Introduction
Lufthansa First Class Lounge New York JFK
Lufthansa First Class New York JFK to Frankfurt
A day in the Lufthansa First Class Lounges/Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Singapore
InterContinental Singapore
Exploring Singapore
The Singapore Airlines Private Room
Singapore Airlines First Class Singapore to Tokyo Narita
Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita
Japan Airlines First Class Tokyo Narita to New York JFK

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Gate B4 was maybe a 10-minute walk from the lounge. This gate actually has a joint security checkpoint with a few other gates, and in tonight’s case the Airbus 380 to Paris was also leaving from the same area, so queues were rather long. After a roughly 15 minute wait I was through security and in the gate area for my flight to Tokyo Narita.

Terminal

Departure gate

Boarding lanes

The flight was running a bit late, and at 11:45PM boarding was called, starting with first and business class.

The 777-300ER uses two jet bridges, with the first one being exclusively for first class passengers, while the second one is for business class and coach passengers.

Singapore 638
Singapore (SIN) – Tokyo Narita (NRT)
Monday, April 30
Depart: 11:55PM
Arrive: 8:00AM (+1 day)
Duration: 7hr5min
Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
Seat: 2A (First Class)

Before I even stepped foot on the aircraft (or for that matter before the crew saw my boarding pass) both the in-flight service manager and leading stewardess welcomed me aboard by name – “Mr. Lucky, welcome aboard, it’s such a pleasure to have you flying with us tonight. Please, allow me to escort you to your seat.”

As Wong Chin, the leading stewardess, escorted me to my seat she said “Mr. Lucky, you are our only first class passenger tonight. It will be my pleasure to pamper you all the way to Tokyo.”

Look, my last flight on Singapore Airlines from New York to Frankfurt wasn’t very good, though after being on the plane for less than a minute I remembered why Singapore Airlines is the best in the world.

My seat, 2A

Storage compartment

Entertainment and seat controls

Reading light

It’s interesting to note that the cabin doesn’t have any overhead bins to make for a more spacious feel. That’s nice in theory, though in practice it can be tough to stow both a carry-on and a personal item underneath the seat in front of you. Fortunately in this instance the cabin was empty, so I placed my carry-on underneath the seat across from me.

Ottoman

First class cabin

As I settled in Wong Chin came by and said “Mr. Lucky, the captain has asked me to extend a welcome to you aboard and wanted to let you know our flight time to Tokyo Narita will be 6hr25min. What beverage may I offer you to get your flight off to a good start?”

I ordered a glass of champagne, and with a smirk and smug sense of pride, Wong Chin responded with “Mr. Lucky, I have two options for you tonight, we have Dom or Krug. Which may I have the pleasure of serving you?”

I ordered a glass of Krug, which was served minutes later by the leading steward.

Krug

Meanwhile Wong Chin offered me newspapers, magazines, headphones, a hot towel, an amenity kit, socks and eyeshades, Givenchy pajamas, and the menu for tonight’s flight (which I’m embarrassed to admit I completely forgot to snap a picture of).

Givenchy pajamas and amenity kit

Givenchy pajamas

Amenity kit contents

Socks and eyeshades

Headphones

Wong Chin explained that the meal service on the flight is breakfast, and asked whether I wanted it served after takeoff or before landing. Now, I fully knew this coming in, though I do find it somewhat disappointing that Singapore Airlines doesn’t offer a “midnight snack” type option. First of all, 6hr25min is a borderline longhaul flight, and longer than many east coast to Europe flights, where they serve two meals.

It’s not that I wanted two meals, but rather if I was actually hungry after takeoff, would I want scrambled eggs at midnight? Thai Airways, for example, offers both a midnight snack and breakfast on their flights from Bangkok to Tokyo, which are over an hour shorter than this flight.

So while it was no big deal and I fully knew it coming in, I do still find that a bit underwhelming for an airline like Singapore Airlines. In fairness they do have a “Book the Cook” menu from which I could have ordered in advance, though if I had ordered a dinner-type entree it would have been strange to have it served with an appetizer of fruit and cereal.

Back to the flight, though. I explained to Wong Chin I’d like to eat prior to landing in Tokyo Narita, and already made my selection immediately as to maximize sleep time.

