The Whole SQ F Cabin to myself
May 2, 2014, 8:38 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: singapore
Posts: 52
The Whole SQ F Cabin to myself
Background
Hi! I'm Mark, a Software Engineer working in Singapore. I picked up the travel hacking game from an ex-roommate and have been playing the game for several years now. Previously I have only redeemed my miles for business class travel.
I recently applied for the USAirways Dividend Miles card with 35k sign up bonus. This was pre-American Airline merger. USAirways offered an Inter South-Asia First Class Round trip ticket on Star Alliance for 40k roundtrip.
I decided I had to make use of this sick opportunity to fly SQ first class. The only 2 options I had for south-Asia travel were:
1) SIN - JAKARTA
2) SIN - DELHI
Since the SIN- JAKARTA route was only about an hour's flight, I decided that was not a good use of miles. The SIN-DELHI route however was 5 hours long in a 777-300. This was a perfect use of 40k miles :P
Hi! I'm Mark, a Software Engineer working in Singapore. I picked up the travel hacking game from an ex-roommate and have been playing the game for several years now. Previously I have only redeemed my miles for business class travel.
I recently applied for the USAirways Dividend Miles card with 35k sign up bonus. This was pre-American Airline merger. USAirways offered an Inter South-Asia First Class Round trip ticket on Star Alliance for 40k roundtrip.
I decided I had to make use of this sick opportunity to fly SQ first class. The only 2 options I had for south-Asia travel were:
1) SIN - JAKARTA
2) SIN - DELHI
Since the SIN- JAKARTA route was only about an hour's flight, I decided that was not a good use of miles. The SIN-DELHI route however was 5 hours long in a 777-300. This was a perfect use of 40k miles :P
May 2, 2014, 8:54 am
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: singapore
Posts: 52
Pre-Departure at SQ Silverkris Lounge, The Private Room
My flight was at 5.35pm at Terminal 2. But I decided to check in early at 1.40pm so that I could thoroughly enjoy my experience in the Private Room.
After checking in at T2, I took the train over to T3 and trekked over to the Private Room. The SQ dragon lady escorted me from the silver kris lounge entrance through the first class lounge checkpoint and then through the private room checkpoint. The SQ business class lounge had a decent number of people. The SQ first class lounge had about 5 people. The SQ Private room was totally empty! I was escorted to a seating table and presented by the wait staff with a menu.
I haven’t had lunch yet so my stomach was ready to handle the avalanche of food that was to follow:
First I started with a “Twin Bean Soup with Pueraria Root”. I consider myself a chinese soup connoisseur and this was excellent.
Next up was “US Prime beef burger with foie gras and fried quails egg”. This was a mighty small burger but no worries, I was going to order a lot more food. The Beef patty was amazing. You can definitely tell the different from having a patty made with premium “US Prime” beef. If you don’t know the difference between “US Prime”, “US Choice” and “US Select” beef, I suggest you google that! It’s an established system used to differentiate the quality of beef.
The clay pot rice was out of this world! This is THE BEST clay pot rice I have ever eaten in my life. I even told the private room waitress that! The rice was flavourful and the meat was so juicy and succulent. I finished every last grain of this dish.
The lobster was juicy and cheesy(hehe). It was good but by this time I already had 2 other main courses and was not hungry at all.
For desert I had an ice cream sundae. What can I say? This was definitely premium ice cream.
I finished off the meal with a glass of champagne. I love the glass that it came in. It’s so fancy.
I was stuffed. I took some photos of the private room. I was still the only person in the whole lounge!
I then walked over to the first class lounge. The first class lounge was a buffet set up but had some stalls where you could order “chicken rice” and “duck rice”. These are local Singapore delicacies. There was also a bar where you could order drinks.
Funny things is, I was the ONLY person in the first class lounge at this time. This made me the only person at both the SQ first class lounge and private room at 4pm on a public holiday!
My flight was at 5.35pm at Terminal 2. But I decided to check in early at 1.40pm so that I could thoroughly enjoy my experience in the Private Room.
After checking in at T2, I took the train over to T3 and trekked over to the Private Room. The SQ dragon lady escorted me from the silver kris lounge entrance through the first class lounge checkpoint and then through the private room checkpoint. The SQ business class lounge had a decent number of people. The SQ first class lounge had about 5 people. The SQ Private room was totally empty! I was escorted to a seating table and presented by the wait staff with a menu.
