Class Economy
Seat 25A
Flying Time 8 hours
Plane Airbus A 330-300
Qantas offers one direct flight a day six days a week from Melbourne to Singapore. This compares to two flights per day from Sydney to Singapore and four direct flights from Melbourne to Singapore per day from Singapore Airlines. The good news is it is a simple day time flight from Melbourne, the bad news is there is no daytime return flight. Sigh.
We chose to fly to Singapore as it is one of our favorite food destinations and we had inflexible American Express Ultimate Card Qantas credits that we needed to use. We had booked flights to Norfolk Island only to have the borders come down when the rest of Australia was opening up.
The great thing about Singapore is that it is easy for fully vaccinated symptom free passengers to access. In the lead up to the trip Julie and I went into self imposed isolation by working from home and dining outside at every opportunity.
In this post:
Things To Know Before You fly To Singapore
Before traveling you need the international (blue) and not domestic (green) Covid vaccination certificate. When we were chatting to the check in assistant at Melbourne airport, she was surprised at how many people she had to turn away who did not have the right simple documentation.
As well as the Covid vaccination status we also had to show a SG Arrival Card and Health Declaration Certificate from the Singapore Government. This can only be obtained three days before take off. You need to certify that you are symptom free and provide flight and hotel details. We also had to show that at check in. We received further reminders from the Singapore Government of our health obligations before take off. Travel with Covid to Singapore at your peril.
Parking At Melbourne Airport
While I am very dismissive about the Sky Bus from Southern Cross station to the airport the Value parking at Melbourne is far superior to anything available at Sydney. It’s easy to book online and you can tap in and out using your credit card.
Melbourne Airport currently has a value offer of $12 per day for outside parking. For short stays this is comparable and much cheaper than the Sky Bus at $32 return.
The trick to get a great car park is to ignore the first sign to value parking and keep heading to the second entrance. Once you enter, keep left and keep to the left until you get to parking bay A!. Ignore the temptation of an earlier parking. From A1 you can then start the hunt until you find a convenient spot.
While Value Parking is awesome for anyone traveling Rex Airlines from Melbourne it is also a convenient 15 minute walk to international check in.
Qantas Inflight Entertainment
I love the inflight entertainment on Qantas. This is due to some of the great content that they access to such as HBO. The only gripe is there were no music options. Maybe they think that people will bring their own music entertainment with them.
Qantas Economy Amenity Kits
The days of amenity kits in Qantas economy appear to be gone on the day time flight. While the inflight entertainment said you could order a kit I did not see anyone with one. You may want to bring your own eyeshadow if you are looking for a nap.
Power Sockets on QantasA330 300
A convenient power socket is located between the front footrests. While we did not try it the light was glowing which indicated it was working.
A USB char
Covid Hygiene On QF35
All staff and most customers wore their masks during the flight. The only exception was when eating or drinking and the occasional passenger who fell asleep and the mask dropped down. A number of times the staff told passengers to put their masks back on.
During boarding the staff reminded passengers to practice social distancing. A near impossible task in economy.
Mid fight the staff were handing out additional masks to passengers whose free covid masks had broken.
Qantas A330 300 Economy Seat Comfort
With a 2-4-2 configuration the window seats were the best choice. We choose row 25 to provide a buffer from the children we expected in the bulk head seats in row 23.
On this trip we were hand luggage only. We had no problem using overhead luggage storage on a 90% full plane.
While the bulkhead seat would have provided more space there was also the trade off with the arm rest vs seat back entertainment. Basically you can’t watch the entertainment when taxing and boarding. With current flight delays that’s a big deal!
Food And Beverage Choices
Qantas did a great job in keeping people hydrated and fed. Shortly after take off they handed out snacks and drinks. I was very familiar with the wine as they are often available on sale via Qantas wine!
Lunch was a very acceptable chicken curry. Julie chose the cauliflower curry and said it was delicious. To be fair we had spent quite some time at the Qantas first class lounge so were not that hungry. Notably the desert was a chocolate paddle pop, replacing my favourite Weiss Bar.
Summary
It was great to be in the air again. The Qantas staff I spoke to were happy to be in the air doing their job. Service was fast and efficient and exactly what you would expect. At eight hours it’s a long hop but an easy daytime feat.
