Sunday, 7 December 2014

Our Scoot Experience - On the Way to Gold Coast

Sera was very excited to board the plane. To her, it was her first time onboard an aeroplane. Actually it was her second time. She could not remember her first time onboard an aeroplane as she was too young then.


It was quite cold onboard the Scoot aeroplane, similar to other full service airlines.

After taking off at about 2.30 am, the airline staff (the scootes) went around the cabin with their Scoot cafe's snacks and beverages. Anyone could buy from them. We were already full at that time so there was no need to get any food.

We managed to sleep for about an hour or so. After that, it was quite difficult to fall asleep again for Ardon, Lynn and myself. There were a lot of "ding" sounds arising from passengers pressing the "call for help" buttons which were located at the side of the seat handles of every seat. While some were genuine calls for help, others were pressed accidentally. This included myself and Sera. I accidentally pressed it when I came back from the lavatory as I held onto my seat's handle for support to sit down. Sera accidentally pressed it while she was asleep.

Meals (included in our FlyBagEat package airfare) were served at 6.30 am (Singapore time). Lynn was too tired to eat so she only ate a bit. Sera also took a few bites only. Canned drinks (Coke or green tea) and Toblerone chocolate bars were served with our combo meals. As Lynn and I did not want to consume the canned beverages at that time, we paid another $8 in total for a cup of coffee and a cup of tea. I thought we could keep the canned beverages for later consumption. I only noticed that there was a water dispenser near to the lavatory much later. Then at about 7.30 am, we realised that we had to disembark at the Sydney airport to go through the security checks at the airport again before boarding the same flight TZ 3 Scoot aeroplane. We were too full to drink the Coke and green tea. We had to disembark at around 12.45 pm Sydney time (Sydney is 3 hours ahead of Singapore time). The flight arrived early at around 12.20 pm Sydney time. We had no choice but to leave the canned drinks on board :(. 

After boarding the same TZ 3 flight at around 1.15 pm Sydney time, the plane took off at about 1.55 pm. From Sydney to Gold Coast, there was a baby onboard the flight who kept crying. It seemed that the baby was having some problems and needed medical assistance. The air crew had a busy time doing first aid work.  The plane arrived at the Gold Coast airport at about 3.20 pm. Before landing, there was the strange smell again.

We were told to remain in our seats as the medical team had to come up first to check and help the baby. So, we waited for another 15 minutes or so before we could disembark. We had to walk down a flight of stairs from the aeroplane and take a short walk before reaching the Gold Coast airport terminal building. Luckily we didn't have a lot of carry on baggage with us.

At the airport's public area, there was a cafe so we ate some food before going to our holiday accommodation - the Swell Resort.

Taxis were readily available at the airport. There was someone there to guide us to a Gold Coast cab. The cab driver helped us to load the luggage into the cab and helped us to unload when we arrived at Swell Resort. Such excellent service!




Saturday, 6 December 2014

At Changi Airport Terminal 2

Our flight to the Gold Coast was on 25 Nov 2014 at 1.45 am. This meant that we would have to be at Changi Airport Terminal 2 on 24 Nov 2014 at 10.45 pm, 3 hours before our departure as advised by Flyscoot. As we were early, there was no one in the queue and we were able to check in almost immediately. 

After checking in, we cleared immigration and customs and went into the departure area. As it was an eight hours flight, we went to MacDonald's to eat as we were not sure what time we would be served food on board the flight (we booked "FlyBagEat" with Flyscoot) .

After eating, we had a bit of time before we had to go to the departure gate. So we took a leisurely stroll in the departure area and eventually saw the "Enchanted Garden" and "Orchid Garden and Koi Pond" in the departure transit lounge at level 2.





We were told to be at the boarding gates at 12.45 am, one hour before the flight's departure time. No boarding calls would be made to remind us. So, we kept track of the time and arrived at the departure gate on time. 

We could not bring in the distilled water we bought from the convenience store near MacDonald's through the security checks so we drank most of the water and kept the bottle to be refilled later after clearing security. We waited for a short while before we could board the plane. The plane was able to take off on time at 1.45 am without any delays.


Related posts:

Planning - Booking of Flight
Booking of Holiday Accommodation and Visa Application
Our Scoot Experience - On the Way to Gold Coast
Day One in Gold Coast
Day Two in Gold Coast
Day Three in Gold Coast
Day Four in Gold Coast
Day Five and Day Six in Gold Coast
Our Scoot Experience- The Return Journey



Booking of Holiday Accommodation and Visa Application



After we had booked our flight to Gold Coast Australia, I sourced around for a suitable holiday accommodation.   Our flight back to Singapore on 30 Nov 2014 was at 9.25 am which meant we had to be at the airport around 6.25 am. So I was torn between booking an accommodation in Surfers Paradise (central) and one nearer to the Gold Coast airport (further from the theme parks). 

I had read that Surfers Paradise could be noisy at night. In the end we booked a two bedroom apartment at Swell Resort as the resort is just a 15 minutes drive from Gold Coast Airport and the apartment has a king size bed in the master bedroom. 

After we booked the apartment, we sent an email to Swell Resort just to check and confirm on a number of things. They also gave us the instructions on after reception hour check in procedure. Their reception hours are 9 am to 5 pm on weekdays, 9 am to 2 pm on Saturdays and 9 am to 1 pm on Sundays.

For Singaporeans, we also need to apply for a travel visa to enter into Australia and this can be done online.


Related posts:

Planning - Booking of Flight
At Changi Airport Terminal 2
Our Scoot Experience - On the Way to Gold Coast
Day One in Gold CoastDay Two in Gold Coast
Day Two in Gold Coast
Day Three in Gold Coast
Day Four in Gold Coast
Day Five and Day Six in Gold Coast
Our Scoot Experience- The Return Journey