Lastly Wong Chin asked whether I wanted to have my bed made in another seat, so that I could then return to 2A to have breakfast. I asked to have the bed made in 1A, which was done promptly after takeoff.

Meanwhile my glass of Krug stayed full, and the leading steward commented “you’re our only passenger, we’re counting on you to finish the bottle.”

While I was dead tired, I just had the biggest grin on my face as the door closed. I had the cabin all to myself and had three flight attendants to myself (the leading stewardess and leading steward full time, and the in-flight service manager for most of the flight). The level of service was almost comical at times, as I’ll explain in a bit.

Before pushback I changed into pajamas. One of the things I love about Singapore is that as you leave the lavatory they always insist on hanging your clothes. Most airlines won’t touch your clothes, let alone hang them neatly, but Wong Chin was standing outside the lavatory waiting for me with two hangers as I emerged, not to mention opened and closed the door for me.

At around 12:15AM the safety video played and we started our taxi to runway 20C. It was quite a long taxi to the runway, and we followed a Qantas Airbus 380 all the way to the runway, where we were eventually cleared for takeoff.

About 20 minutes after takeoff the seatbelt sign was turned off and all three of the flight attendants worked on making my bed. I conked out in almost no time, and slept for three hours solid.

Turndown service

Now, a few quick words on the seat. Singapore’s first class cabin on the 777 consists of eight seats in a 1-2-1 configuration. While the product is great, I think Singapore almost screwed themselves over with their new business class product, since it’s also in a 1-2-1 configuration and almost equally comfortable. So the seats are actually really similar. I reviewed the business class seat on my Los Angeles to Singapore flight last year, and you can see that review here. So while first class is more spacious, it really isn’t a huge difference. The real benefit to flying Singapore first class is the food and service.

There are both pluses and minuses to Singapore’s first class bedding. I don’t find the seat to be especially well padded compared to the likes of Qantas, Cathay Pacific, JAL, etc., though on the plus side they give you three large pillows, which really help.

As I woke up I noticed one of the many small touches that sets Singapore Airlines apart. When I went to sleep I kind of just threw the slippers I was wearing since the beginning of the flight on the floor. However, when I woke up they were perfectly positioned so that if I needed to get up I could easily slip into them. This happened each and every time I got up. So impressive.

Within a minute or two of waking up Wong Chin appeared and said “good morning Mr. Lucky, I trust you had a restful snooze. May I offer you something to drink, maybe a cup of delicious hot cocoa?” I might not be a five year old, though I can appreciate a good cup of hot cocoa, so gladly accepted.

Hot cocoa

The flight was just too good to sleep any more, so with about three hours to go till Tokyo Narita I decided to watch a couple of sitcoms, including “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Big Bang Theory.” The KrisWorld entertainment system remains among the best in the sky in terms of the selection of movies, sitcoms, CDs, etc. My only complaint is that the system is turned off for takeoff and landing, unlike other airlines which let you start watching movies on the ground.

KrisWorld entertainment system

KrisWorld entertainment system (notice my excellent taste in music)

Every five minutes or so Wong Chin came by to check on me to make sure there wasn’t anything else I needed.

I decided to take a quick walk to business class to see how full it was back there, and as I did so Wong Chin walked back with me to open all the curtains for me. She was truly the best thing ever. As I walked back, she said “Mr. Lucky, have you had a chance to see what I set up for you in 2A?”

I hadn’t, so I walked back there with her, and was truly astounded. She had drawn me the following card:

Awesome!

As part of the following display:

Awesomer!

Not only did she do the writing, but the border was hand drawn as well. Furthermore, she made me a paper flower, and set up the landing forms and playing cards in such an intentional manner.

I was truly astounded, and as she saw my reaction she just stood there and smiled. “Mr. Lucky, taking care of nice passengers like you is my passion. When I set this up the in-flight service manager asked me what I was doing, and I said ‘making my passengers smile.’”

Truly un-friggin-believable. There’s no other way to describe it. I explained to her that I was having a pretty rough week but she completely turned my mood around. I further explained that I was going to place it on my desk in my office as a reminder to smile every morning. She said “oh Mr. Lucky, I thought you were just going to throw it away. In that case, may I decorate it with some more stickers?”

I mean seriously, where do you find a human being this nice? Her passion for making people smile is entirely contagious.

