This is the sweetest spot on the Krisflyer redemption chart for Singapore Airlines flights. It sits nicely in the Middle East zone but with Istanbul at the doorstep of Europe. But you get almost a 50% discount. For a 10-hour flight, paying only 56,500 miles is awesome! Istanbul is also a Star Alliance hub which will allow you to hop to any European City easily on an affordable economy ticket. On a family trip, the savings are hefty. Due to this, the demand for Istanbul flights is so high that you have to camp when it opens up for booking. It is the same as Japan! I even tagged along another flight to Bali for the same mileage which cost me just an additional of 18 SGD in taxes. I am so excited to be back again on Singapore Airlines long haul A350 business class which is single-handedly my favourite across the fleet in Business Class. I have reviewed the hard product countless times and you can check out all of my Singapore Airlines Premium Cabin reviews over here. I have the full collection of all seat and aircraft types.

Checking In

I arrived at the airport at around 10.45am for the 1.25pm. I wanted to cater more time to check out the Turkish Airlines Lounge which is a bucketlist of mine. Istanbul Airport is also pretty far out from the city centre and there might be potential jams. Check-in opens 3 hours ahead and does cater some time for this as well since there is a security checkpoint to get through to enter the terminal as well. I would highly recommend booking an airport shuttle since that removes any uncertainty regarding taxis in Istanbul. I used the Istanbul Shuttle Port. I do have to say that the timing of the flight is rather bad. It departs at an awkward 1pm and arrives around 4am in Singapore. That means that you have to rush through breakfast and get to the airport. It will be better if the flight departs about 2 hours later and gets in around 7am.

Singapore Airlines uses check-in counters at Row K. When I got here, check-in was already open and there was barely anyone in the business class lines. We can also use the fast track lanes for priority security and immigration for business class and elite status holders

Boarding Process

Boarding is scheduled for 12.55pm. The gate assigned is about a 10-minute walk from the lounge. IST airport is huge and it can take quite some time if you have a far gate. By the time I got there, boarding was already underway. I boarded immediately and was warmly welcomed by the crew at the door before being ushered to my seat by Xin Yan. She was lovely. We had a nice chat about Istanbul. The other crew that primarily worked the other aisle was subpar. The IFM is also quite a handoff person and is not seen after boarding.

This time around, I will be seated in 19K. a bulkhead seat in the second cabin. While I would love to be in the first cabin, row 11 is fully taken up. Any bulkhead seats are still preferred. Xin Yan came over to help me with my jacket and soon came back with slippers and an amenity kit. Hot towels were also offered. The crew also came by with welcome drinks and hot towels. I went with some champagne. Xin Yan soon came by to take meal orders and after take off drinks. We pushed back shortly after a slight wait and were airborne by 1.50pm.

Singapore Airlines A350 Long Haul Business Class

I shall not dwell too much on the hardware and the seats since I have reviewed this product countless times. You can find some of my recent reviews of this cabin here and here. I will just include some pictures of my seats here. The bulkhead seats are amazing and the best onboard. These are as good as or superior to some First Class out there.

Meal Service

The crew sprang into service after the seat belt signs were switched off. After take off drinks were served. I went with a glass of the Louis Latour. Weirdly they didn’t offer any accompanying nuts. The wine menu is very nice onboard this flight. There are a couple of my favourites including the Malbec and Moulin Macquin. I wish that they had reverted to the way of presenting the wines before pouring it by the side of the seat. That is such a classy way of presenting that I would love to see in premium cabins. There is no Book The Cook available in Istanbul Station. You can find the menu for the flight here.

Soon the crew came over with the satay trolly and we were served the canapés. This was so delicious and it is nice to get a taste of local after a long time overseas. Singapore Airlines Satays never disappoint.

It was about another 30 minutes before the actual meal was served. We got the Mezze Plate. It was not too bad but nothing memorable. I did love the grilled herb chicken.

As per usual, I opted for the garlic bread from the pastry basket. This is single-handedly the most disappointing aspect of the meal. It was way over-toasted and felt like garlic croutons instead. The galley crew must have cut it way too thin. There was no more recourse and they could not provide any decent garlic breads too.

I opted for the Grilled Sea Bass with Lemon Butter for my mains. There are four choices to choose from the menu. This is served with sauteed spinach, tomato and chateau potatoes. The sea bass was lovely and as good as how-to fish dishes are onboard. It is often one of the hardest to execute in the air. The fish was moist and tender. The potatoes were really good too.

Thereafter we had desserts. There was a choice of mousse cake, ice cream and fruits. I was also offered a cheese plate. Desserts are often the most boring aspect onboard SQ premium cabins. I do wish that they could improve on this. I got some fruit and ice cream.

The second meal service was served around 2 hours before landing and for this, I pre-reserved the braised rice noodles. I am an Asian guy now after 2 weeks in Europe. Service started with a fruit plate. Drinks were offered and I got some orange juice and tea to start.

The noodles were kinda tasteless and bad. I wasn’t too hungry and just had a few bites at it. It still feels like the best out of the rest of the options. I should have just got a cup of noodles. I ended up with some additional Brasile Coffee.

Conclusion

I had a great time onboard. It is a super enjoyable flight. Xin Yan’s service was spectacular.  Istanbul is a sweet spot and the value is unbeatable. I wish they could have daily flights, that would make redemption easier. There is nothing much to find fault with besides the garlic bread and subpar flight timing. This is always my preferred way to get into Europe. I even managed to link this flight up with another sector to Bali which makes it even more amazing. It is one location where you have to book ahead. I love being onboard the long-haul A350. It is my favourite business-class cabin. A great way to fly!