Review: Singapore Airlines Business Class (A350-900)

After a 20-hour layover in Istanbul that consisted of mostly sleeping, the next and final departing flight of my Southeast Asia 2024 trip en route to Singapore was in Singapore Airlines business class. Read on for my review of this renowned Asian carrier.  

Booking Singapore Airlines Business Class

I booked this itinerary through Air Canada Aeroplan as part of a one-way route from New York to Istanbul to Singapore, with a 20-hour layover in Istanbul. I booked the itinerary for a total cost of 207,000 Aeroplan points in addition to $168.60 in taxes and fees total, for two people. The itinerary included a Turkish Airlines business class flight from New York to Istanbul.

There are a number of premium Aeroplan credit cards that make it easy to earn the points required for an itinerary like this, including the CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card. Adding a card like this can put you on the fast track to your next business class redemption!

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CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card

The CIBC Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card earns Aeroplan points and offers cardholders various Air Canada benefits including priority boarding, free checked baggage, and Maple Leaf lounge access.

BONUS
80,000 Aeroplan

MINSPEND
$25,000

NET VALUE
$1,081+

ANNUAL FEE
$599

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
–

Cabin Arrangement

As with our previous flight, there were two sections in the business class cabin, one with 26 seats and the other with 16 seats for a total of 42 seats, all with direct aisle access. In the main cabin, there were 24 premium economy seats and 187 economy class seats. 

We selected two middle seats, 14D and 14F, in the forward cabin. I had no trouble selecting seats on the Singapore Airlines website, which was a relief. I also was able to check in on the website 24 hours before our flight without issue (although I briefly tried to use the mobile app which would show the trip but errored when trying to view or manage trip details).

Ground Experience

Departure – iGA Lounge in Istanbul Airport

We showed up at the Istanbul Airport around 10:00 AM for our 13:25 PM departure. The security process at IST was fast, albeit redundant. We went through a security screening twice, immediately upon entry and then after passport control to the international departures terminal. After getting through passport control and the second screening, we visited the iGA (Istanbul Grand Airport) Lounge in the international terminal.

The iGA lounge was located after passport control on the mezzanine floor. Turn left and walk for about 5 minutes before another left up an escalator to the lounge. There is plenty of signage along the way. For myself and my guest, access was granted via my Priority Pass membership.

This lounge was very large with ample seating and amenity options including showers, a napping area, an open-air terrace, two bars, and a plethora of Turkish food items. There was even a duty free store inside the lounge.

The food was just okay but not great. We were at least able to find some decent items such as falafel with yoghurt and chicken with rice pilaf. 

As with all airport lounges, it beats waiting in the terminal by a mile. Especially when access is granted essentially free just by holding the right credit cards (in this case, the American Express Business Platinum card). 

Arrival – Ambassador Transit Lounge

Our flight arrived early at Singapore Changi Airport at around 4:15 AM, which was a bit of an awkward arrival time. Especially because our hotel room at the Conrad Singapore Orchard would not be ready this early. So we decided we would spend an hour or so lounging in the airport before heading to the hotel to drop off our bags. 

Thus I sought to locate a lounge which might permit us entry on arrival. The KrisFlyer lounge denied us but pointed us to the Ambassador Transit Lounge, a Priority Pass lounge, which did indeed allow us to enter.

The lounge was minimal and the food was not good. But it provided a quiet space, and most importantly for me, a hot coffee and a clean shower.

Seat

The Singapore Airlines flight attendants, adorned in extravagant gowns, guided us to our individual seats upon boarding. The staff were extremely professional and pleasant, and immediately offered us champagne to start off the flight.🍾

The staff were extremely attentive during services, though I didn’t really need much attention as I am a pretty low maintenance passenger.  

The Singapore Airlines business class seat was extremely wideset and had a muted purple color scheme, giving it an air of royalty. It was definitely one of the most pleasant looking business class seats I’ve experienced.

The seat to my left across the aisle, 14A, was empty which gave me a great opportunity to get some extra photos.

Every aspect of the seat was well laid out, with ample storage compartments in front, in the armrests, and in the footwell. 

There were multiple light sources, including three on the left-hand side (aisle side) with multiple brightness settings, and one large reading light on the right with two brightness settings.

There was a plugin for the headphones on both sides of the seat. As well, there was a regular outlet along with USB outlets and even an HDMI outlet.

Controls for the seat position were well-labeled and easily accessible next to the bottom seat cushion. However, turning the seat into lie-flat mode was actually rather complicated and required a flight attendant’s assistance.