I haven’t had lunch yet so my stomach was ready to handle the avalanche of food that was to follow:
First I started with a “Twin Bean Soup with Pueraria Root”. I consider myself a chinese soup connoisseur and this was excellent.
Next up was “US Prime beef burger with foie gras and fried quails egg”. This was a mighty small burger but no worries, I was going to order a lot more food. The Beef patty was amazing. You can definitely tell the different from having a patty made with premium “US Prime” beef. If you don’t know the difference between “US Prime”, “US Choice” and “US Select” beef, I suggest you google that! It’s an established system used to differentiate the quality of beef.
The clay pot rice was out of this world! This is THE BEST clay pot rice I have ever eaten in my life. I even told the private room waitress that! The rice was flavourful and the meat was so juicy and succulent. I finished every last grain of this dish.
The lobster was juicy and cheesy(hehe). It was good but by this time I already had 2 other main courses and was not hungry at all.
For desert I had an ice cream sundae. What can I say? This was definitely premium ice cream.
I finished off the meal with a glass of champagne. I love the glass that it came in. It’s so fancy.
I was stuffed. I took some photos of the private room. I was still the only person in the whole lounge!
I then walked over to the first class lounge. The first class lounge was a buffet set up but had some stalls where you could order “chicken rice” and “duck rice”. These are local Singapore delicacies. There was also a bar where you could order drinks.
Funny things is, I was the ONLY person in the first class lounge at this time. This made me the only person at both the SQ first class lounge and private room at 4pm on a public holiday!
May 2, 2014, 9:35 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: singapore
Posts: 52
SQ 406 Singapore to Delhi
Departure Time: 5.35pm
Departure Gate: T3 E27
Arrival Time: 8.36pm IST
Flight Time: 5h 01min
Passenger Load: 1/8
When they called for boarding for first and business class passengers, I was ready and waiting to board. I was escorted to my seat 1A by an SQ stewardess. This was my first time taking SQ first class but I have walked passed it many times on my way to other cabins.
First impressions
The seat was wide. The leather was soft. I definitely felt comfortable.
The screen was big but it didn’t look HD. Also, the screen was glossy. This meant that the sunlight was causing all kind of reflections. I would have preferred if SQ chose a matt screen.
The seat didn’t have a USB port but there was an in-seat power supply that didn’t need a converter.
The tray table didn’t extend to the whole width of the seat. This meant that I had to sit at the left hand side of the seat in order to eat from the tray table. Definitely a very “first world” problem.
There were multiple compartments to keep my belongings.
I was asked for my preference of drink and I chose an orange juice. I like how the drinks in First Class come in a huge glass.
Bose handsets of course!
Soon after the captain announced for doors to be closed. There were no other passengers in F. This meant I was the only first class passenger and the whole first class cabin was my heaven in the sky for the next 5 hours!
I took this opportunity to take a gazillion pictures of the cabin from all sorts of different angles.
I even got the cabin crew to take pictures of me.
and they posed for a picture with me too!
Seat stretched out.
Krug vs Dom
Soon, we were up in the air and seat beats signs were off. This meant the start of the booze cruise! When the air steward asked me if I would like a drink, I replied “Most definitely, let’s starts with the Krug”.
This was my first time having Krug and I noticed the strong accent of the champagne. The krug was served with Satay. As usual, SQ satay is delicious.
Next up was the Dom. I have had Dom previously but comparing it to Krug at 30000 feet, I think I prefer Krug.
Round 3 Krug!
Round 4 Krug!
I called it quits after Round 4. I didn’t want to land in Delhi drunk since this was my first time there and it’s definitely not safe to land in a foreign airport drunk.
While I was drinking the champagne, I was walking around the First Class Cabin. Since it was my private chateau, I took the liberty of examine the whole caving and trying out the different seats. I was also kinda playing musical chairs with the crew since they and to find me to top up my champagne.
I think the first class cabin could have been maintained better. I noticed many skid marks and things were kinda falling apart.
This was also the “older” first class cabin. SQ was probably going to refurbish this plane soon.
Meal Time
I arranged my meal to be served 2h 30 minutes after take out. I was full from the private room so I needed the break.
Satay.
First up was the “Pave of Balik Salmon” Appetizer.
The Legendary SQ Garlic Bread. 2 pieces for me.
Next, I had the “Chicken Consomme with mushroom tortellini”
Salad.
