Flight Review: Singapore Airlines First Class | LAX to NRT
Introduction | Singapore Airlines
This review is part of the Travel Report (Anniversary in Japan) and contains both airlines, hotels and lounge reviews during our visit to Japan and Singapore. Please enjoy!
You want Crazy Rich Asians? You got it!
The old first class cabin had 8 seats - however, with the retrofit update, the first class cabin now only contains 4 seats, in a 1-2-1 setting. This is definitely going to be incredibly intimate for sure. It’s so seclusive and private, makes the meaning 1st class more meaningful at times.
Compared to the crazy suites that Singapore Airlines just rolled out with a while back, the seats themselves aren’t cutting edge like Emirates or Qatar. However, they’re incredibly wide, have excellent UX features and is incredibly easy to use.
Since my wife and I were traveling together, I opted for the middle aisle, which is rare for me. However, these seats are ideal for those to enjoy the experience together. If you’re traveling along, grab the window seats - those are just worth it.
Impressions
First impressions: man, this sofa - err I mean seat oozes comfort and luxury.
Warm colors matched with an elegant color scheme made for a very luxurious hard product. Now that the first class cabin went from 8 seats to just 4, it feels even more roomy and with a the high ceiling, almost felt like a living room at that. A feature to note - the spacing the window seats compared to the middle seats are slightly moved back to so there is more privacy to each person. There’s also a ton of space to move around the cabin, which allowed us to move about and get some stretches going while flying to Japan.
Let’s dive into the first class seat. First off, the about that tray design - similar to the last flight that I had with Japan Airlines, the tray slides out of the front console, which makes it so much easier to get in and out during meals. There are a plethora of power ports to charge your hungry electronic devices, along with the controls to the seats on the side. Again, this isn’t their latest and flagship suites, so I wasn’t expecting anything too outrageous. However, the seats themselves feel incredibly intimate and warm, which adds to the privacy of each seat.
The seat is huge, though not as large as the JAL First Class seat. That was just a sofa man. However, to my wife, it was enormous. With it being over 35 inches wide, you could literally fit two people comfortably in each seat without much difficulty. A privacy divider is also found in the middle seats, but most couples simply leave it down - and why not?
Our lovely flight attendant came in and greeted us with enthusiasm. God I love the Singapore team so much - why can’t all airlines be like them? I requested a glass of champagne to knock myself to oblivion during this flight, to which she happily obliged and gave us the whole bottle. That’s a $300 bottle right there folks.
Hot towels and menus were distributed to the two of us - and then came the fun part of discovering all the storage places this seat has. My gosh, there is enough storage compartments to place Escape Room if you wanted!
There are two storage compartments that is illuminated when opened - great for storing your iPhones, passports and boarding passes. And for power outlets, they got you covered here as well. Multi-standards 110V AC power sockets, USB inputs and even an HDMI? outlet, it’s great for some folks to get some work done on their computers.
When it comes to the amenity kits, Singapore Airlines doesn’t disappoint. Currently, they are serving the latest Lalique kits and pajamas on the First Class services. We were each given an incredibly beautiful leather amenity kit that came with:
Lalique Neroli Casablanca Scented Candle (wait what, this is cool!)
Lalique Neroli Casablanca Lip Balm
Lalique Neroli Casablanca Body Lotion
Lalique Neroli Casablanca Soap
My wife opted for their pajamas, which were incredibly comfortable. For the bathroom, the size remains the same, though like I mentioned before, it was the two of us. This meant each of us got our own bathroom. Not bad, eh? Being Singapore Airlines, they are kept meticulously clean and are consistently refreshed for each visit. Additional amenities drawer contains razors, combs, napkins, toothbrushes, toothpastes as well as the Lalique amenity lotions, mist and perfume.
When it comes to entertainment, we were greeted with a 24 inch TV, which is controlled by a touchscreen handset, which is contained in the aisle side of the seat. With over 1,0000 options of movies, TV shows and drams, I’m sure most people will be watching as much to their heart’s content. What was NICE was the new headphones supplied by B&O, which in my opinion has a better sound ecosystem than the BOSE headphones.
First Class Dining
First Class Dining Menu - Curated for Los Angeles to Tokyo
The flight attendants came around with a ton of bakery selections, ranging from garlic bread to bread rolls to some artisan breads. Nothing to sneeze at here. What’s even better was towards the end of the meal, they came around again with a third round of garlic bread - the Château Rauzan-Ségla Margaux and the garlic bread simply pair so well.
I’m not to lie, but once in the air, I was determined to drink as much champagne and red wine as I could - Singapore Airlines First Class supplies some of the finest in the world, and I was not going to let that go to waste. The flight attendants knew as well, so they were consistently coming back with more Dom Pérignon Brut and Krug Brut. For some red wines, the Clonakilla O’Riada Shiraz 2016 was fantastic, along with the Chateau Souverain Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007. Then came the Château Rauzan-Ségla Margaux (Grand Cru Classé) 2006 and man was I becoming incredibly buoyant about everything. One of the best wines in the world, period.
Sleep Time
After indulging ourselves in a meal for the kings, the cabin crew came by to offer us turndown service, to which we happily agreed. To do this, we both went to our “other” seats while the attendants started to work on the seat - this is converted into a bed via various beddings, pillows and comfortable duvet supplied by Lalique.
Once converted over, this is the largest bed that Singapore Airlines offers - it’s bigger than most twin size beds. If only the flight was just a bit longer…
I wasn’t planning on sleeping since we were arriving at Japan at night, but it was incredibly comfortable throughout the flight in this mode, as the generous mattress topper and plush duvet made for relaxing so much easier! This is honestly rivaling the JAL first class in terms of comfort, and definitely beating the Asiana First Class seat by a mile.
Conclusion
This particular flight demonstrates why Singapore Airlines is consistently #1 in the world.
From the faultless experience in service to the impeccable hard product, the first class experience contains such a wonderful private space despite the lack of closing doors found in its competitors. Service was so exceptional we literally disappointed ourselves in the remaining business class flights with Singapore Airlines - it goes to show how important service is to this airline.
This was indeed one of the finest flying experience either of us could have. Overall, there is really very little, if anything at all, to fault this flight to japan. We would highly recommend anyone with the time and points to save it for this experience. Bravo Singapore Airlines!