- Introduction: Christmas Markets With A Touch Of Garuda
- Review: Lufthansa First Class A330 Dallas To Frankfurt
- Review: Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt
- Review: Lufthansa Business Class A321 Frankfurt To London
- Review: Sheraton Grand London Park Lane
- Review: No1 Lounge London Heathrow Terminal 3
- Review: Garuda Indonesia First Class 777-300ER London To Jakarta
- Review: Garuda Indonesia First Class Arrivals & Chauffeur Service Jakarta
- Review: Keraton At The Plaza Jakarta
- Review: Garuda Indonesia First Class Lounge Jakarta
- Review: Garuda Indonesia First Class 777-300ER Jakarta To Singapore
- Review: Dnata Lounge Terminal 3 Singapore Airport
- Review: Garuda Indonesia First Class 777-300ER Singapore To London
- Review: Lufthansa Lounge London Heathrow Airport
- Review: Le Meridien Munich
- Review: Park Hyatt Vienna Park Suite
- Lufthansa First Class 747-8 Frankfurt To Boston Review
- Review: Aloft Boston Seaport
Garuda Indonesia 86
Singapore (SIN) – London (LHR)
Saturday, December 10
Depart: 11:05AM
Arrive: 5:35PM
Duration: 14hr30min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 2A (First Class)
Once onboard we were again greeted by Bernadette and Aninda, and I settled back into seat 2A.
Garuda Indonesia 777 first class seat
Garuda Indonesia 777 first class, seat 2A
This time around there were a lot more goodies waiting for me, including an amenity kit.
Garuda Indonesia first class menu & amenity kit
The amenity kit was different than on the outbound, both in terms of the packaging and the contents.
Garuda Indonesia first class amenity kit
It featured Hermes toiletries, including moisturizer and body lotion.
Garuda Indonesia first class amenity kit — Hermes toiletries
Aninda explained that she had already hung my pajamas in my wardrobe, which I thought was such incredible attention to detail.
Garuda Indonesia first class pajamas
Once I was seated, Bernadette asked if I wanted a glass of sparkling water like on the previous flight, which sounded good to me. That was once again served with macadamia nuts and a warm towel.
Garuda Indonesia first class pre-departure service
Since we were the last to board, we began our pushback just a few minutes after getting to our seats. Moments later the safety video was screened.
View after pushback at Changi Airport
Singapore A330 Changi Airport
As we taxied to the runway, the crew provided the typical “slipper service,” where they placed my shoes in individual shoe bags and put slippers on my feet.
Garuda Indonesia first class slipper service
Our taxi out to runway 2L took about 15 minutes.
Taxiing Changi Airport
Oman Air A330 Changi Airport
Garuda Indonesia 737 & Singapore 777 Changi Airport
At around 11:50AM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 2L.
Taking off from Singapore Changi Airport
After a long takeoff roll we were finally airborne, with great views on departure.
View after takeoff from Singapore
View after takeoff from Singapore
View after takeoff from Singapore
View after takeoff from Singapore
View after takeoff from Singapore
Five minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off, at which point the crew distributed complimentary Wi-Fi cards.
Garuda Indonesia first class Wi-Fi card
About 10 minutes after takeoff the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, and informed us of our flight time of 13hr40min to London, which he anticipated would have us arriving on schedule.
Shortly thereafter Zalman, the onboard chef, came by my seat to introduce himself and discuss the menu for the flight. While there was a lunch service and pre-landing service, he explained that we could dine whenever we wanted.
Ford and I were both quite tired due to not having slept much the night before, so asked if we could sleep after takeoff and instead have our main meal later in the flight. Zalman said that was perfectly fine, and the crew made our beds immediately
Before going to sleep I decided to have a glass of rose champagne and a cheese plate.
Garuda Indonesia first class snack — rose and cheese plate
I was also offered some mixed nuts.
Garuda Indonesia first class snack — mixed nuts
I decided to watch a TV show with the stars of “The Big Bang Theory.” I’m a huge Big Bang Theory fan, and this behind the scenes show was very cool, as I’ve never seen the cast together and out of character.
Garuda Indonesia entertainment selection
With just over 12 hours to go until our arrival in London, it was time to get some sleep.
Airshow enroute to London
Airshow enroute to London
My bed had been made in seat 2D, while Ford decided to sleep in seat 1A.
Garuda Indonesia first class bed, seat 2D
Garuda Indonesia first class bed, seat 2D
Garuda Indonesia first class bed, seat 1A
Since there was only one other passenger (and she was sleeping), the crew asked if we wanted the cabin completely dark, which was much appreciated. A dark cabin with the beautiful stars on the ceiling sure makes it easier to sleep.
Garuda Indonesia ceiling stars
I ended up getting a solid five hours of sleep, and woke up over the Middle East, about seven hours before our arrival in London.