For my main course, I had my BTC. The classic “boston lobster thermidor”
I skipped fruits and cheese and went straight for dessert “Alphonso mango chiboust cake”.
All the dishes were amazing but I was just so full so I wasn’t able to thoroughly enjoy them.
After my coffee, I pushed my table aside and went to the washroom to wash up. Being the only passenger, I took my own sweet time. I think I was gone for a good 10 minutes. To my surprise on my way back to my seat, an air stewardess was seating by my seat waiting for my return! Upon seeing me, she immediately went back to the gallery and got me a hot towel. Now that’s what I call service!
Service
What can I say, service was extraordinary. I was the ONLY passenger and served by 2 crew members. I had their undivided attention. My glasses were never empty. My plates of nuts were always filled. If I needed anyone, I just had to press the service button and someone was attending to me within 10 seconds.
Citrus Royale non alcoholic drink
I did spend about 2 hours of my 5 hours flight though on my feet. It’s not everyday you get a whole F cabin to myself. Movies could be enjoyed anyway but an F cabin can only be enjoyed in the air! I took it upon myself to explore every seat and angel of the F cabin. The crew typically left me to myself and I carried my glasses of champagne to every seat. It was like a 5 year kid in his own private playground!
Bed Time
1C was my bed.
Previously, I had only experienced the fully flat seat of SQ biz, KE biz, Eva Air Biz, China Airlines Biz and Cathay Pacific Biz. This was my first First class bed.
It’s definitely more comfortable than a business class seat. The huge width made it great to roll around. However, I did find it pretty short. Mind you, I’m not even a tall guy at 1.72m.
There were lots of empty space in the 777-300 cabin. I wish SQ had made better use of the remaining space.
I probably slept for 30 minutes but was feeling the effects of having eaten 4 main courses since lunch. My stomach was too bloated and being in a lie flat position was not helping. I decided to continue “rounds” around the F cabin.
I took the opportunity to talk to the cabin crew as well. Apparently F is packed with 5 main course at any given time irregardless of load. If I had decided I didn’t want my BTC, I could have chosen anything else on the menu.
The crew also rotated routes quite a bit and this was probably their first time back to Delhi in about 2 years. For short inter-asia destinations, they typically stay over for a night. However for longer destinations such as Europe or America, they were given 2 nights off.
All good things must come to an end and soon it was time for this flight to end. My flight landed safety in the New Delhi Aiport and I was the first one out of the plane.
Departure Time: 5.35pm
Departure Gate: T3 E27
Arrival Time: 8.36pm IST
Flight Time: 5h 01min
Passenger Load: 1/8
When they called for boarding for first and business class passengers, I was ready and waiting to board. I was escorted to my seat 1A by an SQ stewardess. This was my first time taking SQ first class but I have walked passed it many times on my way to other cabins.
First impressions
The seat was wide. The leather was soft. I definitely felt comfortable.
The screen was big but it didn’t look HD. Also, the screen was glossy. This meant that the sunlight was causing all kind of reflections. I would have preferred if SQ chose a matt screen.
The seat didn’t have a USB port but there was an in-seat power supply that didn’t need a converter.
The tray table didn’t extend to the whole width of the seat. This meant that I had to sit at the left hand side of the seat in order to eat from the tray table. Definitely a very “first world” problem.
There were multiple compartments to keep my belongings.
I was asked for my preference of drink and I chose an orange juice. I like how the drinks in First Class come in a huge glass.
Bose handsets of course!
Soon after the captain announced for doors to be closed. There were no other passengers in F. This meant I was the only first class passenger and the whole first class cabin was my heaven in the sky for the next 5 hours!
I took this opportunity to take a gazillion pictures of the cabin from all sorts of different angles.
I even got the cabin crew to take pictures of me.
and they posed for a picture with me too!
Seat stretched out.
Krug vs Dom
Soon, we were up in the air and seat beats signs were off. This meant the start of the booze cruise! When the air steward asked me if I would like a drink, I replied “Most definitely, let’s starts with the Krug”.
This was my first time having Krug and I noticed the strong accent of the champagne. The krug was served with Satay. As usual, SQ satay is delicious.
Next up was the Dom. I have had Dom previously but comparing it to Krug at 30000 feet, I think I prefer Krug.
Round 3 Krug!
Round 4 Krug!
I called it quits after Round 4. I didn’t want to land in Delhi drunk since this was my first time there and it’s definitely not safe to land in a foreign airport drunk.
