- Beaches and Mountains: Introduction
- Beaches and Mountains: Tampa to Charlotte to New York in US Airways First Class, US Airways Club Charlotte
- Beaches and Mountains: Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse New York, Swiss Business Lounge New York
- Beaches and Mountains: Singapore Airlines First Class New York to Frankfurt
- Beaches and Mountains: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt, Hotel Kempinski Gravenbruch
- Beaches and Mountains: Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
- Beaches and Mountains: Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Bangkok
- Beaches and Mountains: Le Meridien Bangkok
- Beaches and Mountains: Thai Airways Business Class Lounge Bangkok, Thai Airways Business Class Bangkok to Phuket
- Beaches and Mountains: Westin Siray Bay Phuket
- Beaches and Mountains: Le Meridien Khao Lak
- Beaches and Mountains: Thai Airways Business Class Lounge Phuket, Thai Airways Business Class Phuket to Bangkok
- Beaches and Mountains: Thai Airways First Class Lounge Bangkok, Thai Airways First Class Bangkok to Paris
- Beaches and Mountains: Lufthansa Senator Lounge Paris, Star Alliance Lounge Paris, Lufthansa Business Class Paris to Munich
- Beaches and Mountains: InterContinental Berchtesgaden
- Beaches and Mountains: Exploring Berchtesgaden and surroundings
- Beaches and Mountains: Schloss Fuschl Hotel Salzburg
- Beaches and Mountains: Sheraton Arabellapark Munich
- Beaches and Mountains: Exploring Munich
- Beaches and Mountains: Lufthansa First Class Lounge Munich, Lufthansa Business Class Munich to Frankfurt
- Beaches and Mountains: Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt, Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Chicago
- Beaches and Mountains: Conclusion
At the security checkpoint the line was actually substantially longer for first and business class than for coach, so we got in the coach line. Security took about 20 minutes and also a bit of arguing with the agent over answering silly questions, though we were through about 10 minutes before boarding was supposed to begin.
Past security terminal 4 is an absolute dump, since all the shops, lounges, and dining options are before security.
Gate area
Despite the crappy terminal there’s just something exciting to me about the anticipation of getting on a Singapore Airlines flight. I don’t know what it is, but there just aren’t very many airlines that I look forward to flying as much as Singapore. Tonight it wasn’t necessarily for good reason, though.
30 minutes before departure boarding was announced at gate A7, starting with first and business class. There were TSA agents on the jet bridge doing security checks, though by avoiding eye contact with them I wasn’t selected.
Plane
Singapore Airlines 25
New York (JFK) – Frankfurt (FRA)
Tuesday, July 26
Depart: 9:25PM
Arrive: 11:15AM (+1 day)
Duration: 7hr50min
Aircraft: Boeing 747
Seat: 3C (First Class)
Boarding was through door 2L, and as soon as I showed the agent my boarding pass she directed me to my seat, 3C.
Seats 3C & 3D
Seat 3C
View from row three
View of seat 4A
View looking right
As soon as I stowed my bag the crew commenced the usual Singapore Airlines “performance.” First the leading stewardess and leading steward introduced themselves, and offered us pre-departure beverages. I asked for a glass of Krug, though was informed they were only serving Dom pre-departure. I reluctantly accepted. Oh, the horror. 😉
Pre-departure Dom
I was then offered a hot towel along with pajamas, amenity kits, slippers, socks, eyeshades, the menu and wine list, and a bottle of water. I do love Singapore’s pajamas and amenity kits, though I slightly preferred the amenity kits they used to have about a year back with full sized bottles of Bvlgari cologne.
Hot towels
Amenity kit, pajamas, slippers, socks, and eyeshades
Pajamas
Amenity kit
Bottled water
First class menu
The cabin was still fairly empty up until shortly before boarding was complete. There was a German guy seated across from me and an older Asian lady (with an Olive Garden bag!) seated one row forward.