Airshow enroute to London
Airshow enroute to London
Ford was still sleeping, so I ordered a cappuccino, which was served with biscuits.
Garuda Indonesia first class service — cappuccino and biscuits
I decided to work for a bit, and then about an hour later Ford woke up, and we had lunch. We had a glass of champagne to start.
Garuda Indonesia first class service — Billecart-Salmon champagne
The menu for the entire flight read as follows (I’m posting the whole thing here, because I only had one meal):
As usual, service began with caviar, which came with an incredible dry ice presentation. This was served with prawn crackers, blinis, and creme fraiche.
Garuda Indonesia first class meal — caviar service
We were offered caviar refills, which we took them up on. They then offered refills again, though at that point we needed to save room for the other food.
Garuda Indonesia first class meal — caviar service
After the caviar service, the table was set.
Garuda Indonesia first class meal — table setting
The bread basket on this flight had some delicious pretzel bread.
Garuda Indonesia first class meal — breadbasket
I also decided to switch from the champagne to the sancerre, which I enjoyed on the outbound flight.
Garuda Indonesia first class white wine
To start I had the scallops, which were excellent.
Garuda Indonesia first class starter
Garuda Indonesia first class starter — seared scallops with fennel salad
Ford had the grilled vegetable quesadilla. It’s perhaps an odd thing to order, but he really enjoyed it.
Garuda Indonesia first class starter — grilled vegetable quesadilla
Next the soup course was served, and once again the liquid was poured by the chef at the seat. I had the roasted butternut squash soup, while Ford had the Indonesian soup.
Garuda Indonesia first class soup — roasted butternut squash soup
Garuda Indonesia first class soup — soto badang
Garuda Indonesia first class soup — soto badang
For the main course I had the pan fried salmon, while Ford had the chicken tikka.
Garuda Indonesia first class main course — pan fried salmon
Garuda Indonesia first class main course — chicken tikka
The salmon was the least tasty aspect of the meal for me. While it was fine, it wasn’t as exceptional as everything else.
Lastly we were served dessert, which was a delicious baked apple and raisin tart with ice cream.
Garuda Indonesia first class dessert — baked apple and raisin tart with ice cream
To finish off the meal I had a French press coffee.
Garuda Indonesia first class French press coffee
The service throughout the meal was phenomenal. Much like on the outbound, the crew was charming, polished, and attentive. The level of procession with which everything was done really blew me away.
For example, they’d always serve Ford and me at the same exact time, which is to say they’d emerge from the galleys on both aisles at the same time, and place the plates on our trays at the same millisecond. That’s just one very minor example.
After the meal I asked if I could get a picture of the crew, and they agreed. Below you can see the chef, Zalman, the flight attendants, Aninda and Bernadette, and the cabin manager.
Our amazing Garuda Indonesia first class crew
After lunch I decided to work on my laptop for a bit, and soon enough we were over the Black Sea.
Airshow enroute to London
Thanks to us being on a late afternoon westbound flight, we had an incredible sunset view for several hours, so I kept my window open for the rest of the flight.
Sunset enroute to London
About an hour before landing I ordered another cappuccino. The crew almost seemed worried that we hadn’t ordered a second meal, but we just weren’t hungry.
Pre-landing cappuccino in Garuda Indonesia first class
Aninda did come by with a snack tray, though I didn’t take anything (other than a picture).
Pre-landing snacks in Garuda Indonesia first class
The first class crew seemed to have a fairly easy flight, given that the only other first class passenger was so low maintenance that I wasn’t even sure she was alive. I only ever saw her sleeping in the upright position, and I never saw her eating anything.
At 5PM in London the captain announced that we were about 30 minutes from landing and would shortly be commencing our descent.
Airshow approaching London
Airshow approaching London
A few minutes later the flight attendants started preparing the cabin for landing, including providing the same shoe service they had on departure.
About 10 minutes before landing we started to hit some moderate turbulence as there was some weather in London.
Our final approach was especially shaky, and the back left wheel touched down significantly earlier than the back right wheel. I could feel that we were off center on the runway when we touched down due to some strong crosswinds, though the pilots quickly adjusted for that.
Our taxi to the arrival gate took about 10 minutes, so we parked there at 5:40PM.
We bid farewell to the crew, and upon deplaning were greeted by Shaf, who said he’d be assisting us with immigration formalities. We actually changed our plans fairly last minute and were connecting to Munich that night on Lufthansa, so we only needed to transfer to Terminal 2. Nonetheless Shaf insisted on at least escorting us to the terminal transfer area.
Garuda Indonesia First Class bottom line
What an incredible journey we had on Garuda Indonesia from start to finish. I had high expectations coming in, but even so, they were greatly surpassed. Between their incredible onboard service, their seamless ground experience, and the genuine friendliness of all the employees we interacted with, I can’t wait to fly Garuda Indonesia again. What a treat this trip was!
