[Destiny]

We are currently looking at booking flights over to Auckland from the UK.

On our previous trips to NZ we travelled by Air New Zealand. We found them really good. Our first trip was via LA with no stop overs. Wow that was hard as LA airport is not the easiest airport to navigate. Our second trip last year was again with Air New Zealand but we tried travelling via Hong Kong for our return trip. That was a totally different experience as the airport was much better. Also because we had three children with us on this trip we had a two night stop over which was great. I can really recommend having a stop over if you can manage it. I feel that the jet lag was much easier to cope with after breaking up the journey. We didn't do any stop overs on our first trip as time was short for us and we obviously wanted to spend as much time in NZ as we could.

For our one way flight (wow still can't believe its going to be one way) to Auckland soon we are considering using Air Singapore. The main reason for this is as we live in the North flying from Manchester airport would be a huge improvement on travelling down to Heathrow which would perhaps require a night in a hotel to ensure we didn't miss our flight due to delays. We also found Heathrow airport to be by far the worst part of our previous trips. Changing from one terminal to another to fly back up to Manchester was a marathon of a walk. Our youngest son was also feeling unwell after the flight and had to be carried the whole way. In the end we had to call out an emergency medic to check he was alright to board our flight back up to Manchester. Not a good was to end what was a fantastic trip for the whole family after having no problems with any of the flights up to that point. If we can avoid Heathrow I really do think this would reduce quite a lot of the stress which we will undoubtably already be suffering from.

Can anyone help with previous experiences of Air Singapore and can anyone recommend anywhere good to stay in Singapore for our planned stop over?

Many thanks

Destiny

[buzztalks]

very competent airline. Avoid their curried perch meal, it's a real 'growler' at 30,000 ft! Try the Rasa Sentosa resort. Good facilities for the kids. Be aware that the brochure will never show the view out to sea - we counted 45 container ships, not a pretty sight.

[Rusty]

Been 3 years since we flew with them, but they were really good. Looked after the kids well - especially if young.

[Red Devil]

Hi Destiny

We've just recently returned back from our 3 week 'recce' trip and flew with Singapore Airlines. We only live 10 miles from Manchester airport and we'd read very good reports about SA... well they were absolutely superb and can honestly say they are the best airline we've flown with. We have a 5 year old son and the airhostesses were fantastic and made a nice fuss of Harrison (and other children on board).

Food was great, in-flight entertainment was great, all staff were friendly and courteous... as you can see we were very happy and will definitely use them again when we move over (all being well).

We booked everything online and their website is very user friendly... you even have the option to sign up to 'KrisFlyer' where you can build up air miles :)

Go on... get them tickets booked :nice1

[janrzm]

We also flew with Singapore Air last month from Manchester and would definitely use them again.I was dreading the flight with 4 children but I have to say it was no where near as bad as I'd imagined. Had just the day in Singapore but used the Transit Hotel & pool at the airport and also did the City Tour - glad we didn't get straight back on another plane.

[Red Devil]

... we did, both ways :eek: but it wasn't that bad :cool:

[overscan]

Singapore Airlines were fantastic, much better than Air New Zealand. I would definitely recommend them.

[jackie m]

Singapore Airlines Ace All Round :nice1

Jackie

[Laura F]

Best airline Ive flown with, Air NZ not a patch on SA.

I booked a 'Singapore Stopover' through the airline themselves which, at the time, was about £35 and included hotel, transfers, hop-on, hop-off tourist bus and entrance to the botanic gardens and zoo, plus a few others. Really good value but it was a few years ago.

Laura

[CityBlue]

We flew singapore Air from manchester to auckland on our way out here and then used them again for our "visit" back to uk about a month back.

They have never been anything less than fantastic for us. Good selection of entertainment and they kept the beers and snacks coming all flight long...I couldnt have asked for more

[thezorbster]

Highly recommended plus I'd also recommend the Rasa Sentosa on Sentosa island. We had a fun break doing touristy things on the island and ventured into the city for one day which was less successful with a 5 year old.

[Tia Maria]

Check out these threads:

www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14238

www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15887

www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17050

www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=14539

Sentosa island is great with kids, very easy with an easy route to the centre if you want a break from resort living!

www.sentosa.com.sg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentosa

We've stayed in both The Rasa Sentosa and The Sentosa Resort and Spa. The spa was really nice, felt very luxurious but not particularly toddler friendly. The Rasa has a more relaxed feel - kiddy play room, table tennis, and a walk to the beach.

No where feels very far away on Sentosa as they have free buses linking everything, so even if you don't have direct beach access, jump on a bus and you'll be there in 5 minutes anyway. check out Wotif for a bargain, then contact the hotel directly to see if they can beat it:

www.wotif.com

The boys loved the aquarium and dolphin show. You can feed the stingrays but be warned they are very excitable! My 6 & 4 year old also posed holding a giant snake :eek: (for a small fee!).

It can get pretty humid, so worth checking out the weather for that time of year and I'd say air con is a must!

Cheers

Tia

[familyof5]

Hi there,
Can't help with Singapor but we flew with Emirates direct from Manchester. We had a couple of 2 hour stops in Dubai and Melbourne. They were excellent too. Some friends flew over to visit last monthy and travelled with Singapor. They had to fly via Hethrow and their luggage went missing between Manchester and London. (British Airways -Terminal 5!!!!!), so watch out for that. Good luck with your move, very exciting!!

[mgbridges]

We flew LHR to Auckland in August 2007 with Singapore Airlines and they were great! Very efficiently checked and labelled the seats of everyone on the plane who had ordered special meals prior to take off. Made a real fuss of our DS who was flying for the first time - even gave him a card signed by all the crew and a teddy bear when we landed in Singapore. Plenty of drinks, snacks & hot towels brought round at regular intervals. In flight entertainment great - DS watched Shrek 2 & 3 over and over on the flight between Singapore & Auckland.

We made use of the transit lounge in Singapore for a minimal fee and can't recommend it highly enough.

All in all a great experience. As an aside my In-laws have flown Emirates from Manchester to both Australia & NZ and rate them very highly.

HTH
Anneliese

[Red Devil]

... our 5 year old son was happy with his free teddy (resembling some sort of cool rapping dude) and 'Alvin & the Chipmunks' is now his favourite film... roaring with laughter and amusing other surrounding parents and passengers :D

Have you booked them flights yet? :D

[aberdian]

We had a "journey of two halves". Manchester to Singapore was tremendous, no quibbles at all. Raffles in Singapore was luxury the like we will never see again. Singapore to CCH was dreadful, awful rubbery food, kids mealed packed with sugar and sweeties plus the entertainment system in our 10 rows of seats was knackered and failed to become un-knackered At least it was a night flight and the kids just crashed... Plus we got $75(US) each in vouchers to spend on the plane for anything from the onboard shop for the inconvenience, which was great - hello expensive face cream stuff for Fiona and two pairs of Bose noise cancelling headphones :)

Not convinced that it's easier jetlag-wise having a stopover w kids, but it's no worse.....

Ian

[Potato]

I think they are very good. Amazingly they always seem to be the best priced also (the original reason that I flew with them).
I certainly benefited from using the transit hotel at Changi. It doesn't seem to help the jet lag in the long run, but I would never go straight from one plane to another again (got motion sickness quite badly). Sleeping in a bed and not having to rush to catch a plane the next morning is a luxury that can't be overstated :)