Review: Singapore Airlines First Class 777 Melbourne To Singapore

Thanks for your timely review.

I'm flying Singapore first in June between LA and Singapore (stops in Tokyo). Will those flights have the same Lalique amenity kit?

Thanks

@ Mark -- Yep, they should!

Looks like a great flight! Hope to experience Singapore F one day for myself.

Singapore Airlines First Class is simply a Class of its own. There is no better product to compete.

Thx ben. Just love your website.

A candle in the amenity bag? I imagine just a matter of time before some idiot lights it at their seat looking for a bit of aromatherapy and ambience in flight.

Ben,
You have spoken very highly of Garuda F in the past and their detailed service and attentiveness. Between Singapore and Garuda, which would you pick considering both the hard and soft products?
Thanks,
Paul

I have had the privilege to fly SQ F twice in the last year, both times on the LAX-ICN-SIN route. I could not agree more about the amazing service that was offered on both flights. The bed is a little hard, however if you indulge a bit in the fine alcohol selection you should have no problem catching some good sleep. I'll be back on this flight in a few months, via NRT, and I really look forward to experience.

> Next up was the lobster thermidor
It would've been nice if you would've compared it to the AA lobster roll

Good report. Flew Singapore's EWR-SIN rt last month in PE. Had one of the single seats in back. Great flight & service. Have to give Singapore's biz class a try one of these days.

Flew on the "new" SQ 777-300ER First with 8 seats a few years ago. I was surprised by the bed - was quite hard and (being over 6') I had to sleep at an awkward angle. I even remarked to the flight attendant that the hard product in business did not even look all that different. For an airline with a nearly flawless soft product and such an amazing Suites product (old and new), it's odd that they would not invest more in beds. I would take a CX bed or even JL bed over a SQ bed in F any day on the 77W.

Out of curiosity, what weekender/travel bag do you use? Looks fairly nice!

Ben why do you sleep on daytime flights ?

@ a -- Two reasons. First of all, because I want to review as much of the experience as possible, and that includes the bed. Second of all, because I had woken up at midnight, so was tired at that point in the day.

@ James K -- It's from Killspencer. More on that in this post:
https://onemileatatime.com/my-secret-to-living-out-of-a-carry-on/

I have never been given an amenity kit in singapores first or business class even after asking for one. 6 flights, 0 amenity kits

I flew SIN-LHR in a 4 seat F cabin on just before Christmas. I completely agree about the bed. Far too hard. The area under my knees also had a hard lump. It was very uncomfortable. Personally I would aviod the 777 F product in future.

Good review of of good service however you are absolutely accurate in your assessment that so much depends these days on the crew. At SIA it was not ever thus and service was consistently excellent.

I don't know what has gone wrong but from the level of consistent excellence in First and Business a lot if indifferent mediocrity has crept in. I've had a number of recent sectors that have been definitely lacklustre and not worth the premium SIA charge so much so that future spend is under review because others on the route I travel most are offering much better for less - route is LHR-SYD and QR, CX and NH are leading with MH, OZ and EY offering something at least as good as SQ for significantly less money.

@Leo - SQ doesn't offer amenity kits for J class.

@Phil Duncan: Never flown SQ F but I can concur that I've had decidedly mediocre service on SQ Business on a few occasions. One Tokyo-Singapore flight, I was in the back of the business class section that was completely full. Hot towel came cold, flight attendant's not able to keep up with demand. If you're going to have a large business class section taking up half the plane you'd better be able to staff it to ensure standards are kept! I believe a similar complaint has been noted about the business class section of the EWR-SIN flight... it's so large that the service feels less personalised and attentive because the number of flight attendants can't keep up.

Lucky,

Loved this review. How did you book this one?

What is the purpose of the HDMI port? Can you link your own device to the plane's IFE system and use the IFE screen to watch your own content?

It looks like they left you with the women's amenity kit? Or at least the bag is the women's one. The men's is a small, all-black bag.

Sounds like the manager knew how top notch Jennifer and Benedict were, so was elsewhere on call only. Wish they were all like those two.

Wait, the meal didn’t start till 75mins in and finished 3 hours into the flight? Talk about glacial timing...

Maybe it’s a cultural thing, but the service on the flight is just too much for me.

Looks like you have also had a bad experience on SQ though you hardly hear anything bad about them. Would be great to point to the trip report with this unusual experience. Flew SQ on their A380 out of Sydney in 2015 after almost 15 years and they were and are as good as they have always been.

"Ah, Singapore Airlines! On a good day it’s something very special in the air, and you can usually tell within a minute of boarding what your experience is going to be like."