While I was drinking the champagne, I was walking around the First Class Cabin. Since it was my private chateau, I took the liberty of examine the whole caving and trying out the different seats. I was also kinda playing musical chairs with the crew since they and to find me to top up my champagne.
I think the first class cabin could have been maintained better. I noticed many skid marks and things were kinda falling apart.
This was also the “older” first class cabin. SQ was probably going to refurbish this plane soon.
Meal Time
I arranged my meal to be served 2h 30 minutes after take out. I was full from the private room so I needed the break.
Satay.
First up was the “Pave of Balik Salmon” Appetizer.
The Legendary SQ Garlic Bread. 2 pieces for me.
Next, I had the “Chicken Consomme with mushroom tortellini”
Salad.
For my main course, I had my BTC. The classic “boston lobster thermidor”
I skipped fruits and cheese and went straight for dessert “Alphonso mango chiboust cake”.
All the dishes were amazing but I was just so full so I wasn’t able to thoroughly enjoy them.
After my coffee, I pushed my table aside and went to the washroom to wash up. Being the only passenger, I took my own sweet time. I think I was gone for a good 10 minutes. To my surprise on my way back to my seat, an air stewardess was seating by my seat waiting for my return! Upon seeing me, she immediately went back to the gallery and got me a hot towel. Now that’s what I call service!
Service
What can I say, service was extraordinary. I was the ONLY passenger and served by 2 crew members. I had their undivided attention. My glasses were never empty. My plates of nuts were always filled. If I needed anyone, I just had to press the service button and someone was attending to me within 10 seconds.
Citrus Royale non alcoholic drink
I did spend about 2 hours of my 5 hours flight though on my feet. It’s not everyday you get a whole F cabin to myself. Movies could be enjoyed anyway but an F cabin can only be enjoyed in the air! I took it upon myself to explore every seat and angel of the F cabin. The crew typically left me to myself and I carried my glasses of champagne to every seat. It was like a 5 year kid in his own private playground!
Bed Time
1C was my bed.
Previously, I had only experienced the fully flat seat of SQ biz, KE biz, Eva Air Biz, China Airlines Biz and Cathay Pacific Biz. This was my first First class bed.
It’s definitely more comfortable than a business class seat. The huge width made it great to roll around. However, I did find it pretty short. Mind you, I’m not even a tall guy at 1.72m.
There were lots of empty space in the 777-300 cabin. I wish SQ had made better use of the remaining space.
I probably slept for 30 minutes but was feeling the effects of having eaten 4 main courses since lunch. My stomach was too bloated and being in a lie flat position was not helping. I decided to continue “rounds” around the F cabin.
I took the opportunity to talk to the cabin crew as well. Apparently F is packed with 5 main course at any given time irregardless of load. If I had decided I didn’t want my BTC, I could have chosen anything else on the menu.
The crew also rotated routes quite a bit and this was probably their first time back to Delhi in about 2 years. For short inter-asia destinations, they typically stay over for a night. However for longer destinations such as Europe or America, they were given 2 nights off.
All good things must come to an end and soon it was time for this flight to end. My flight landed safety in the New Delhi Aiport and I was the first one out of the plane.
May 2, 2014, 2:26 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: CGK
Programs: FlyingBlue | Krisflyer | SPG | HHonors
Posts: 1,563
I took the same SIN-DEL flight last Dec as well but did not have the Balik salmon as an appetizer! The crew serving the flight was one of the best I have had though!
Thanks for the report and photos!
Thanks for the report and photos!
May 2, 2014, 3:36 pm
#6
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 946
I must be honest, every time I see a burger (no matter how exotic the ingredients are) on a supposedly fine dining menu I can't help but cringe. That said, I could think of worse ways to spend an afternoon / evening!
Nice write up EyeBurn.
Nice write up EyeBurn.
May 3, 2014, 3:54 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Iver
Programs: BA GOLD/OWE BA Amex Prem Plus Tesco Airmiles Qantas Bronze IHG SPG Eithad
Posts: 2,902
Wow, what a lucky person to have the whole of F to yourself, I can understand you being like a 5 year exploring everything, and not being interrupted whilst circumnavigating the F cabin. I do not know how you even managed to attack the F food, after all what you ate in the Private Room. Must say the food looked great in both places. Have never been in a empty F cabin, my flights albeit LHR to SIN-SYD are solid. Will definitely have to travel SQ someday, those seats are so wide and look so cosy once the bed is made up. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.^
