My husband and I just got back from our European whirlwind trip, visiting France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany, with the last (and most exciting leg) being on Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Business Class, from Frankfurt back to New York-JFK. In this post I will give a quick look, with a ful lflight reveiw to be posted later. Specifically, this is flight SQ26, departing Frankfurt at 8:35AM and arriving at New York-JFK at 11:00am.

Well – this is it. At least for me, I think this is the way I’m going to want to travel between Europe and the US. Of course, it means transiting in Frankfurt, which is not per se the nicest place to do so, but Singapore Airlines brings an incredibly competitive product to the transatlantic market that I think is not easily beaten by other airlines, save for those with cutting edge seats and technology, or if you have the opportunity to straight-up fly first class.

1. Checkin, lounges and boarding
2. Singapore Airlines’ seat is a little dated, but spacious and comfortable
3. I enjoyed the many, many amenities
4. The food is delicious, and plentiful
5. The service was stellar, the highlight of this flight!
6. Summary

Checkin, lounges and boarding

We arrived at the airport at around 5:00am, and proceeded to check-in area C. Here, our documents for entry into the US were checked, after which the friendly agent quickly checked us in and sent the baggage on our way. I can’t the security screening process at Frankfurt was particularly efficient, with equipment that seemed a little dated. The airport itself is… fine. After a quick round among the perfume stands in the duty free shop, we headed for the lounges.

Traveling with Singapore Airlines in business class affords you access to the Lufthansa Business and Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges. I’d already read that the Lufthansa lounge isn’t very ncie, and the check-0in agent suggested we go to the Air Canada Lounge, on account of the Lufthansa lounge getting busy. But, this was at around 6:00am, so we went to the Lufthansa lounge first to sample it, and then to go to the Air Canada Lounge.

The Lufthansa Business Lounge indeed wasn’t all that nice. I had read somewhere an opinion that the Lufthansa lounge sort of looks like an office cafeteria – and unfortunately I’d have to agree with that sentiment. It looks overly practical without much nice decoration. The decor palette is a little ‘cold’ and uninspiring. The drink options seemed quite extensive, though, and I enjoyed sampling the breakfast buffet. There are showers, which can be reserved, as well lounge, dining and office seating, as well as phone booths.

Then we went to the Air Canada Lounge which was on a whole different level, in terms of decor. I quickly found that the food is more or less the same as the Lufthansa lounge so little difference there, but the lounge looks a thousand times nicer. The color palette is warm and inviting, with wood and stone elements throughout the lounge.

About 10 minutes before boarding we went to the gate, where it was announced that, due to a late arrival of the plane, boarding was delayed – this ended up amounting to about 20 minutes. Then, families etc were boarded first, following by first class and then business class passengers. We were able to board through a dedicated jet bridge that connected to the first set of doors, where we were awaited by a friendly pair of flight attendants, that invited us to turn right into the business class cabin. I was in seat 14A and my husband in 12A – both of these were window seats on the left side of the plane.

Singapore Airlines’ seat is a little dated, but spacious and comfortable

The seats in Singapore Airlines Business Class are very spacious. The seat is very wide – to me it felt significant wider than other business class seats I had the opportunity of experiencing. This is in part because the seats are not staggered, meaning the seats are right behind one another with the footwell being to the left of the seat in front. This means you have to angle your legs to the left when lounging or sleeping even though the screen is in front of the seat. This, admittedly, is a little awkward.

One thing I liked is the ample storage. First, there is a console to the left that has a storage compartment immediately to the left, and this is also where power, USB and even an HDMI plug are located. Then in front of that there is a storage compartment with a lid that holds the headphones and a bottle of water. To the left of the screen is also a compartment, which I found to be perfect for personal items, such as wallets etc. Finally, below the foot well is a large space where you can leave shoes, a small handbag, and such items.

The console is also where the tray table is stowed. you push down to release, and then it’s fairly easy to pull the table up and fold it down. You can move it towards and away from you, and some limited motion to the left and right. There’s also a latch at its root that allows to move the table up and down. This is very useful, as it allows you to move the table up and then scoot out from under it, for example if you need to go to the lavatory.

To the right are a series of buttons to control seat functions, including various lights, calling a flight attendant, moving the seat forward or backward, and bringing the legrest up or down. You can’t control the backrest unfortunately and to go into bedmode you need to flip the entire backrest down – the back of the backrest then becomes the sleeping surface.

In front is the entertainment screen, which, confusingly, is not touchscreen. In th beginning I was tapping at the screen like a fool, until I realized that you can only control the system with the handheld controller. I can’t remember the last time I was on a plane where the system was not operable with a touchscreen… It shows that the seat, while spacious and comfortable, is kind of dated. That said, the system was very responsive and navigation was easy. The screen was also a good size, given that you’re sitting fairly close to it. Note that the controller does have a touchscreen, but you mostly use the up/down/left/right and enter keys to navigate the menus.