About 90 minutes before landing I requested to have breakfast, which started with some freshly squeezed orange juice as well as a fruit plate.

Fruit plate

Approaching Tokyo

The next course was cornflakes, the delivery of which was hilarious, given that they basically set up an assembly line in order to serve me. Wong Chin brought the actual bowl with the corn flakes, while the leading steward stood right behind her to pour the milk, while the in-flight service manager stood right behind him to ask if I wanted any sugar on top of my corn flakes. I wish I could have taken a picture of three people at the same time trying to serve me corn flakes.

Following the corn flakes the breadbasket was brought by, which consisted of croissants, danishes, etc.

Corn flakes

Then the main course was scrambled eggs with toast, chicken sausage, and mushrooms.

Scrambled eggs

I had the chance to talk to Wong Chin for a bit, and I asked her what her favorite destinations were. Her response? “I don’t really have a favorite, I just like flying with my good colleagues and nice passengers like you.”

About 30 minutes before landing the seatbelt sign was turned on and the flight attendants were asked to take their seats by the captain due to turbulence. And there was indeed turbulence which had us thrown around pretty good. Fortunately I managed to change back into my clothes, with the help of Wong Chin, before the turbulence hit.

Our approach into Tokyo was smooth, and we touched down about 15 minutes behind schedule. We had a lengthy taxi and ended up parking right next to the Lufthansa Airbus 380 which I flew to Tokyo just a few months ago.

On approach

Taxiing in

Approaching Star Alliance terminal

Lufthansa A380

Well hey there!

As soon the seatbelt sign was turned off the curtains were closed to the first class cabin, which is pretty funny when there’s only one passenger. Wong Chin and six other “Singapore Girls” lined up to bid me farewell, and so ended one of my best flights ever.

First class cabin upon deplaning

First class cabin upon deplaning

Singapore Airlines isn’t always the best in the world. At times the service can be robotic. But when they’re good, there’s not an airline in the world that can compete with them. Not one.

That’s why I plan on redeeming a lot more of my Membership Rewards points for travel on Singapore Airlines over the coming months/years.

Introduction
Lufthansa First Class Lounge New York JFK
Lufthansa First Class New York JFK to Frankfurt
A day in the Lufthansa First Class Lounges/Terminal Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Frankfurt to Singapore
InterContinental Singapore
Exploring Singapore
The Singapore Airlines Private Room
Singapore Airlines First Class Singapore to Tokyo Narita
Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo Narita
Japan Airlines First Class Tokyo Narita to New York JFK

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For months I had a meeting scheduled in Singapore, and originally my plan was to first visit Singapore and then continue on to Thailand for about a week (Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, specifically).

So while I had a ticket booked reflecting that schedule, I unfortunately had a schedule conflict on both ends of the trip. On the front end I was attending Starwood’s screening of “Mansome” in New York at the Tribeca Film Festival, and on the back end I had a family commitment back in Tampa.

Unfortunately this translated to a very quick trip to Singapore of just about 48 hours. While it’s not ideal, I was determined to at least get a few new airline products into the trip, and I’m proud to say that I think I succeeded in this instance.

For the outbound I’ve been dying to try Lufthansa’s new first class on the 747, which consists of both a seat and a bed. I’ve flown their other new first class product, which can be found on the Airbus 380, though never lucked out with the reconfigured 747, since only 10 of the 28 747s feature it.

In this instance the most convenient scheduled for the outbound was from New York to Singapore via Frankfurt in Lufthansa first class for 70,000 United miles one way (which I transferred from Ultimate Rewards).

The Frankfurt to Singapore flight was scheduled to be operated by the Airbus 380, so while it’s not a new product I didn’t feel too bad about flying it again, since I really do love the Airbus 380.

The flight from New York to Frankfurt proved to be a bit trickier. Lufthansa has two flights a day between New York JFK and Frankfurt, one at around 4PM and one at around 10PM. Initially I booked the late night flight, which I far prefer.

The thing is that Lufthansa flies the reconfigured 747s around pretty randomly, so when I woke up in the morning I looked up the tail numbers for the inbound flights from Frankfurt (this FlyerTalk thread is very useful for tracking them). As it turns out, the earlier flight from Frankfurt to New York (LH400) had the new first class, and that plane turns around to fly the early New York to Frankfurt flight (LH401).

