Singapore Airlines SQ 938 SIN to Bali DPS in Economy Class

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If you’re planning to enjoy a sunny holiday in Bali, there’s a good chance you’ll have to change planes, unless you live somewhere that has direct flights to DPS, which you don’t. We didn’t, so we had to consider our choice of stopover when choosing an airline/flight for our trip to the Umana LXR Bali. We went with Singapore Air, as it allowed us a four-night stop at the Conrad Singapore Orchard for a fun time shopping, eating, and visiting museums.

After four days in Singapore, it was time to fly to Bali for three days. We took a morning flight, Singapore Air SQ 938, which left around 9am. Although our flights to/from Singapore were in Premium Economy, our flights to/from Bali were in Economy because this flight doesn’t have a Premium Economy option. That would be a real bummer (and perhaps a dealbreaker) in some situations, but this flight was only 2.5 hours, and we didn’t think we were likely to find a better option at the price point we were paying.

Singapore Air, understandably, has a major presence at Changi Airport. They have flights leaving from multiple terminals, so make sure you check the terminal on your ticket and don’t get it wrong like sleepy Gregg did, because then you have to walk a long way and take a tram when you’re already cranky from getting up early. Luckily, the check-in process is relatively painless and immigration is quick.

However, when you go through immigration, you’ll notice that you don’t also go through security at that time. Instead, you’re spat out in the airside terminal where you can shop at luxury stores and enjoy expensive food. The gates are located down another long corridor that contains no shops (our gate was at the END of said corridor), so you’ll have to visit 7-11 before walking to your gate.

Once we got to the gate, we found out that SIN is configured like Berlin Tegel, with individual security checks at each gate rather than when you enter the terminal. I really don’t like this setup. I suppose doing it this way could be faster than doing security at the entrance to the terminal, but it presents a major problem if the flight is delayed. Once, at Berlin Tegel, my flight was delayed, so we were given a $10 voucher to get food. But since we had to go back out to get that food, there was no choice but to do security all over again when re-entering the gate area. Thankfully, that didn’t happen this time. But, since you have to go through security at the gate, you can’t buy a drink at 7-11 and take it with you on the plane.

Because of the security issue, you should NOT cut it close when arriving at the gate. Get there an hour early like it says, even if that seems like overkill. We were in boarding group 6, which wasn’t great, but whatever. At least we got on the plane.

Seats on SQ 938 in Economy

Our seats were on the left side of the plane. Eriko took the middle while I took the aisle. After our experience in Premium Economy on our flight to Singapore, I didn’t even bother to try to put my backpack at my feet. I just took out my Carmex, throat candy, tissues, and headphones, and put them in the pocket in front of me. Economy also has spots for your phone, which allowed me to empty my pockets. The legroom was fine for an Economy seat on a fairly short flight. The guy next to Eriko was courteous and quiet and didn’t elbow her or anything.

The touchscreens are pretty big, and as always, Singapore Air has an extensive collection of movies and TV shows, allowing me to continue binging Severance during the flight. However, unlike Premium Economy, there is no remote, so you have to use the touchscreen. That would have been fine, except my touchscreen didn’t work, forcing me to tap everything like six times to get it to work, and preventing me from pausing when food came. There was also the standard issue of Singapore Air cutting in with way too many announcements and disrupting my watch. But for the most part, Economy was fine. It wasn’t as good as Premium, but that’s to be expected.

Food on Singapore Airlines SQ 938 SIN to DPS in Economy

Did I say things were fine? Well, that was until the food arrived. We had enjoyed Singapore’s Book the Cook on our Premium Economy flight, but on this flight, there was only a standard breakfast. Eriko chose the “fruit only’ option online, so she just got fruit, and that’s why she is smart. My meal was a sausage and egg dish that was genuinely one of the most disgusting things I have ever tasted. This was not food. This was murder. I honestly can’t believe a premium carrier like Singapore Air would feed its guests something this disgusting. I couldn’t eat more than two bites. One of the first things I did after we got to Bali was switch us both to the fruit meal on the way back.

Before arriving in Bali, there are immigration forms that can be filled out online. You must fill out not only the visa form (and pay the fee), but also an arrival card declaration thing that must be done within three days of your trip. YOU MUST FILL THESE OUT. If you don’t, you will be stuck in a super long line upon arrival. If you do fill them out, you can just show your passport and face and walk right through.

That may seem like a major benefit, but it doesn’t mean much if you check bags like we did. The baggage claim at the Bali airport was the slowest I have seen in my life. We waited and waited and waited and waited. Bags came out of the shoot at an insanely snailish pace. It was impossibly slow. And since we’d gotten to the airport early, our bags were among the last to be put out, punishing us for getting to the airport when requested. If you remember nothing else from this post: DO NOT CHECK A BAG ON THIS FLIGHT. Go carry-on only. You will be glad you did.

Return flight: SQ 939 DPS to SIN

After an incredible weekend of lounging by various pools, it was time for us to go home. We took a noon flight, SQ 939, back to Singapore to transfer to our flight to Tokyo. This time, we were on the right side of the plane, and as luck would have it, no one booked the seat next to Eriko, so we got extra room. We also had a big meal of fruit because we switched to avoid whatever gross food was being served. And I got to finish Severance season one before we landed. This flight was a much better experience than the first.

A confusing thing happened both on this flight and on our next flight back to Tokyo: not only were we told not to charge devices during takeoff and landing, but I was told that I couldn’t listen to music on my phone. Using the headphones for the in-flight entertainment was fine, but my Bluetooth headphones were disallowed during takeoff and landing. Whyyyyy? We’d just taken the flight to Bali three days before. I listened to music during takeoff then. Why not now? I don’t get it.

Verdict: is SQ 938/939 a good choice when visiting Bali?

There were two major downsides to our flight. The first was the food, which seems like something Singapore Air could easily fix. In fact, I know they can, because their other flights/cabin classes have great food. For some reason, this flight had a terrible breakfast, and I don’t know why. Please fix this, Singapore.

The other issue was that technically, we’d paid for Premium Economy as part of our overall itinerary. We got a great deal on the flights, and didn’t want to pay for Business, so we had little choice but to take these flights in Economy. They were 2.5 hours, and I could see why some people wouldn’t like paying extra to have half their flights in Economy. But unless you spring for Business, that may happen to you on any airline.

If you’re going through Singapore, there’s a good chance that Singapore Air is going to be the best airline you can fly on. This isn’t their best product, but it was fine for us because our other flights were so good. And Bali was fantastic. You should go there.