As of late March, Singapore Airlines started flying its Airbus A380s with new cabins to the United States for the first time, on the Frankfurt to New York flight. Ford and I had the chance to fly from Frankfurt to New York yesterday in Suites Class (using KrisFlyer miles), and I was simply blown away.
While I’ll have a full review of the flight soon, I wanted to specifically write about the double bed, which left me with a different impression than the last time I experienced this product.
In this post:
Different airplane seats are good for different occasions
I often update my rankings of the world’s best first class products and best business class seats. Admittedly these types of rankings are highly subjective, and as I often say, I may prefer a different seat depending on the occasion.
For example, if I’m traveling alone I have a strong preference for not having a seatmate in business class, while if I’m traveling with someone, I kind of like being able to sit next to that person.
Looking at first class products, I rate Emirates’ newest Boeing 777 first class as the best in the world. Each passenger gets a fully enclosed (floor-to-ceiling) suite, which is awesome if you’re traveling alone. The catch? If you’re traveling with someone, there’s no way to spend time together — there’s no buddy seat for dining, no way to form a double suite, etc.
To some extent I feel like Singapore Suites is the opposite — I liked it when traveling alone, while I love it when traveling with someone. I’ll take it a step further — this is my favorite first class product in the world if traveling with someone.
Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites are great to begin with
Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380s feature just six seats in Suites Class, located at the front of the upper deck. Seats are spread across three rows, in a 1-1 configuration. The sheer amount of space dedicated to each passenger is unbelievable.
Each Suite features a swiveling chair, and then a bed that folds out from the wall.
Individually this is a great product, don’t get me wrong. But really what takes this to the next level is if you’re traveling with someone, and can snag two adjoining Suites.
A look at the Singapore Airlines Suites double bed
On Singapore Airlines’ new A380s, there are two possibilities to get a double bed in Suites Class. This is available between seats 1A and 2A, and between seats 1F and 2F. This was my first time experiencing the double bed product, so how exactly does this work, and what is it like?
Once you make the request with the crew, first the partition between the two Suites can be lowered.
Since the seats swivel, the person in the first row could turn their seat around and face you. Seats have to face forward for takeoff and landing, but otherwise you can keep them in this position throughout the flight.
There are also two TVs next to one another, so you could watch a movie on one TV and keep an eye on the progress of the flight on the other TV.
But what really takes this product to the next level is when you actually put the two Suites into bed mode. This is a case where the whole (double Suites) is the greater than the sum of its parts (two individual Suites) by a long shot.
If you’re two people traveling together, this is almost unarguably the most comfortable configuration you’ll find in all of commercial aviation (especially with the Etihad Residence no longer existing). What a spacious configuration!
A few things to note:
- Even individually, the beds are more comfortable when you form a double bed, since you’re not sleeping right next to a wall
- There is a bit of a partition between between the two beds, so I wouldn’t call this a true double bed; in other words, you can easily sleep next to one another, but cuddling will take a bit of effort
- The overall layout here is just awesome, because one person could sit in one of the chairs and use part of the bed as an ottoman, while the other person would have a lot of space in bed
Bottom line
Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites Class is an incredible first class product to begin with. However, it’s on a completely different level when you have adjoining Suites, and can turn the two Suites into one. It’s always nice to discover new aspects to an existing first class product you’ve already experienced.
This is also one of the reasons there’s not really a single best first class product in the world. I’d argue that Singapore’s A380 Suites is as good as it gets when you’re traveling with someone, while if you have a single Suite it’s not quite as good.
If you fly Singapore Airlines’ A380 Suites “double bed,” you’re in for a real treat!
Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what did you think?
Very cool. One bad thing about living on the west coast of the US is that Singapore loves to put inferior planes between LAX to NRT to SIN, despite all three airports can handle A380s. And then they charge the same $20k, in case you think all first class products are created equal. Come on, folks.
Yeah, I opt to reposition to the east coast to try suites class as opposed to F.
In 2017 we went to PH NY for a few nights (had a frigging amazing time), then journeyed onward JFK-FRA-SIN-BOM in old suites (main destination for this trip was Madagascar, so we backtracked from there). On the return we were plenty happy in J JNB-SIN-HKG-SFO.
This year we're flying east to Iceland, then Europe, and doing the double bed new suites FRA-JFK.
Just yesterday traveled this airlines.
Being a pure vegan booked same but got non veg food .and hasti fast 18 hrs with out food though diabetic .
