Singapore Airlines Business Class Review A380

Flying home from Frankfurt marked the final leg of an around the world trip funded almost entirely with airline points.  I managed to visit 5 cities on 3 different continents in the span of two weeks during the summer.  The final flight on this trip was a business class flight from Frankfurt to New York JFK airport on a Singapore Airlines A380.

I walked out of the Lufthansa business lounge to the massive boarding area for the double decker Singapore Airlines A380.  The last time I flew on a Singapore Airlines A380 was when I flew in the Singapore Airlines Suites.  Singapore Airlines customers board on the lower level of the A380.  Business class customers board on the second level.  I followed the other business class customers up the stairs and on to the flight.

Flight Details

• Frankfurt Germany to New York JFK
• Departure: 8:20am
• Arrival: 11:15am
• Miles: 3,844
• Duration: 8 hours and 55 minutes
• Aircraft: Airbus A380
• Seat: 19K
• Cash Cost: $3,788.47
• How I paid: I previously paid for this flight with miles when I booked the Singapore to Frankfurt flight.

*Singapore Airlines allows one free stopover on award ticket bookings.  I booked a flight from Singapore to New York JFK.  That flight makes one stop in Frankfurt Germany.  I used the free Singapore Airlines stopover to spend two days in Frankfurt Germany.

Seats

The entire upper deck is reserved for business class on the Singapore Airlines A380.  Seating is arranged in a 1 x 2 x 1 position with 4 business class seats in each row.  The upper deck holds 86 total business class seats.  The lower deck includes 12 suites, 36 premium economy seats, and 245 regular economy seats.

Amenities

Singapore Airlines business class customers receive the following amenities on board each flight:

• The business class seats offer direct aisle access.  No need to awkwardly walk over the person next to you just to get to the main aisle.
• A leather upholstered reclining seat with a 34 inch width.  Each seat includes extra space to securely stow luggage.
• When your ready to sleep, each business class seat reclines to a fully flat position.  Pillows and blankets are provided to each customer.
• Each business class seat offers a dedicated entertainment console with noise canceling headphones.  Entertainment options include a large selection of movies, television, music, games, apps, and internet connectivity.
• Business class customers receive full meal service from an international culinary panel.  Singapore Airlines chefs routinely update their business class menu based on recommendations from the culinary panel.

Menu

On the flight from Frankfurt to New York, Singapore Airlines served a brunch and light lunch menu.  Notable items from the menu included:

Brunch Menu

Starters

• Freshly squeezed juice – orange, apple, or tomato
• Selection of fresh fruits

Appetizers

• Cornflakes
• Bircher Muesli – rolled oat soaked in milk, yogurt, dried fruit, and nuts
• Fruit or Natural Yogurt

Main Course

• Thai Beef Kway Teow Soup – Rice noodles in beef broth with sliced beef filet and leafy greens.
• Gaeng Phed Kai – Thai style red curry chicken with Asian vegetable and steamed rice.
• Bacon Egg Souffle – With pork sausage, roasted tomato, and noesti potatoes.

Dessert

• Cherry Cheesecake – with morello cherry compote.

Light Lunch Menu

Appetizer

• Smoked Salmon and Green Asparagus – with cherry tomato confit, mesclun and olive oil dressing.

Main Course

• Olive Crust Lamb Loin with Natural Jus – Macedoine of eggplant, capsicums and potato.
• Steamed Chicken with Cold Ginger-Spring Onion Relish.
• Pan Fried Red Snapper Fillet in Cilantro-Parsley Sauce – with green beans, baby carrots and buttered linguine.

Dessert

• Cappuccino Ice Cream – with mango compote.

My Selections

Brunch Starters

• Freshly squeezed orange juice and selection of fresh fruits.

Main Course

• Bacon Egg Souffle

It was too early in the morning for dessert so I passed on the cherry cheesecake.  Singapore Airlines served the light lunch menu mid-flight.  My choices from the lunch menu included:

• Steamed Chicken with Cold Ginger-Spring Onion Relish.

• Cappuccino Ice Cream.

Final Thoughts

Singapore Airlines really offers a top notch flight experience.  Both the customer service and the quality of the business class seats on an A380 make for a great experience.  During the flight, I accidentally dropped my phone charger behind the hand rest.  Before I could fully explain what happened, two flight attendants were already using a hook to fish for the phone cord and pull it up from behind the tiny space under the arm rest.  If I wasn’t flying Singapore Airlines, I could easily imagine a surly flight attendant telling me to wait until the flight lands and maybe someone would be able to pull it out from under the seat.

The only aspect of the flight that I didn’t love was the food.  I didn’t like the bacon egg souffle and the steamed chicken was slightly overcooked.  This may just have been a case of a few bad choices on the menu.  I enjoyed the business class food on both the Singapore flight from Sydney to Singapore and the Singapore flight to Frankfurt.  The food on the Singapore Suites flight to Frankfurt which used the Singapore Airlines Book the Cook menu was phenomenal.  So I’m more than willing to assume this was just a one time issue of picking the wrong items from the menu.

Singapore Airlines business class award tickets are still relatively affordable with the 15% online discount when booking online.  Singapore Airlines miles are also pretty easy to accumulate since Singapore Airlines is a transfer partner with most of the credit card points programs.