Short review
Note: 3 is average
Lounge: 5/5 (SilverKris Lounge in T3 Changi Airport – Very spacious lounge offering an outstanding breakfast experience)
Seat: 4/5 (Good seat overall; can be converted into a fully-flat bed, although you cannot do the adjustment directly with a press of a button)
Entertainment: 3.5/5 (Plenty of movies to select as expected; no touch screen was inconvenient)
Service: 4/5 (Efficient and polite)
Food and beverages: 5/5 (Delicious, nothing to fault)
Pros:
- Perhaps the best business class lounge I’ve ever visited
- In-flight fine dining experience
Cons:
- No touch screen for the entertainment system
Long review
Singapore Airlines SQ241 was scheduled to depart Singapore at 07:15 and to arrive in Sydney at 16:55 with a total duration of 7 hours and 40 minutes. We started our journey in the SilverKris Business Class Lounge in Changi Airport Terminal 3. This lounge was fairly recently refurbished, and it indeed looks impressive. The 3000 sqm lounge is massive and can easily accommodate more than 500 guests. It has two wings. The one to the right is smaller but should have more natural light during the day. We decided to enjoy breakfast in the larger wing, given that it seems to have more food options.
Talking about breakfast, the variety of foods is impressive. I tried the laksa, which the staff kindly prepared for me, and it was delicious. I saw someone ordered a freshly made egg dish. Other dishes were enjoyable too. Overall, we had a very pleasant breakfast experience. Perhaps this is my best business class lounge experience so far.
Now let’s continue with the on-board experience. Each row in the business class cabin is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, giving an easy access to the aisle for all passengers. The seat is fairly wide and comfortable. It can be converted into a fully-flat bed, although you will need to flip the top half of the seat to do so. Linen, duvet and pillows are available to make your rest comfortable. The leg space is a bit small in the bed mode, but I think it is still adequate.
Wi-fi was available throughout the flight for business class passengers and KrisFlyer members, which is a great initiative offered by Singapore Airlines. The content of the entertainment system was outstanding as usual. The problem was the hardware of the entertainment system, and this is my main issue in this flight. There was no touch screen because the screen was covered by a plastic cover. Not sure why it was so, probably related to hygiene due to COVID? As such, the only way to control the entertainment system was to use the controller on the side of the seat. This was not ideal, and my daughter could not use this controller properly sometimes, so I needed to help her from time to time, which was rather annoying over time.
Before leaving the gate, welcome drinks were distributed as usual. I picked orange juice. A flight attendant also asked what we would like to eat for lunch from the menu that had been conveniently placed in one of the storage spaces around the seat. We could order dishes from the Book the Cook service, but we decided to simply order from the in-flight menu because the options seemed good. For info, we could see the in-flight menu a few days before the departure, hence we knew what the menu was beforehand.
A light breakfast, comprising some selections of bread and fruit, was served soon after take-off. Lunch was served around 3 hours into the flight. It started with Singapore chicken satay, which was a perfect dish to wet the appetite. The appetiser was marinated smoked salmon with capers, which was a refreshing dish. For the main course, I ordered the roasted stuffed chicken with forest mushrooms, while my wife ordered the ‘Moonlight’ hor fun by Keng Eng Kee Seafood. Both dishes were highly enjoyable. Finally, I had the banana cheesecake with butter crumble for dessert.
I spent the remaining time enjoying some movies. Josie managed to have a good nap after lunch, which was good because we had an early start this morning.
In terms of services from the flight attendants, I think they were efficient and polite, although perhaps lacked some warmth if I can be picky. Overall, this was still a very good flight experience. The SilverKris lounge in T3 Changi Airport is the best part of the journey, closely followed by the in-flight fine dining experience. The unavailability of touch screen in the entertainment system part is the major downside.
