The Flight to Japan

The planning of this trip started after we snagged half price tickets from Scoot to Japan at SGD $300 per person. This was also the first time that I have flew on Scoot’s new 787 Dreamliner. Having previously flown on their 777 fleet, I was looking forward to this flight as many have raved about the improvements.

Our flight was scheduled to leave Changi Airport at 12:45am and we arrived the night before to have a late dinner before checking ourselves in. We didn’t select our seats prior to check in (to save money) and to our disappointment we were seated in the middle column in the Dreamliner’s 3-3-3 configuration.

We checked in 3 hours prior to flight and cleared immigration so that we can find a nice spot to rest at the passenger departure are prior to our flight.

The Scoot Experience

Boarding commenced and as usual, the biz-scoot passengers boarded first. As we walked into the plane, we were welcomed with pop music that was playing through the plane’s PA system–a first for me. It was a full flight to Taiwan, our stopover for 1 hour.

The seats were too thin in my opinion and I could almost feel the person behind me. The leg room was however very comfortable even for someone like me (around 178cm). It was certainly more then what other budget airlines are offering and even more than what the older SQ planes are having as well.

I slept through most of the journey to Taipei. Also, do note that the new fleet does not has a water dispenser on board like the old planes. You have to either fill your bottle up prior to boarding or to purchase your beverage from the airline.

Transiting at Taoyuan International Airport

The flight to Taipei took almost 5 hours and we landed at Taoyuan International Airport for an one-hour transit.

Take note of the boarding gate that you arrived at, in case your captain did not announce prior to landing. You will have to disembark with your carry-ons from the plane. Once inside the airport, head towards the immigration clearance. And just before you immigration clearance area, there will be a desk with staff who will direct you with instructions to go through security check before entering the passenger departure area. Head back to the gate which you disembarked from and wait for boarding to commence.

The transit time might seem a little long, but after considering the time it takes for the plane to taxi along the runway to our skybridge, we soon found ourselves back on the plane.

Some tips. Prepare some coins (in Taiwan Dollars, TWD) if possible if you want to purchase drinks form the vending machine at the gate. The water dispenser that is located at the gate takes a long time to “refill” and you will find yourself faced with a super long queue with everyone trying to fill up their bottles before boarding the plane. You can actually fill your bottles at the water dispensers located outside the gate.