Nice report. Thank you
Thank You for your awesome report on Garauda - your details and personal thoughts make your Blog a favourite of mine - Garuda First must be in your top five. you fan from Shanghai.
Sunset over lake Balaton, awesome! Spent my childhood summers there
@GottaFly
I recently flew two sectors in J with Etihad from PER to Abu Dhabi.
I don't rate them well, the service was shocking and it really felt that the crew did not, at all; want to be working on board. Very disappointed in this experience and yes on two long 11 hour sectors! After hearing and seeing how well rated EY were in Business I cannot recommend them.
On the other hand I...
@GottaFly
I recently flew two sectors in J with Etihad from PER to Abu Dhabi.
I don't rate them well, the service was shocking and it really felt that the crew did not, at all; want to be working on board. Very disappointed in this experience and yes on two long 11 hour sectors! After hearing and seeing how well rated EY were in Business I cannot recommend them.
On the other hand I will be flying with them again in only a week so let's see how they are now.
Regarding VA and the cross country route front SYD to PER, 'The Business' is highly recommended and a fantastic soft and hard product.
In saying that I forgot to mention that the EY J hard product only the seat area and comfort plus the 787 were fantastic! Great seat, great plane and wi-fi was a treat!
The SYD to LAX and SYD to Abu Dhabi in J on VA in 'The Business' would be fantastic! If it's anything like the routes back and forth across Australia then you'll have a great experience.
Billecart-Salmon champagne is served in the Qatar Airways Platinum Lounge. It's OK, but nothing to write home about ;-)
@Derek, they show a lot of wreaks it seems, wonder if they switch between air disasters and maritime? ;)
@Kevin, yup, makes no sense. Even if they showed the current timezone the plane was in it shouldn't be represented like that on the screen (and it looks like they are GMT+4 during that transit period anyway)
Thanks for writing another Great review with lots of photos.
"Aninda explained that she had already hung my pajamas in my wardrobe, which I thought was such incredible attention to detail."
WOW! Is there anything they don't think of? Anything?? I have the highest respect for whoever spent all that time thinking about all of these small details. Truly service that is so far above the rest and light years ahead of the...
Thanks for writing another Great review with lots of photos.
"Aninda explained that she had already hung my pajamas in my wardrobe, which I thought was such incredible attention to detail."
WOW! Is there anything they don't think of? Anything?? I have the highest respect for whoever spent all that time thinking about all of these small details. Truly service that is so far above the rest and light years ahead of the rude service I get when traveling on AA.
"The level of procession with which everything was done really blew me away. For example, they’d always serve Ford and me at the same exact time, which is to say they’d emerge from the galleys on both aisles at the same time, and place the plates on our trays at the same millisecond."
Another WOW! This is just incredible. They absolutely did not have to serve with such precision. No need to at all, but they did! Please share more details Lucky. It is really the service details that make all the difference.
Man I wish I could fly Garuda First Class - but then if I did, it would ruin all my other flights lol…
They've downgraded the champagne. It used to be Cuvée Nicolas François Billecart 2002, but now it's just Vintage 2006.
Nice report.
Surprised the pic of the contents of the amenity kit have not (yet) acted as a trigger for the anti-Trumpites...
Lucky, I am begging you to try Etihad and V Aus business class on your way home from your Jordon trip. You could route AUH-SYD/BNE-LAX on Etihad and VAus respectively. Thanks!
P.S This would deliver the Etihad Business class review everyone wants! Heck you could even do an Emirates Business class flight to Aus. Just be ready to not be able to shower at 38000 feet!
Lucky, I am begging you to try Etihad and V Aus business class on your way home from your Jordon trip. You could route AUH-SYD/BNE-LAX on Etihad and VAus respectively. Thanks!
@Dan. Get a life.
Also wondering how London is GMT+3???
Lucky, if one flies GA First from DPS to NRT, what is the lounge used in DPS? And last question, just going on tangent a bit, I noticed that you spent 3 days in Jakarta. What did you guys do while you were there?
Since when had London been GMT +3?
Interesting Airshow feature of showing the wreck location of the Wilhelm Gustloff. How odd.
Aninda is so beautiful
This is awesome to read! Kudos to Garuda! Is it possible for Garuda to pick up passengers in SIN? Hopefully there is a market for this route (CGK-SIN-LHR-CGK) so Garuda can continue to serve this type of cabin in the future.
@ Joey -- They do indeed have pick-up rights, so you can fly them SIN-LHR/LHR-CGK-SIN. It's my understanding the flight will eventually be nonstop between Jakarta and London, though, once upgrades are made to the runway at CGK.
Thanks for the review Ben. one thing though.... what is odd about a grilled vegetable quesadilla??
Just out of curiousness, is the other first class passenger the same as the one from the picture at the Dnata lounge's first class section?
Amazing ! Happy New Year Lucky !