Singapore BA15/BA16 lounge strategy (LHR-SIN-SYD)

[MilesOnPoint]

Hi Everyone,

We have flights booked in Club World on BA15 flying LHR-SIN-SYD on the “direct” (1 stop) BA service to Sydney which has about 1.5 hours on the ground in Singapore.

With Singapore Airport requiring you to go through security again at the gate on departure (even when transiting), what’s the best lounge strategy here?

The priority is getting a shower. I’m thinking Qatar lounge is best bet as if won’t be full of status passengers (can only enter on Oneworld Biz ticket) and is reportedly closer to BA15 typical gates.

We will have a toddler (1.5yrs) in tow, and probably a fair few bags. Is there an electric buggy service you can book to pick us up and take us to/from the lounge to save time?

[Roberto]

The crew will say to be back at the gate in 30 mins.

It’s a 6/8 minute walk to the lounges , doubt there will be a buggy but it’s pretty straight forward to get there and back (albeit not with a toddler and bags).

I went into the BA lounge and the Qantas lounges (they are next to each other) , did see the showers in Qantas- never saw the Qatar lounge at all.

[MilesOnPoint]

Thanks @Roberto, appreciate the advice.

Sounds like it’s going to be a bit of a get in, grab a shower, head back to the gate type of vibe then.

It’s a pity we couldn’t book on to the earlier departure to SIN but the avios cost was prohibitive with the new rates (145,000 vs 190,000 Avios AND an extra £100 fees per person for LHR-SIN, SIN-SYD separate flights)

[Lyn]

I suggest you book your showers as soon as you walk into the lounge. The slots tend to fill up quickly for the short time available between flights.

[defender90]

Would highly recommend the Qatar lounge – when flying BA16 SIN-LHR we basically had the entire place to ourself for 2 hours. Lots of showers and the a la carte dining options are great!

[MilesOnPoint]

Fab, that’s what I was hoping for @defender90! 🙂

Not that many people know about the Qatar lounge vs fighting the crowds in the BA/QF lounges.

Qatar apparently has 5 shower suites in their lounge and we’ll happily share 1 between the two of us (whilst the other one of us minds the baba) and look to book as soon as we arrive.

Thanks all!

[johnroyb]

We spent 5 hours in the

Qatar lounge in Singapore a few days ago. It’s very quiet, the staff very attentive and the food as stated in the a la carte restaurant was excellent. Ask for the ice cream which was created by the chef to celebrate Chinese NewYear. After such a great experience our flight to Helsinki was cancelled due to technical reasons. Enjoy.

[phantomchickenz]

I know it’s not BA, but I have a similar but reverse situation. AKL-SIN-LHR on Singapore with 2.15 hrs in Changi. Anyone have any experience of that journey and the chances of getting a shower in the Singapore lounge in that time?

[tiriavpo]

The business lounges are fairly close together but can be a fair distance depending on the gate – follow the signs, past the Qantas F lounge sign, and then up an escalator. We did the BA lounge outbound, were the first to arrive and there was one shower left, which they let us share. We were able to use the F ‘inner sanctum’ but you are actually just as well off in the main lounge. It is the same food but self-serve so a lot quicker – and good!

In practice you will probably only get about 30 mins in the lounge itself. The QF lounge doesn’t announce boarding but in the BA they will come round and tell you when to go back to the gate. We left when they said and were some of the last to re-board. So you don’t get long.

[Bob]

very helpful thread, seems like QR lounge is one to head to. Anyone taken BA15 recently (or BA16) and any lounge feedback for SIN? (flying BA15 soon) Thanks!

[MilesOnPoint]

Just bumping this thread up to see if anyone has used the lounges in Singapore recently, transiting between legs of BA 15, from LHR-SIN to SIN-SYD continuation of the same flight?

[1958]

MilesOnPoint wrote:

Just bumping this thread up to see if anyone has used the lounges in Singapore recently, transiting between legs of BA 15, from LHR-SIN to SIN-SYD continuation of the same flight?

I flew both legs on 11 December (and two friends did it on 15 December). We were told that the time on the ground was 1 hour 15mins – and that we had to be back at the gate 30 minutes before departure. So we headed to the Qatar lounge, which was the closest. The choice is “Eat or shower”. The Qatar lounge is great – clean, nice choice of food, and lots of attentive staff.
As we live quite close to Heathrow, our approach was to shower immediately before leaving home, then have a light snack in Singapore.
I used to be BA Gold (and then used the Qantas First lounge), but no longer have access. The Qatar lounge was almost as good as Qantas First Lounge.
BA 15 to Sydney is a challenge. My experience is that the more you sleep on the first leg, the less you sleep on the second leg.
Good luck.

[MilesOnPoint]

Thanks @1958, very helpful indeed.

I think main priority will be showers, QR lounge definitely sounds like the one to go for.

Apparently they have 5 shower suites in total, presumably there weren’t any queues at the time you transited?

In an ideal world I would definitely prefer a longer transfer time but needs must. The way home is a better setup as we’re flying MEL-DOH-LHR on Qatar in J with a 3 hour layover in Doha, a little more civilised.

[Calzonii09]

Hi Guys;

Thanks for this very informative post. We are due to fly to LHR – SYD via SIN in late Feb. These posts have been very useful. OP have you had your flight yet? And can you tell me of your experience when you got to Singapore? Did you use the QR Lounge or stay with BA? Thank you! Very excited! Happy New Year all.

[Hbommie]

Calzonii09 wrote:

Hi Guys;

Thanks for this very informative post. We are due to fly to LHR – SYD via SIN in late Feb. These posts have been very useful. OP have you had your flight yet? And can you tell me of your experience when you got to Singapore? Did you use the QR Lounge or stay with BA? Thank you! Very excited! Happy New Year all.