So while I wasn’t looking forward to spending an extra six hours in Frankfurt, I decided it was well worth it for the new product. Fortunately the earlier flight had first class award space as well, so I called up to make the change, which took only a few minutes.

The return was also a spur of the moment decision. I initially booked a Cathay Pacific first class award from Singapore to Tampa via Hong Kong and Chicago, which is a tough value to beat at 67,500 American miles. Cathay Pacific has one of the most consistent first class products, though I’ve flown them well over a dozen times, so I was really hoping to try something new.

My flight out of Singapore was supposed to be at 1AM, and at around 4PM the previous afternoon I decided to get online and see if there were any other interesting alternatives.

I found Japan Airlines first class award space from Tokyo to New York in their new Sky Suite. While I flew their old product from Tokyo to New York several years ago, the prospect of trying their new suites proved too much to give up, so I canceled my Cathay Pacific award. The one-way award cost 62,500 miles in first class (flying out of Japan is 5,000 miles cheaper than flying out of Southeast Asia on American).

The issue was getting from Singapore to Tokyo. I had some Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, so decided to book the Singapore Airlines redeye from Singapore to Tokyo in first class for 51,000 KrisFlyer miles.

While I’ve flown Singapore Airlines’ old first class product and new business class product, I haven’t flown their new first class product.

Now, some might say that Singapore to Tokyo for 51,000 miles on a redeye is a waste. But 90% of the people I know really have no clue how far Singapore is from Tokyo. When I’ve asked people to estimate the flight length, they usually say 2-3 hours. It’s actually blocked at over seven hours, and the distance is further than Boston to London. So when you put it into perspective and think of it as the equivalent of a transatlantic first class flight for 51,000 miles, it seems like a bit better of a deal.

Ultimately there’s no doubt the Cathay Pacific deal was a better one, though you guys are always telling me you want me to review new products, and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity, since three of the four airline products were new ones for me.

When all was said and done, the itinerary looked as follows:

04/26 Lufthansa 401 New York to Frankfurt departing at 3:55PM and arriving at 5:35AM (+1 day)
04/27 Lufthansa 778 Frankfurt to Singapore departing at 9:35PM and arriving at 3:50PM (+1 day)
04/30 Singapore Airlines 638 Singapore to Tokyo departing at 11:55PM and arriving at 8:00AM (+1 day)
05/01 Japan Airlines 6 Tokyo to New York JFK departing at 11:20AM and arriving at 11:25AM

On the hotel front I decided to book the InterContinental Singapore. Since I was staying over a weekend I was able to use an InterContinental Buy One Get One Free Weekend Night Certificate, which is an unbeatable deal in conjunction with Royal Ambassador benefits.

Stay tuned!

I suspect I’m in the minority here in desperately wanting a flight attendant’s contact information without creepy intent.

I wrote about my AMAZING Singapore Airlines flight a couple of days ago, and I figured the smile would eventually be wiped off my face. Well, after having a couple of days to think it over, I’ve decided that out of the two million “butt in seat” miles I’ve flown (I just turned 22 — how sad is that?), this was the best flight of my life by a mile. The crazy thing is that Monday, the day of my flight, was one of the worst days for me in recent memory due to some issues I was dealing with, so when I boarded the Singapore Airlines flight I kind of said to myself “great, I’ll sleep it off and hopefully feel better,” but I didn’t actually think my frown would turn into a smile in a matter of minutes. It’s funny how things happen sometimes.

Not only was it a great flight, but Wong Chin, the amazing flight attendant, kind of inspired me. I’m not into sharing good deeds (it kind of ruins the “goodness” of them if they’re talked about, in my opinion), but I’ve already found myself trying to apply the “Wong Chin” method in a couple of ways. Either way, I now have her card on my desk, and it has made me smile the past two mornings.

However, I’m now mildly depressed by the fact that I didn’t get her contact information. Actually, I kind of think I did, but I can’t find it, which is even worse. It was a redeye so I was rather tired and not on top of my game, but as I disembarked I distinctly remember Wong Chin saying to me “I hope to hear from you soon, Mr. Lucky.” To me that suggests she actually gave me her contact information, but the life of me I can’t find it. She gave me several sheets of paper with info about the flight, the name of the crewmembers (upon my request), etc., but I can’t seem to find it.

