The Singapore Airlines Suites, Sweet Spot

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How does flying Singapore Airlines Suites for just 58,500 KrisFlyer points sound? Petty amazing, right? This Singapore Airlines Suites, Sweet Spot is on two routes: Singapore to Delhi and Singapore to Mumbai. I have flown both routes, and I can confidently say that it is one of the best award redemptions out there.

SQ 406 (Singapore Airlines)
Airbus A380-800
Singapore-Mumbai (SIN – BOM)
Duration: 5h 55m
Seats: 1F and 2F

“Dad, we are going to have a room all to ourselves. On a Plane!?” My daughter could not fathom the idea of having a room to ourselves on the plane. It’s the same surreal excitement I felt the first time I flew Singapore Airlines Suites. However, after having the product flown several times now, including The 22 Hour Singapore Suites Experience, and countless first-class flights, I now try to re-live that same excitement through the eyes of my friends and family. It brings me back the same joy as if I was flying it again for the first time!

This trip report is the 5th part of a series covering my recent trip to Singapore, Thailand, India, and UAE:

Luxury Hotels, 2 First Class Flights, The Million+ Award Redemption

Singapore Airlines 19-Hour Non-Stop Experience

What’s it like to travel on Scoot for 2 hours?
Four Seasons Bangkok Review: An Oasis in Chaos

The Singapore Airlines Suites, Sweet Spot
Treated like Royalty at the Taj Palace Hotel Udaipur
Luxury Retreat at The Oberoi Amarvilas Agra
An Oasis in UAE: Qasr Al Sarab
Qatar Qsuites is home in the Sky

 

Singapore Airlines Suites – Routes & Booking Process

Singapore Airlines has 12 Airbus A380s, all featuring Suites class. In 2023, booking a Suites award ticket is nearly impossible, except for a few routes, and that’s why I’m writing this along with my trip report. Before we get into the details, it’s important to understand that there are 2 types of fare classes available when booking KrisFlyer awards: Saver and Advantage. Advantage fares are significantly more expensive than Saver but offer much better availability. If neither Saver nor Advantage is available, then it is possible to waitlist for awards at both price points.

I understand that everyone wants to fly Suites as far as possible, as long as possible, and pay as little as possible.  I get it; my 22-hour journey was epic, and I only paid 132,000 points at the time. Sadly, this New York (JFK) – Singapore route via Frankfurt no longer exists, and we are not in the midst of Covid with a plethora of award space.

The longest routes now are to Europe, and good luck trying to find award space at the Saver level, even when the calendar opens ~1 year out. Only the higher Advantage fares are often released for long-haul routes, with Saver often not even an option available to book, or waitlist. Look at the example below for flights to London nearly ~1 year out. The 09:00 flight, the A380 with Suites, has no Saver option and only a waitlist for Advantage at a whopping 225.5K points! The only time I have ever seen this flight actually available is closer to the travel date, and yes, I have seen Saver pop-up as well for any last-minute travel.

What’s the solution then if you want to fly this coveted product? Well, there are 4 reasonably priced routes with good to average availability. Here’s a breakdown:

The cost per minute of flying Singapore Airlines Suites is the cheapest on the Delhi route, followed by Mumbai. Hence, these are both sweet spots. Hong Kong and Sydney are also not bad, but availability is worse. Hong Kong is also a very short flight. Sydney does have one advantage over the others: caviar is available, unlike the other “short-haul” routes.

The booking process through KrisFlyer is straightforward. If you don’t have KrisFlyer points, they can be transferred from a multitude of US credit card reward programs, and in Canada, from HSBC only. There is also the option to transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy, which is how I booked my First Suites flight back in 2019.

Singapore Airlines Suites – Positioning

There is no better satisfaction than being able to add aspirational travel experiences to a trip organically. The primary purpose of our trip was to travel to India to visit my relatives and tour the country, as it would be my daughter’s first time in India. Rather than take the usual transatlantic route to India, either directly or via Europe, going via the Pacific (or over the North Pole) to Southeast Asia sounded more exciting, especially since there was award availability on Singapore Airlines.

So far, we have journeyed from Newark to Singapore on the world’s longest nonstop flight, a bucket list flight that I finally checked off. What an experience that was, don’t forget to read the review.

Then, given the poor weather conditions in Singapore, we made a last-minute plan to fly to Bangkok and stay at the amazing Four Seasons Bangkok. We flew on Scoot, a low-cost airline that made me realize that not all low-cost airlines are bad.

After a couple of fantastic days in Bangkok, we flew back to Singapore on Gulf Air’s 5^th freedom flight in their Business Class Apex seats. This is a flight I would avoid taking in the future, given the lack of service, food, and condition of seats.

We spent 2 nights in Singapore with better weather at the Westin Singapore. I found this hotel to be perfectly situated for touring, and at the cost of only 34,000 points per night, I was able to use my 35K Bonvoy free night certificates, an excellent value given the $400+ cost per night at the time.

