Konnichiwa: Singapore Airlines SQ11 777 Tokyo to Singapore First Class Review (My Worst SQ First Class Flight)

After spending close to two weeks in Japan, it is time to fly home. Things are a little better when you fly First Class home. There is still something to look forward to at the end of your trip. I will be flying back on the 777 from Narita to Singapore. Securing Saver Class tickets is no mean feat when you are talking about Japan. The hype is never-ending! This is considered a premium routing for Singapore Airlines. A lot of SQ flights to and from Japan these days are operated with the regional business class seats on the A350 and 787. I am not a fan of these. The 777 and A380 are sought after since you get the true premium cabins in long-haul variants. SQ11 flight timing is also very good as you get a true full dinner service. I secured Business Saver seats one year in advance and ended up switching for First Class as I chance upon 2 First Saver seats 2 weeks out from my flight. It was a pleasant surprise. This cost me 77,000 KrisFlyer Miles and 71.80 SGD in taxes and fees. What a deal! I have reviewed these seats multiple times. You can find my review here and here. It will be my first time doing a mid-haul flight. The product is no longer cutting edge and has been in the market since 2013. I will just do a short recap and share on the soft product which was mind-blowing! It turned out to be my worst-ever flight in Singapore Airlines First Class / Suites or in fact on any airline in the world. This is due to the service and hospitality of the In-Flight Manager. She certainly had a very different perspective on First Class service.

Checking In

Singapore Airlines counters at Narita open up 3 hours in advance of the flight and with how most things in here, it goes like clockwork. I took the Skyliner from Ueno to Narita which was easy enough and I got quite a deal with the 30% pelago discount with Singapore Airlines. I arrived at around 4pm. The check-in counters are in the south wing where most Star Alliance carriers are. It is quite a walk from the train station to the G Counters that SQ uses.

There was no one in first class and I was immediately helped by the staff. Gold Track is available here with fast track services for security. Immigration is very quick given that we can use the automated kiosk. I was in the transit area in no time and went on to explore the ANA Suite Lounge near Gate 53. Do note that SQ uses gate 35 which is quite a trek from the lounge.

Boarding Process

Boarding is scheduled for 6.10pm. I was here just before boarding started. It starts with those needing assistance first before First Class and PPS Club members. Boarding is tidy like how things are in Japanese. for it. We were there at around 11am and boarding started already. I was warmly greeted by the crew at the door and Carol the Leading Stewardess ushered me to my seats. I was helped with my jacket and the crew then offered me a welcome drink. I had my choice of drinks and got some Krug champagne to kick-start the experience. Singapore Airlines currently serves 3 different kinds of champagne in Suites / First Class. Krug and Taittinger is the permanent choice with a rotating small growers champagne. For Oct, it will be Henri Giraud MV 18 Ay Grand Cru. Refills are offered while on the ground.

I switched over to the Henri Giraud but didn’t like it. Krug is my preferred choice. Carol then came over to take my meal orders. I did not do any BTC this time around. It was a struggle between the choices and I enquired if it was possible to have the signature Satay and Caviar with the Japanese Meal. Carol readily agreed. The Japanese meal is only available on Japan flights. Carol soon returned with pyjamas for the flight. I love the Lalique pjs and they were much better than the previous ones. We were also brought hot towels! This has been brought back to the boarding procedure in recent days.

We had a smooth take-off and were in the air soon.

Singapore Airlines 777 First Class

While no longer the most cutting-edge product out there, they are still great to fly on. This is a product that serves the long haul routes and having this for a mid-haul 7 hours ish flight is more than sufficient. There are only 4 seats onboard the 777 which makes for an intimate and exclusive cabin. The seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration. Middle pairs are best suitable for couples but taking one in the middle and one in the window works too. This way you get the entire side of the cabin all to yourself. The seats are so spacious that I and my partner could sit side-by-side and not feel cramped at all. The flight was full when booked and we can only choose seats 1A and 1C. The pax in 1D ended up cancelling the flight and as such there is only a total of 3 of us onboard.

The seat comes with a plush leather pillow. Let me introduce the seat to you. It comes with a huge high-quality large screen television and this is connected to the amazing IFE system. The Krisworld is one of the best with plenty of movies and shows. A noise-cancelling Bose headphones complement the set-up. Wi-Fi is also available onboard and First Class / Suites passengers enjoy unlimited data allowance throughout their flight. The seat comes with a spacious ottoman for you to rest your legs. You will never have to squeeze into a little cubby.

