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Singapore Airlines Business Class SIN – JFK review: Onboard World’s Longest Commercial Flight

Singapore Airlines Business Class SIN – JFK review: Onboard World’s Longest Commercial Flight
@candidcuisine POV: you made it and now fly business class for work #tiktoksg #singaporeairlines #businessclass #wheretoeat #vtl #nyc ♬ In The End – Mellen Gi Remix – Tommee Profitt & Fleurie & Mellen Gi

Let me preface by saying, I knew at some point I was going to have to brave the pandemic and board a plane. I just didn’t know I was going to do it onboard the world’s longest commercial flight.

That’s 18 hours and 40 minutes from Singapore to New York. Another 18 hours and 50 minutes on the way back.

Search flights Singapore to New York JFK non-stop

To those asking if it was really necessary for me to fly during a pandemic, it was. And it was for work. And so I couldn’t say no and skip. My boss was expecting me to go with the team. My coworkers already went through Covid infections, and so they weren’t the least concerned. On the other hand, I armed myself with tons of hand sanitizers and wipes the entire trip. (More like brought my entire house with me because I was going through separation anxiety.) Singapore Airlines gives you a care kit too, but don’t expect the masks to be of high quality. They were super loose on my face.

But it was an amazing delayed gratification to be flying again. More so, onboard Singapore Airlines’ business class. The tickets were expensive, because what would you expect during a lower covid wave season? Of course, airlines were going to take advantage. But also, travel was back again.

Space

I had a LOT of space (in my old business class seat onboard A350). I weighed roughly around 50kg during that trip (because I lost a lot of weight during the pandemic). I didn’t have any problems fitting my feet in that tiny space when the seats turned into a flat bed. A lot of folks complained about that and recommended getting a bulkhead seat. (That is still debatable until today) I was fine with it, but needed the flight attendants to return the seat upright for me. (Also, nobody knew how to put it upright; the seats were way too heavy.)

As to whether I slept, I slept badly on the way to JFK. Even the flight attendants were concerned I had turned my seat upright again and turned it into a lounge chair instead and that was when I finally fell asleep. I was used to Cathay Pacific’s older business class seats.

Inflight amenities

Long story short: if you don’t ask for amenities, they are not going to give you one. So ask for everything because you paid for it: slippers, socks… and Penhaligon’s kit complete with lotion, face mist and lip gloss.

Toothbrush kits are available in the lavatories.

Pajamas

NO. Singapore Airlines business class doesn’t give pajamas. So I bought one myself, which were a pair of pajamas for the SQ First Class. I just felt like doing a fashion show onboard. Haha. Seriously, I wanted to do some activities onboard rather than lying down for 18 hours straight. The lavatories were smaller than I expected, so there wasn’t enough room to change TBH. But it was comfier changing into a set of pajamas and fresher when I arrived in JFK.

WiFi

Wi-Fi was bad, because I only had 100mb to budget the entire trip. I wanted to scream. Of course, that’s me being a baby.

Entertainment

I had no qualms here.There was a wide selection of entertainment from THE HOUSE OF GUCCI to my personal favorite, NO TIME TO DIE. But I decided to turn off my TV to get some sleep (which I didn’t).

I did sleep on the way back to SIN, strangely.

SIN – JFK Business Class Inflight Menu

You’ll always be served with a welcome drink. (After the flight attendants confirming what your meal options are). I opted for a glass of champagne, because I wasn’t a huge fan of the Singapore Sling.

Throughout the 18 hour flight, there were 2 main meals, one served upon takeoff and another mid-flight. In between, you can ask for snacks and light meals, but if you get hungry earlier than the schedule, you can of course, asked to be served earlier.

For starters, I had a boiled egg and poached salmon salad. It was passable. There was a wide selection of bread as well. I recommend getting the popular garlic bread aside from the usual bread sticks and dinner rolls. That, or some focaccia with balsamiq vinegar.