Olive Garden bag in first class
Shortly before boarding finished up a group of about nine ladies and a guy in a suit entered the first class cabin very loudly.
About four of them settled into first class (along with the guy in the suit) while the others had blue (business class) and green (economy class) boarding passes. I was a bit puzzled, as it hadn’t phased me who they were. The German guy seated across from me shook his head, leaned over, and said “what pigs. The people in their country are starving but they’re flying first class and drinking champagne.”
Security guard storing bags
That confused me even more, as I still had no clue who they were. As it turns out it was the first lady of Zimbabwe, and after doing some research I realized just how bad of a person she apparently is.
Anyway, as departure time rolled around the captain came on the PA to introduce himself and advise us of our flight time of 6hr40min. He advised us there would be a departure delay of about 30 minutes due to thunderstorms, but that our very short flight time should mean we could expect an on-time arrival. Singapore Airlines first class is one of the few places where I don’t want a quick flight!
I took the opportunity to change into pajamas and started watching an episode of Two and a Half Men on the KrisWorld entertainment system. In the meantime the crew took dinner orders. We were also asked whether we wanted to be woken up for breakfast, though we both declined due to the short duration of the flight.
The dinner menu read as follows:
And the wine list read as follows:
Entertainment system
My friend tried out his seat to make sure it was fully functional, though unfortunately his legrest wasn’t working. He brought this to the attention of the flight attendants, and they kind of just had a blank look on their face. They had him stand up and played around with his seat controls for about ten minutes, before advising us to move back a row to the two center seats in row four. That seems like an acceptable solution.
My friend then decided to test out his new seat, and what do you know, the recline was broken. Once again they had him stand up for about ten minutes as they played with his seat, before deciding there was nothing they could do.
They suggested we sit together in row three for dinner and then move to row four to sleep. It’s a bit disappointing when you fly an airline like Singapore and twice in a row seats don’t work, especially since the plane sits on the ground in New York for over 12 hours, so if there were any reported seat issues there would have been plenty of time to fix them.
The most disappointing part of the entire interaction was that the in-flight service manager didn’t once apologize or show any concern. He kept walking by without batting an eyelash.
Anyway, we did push back at around 10:30PM and started a fairly quick taxi to the runway, where we were number four or five for takeoff.
We had a long takeoff roll and there was quite a bit of chop on the way out, so the seatbelt sign stayed on for nearly half an hour.
At that point the service slowly began, though it was almost 75 minutes before we got our first drinks, which is entirely unacceptable. I think the big issue with the flight was the in-flight service manager. Without exception on every Singapore flight I’ve been on in first class, the in-flight service manager has personally introduced himself to the first class passengers and talked to them for a couple of minutes. Not only did he not do that, but he was the most lackluster crewmember aboard. He didn’t once smile or say “my pleasure” or “your welcome.”
Anyway, about 75 minutes into the flight I was offered a Diet Coke with mixed nuts.
Diet Coke with mixed nuts
Within about 15 more minutes I was offered my appetizer, which was caviar. As usual it was beautifully presented and tasted good. Bread was offered with it, including Singapore’s amazing garlic bread.
Chilled malassol caviar
The next course was a cream of corn soup with chicken, which was tasty.
Cream of corn soup with smoked chicken and chive
Then a Caesar salad was served, which was also quite good.
Caesar salad
My friend pre-ordered the lobster thermidor through Singapore’s “Book the Cook” program, though I hadn’t pre-ordered anything.
Lobster thermidor
None of the options on the menu interested me all that much and I knew I wouldn’t be very hungry by the time the main course came around, so I ordered the spinach ricotta tortellini.
Spinach ricotta tortellini with spicy tomato, mesclun
It was definitely one of the most underwhelming meals I’ve had in international first class, and could have very well been a frozen TV dinner based on how it tasted. And I know some of you are probably saying “well what do you expect from a pasta dish?” You’d be surprised, I’ve had some really, really good pasta dishes in the sky.
