Which Airline - Singapore to NYC
 

Assuming the flight times (departure/arrival) are a non-issue and they're all around the same price, which would you choose (or have you chosen) between Singapore and NYC:

Emirates
Malaysia Airlines
British Airways

As I'm not the best sleeper on an airplane, I like to be entertained and need to fly where I have a personal TV - sad, but true. I believe all three airlines have this on their international flights.

I was spoiled on my way over here by flying Singapore Air (one way), but unfortunately, a the cost of round trip ticket for the times I need to go knocks Sing Air out of the running.

Any positive or negative experiences to share?

Thanks!

Malaysian Air equals Singapore Air in terms of service quality, in my experience. I've not flown Emirates. I've flown British and don't think much of their service.

MH means an extra stop.

EK means DXB-JFK, which is on their 777. If you're flying coach, they put 10-abreast on their 777s, meaning narrow seats.

I'll take BA.

Malaysia Airlines, they have very close to Singapore Airlines. Seat comfort andservice, entertainment on Singapore better but Malaysia should be quite good.
I rate them very close to eachother.

Emirates has this 'seating across' issue on their 777's, they put in 10 across ( where Malaysia, Singapore, Cathay and almost every other carrier ) just have the 9 across which is normal for coach/economy seating on a 777. For that reason 'only' I would say no, however, if you fly on their 330/340 aircraft then that would be fine. I think most of the flights between Singapore and Dubai on Emirates are 777's.

There is also Etihad or Qatar Airways, had you thought about them ?

Through if comparing to British I would certainly go for Emirates option !

If you are flying ex Singapore well worth looking at www.airfares.com.sg ( Misa Travel ) as they have a good selection.

They have an easy search function that will give you fares and the options.

Some examples ( I put in June / July ) as a return fare, these ex taxes but they show the taxes clearly - in SGD
Etihad 1,350
Thai 1,369
Cathay Pacific 1,599
Singapore 1,680

You of course have UA and NW plus many others.

Fares though will of course depend on 'when' you are traveling, probably cheaper outside on the example of Jun/Jul above.

Etihad seems to be cheap and you should enjoy the flight. There is also Jet Airways as another. If you nare in Singapore worth giving MISA Travel a call or go into see them to see the choices.

From all the Singapore air seatmaps I have seen for their 747, they have 10 seats across in coach...which has made me leary of flying them from NY, despite the great service.

747s have been 10-abreast for 30 years for all airlines. So is the lower deck for the A380.

As rkkwan says, all airlines 747's have always had 10 seats across in Coach/Economy
, that is totaly normal.

I can't recall 'any' 747 having less than 10 ! ( Without taking in Premium Coach cabins on a few airlines or those few rows at the back where the plane narrows, or those that put 3x3 on the upper deck when using for Coach/Economy ).

I realy hope that has not stopped you flying with them because that's the seating across everyone has


Quite different from the 777 situation as the 777 is less wide and hence the 9 across being the 'norm'.

When airlines first got their 747s in the late 60's and early 70's, they're 9-abreast.

By mid-70's, basically all have converted to 10-abreast. The last one to retain 9 abreast was Swissair, I think with a 3-4-2 or 2-4-3 seating, into the early 80's.

Actually, when the airlines first brought their new 747's online in 1969 the initial configuration in economy was only 8 abreast. For domestic U.S. and foreign carriers both it was 2-4-2; and it was heavenly!

As rkkwan reminded us, a few years later by the early 1970's almost all the carriers had changed to the 9 or 10 abreast higher density, alas!

Thirty years and thirty pounds ago, life was sure much more comfortable in economy class.

I read in the International Herald Tribune that Singapore Airlines was going to convert the non-stop route Singapore-Newark to 100% business. Anyone know if this really will happen?

I have heard yes, from numerous sources. You can no longer reserve anything but business on that route after May or July...forget which right now.

Yes, Singapore Air did switch their Newark and LAX to Singapore non stop flights to all business, starting in about May/June. They ditched their executive economy all together. Thus, there is no longer a non stop economy option from the USA to SIN, period.

I say this with a rather bitter taste in my mouth since I was one of those people who had confirmed tickets on the non stop from Newark to SIN (traveling to Bali) and was summarily "reaccomodated" (Singapore Air's phrase, not mine) to the 747 one stop through Frankfurt from JFK. And, there is little I can do about it, except unravel all our tickets and start again, from scratch. I know SIA is a business and can do what it wants concerning business/economy makeup but, it left me in the lurch a bit, especially since I could more easily have made different plans months ago when SIA first cotemplated/decided on this switch.

On that front, for those who have flown the route: how was the 747 flights on SIA from Singapore via Frankfurt?
Thanks

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the responses and the links. Airline quality is a great resource! I also looked at Misa, but I think it's trickier, because my tickets will be 3 months apart and some airline deals are only good for traveling for 1 month. It sounds like the seat configuration on Emirates is no good, but neither of the other options get full marks either. Sounds like BA is the least popular, so I will probably knock that one out. On Misa, I saw a Cathay Pacific flight, so I'll do a little looking on airlinequality about that one too!
Tengohambre, the Sing Air flight I took from NY here, was the one that went via Frankfurt - I thought it was really good. Comfortable seats, great cabin crew and lots of entertainment options! Definitely not as nice as a nonstop would be, but probably the next best option. I'm surprised that Sing Air doesn't upgrade people who already bought tickets on those flights. Would be great for building loyalty, I'd think!
Thanks again for everyone's help!