I already mentioned that bedmode is achieve by flipping down the backrest. I got a flight attendant to do this for me, as I’d never seen it done before. They did it within 30 seconds or so. I felt that the leftward angle at which you have to lie down to put your legs into the footwell was not as awkward as I’d been made to believe in reviews, and felt that, actually, with the wide seat, this was a very spacious and rather comfortable bed. The only thing I missed was a mattress pad, as the seat was a little bit hard,

Overall, I liked the seat quite a bit, but I do feel it’s a little dated. At least the seat was very spacious, it was in good condition, the entertainment system was responsive (though no touchscreen), and was quite comfortable to sit and lounge in, though for seeping I thought it was a little hard.

I enjoyed the many, many amenities

There is no shortage of amenities. When I got to my seat a variety were waiting for me, including a substantial pillow and blanket, some L-sized slippers (finally a pair that actually fit my feet!!), a face mask, socks, noise-cancelling headphones and a bottle of water.

The funny thing: one of the flight attendants working my aisle saw me taking pictures and approached me with the ‘actual’ amenity kit. Two notes about this: (1) I found it interesting that these were generally not pro-actively handed out, but it seemed as though you had to ask for them; (2) The amenity kit is a lovely pouch made of a distressed jeans-y fabric, with Le Labo products that included hand lotion, lip balm and face mist. I thought this was an exciting amenity kit!

This turned out to not be the end of the amenities, as the lavatory turned out to be well-stocked with more. They were a little hidden, but there was a drawer just left of the sink that was stocked with dental and shaving kits, combs and other such personal hygiene products. I thought it was a ncie approach to place these in a common location for those that need it, and not include them in the amenity kit. However, then of course you’d need to find them first, which I’m not sure how many people actually did…

Overall, I was impressed with the array of amenities and their overall quality. Singapore Airlines definitely doesn’t cheap out and is generous with the extent of amenities that are available to passengers.

The food is delicious, and plentiful

The food and drink played a central role on this flight. During boarding, several flight attendants passed by to introduce themselves and offer various services, including confirming (for those that pre-ordered) or taking (for those that didn’t) the meal orders, as well as a drink order for after takeoff. This wa sin addition to the welcome drink, which included orange or apple juice, or water. Thus I confirmed my short rib meal order, and I asked for a glass of champagne. And indeed, after takeoff, not long after the seatbelt signs were switched off, the attendant came back and brought me a generous poor of champagne. Singapore Airlines was pouring Charles Heidsick Brut Reserve, which was delicious!

The first meal on board of this flight was a refreshment, namely Singapore Airlines’ iconic chicken satay. I’ve seen this dish appear time and time again on various reviews and confirm that’s it’s delicious. The peanut sauce was chunky, which I’d not seen before but it was nevertheless very tasty. I also enjoyed the simple but elegant plating.

Following the chicken satay followed some time until the actual meal service started. Meanwhile the flight attendant noticed I was almost through my champagne and asked if I wanted more, then promptly appeared with the bottle.

A little later the flight attendants rolled out the cart along my aisle to start meal service. I was impressed by how well-coordinated the two flight attendants (Rianna and Angel were). While Rianna was in front setting the table and taking drink orders, Angel son followed at the back of the cart with the appetizer, and explained the various ingredients. On this flight, the appetizer was a prosciutto and mozzarella salad. I normally don’t eat cheese, but in combination with the pesto this was surprisingly tasty. I asked for a wine recommendation to pair this with, and was suggested a white wine, so I took the Riesling.

Following the appetizer, the flight attendants served the main dish restaurant-style, rather than from a cart. I had pre-ordered was the beef short rib, which was very good. This option had to be pre-ordered, as it was not available among the options otherwise available during the flight, so it’s well worth looking what’s on offer before your flight, using Singapore’s ‘book the cook’ option. It was served with broccoli and some incredible pasta – it was so soft and smooth, I don’t think I’ve had such tasty pasta on a flight.

Following the main dish, there was a brief pause after which the cart was rolled through for dessert. Once again Rianna and Angel did a fantastic job with their service. After explaining the four options I chose the caramel ice cream and fruit plate, but with their insistence that the mascarpone cream cake was also very good, I relented and had that too. If I’m honest, the ice cream was my favorite, followed by the fruit and then the cake – but I did appreciate their enthusiasm and generosity.

Then, as a final cherry on the cake, one of the male crew members passed by with an offer of chocolate, which was excellent as well. I later identified him as ‘Terence’.

With that the lunch service concluded and the table cloth and utensils were cleared, and I stowed the tray table. It wasn’t until about 2 hours before arrival that a final refreshment was served.

This is a bit of a story. I didn’t realize that refreshment sewrvcie was about to start and I called a flight attendants. I suppose they were busy, because for a few minutes there was no respons,e until a crew member from the front came by to inquire what I needed.

I first asked whether I could order from the a la carte (‘delectables’) menu, but this was only for flights between Frankfurt and Singapore, so instead he directed me to the refreshment menu that was about to be served. I asked of the quiche included cheese – and this is where things got interesting. The attendants said he’d find out, and promptly returned to show me what it looked like – though it didn’t really answer my question. So he disappeared again and then came back, and here’s what he said:

“Allow me to surprise you. I can make you a burger from the fitrst class menu, and I’ll leave out the cheddar for you. How does that sound?”

