Review: Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male

Introduction
Introduction Part Two
Planning & Booking
Sheraton JFK Airport
Lufthansa Business Class Lounge JFK
Turkish Airlines Business Class 777-300ER New York (JFK) to Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Istanbul Arrivals Lounge
St. Regis Istanbul
Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
Turkish Airlines Business Class A330-300 Istanbul to Male
Transfer from Male to Conrad Maldives
Conrad Maldives Part One
Conrad Maldives Part Two
Transfer from Conrad Maldives to Male
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-200 Male to Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Class Lounge to Singapore
Singapore Airlines Business Class 777-300ER Singapore to Tokyo (HND)
Andaz Tokyo
ANA Suite Lounge Tokyo (NRT)
ANA First Class 777-300ER Tokyo (NRT) to San Francisco

We boarded the seaplane and while we were both able to get window seats, we were towards the rear of the plane.  Given that we were the last to board and the plane was nearly full from a prior resort stop, the door was shut and we were floating towards the "runway" before we had buckled up.  We had a smooth takeoff and just amazing views of various islands while en route to Male.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

We flew right by Male before turning and lining up for landing.  Monopoly houses!!

We had a smooth touchdown and docked at our "gate."  Our bags were offloaded and the Maldivian crew made sure that all bags were accounted for.  We were escorted through the terminal and onto a waiting bus.

At this point, I had no idea where our bags where.  I assumed they would be fine but they weren't with us and that was a little bit sketchy.

We drove the ~10 minutes back to the international terminal at MLE.  We excited the bus and a van pulled up with everyone's luggage.

Bags were offloaded and while the Conrad staff was assisting passengers to the various check-in desks, we figured we could managed and grabbed our bags and headed for the Singapore Airlines check-in desk.

We were dropped off in the open air portion of the terminal.  Upon entering the airport, there is a security checkpoint (as in Istanbul).  Once through the first security checkpoint, we found the Singapore Airlines check-in desk.  We were issued boarding passes for our flight to Singapore as well as our flight the next morning to Tokyo.  We were handed lounge passes and fast track immigration cards.  We ended up checking bags all the way to Tokyo to lighten the load a bit.

We headed up the stairs to immigration and the second security checkpoint.  All in, this took about 30 minutes.  The first time we did this, we were delayed and thought we might miss our flight but the operation is efficient despite the multiple security checkpoints and we really didn't wait in a single line.

We did a bit of shopping and headed to the Leeli lounge for some water and internet.

Leeli lounge MLE

 The lounge is pretty basic with several rooms of comfortable seating.  Unfortunately, there aren't any windows which is definitely a drawback given the beauty outside.  I've also found the lounge to be quite cold so make sure you have a jacket or sweatshirt.

Leeli lounge MLE

There is a hot/cold buffet and a fridge with non-alcoholic beverages.

Leeli lounge MLE

The wifi is serviceable but you need a code from the front desk for each device.  After 45 min or so in the lounge, we headed to the gate area.

I was able to get some great shots of our 777-200 ride to Singapore!

Boarding was called right on time and we headed down the stairs to a bus (another bus gate!) where we made the (literally) 1 minute drive to the 777.

Next Up:  Singapore Airlines Business Class to Singapore!