Five things you need to know about Singapore Airlines' new first class

By David Flynn, December 19 2017
Five things you need to know about Singapore Airlines' new first class

Singapore Airlines' newest luxury first class suites are now winging their way daily between Sydney and Singapore, with other cities – foremost among them London – to follow from early 2018.

Keen to fly these sweet new suites? Here's what you need to know.

1A, 1F are the largest suites

All of Singapore Airlines' new A380 first class suites are not the same size, although this layout diagram indicates otherwise.

Suites 1A and 1F are the largest, with a footprint of almost 5m².

These happen to be the ones which combine with their adjacent suites – 2A and 2F, respectively – to create a double bedroom (see below). Of course, if you're a solo flyer there's nothing to stop you from booking 1A or 1F just for the sheer space.

The other suites range from 4m² (2A and 2F) to 3.23m² (3A and 3F).

There are just two 'double bedrooms'

Travelling with your significant other and really want to share the experience? Book yourselves into 1A and 2A, or 1F and 2F, as the common wall between these suites can be lowered...

... so that your beds are next to one another.

If a solo passenger has already booked one of those four suites, however, you could be out of luck. By all means ask Singapore Airlines if they could ask that passenger to consider moving to another suite, but don't expect anything.

Those double beds are more like two singles

Here's another PR photo showing a happy couple on their double bed.

And here's the reality: it's not actually double bed. Not as such.

The lower section of the wall between the suites sits firmly between those beds, so it's more like two single beds pushed next to each other – but still with a bit of a gap in the middle.

Thinking that the PR photos might be demonstrating some mattress cover or even a double-bed doona, we quizzed Singapore Airlines about this at the launch of the first class suites but were told the dressed-up double bed was purely for the sake of the marketing shots. Poor form, SQ, poor form.

More miles will be needed to book a 'free' suite

Eager to magic your KrisFlyer miles into a first class flight? Just make sure you have enough of those miles. With only half as many suites as before, the law of supply and demand kicks in – meaning you'll probably only ever see one of the new suites available under the Standard award rates instead of the discount Saver rate.

On the Sydney-Singapore route, for example, that's 150,000 KrisFlyer miles for a Standard rate compared to just 80,000 KrisFlyer miles under the Saver rate.

If that means racking up some more miles on your account, consider a credit card which can earn KrisFlyer miles or even converting your Virgin Australia Velocity frequent flyer points into KrisFlyer miles.

Does your A380 have the new suites?

At the time of writing only one of Singapore Airlines' A380s sports the new suites, and that one's flying daily between Singapore and Sydney as SQ221/SQ232.

Four more factory-fresh A380s will arrive from early 2018, with London tipped as the next route to see the new suites, while 14 more superjumbos in the SQ fleet will be upgraded from late 2018 to 2020.

David

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

06 Nov 2014

Total posts 359

1A and 1K is generally blocked if you book award seat, even on the standard (or "advantage") rare.


Not sure if it's open to revenue if you fly solo. Not rich enough to try out....

05 Jan 2016

Total posts 4

This seems to be changed now. I've got an upcoming reward (saver fare) from LHR-SIN-SYD and I can select 1A on both the old suites from LHR-SIN and the new suites from SIN-SYD.


Mind you, I was booked into 2F and SQ called me and asked if I wouldn't mind swapping to 3F instead (so a couple could sit in a double suite), so there is a slim chance some sort of block was removed in the process.

24 Mar 2015

Total posts 17

Think you're headline is out - shouldnt it state "1A and 1F are the largest suites" rather than 1A and 1K?

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

10 Jan 2017

Total posts 40

While Qantas has no embarrassment in proudly flying their A380 "first class" product on the same route as SIA.

AT
AT

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

14 Sep 2012

Total posts 381

Cabin planning takes an tremendous amount of effort, time, money and risk. QF is flying the F cabin hard product that it has and understand they are underway in planning a new F cabin hard refresh. QF has absolutely no reason to be embarrassed about their A380 F product, it's perfectly fine for what it is but appreciate that there is now a new level of "suite" that only x3 airlines globally (EY, SQ, EK) have or yet to be launched.

Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer

06 Nov 2014

Total posts 359

Also it's not wise for any airlines to invest too much on F now. SQ is coming up with this new suite mainly for national pride as it is always known as a premium airline. I don't think SQ expect to profit much out of it. In fact it will only appear in a handful of its fleet as the backbone of SQ fleet is still 777, and later on A350 and 787 which doesn't even feature first class.


The same goes with EY and EK. EY apartment is only featured in their A380 and they only have a fleet of 10. EK new suite will only come out of the new 77W and they have no plan to refit the current 77W with the new suite. It's really just a marketing campaign saying "we've got the best first class" but in reality it doesn't reflect their normal product.

British Airways - Executive Club

07 Sep 2012

Total posts 47

With all the hype ... somehow you can't dine with another person anymore it seems as there's nowhere another person can sit opposite you during a meal it seems now.

07 Jun 2016

Total posts 29

I’m curious to see what sitting apart so far in a double suite will do to cabin noise. Will I have to put noise cancelling head phones on just because the couple next door is having a conversation across the wide distance of their double bed over dinner?

The distance is much bigger than any normal aisle and conversation will have to be that much louder to work


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