Review: Singapore Air Business Class, Singapore to Manila

The time finally came, the monitors in the lounge changed from “on time” to “Final Call” and my travel companion and myself started to quickly pick up our belongings and streamline it for the gate. Although we were told boarding would begin at 2pm, it was 1:58 and the airport monitors were reading final call. Never flown Singapore Airlines before, little did we know that although the monitors read final call, all it really means is boarding had just begun. Why they do this, I’ll never know! Nevertheless, I was stoked to finally get to fly Singapore Airlines, and in business class nonetheless!

As we approached the gate, we quickly went through security, throwing everything on the security belt and frantically making our way for the metal detector. As a season traveler, I know that Final Call means Final call and I thought we were going to miss our flight! Yet, to my surprise, as we rushed the gate, the area only had about 10 people in it and they were only starting to call boarding for Business class! I looked at my partner, and instantly thought what a scam! I could have taken my time getting here! Strike 1!

I boarded the plane immediately, partner in tow, and was instantly greeted by a slew of flight attendants. They pointed us to our seats in the near empty cabin and my partner and I made ourselves comfortable. Soon after seated, the flight attendants came through the cabin offering pre-departure drinks consisting of the typical choices in South East Asia, Orange Juice, Water, champagne, or guava. I, of course went for the water – HAHA not really! The champagne was tasty on the ground to say the least! Another lady came by shortly after, offering a magazines and newspaper (I gladly accepted the most recent economist) and an older gentleman followed with a hot towel for our hands and faces.

As we sat in our seat awaiting take off, the flight attendants were busy doing there preflightchecks. Shortly after the boarding door was closed another woman came through the cabin and greeted us by name and then confirmed our dinner choices from our preselected book, the cook menus. She did not have any paper menus, which tells me either Singapore Airlinesdoesn’t offer them or everyone in Business class that day booked the cook. I was having Lobster Thermidor and my companion was having a ribeye steak. She then asked us what we wanted to drink once we got in the air and thanked us for flying Singapore Air.

Once we got above 10,000 feet the fasten seatbelt sign was retracted and the flight attendants quickly got up to start serving the cabin. There honestly was only about 8 people in the business class cabin so it did not take long for anything. Within minutes I had my sparkling water and was sipping away while watching TV and munching on a prelude of nuts. We had noticed our powerports didn’t work so we couldn’t charge our devices, but our only option was to move seats. Since we were already unpacked, we decided our phones didn’t need charging and remain put. About 30 minutes later dinner was served. In the meantime, drinks were not refilled, but instead once the FA noticed our drinks were emptied, she just removed the glasses without asking if we wanted more!

Dinner was then served. First, we brought our starter salad and then warm bread. The bread basket was overloaded with mouthwatering carbs! The basket included cheese breads, garlic bread, multigrain rolls and more. Despite only asking for one slice of bread, the FA insisted I also try her two favorite pieces, resulting in me having 3 pieces of bread! Carb overload here I come! Our appetizer was served with our selection of wine and water. Shortly after, our plates were cleared and our main dishes were brought to us. Although neither dish were over glamorously plated, they were still extremely succulent when reaching our pallets. This resulted in both my partner and I licking our plates clean! The lobster wasn’t chewy, but instead perfectly cooked and seasoned! The meal was finished with a little ice cream Sunday.

ribeye steak

Lobster Thermador and ice cream sunday like dessert

The rest of the flight was honestly uneventful. Singapore Airlines was nice, yes, but nothing over the top. Was I impressed? Not really. The service was no better than Thai or Korean or even Delta on an International flight. The only thing that really stood out was the book the cook meal. The seats were dated, the massage function did not work, and the service was leaps and bound below that of Asiana. Will I fly Singapore Airlines again? Maybe, but only when free or a good deal comes my way!

A quick recap

Hard product:

Seat: Singapore Airline uses their older “space Seat” on their medium haul business class flights. On many of the planes the seats have been replaced, but on some B772, Singapore still has the old seat. And today my luck brought me the old seat. The seats are in a 2x2x2 configuration. Since we were traveling as a couple, we chose seats next to the window/aisle instead of the middle of the aircraft. The seats recline to approximately 140 degrees, making them uncomfortable for sleeping, but great for resting. The flights are short and the angle flat seats are more than adequate for a 3-4 hour flight. The seats are showing signs of wear and tear. Our power ports did not work at either of our seats and the massage function was defunct in my seat, making it useless. There are also no privacy screens, which meant if traveling alone, there’s almost no way to hide from your neighbor.

IFE: The IFE is more than adequate for a short haul flight. The screens were 10.4 inches (I believe) and provided a large selection of movies from all around the world. In fact the selection was probably more diverse than any other airline I have yet to fly. The only issue was headphones were collected and the IFE was turned off a good 30 minutes before landing.

Amenities: Socks- UGLY, didn’t fit. It was only a 3.5 hour flight though so not more is necessary

Soft Product

Food: The food was amazing! Although we did book the cook. Who knows what would have happened if we would have ate the food that was preloaded for the flight?

Drinks: Drink options were….Honestly, I can’t recall. Nothing stood out and since there wasn’t a menu I didn’t even know what was available. I asked for whisky and was informed I could choose between Johnny Walker Black or Chivas Regal 18. I choose the Chivas, but then the FA came back and told me all they had was 12, and 18 was reserved for other flights.

Service: Service was average to be honest. Nothing really stood out as over the top or truly Singaporean. I don’t mean to sound like an over entitled aristocrat (which I’m not, I’m a poor kid from the trailer park), but business class service on Singapore Airlines was no better than any other airline. In fact, I almost preferred the people on Thai Airways to Singapore and the service on Asiana was by far the best serviced I have received to date. Even the service on my flight Delta flight home from Asia was better than this. Flight attendants were stand-offish and not present, nor did they pay very close attention.

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About Rocky Horan