Under the ottoman is also the storage area where you can store your carry-on. With the lack of overhead compartments in First Class, this is also the only area to store your baggage. The space is plentiful and I can fit my bag as well as the cabin suitcase nicely below. There is even leftover space for my shoes. There are various compartments around the seat that you can use to store smaller items throughout the flight like your glasses or wallet. You can also find an international power socket and a USB charger outlet to the right.

In the side compartments, to the left of the seat, you can find it stocked with amenities for the flights including eye shades, socks, slippers as well as the amenity kit for the flight. For flights inbound to Singapore, a unisex one is provided. For flights out of Singapore, a gender-specific one is provided. I have no idea why they can’t do gender-specific ones as well for flights into Singapore. This should not be difficult.

The seat controls are located to the left and are intuitive. You can also find a touchscreen remote control to control the IFE.

The table is found under the TV and slides out from there. It is a spacious one. One main criticism about the seats is that they do not support couple dining. The best you can do is dine side by side for seats 1C and 1D. You can also find some compartments on the side of the seat with some reading materials and the menu for the flight. I appreciate that physical menus are back. I do wish that they bring back those leather casing as it looks classy.

Turndown service is offered and the crew will make up the bed for resting. This is one of the most comfortable beds in the air. The Lalique bedding is lovely and the sleeping surface is very wide. I had a great rest and slept for a good 3 hours. This is as good as it gets for a flight of this duration. I only wake up when they are preparing the cabin for landing.

Two toilets in the front are reserved for first-class passengers. You never had to wait for one. Furthermore, we had the entire left one for our usage. The toilets are always nicely maintained and inside you can find it stocked with all sorts of Lalique amenities.

Meal Service

SQ 11 have one of the best flight timing in terms of meal service as you are offered the full Dinner service rather than some lacklustre breakfast or supper sleeper service. You can find the menu for the flight here. I decided on a mix and match between the International Meal and the Japanese Meal and this was readily agreed by Carol. Let me first share about the meal itself before sharing about what went wrong with the IFM as this is the one aspect that single-handedly ruined the entire flight experience.

Service started right after levelling off with the crew coming over to offer another hot towel before the Satay canapes and our after-take-off drinks. I went with a little of both Krug and Taittinger to do a side-by-side tasting. According to Carol, they now do a towel service both before and after the satay service.

I then had the caviar service. The Osetra Caviar is served with all sorts of condiments and warm blinis. I appreciated that they provided a mother-of-pearl spoon. I always run out of the blinis. I continued with more Krug. I also got garlic bread from the pastry basket.

I then went back to my usual Japanese Meal and the meal was served course by course. Carol first brought over the Sakizuke and Mukouzuke. The meal is served in a gorgeous bento box and opened by my seat. She then proceeds to introduce each item in detail. Look at how pretty this is! First up was the Taro Stem with Sesame Dressing, Salmon with Radish, Eel Roe Cake, Chrysanthemum Leaf and Flower, Ginko Nuts, Chestnut as well as the Seared Yellowtail Fish and Quick Blanched Kuruma Prawn, Vinegared Chrysanthemum Flower, Wasabi, Soy sauce.

The Futamono or Simmered dish is then served. I love the plating and this dish is one of my favourite. I love the Simmered Tilefish stuffed with Glutinous Rice, Lily Bulb and Lotus Root, and Chrysanthemum Sauce with Edamame and Red Bean. I had the meal with a cold Jumai Daiginjo Sake.

The next three dishes are then served. We had the Fried Taro with Crabmeat Sauce, Shishito Pepper and Grated Ginger. The main was Miso Flavoured Barracuda Fish and Sansho Pepper Flavoured Duck with Pickled Daikon. This was served with a choice of Dried scallops and Mushroom flavoured Rice or Steamed Rice. I had the flavoured rice. The duck is the better one. The miso soup is disappointing.

The final course was desserts. We had Red Bean and Chestnut Jelly with some grapes. The desserts were pretty meh and I didn’t like it.

Carol then brought over some fresh fruits and I had a persimmon and some mangoes. They were excellent. It was so sweet.

How did this IFM make it the worst First Class / Suites Flight? 

The IFM definitely had a favouritism towards the other First Class passenger seated in 1F and she was super condescending. I expected a lot more from Yvonne the IFM and to be treated fairly as First Class passengers. Yes, PPS Club members are fairly well treated and they should be accorded special treatment for their loyalty. However, this should not be done at the expense of other passengers who equally paid a fair price for their tickets. Let me explain in general what she did or said!