Hey, at least it’s a good TV dinner…
The dessert was cheesecake with ice cream. I have absolutely zero complaints there!
New York cheesecake with vanilla ice cream and fruit coulis
To finish off the meal we were offered coffee/tea and pralines. I just went with a praline.
Praline
Overall the crew was decent. I’ve always thought of Singapore Airlines as being on a whole different level, and this flight certainly didn’t make me feel that way. The service was at a leisurely pace throughout dinner which I like, though the crew could have been a bit more attentive in providing refills.
Given the slow pace of the dinner service we had just under four hours to go until Frankfurt, so the crew made our beds. While Singapore’s first class product on their 747s is a couple of generations behind, it’s still quite comfortable, especially with the bedding. The only awkward part was the first lady’s security guard who was seated across from us and constantly glared over, given that he was “monitoring” the cabin.
Beds
I woke up about 30 minutes prior to landing in Frankfurt. I sure as heck wasn’t hungry, so just went with a glass of orange juice. Singapore serves legitimately freshly squeezed orange juice, which I wish more airlines would do.
Orange juice
While I didn’t have breakfast, here’s the breakfast menu for those of you that are interested:
At this point the captain came on the PA to advise us of our slightly delayed arrival, thanking us for flying Singapore Airlines.
The crew prepared the cabin for landing, and there was no sort of “goodbye” or “thanks for flying with us” as we descended, which is usually the role of the in-flight service manager.
As we taxied to the gate the Zimbabwe “party” was already up before the seatbelt sign was turned off, with all the people in their party from coach and business coming forward to help the first lady.
Entourage
So while Singapore was good, they weren’t great. And given that I had beyond phenomenal crews on my Lufthansa and Thai flights, it turned out to be the most underwhelming longhaul segment of the trip, especially compared to my previous Singapore Airlines experiences.
I recently found your blog, and am thoroughly enjoying all of your reports. What a great resource. One small quibble: the small sweet treats you are offered at the end of the meal with coffee are NOT pralines. They are petit fours.
once again great review Ben, and i laughed at the olive garden bag in first class LOL.
and yes that was Grace Mugabe, who jet sets around the world for her shopping tours, i guess she was in New York to visit Barneys or Bergdoff for her latest season collection, whilst ordinary zimbaweans are starving to death.
she used to have her own airline, air zimbabwe which she used for trips to paris to do shopping.
Thanks! I'm from a very small New Mexico town and I never knew such luxuries that you describe existed! Thanks for sharing.
@ Margaret -- I change in the lavatories. While some lavatories are a bit bigger, it's typically a tight fit.
Hey, Lucky, where do you change into your pajamas on flights where there are other people in First Class and not just you? Is the rest room larger than the ones I've been in where you can't even turn around much less change clothes?!!!
Wow looks like the flight was good other than the manager being rude. I would have complained to the airlines when i got off the flight. But still the food looked amazing as well as the seat.
Thanks for the explanation Lucky. Keep the reports coming
@ Andy Bluebear -- No doubt it's still a very good product, though I've always thought of Singapore as being in a league of their own. They didn't live up to it this time around, however.
@ James -- I'm not afraid to be who I am, so you're going to have to take my word on this. 99% of the time I don't like alcohol, though I enjoy a *good* glass of champagne and...
@ Andy Bluebear -- No doubt it's still a very good product, though I've always thought of Singapore as being in a league of their own. They didn't live up to it this time around, however.
@ James -- I'm not afraid to be who I am, so you're going to have to take my word on this. 99% of the time I don't like alcohol, though I enjoy a *good* glass of champagne and also Baileys. Other than that I really don't drink.
I happen to think champagne is beautiful, in terms of the bubbles, smell, etc. And I happen to prefer the taste of Krug over Dom. I was joking as you can see with the wink face, though I do legitimately prefer Krug.
@ Anto -- I've just been busy and am only getting around to the formal trip report now. Disappointed? Would you rather I not post it at all? Better late than never, I figure!
