Business Class to Spain
Singapore Airlines on their A350 & AA Flagship Business
Singapore Airlines on their A350 & AA Flagship Business
Flying in business class is always an experience and it was especially the case this time around. This is the first trip where my parents came along and their first time in Europe. It was also their first time flying international business class. American Airlines Flagship Business Class was their first international business class experience and they were impressed. I consider it to be a great product, given the competition in the U.S. For our return flight, I flew on Singapore Airlines which is a different kind of experience, and easily the best flight I’ve ever had.
SFO ✈ JFK ✈ MAD: AA J / 777-200 ER
FRA ✈ JFK: SQ J / A350
I have written my thoughts on the American Airlines Flagship Business product before. I flew this exact product in the summer of 2021 from JFK to CDG. I still think it’s the best way to cross the Atlantic on a U.S. carrier. This particular hard product is spacious, modern and highly competitive, in respect to U.S. carriers. I’ve flown United Polaris a few times now and this is better. The hard product is better and so is the soft product. The service wasn’t anything special but it was adequate. If you can find award space flying American Airlines 777-200ER to Europe, I would book it.
Business Class on the Airbus A350
SQ delivers an exceptional experience on their A350s
The original plan was to fly back home on Lufthansa First Class but finding award space was difficult and I wanted a return ticket before I arrived in Spain. Before departing I found award space on Singapore AIrlines flying first class on their 777-300er for 86k KrisFlyer miles and roughly $120 USD in taxes. I booked it by transferring 86k American Express points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program and my ticket was issued later that day.
Near the end of my trip in Spain, I get an email from Singapore Airlines about a plane swap. This is never the message you want to see. It might work in your favor for example, if they’re flying an A380 instead of a 777. However, that wasn’t the case for me. I was assigned an a350, which doesn’t have a first class cabin. This wasn’t ideal but it happens. However, what Singapore Airlines did was something I didn’t expect. They called me, explained the situation and refunded me 64k KrisFlyer miles and issued me a $200 SGD voucher. I effectively flew Singapore Airlines Business Class for 22k KrisFlyer miles. This was a perfect outcome and I was definitely compensated for the plane swap.
This was my first time flying in the A350 and I was very impressed. I was impressed at how unbelievably quiet this plane is. I always found the 777-200 to be incredibly loud and this wasn’t the case in the A350. I even slept without my noise canceling headphones because I found the cabin noise to be mild. I also felt better when I landed at JFK. I normally feel a little gross on the 777-200 due to its higher pressurization, compared to the A350.
The business class cabin on the A350 is also gorgeous and spacious. However, and this is important. The seat you choose matters and it specially matters on this aircraft. You want a bulkhead seat because it's more spacious. The non-bulkhead seats have a weird angle to them that make them tighter to sit in and when you sleep you have to sleep at an angle. Since my flight was relatively empty on the business class cabin, I sat in one of the non-bulkhead seats for a while and you want bulkhead — trust me. Non-bulkhead seats aren’t bad but if you can get bulkhead, select that seat.
I consider myself a foodie and I was amazed at the catering by Singapore Airlines. To put it short, this was restaurant quality food. The wine and champagne were spectacular and the food was very flavorful. The presentation was also adequate with what you expect for a business class ticket. The dessert was incredible. I like my sweets as much as the next person but sometimes desserts can be too sweet and ruin an otherwise great dessert. This was perfect and it was crunchy too. Interesting combination.
As we approached New York City, the fantastic crew on my Singapore Airlines flight began meal service before arrival. They served fantastic noodles. I looked for the name but I couldn’t find it. They were divine and a great way to the end of a fantastic flight.
Since I pay for these flights and don’t in any way have any relationship with the airlines, I can be truthful about things I don’t like. I didn’t love this seat. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. Most lie flat seats are automated and convert into a bed with the touch of a button. These don’t work this way, and that’s not why I’m writing this. When the flight attendants see you messing with the seat, they rush to help. SQ service is really spectacular. The reason I’m not a huge fan of this seat is how stiff it is. It’s not bad but it’s not great. I find the Polaris seat or the AA Flagship Business seat to be more comfortable. For a trans-atlantic flight they’re totally adequate. However, the A350 has a route from SFO to SIN. That’s a 17 hour flight and I don’t think this seat is particularly comfortable for such a long flight. I hope they improve it in the future. Again, not awful but not amazing either.
A few thoughts on the IFE. It’s quite good and it has a large library. I watched live TV at the time of departure as I was having lunch. One thing I wish all these IFEs had was the ability to connect your personal headphones. I travel with AirPods Max and I would love to be able to use them while I watch a movie on the IFE. United is doing this and I’m glad to see it coming.
I always cover the Wi-Fi because it’s important. When you fly on Singapore Airlines business class, you’re given a voucher that has 100MB of data for the entire flight. If you’re not careful, you’ll run out of data before they offer wine. You do have the ability to purchase more data but it’s not very competitive. It runs $15.99 USD for 3 hours of surfing. There isn’t an option to pay for unlimited data on the flight. That is unless you’re flying their First Class product, which I’ll be doing later in July of 2022.
Flagship Business on the 777-200ER
Among the best business class product for a U.S. carrier
SFO to JFK on their A321T has to be the absolute best way to get to JFK. United also has a route but they fly a 737 with the old non-Polaris seats. It’s a shame that such an important route for business gets such a crappy product. American Airlines is doing a wonderful job on this route with their A321T. The A321 is a remarkably quiet plane. The A321T also has the newer Viasat internet and it’s wonderful. The firewall inside the plane blocks FaceTime calls, but I connected to my home VPN and FaceTimed my brother just fine. It’s really incredible how good it is.
When you have an international business class ticket, you’re granted access to AA Flagship Lounge or their partner lounges if they don’t have a lounge at your departure location. However, their hub airports all have them. The lounge is fine and perfectly adequate. I have been in this lounge twice, once in 2021 where hot food wasn’t being served and in 2022. 2022 was a better experience because the showers were open, there was hot food being served and there was champagne on demand. Overall, it’s a great lounge. I still prefer something like the Centurion Lounge from American Express but that’s on Terminal 4 and you have to clear security. Not a big deal but the connection was quite short and it’s not okay to leave mum behind because she doesn't have PreCheck.
I have written my thoughts on the American Airlines Flagship Business product before. I flew this exact product in the summer of 2021 from JFK to CDG. I still think it’s the best way to cross the Atlantic on a U.S. carrier. This particular hard product is spacious, modern and highly competitive, in respect to U.S. carriers. I’ve flown United Polaris a few times now and this is better. The hard product is better and so is the soft product. The service wasn’t anything special but it was adequate. If you can find award space flying American Airlines 777-200ER to Europe, I would book it.
I will note that there are two configurations to Flagship Business on the 777-200ER. There is what I flew which are the B/E seats from Aerospace and there are Zodiac seats. I have never flown the Zodiac configuration before but it’s not as nice as the B/E seats. They have a smaller IFE and odd number rows face backwards. It’s a gamble as to what configuration you get, and you won’t know until about 24 hours before departure. This is usually when the airline assigns you a plane, and this can change hours before departure.
The food was about what you would expect from a U.S. carrier. Not great and totally uneventful. I’ve flown this route before and the menu is identical. It’s not really a problem but something to be aware of. I ordered the chicken this time around and it was dry. The red wine was also acidic, also known as young and cheap. At least this time around it was served in proper glassware. The champagne was decent, though and it was actual champagne.
