Finally we have arrived at my experience flying an apartment in the sky. It’s been a long time coming, but it finally happened and somehow lived up to the expectations I’ve built up over the last 5 years. So let’s see what my journey was like flying Singapore Air’s A380 First Class Suites!
PRE-FLIGHT
Booking
We booked an apartment in the sky with Etihad, but after they discontinued that plane, I set my eyes on Singapore Air’s First Class Suites. I was particularly excited because Singapore Air allows passengers to book two connecting suites and move a wall down to combine them for a more spacious experience. However, there are only two sets of seats on each plane that have this option (1A & 2A or 1F & 2F).
In total, there are only 6 First Class Suites for 6 max people in the Upper Deck of each A380 so my Mom and I planned our travel dates around days where we could book two suites next to each other. After we found a date that worked, we booked it! We were going to enjoy over 20 hours of flight time between NYC and Singapore in these gorgeous suites.
However, nothing can be easy 🙂 . We received an email from Singapore Air that our flight had been downgraded to their regular First Class and no points would be returned to us for this downgrade. Boo 🙂 . We learned that this happened because Singapore Air had pulled all the A380s from US cities. They would only fly between international locations in the future.
So it was time to regroup. However, we realized that the next leg of our flight would be outside of the US and on the renowned A380! So we immediately booked the combined suites for our flight from Singapore to Sydney. Phew! We were ready to fly.
Flights Details
- Flight Cost: $4,280
- Where: Singapore to Sydney, Australia
- Flight: SQ231
- Flight Time: 7 hours, 40 minutes
- Seat: 2F First Class Suite
- Distance: 3,920 miles
- When: September 2023
- Points Used: 155,000 KrisFlyer points
- Taxes: $26.89 USD
SIN AIRPORT
Check In
After a wonderful day exploring Singapore and enjoying the largest rooftop infinity pool in the world at the Marina Bay Sands, we headed to the airport in a Grab Ride Share.
From the moment we entered the Changi Airport property, it was clear that this would be a unique experience 🙂 . There was a separate driveway with a large stone sign saying “First Class Check In” before even entering the main airport drop off area.
When our car drove up to the separate entrance, no other customers were there 🙂 . We were greeted by a full staff who immediately took our bags and directed us to the First Class check in area…which looked like a fancy hotel lobby.
We were directed to plush seats to relax into while they checked us in. This was already unlike any airport journey I’ve had before.
They checked our passports and gave us our boarding passes as well as a ticket to get into the secret lounge I had no idea existed despite being in that lounge area several times.
Immigration
We were then directed through a pair of doors to…our own immigration officer. Once again, no one else was there and there was no line. Just a kiosk to check our passport and an officer to help us. And he ended up needing to help because my passport wasn’t happy to be scanned 🙂 . Despite that, we were through immigration in seconds.
The Lounge
And then only 10 minutes since we arrived at the airport, we set foot in the lounge. We’ve been to the Singapore Business Class Lounge in Changi Airport, but never to the First Class Lounges.
However, we discovered that the lounge we were going to was even more exclusive. Check it out:
It was a wonderfully intimate space with understandably very few people in it. We were directed inside by a staff member who then alerted a waiter that we would like to be served where we were sitting instead of in the dining area. Fancy!
The waiter gave us menus and came back shortly to see what we wanted. Everything was of course free and our food and drinks appeared so quickly it was as if magic was involved.
After some sips and nibbles, I was feeling like some tea and they had an extensive tea list, but I for some reason had the urge to drink mint tea specifically. So I asked if they had anything similar and instead was given a verbal list of the types of mint teas they have. I guess it’s just off menu. Wild!
After relaxing for a little bit, it was time to head to the gate for boarding. Time flew by 🙂 .
THE JOURNEY
Boarding
The boarding gate was a 10 minute walk away from the lounge and we arrived at the gate 15 minutes before the boarding time and we were surprised to see that they were almost done boarding and hardly anyone was around. Oops! I’ll arrive a little earlier next time.
Security
Once we reached the gate, there was a security check that asked you to take out your laptop, Kindle, phone and liquids. At the same time, they check your boarding pass and passport while you’re in the security line and also when you get out of it.
I’m not sure if it was our late arrival or what, but there was no line for security. We didn’t have to wait and walked right through. There was a separate line to queue to enter for First and Business Class, but since there was no line we didn’t need it and walked towards the plane.
However, there was a separate boarding door so we followed signs to First Class, which took us to the Upper Deck by our own door. We never saw the Business Class passengers that were supposedly behind us. So wild 🙂 .
