Similarly, I will be flying back to Singapore from Chongqing as I book the tickets before SQ restarting the Chengdu route. The timing is pretty nice for maximising time in the city as you only depart at 2.35am. This gives you plenty of time to explore the town before heading back to the airport. You also arrive in Singapore at a lovely 7.30am which allows you to get into the office straight if you want to tough it out and save leave. This will be a rather brief one since I am going to just share my experience and the soft product. I don’t plan on doing a full flight review as I just shared about these seats on my flight to Chongqing earlier. I paid 34,000 Krisflyer miles and 34.72 SGD in taxes. I even tag on a flight to Penang and will be trying SQ’s second shortest route. More on this later. I had an awful crew on the way here to Chongqing. Let’s hope that this flight will be much better. I choose the first row to try out the 2-2 configuration seats. You can check out the collation of my SQ premium cabin reviews here.

Checking In

We got into the airport just in time when check-in was open. This is 3 hours before departure. It is about a 30-minute journey from the train station and I got in easily with a didi ride. There is a security check before you enter the main terminal area. There was no one in line for business class. I was immediately helped by the staff. This is another good thing about the 737. There will be much fewer business class passengers and those with status as it is a smaller plane. Check-in took quite some time since there was some issue with my frequent flyer number on the ticket. The staff here were excellent and they even ran after me with an updated boarding pass. There is no priority queue for immigration and security here. The airport was deserted at this hour and we got through in minutes. Chongqing Airport is deserted at this hour. I spend the rest of the time at the Plaza Premium Lounge and the International First and Business Class Lounge.

Boarding Process

Boarding was slightly delayed and started only at 2.27am. Passengers needing assistance were invited to board first before Business Class passengers and elite status holders. I was warmly welcomed at the door by the crew who then ushered me over to my seat. This time around I got seats 11A and 11C. I opted for the 2-2 configuration to give it a try after always having been in the throne seat previously. It would be nice to see how are these seats instead.

The crew seems much nicer than the one I had on my previous flight. As usual, it is rather chaotic during boarding with the single aisle. The crew soon came by to offer welcome drinks and I got some Champagne. They late came by with hot towels and also took meal orders. Thankfully, none of that rubbish was from the previous flight when I flew to Chongqing.

Singapore Airlines 737 Max 8 Regional Business Class

I shall not dwell too much on the hardware and the seats here since I have reviewed this product a couple of times already. You can find some of my recent reviews of this cabin here and here. I will just include some pictures of my seats here. This time around I got the twin seats in row 11 which are in a 2-2 configuration. You can find these seats in row 11 and row 14. I will only recommend them if you are travelling in a group. They are not ideal for solo travellers. 

Can you imagine having to ask for permission before heading to the toilet or someone disturbing you in the night to go to the toilet or crossing over you? For solo travellers, the throne seats are most suitable. You can find some pictures of the seats here. 

Somehow, these seats are nicer when fully flat in bed mode. I prefer it as you are not bounded by the narrow confines of the seats in front of you and the little cubby area which are tight around your legs and the knees. 

Meal Service

There isn’t any Book The Cook option for this route and you can only choose your meal from the in-flight menu. You can check out the menu for my flight over here. Given the late departure of this flight, they are offering a supper service. It is quite an awkward time to dine given that it is almost 3am by the time service starts. The crew start the service shortly after the seat belt sign is turned off. Everything was served via a tray. We were famished and tired at the same time. We went for the “San Bei” Chicken with Chinese style three cup chicken, egg fried rice, Oriental seasonal vegetables.

I also got the Seared Barramundi with Warm Vierge Sauce which was served with pumpkin-scented freekeh, sauteed kale and vegetables. I got a Silver Kris Sling to go with the meal.

The lovely crew also came by with the pastry basket. I got some garlic bread and crackers.  

I switched over to the Spanish 2020 Alvaro Palacios Remondo which was excellent. The crew working in business class was top-notch. She then came over to offer desserts. I love the Caramelized Banana Cake. This is one of my favourite onboard. It is so moist. I love that they had some crumble on the side. 

Conclusion

The flight went by in no time. I got some much-needed nap after the meal and only woke up when we were preparing to land. China flight are quite a rush on the 737. They always depart at such timings and arrive also in the middle of the night. This is the same as my Guangzhou flight earlier in the year. I KO for the rest of the flight and woke up just as we were approaching Singapore. I was greeted by a really lovely sunrise while we were landing. The service on this flight is leaps better than the previous one. The 2-2 configurations seats end up being better than I expect. They were nice in the bed mode given the extra space around your knees. Do remember to check out my collection of Singapore Airlines Premium Cabin Reviews! I should also do some Economy Class reviews soon and I can’t wait to try out Premium Economy if there is a chance to do so! Sponsor me SQ?