Book the Cook

The only strong selling point of going business class on Singapore Airlines is Book the Cook and the extensive dietary and special meals available onboard. (And I was tempted to get a bland meal due to my current health state, but yes, I decided to eat stuff that I wasn’t allowed to eat.)

If you find yourself onboard a long haul flight, you’ll definitely have a higher chance of booking the Lobster Thermidore. DO NOT SKIP THIS. It’ll be worth every buck you spent (or miles) for business class. You’ll need to book this ahead of your flight.

My Lobster Thermidore was perfectly buttery in every bite. I savored every morsel of it and wished the meal wouldn’t end.

Dessert was a win. I loved the sticky date and almond pudding. I also liked that you can get anything from the dessert trolley, from fresh fruits to cheese platter and some ice cream. I opted for the cake and the cheese platter (and saved the Meiji crackers for when I got hungry.)

For the mid flight meal, Singapore Chicken Satay was the starter, and it was one of the highlights of my meal. I felt like I was in a fancy hawker centre and great to pair it with a glass of French Bordeaux. (Of course, the wine selection was extensive as well from Spanish to French.)

I ordered the Beef Steak. Sadly, this was far from my Lobster Thermidore experience. It tasted like a burger shoved inside a microwave oven. I didn’t finish it. Definitely skip this.

The dessert made up for the terrible entree. Some Banana chocolate pudding that was out of this world. I loved the vanilla cream served with it and wished that my pudding was overflowing with that.

I was slightly (only slightly) hungry before the mid-flight meal, and so I ordered instant noodles. It was served in a fancy tray, but we all know that’s Nissin Cup Noodles Instant Seafood flavor. LOL.

I did get some buns too; DayPlus Orange Chocolate bread was really delicious. I made a mental note to order one in RedMart once I was back in Singapore.

JFK – SIN Business Class Inflight Menu

On the flight back JFK-SIN, the crew mixed up my order. (So yeah, what was the whole point of confirming my meal options at the start of the flight then?) To give them some benefit of the doubt, the SQ app was throwing app errors whenever I would try to Book the Cook. Instead of having Scallops and Shrimp linguine, which was my first choice, I ended up with a sad piece of Chicken Breast with lemon jus. I could have cooked this better.

The smoked salmon salad made up for the terrible chicken. Apple puree was delicious, slight tanginess to the smokiness of the salmon. 10/10.

For the midflight meal, I was served with a prawn salsa. It wasn’t really anything special and I didn’t even enjoy it.

The mid flight meal was also a mess. I ordered a Prawn Wonton noodle soup, but landed with a Signature Black Cod with Forbidden Rice, that was served very late. Thankfully, this mistake turned out to be serendipitous. I loved the rice mixed with edamame puree. It felt like a Mexican Chinese fusion and the black cod was just the right portion for me. 10/10. This meal was limited edition, so I’m not sure if you still can try this out.

Meanwhile, the chocolate mousse was outstanding and really memorable.

Customer Service

Throughout the flight, I noticed that the customer service was below airline standards. I felt that the cabin crew was unrehearsed and needed more time to warm up to pre-pandemic levels. (Perhaps they were new cabin crew attendants recruited?) The service was slow. Often times, whenever I would ask for assistance, it took a long while before my asks were attended. I think it was the aftermath of the pandemic, and we can cut them some slack… Except we paid so much for this flight that there’s little room to give them leeway.

That said, I would still fly Singapore Airlines. KrisFlyer miles is one of the best mileage programs in the market IMO (and when you compare it to Marco Polo / Asia Miles, the latter is just useless.). With Krisflyer, you can dream of a free flight as you accrue mileage. But I would recommend flying business class for a long haul flight, for safety and comfort reasons. If you find yourself cruising in the world’s longest commercial flight, there’s no better airline to fly than Singapore Airlines.

Read: The new Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Business and First Class Lounge review at Changi International Airport Terminal 3