What is a better product this or SQ new A380 F as I am flying Singapore first soon and don’t know which plane I should select

Am travelling in late May Sydney to Paris via Singapore in F ,just wondering if they would have updated their A380 to the new First Class seats?

Oh and there are J amenity kits for some flights. I got a small one on a 6 hour redeye flight last year DEL-SIN.

Is the only difference between SQ F and J, just the bigger seat?
If it weren't for the ground experience and soft product, I don't think I'd ever pay for SQ F

you're the absolute king of flight reviews. love love love them & the detailed pics.

“..Ah, Singapore Airlines! On a good day it’s something very special in the air, and you can usually tell within a minute of boarding what your experience is going to be like..”

Ben.. Nailed it!

If only they could be more consistent.

So you’re telling us you order the cheese for taking a picture and didn’t eat it? That’s so fucked up and stupid. It takes a lot of effort and ressources to produce and transport, not to forget the situation for the cows and workers. All this for a picture and the trash. Great.
Also exchanging a probably partly full bottle of water is just stupid.

I had the good fortune of being able to fly both Singapore Suites and Emirates First Class recently—both for the first time. While Emirates was a fun flight that I won’t soon forget, the quality of service on Singapore simply blew Emirates out of the water. The attention to detail shown by the Singapore crew was truly outstanding.

@Justin I've always found the service to be better and more personalised in SQ J on the A350 and 777, compared to the A380 with its large J cabin. Wouldn't be surprised if the A350 ULR had the same problem.

Ben, in your opinion is the B&O headset better than the Bose QC35?

1st <3 Brodie & Boco comments

And yes thanks for the timely review. Coming up in May, my RTW19 2.0 includes new Suites Class SYD-SIN. Then in the 777 to HND, so enjoyed your review. The Suites flight is daytime, so I’ll take a nap to try all the services. The SIN-HND is over night, but I don’t need to rest since the flights are my thrill. I’ll just sit and enjoy the Ambience 😉

@Kornelius you should get informed first before criticising. all food not consumed on an aircraft gets tossed to the trash anyway, might as well order everything, eat a little bit and get the content for the blog instead of just not touching it and letting it get thrown away.

I was lucky enough to get the J amenity kits on my rt flight to TPE in end Dec 18 and early Jan 19, different colour and contents.

Many comments on the hard bed, worth noting that this is an asian airline, and generally most asian prefer harder bed. Guess this is why they decided to go for it. Albeit mattress topping should be provided in F to solve this!

@lucky Given the generally excellent standard also in J, which would you choose in future?

Also, I've been given amenity kits in J, even on Regional sectors. In fact, on one between Singapore and Canberra I received two different ones. It's not consistent though, and you'd think they'd provide pyjama's on overnight flights, but that never happens.

I'm told the harder beds are an Asian preference (?).

Good review, thanks

I've been on SQ Business Class many times (mostly on the great A380) and , like you, order "Book the Cook" and on at least one leg, opt for the Lobster Thermidor...yum

I haven't paid the extra for First Class yet, but certainly on the 777 in your report, it doesn't look much different from the Business Class product - no caviar nor Krug, but otherwise looks much the same. I will one day go for Suites and experience the Private Room

Do you ever still fly with that one flight attendant who does the cool arts and crafts?

My wife and I were fortunate enough to fly LAX-NRT-SIN on SIAs 777-300 first class in February. It was the most memorable flying experience we have had to date and we've had a few. While the bed was a tad soft..... If you're sleepy enough it does the job. Book the Cook was a great option as well. Fantastic flight.

John S: Were you given Lalique amenity kit and Lalique pajamas?

I avoid SQ like plague and I will tell you why: Fasten your seat belts!
I was booked in seat 1A, a First Class 747 on 23rd March of 2009 from LAX-NRT. Because of the crash of Fedex Express 80 due to wind shear up with an altitude of 600 Meters (2000 feet), the runway was closed and my flight out of LAX on SQ was cancelled. I was going to attend an important party in Singapore and was on my way to Hong Kong to go on an Atlantis gay cruise.
However, the SQ people could not get their act together to reroute me, or to book me on a different flight and I was not given any other option, but to fly 2 days later. No apology, no nothing, not a single Kris flyer mile and not even a $10 coffee voucher. I had a conversation with the airport manager at LAX, at the time, a Chinese Singaporean and spoke to her assistant to an Indian woman and they were both simply rude. I asked them why they could not rebook me on UA to SFO and then HKG and they just said, oh well....

