Singapore Airlines First Class B777-300ER from Singapore to Sydney

Short review

Lounge (The Private Room in Singapore): 5/5

Cabin: 4/5

Service: 5/5

Food and beverages: 5/5

Pros:

• Private Room is a very good lounge in my opinion
• Great in-flight services from the flight attendants
• Great entertainment system

Cons:

• Seat wasn’t as comfortable as other first-class seats
• Internet was free only up to 100 MB

Long review

The flight was Singapore Airlines SQ288, which left Singapore at 10:30 and landed in Sydney, Australia, at 20:10, with a total flight time of 7 hours and 40 minutes. My journey began in the Singapore Airlines First Class check in in the Changi Airport Terminal 3. This premium check-in area looked amazing I must say. It was also rather busy … well at least busier than I expected. There were still plenty of empty seats available as you can see from my photo below.

I should explain that this trip was a continuation from my first-class trip from Jakarta to Singapore the day before, which can be read here. I had obtained my boarding pass and checked in a large package, so I only needed to check in my bag. I gave my bag and passport to a check-in staff and he immediately took care of everything for me. There was a special immigration lane for Singapore Airlines First Class passengers, so passport control was a breeze.

I immediately went to the SilverKris Lounge, conveniently located in front of the immigration. A lounge staff greeted me and accompanied me to the Private Room, the first class lounge accessible only to Singapore Airlines first class passengers. I found the lounge to be elegant and quiet. I personally like its design, although I think some people may feel the lounge imposing.

The Private Room felt spacious because of the high ceiling and the generous space between seats. It had many sitting areas with comfortable chairs and a separate dining area. I also appreciated the fact that there’s a baby changing facility in the lounge. The bathroom was spacious and luxurious with excellent amenities provided. Shower rooms were readily available as expected.

The first thing I did in the lounge was to have breakfast. There was some ready-made food on the counter, but I was more interested with the menu. I ordered French toast and fish congee. Both dishes were delicious and a perfect start for my first-class journey. After breakfast, I spent the remaining of my lounge time doing some work until it was time to boarding. There was no boarding call in the lounge, which was great to keep the atmosphere quiet and serene.

The plane was B777-300ER equipped with new first-class seats. There were only 4 seats in first class organised into 1 row. I was happy to find out that I was the only passenger in first class, meaning I had the entire cabin for myself. Apparently one of the flight attendants has ‘stalked’ me online, so she already recognised me while I was walking on the aerobridge. She brought me to my seat (1F) and introduced herself (her name is Tun). Tun was the main person who took care of me throughout the flight and I was very happy with her professionalism and friendliness. There were two more flight attendants in first class and all of them performed admirably as expected from Singapore Airlines.

The pre-flight routine commenced as usual. A hot towel was offered along with a welcome drink, in which I chose a wonderfully delicious Krug Champagne. The menu was quite extensive as listed below.

Appetiser

• Chilled Malossol caviar
• Alaskan crabmeat mango salad*

Soup

• Heirloom carrot soup*
• Double boiled chicken soup

Salad

• Butter lettuce heart with mixed cress and cherry tomatoes*

Main

• Spice rubbed beef fillet in chipotle steak sauce*
• Chinese herbal chicken
• Seared gindara cod fillet in saffron ginger cream sauce
• Gulai kambing (Indonesian lamb curry)

Dessert

• Caramelised pineapple verrine*
• Warm orange financier cake

The ones with an asterisk were my selections and were exclusively created by Alfred Portale of Gotham Bar & Grill, New York. The restaurant is a One Michelin Star restaurant, while Alfred Portale is considered as one of the founders of New American cuisine. In addition, there were also a selection of cheese, fruit basket, bread rolls and gourmet breads, and praline. Besides lunch, there were also two choices of a refreshment dish: Gotham’s chicken and bacon cobb salad, and Singapore laksa. I chose the laksa for this one. Obviously I couldn’t miss Singapore laksa, an important dish in Singapore, when I flew with Singapore Airlines.

Soon after take-off, I changed to the Lalique pyjamas provided. I found that these Lalique pyjamas are more comfortable than the previous ones usually found on board Singapore Airlines First Class. I also like the design of the Lalique amenity kit bag. Some nuts and drink (I picked Singapore Sling) were also distributed after take-off.

When Tun took my lunch order, I told her that I wanted to have lunch at 12 and the refreshment at 4 pm (Singapore time). She promptly started the lunch service at 12. All the dishes were wonderfully delicious. It was an extremely enjoyable dining experience.

Before lunch was served, Tun converted the seat next to me into a bed. Actually I wanted to request this, but she has done it proactively before I even requested it. Again very happy with her service and thoughtfulness. After lunch, it’s time to nap. The bed itself was wide and the linen and duvet were of a very good quality. However, I could feel a bump around my knees. It wasn’t really comfortable to sleep sideways because I could feel it pressing against my calf. Having said so, I slept well for nearly 2 hours.

After napping, it was time to enjoy my Singapore laksa, which was served on time at 4 pm. The smell of laksa permeated the cabin when it was served. Again, another good dish.

Another perk provided for first class passengers is free 100 MB Internet access. 100 MB was rather limited indeed. It should be noted that some airlines offer unlimited internet for their first class passengers, while some do not offer at all. So I guess this is a compromise. The speed was reasonable when I used it.

When it comes to the entertainment system, the high-resolution screen was big, offering a pleasant viewing experience. The system was responsive and I like how I could control the screen using the smaller touch-screen device placed conveniently on my arm rest. The movie selection was very good as well.

I wished the flight were longer, but my journey had to end when we landed in Sydney. Another enjoyable experience of flying with Singapore Airlines. The Private Room and the in-flight services were the highlights of the journey. The seat was ok, but not as good as other first class seats that I tried previously. It was also considerably behind the suite-like seat offered by Singapore Airlines themselves and other airlines. Overall, Singapore Airlines demonstrated again why they are now the best airline in the world according to Skytrax. Definitely a five-star flying experience.