SEA 2014: Singapore Airlines Suites Class SIN to NRT Review

My flight was departing from the B gates, which was a decently long walk from the Private Room and other T3 lounges. At Changi Airport, security screening takes place at the gate. In theory, this should mean that security shouldn’t take as much time, but the cluster of gates for my flight had a number of flights departing at the same time, so the security line snaked all the way through the terminal and out toward the shops. Total DYKWIA moment, but I was shocked that there wasn’t a priority screening line or an escort for premium cabin passengers, and it took about 20 minutes to get through the security screening (there were a couple of passengers who waved business class boarding passes at people to cut the line).

The load on this sector was 10/12. I had booked seat 3A, and 2C and 3C were the empty seats, so it felt extremely private, even though the cabin was nearly full. The suite is very spacious and feels classy. I like the color palette, and it just feels expensive to me.

The in-flight entertainment was started on the ground, which I always appreciate, and the selection was great. The screen quality was good, but it honestly feels a little bit small after flying Asiana’s new first class. And, well, the fact that the suite is so big that the screen is actually kind of far away from you when you’re seated #firstworldproblems.

For my pre-departure beverage, I asked for iced milo and room temperature water. Fussy of me, yes, but I loved the fact that afterward the flight attendant checked on me to make sure that the water temperature was satisfactory to me.

I was then given menus, headphones, newspapers, magazines, an amenity kit, and pajamas. I was only offered an amenity kit on this flight since I was a through passenger, but they did offer me new pajamas on the second flight. The pajamas are made by Givenchy, and I could actually imagine wearing the top with other clothes. As airplane pajamas go, they’re a little on the thick side, so maybe not the best if the cabin is too warm.

They suggested that they serve lunch a couple of hours after departure to align with typical lunch hours in Singapore, and I agreed. I had prebooked the kyo-kaiseki meal, but decided to change to the laksa, which they had no problems with.

Since it was going to be a little while before food, I had more time to explore the suite.

One thing that I noticed was that there were a lot of weird spaces to drop things. Because the seat folds over to become a bed (instead of reclining into bed position), there are a lot of open spaces where I can imagine easily losing your passport or boarding pass or cell phone. While it’s maybe not the most comfortable seat, I found the seat to be quite comfortable, and I thought that the seat reclined enough, in spite of it not fully reclining into bed position.

The meal service started with bread service as well as satay. I wasn’t particularly impressed by the satay as the lamb was a bit chewy, and I generally didn’t find the meat to be worth eating (I am very picky about my meat when I choose to eat it). The garlic bread was tasty, as is evidenced by the fact that I devoured it prior to being served satay.

The salad course was small, but tasty. I had the honey mustard dressing.

For my main, I had the laksa, and I asked them to take out the fish cake and prawns. They were a little confused by my request but were happy to do it. The laksa was fine and much more flavorful than most airplane dishes, but the egg was way overcooked. Like to the point where the yolk was gray instead of yellow.

For dessert, I had the passionfruit mousse cake, which was fine.

I then had some fruit, which I was surprised to find served whole. I can’t really remember ever being served whole fruit on airplanes, except for crappy red delicious apples on American carriers. I was pleasantly surprised to find a persimmon amongst the fruit selection.

With the doors closed, the suite feels extremely private. But I’m personally still unsure whether I prefer first class cabins with suites or open seats, as I appreciate the privacy of suites but enjoy the feel of open-seat cabins more.

The seat in Singapore Suites on the A380 is great. It’s large and private and comfortable. The service on this flight segment, however, was not to the standard that I was expecting on Singapore Airlines. Perhaps it was because the load was relatively high, but the service was really slow, and my glass was often empty or almost empty. If I had just been judging based on this flight, I wouldn’t have understood why Singapore Airlines has the reputation it has for service. The in-flight supervisor also wasn’t great, and perhaps it was the lackluster tone that he set that led to the lackluster service.

That being said, my next segment from NRT to LAX had some of the best service I’ve had on a flight and made me totally understand why people love Singapore Airlines…