The privacy divider between the two aisle seats was large and provided good privacy. If you don’t want to look at the face of the passenger sitting beside you, you’ll have no trouble here!  

I thought the tray table was well-designed. It ejected smoothly out of a flush compartment in the armrest to reveal a sizeable surface area. The table could move forward and backward, as well as having a height adjuster.

It could also tilt outwards, but not to a significant extent. It would be a challenge to sneak out of the seat without stowing the tray table unless you were very slender.

Bed

Although I really loved the seat on Singapore Airlines A350, the bed was not my cup of tea. Even though the seat was extremely wide, it was lacking in length and had a narrow footwell design. There was also no mattress pad.

While this might favor someone shorter or who is exclusively a side sleeper, I found it significantly less comfortable to sleep in than even the old school straight plank style lie-flat beds as found on Turkish Airlines 777, Aer Lingus A330, and others.  

Additional small inconveniences: the storage under the foot well could not be accessed at all when the bed was in lie-flat mode. 

Amenity Kit

The amenity kit was designed in partnership with Penhaligon’s (est London 1870). It was a fairly minimal amenity kit, including only ‘Luna’ hand lotion, facial mist, and lip balm. 

This was because the amenity kit was only provided on request, while slippers, a sleeping mask, and socks were included on the seat for all passengers. No complaints here as the prospect of fitting three large amenity kits in my luggage on the way back home from this trip would be grim.

Dining

Singapore Airlines is renowned for its soft product, particularly its food, and so I browsed the menus with intrigue. There was a selection of international dishes, including both Turkish and Asian-inspired main course options.

Food Menu

Wine & Spirits

Non-alcoholic Beverages

Lunch

Shortly after takeoff, meal service started with a canape: the signature Singapore chicken satay. This dish was very flavorful with a bit of a kick.

After the canape was the appetizer, a marinated prawn. To be honest, I wasn’t overly wowed, finding it a little bland. The butter accompanying the garlic bread passed the softness test, however the garlic bread itself did not.

For my main, I chose the Kung Pao chicken, which was excellent. It was spicier than I’d anticipated!

Dessert consisted of ice cream with a tasty strawberry compote. I also had the chocolate mousse parfait, which was okay. 

Delectables 

Just before bed, I enjoyed a few late-night snacks, the highlight of which was the hand-cooked white truffle potato chips!

Breakfast

The breakfast was excellent starting with fresh fruit, yogurt, and a soft, warm danish. Following that was french toast with strawberry compote and mascarpone cheese. It was excellent as well and had a pleasantly crispy outer coating.

Entertainment

The entertainment console screen was large, bright, and clear. The positioning in terms of distance from the seat was ideal in my opinion.

There was a vast selection of over 400 movie titles with an assortment of new releases and older favorites.

The controller for the entertainment console was well placed and easily reachable from the seated position and functioned well.

WiFi

The WiFI was straightforward to access. On my laptop, I was prompted to log in using email, last name, and seat number. On my phone, I was guided by the entertainment screen to enter a specific URL where I logged in with the same information. I was able to be connected and simultaneously use the WiFi on both my laptop and mobile device. 

Business class passengers receive free WiFi which is unlimited and unrestricted. However, even for those in economy class, the cost was not outrageous, at $3.99, $8.99, and $15.99 USD for 1 hour, 3 hours, and the full flight, respectively.

Overall the WiFi was decent quality. I didn’t have any issues loading Google documents, sheets, etc, which is not usually the case with airplane WiFi. It did experience periods where it was quite slow to load some web pages however.

Of note, the WiFi was also accessible via Boingo and iPass (Gogo) for those not traveling in business class.

Bathroom

There were three bathrooms available in the forward business class cabin, two on the left side and one on the right side. 

The bathroom was sizeable enough and clean. But I have seen bigger, even on our prior Turkish Airlines flight.  No complaints whatsoever, but it was slightly mismatched given the massive size of the business class seats themselves.

There were also some nice amenities in the bathroom including toothbrushes, face clothes, hand lotion, facial mist, and Eau de toilette (a lightly scented perfume).

Conclusion

There really isn’t a ton to complain about when it comes to the Singapore Airlines A350 business class. The food and service were excellent, the WiFi was fast, and the seat was comfortable and roomy.

The lie-flat bed really was my only reservation, and even that might be more of a personal preference than an objective flaw. I would definitely recommend Singapore Airlines and fly with them again!