II. Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge Review at Singapore Changi Airport
III. Singapore Airlines A350-900 Business Class Review, Singapore to San Francisco (long multi-page post ahead)
(OneMoreDay note: The A350-900 is the baseline model in Airbus's brand-new A350 XWB widebody family. According to Airbus's official website:
"The A350 XWB's spacious cabin design allows passengers in every cabin class to enjoy an optimal travel experience. Passengers can enjoy generous overhead space, larger panoramic windows, and roomier overhead bins. The interior cross-section of the A350 XWB cabin is 220 inches wide, 5 inches wider than competing aircraft in the same class, giving it the widest seats among its peers. In addition to providing incomparable spaciousness in first class and business class, the A350 XWB's 9-across economy-class seating is also highly comfortable, featuring Airbus's standard 18-inch-wide seats."
Singapore Airlines has already ordered 60 A350-900s and 7 A350-900ULRs for ultra-long-haul routes (for nonstop flights to Los Angeles and New York, with first flights expected in 2018). The Singapore–San Francisco nonstop is operated by the A350-900 and launched on October 23; it is currently Singapore Airlines' only A350 route to the US. This article is also the first Chinese-language review of this route.)
Singapore Airport has a pretty distinctive setup: there is no security screening before entering the airside duty-free area; you only need to clear immigration. However, each gate has its own two security checkpoints. That does help reduce long security lines. Just like on the Shanghai departure, I was again among the first few to board.
My seat this time was 12K. Even though it's 12K, it is actually the second row of business class. On Singapore Airlines, if an aircraft type does not have first class, business class still starts with the traditional business-class row numbering, instead of starting from row 1 like many other airlines. Pictured here is Singapore Airlines' A350-900 New Business Class seat in a 1-2-1 configuration.
A very large LCD screen, plus that... familiar face. On the left side there is a glass panel, which I assume is there so female passengers can use it as a mirror for makeup while seated? If you do not need it, you can lower the little cover to close it.
The small platform on the right can hold a drink. Above it is a fairly roomy storage compartment for things like your passport or phone. It seems other bloggers have even put cameras in there. It is genuinely quite spacious.
Singapore Airlines' New Business seat is very odd. It uses a slanted layout somewhat similar to a reverse herringbone design. The overall seat space is not small, but the footwell when the seat is fully flat is really unusual.
My sincere recommendation: if you fly on a Singapore Airlines aircraft with the New Business Class seat, be sure to choose row 11 or 19 (the first row of the forward business-class cabin and the first row of the rear business-class cabin), because the legroom is much more generous. See below:
Now let's look at the neighboring seat, 12F, which angles toward the left.
There is a storage compartment on the side of the seat, with a reading light above it. On the right side of the photo is the area with the charging ports after opening it. Once the little door is opened, it looks like this:
This was also the first time I had seen such a rich selection of ports: multiple USB ports, an HDMI port, plus a traditional universal power outlet. The iPod option is there because the new entertainment system used on Singapore Airlines' A350 can connect to passengers' Apple and Android devices and play the music and videos stored on them. So if you like downloading movies or TV shows onto your iPad or phone, you can connect directly to the entertainment system and watch them on the big screen. (It seems the economy-class entertainment system is not nearly as fun.)
Singapore Airlines' A350 offers Wi-Fi service for $21.95 for the whole flight, and using WeChat or watching videos was no problem.
There are a few things worth mentioning on the side of the seat. First is Singapore Airlines' entertainment remote, which has a touchscreen design and can be used to control anything on the main screen. You can choose the movies or TV shows you want without even looking at the large display the whole time. In the middle, that rectangular section with the small recessed dot is another storage compartment. It can fully fit a pair of headphones and other small items, so there is plenty of room. But there is one major issue... if, like me, you like resting your hand on the armrest, you will often bump into the door of that storage compartment... kind of annoying =.=
A few close-up shots of the remote:
The Companion App is the feature I just mentioned for connecting your own mobile device, but I was too lazy to bother with it. Maybe someone can try it next time.
At the front right side of the seat is a place to store your shoes.
