Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class SFO to SIN to BKK

This is a continuation of my Asia trip report. See also Back from Thailand and Singapore: 7 Biggest Takeaways.

Flying to Thailand is not easy or quick from the USA. There are no nonstop flights from USA to Thailand, and it takes a few more hours than flying to Japan. Since it was just me and my daughter traveling, I really wanted to get business flights using miles and points for the big flight over the pond. We ended up flying on Singapore Airlines in business class from San Francisco to Singapore (17-hour flight with a 24-hour layover to explore Singapore) and then onto Bangkok (2.5-hour flight).

Seventeen hours in a plane is a long time. This was my second 17-hour flight, and I have no regrets spending a ton of miles for these business class seats.

Booking Singapore Airlines Business Class with Miles

I booked our flights about year in advance, as soon as the flight schedule was available. I booked us all the way to Bangkok with a 24-hour stopover in Singapore for 107,000 KrisFlyer miles + $18 in taxes/fees per person. That isn’t the least expensive award flight to Asia, but Singapore Airlines seems to have reliable award availability for at least 2 passengers on most flights. (Note: The cost for this saver fare is now 117,500 miles to BKK or 112,500 to SIN).

Note that while this flight may be booked for fewer miles through Singapore Airlines partners, like Air Canada Aeroplan, award availability on parters is scarce.

To get these Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, I transferred points from American Express and miles from Capital One to Singapore Airlines. Most points/miles were accumulated through credit card bonuses (see Beginner’s Guide: 7 Steps to Free Travel with Miles and Points).

Airport Experience at SFO

Since we were bringing carry-ons and had no checked baggage, we could have skipped the check-in counter altogether. However, I wanted to verify our lounge access, so we waited in the short business-class line for assistance. The agent instructed us to go to the Air India lounge.

We arrived in the lounge around 9 a.m., and we were the first ones in the lounge. There were plenty of comfortable chairs:

We chose some seats by the window and then checked out the food offerings. No surprise, the majority of the hot food was Indian food.

There was a small section of breakfast breads and cakes. Since it was morning and we knew we were going to eat shortly after takeoff, we didn’t eat much at the lounge. I had some Egg Bhurji and toast.

If you’re super hungry and don’t like Indian food, this isn’t the best lounge for you. But it was fine for me and my daughter. Soon, it was time to walk to our gate.

Our Business Class Seats to Singapore

After we arrived at our gate, we saw our plane pulling into the gate. There’s nothing more exciting than boarding the plane when you’re on your way to a new international destination!

Here’s a look at the business class cabin on Singapore Airlines A350-900 Long Haul plane, flight SQ31 departing at 11:30 a.m.:

 

The seats were alternating purple/beige colors in a 1-2-1 layout, with each seat having aisle access. I had seat 15K, a window seat, with my daughter right behind me.

Our seats had a pillow and a blanket on top as well as a water bottle and noise-cancelling headphones in the arm rest storage compartment.

Storage compartment in front of seat, plus slippers and eye mask:

Note that while we did not receive an amenity kit with the traditional toothbrush/lotion, etc., those items were available individually wrapped in the lavatories.

Storage, light and plugs beside seat:

The seat itself was very wide. Notice how much room is remaining on the seat to the left of my legs:

Official measurements: 28 inches wide, 60 inches of pitch and a lie-flat length of 78 inches.

The IFE screen was plenty big and had many movie and tv options:

The seat had controls to recline back and lift up the leg rest. However, in order to go to a fully-flat seat, we had to flip it over. As soon as I attempted this later in the flight, a flight attendant rushed over to help convert my seat into a bed.

The odd thing about these lie-flat seats is that you have to sleep diagonally in order to put your feet in the narrow footwell. It took a bit of getting used to, but the seat itself was so wide that I found I could sleep in a variety of positions that weren’t possible on other lie-flat seats.

I only slept about 2 hours on this flight, mainly because it left at 11:30 a.m. and most of the flight was just not in my natural sleep time. But overall, the seats were very comfortable and roomy. I was so thankful for the extra space during the long flight to Singapore.

Food and Service

Singapore Airlines has a Book the Cook feature for all First Class, Business and Premium Economy passengers. We had the option to pick our meals 6 weeks to 24 hours before our flight. Here’s a look at lunch after takeoff:

Appetizer salad (for all meals):

I pre-ordered this wonton soup:

Ice cream for dessert! (Although there were other options as well)

Flight attendants did not come around with food and drinks periodically during the flight. Instead, we had an in-flight snack menu we could order from whenever we wanted. I ordered this chicken noodle soup mid-flight:

Our last meal was about 5 hours before we landed. Appetizer salad:

I pre-ordered the beef short ribs, which were very tender and juicy:

And chocolate cake for dessert:

Overall, the food was “pretty good”.  But personally, I enjoyed the food a little more in Premium Economy on Japan Airlines last year.

Service from the flight attendants was excellent. They always spoke to us by name (how do they memorize all of our names so quickly??). They cleaned the lavatories often, and they were quick to help us convert our seats to lie-flat beds.

2nd Leg from Singapore to Bangkok

After spending 24 hours in Singapore, we headed back to the airport and spent some time in the KrisFlyer lounge. It was lovely!

It had a large selection of food and a variety of seating options.

Any lounge that has ice cream is a winner in my book!

 

Soon, it was time to board SQ720, a Boeing 787-10 for the 2.5-hour flight. Our business class seats were different from our first flight, as they could lie flat without assistance. These seats were total overkill for such a short flight! My daughter and I sat in two middle seats with aisle access:

These seats weren’t quite as wide at 20 inches, but they were still very comfortable for our short flight.

Our seats came with a pillow, blanket, water bottle and noise-cancelling headphones:

My daughter loved putting up this privacy wall between our seats:

I pre-ordered an egg tart with sausage for this short flight. The egg tart was good, but the sausage looked totally unappealing, so I didn’t try it.

Overall Thoughts

I’m so thankful I had the miles and points to splurge on business class seats to Southeast Asia. Singapore Airlines’ business class seats were wide and comfortable. If you have to be stuck in a plane for 17 hours, it’s not a bad way to go.