Well, I was intrigued of course. I was quite surprised he didn’t simply offer me the second business class choice, which was the egg noddle and most definiutley wouldn’t have had cheese. I much appreciated his generosity with providing a refreshment from first class! I did hesitate and asked whether he thought the burger or the egg noddle would be better, to which he said: “I think you should have the burger. Just leave it to me and I’ll see to it that you will enjoy it!”

He then disappeared, and in that time the other crew member passed through to set the table and provide drinks, at which occasion I ordered a cup of tea and a glass of water. Funnily, the male crew member said that he’d heard that ‘his boss’ was going to get me a ‘first class burger’. We then chatted a little bit more, until ‘his boss’ appeared with two sliders and a bowl of sweet potato and ‘normal’ chips.

Now, I have to be honest here: in my mind the egg noodle sounded better, but I can’t really pass up a custom-made, ‘first class’ burger if it’s being offered, right? And I do have to admit that these were restaurant quality. The bunds were toasted slightly and the patties were of a good quality of beef – perhaps Angus? Some caramelized onions were also added. I’d been happy to pay for these burgers in a normal restaurant, so I’d say he did a lovely job with these!

Following the refreshment the meal service concluded, and a little while later the cabin was prepared for landing. Overall, the meals on this flight were of fantastic quality. Every dish was tasty, with very pretty plating. I would have been wiling to pay for each of these dishes had they been served to me in a restaurant.

The service was stellar, the highlight of this flight!

While this was the first time that I flew Singapore Airlines, I had read a lot of good things. I was excited for the flight and had high hopes, but after the slightly disappointing flight with JAL from New York-JFK to Tokyo, I was a little afraid to have too high explications. However, I’m very happy to say that the good reviews are absolutely warranted.

If there’s only thing I could choose that stood out to me on this flight, it’d be the service. I can say without a doubt in my mind that among the various business class experiences I;v’e had (which I realize aren’t all that many, as of right now), this flight had by far the best service. I cannot say enough good things about the flight attendants and the friendly, generous, professional an courteous service that they provided.

First of all, it’s about the demeanor of every single flight attendant. They were all professional, courteous, kind and incredibly generous. They were always happy to jump right over and help out, and always with a big smile and a joy that suggested to me that this is not merely a job to them – they actually very much enjoy and take great pride in their work! Delta, United, American – take note!!

Second, it’s all in the details of the service flow. The meal service strikes an intriguing balance between individual, personalized service and efficiency, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this executed so well as on this flight. It was like a well-oiled machine, but still with a personal touch and a warm friendliness. And this is all-encompassing: my impression was that the crew communicates amongst each other on how things are going with various passengers, because on various occasions I found that different crew members were aware of things I had said or asked for, suggesting that they all keep a close eye on passengers and pass messages along. This is fantastic, because it means that anybody working your aisle could/should know what’s going on, allowing to expect the same level of knowledge on your situation from every flight attendant. I was impressed!

Finally, let me highlight just how genuinely kind and generous the cabin crew was. A lot of times, it really ends up being about the details. Three exmaples:

• When Angel noticed me taking pictures of the amenities at my seat, she proactively offered me the amenity kit, thinking I would enjoy including it in the pictures. Later on, she returned and said that she had noticed that my husband and I were flying together (this seemed obvious, but it wouldn’t have been for her – we were sitting behind one another and we don’t share a last name, so we could easily been mistaken for having no relation), and that she’d like to give him an amenity kit as well. However, she noticed he was asleep, and whether I’d be okay handing it to him later on. This kindness impressed me.
• At the end of the flight, I asked Rianna if I could take the slippers home, since I liked them so much (they are comfortable and *gasp* actually the size of my feet!). Of course I could, but Rianna actually suggested to get me a fresh pair, still in the wrapper, to take home, rather than the ones I’d been using during the flight.
• When I asked if I could take a photo of the chocolates that were offered following lunch service, Terence smiled broadly and said he’d be happy to be in the picture, if I’d like that. Of course I said yes and snapped the below shot of him.

Summary

Seriously, wow. I had heard a lot about Singapore Airlines and specifically how good the service is, but I don’t think I was quite prepared for this. Truthfully, I was afraid to have high expectations, given how that turned out with JAL, which really wasn’t as good as I thought it’d be, based on reviews I had read. However, Singapore Airlines is just in a league of its own, if you ask me. The absolute highlight is certainly the service, which was just wonderful. Then, the food was high quality, and I enjoyed most every bite. Finally, while a little dated and lacking some features that seem basic these days (e.g. a touchscreen monitor), I found the seat to be spacious and comfortable. I can see not evetybody will like it though, given that you need to sit at an awkward angle while lounging, and there’s no good middle ground between sitting and reclining for sleeping.

Full review will be coming later, but for now, this was truly an excellent flight. And, if you ask me, this must be the best way to fly between the USA and Europe!