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Marina Bay sands/Skydeck a rip off?

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ScoobyDoes
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Post by ScoobyDoes » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:36 am

BillyB wrote: Ground floor, near the check-in reception, so no need :wink:

Shhhh!

You don't want to be telling EVERYBODY they can get to the top for free and by-pass the $20. Okay, so must not be dressed like a tourist but you can then complain about EITHER having to dress up (no shorts)OR paying 20-bucks per head.

You/we want the tourists to be paying. ;)
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Post by Calmday » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:33 am

We went to the sky garden on top of MBS this weekend but it was more out of desperation for something to do more than anything else. Was it really worth 20 buck? I think for people like ourselves who are completely and totally board out of our minds in this rinky dink, over manicured, fake, nothing to do but eat and shop place, it did give us something new to do for 20 minutes. I guess that was worth $20.

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Post by BillyB » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:57 am

ScoobyDoes wrote:
BillyB wrote: Ground floor, near the check-in reception, so no need :wink:

Shhhh!

You don't want to be telling EVERYBODY they can get to the top for free and by-pass the $20. Okay, so must not be dressed like a tourist but you can then complain about EITHER having to dress up (no shorts)OR paying 20-bucks per head.

You/we want the tourists to be paying. ;)
I meant the buffet only - not the lift up to the skydeck!!

Calmday, nice assessment of the MBS!! I'm surprised they don't have a 'hookers only' lift and a seperate check-in for those little rat dogs that everybody in there seems to carry round!!

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Post by ScoobyDoes » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:52 pm

BillyB wrote: I meant the buffet only - not the lift up to the skydeck!!

Calmday, nice assessment of the MBS!! I'm surprised they don't have a 'hookers only' lift and a seperate check-in for those little rat dogs that everybody in there seems to carry round!!

Then, I'm confused.......because it is totally possible to get to the top without paying $20 per head. I've done it, and the proper way not just another Jock way ;)
'When Lewis Hamilton wins a race he has to thank Vodafone whereas in my day I used to chase the crumpet. I know which era I'd rather race in.'

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Post by BillyB » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 3:00 pm

ScoobyDoes wrote:
BillyB wrote: I meant the buffet only - not the lift up to the skydeck!!

Calmday, nice assessment of the MBS!! I'm surprised they don't have a 'hookers only' lift and a seperate check-in for those little rat dogs that everybody in there seems to carry round!!

Then, I'm confused.......because it is totally possible to get to the top without paying $20 per head. I've done it, and the proper way not just another Jock way ;)
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Post by JR8 » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 3:47 pm

aster wrote:Which tower used to be called "Raffles the Plaza?"

I don't know, I'm losing track here! What I do recall (I think!) is that that construction on top of Raffles City used to be two hotels. Plus there is an office tower. One of them is the Fairmont. Google brings up another as Swissotel the Stamford. Go to either website and they seem to each lay claim to the entire hotel operation under their own branding, restaurants, the lot. All a bit schizo. If you can explain it, please be my guest.


Either way, Swissotel and Fairmont belong to the same hotel group, and if I was to choose I would always pick the Swissotel Merchant Court in Clarke Quay as my hotel of choice. :)

Eeneteresting, I did not know that.
I haven't been to Swissotel Clarke Quay, though I do recall hearing good things about it (maybe from you lol). Why do you rate it highly?


I happen to hold their highest elite card btw, so no matter which Swissotel I choose to stay at... I still get free lounge access from 18-20 with all the booze I can handle. ;)

Nice, though it can be a bit of a double edged sword IME. I recall long ago being rather impressed by people with BA Exec Club gold tags on their bags. Until I got to qualify myself and realised that to quite some extent you really have no home life of your own. I'm not sure if any coloured card is compensation for what you have to give up to earn it.

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Post by aster » Mon, 22 Aug 2011 11:08 pm

There was some sort of buy-out/merger/etc. that linked-up Fairmont with Swissotel though they still maintain their own, separate branding. Same with Raffles Hotel(s) which is also part of the same group.

I like the Swissotel in Clarke Quay for the location and the pool. Right on the river between CQ and BW, and the pool is way better than the one shared by the Swissotel/Fairmont. Plus it's next to the CQ MRT line which takes you to Harbourfront/Vivo or a quick one-stadion hop to Dhoby. :)

I don't fly any more than I need to, and I rarely fly for business nowadays. Still, having status is handy for the extra baggage allowance, priority check-in, lounge access, etc. And it's not that hard to get. I currently hold status with Singapore Airlines so I also get to clock up miles with the likes of Lufthansa, LOT or Air Canada in the process, but I am considering a switch to BA EC simply because of Finnair's new connection to Singapore. And if you can put an address from continental Europe onto your BA EC account then you would only need 1/2 the tier points for Gold compared to UK residents. :)

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 23 Aug 2011 2:07 am

OIC.
I have Continental and BA FF cards and that allows me to accumulate any points on offer in most circumstances. Those tend to go on the back-burner for years at a time until I remember them and then do several freebies in a row.

p.s. Funny what you say about BA tier-points. Why does the anti-British prejudice not surprise me!

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aster
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Post by aster » Tue, 23 Aug 2011 3:02 am

BA is good in that miles never expire as long as you clock up a flight or rather some miles once in a (long) while.

I too do not understand how an airline can discriminate against its "home user base" by giving others better conditions, but Lufthansa is even more guilty of this. They require 30% more miles from residents of Germany in order to achieve status compared to the rest of the world, whereas BA requires the same as the rest of the world excluding continental Europe, which has the threshold lowered by 50%.

What hurts though is that whereas BA has a family membership scheme for all to take advantage of, Lufthansa only allows it for residents of the Middle East:
http://www.lufthansa.com/online/portal/ ... 05951&l=en

This is taking things a bit too far...

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 23 Aug 2011 3:29 am

Isn't it the Heathrow Express that greets you in four languages before they use English?

It's up it's wazoo PC-ness, I tell ya guv! :)
Frankly I don't care any more, as I never intend to go back. I have a stack of assets there so the politics matters to me. But the death of society, I don't see it matters or that I have any influence over it.

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Post by rickjames » Sun, 04 Sep 2011 9:18 am

I think it's a total rip off. $5-10 would be a much fairer price- for both sides! The view up there is certainly not worth $20- whatsoever!

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Post by boffenl » Mon, 05 Sep 2011 10:28 am

JR8 wrote:Isn't it the Heathrow Express that greets you in four languages before they use English?

It's up it's wazoo PC-ness, I tell ya guv! :)
)
Sorry had to mention I was at Washington Dulles airport for a few hours two weeks ago and heard numerous announcements in Arabic before the English. :) Lots of flights on the international deck going to the Middle East, but it was still damned eerie.

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Post by Travailes » Mon, 05 Sep 2011 5:28 pm

I am put off the whole MBS experience to be honest if you believe Trip Advisor and peoples experiences on there which I find reliable. 3* resort with 6* prices.

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Post by JR8 » Mon, 05 Sep 2011 5:58 pm

The three pics I took up there...

Image

Image

Image

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Post by nakatago » Mon, 05 Sep 2011 6:23 pm

Makes you wanna go...

"THIS.
IS.
SPARTA!!!!"


Then you kick someone over the ledge. That would be priceless.
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