Review: Singapore Airlines First Class HKG-SFO (SQ2)

• Introduction
• Part 1: Star Alliance Lounge at LAX Tom Bradley Terminal
• Part 2: Asiana Business Class Quadra Smartium LAX-ICN
• Part 3: Asiana Business Class Lounge at ICN
• Part 4: Asiana Business Class ICN-HKG
• Part 5: Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel and Towers
• Part 6: Sightseeing in Hong Kong
• Part 7: Getting from Hong Kong to Macau
• Part 8: Sheraton Macau Hotel, Macau Central
• Part 9: Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Lounge at HKG
• Part 10: Singapore Airlines First Class Review HKG-SFO

 

My trip to Hong Kong and Macau was coming to an end, but not before a 13 hour flight back to the states, and this time I’d be flying in style. This is one of those flights where it’s an absolute no-brainer to book First Class over Business Class because the difference in points is so minimal (I transferred Amex to Singapore). Keep in mind that this flight is on the 777-300ER and not the A380, so it’s First Class and not the famous “Suites Class” that Singapore offers.

 

 

An extra 6,375 Amex points for Singapore Airlines First Class for 13 hours? Yes, please! Keep in mind taxes on this award was in the neighborhood of about $200, but it’s worth it to me. The best way to earn Amex points right now is via the Amex Mercedes Benz Platinum card (50K point bonus but a fee of $475 – see my Credit Cards tab for info). On to the review!

As I sat down, I was welcomed and asked if I wanted anything to drink. I was pretty full from the food I just had in the lounge, so I just went with water. I was up taking pictures of the cabin and the purser asked if I wanted to be in any of the pics. I declined, but I could tell the purser really wanted to make my flight comfortable.

 

 

Boarding felt like it was quick. The purser came over to talk to me and said that I was the only First Class passenger on that flight, which is always a good thing. But then, out of nowhere, some lady and here two children join me in First Class. The purser said it was a very last minute addition. It wasn’t a big deal at all…but I was definitely wondering how much a last minute first class ticket costs (x3). Thankfully the kids were very well behaved (ages about 9-12) and didn’t make a peep the whole flight.

I decided to watch some TV during/after takeoff. The IFE selection was fantastic as always, with tons of new movies and TV shows for on-demand viewing. The dinner service began about an hour after takeoff. I decided to book the cook before the flight and ordered the veal and some other good stuff, but I’ll let the pictures do the talking and add comments afterwards.

 

 

The best part of this meal was the lobster salad. That lobster was pretty darn good, while the rest of the meal was average to below average in my opinion. The bread was standard airplane bread, the second salad was unnecessary, and I think I simply picked the wrong main course. The veal was boring and actually kind of gross. The purser noticed I hadn’t eat much and asked if I wanted to try one of the other menu items, but I declined. Dessert was good.

Regarding the meal service, it was very efficient. I never waited more than a couple of minutes for my next course to arrive, and my place setting was cleaned after each course was taken away. Two flight attendants actually tag-teamed the entire meal, although I must say neither did so with a smile on their face.

I took a peek at the flight show and noticed that we were traveling really fast. Faster than I can remember flying, at least in recent memory. It was due to a very heavy tail wind, of course.

 

 

This flight left around midnight local time, so I was pretty sleepy after all that food. I pulled out the Givenchy pajamas I was given when boarding and headed to the bathroom to change. The flight attendant noticed I was going to change and asked if I wanted her to set up my bed in the seat next to mine so I can use the window seat exclusivity as my chair. This sounded like a great idea to me, so I agreed.

 

 

The bed is huge, and as you saw earlier in the image of the TV, there’s plenty of space for the legs and feet also. The bed was perfectly comfortable and the blankets were great – I had no temperature issues at all. If I had to quibble about anything, it would be the pillows. They were all hard/firm, and I feel like they’re more decorative than they are functional. But hey, you can’t complain much when you’re sleeping in a bed at 33,000 feet while flying 700mph!

After about 6 hours of sleep, I woke up and went back to my seat to watch some TV. Not long after that, it was time for even more food…this time in the form of breakfast. I didn’t want to have anything too heavy, so I tried to go light/healthy as much as possible while still getting my money’s worth.

 

 

So my hope for a light meal quickly turned into 4 courses of awesomeness. This breakfast was much better than the dinner though, as I actually enjoyed every course. The fruit was fresh and tasted great. The bread was amazing. I’m not sure what the long piece of bread is called, but it was warm and flaky and oh-so-delicious. I had a second piece. Cereal is standard – you’d have to try hard to mess that one up. The main/final course was just as good as it looks as well. Everything tasted great and service was again very efficient.

Soon after, we began our descent in to SFO and the ride was over. That strong tail wind got us stateside an entire hour early, which ended up working out perfectly given the amount of time I slept.

Summary

The seat and bed were great – I had no issues sleeping at all. I didn’t particularly enjoy dinner, but that was mostly due to poor ordering on my part when using the “book the cook” function. Breakfast was much better, and I enjoyed every course. Service-wise, the flight attendents were efficient but robotic – service was great, but there was no “service with a smile” from them. The purser, on the other hand, was absolutely fantastic. He was above and beyond in terms of friendliness and I could tell he really wanted me to have a comfortable flight. I definitely paid a small premium in terms of miles to fly SQ First, but it was worth it in my eyes.