The seat 2A was broken on this flight, No Amenity kit available, out of my size for the Pajama, (I am 5-10, 177, go figure)...
Again, no coupon, no voucher, not a single airline mile...
Fast forward on a different trip to HKG onward to JNB, my Apple Macbook pro went missing/lost/stolen, the gates were changed so many times, was left on a tray and then allegedly shipped to HKG, again, not a refund, not an apology and not a single Kris Flyer mile...

On a different flight, booked with award miles out of IST, went through hell and back to book the flight in Business, last minute the aircraft was switched to an older 777 recliner with purple seats, that SQ typically use to use in India market, I was in seat 11A, what a nightmare. When I came on board, I was scolded and rebuked angrily by the older Indian cabin Manager, about my camera and to avoid taking pictures. How do all these bloggers record SQ and take pictures is unbeknownst to me...

This IST-SIN flight was cancelled and SQ wanted me to fly a day earlier, I had told them that I was in Istanbul for a special Valentines day party and that is why I flew from JNB to attend this event. I had to contact their sales office in LAX and SFO and after many emails and phone calls, I was told that I had to find the award space on my own. Now, needless to say, that it is impossible to find SQ business class or First Class spaces 6 months ahead of time, how can I find a last minute award space on SQ and I am not sure how lucky does it. My assumption is that lucky is given endless free miles and space from the airlines and credit card companies and I do not believe the fact that lucky flies on his own and collects these miles and I do not believe that Shlapping, the moderator of this site, actually finds mileage space, it is actually impossible and funds these flights. Where does he get the money from for all these flights and what is the incentive?

Again, after this incident, I did not get a single mile or a $5 dollar coupon from SQ. On other occasions, I had rude Flight Attendants on Silk Air, flying to HKT that would not even let me have a full can of coke, or playing cards, they made sure I opened the can on the aircraft and did not walk out with it.
I booked a flight on 23rd May of 2016 for my 50th birthday to Thailand with my ex. SQ lost our bags, never found 2 of them, the other was damaged and things were stolen out of it and it showed up 5 days later in Phuket at the M Gallery by Sofitel. We never got our miles for these flights either and I have written to SQ several times, my ex's miles are about to expire and same with mine. If I did not have all those missing miles at least I could have booked a one way somewhere. Never got a refund and compensation for my bags which is illegal what SQ did against the Geneva Convention rules, but SQ people do not care unless I take them to court. Again, after so many emails I was not given a penny by SQ and when I wrote about the bad behavior of the Silk Air to Phuket and the Tiger Air staff to Maldives, I was given the standard reply. I was nearly beat up by a drunk Australian male scary looking tattooed passenger, and the crew did absolutely nothing.
On another occasion, I flew UA and deposited the miles to Krisflyer and I was only given %25 percent after calling and verifying that in that particular class of service (H) I would be given %100 of the miles. Again, the Singaporeans with SQ do not know how to go out of their comfort zones and fix issues, they all have a rule book and they are all afraid of losing their jobs, they call me, MR on the phone and they are polite but they get nothing done and it is very frustrating.
I have had my miles on SQ expired twice now, it is a 3 year program. I have lost luggage, flights cancelled and on the flight from NRT to SIN, my camera was damaged because water from the aircraft spilled all over my very expensive camera which stopped working and I could not use it at all, and I was planning to film and take pictures of my Etihad First Class Suite after Singapore and Maldives, out of Abu Dhabi to London, when I used my AA miles and thanks to SQ, I did not have a camera to use and again, the Chinese Singaporean manager on the NRT-SIN flight, just allegedly wrote a report, but I did not hear anything back from SQ. Again, not a refund, not a mile, and not a penny.

Singapore Airlines, have nice Flight Attendants 70 percent of the time, although very robotic and they can not hold a 3 minute conversation. On my recent LAX-NRT flight, I was in Y class and that is a different story. I tried to strike up a conversation with a senior one in the Red Kebaya, and it was as I was pulling teeth. She said, you want anything else Mister? That means go back to your seat... she was really rude... just like UA/DL and AA counter parts...

I will never fly SQ again and if an attorney reads this please contact me and tell me how to prepare and take SQ to court in USA to get refunds for my lost bags, all these issues. SQ is a very irresponsible airline, just like Turkish where they called me "IBNE" means Faggot in Turkish at IST airport and TK would not do anything about it. TK, SQ and Alitalia customer services department do not exist. In the other hand, the US carriers do actually get back to you when there are problems, unlike TK, SQ and Alitalia, the nastiest and rudest airlines on this planet...

If you have advise how to take these airlines to court, please contact me...
Thank you,
[email protected]

I'm re-reading your SQ and CX (mainly) trip reports and they are making me want to travel so badly! Unfortunately the experience is not so fab at present so I guess I will have to wait until some time in 2021. Miss these reports Ben!