economy on BA
In all fairness, the premium economy cabin was quieter and they welcomed us with a glass of bubbly and a warm towel, but the seats were pretty much the same as in economy. In fact, I walked to the back to check out the economy cabin and the seats there were only maybe an inch narrower in width!
Also, the only difference was that in the premium economy the seat layout was 2x3x2 whereas in the economy cabin it was 3x3x3. My seat in the premium cabin was in an aisle row but in a 3x3x3 section so I had to get up for the guy next to me a couple of times.
Premium Economy Food
The premium economy food was also pretty much the same, just the microwaveable aluminum tins and some frozen bread delivered in plastic trays.
The conclusion is, if it wasn’t for work paying for it I would never have upgraded to premium economy. The economy cabin would have cost about £700-800, so paying three times that for a glass of bubbly and a warm towel at the beginning is pointless.
Flight Departure from London
The flight to Sydney departed from London Heathrow Terminal 5 at 2135 and arrived in Singapore at 1735 a day later. From Singapore we took off at 1920 and landed in Sydney at 0535AM.
I would have taken only hand luggage in normal circumstances but the boss asked everyone to take a couple of boxes of brochures so I had to check those in.
Heathrow Terminal 5 Lounge
As a coincidence I met the boss at the airport and he said that in return for bringing the boxes he would take me in to the “Lounge”. He had a silver BA card and those get free entry to the lounge and they can bring a guest along.
One reason why I would love to have the silver card is to get in the lounge. There was like a free-for-all offering on food and drinks and I duly stuffed myself on everything.
The lounge also had various armchairs, sofas, tables, chargers and so on, which would make it worthwhile paying for it if you have a long layover.
I met some of my old colleagues in the lounge which was a bit of a surprise but then I later found out they were actually laid off that same year. I guess they cost too much for their respective offices…
Finally, we made our way to the boarding gate and since I was in premium economy we boarded quite early on.
Company Wipe-Out Theory
It was very funny to see almost a third of the premium economy seats taken up by my colleagues – I even joked that a plane crash would pretty much wipe out the entire company!
Layover in Singapore
The flight to Singapore Changi Airport took about 13 hours from London where everyone had to get off the plane and wait a couple of hours to clean the plane.
I thought it was such a waste of resources because they stewardesses put new headphones, towels and everything else on board for the next leg of the journey.
I mean, how much effort would it take to note down that I have come from London and going all the way to Sydney – don’t change the “bedding”? They could simply tidy it up a bit and leave us our “used” stuff. Obviously it is too complicated for BA.
You can read more of my flight reviews here
Anyhow, this was my second time at Singapore Airport and it felt like time flew by pretty quick. Singapore Airport is like a huge shopping center with restaurants and shops dotted around. There is also a shower room, various toilets and relaxation rooms, a prayer room and so on.
Once it was time to re-board the plane we assembled at the same gate then just got on with it. In all honesty we were all pretty exhausted and then another eight hour journey to Sydney was just a massive pain in the ass.
We arrived in Sydney just after 5AM then waited for the luggage and the conference bus to take us into town. The problem was some of my colleagues lost their luggage! I find it incredible that BA keeps losing passengers luggage! Brings back memories of losing thousands of bags during the opening of Terminal 5!
We finally arrived at the Marriott Hotel in Sydney around 7 in the morning and I could have a quick shower and go for a walk. Incredibly, some of my colleagues messed up their bookings and had no room to check into!
I booked the night before as well so they allowed me into the room early, but about four of my colleagues had to use the swimming pool shower to freshen up a bit!
On the way back to London it was a similar set up – we left at 1530PM and landed in Singapore at 2145PM. We then departed Singapore at 2305 and arrived in London at 0530AM in the morning a day later.
Well, that’s all for the flight review, if you have any questions, just write in the comments please!
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