After checking out of the Park Hyatt, a boat ride, then an hour of flying on Maldivian (with one short stop), we were in Male ready for our departure back to Singapore and then towards home.
Singapore Airlines check in
We walked with the Park Hyatt representative from the domestic terminal to the international terminal, where we checked in with Singapore Airlines.
We received boarding passes all the way to San Francisco, although we were spending the night in Singapore, we checked most of our bags through. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get our bags to go all the way to Chicago. The contracted agent could only see the Singapore Airlines flights. Annoying. After checking in we were invited to the Plaza Premium Lounge before our flight.
Plaza Premium Lounge, Male international terminal
The main lounge photo at the top of this post shows the main room of the lounge, along with a small food area. This lounge was perfectly nice, and there were plenty of open seats, although it began to fill up before our departure. There is a second room that was roped off, maybe this is used for first class passengers or maybe just for when more seats are needed. This Plaza Premium lounge is used by many airlines departing Male.
Due to our early arrival, we took turns walking around the terminal to pass the time before our flight. There is an interesting mix of shopping, both very high end products and cheap souvenirs. The terminal is a bit chaotic, with a mix of shopping and food stands. It is nice to have a place of relative calm in the Plaza Premium lounge.
Alcohol is highly restricted in the Maldives, but almost US $46,000 for a bottle of scotch only for export? Apparently, this is one of only 88 bottles produced, with a suggested retail price of $32,000, that’s still quite the markup.
I returned to the lounge, and perused the dining options. Food options were nothing special with a few hot items, plus soup, and then some juices, vegetables, and breads.
Prohibition
One unique item that I enjoyed here was Maldivian Coke. This is the only Coke in the world produced with desalinated water.
Final thoughts
After some snacks, boarding was announced, and we headed downstairs to board our business class flight back to Singapore. There are no jetways, so we walked towards our waiting Airbus 330. With a daytime departure, there was certainly more to see than when we arrived. Our Maldives trip was over. From here we headed back to Singapore, had a quick overnight, then followed the same route home. First Class from Singapore to San Francisco via Seoul.
