My first leg on the Singapore Airlines A380 in Suites Class was from New York to Frankfurt. While very short and not without flaws, it was still an excellent flight.
Singapore Airlines A380 Suites: What A Treat!
Years ago I flew in Singapore Airlines Suites Class with my uncle from Singapore to Melbourne. Since then, however, the suite has been enlarged and first class has been moved upstairs. Plus, the number of suites has been halved from 12 to six.
I cannot underscore how excited I was to fly on this aircraft…it has been the flight I have been looking forward to more than any other for many years.
We entered directly on the upper deck and turned left into the first class area. The six suites have closing door and are spacious (much like the Etihad First Class Apartments, yet with a much more comfortable chair like you would expect in a dental office).
A massive feast awaited after takeoff. Champagne (Krug and Tattinger) was free flowing and dinner began with a lobster salad.
That was followed by caviar.
I also had a bowl of chicken soup with abalone and morel mushrooms.
For my main course, I used “Book the Cook” to order a beef filet with chimichurri sauce. Unfortunately, the beef was served with cranberry butter instead of chimichurri and was so well done that I chose not to eat it. The quality was also poor – it reminded me of my pathetic steak on American Airlines. A flight attendant promptly noticed I was not eating and asked if she could bring me something else.
I tried the grilled confit of pork belly and it was very delicious (like night and day compared to the beef) and had an excellent flavor and texture (the skin was a bit crispy).
This was a great save and the flight attendants (three of them) apologized profusely for the poor quality beef out of New York.
The feast continued with a fruit and cheese plate…
…and concluded with a pecan nut tart served with macadamia nut ice cream. Sublime!
After dinner, a flight attendant made my bed. Singapore Airlines offers wonderful bedding including two large pillows and a soft duvet.
Before going to bed, I changed into pajamas: the restrooms are massive onboard:
JFK-FRA is simply too short to properly enjoy the suites. After a multi-course meal, there was less than four hours of flight time left by the time I settled into my bed. I was asked if I wanted to be awoken for the snack before landing and for purposes of this review, I said yes.
A note on the bed: it flips down from the divider between suites and I candidly found it to be too thin and too hard. While it did not stop me from sleeping, I thought it could have used at least double the amount of padding that was on it.
I ended up finishing a Japanese movie about euthanasia called “Plan 75” I began on LOT Polish on my way back from Ukraine a couple months earlier:
Oddly, a full breakfast is not offered (well, maybe not odd considering the short duration of the flight and the feast for dinner). Instead, a hot turkey sandwich was offered with pesto. While it was delicious, I found it rather odd there were no eggs. Sides like yogurt, fresh fruit, and pastries were available…and potato chips.
We landed ahead of schedule in Frankfurt. These are the sorts of flights you never want to arrive early, but at least I had a 12-hour flight ahead on the same aircraft.
Another shoutout to the amazing crew on this flight. They were incredibly professional and warm: they could not have been better and I mean that very sincerely (I do not blame them for the poor beef).
CONCLUSION
These are just my “first impressions” of the flight. I will eventually (hopefully sooner rather than later) provide a full review of this flight.
But for now, know that the service on Singapore Airlines in Suites Class is simply superb and the product is beautiful. At the same time, the bed is not the most comfortable and the filet mignon was a huge disappointment.
SQ25 continues from Frankfurt to Singapore after a crew change. I’ll provide a synopsis of that segment tomorrow.
I’m so glad I’m not a flight reviewer because I would sleep until landing without any obligation to wake up for that sandwich LOL
Thanks for “flying the good flight” for us!
Right there with you, Willem, I eat quickly and sleep the rest of the way…I always wondered who these people are with the lights on all night!
Not sure why it is so difficult for airlines to offer a nice steak on board. They come pre -cooked so I would expect that if they are delivered rare, they would be easier to finish on board. I have tried many and never found one worth remembering. Chicken, pasta and even even fish are much safer choices.
“the skin was a bit crispy”
Best way to have pork belly.
They used to keep the door open during the meal service which could be awkward if the suite across from you was taken and that person was eating as well. Glad they changed that policy.
Unfortunately this route is now 77w, as of mid May
Correct – I was happy to try it before the swap.
Weren’t you live blogging? I’m a bit lost, is this over a month old?
Not live blogging. For my own privacy. But if you read the previous post I said I would structure the coming “first impression” posts as a live blog.
Understood, thanks. Looking forward for the full review (as mentioned, hopefully soon).
I never order steak on a plane, they are almost never cooked to the right temperature by the time they serve them. I always go for more forgiving food like pork belly or braised dishes. Fish is also a luck of the draw so I avoid that as well. SQ first class is on my bucket list but they are very difficult to come by in saver and advantage requires a ton of miles.
Did you say 3 flight attendants for 6 people? Nice. I could only hope for that at my airline. We wouldn’t be running around stressed trying to hurry to get to everyone. Today I had a Europe flight and there were two of us for 30. A few passengers were a bit put out because we were racing like maniacs trying to get them their food and drinks and they had to wait 3 extra minutes. It would also be nice to not have my makeup streaming down my face running so fast. As far as the steaks, they need to be cooked on the steam option, not dry heat. I’m assuming they have those ovens also. Thanks for the review.
Cranberry butter on a steak just sounds bizarre. Was this a “Book the Cook” option or off the menu? Do they still only have like 6 to 8 choices for BTC on the FRA-JFK route?
And here I thought the meal pacing when I took this route in reverse last year in F was strange; this seems worse. Like maybe they should have served the main meal right before landing instead.
And yes, the bed is too hard, though I found the mattress pad helped a lot.
This was neither—it was just a miscater.
Book the Cook options very limited ex-JFK and FRA. Only the four on menu plus two more. I’ll post the menus when I write the full reviews.
I booked two saver F for 132k mi pp on this flight back in 2021 when Singapore was shuttered for a year later hoping it would open by then and luckily it did. I was allocated two non-adjacent suites after it went from 12 to 6, but luckily the phone agents were able to move people around so that we got the double suite. It was an incredible flight that I’ll probably never again be able to replicate. My only regret is that I did not book a roundtrip because I thought it would be too much flying lol (though I got to fly TG F from BKK-KIX and NH F from HND-JFK on the same trip so I cannot complain!)
Will you be going into how you booked this?
You have to check the KrisFlyer space repeatedly (I did it manually up to six times per day). Saver awards never appeared, but Advantage awards occasionally did.
One of the complaints I remember from the very first reviews of this product was the hard bed. I’m surprised that Singapore hasn’t made any move to address this either by changing the mattress or offering a topper. It’s such an easy thing to fix I don’t get why they haven’t addressed it.
It would be really good to see reviews/contents of wine lists, particularly in first & business classes. Thanks.
Mike Webb.
PS: Grilled belly of pork is meant to have a crisp skin.
Indeed – I did not mean to imply anything other.
It is absolutely shameful that cabin crew are wearing face diapers in 2023, especially in first class. Totally degrades the experience.
I agree, but thankfully over the last month they have become optional for the crews.
Curious, since you call them face diapers and I believe you are in Japan, do you ever run into any conflicts with Japanese over masking?