Starlux Airlines First Class On A Short Haul, Intra-Asia Flight: How Good Is It?

After flying Starlux Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 first class from Los Angeles (LAX) to Taipei (TPE) and spending some time in the carrier’s quirky first class lounge, I connected to Starlux’s A350-1000 first class from Taipei to Tokyo Narita (NRT). Side note — sadly I didn’t get one of those A350-1000s in an epic livery — gahhhhh!

Starlux is unique in that it offers first class on several routes within Asia, given that the A350s typically land from their transpacific journeys early in the morning, before flying out again over the Pacific late at night, giving them all day to do a “turn” in Asia. While I’ll have a full review soon, I’d like to share some initial thoughts on this experience. Does a short haul flight give you a true sense of the Starlux first class experience?

Starlux’s regional first class is nice, but not memorable

Ultimately Starlux’s first class hard product on the A350-1000 was familiar, as it’s identical to what the airline offers on the A350-900. The only difference is the bigger business class cabin behind it.

Much like on the last flight, I could fully pre-order my meal in advance, so there were no menus onboard. I was pleasantly surprised that the wine and beverage list was identical to the long haul flight, so they don’t cut back on short haul flights.

However, when it comes to amenities, those were really scaled back — there was no real bedding, no amenity kit, no pajamas, and no other “gifts.” The only real amenities were a basic but stylish pillow and blanket, and slippers. I mean, fair enough, it’s a flight of not even three hours, comparable to flying between Miami and New York.

As on the last flight, service and food were very good. However, there’s no caviar service within Asia, so I guess the meal isn’t quite as over the top.

Ultimately there aren’t many airlines that offer a “true” first class product on short haul flights. Emirates is the only airline I can think of that consistently does so on a widespread basis. Beyond that, Singapore Airlines has two short haul routes with first class, Cathay Pacific has one short haul route with first class, and… I think that’s about it?

Arguably the most impressive part of the journey was the ground experience. I was seamlessly escorted to the gate in Taipei (in the sense that I was brought to the gate, and the second I arrived boarding started — it was so well orchestrated that I never stopped).

Even more impressive was the ground experience at Narita. There was an escort for a meet & greet service, who took me all the way from the door of the plane to the entrance for the Narita Express. He even brought me through a VIP immigration line. I actually had no clue that was a thing in Japan. And I feel like they try to hide it, because it’s sort of hidden behind a partition.

Starlux also has the world’s most badass first class checked bag concept. When you check a bag, it’s placed in this huge “crate” of sorts that has Starlux first class branding. The idea is that it’s taken off the plane first, and it’s placed near the belt, as if they’re carrying precious cargo. It was there before I even got to the baggage claim belt, which is insanely impressive (keep in mind I whizzed through immigration!). Starlux really knows how to nail the ground experience!

I’m happy I flew Starlux first class across the Pacific

As longtime OMAAT readers know, I’ve been trying to find a good way to fly Starlux first class for a long time, and only recently pulled the trigger when the airline started selling miles, which is a comparatively good deal, when you consider the revenue fares.

While Starlux ordinarily charges around $9,000 for one-way long haul first class tickets, the airline charges around $2,500 for one-way short haul first class tickets. I know many people had encouraged me to just fly the carrier short haul to “tick the box” of having flown the product, given that the ground experience is similar.

However, I’m really glad I waited. The long haul flight was truly special in a way I wasn’t expecting, in particular thanks to all the little amenities that were offered, which were incredibly high quality. However, those were absent on the short haul flight, which sort of made the experience feel less special.

The ground experience was great and the alcohol selection was elevated compared to business class, but otherwise it’s hard to view the short haul experience as being that worthwhile. So if you do decide you want to splurge on Starlux first class, I’d highly recommend doing so on a long haul flight, or not at all. But that’s just me…

Bottom line

Starlux is one of the few airlines to offer a first class product on select short haul flights, as the limited number of airlines that have a first class cabin typically only operate it on long haul flights. On the plus side, the ground experience was excellent, and the service, food, and drinks, were also great.

However, it definitely lacked the special touches that made the long haul first class experience surprisingly pleasant. I’d say in a way, the short haul product felt more like a “business class plus” (which is what many were expecting based on the hard product), while the long haul experience feels like a true first class.

Either way, Starlux’s first class strategy continues to confuse me, as I was the only first class passenger on both flights, I had two flight attendants dedicated to me, etc. That wasn’t just an outlier, as it seems the cabin is totally empty more often than not. It just seems like the cabin should be more efficiently monetized.

What do you make of Starlux’s intra-Asia first class product?