Flight Review: Starlux A350-900 Business Class Review (SFO to TPE)
Introduction | Starlux airlines
This review has been years in the making. Since their inception back in 2020, Starlux Airlines has been catering towards its international and domestic clientele with top notch-service, excellent seat design, beautiful amenities and an impeccable sleeping position that would put most mattresses to shame. Starlux Airlines aims to be the very top of the market in terms of service and product, and within such a short duration, has been the hottest ticket in the Asia domain of flying.
Does it live up to the hype? Read on to find out!
Booking | Starlux Airlines
Back on February 22, 2024, there was availability on Alaska Airlines for Starlux Airlines after Frequent Miler’s discovery of 75K award availability opened up for SFO to TPE. I wrote a post about it and couldn’t have been any happier - I booked our Starlux Airlines business class tickets using Alaska Mileage Plan, thanks to the partnership between the two airlines. While it wasn’t the initial 60K deal that everyone raved about, 75K miles was a small price to pay for a business class ticket that averaged closed to $4.5K during check-in.
As I mentioned previously, 75K isn’t as absurdly sweet as the initial 60K promotional rate, but 75K + $19 for a non-stop flight between the US and Taiwan on an appealing business class product is a FANTASTIC redemption still when you consider the cash price for a business class ticket on Starlux Airlines. I utilized 150,000 Alaska Miles for two tickets from SFO to TPE in April, and paid $36.20 out of pocket due to award fees. Cash rate for a one way business class would have been $4,000+ per person!
First Class Seating | Starlux Airlines
Before heading into our business class seats, you may wonder why there are four massive seats in the front.
Starlux Airlines has first class on its Airbus A350s, though it’s not as exclusive as one would think. First class is immediately in front of business class, as it’s simply the first row of seats in the cabin. There’s no separation between the cabins, as there are no curtains or bulkheads. This makes it quite interesting as you’re basically in the same section as business class.
There are a total of four first class seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration. First class has 60″ doors and 32″ entertainment screens. It’s a perfectly nice hard product, though nothing remarkable. I had a chance to snap a few pictures during the flight, and you can see that the design incorporates high walls to give it more separation. It is a gorgeous cabin though, my gosh. If it wasn’t only that expensive to redeem or in cash….
Business Class Seat | Starlux Airlines
At midnight, we boarded through the second set of doors, where we were greeted by the friendly crew, and pointed left into business class. Business class seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration, and Starlux is the launch customer for the new Collins Aerospace Elements product. This is the newest reverse herringbone seat out there, and it’s honestly exceptional, better than previous generation products.
In the center section of the aircraft, there are seven pairs of business class seats, for a total of 14 seats. If you’re traveling with someone, you may prefer these seats, so that you can more easily enjoy the flight with your companion. Do note that if you’re traveling alone, there’s a privacy partition that can be extended between seats, so that you still have full privacy. Along the windows, there are six rows of seats on each side, for a total of 12 seats.
One of the greatest advancements with this reverse herringbone seat is that the footwell is significantly larger than in previous generation reverse herringbone seats. This makes a world of difference when trying to get comfortable to sleep. As is increasingly becoming the norm nowadays, each seat has a 48″ door, for added privacy. I found this to be easy to use.
Let’s deep dive into the seat a bit more: each seat has quite a large counter to the side of it, with an elegant lamp that has multiple dimming functions. There’s a button on the counter that you can push to expose a fairly shallow storage compartment, where you could place items like your passport and phone. Furthermore, a large enclosed storage compartment contains a mirror, a hook for headphones, the entertainment controller, and the headphone jack.
On top of that, this compartment has four charging options, including an AC power outlet, a USB-A outlet, a USB-C outlet, and wireless charging. On the other side of the seat is the absolutely massive 24″ 4K screen. This has to be one of the best entertainment screens you’ll find on any airline in business class. In fact, it’s so big when in the relaxing mode that i found myself having to adjust my seat a bit to not get overwhelmed by the light emitting from the TV.
Starlux Airlines is one of the first airlines to get the A350 with the slightly wider interior cabin. This also includes the introduction of dimmable windows, which is a feature that was previously common on the 787. So rather than using a shade you have to pull up and down, you instead just push a button. I assume this would be quite useful during a daytime flight, though ours was pretty much darkness to darkness…
I was also presented with very nice BRIC’s amenity kits, containing products from Huygens. This included eyeshades, earplugs, a dental kit, socks, a hair brush, lip balm, lotion, and a facial mist. We were offered pajamas as well - it’s always a treat to get pajamas in business class, and these were among the highest quality pajamas I’ve ever been offered on a plane, as the materials felt great. We were also given some slippers, along with a shoe bag. Lastly, a facial mask was given out, which was a nice touch.
Perhaps the biggest selling point for me is the Zero-G mode on the seat. The airline says is "NASA's neutral body posture specifications." It's sort of a lounging position that Starlux sells as helping reduce pressure on joints and ease fatigue. For me, it instantly knocked me out and sent me straight into deep sleep. I will say, I probably had one of the best sleeps on an aircraft due to that position. In addition, .while I was initially worried about the lack of individual air nozzles, the cabin was kept surprisingly cool for an Asian carrier, as they often tend to keep their cabins warmer than average. I was able to sleep almost 2/3s of the way through, and woke up with a ton of energy.
Without a doubt, this is the best reverse herringbone business class seat out there. From the amount of space offered to the technology and comfort, Starlux Business Class is the premier cabin for those looking for the latest and greatest in this type of business class format.
Food & Beverage | Starlux Airlines
Printed menus were at every business-class seat, and our flight attendant took the time to walk me through the options for both dinner and breakfast. It was a lovely service touch that I haven't found on many international business-class flights. We were also offered pre-departure drinks immediately. The airline doesn’t offer pre-departure drinks of choice, but rather offers a signature drink on each flight. On this flight it was a honey, peppermint, cucumber, and passionfruit juice, served with a warm towel. I downed that drink immediately.
If you’re looking for some alcohol, selections include Jack Daniel's whiskey, Bacardi rum, Grey Goose vodka and Asahi and Heineken beer. A Taiwanese white wine from Weighstone Vineyard in Musann was available, as was a Shiraz cabernet sauvignon from Australia's Penfolds Koonunga Hills. During the course selection, I opted for the Asian option.
For dinner, I chose the Wild Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Roll as my spouse chose the Cod dish. I thought the dish was alright, and was hoping for something more local and Taiwanese focused. Then again, it could be the catering from the US side. I’ve heard the catering coming back from Taiwan is way better. The mid-flight beef noodle soup on the other hand was absolutely amazing. This was probably one of the best snack dishes I’ve had during my years of travel. Flavorful soup with tender meat and noodles made for some of the best moments on this flight.
For breakfast, about two hours prior to our arrival, the cabin lights were turned on and the flight attendants prepared for our breakfast service. I went with the Asian option, which was a frittata with stir-fried seafood and asparagus, and a side minced pork congee. The congee was delicious and made for a great end regarding the food service here at Starlux Airlines.
Conclusion | Starlux Airlines
It’s an ambitious goal to dethrone both China Airlines and Eva Air as the premier Taiwanese airline, but Starlux Airlines has met my expectations and exceeded in some. Of course, to be the best, there are still some room for improvement, and I think Starlux Airlines will figure it out over the years to come. Hopefully they will find themselves in an alliance down the road as well.
We had fantastic service from the flight attendants from beginning to end and never had a problem with the food service. Flight attendants were friendly and engaging, and every time I used the call button, an attendant was at my seat within 30 seconds.
Ovearll, Starlux Airlines is a hit for many, and an airline I will gladly cheer on for many years to come.
