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Anonymous member
Verified | Aug 17, 2026
- Premium economy
No back up Customer Service.
In 2025, my wife & I planned a European holiday comprising (in part): - time in Scotland, -a Rhine/Danube River Cruise, -time in Budapeste & Vienna at the end of the river cruise, and, - a Singapore stopover on our way back to Australia. In Nov 2025, we booked MEL/SIN, SIN/FRA, FRA/EDI, EDI/AMS, VIE/SIN & SIN/MEL Flights through our local Travel Agent. The MEL/SIN, SIN/FRA, VIE/SIN & SIN/MEL legs were booked as Premium Economy with Singapore Airlines (SIA). We specifically elected to depart the MEL/SIN leg at 11:35pm. This was to allow us a leisurely packing time, a relaxed tip to the airport and a sleep during the overnight flight to Singapore. Subsequent to our bookings, the departure times for both our MEL/SIN & SIN/MEL flights were changed on two occasions. In total, the departure time for our MEL/SIN flight was moved back by 6 hours 20 minutes (new dep: 06:55am) and the time for our SIN/MEL flight was moved back by 14 hours 35 minutes (new dep: 01:45am). The reason given for these changes was “operational requirements”. The change to our MEL/SIN flight negated our reasons for selecting the 11:35pm flight. Also, because of where we live, the new departure time necessitated we depart for the airport at 2:00am. It was our choice not to go to bed before our taxi arrived. A midday checkout time from our Singapore Hotel meant we had nearly 14 hours between checkout and flight departure. On 23 May 2026, and because of the circumstances, I requested that SIA grant us complimentary access to their Business Class Lounge at Changi Airport before our SIN/MEL flight. This was so we could spend our wait time in some degree of comfort. What followed was series of email exchanges involving 17 different SIA personnel, all using the title: “Customer Service Executive, Singapore Airlines Limited.” It became apparent from the email exchanges and also from the gist of the emails that: -the issue was being fobbed off to whoever was available to put together a response, -the SIA personnel had not read the preliminary correspondence before putting together their responses, -the SIA personnel had not understood my request, -SIA were not interested in my problems, their main focus being to be seen as responding. Their responses were effectively “weasel words” with the aim being to out-wait me and asking me to be patient. -SIA personnel continually “Passed the Buck” by suggesting that it was a matter for the Travel Agent to resolve This was despite it being pointed that the Travel Agent did not have any control over complementary access to a Business Class Lounge, -SIA Personnel continually referred to “Transit” whereas we were boarding a flight after a Stopover. My direct question as to what was “operatonal requirements” was never answered, and it became apparent the SIA were being coy about the reasons. The Travel Agent subsequently explained that our original flight date and times were changed because SIA had substituted the original aircraft with an alternative aircraft that did not have a Premium Economy Cabin. On the plus side, the Cabin Crew were pleasant and we did safely arrive at our destinations.
Overall
No office customer service.
Arrived safely at destination
No office customer service.
Arrived safely at destination- Premium economy
Comments
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