While I’ve already written Singapore Airlines to compliment her on the best flight of my life, that’s not enough. I’d love to be able to send her flowers or something, but for the life of me I can’t find her contact information. Heck, more than anything else I’d love to get on another one of her flights.

Guess I’m totally screwed?

Boy, does this post sound creepy. Sorry for rambling…

I just got off a Singapore Airlines flight which was, hands down, the most spectacular flight of my life. I had the first class cabin all to myself, and as I boarded the leading stewardess (who’s only job was to take care of me) said “Mr. Lucky, I promise I will pamper you tonight.”

While the service was incredible throughout the flight, what the flight attendant had waiting for me after I woke up from my nap blew me away.

What was it? The story is auto-posting in exactly four hours, once I’m in international airspace… though in the meantime you’re more than welcome to guess!

Let’s just say she got really creative…

You watch this video of Singapore Airlines’ last 747 flight and almost get just a bit emotional… especially towards the end.

Anyone else? I need another Kleenex…

As I wrote about a few days ago, Singapore Airlines is slowly starting to release saver business class award seats on aircraft equipped with their new product. We’re seeing them release a considerable amount of business class space on most of their routes out of the US last minute, though I can’t say I see all that many seats when looking far out.

I suspect this trend is part of a larger Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program change as of March 8 for travel after April 1, whereby they’ve started releasing saver business and first class award space on flights equipped with their new products, which could previously only be redeemed for at the standard level (requiring double as many miles as a saver ticket).

So I’ve decided to do a bit of research about just how much first class award space Singapore Airlines is releasing for travel after April 1, and not only is availability excellent (even for two passengers in many instances), but the redemption prices are incredibly reasonable. Keep in mind that that you can transfer American Express Membership Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest points at a 1:1 ratio to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.

To search Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer award availability you first need to sign up for a KrisFlyer account (notice just how many options they give you for a title, which always cracks me up). Once you have an account you can search for award availability on the home page by doing a flight search and ticking the “KrisFlyer Redemptions” box at the top left of the search page.

Once that’s complete knock yourself out and look at the great deals that can be had. Keep in mind that Singapore Airlines offers a 15% discount for award tickets booked online, so when you do the search, the first page will display the original price, while the purchase page will display the discounted price.

The surprising thing is that there are some truly great deals with the new award chart.

For example, San Francisco to Hong Kong is readily available.

And the total cost per person roundtrip in first class is 140,250 miles plus $339.30 in taxes and fuel surcharges.

San Francisco to Seoul is also readily available in first class.

The total cost per person roundtrip in first class is 148,750 miles plus $510.40 in taxes and fuel surcharges. It’s not quite as good of a deal as San Francisco to Hong Kong given that this flight is shorter yet costs more miles and has higher fuel surcharges.

But my favorite new first class redemption option of all has to be Singapore Airlines first class between Houston and Moscow. I’ve always wanted to visit Moscow, and flying Singapore Airlines there seems like the most comfortably way.

The total roundtrip cost is only 114,750 miles plus $434.50 in taxes and fuel surcharges.

It’s worth noting that all of the above redemptions are also available as one-ways. So for example if you wanted to fly first class one-way to Moscow, you’d pay only ~57,000 miles plus ~$200.

Now, you may notice that I’ve been speaking specifically about KrisFlyer redemptions. The hope was that when Singapore Airlines opened up saver first class award inventory, they’d open it up to Star Alliance partners as well (meaning you could book it with United Mileage Plus miles, US Airways Dividend Miles, Aeroplan miles, etc.). So far there are no signs of that for first class. That being said, I’d speculate that they’ll be opening up the first class award space to Star Alliance partners close to departure, though not more than a week or so out. Though to a large extent I really don’t care, since I consider transfers to KrisFlyer to now be one of the best new uses of Membership Rewards points. My next redemption with Membership Rewards points is going to be either a pair of first class tickets between San Francisco and Hong Kong or between Houston and Moscow.

And with this change, Singapore Airlines goes from offering one of the most unattainable first class products on an award ticket to being right in the middle of the pack…

Anyone else planning on redeeming their Membership Rewards points for Singapore Airlines first class?