The Flight
We were then shown to our suites by flight attendants and offered a take off champagne, a hot towel and warm nuts.
I quickly set to exploring every inch of this massive suite. Despite my best efforts, none of the pictures I took did it justice. In case you’d like a more comprehensive view, I took videos and they’re saved in my Travel Hacks Story Highlights on Instagram.
I busied myself examining the pajamas, slippers, socks and Amenities kit we were left (pics in that review section below) and this entire dresser along the wall complete with my own iPad to control everything
Then a flight attendant came by and put my bag in the literal CLOSET I didn’t know was in my suite. The Singapore marketing team took a way better photo than I could:
What is life?! Anyway, as I was sipping my champagne, we were asked to make sure our seats were facing forward for take off and told that we would have Wifi over 10,000 feet. The FA then closed the DOOR to my suite and we were set for take off.
Once we were above 10,000 feet, the Wifi started working and a FA knocked on my door (!!! I’m never going to get over that 🙂 ) to confirm my food order. I had used Book The Cook to pick my main meal off-menu in advance. I was then given a warm bread selection to enjoy until my food came out.
I had ordered the Eggs Benedict because I didn’t understand how they could make that in the sky. It’s hard enough at sea level! Anyway, when I received it, the egg was overcooked (as in not runny), but that’s not a big deal.
One thing that did surprise me though was that the plating was lackluster compared to my meals in regular First Class. Maybe I should have stuck to the regular menu 🙂 . It tasted good though!
One surprise with this course was that it came with caviar and a mother of pearl caviar spoon. A FA asked if I wanted a blini platter to go with the caviar – how could I say no to that 🙂 ? I was then offered fruit, but turned it down because I was too full. All these fancy meals were still catching up to me.
After my meal was done, it was time for the final reveal: THE BED!!! Usually my suite would look like this with the bed down:
But since my Mom and I had combined rooms to create this masterpiece:
Absolutely wild. So we changed into our sleepwear in one of the two absolutely massive bathrooms that are only available for the max 6 Suites guests. Here’s one of them:
The toilet and even more room are on the other side of that vanity:
After returning to the Suite, we settled down to sleep and I was shocked at how comfortable it was. It felt like an actual bed! I’ve been on a lot of plane lie-flat seats at this point, but this wasn’t a seat that turns into a bed.
It was just a bed with that one purpose and it showed. I fell asleep quickly and awakened to a knock on my suite door for breakfast service (they had asked if I wanted to be awakened for it and I said hell yeah!)
However, our eyes had unfortunately been bigger than our stomachs. We were awakened for food service two hours before landing, but we were still too full to eat so we declined and asked for tea instead. At this point I felt like I’d never need to eat again 🙂 .
We lounged around in bed for a while and they kept bringing us Perrier with lemon. They had set a bottle of Evian next to our bed before sleep, but I prefer sparkling water and they were diligent about refilling it even though I didn’t ask. It was like magic 🙂 .
A FA then gave us a second amenity kit, which I suspect were extras from Business Class given the similarity to one I’ve gotten from them before.
At this point we hadn’t even arrived Down Under and we were weighed down with 3 pairs of Singapore Air pajamas and 5 amenities kits each. It would be time to do some downsizing soon.
Landing
An hour before landing, the head FA asked us to provide feedback on a website and gave us a written out list of our crew’s names. Then before I knew it, it was almost time to land.
I’d been having such a good time that I’d forgotten we needed to fill out an arrival card so I did that during our descent, luckily while I still had Wifi. Then the FAs came back to put away our beds and prepare for landing.
And then before I knew it, we were in Sydney!
Immigration
After being the first people to leave the plane, we walked through the airport and passed Transit Immigration to the right. Directly across from it on the left were kiosks for people with ePassports, which we didn’t think we had.
So we kept going, walked through Duty Free and on the other end of the hall was another ePassport kiosk with super long lines and an employee saying you have to have a Blue Card from the ePassport machine to pass through. Huh?
The only other people in our First Class Suites on the way to Sydney were a couple that have a house here and travel through this airport often. They told us to get into the kiosk line across from Transit Immigration even though we’re not transiting because it’s the exact same kiosk, but has no line unlike the giant one further down the hallway. GENIUS!
So we backtracked and used the kiosk across from Transit Immigration. There was basically no one there and we got our Blue Card in no time. I guess we do have an ePassport? I have no idea 🙂 . Then we made our way back through Duty Free to Immigration and now the line at that kiosk was down the hallway. Wild.