Thank God nothing happened off course wasbtravelling less important class economy flex.
Worst is crew members failed to apologize and where not bothered .
I wonder how long the bed is. The lief flat seat in F is usually above 2m but these beds seem to be shorter.
Given I am 2,05m tall, this is may be a big disadvantage albeit the rest looks phenomenal.
Booked LHR-SYD in suites for the honeymoon next year..... ;-)
There is only one reason they have this, it’s for boomers to bang.
So glad you enjoyed it! Yes it is a fantastic piece of real estate in the air, once the crew made the double bed just for me as the cabin wasn’t full.
And in soft skills SQ usually cannot be faulted.
Their cabin staff really touch the heart.
I read your article yesterday about this flight being just 3 minutes over the 3 hour threshold to claim EU compensation. It seemed you were...
So glad you enjoyed it! Yes it is a fantastic piece of real estate in the air, once the crew made the double bed just for me as the cabin wasn’t full.
And in soft skills SQ usually cannot be faulted.
Their cabin staff really touch the heart.
I read your article yesterday about this flight being just 3 minutes over the 3 hour threshold to claim EU compensation. It seemed you were so thrilled about that too.
And that’s where you lose me, no matter how much I love your blog.
This apparent need to claim just seems like greed, even after having such a great flight and still (albeit after running) making your connecting flight.
We all create our own karma I guess.
Happy flying!
The greed of the consumer to take what's due to them from the large corporation is the karma everyone needs. I can't see anyone saying, "No thanks, just keep the $1,200 EUR you owe me." It would be like getting off a flight and saying "I had such a good time I think I'll pay an extra $1,000 to Delta for the pleasure."
Flew Emirates new 777 first class with my wife last week. Singapore a380 looks nice and we’d enjoy the double bed, but I honestly can’t seem myself every picking anything over Emirates 777. An enclosed room on a plane is just insane.
Isn’t Emirates new first class also an enclosed room?
Next February, My wife & I will get to enjoy the "double bed" suite on flights from Syd to JFK with a stopover in Singapore, where we also plan to visit the newly renovated "Private Room". We have enjoyed the Center Seat Double Bed in the previous 12 seat first class version but never in the new 6 seat version. In the old 12 seat version, there were four center seats that converted into two...
Next February, My wife & I will get to enjoy the "double bed" suite on flights from Syd to JFK with a stopover in Singapore, where we also plan to visit the newly renovated "Private Room". We have enjoyed the Center Seat Double Bed in the previous 12 seat first class version but never in the new 6 seat version. In the old 12 seat version, there were four center seats that converted into two double beds. On one memorable, poorly occupied flight, the flights attendants made up one double bed suite arrangement for our use as a "bedroom" and the other double bed arrangement as our "living Room". Incredibly, we had exclusive use of both double bed suites. That was truly a once in a lifetime experience for us.
Absolutely amazing hard product when traveling as a couple. Can’t wait to read the soft product review. Keep these helpful reviews coming!
After so many years flying first /suite on SQ the last flight SQ026/06APR was the worst flight ever ! Careless and inattentive crew terrible service , terrible food
SQ service has becoming very inconsistent in the last 5 years and now are going down even faster
They need to improve in many areas like ground service better trained check in staff gate staff and crew but unfortunately their arrogance in living over past...
After so many years flying first /suite on SQ the last flight SQ026/06APR was the worst flight ever ! Careless and inattentive crew terrible service , terrible food
SQ service has becoming very inconsistent in the last 5 years and now are going down even faster
They need to improve in many areas like ground service better trained check in staff gate staff and crew but unfortunately their arrogance in living over past glories don’t let them understand that they need to address certain deficiencies
Comment and pics on my IG
What’s the IG
“cuddling will take a bit of effort”
So, how HARD did you guys try ?
Looking forward to the full review. My guess: hard product not ideal for couple dining. CX F is the best for that I guess, altho' I'd love to find a La Premiere review by someone with refined taste, actually doing couple dining. Even JL F, which arguably scores 11 out of 10, isn't quite as good as CX F (IMHO) because the JL service style is merely excellent, attentive and lavish, but not psychic. With...
