After my adventures in Europe, I extended my trip to Bali. I was tempted by the spontaneous escape deals. My outbound ticket from Singapore to Bali was free. I even saved 20 SGD or so. I added the SIN – DPS flight to my Istanbul ticket without the need for any additional miles. I paid 42 SGD in taxes for both flights. If I am just doing IST – SIN alone, I will just pay around 33 SGD. That meant that my flight was just 9 bucks? If you are doing SIN – DPS, the taxes will be 65 SGD. If you want to do this, just make sure that the transit time is no longer than 24 hours. I would also like to take the opportunity to fly on the 737 Max 8 for the first time and try out the new SQ regional seats. This will also be my first ever Singapore Airlines single-aisle flight. With this, I have reached another milestone. I would have reviewed all of Singapore Airlines Business Class, First Class and Suites products. 

Checking In

My flight landed in Singapore at about 4.45am which gave me slightly under two hours before my next flight. Thankfully, I did not have to switch terminals. It wasn’t worth the effort to make the trek over to T3 for the SKL. I simply went to the one in Terminal 2 for a much-needed shower and a bowl of congee. I have already done all the check-in procedures and got my boarding pass in Istanbul. My baggage is also checked through to Bali. 

Boarding Process

My flight was assigned gate F52. Boarding was assigned for 6.20am. Security is at each gate over here at Changi. The effect of a smaller aircraft is immediately felt here. There was no queue and no wait at all to clear security. If you have flown business onboard an A380, you will know how bad that is. The flight load was light too. I was the first to board since I was excited to get some nice pictures of the cabin. After all, this is my first time flying this aircraft. Fun fact for this aircraft, in terms of the crew, there is no In-flight Manager onboard but rather the crew is led by a Crew In Charge. This is staffed by a leading-ranked crew with at least 3 years of experience. I was warmly welcomed by the crew and Nicole at the door. Nicole then ushered me over to my seat and helped me with my jacket. Both Nicole and the CIC were amazing. Business class is usually staffed with 2 crew and the CIC but with only 5 pax onboard, one of them went to the back to help out instead. Welcome drink was soon served after the crew got some leeway during boarding. There is certainly another level of complexity in providing premium ground service during boarding when there is only a single aisle. While on the ground, Nicole also came over to take meal and drink orders. They also came over to provide hot towels. We push back shortly after 6.47am and I love the soft music in the background. 

Singapore Airlines 737 MAX 8 Regional Business Class

It is always nice to be flying a new product. I haven’t been this excited for a long time! There are two configurations for business class. There are 3 rows of business class making up a total of 10 business class seats onboard. It alternated between a 2-2 configuration and a 1-1 configuration. 

The 1-1 configurations in row 12 are the best! These are known as the throne seats and the ones that you should choose. Surprisingly, SQ did not do anything special and blocked them for PPS members like on the other aircraft. These seats offer the most amount of privacy and space. I got one of them and will be seated on the left aisle. I have to say that the entranceway is rather narrow, it is smaller as compared to rows 11 and 14. This is due to the extra panel of the seat nearer to the aisle. 

Right in front of you in the middle between the two seats, you have a high-quality touchscreen TV. The screen measures 16 inches. It is smaller than those on the widebodies but works pretty well given the shorter distance from the seat. You can control it with touchscreen controls or using the remote in the armrest. The IFE is the same. Amenities are also the same with the business class noise cancelling headphones left in the pouch area under the screen. The pouch area allows you to store some small items. On both sides of the screen, you can find a coat hook and some literature materials. 

I do love the flight map on this aircraft. They had a new software Panasonic Avionics Arc, which offers an elevated experience of the flight map. This will surely be attractive to all the Avgeeks out there. 

Moving to the console nearer to the aisle. It comes with a tall cabinet with a storage area and a vanity mirror.  

The table comes out from the side of the console. This also meant that when the table was open, you couldn’t get out of the seat. I felt like this could be better designed. Perhaps it can be from the console nearer to the window instead? Suffice it to say, it will be extra work if you need the loo during your meal. 

By the side over here, you can also find another pouch for some loose items, a headphones port, a USB port and lights.

The throne seat comes with a huge amount of storage. On the console nearer to the window, you have a large platform for storage. This will be handy for your items during cruising. 

The seat power plug can be found to the left over here. 

Below, you can find two compartments. One will be handy for storing a small bag or pouch and the other could fit your footwear, 

Moving on to the seat itself, it felt spacious for my build. I was afraid that it might be a cramp but it ended up rather comfortable. It did come with a three-point seat belt that I am not a fan of. 

The seat comes with a cubby but it is deep inside and impossible to reach in the upright position. The cubby area is of a healthy depth and becomes part of the bed when the seat is in bed mode. It is a squeeze as it comes into the middle of the two seats in front. Nothing different in this aspect 

Air vents are installed in the event if it gets too warm while on ground.

The seat can be converted fully flat with the controls. These are found on the side of the console nearer to the aisle. As per usual on regional flights, there aren’t any additional turndown amenities and you just sleep on the seat itself. I always prefer a duvet material blanket and mattress topper. The seat itself felt plush and comfortable. Left on the seat is already a blanket and pillow when we board. 

Here you can also find some pictures of the seats in row 11 and row 14. These are in a 2-2 configuration. They are more suitable when travelling in a group. I am not a fan of seeking permission or someone crossing over me when in business class. 

There is one toilet in the front of the cabin that is reserved exclusively for business class passengers. This is only used by the crew and business class pax. They are rather strict in enforcing this. The toilets are the single one point that I am finding fault with. You can’t expect it to be as spacious as the ones on a widebodies. You can still find it equipped with the usual Penhaligon amenities stocked in them. 

The views enroute are excellent. It seems that we took a slightly different approach as we flew over the main island of Bali before turning around for landing.

Meal Service

The menu is slightly diluted onboard the 737 as compared to the wide bodies. You can see the difference in terms of the drinks options. Despite what is found on the online menu, the drinks options are much smaller on the physical menu onboard. I flagged this up with the crew who then informed me to check with them if I wanted anything extra, they might have them too. For example, illy espressos are not on the menu but they do have it onboard. You can find the menu for my flight here. The crew sprang into service after the seat belt sign was turned off. Given the short flight duration, service was done using the tray with everything served at once. Nothing is interesting from the BTC menu and I choose a meal from the onboard menu. This is served with the fruit bowl and then the crew also came by with some pastries and yoghurt. The meal was extremely good. I got the Rendang Daging, Sambal Udang, Telur Bawang, Otah-Otah, Nasi Lemak. I finish everything despite being so full. 

I got the meal with my favourite Illy brasile double espresso. The crew keep coming by to check on us and offer refills. I was well looked after by the CIC. Such a great guy and awesome service. Another round of hot towels was provided at the end of the meal.  

Conclusion

It started more of a bucket list to check off all of Singapore Airlines premium product but I ended up enjoying the flight. This might be unexpected but I like these seats. This is a lot better than the 2018 Regional J seats that I loathe. If given the choice, I would never fly regional on the 787 or the 350 over this at all. With that being said, this time around I got the best seats! I also feel that the other seats in the 2-2 are pretty nice for people in groups or couples. It is rather nice with the exclusivity as there is only a max of 10 business class seats. Nicole is excellent and the service is very personalised. This will be felt at the gate and boarding too. The seats are perfectly comfortable for regional flights. The only bad aspect is the toilets on the single-aisle as they are much smaller. Do note that these products are only found on the new 737 MAX 8 aircraft and not on the older 737-800 that SQ took over from Silkair. That features a much more inferior product. Excellent flight!