We then talked to the same employee who had declared we have to use those ePassport machines, they asked us our citizenship and when we said American and showed our Blue Cards they directed us to a section of Immigration on the right that looked like it was for Australia and New Zealand citizens only, but they were actually directing us to a hard to see line next to that, which is for ePassport holders – which is apparently what the Blue Card is – an ePassport. That’s confusing 🙂 .
At the front of the line there’s another kiosk where you insert your Blue Card and then they take your picture (don’t forget to remove your glasses and mask if you have them) and then you walk through. You don’t have to talk to anyone if you have this ePassport Blue Card.
Baggage
So we proceeded to Baggage Claim and at that moment, the Singapore Air app gave me a notification of which carousel our luggage would be coming out on. I was surprised to see that since the app had been completely silent for the rest of the trip and hadn’t given me notifications that other airline apps I have do, such as that the gate is open or has changed or is boarding. Maybe my settings are messed up or something 🙂 .
Anyway, we waited a little bit for our bags. There are seats in the area, which is great if someone is tired from the journey. Luckily our bags were one of the first to come off so we grabbed them and headed out.
Customs
This part was once again confusing 🙂 . Behind Baggage Carousels 1-5 are signs that say Exit. We headed there instead of down the hallway to the right where more baggage carousels are located. Once we got close to the Exit sign, an employee was there asking us to make sure we had our Arrival Card and ePassport Blue Card.
We went through the line and then another employee took those two cards from us and directed us to a specific numbered line. I guess ours was the “Nothing To Declare” line because it led straight through to the exit.
Transit
All of the above took us an hour after landing so if I’m not flying First Class in the future and having my bags come out first, I’m going to expect it to take longer going forward. Sydney is unsurprisingly a normal airport instead of the lovely fever dream that is Singapore’s Changi Airport with its nonexistent lines. We can’t all be perfect 🙂 .
Anyway, we ordered an Uber and the app directed us to the Ride Share Pick Up area. We were in Terminal 1 and had to walk towards Arrival A until we saw signs for Ride Shares. We then had to cross the street and follow more signs forward and to the left until we saw a giant blue sign that says Ride Share with an arrow pointing at what looks like a glass wall 🙂 .
When we got closer, we saw that it wasn’t solid glass, but there’s an opening we could walk through so we did. Within the Uber app, this area is actually listed as the “Sydney Airport Limousine Pick Up Area” even though it’s the Ride Share pick up area and where the app directed us to. No matter 🙂 .
Our Uber came in seconds despite there being a lot of people at the airport in the middle of the day. Sweet! Then we were on our way to downtown Sydney for the first time!
THE REVIEW
So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience 🙂 .
Customer Service
There were more FAs in the First Class Suites than people in the Suites, which I think gives you an idea of the level of service 🙂 . I never had to ask or wait for anything. The service was impeccable.
Seat
As I mentioned above, I took a million pictures, but video really captures the full scale of this week better. I uploaded that to my Travel Hacks Story Highlights on Insta.
Anyway, these seats were something else. Since they were free within a large area they could turn 360 degrees, which was fun. You can control the seat a variety of ways including a control panel under the seat on the left side.
There’s a button with a window on it and a TV on it and if you press the window, the seat swivels to the window and if you press the TV, it moves to face the TV. Revolutionary 🙂 . The iPads near the window can call an attendant or control the giant TVs that face where the bed in these Suites go.
The seat was very comfortable and hilariously, the Suites were so big my Mom and I couldn’t hear each other speak clearly while sitting in our respective chairs. So that was wild and the other thing I couldn’t believe (besides the closets) is actually the floor!
On every plane I’ve been on, the floor has been basically the same as in the other cabins, but not in these Suites. When you step into a Suite, there’s a slight incline and then the floor is PLUSH. It’s a thick carpet that made me feel like I was in a luxury home instead of an airplane.
The only thing I found awkward about this set up was actually one of the things I was looking most forward to: the door. I love having an actual door on my airplane seats to block myself from the rest of the world and it was one of my favorite things about my Emirates First Class experience.
However, here the door was always closed for privacy (which I appreciated), but that means that an FA would knock on it to come in, which led us to have to call “Come in!” and it was just a bit of an awkward social interaction even though I did appreciate the spirit of it. So, the tiniest of nitpicks that might be rooted in my own social anxiety, so take that with a large grain of salt.
