For the next portion of my Iceland to The Residence via Cambodia trip, it was time to fly Singapore Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 business class on the 1hr40min flight from Singapore Changi (SIN) to Phnom Penh Techo (KTI).
Continue reading: Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class Boeing 737 MAX (SIN-KTI)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ah, nice business class on a narrow body aircraft. I would fly much more on these if they were also more available on some other continents.
I wish more airlines would do what SQ did for premium on narrowbody. If they can do it with a 737, anyone can. There's no reason redeyes and 5+ hour flights on AA, DL, UA, etc. can't have this, too. Far superior to a silly recliner, or, heaven forbid, 3-3 blocked-middle (which is most certainly NOT business class.) I've taken SQ 737 in J on 2+ hour flights in SE Asia (think, SIN-HKT); very nice ride. Bonus points if you can get 12B/J 'throne' seats.
I flew this configuration last month from SIN - SAI and was able to select the throne seats on booking an award flight directly through Singapore Airlines. We booked the itinerary with a 4 day stopover in SIN SFO-SIN-SAI.
It's was an impressive level of service for a relatively short flight.
Does any other airline configure a "real" business class seat in a narrow body? That's an incredibly impressive level of service for a short narrow body flight.
Many do, but few operate them on short flights like this. Thai, Starlux, Korean, and many others in Asia do short-ish flights with seats similar to these or at least flat bad, while SAS and Aer Lingus use these exact same seats on some decently long flights. US carriers have been using flat bed seats on narrowbodies like 757s for a while, and are now, along with ITA, Iberia and Etihad, using even nicer all direct aisle access seats. Copa too, and Ethiopian and FlyDubai should both be adding flat bed seats in narrowbodies in the next few years.
Well depends what you mean by real, but there are a ton of business class seats on narrowbodies these days. Aer Lingus, TAP, Jetblue, American, Iberia, United, Delta, Etihad, Singapore...
The front seats don’t have narrow footwells, which is why I disagree the ‘throne’ seats are the best on these aircraft. Privacy wise the throne seats have a slight advantage, but you’re surrounded and enclosed by a lot of hard surfaces and furnishing and the seat itself feels narrow.
The front row on the other hand has a trade off on privacy, but is actually very comfortable for lounging and sleeping. It also feels more ‘open’ with more space between you and the footwell.
Honnestly, WTF do you do with a flat bed seat on a 1H40 flight...
You can't recline before end of reaching cruising altitude, you must turn back to normal position before plane starts going down... this leaves you maybe about 1H to lie flat... if you don't take a drink or meal included in your ticket...
Sometimes, I like taking a nap especially connecting to a long-haul flight. I would skip the meal service and recline as soon as I can.
It's all about consistency: every SQ flight has flat beds in business and it's the only major airline that offers that!
On long, connecting itineraries, I appreciate that! If you are coming off a long flight, you might want to nap on the shorter one... some of the SQ 737 flights are 5h plus!
If you don't want to sleep, nobody is making you...
The only downside of this airline, seat and service combination is the platform used to house them. The actual aircraft is the big No, No, in this instance.
Meanwhile in the land of AIPAC and Epstein, lucky to get a bag of peanuts thrown at you in "First Class" on a flight of a similar length.
It's fundamentally an interesting bit of economic theory that the US, which is the higher GDP/capita country in the world that isn't a pure petrostate and/or tax haven, can't make something like this work