I flew the same route a month ago in Economy Class. Do check out my review of SQ Economy Class which is one of the best in the world. This time around I will be in Business. I got this ticket quite some time ago. It is one of my last few stopover tickets. If you do remember my flight back from NZ earlier in April. I issued the ticket from Auckland to Singapore to Taipei. It comes me just 3000 miles and 198.80 SGD in taxes and fees. What a deal! I wish the stopover trick never ends! Here I am back with another review of Singapore Airlines. I also lock in tickets that are just in line with the National Day Holiday, making this one of the best holidays ever. I have reviewed these seats multiple times. I will just do a short recap and share on the soft product!

Checking In

I arrived at the airport at around 8.30am for my 11.45am flight. Terminal 3 was lovely! It was nice and bright. It is such a great day to be travelling. I expected more crowds at the airport given the holidays. Business Class check-in counters are located at Row 6. You can check-in up to 48 hours in advance at Singapore Changi Airport but you can only enter the transit area within 24 hours of your flight. I was immediately helped to at the business class counters. The agent was slow in checking me in. It took me about 10 minutes to get my boarding pass which is unheard of here. I love the blue boarding pass. It ain’t gold but this will do just fine.

Boarding Process

Boarding is scheduled for 11.15am. It is just a short walk away from the lounge. I am not reviewing the SilverKris Lounge this time around but you can check out one of my previous extensive reviews. Security here is located at the individual gates so do cater some time for it. We were there at around 11am and boarding started already. I was warmly greeted by the crew and Sherlin at the door who then proceeded to usher me over to the seat. I did not manage to get bulkhead seats this time around since the flight was rather full. I will be seated in 18A on the left aisle. It is one of the seats that is nearer to the aisle. Sherlin was excellent and a gem. I can see her making small talk and showing genuine interest in engaging with most of the business-class passengers on the flight. Thanks for helping me with some pictures.

Soon the crew came over with welcome drinks and I got a glass of champagne. They are currently serving the NV Piper-Heidsieck Essential Extra Brut. Sherlin also came around to take meal orders and reconfirm my Book The Cook order. We had a fairly long taxi and only took off at around 12.10pm. The views were excellent.

Singapore Airlines 787 Regional Business Class

This is my least favourite seat and I have reviewed it multiple times. Sadly, it is becoming increasingly common to get these seats nowadays, especially when you are travelling between Asia and Australia. I have why people like these seats. Sometimes I wish that they could switch it up and use the 737 so I could give it a try. This time around I will be seated in 18A, an aisle seat on the left. I shall just share one of my old reviews and comment on the soft products.

The best seats to go for are the bulkhead seats in Row 11, they provide slightly more space. Do note that the seat alternates between being closer to the aisle and closer to the window. The one that is closer to the window offers more privacy. Even in the middle couple seats, there are the true couple seats where you are just right next to each other and some are far away from one another. You can find these seats on the regional variant of the 350 and the 787. The legroom and entrance to the seat are extremely narrow.

The screen was of a good size and Singapore Airlines Inflight Entertainment, Krisworld is world-class! The screen is a touch screen and if not you can control it with the remote located to the side as well. Below the screen, is where the table can be found and you slide it out.

There is a small cubicle on the side of the seat where the platform provides you with some additional storage space. The cabinet here houses the power outlets and you can find two USB outlets as well as a power socket that takes in all sorts of plugs. A care kit and a set of headphones are left here. SQ provides decent headphones in business class but it definitely could be improved to a better noise-cancelling one.

We pushed back slightly late and departed smoothly. Wi-Fi is available on the flight and business class passengers have unlimited allowance. I won’t want to fly these on red-eye flights. I hate that there isn’t proper turndown service with a mattress topper. The bathrooms are constantly well maintained, as per the usual on SQ. They have an assortment of amenities stocked inside from Penhaligon’s amenities to toothbrushes and shaver. All that you might need can be found inside. I am a huge fan of the Penhaligon’s facial mist while in the air. They are so hydrating. Given how packed it was in Business Class, there might be a wait at times but the place was still well maintained by the crew at all times.

Meal Service

You can find a physical menu on the seat. Shortly after leveling off the crew sprang into service. We started with some nuts and after take-off drinks. The actual meal service started around 1 hour after take off. You can find the menu for the flight here. We started with appetizers. The Marinated Smoked Salmon with Capers was quite good. Service was done via a tray. With this flight duration, I would have expected a full service and not done by the trays.

Later on, the crew also brought the bread basket over, I went with my usual choice. The garlic bread was excellent. After that, my main was served and I got the Nasi Padang from the Book The Cook menu. It was so good! I love how spicy the dish is. I will have no qualms about ordering this.

I tried the Keng Eng Kee Moonlight Hor Fun which is decent too!

My mum also enjoyed her Chicken Biryani! SQ really excels at the Asian dishes.

Thereafter we had the Banana Cheesecake. It was unmemorable. The highlight goes towards the main course. I finish up the meal with a Brasile double espresso to perk up before arriving in Taipei.

Conclusion

Hong Kong and Taipei are the bare minimum to properly enjoy a business class flight where you get the full service. Anything shorter, you will be getting a much reduced and minimum service. This also depends on the time of the flight itself. The IFM was extremely lacklustre on this flight. This got to be one of the worst. I expected more than just being a figurehead. He was hands off and did not greet any passengers at all. On the other hand, Sherlin who was working my aisle was amazing. I chose this flight timing to enjoy a full meal and it certainly did not disappoint. While I am not a fan of these seats, they are perfectly right for a daytime flight. A great way to fly!