I am seated in 1C while my friend is seated in 1A. Seat 1D is empty and 1F is taken by the other pax. My friend got seat 1A as she wanted to get some nice views of the takeoff. I mentioned in passing while on the ground to LSS Carol that we wanted to sit together to dine in the middle and she was fine with it. I do not feel that there is any issue unless the other pax wanted to sit beside me in 1D to do a couple dining with me or exchange his window seat with my middle seat.

• The IFM came over right after the seat belt sign was switched off to extend the centre divider between seats 1C & 1D
• I informed her that she didn’t have to do so as I wanted to dine together with my travelling partner in the centre seat. IFM Yvonne said in her exact words “There is another pax in First Class and we need to maintain some form of decency and standards! You can’t play musical chairs over here in First Class. You have to choose one seat and stick with it.”
• I further asked why couldn’t we do so. I accepted the decision and we stayed in our seats to dine. This was fine with me since we only paid for one seat each. Furthermore, in reality, the preference of the centre divider should be left to the whims and fancy of the passengers in the centre seats. Not her!
• What really got me so pissed and my blood boiling was when the IFM came over to my seat and further try to explain herself. She literally makes the entire experience worse.
• She went on and on to explain how above and beyond she had gone to allow me to mix and match my meals as if I were a country bumpkin who wanted everything on the plane.
• All I did was ask if I could mix and match my meals! I wanted to try the Jap meals but wanted satay and caviar to start the meal too. The LSS readily agreed and said it was possible.
• I informed IFM Yvonne that if it can’t be done, so be it, I am ok to stick to a standard Japanese or International Meal.
• She still went on and on. This is what she said in a condescending tone “We have allowed you to mix and match and have caviar, so do please enjoy, I understand that you are in first class and caviar is not cheap, this usually comes together in first class, so do enjoy. SQ is a premium airline. So I apologise in advance if we don’t have anything. We will allow you to have and enjoy until we run out of it. I understand that first class is not cheap and comes at a cost to you so I want you to enjoy it to the fullest”
• I replied that I didn’t get what she was driving at and I stated again that I was fine with a standard meal
• She continues going on and says “No we can do it, but it’s not unlimited! Enjoy what you want and this is a short flight only. This is not Emirates and you can’t have everything that you want on the menu”
• Next, she went on and on about the Wi-Fi “Oh you know we got wifi, it’s unlimited in first class and I think on this aircraft you can use more than one device! Some aircraft you can’t!”
• I just say okay, thanks.

I did not appreciate this standard of service in First Class, nor did it ever happen to me. It simply rubs me in the wrong way. All I wanted was to eat side by side with my friend during the meal service and I asked if I could mix and match the meal. I put it down to one reason. She is snobbish towards the other pax in first who is a PPS Club member while looking down on us. Guess what, the other pax was dining too and not even sleeping. So unless the other guy wanted to sit side by side with me to couple dine, I don’t see the need or the necessity at all? I took offence with her stating that I wanted everything and the term “Musical Chairs”.

I would be fine if she just said that we can’t change seats and we can only choose one seat. But she went rambling about how we can’t dine together and hinting that she has already gone above and beyond. She then treated me like I was an idiot and her indirect hints that I can’t afford the seat.

Given how she is the highest-ranked crew onboard. I got her hint on the inflight wifi and filed a complaint immediately with Singapore Airlines Corporate. To be fair, the hard product was very good and the same goes for the other two First Class cabin crew. Both the LSS and LS were amazing and a stark contrast to IFM Yvonne. I do not think that Emirates is better than SQ but I guess now I have to gauge it for myself after trying Emirates. She is the one single aspect that makes me feel that this is the worst premium cabin flight I have ever been on. In fact, I had a better experience in Economy Class!

Conclusion

Singapore Airlines is usually a delight to fly and I was extremely looking forward to this flight! I love being onboard SQ and this is one of my favourite airlines. While the First Class product onboard the 777 is no longer cutting edge, it is still one of the most exclusive cabins out there. The hard product was lovely and the flight went by in no time. I appreciated that they have added the hot towels service back to the lineup. I love the Lalique bedding and got a solid 3 hours of sleep. This is as good as it gets on this routing. I woke up only when they were prepping the cabin for landing about 40 mins out of Singapore. I have tried all JAL, ANA and SQ to and from Japan. Our home carrier represents the best options for Japan flights. Is this fitting of a First Class experience onboard SQ? A big fat NO! You always get the core experience when onboard SQ but the crew associated can take it up another level and make it spectacular. The conduct of this IFM makes it spectacular, but sadly, on the other end of the spectrum. This is the first time I am saying this. SQ11 31 Oct 2023, IT IS NOT A GREAT WAY TO FLY! I do believe that this is a one off incident with this particular crew.