As I mentioned above, the bed in this Suite was the MOST comfortable place I’ve slept on an airplane…EVER. The fluffy pillows and duvet that the FA made the bed with were also spectacular. No thin or scratchy blanket here. The bed is also able to be moved flat or at an incline, which was great. This felt like a bed in a luxury hotel room instead of on an airplane. Bravo.
Food
The food on this flight was good, but not spectacular. I think the First Class flights from NYC and Frankfurt spoiled me too much 🙂 . It was all tasty, filling and at the correct temperature, but I wasn’t blown away.
Bathroom
I already gave a preview of the ridiculousness that’s the two bathrooms in First Class, but just like the Suite: pictures don’t do it justice. I have a video that’s saved in my Travel Hacks Story Highlights on Instagram for the 360 degree experience.
So there are 2 giant bathrooms for max 6 people. And there were only 4 total people in the Suites on our flight (two of which were of course us). The bathroom on the right is bigger, but they are both legit huge. I had a hard time getting them into one photo. This is the bathroom on the left:
In addition to what you might expect in a bathroom, such as a toilet and sink, they had a vanity with a seat, cotton towels, toiletries and additional items to make your trip more enjoyable:
Amenities
The amenities were nice. The actual kit was my favorite that I’ve ever received. I love the white and black with a gold zipper. In fact, I think I have a new favorite packing tool and will be using this going forward in my nomad life 🙂 . The items in the Amenity Kit were also very nice. The large perfume was a stand out.
The pajamas were the same ones we received in regular First Class so I have the same comments: they’re comfortable if a bit small for my taste, and would benefit from not having a cuffed ankle and from adding pockets. I was still happy to receive them though 🙂 .
In-Flight Entertainment
These headphones had the perfect cushion amount so I was happy 🙂 .
Apparently you can take the tablet that controls the TV out of its dock, but I couldn’t figure out how and it wasn’t a big enough deal to ask. My Mom removed it accidentally so we knew it was possible, but when I tried mine, it felt like I might break it so I stood down 🙂 .
One thing that surprised me is that the giant TV in each Suite is also a touchscreen, which I wasn’t expecting given its size.
Also note there’s a headphone jack on the chair and next to the bed. There are also chargers absolutely everywhere. They really thought of everything 🙂 .
CONCLUSION
Honestly? I might just pay for this flight in the future when my bones are creaky and economy long haul isn’t pleasant anymore. It’s completely worth the price tag in my opinion and was an amazing experience from when we stepped foot into the Singapore airport until we landed. I arrived in Sydney well rested, well fed and well hydrated ready to take on our 6 week Australia and New Zealand adventure!
What was your favorite flight experience?
What an incredible journey! Thanks for sharing it all.
May I ask how you got so many Kris flyer points? Was there some promotion that you jumped on?
Thanks for reading 🙂 . As for the points, we gathered those over literal years from cards that transfer points to KrisFlyer, such as Chase, Citi, CapOne and AmEx. No promotions unfortunately. The points were about to expire since we transferred them to Singapore Air before the pandemic so we had to get rid of them all. It was a fun flight.
You arrived to Sydney in style ✈️ What is your strategy for earning miles in early retirement?
Truth 🙂 . I don’t have a points strategy in retirement. These points were acquired while I was still working and were about to expire. I’m waiting to see what happens with the Credit Card Competition Act and if points are going to be much harder to acquire before coming up with a plan.
I never heard of this (credit card act)….. should I be worried?
Maybe. It might get rid of credit card points, but it’s too soon to tell.
I was also going to ask how long it took to accumulate all those points, especially with your low spending. Was this flight a once-in-a-lifetime splurge, or is this something you plan to make part of your FIRE strategy (assuming credit card reward points don’t go away)?
Maybe a once every 5-10 year splurge if points are still fairly easy to accumulate. However, if those go away I really might just buy this flight 🙂 . My FIRE strategy doesn’t include a spending ceiling for a reason 😉 .
I have 110,000 Krisflyer points atm, but can’t for the life of me figure out how to maximize my redemption via their website! Did you call to sort it out? All the options I plug in use up all the points for economy class, so I *cannot* believe you did this for 155,000 points! What’s the secret?!
There’s no secret sadly. I booked this over a year ago and they keep increasing the required points to book anything. That’s another reason I’m not sure I’ll continue travel hacking moving forward. We were lucky that we could plan our trip around when redemptions were available, but that’s all we did.
got it! i’ll keep plugging random itineraries in and see what we get. happy to hear there’s not some secret formula.