It is a splurge to be back on SQ Business Class when I am flying back from Bali. It is a 2-hour-ish flight. This is a treat and I issued it as part of my Shanghai flight. I only paid 20.25 SGD. You have to love stopovers! The trick is still very much alive when you have a flexible schedule! The extra sector made it even cheaper than booking a direct flight from Singapore to Shanghai. What a deal! This would have cost around 750 SGD if booking directly with cash. I will not be doing an in-depth review of the hard product onboard the SQ 787 Dreamliner here. You can find a link to my old reviews here. Here is also my collection of SQ premium cabin reviews. After trying all the premium products onboard Singapore Airlines, I ranked this product pretty low. The other product that serves the Bali route will be the 737 Max 8 Regional.

Checking In

I got to the airport at around 10am. I didn’t want to spend much time here with the lacklustre lounges. It is quite a smooth and fast ride from the Nusa Dua area with the toll roads. Arranging for an airport transfer is often the most affordable and fastest way to get to and from the airport. I always compare the prices between Klook and Trip.com. I paid just 9.50 SGD for the ride. There is a security check before you enter the main terminal. Singapore Airlines uses the BNC counters. It is very easy to locate.

There are dedicated counters and clear lines for both Business Class, KrisFlyer Elite Gold and KrisFlyer Elite Silver status holders. There was barely anyone in line at the counters and I was immediately helped by a friendly agent. It was very fast since I didn’t even have any bags to check-in. They offer a lounge invitation to the Premier Lounge which according to the agent was recently renovated. I opted for the 250,000 IDr vouchers instead which you can use in a couple of places. I used mine at Revolver. The food and drinks here will be better than the contract lounges. There are no priority lines for both immigration lines and security. 

Boarding Process

Boarding is scheduled for 11.30am. I was assigned gate 4. It is a short walk away. Boarding is highly organised and classified into various lines including Business class and PPS club members, KF Elite Gold and Silver members. I was one of the first to board and got some pictures of the plane. I was warmly welcomed at the door by the crew and even offered help with my bags. This is a nice touch and shows how polished the SQ crew are.

We got seat 11D and 11F, the bulkhead seats for this flight. It is so nice to see all the christmas decorations up in the cabins. It is always a little special flying during this time. The boarding music also feels so festive. While on the ground, the crew came over to extend a warm welcome and also to take meal orders. They then come by with welcome drinks where there is an option of Champagne, Bellinis and Juices.

Singapore Airlines 787 Regional Business Class

I shall not dwell on the hard product any further since it is nothing new and I have shared about it multiple times. I will just share some recaps from my previous reviews. The RJ business class on 787 / 350 MH is my least favourite. Sadly, it is becoming increasingly common to get these seats nowadays, especially when you are travelling around Asia and Australia. 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

Do note that there is no Book The Cook available for flights out of Bali. This is one of the heaviest load SQ have on their schedule with 5 to 6 flights a day. It feels like it is one that they should operate their lounge and have BTC. Furthermore, there aren’t solid Star Alliance options over here. The Inflight Menu is all you have to choose from. We got one each of the Pan Fried Chicken and the Ikan Pecak Kukus to share. Given the short flight duration, the crew have already started to heat the food while on the ground.  

Service started almost right immediately with after levelling off. The seat belt sign was kept on since there was some weather conditions and it is rather shaky. The crew soon came by with the meals and drinks. Everything was served via a tray given the short duration. We were also offered some pastries. I got my usual Garlic Bread which is delicious and not overly toasted.

The Pan Fried Chicken came with Roasted fingerling potatoes, portobello mushroom, red onion and seasonal vegetables. This is served with thyme jus. The Ikan Pecak Kukus, Bayam Tumis, Kobis Dan Wortel Goreng, Nasi Putih, Sambal is a dish of Javanese style steamed fish in spicy aromatic paste, blanched spinach, stir-fried carrots and cabbage, steamed rice, green sambal. Both were excellent and if I had to go for one, I would choose the Indonesian one. It is more unique. 

The chocolate cake was very good as well. I really enjoyed it. I got a glass of the rose to go with it which is a rather new addition to the menu. There was some service disruption given that the seat belt side was on. For some time it got too unsafe for the crew to continue service. We end up finishing the meal when we are around 40 minutes out of Singapore. 

Conclusion

Do check out some of my other Singapore Airlines Reviews here. It is always a food time flying onboard Singapore Airlines. I rarely get disappointed besides the only flight! I still feel the excitement of stepping on board every single time after flying it numerous times. This is a rather normal and unmemorable flight with the crew going through the motions. There was no wow factor. The value though is unbeatable by tagging this on to my Shanghai ticket! Let’s just say, why is it so fast to fly via SQ business but take such a long time when I was flying Scoot budget to Bali? Hahahhahahah!