Hmmm... I also would have thought that there is a travel ban for here. Maybe it was lifted as part of the power-sharing deal a few years back?!
I was a on Thai flight in F earlier this summer and had the polar opposite experience with seat problems. We were flying BKK to PEK, so one of the 747s with painfully old seats. Once in the air my wife goes to watch some TV and her screen won't stay up, it just drops back to an unwatchable position. We alert the FA and lo and behold: an in-flight mechanic (in mechanic-style garb) appears...
I was a on Thai flight in F earlier this summer and had the polar opposite experience with seat problems. We were flying BKK to PEK, so one of the 747s with painfully old seats. Once in the air my wife goes to watch some TV and her screen won't stay up, it just drops back to an unwatchable position. We alert the FA and lo and behold: an in-flight mechanic (in mechanic-style garb) appears at our seat with his tools. He proceeds to disassemble her screen, tighten the offending screw, and reassemble the screen good as new. Needless to say I was impressed.
Wow, that was not a superb service. The dinner looked more like a 24hour diner meal and the breakfast was the worst selection I have ever seen.
Maybe the crew was trying to tell the Zimbaweans to never ever fly SA !
Good for you traveling 1st class, still you complain when things are not perfect.
Is this a repost? I think I read parts of this before?
Pretty boring report, but whatevs.
Many people would love to see Gracie Mugabe killed; with the national airline no longer in existence, she has no 767 to purloin anymore.
Wait a sec.... Is it just me... No, I'm pretty sure this is an OLD post from a past trip.
Lucky, did you accidentally post an old trip instead of the new one????
I know it's an old one because of the Zimbabwean first lady and the broken chair of your friend.
I am disappointed.
im sad, no hot nuts pic :(
@1K:
That's the thing. I DO respect his preference. I'm all for people doing their own thing. The man likes Diet Coke with Lime, and that makes me happy.
What I'm not respecting is the fact that he acts like he cares about champagne because it's the cool FTer thing to do, not because he actually enjoys it.
Even if I didn't like champagne, I'd still get in first class. Who's gonna pass up a glass of Dom or Krug?
@James- Ben is trying to be sarcastic and funny. Geeeeez! Have a sense of humor!
@James - he has a preference...respect it ;)
Lucky, Lucky, Lucky.
I like reading you, but why do you do the whole pompous Flyertalk Krug vs. Dom thing when everyone who actually reads you knows that you don't care?
You're clearly well established enough on the internet that you don't have to pretend to be someone other than who you are, and you don't have to pander. You're a diet coke with lime guy. Don't claim otherwise to fit in with the pretentious types
At least the first lady did not take your seat! In 2008 I was flying Air France First Class with my husband - seats 1A and 1B, and the President of the Ivory Coast (the same guy who recently lost the election and refused to leave office) and his Christian wife (he has two; this one ran the Death Squads) plopped themselves down in our seats and refused to move. They were wearing the GNP of their very poor country.
^ I thought she had been banned from the EU several years back They must have lifted that ...
After reading more about the First Lady of Zimbabwe, I am rather disturbed. She indeed is a pig along with her family. Who takes out more than $7M from their country's bank for personal use!? People like them she be banned from flying commercially.
Well, while underwhelming by Singapore Airlines standards, I'm sure it still beats some other airlines first class offering, no? Still strange that there was no egg meal offered during breakfast...
I'd love to see you try out their newer generation first class seat...or better yet, their full suite. Maybe the next trip report, you try out the full suites of Singapore, Jet, and Emirates, and see which of them you liked the most (seats and...
Well, while underwhelming by Singapore Airlines standards, I'm sure it still beats some other airlines first class offering, no? Still strange that there was no egg meal offered during breakfast...
I'd love to see you try out their newer generation first class seat...or better yet, their full suite. Maybe the next trip report, you try out the full suites of Singapore, Jet, and Emirates, and see which of them you liked the most (seats and service, I know you've tried out the Jet suite, but that was on Turkish Airways instead, right?)