Now let's see what is on the left side of the seat. On the left armrest side is the main seat control panel. From left to right, it includes the service button, seat position controls, lighting controls, and a button to turn off the screen. But I am sure everyone has already noticed one thing... why is there no fully flat bed button in the seat controls... the maximum recline shown is only 160 degrees... Yes... this is a very, very, very, very frustrating part for me. Singapore Airlines' New Business Class is different from a traditional seat... it can go fully flat, but... you have to do it manually... You need to stand up, pull up a latch on the back of the seat, and then fold the seatback down to make the bed... Detailed instructions: https://www.singaporeair.com/jsp/cms/en_UK/flying_with_us/next-gen-business.jsp
My verdict: very, very inconvenient.
At the upper left side of the seat are 3 small reading lights, and you can choose different ones depending on the seat position.
Singapore Airlines’ A359 business class removes the center overhead bins, which makes the whole cabin feel more spacious. According to Singapore Airlines’ official design, the overhead bins on both sides can fit 5 carry-ons if 21-inch bags are placed sideways, which is a very sensible use of space.
Another feature of Singapore Airlines’ A350 business class is that it only provides standard items like slippers, socks, a blanket, and a pillow. No pajamas, no amenity kit... yes... not even an amenity kit. That was a little disappointing to me.
The A350 business class comes with Phitek noise-canceling headphones. They’re still a bit worse than Boss, and not very comfortable to wear... but since the A350 cabin itself is very quiet overall, noise-canceling headphones are not especially necessary.
After all that, let’s take a look at the menu and wine list:
Another odd thing worth mentioning: this Singapore Airlines flight departed a little after 9, and the first meal service — the main meal — was served around 11. The appetizers and starters were quite good, but the main course... was actually the breakfast I had preselected. At first I thought I was seeing things, but then I realized everyone was being served breakfast. That was... pretty awkward. Shouldn’t the first meal be a more standard dinner service, with breakfast served as the second meal before arriving in the U.S.? Especially since this flight lands in San Francisco around 9-10 in the morning, which is basically perfect breakfast timing. Strange as it was, I just ate it slowly anyway.
For my “breakfast,” I chose the Dim Sum option from Singapore Airlines: congee with Hong Kong-style dim sum. The taste was actually pretty good... yes, really.
With dessert afterward, that wrapped up the first main meal.
Because making the bed was such a hassle, I just used the seat in its 160-degree reclined position for a two- or three-hour nap. The rest of the time I watched movies.
Once reclined to 160 degrees, legroom still felt a bit restricted. I wouldn’t call it especially comfortable.
With 4 hours left before landing in San Francisco, the flight attendant brought the “main meal” — I chose the lobster with rice. The taste... was okay, I guess. Compared with the lobster + rice I had on JAL flying back to China... well... yeah... it was okay.
Then... after finishing the lobster rice, I was expecting maybe dessert, side dishes, something... but no. The flight attendant just cleared the utensils and tablecloth. That was it. Just... over. I was honestly pretty baffled. Frankly, it would have made more sense to serve the earlier breakfast at this point instead. You’re really just serving a standalone main course and calling it done? That felt pretty baffling too.
Here are a few more photos:
A quick commemorative shot of my 12,000.
To sum up:
My writing style is a bit wordy, so please excuse that if it’s not your thing. Among the airlines currently known to operate the A350, Singapore Airlines has the most distinctive business class seat. Most other carriers use a traditional reverse herringbone seat. Compared with reverse herringbone, Singapore Airlines’ New Business Class does offer a lot of personal space and very good privacy. But the somewhat “anti-human” manually flipped 180-degree flat-bed design, along with the restricted foot space, is still open to debate. That said, the rest of the hard product — especially the entertainment system — is absolutely top-tier in the industry, including the breadth of movie options and integration with today’s mainstream personal mobile devices.
The soft product is more debatable. The meal sequencing in particular left me confused: breakfast served as the main meal, and the main meal served as breakfast, was honestly a first for me. Maybe I just haven’t flown enough, or maybe my expectations for the A350 were too high, especially since I had just flown JAL First Class back to China. With all those factors combined, maybe my perspective was a bit different.
This is my first time writing such a rambling trip report, so feel free to just browse casually. If you have any questions about transiting in Singapore, feel free to leave a comment anytime.