Singapore Airlines Business Class Review 2022

Hi Frugalistas!  Jo is handing over this Singapore Airlines Business Class Review post to me to get the man’s view of traveling Singapore Airlines Business Class.  We recently travelled Singapore Airlines Business Class Sydney to Singapore, Singapore to Paris and finally Singapore Airlines Business Class London to Singapore, before making the final leg home from Singapore to Sydney.  Note, we travelled on Singapore Airlines Business Class in June 2022, while covid restrictions were active in most countries.

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Singapore Airlines Business Class on the ground

In Sydney there was one Singapore Airlines First Class check in and two Singapore Airlines Business Class check ins open when we arrived.  The queue for Business Class check had about 6 people ahead of us.  Given the number of documents everyone had to show as part of the check in I thought it was reasonable for us to queue for 15mins or so.  Everyone in the queue was talking to each other – I think we were all so excited to be travelling again.  Jo had all our documents ready with our passports so when it was our turn the actual check in process was pretty quick.  People ahead of us were using documents stored on the phone which seems to take much longer.

When we travelled there was no Express Pass for Immigration and security in Sydney so we had to queue with everyone else.  Fortunately it was not very busy and we were through in less than 10 minutes and on our way to the Singapore Airlines Business Lounge, Sydney.

It was lunch time when we arrived at the lounge and I enjoyed the hot and cold buffet options that were available as well as the range of both alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks options.  There was also a barista making proper coffee.  While I didn’t have coffee I appreciated the option, and I noticed there were many guests enjoying one last cup of Australian coffee.

We transited in Singapore twice.  I was very under whelmed by the Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge at Changi Airport.  It was midnight local time when we arrived on the way over and the lounge was packed out, despite it being huge and there being other lounges for passengers with Singapore Airlines status.  It was so noisy, and maybe it was because we were tired (it was 2am Sydney time by then), I just didn’t like it.  Coming back it wasn’t so busy and we managed to find a comfortable seat (we had had to sit on bar chairs going over).  We didn’t eat anything and while there were food stations everywhere there seemed to be far less choice than we had had in Sydney and London.

We flew back to Australia from London and found the Singapore Airlines London Business Class Lounge spacious and pleasant.  It was early morning and a decent range of western and eastern breakfast choices were available. 

Singapore Airlines Business Class in flight

Singapore Airlines Business Class Seat

We flew on three different planes on the four flights we had on this trip:

• Singapore Airlines A380 Business Class Sydney to Singapore
• Singapore Airlines 777 Business Class Singapore to Paris and London to Singapore
• Singapore Airlines A350 Business Class Singapore to Sydney (confusingly there are two different A350 configurations – ours was the mid range rather than long range version).

For reasons I don’t understand each different plane type had a different seat – talk about confusing. 

And while I’m talking about confusing, I have to talk about the Singapore Airlines 777 Business Class seat.  While I appreciated the extra width of these seats, and the width of the foot well (perfect for my big feet) and enjoyed the length of the lie flat bed, I didn’t enjoy the limited reclining settings.  Due to its “unique” flip over to flatten it design the seat could either recline about 25% or you had to lie flat.  As a 6 foot 1 inch middle aged gent with a bad back, I really wasn’t comfortable in those seats.  The other thing I didn’t like was how you had to fish down the back of the seat to get the pillow and blanket out.

Because we were sitting in the middle section of the cabin with two side by side seats I also didn’t like how separated we were.  We had to lean around a solid partition to talk to each other.  The seating of the A380 was far more successful, as there was a privacy screen that was easily pushed down so we were definitely sitting side by side.

Even though it was a “medium range” configuration the seating we had on the A350 was the most comfortable for me.  The seat was more narrow than the 777 and A380 but for me it was the most comfortable seat to both sit lie down in.

All our seats had plenty of storage and the way the seats were laid out meant that we didn’t need to use the overhead lockers, which meant traffic flowed quickly when it was time to get off.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Menu

When you are travelling in a metal tube for 24hours it’s easy to get a bit obsessed about “what’s to eat” and I generally enjoyed my meals on Singapore Airlines.  I spent ages online choosing from the online menus and checking out the Book the Cook options.  At the time we were travelling, the Book the Cook options were quite limited out of Sydney, but everywhere else the choices were overwhelming.

My favourite dish of the trip was from the “standard” Business Class menu designed by Australian celebrity chef Matt Moran.  I didn’t know what a gastrique was when I ordered roast duck with a gastrique as my main course.  I still don’t know what it is now, but my roast duck with a tangy clear sauce was well cooked and tasty.

I had to try the signature lobster thermidor on the Singapore to Paris leg.  It was better than the version I had eaten at a well known Sydney seafood restaurant earlier in the year, and I did like it but with so many other tasty options I don’t think I would order it again. 

I found the Asian dishes generally more successful.  I was a bit concerned about making a mess of my clothes to order any of the Asian style noodle dishes on the way over, but did treat myself on the last leg home and was not disappointed.

I also enjoyed my pumpkin and buckwheat pancakes and the Singapore Airlines take on a full English breakfast served at breakfast time

I particularly liked the way the egg was served – much better than soggy scrambled eggs

As often, the desserts were a bit underwhelming – more in the cake and “mystery creamy” categories, but entrées (appetizers) whether Western or Eastern were tasty and very successful.

Singapore Airlines signature satay

The Singapore Airlines Business Class wine list has won awards, and it was easy to see why.  While choices seemed limited, it was very well chosen and everything I tried complemented the food amazingly well.  Most of the list was either European or Australian, so it was fun to try some different things.  There were also cocktails available and I enjoyed a signature Silver Kris Sling.

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Snacks were limited to cup noodles, chips, nuts etc, but honestly there was so much food at meal time that I didn’t need anything else.

There were no printed menus provided on our flights, but we were easily able to access the on line menus for free via the Singapore Airlines wifi.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Inflight Entertainment

There was a wide range of films and television available to suit all tastes.  The only thing I didn’t like was that most of the TV shows only had one or two episodes of a series, so there were limited opportunities to binge.

Business Class passengers are provided with a small amount of free wifi.  It was easy to log in and use, but I must admit I still like to take advantage of the down time.  Speed seemed quite good.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Service

Putting aside boarding procedures on every flight in the what is probably best left under the “utter chaos” section, the Singapore Airlines Business Class Service was a highlight.  From the second we boarded our first flight we were very well looked after.  Despite their compulsory face masks I knew our flight attendants were smiling.  They gave the distinct impression that they wanted to be of service and nothing was more important than my question or request.

Call bells were answered promptly, drinks were regularly replenished and absolutely nothing was too much trouble.  Even helping me deal with those stupid 777 seats to get me set up for bed.  The toilets were absolutely immaculate from the moment we arrived, till the moment we left – I’ve never seen such a high standard maintained over such a period of time.  I even caught them hovering with the spray and a cloth waiting for me to finish more than once.

Singapore Airlines Business Class Review – final thoughts

Jo had previously written a Singapore Airlines Business Class review and enjoyed it.  I liked Singapore Airlines Business Class but I didn’t love it.  I found the different seat arrangements unnecessarily confusing.  The Singapore Airlines 777 Business Class seat was fiddly and not very comfortable, although I did appreciate the extra seat width.  The Singapore Airlines Business Class menu looked great, but I found the food very good rather than uniformly great.  No one can fault Singapore Airlines Business Class service and the cleaniness of the cabin and facilities.  I am looking forward to trying Singapore Airlines Business Class in the future once (hopefully) travel returns to something more normal.

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Author’s note:  I paid for my own flights on this trip.