Singapore Airlines Suites – Ground Experience

Unlike the 22-hour Singapore Suites experience where I departed out of New York-JFK, this time, I would be flying out of Singapore and get to enjoy the first-class ground experience. We were fully rested and excited for the adventure that lay ahead as we departed the Westin Hotel at 14:00 to catch our 18:45 flight to Mumbai. I flew this exact same route in 2019, and I could see the same excitement I had then, in my daughter’s eyes.

If you are travelling on Singapore Airlines First/Suites Class, you can pull up to a dedicated First Class reception area at Terminal 3.

The location of this check-in area is quite difficult for taxis to find. Ensure you search for “Singapore Airlines First Class Check-In Reception” on Google Maps.

However, if you do not end up finding it, you can still access it from inside the terminal at the far end.

The check-in experience at Singapore Airlines First Class Reception was stellar. From the moment our taxi pulled up, doors were opened, we were greeted, baggage was unloaded, and we were ushered inside and sat at one of the 5 check-in desks. That’s right, desk, not counter.  We were offered drinks while we waited for our bags to be checked in and boarding passes printed.

The first-class reception area is welcoming, although it has not been renovated as part of the SilverKris lounge refresh initiative. I wonder if there are plans to renovate to match the new design theme of the new lounges?

Once checked in, we walked out of the reception area and into the main terminal. Straight ahead was a dedicated immigration and security area for First Class passengers only.

From here, it was a straight shot to the KrisFlyer lounges, including the exclusive, The Private Room, which is reserved exclusively for Singapore Airlines first-class passengers.

Singapore Airlines First Class – The Private Room

 

Once we got settled in, the first order of business was to eat!

The menu was quite extensive:

Wagyu satay is my go-to staple here, so we ordered this along with some Lobster Laksa

We were still jetlagged and wanted to ensure that we would fully enjoy the flight, so we decided to take a nap. The Private Room has individual nap rooms featuring an electronically adjustable Tempurpedic bed.

While my daughter kept sleeping, I grabbed a seat in this spectacular lounge to do some work and enjoy some Java. While the other lounges were busy, The Private Room was a quaint oasis.

Finally, the time had finally come to grab our bags and head to the gate. We said goodbye to The Private Room and the wonderful staff that took care of us. Lets get in the Air!

Singapore Airlines – Boarding Experience

Boarding had already begun as we made our way to the Suites priority boarding lane.

As soon as we boarded, we turned left and were escorted to our Suites, 1F and 2F.  With the divider down between the 2 suites, the amount of personal space is truly staggering. It never ceases to amaze me!

My daughter has flown countless first-class products, but I have not seen her this speechless since the time she went for a shower in Emirates First Class, or when she was surprised in Chicago with Taylor Swift concert tickets (The Experience)

Welcome drinks, hot towels, and Lalique Amenity Kits were handed out. Plus, my daughter received a treat bag with additional goodies and not one, but 2 bears. How lucky!

 

Singapore Airlines Suites – Onboard Experience

We departed on time at 18:45 and took to the Singapore evening sky.  Takeoff was Smooth as Silk on this A380. Get it? See what I wrote there? Anyway, once airborne, it was time for me to indulge in champagne. Both Krug Grand Cuvee and Comtes Taittinger 2012 were available. As a champagne lover, I naturally chose both and enjoyed them!

Next up was the famous Singapore Airlines satay. Although not as good as in The Private Room, it was still delicious nonetheless!

It was now time for dinner. Given that we had already eaten so much, both of us just selected a couple of items from the menu, followed by dessert. Since we were flying to India, we had some of Singapore Airlines’ a la carte Indian selections.

Dinner finished with about 4 hours left in the flight. We decided to request to have our beds made so that we could stretch out and watch a movie together on our individual 32″ TVs.

My daughter didn’t last long through the movie, and she went down to sleep.

By the way, remember when we were all kids, everything felt so big and now, as adults, everything feels smaller? I can’t imagine how big these suites felt for my daughter. I wish that I could experience it just like her, as a kid!

The Door

As we slowly crept closer to Mumbai, I could not stop staring at the door and analyzing it. Why on earth did Singapore Airlines make the decision to have holes in the door? Sure, the petal design looks nice, but they ruined the privacy of the suite. I can’t change in here now. 🙂

For those wondering where the door score is, this is a trip report, not a review. If you want to read the review with the door score, you can read my 22 Hour Singapore Airlines Suites Experience.

As we began final preparations for landing in Mumbai, the flight attendants and purser came around to have a chat with us about how we liked our travel experience. All I can say is this: Singapore Airlines has one of the best, if not the best, flight attendants in the world and this flight was no exception. As we move toward 2024 and beyond and as airline products become more and more similar, what will set each one apart is in-seat/suite technology, and, more importantly, the soft product, especially service, and Singapore Airlines certainly excels in this department without a doubt.

Bottom Line

The first time I flew Singapore Airlines Suites was in 2019 from Singapore to Mumbai, and it left a lasting impression on me.  Now I consider it the best way to fly to/from India! It is the Singapore Airlines Suites, Sweet spot! Costing just 58,500 Krisflyer points, I can’t think of a better way to spend your points and experience one of the finest products in commercial aviation today.