Looking forward to the full review. My guess: hard product not ideal for couple dining. CX F is the best for that I guess, altho' I'd love to find a La Premiere review by someone with refined taste, actually doing couple dining. Even JL F, which arguably scores 11 out of 10, isn't quite as good as CX F (IMHO) because the JL service style is merely excellent, attentive and lavish, but not psychic. With CX F they know what you want before you know, and they do it undetected. You can read a book for three hours drinking white peony tea and your cup will always be non-empty but you'll swear nobody ever came near your seat. Spooky. I woke from a sound sleep and in 7 seconds she was beside me, telling me how long I'd slept and how many hours to landing, exactly the two things one wants to know when waking inflight. Spooky. With the Japanese I feel I'm being rude if I don't acknowledge every bow, which is a lot of them LOL. If I'm reading a book, that's a lot of interruptions. You can almost feel my suffering, right? OK I've made myself as unappealing as a person can possibly be, but it's kinda interesting comparing couple dining experiences among different Fs. I'd love it in an OMAAT post, if Ben were only willing to do the flights, drink the Dom/Krug, write the prose.
Flying this with a companion in Oct JFK-SIN. Looking forward to it.
@Ben,
I'm confused. With the wall lowered, are you able to dine face-to-face with your traveling companion? If not, your previous review's criticism still stands. For 2-3 hours of the flight while dining, you're still staring at a stranger, right?
"...and that has you looking almost directly at the aisle. This seems so poorly designed, in my opinion, since you’re basically looking at the person seated across from you."
Why not place a rolled up towel or something in the space between the mattresses? Then if you put the pillows on the side, it would be easy to quietly have hanky panky right under those TV screens.
I'm always amazed at how the younger generation sees advances in first class seats/suites but don't realize many of these were common in railroad passenger cars in the mid 1950s. One example when airlines offered "luxury" first class seats with leg rests and foot rests in the 80s, long distance coaches offered exactly the same back in the 40s and 50s. Many railroads back then also offered two adjacent bedrooms where you slide the wall...
I'm always amazed at how the younger generation sees advances in first class seats/suites but don't realize many of these were common in railroad passenger cars in the mid 1950s. One example when airlines offered "luxury" first class seats with leg rests and foot rests in the 80s, long distance coaches offered exactly the same back in the 40s and 50s. Many railroads back then also offered two adjacent bedrooms where you slide the wall between them back to form a large suite and have the two lower beds adjacent to each other. Geez does this sound familiar?
BTW you can still do that on VIA Rail's Canadian between Toronto and Vancouver -- hubby and I did that in the fall of 2019.
So true. And the length of the voyage makes the experience more relaxing. Sadly the level of refinement isn't there, compared with European/Asian airlines' F.
Amtrak s bedrooms (at least on the Viewliners) are also combinable into a suite, though since two adults can already comfortably share a bedroom, that's mainly a family product.
Amtrak may allow two adults to share a roomette, but that's something that I'd generally advise against, though you'd still be able to dine privately with a companion sleeping in another roomette.
How much participation is required to no longer be a New Member?
Out of curiosity, if you want to watch a movie together, are there two headphone jacks available to one TV (or some other solution that enables that)?
I’ve done SYD SIN in 2019 RTW 2.0. Very enjoyable by myself in 3F. Enjoyed the Krug - Dom taste off :-)
I’m ticketed in November SYD SIN FRA JFK :-)
I wish they had some sort of padding between the two beds so they could make them up as a true double bed. Now that would be awesome.
Maybe the lack of is by design?
Are there any current airline seats / products that truly allow for enough privacy for actual physical activity - this double bed is partitioned and the top is open if I recall correctly. Any truly enclosed suites? Can two individuals go into the Emirates shower suites without hassle?
The shower suite has a max occupancy of 2 placard, unsure about anything further
If you ask the SPA attendant nicely……
The double bed is great but given Singapore's extant but rarely enforced law against same sex intercourse one has to wonder if such travelers should even bother.
"this is my favorite first class product in the world if traveling with someone."
You might want to be a bit more specific about "someone" – when travelling with a friend I might not be as keen to cuddle...
What sort of noise reduction padding is in the wall in the event you are not traveling with someone? The idea of sleeping just on the other side of that raised partition from a noisy snoring person who just had a bunch of alcoholic beverages seems ... unfortuate.
Was thinking the same thing
Earplugs. It's no different than other first class products. The suites are still open at the top, so snoring will be heard if they are loud.
Mile High Club anyone?
:)
Been wrote that "cuddling will take a bit of effort" so I would guess that hanky-panky would be out of the question :-)
Ben wrote, not been.