A couple of weeks ago I had a quick commitment in Frankfurt. Usually when traveling to Germany I fly Lufthansa first class. This time around I was committed to not flying Lufthansa first class:
- I’ve reviewed Lufthansa first class far too often, and wanted to review something new
- Even if I wanted to fly Lufthansa first class, LifeMiles is blocking Lufthansa first class award space, United’s award rates for partner first class are outrageous, and Aeroplan imposes fuel surcharges
As luck would have it, Singapore Airlines had KrisFlyer award space available on my exact dates between New York and Frankfurt, which is probably my favorite “fifth freedom” route they operate.
The award rate is also amazingly good. Singapore KrisFlyer charges just 57,375 KrisFlyer miles one way for Suites Class, which is 114,750 KrisFlyer miles roundtrip. For international first class, that’s a heck of a value.
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class
Singapore Airlines does also impose fuel surcharges on award tickets, though they’re quite reasonable compared to what other airlines charge. For a roundtrip between New York and Frankfurt the fuel surcharges total $432. That’s roughly half of the fuel surcharges that Lufthansa imposes for the same city pair (they charge ~$850 in fuel surcharges).
So I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer in order to book this, which is one of my favorite uses of the points.
In the end, my routing looked as follows:
11/03 SQ25 New York to Frankfurt departing 8:25PM arriving 10:00AM (+1 day)
11/06 SQ26 Frankfurt to New York departing 8:20AM arriving 11:15AM
Not only was I excited to fly Singapore Suites Class, but I was also excited to visit the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in New York JFK before my flight. This is the lounge that Singapore Airlines uses for their Suites Class passengers in New York. It’s probably my favorite lounge in the US, as it’s such a fun environment and the staff are absolute gems across the board.
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York JFK
Frankly my biggest concern about the trip was figuring out how to balance my love of drinking in the Clubhouse with my love of Krug, which Singapore serves aboard.
Dom or Krug? The ultimate Singapore Airlines question
As far as hotels go, I had a night in New York on the front end of the trip, and decided to check out the brand new Hyatt Herald Square New York. The speed at which Hyatt’s footprint is growing in New York is crazy, as in the past year alone they’ve opened the Park Hyatt New York, Hyatt Times Square, and Hyatt Union Square. So I was keen to check out their newest offering, especially given that the rate was a very reasonable $160 (and actually dropped to $120, though I wasn’t able to change).
In Frankfurt I decided to stay at the new Element Frankfurt Airport, which cost ~120EUR per night. It’s a brand new property and while it wasn’t all that conveniently located for where I needed to be, I thought it was worth going out of my way to try and review it.
Element Frankfurt Airport
I’ve reviewed quite a few other properties in Frankfurt, including the Sheraton Frankfurt Airport, Hilton Frankfurt Airport, Hilton Frankfurt, Le Meridien Parkhotel Frankfurt, Westin Grand Frankfurt, and InterContinental Frankfurt.
As far as I’m concerned, the only downside to flying Singapore Suites Class between Germany and the US is that you can’t use the Lufthansa First Class Terminal, but instead the nicest lounge you have access to is Lufthansa’s Senator Lounge.
Anyway, I should be able to publish this entire trip report during my current trip with my dad, given that I’ve already written most of it. Thanks for reading, and as always, all comments/questions are welcome!
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