Having tried both I prefer the Qatar lounge, the table service and bar area are very nice. The showers are good too.

[MilesOnPoint]

Hey @Calzonii09, we did indeed use the Qatar lounge, during the short transit in Singapore on BA15 on 28/12.

Fortunately we landed at a C gate in Singapore, which is the same side of the terminal as the Qatar lounge, and thus a slightly shorter walk (Vs when BA15 lands at a D Gate).

You walk towards “Transfer C” and it’s up the escalators, just after you pass Uniqlo.

It’s a wonderful, boutique lounge. Ticketed Business class passengers only (no Eco or Premium pax with status allowed in), which makes for a calmer atmosphere and no queue for showers (vs chaos of BA/QF biz lounges). 5 showers available, 2 in Mens, 2 in Ladies and 1 accessible one which is unisex.

Enjoyed a very welcome shower, with nice smelling amenities from diptique. The spec and layout feels very premium, not unlike Cathay Pacific showers in the Pier lounge @ HKG. A far cry from the hospital-chic set up in BA Galleries…

Probably had around 35 mins or so in the lounge, this allowed me to order a bowl of Laksa from the a la carte menu which was delivered promptly, washed down with QR’s signature lemon and mint drink. The Laksa was better than anything I’ve ever had from the Concord Room at T5, probably the best food I’ve had in any lounge for that matter.

I can’t recommend the Qatar Premium lounge at Singapore airport enough, especially with short transit on BA15/BA16.

You need to be mindful of time, given the requirement to clear liquid security at the gate for the second leg on to Sydney/back to London but it’s definitely doable.

[jamdonut]

I’m flying BA15 LHR to SYD, club world on monday (11 March ‘24) , booked through Amex, they are telling me you don’t deplane at Singapore it’s just a refuel stop, Sydney passengers stay onboard, has anyone flown BA15 very recently? I hope Amex is wrong as even in Club, 23 hours is way too long.
Any info/advice welcome.
Thank you for this very helpful thread!

[NorthernLass]

There should be people here with current knowledge but whenever I’ve transited at e.g. BKK and HKG I’ve had to get off and go back through passport control at the very least. Maybe they actually mean you can’t get off and go wandering around Singapore?!

[tomahawk]

Was on this flight a couple of weeks ago but only as far as Singapore. I don’t know the answer to your question but when we arrived there was no announcement along the lines of “if you are continuing on to Sydney don’t get off the plane”.

[AJA]

@jamdonut You definitely get off the plane at SIN even if in transit. Theres a 1hr 20 minute stop assuming the SIN-SYD flight takes off on schedule so time for a quick trip to the lounge.

I’m on the same flight but just to SIN. Seated in the smaller CW section so would be great to meet you.

[SamG]

One slightly annoying thing to remember is you’ll reclear security at SIN as you reboard. So don’t buy loads of water etc for the whole trip. Not such a concern in Club though!

[jamdonut]

Thank you all, this is really helpful. I’ve only ever flown Qantas or Qatar before to SYD & BA seems it might be quite different.

@AJA ha! there is only one seat left in the smaller CW cabin – it’s row 7 though, is it quiet enough/far enough away from the galley behind? I’m right in the middle of the big cabin at the moment.

I’m on the BA16 back in April but just learned it’s the 787-9 aircraft with the old seating format w only a couple aisle options left. I’m thinking about changing to the later Qatar flight that day (2145) – again any input welcome and hope it’s ok to keep on this thread.

[jamdonut]

@AJA I’ll be in 12A, be great to meet you too.

[AJA]

jamdonut wrote:

@AJA I’ll be in 12A, be great to meet you too.

Excellent. Will stop by your seat and introduce myself 🙂

[AJA]

jamdonut wrote:

@AJA I’ll be in 12A, be great to meet you too.

I am sorry to have missed you. By the time I could take a wander around the cabin after dinner and watching one movie you were fast asleep. I tried a second time when we were about 3 hours from SIN but you were still sleeping. I hope you managed to get to the lounge in Singapore. And I hope the onward flight to SYD was good. I must say I don’t envy you doing it in one go. I was glad to get off in SIN.

It was my first experience of Club Suites and I am torn but generally impressed. I found the seat comfortable and managed to sleep for a solid 6 hours. But I find it slightly claustrophobic too and knocked my knees on the foot coffin. I also found the foot stool too far away, basically only useable when in flat bed mode, and the raised bit on the floor is offset at an angle – I would have thought it should be aligned with the IFE so I found my feet in an awkward position when eating dinner and breakfast. Raising the calf support helped but left my feet dangling in the air. Despite the claustrophobia I loved the privacy even with the door open but it’s great when closed. I also like the IFE screen although it is slightly offset to the right – I watched both Barbie and Oppenheimer, both films were excellent.

But I found getting into and out of the seat a bit awkward, it’s a very tight gap. And the aisle is “just” wide enough. And the shoulder strap seatbelt is very uncomfortable -I found it very tight and dug into my shoulder. Thankfully you can disconnect it from the lap part so just use it for take off and landing. Also while it’s great to have storage space I found the ones at shoulder height too shallow and just left the lids open. Also the one that stores the water and has the mirror would not close and kept banging during the bit of the flight when we had some quite severe turbulence.

The food and presentation of it was excellent and I had a fantastic cabin crew assigned to me – very friendly and proactive and happy to please. I thanked her, telling her how great she was and for making the flight so great and she seemed genuinely pleased. Crew are definitely the reason I fly with BA.

Over all a great experience. It will be interesting to compare to the legacy CW seat on the A380 (my first experience of the A380 despite how long they’ve been flying) on the return flight.