Review of Singapore Airlines flight Siem Reap → Singapore in Business

After a trip that blew my mind to Angkor Wat, it was time to head off to the airport for the next adventure. The Lotus Blanc Resort arranged transportation which was included on this 50-minute drive to the new Siem Reap airport which recently opened in late 2023! 

Also excited to bring what I believe is the first review of this product to FR (could be wrong but haven't seen one).

Check in/lounge

I arrived at the terminal around 2 and a half hours before my flight and strolled right up to the business class check-in counters. At the new Siem Reap there is a single business class check-in counter for Singapore Airlines but seeing that at most there are two flights a day and a maximum of 10 passengers per plane this shouldn't be an issue of waiting. For me, there was no wait at all. I headed through security and a passport check (with also no wait) and through to the new Angkor lounge. 

This review is quite long so I will attach a link to a review of it at the end of the review if interested in reading about it. If this isn't allowed sorry and a mod can review it ?.

How i booked this ticket

With cash fares ranging upwards of 900$ one-way in business class for my travels, I decided to check availability on United MileagePlus to see if there was any space. I managed to find award space for 27.5K miles which were transferred over from Chase for a connecting flight which consisted of this flight and an onward connection on a 77W in business class to Jakarta the next morning. Singapore releases plenty of award space to United on short-haul routes, so if you are a tad flexible you should have no problem at all! 

Boarding

Boarding commenced at about 16:20 local time and people needing assistance were offered to board first. Something I noticed was that even though the business class section was only 3/10 full, there were about 10 people in front of me with economy boarding passes who didn't seem like they needed assistance. It seems like priority boarding wasn't enforced. I digress as I made my way down the jetbridge, excited to board this bird.

She looks even prettier in person, pictures don't do this livery justice!

With a normal touch of the aircraft, I proceeded to board and found these cute Christmas lights! 

I turned right, don't worry since you can only turn right unless you're flying the plane ? and found the SQ Max cabin!! Three words, intimate and gorgeous! 

On the other side was the same configuration.

After waiting for the people ahead to make their way down the aircraft I found my "throne" seat 12B. Fit for a king of the skies! (not me, I don't fly enough)

Departure

It's always a challenge for the cabin crew to offer good pre-departure service on a narrowbody as passengers are constantly occupying the aisle. However, this lovely FA (who I believe was Indian) came around and introduced herself. She offered me a pre-departure beverage but I politely declined. She also informed me that there would only be 3 passengers, including myself in business class tonight. We had a brief discussion about it coming to the conclusion this was a rare occurrence.

The captain came on a few minutes prior to departure to inform us of the smooth flight until 80 miles north of Singapore where it would become bumpy.

The FA came around and I confirmed my meal order with her of the Beef Cheek.

Around 16:45 we began pushback

A fire up of the engines and we were on our way to the runway.

Passing by a Vietnam Airlines 321

Continuing by the flag that signaled the wind and direction of takeoff from East to West.

Seeing that there aren't too many flights a day at the new airport we were airborne with no wait. Needless to say, the clouds made for a spectacular shot. 

And a friendly reminder to everyone that beneath all the smoke and mirrors lies beauty.❤️

The seat/cabin

The Singapore 737 Max 8 business class cabin had 3 rows. 2 rows are configured in a 2-2 configuration while one row is configured in a 1-1 configuration. This is perfect for most of the routes that these planes operate as they are primarily focused on leisure destinations. 

The cabin was decorated with Christmas wreaths which were pleasing to look at. 

Each seat features a lie-flat mode and seat controls were on the right-hand side of my seat (12B). 

In the throne seats, there is a table to the left where you can place your meal if you need to go to the toilet or a laptop or drinks. It is plenty large for whatever. There is also a pouch for the safety card. 

There is a place to store your pairs of shoes under the table and on the left-hand side. If you are wearing big boots though they might not fit. 

Lastly, there was some storage to the right of the seat, next to where the tray table pops out. 

Following the foot storage, right nearby you will find a small cubby space to store chargers and belongings that are similar.

There were also chargers available so no need to worry there. However in the top right-hand side by your head laid the lights. 

As I mentioned the bed goes fully flat and is comfortable, if anything a little bit on the firm side.

Something to be aware of is not all seats are created equally on the Max 8. While throne seats provide the utmost privacy (minus the door), the footwell is a lot smaller than row 11 for example.

It wasn't the end of the world since I didn't sleep but with both shoes on it was a little bit of a squeeze. Once they were off no problem at all.

As you can see above there is a meshnetting piece of storage for headphones, cables, passports, or even your phone.

Singapore designed these throne seats flawlessly minus the footwell (not much they can do there).

Amenities

Once onboard the aircraft I arrived at my seat to many useful amenities for today's flight to Singapore. The first was canceling headphones, which were excellent! These were the best quality headphones I came across in business class on my adventures. 

Which came in some pretty packaging. Might be a little biased since my second fav colour is blue. 

Waiting upon my seat was the classic SQ blanket and beautiful pillow. The blanket was soft and warm while the pillow I mostly used to support my back which turned out good.

The blanket had a subtle branding. 

While the pillow helped provide a comfortable flight. 

Lastly, there was a bottle of still Blu waiting at my seat which would come in handy closer to landing after all of the champagne ?.

ife

Singapore Airlines offers plenty of options for movies and TV shows. Needless to say, on a 2.5-hour flight you will not get bored. 

Plenty of movies as you can see.

The remote to operate the TV is located near the tray table on the right-hand side. However, if you are like me then you can also interact with the TV through the touchscreen feature. 

Wifi was also offered and it was free, but I didn't partake.

meal service

Once we hit about 15,000 feet the crew snapped into action bringing around a glass of Piper-Heidsick to my seat. While I had heard reports of Piper-Heidsick being on the way out of short-haul routes, I was pleased to see it being served onboard. 

The tray table flips out from the right of the seat with a push of this button.

Enter text here…The meal came out about 25 minutes after takeoff. A glass of sparkling water accompanied my champagne and delicious meal.

The meal was delicious, I had to order it again on a separate flight in the future. The Gnocchi was flavorful while the beef was tender. The garlic bread on Singapore provides the closest thing to consistency in my life ?. The Chocolate dessert was the cherry on top (no actual cherry), simply divine. 

I was extremely impressed to see the branding on the tablecloth.

Although the meal service all came out at once, I would solidly rank this as a 9.5/10 for my personal taste. Nothing else was offered for the remaining hour and 30 minutes, at least food-wise.

the washrooms

There is a single toilet for the 10 passengers in business class coming right behind the cockpit in the galley.

The single lavatory featured a toilet with a modern flush button. Not like in those old planes which would make you go deaf every time you pressed "flush".

A small sink, one aspect I hate about narrow-bodies.

An almost empty soap, not the best look for SQ here might have to dock a few points.

However, they made up for it with other amenities and hand towels for drying your face/hands.

overall service

The service at the beginning was warm but not over the top in any way. The classic Singapore FA smiles (which I love) made it feel like a pleasant flight. However, about an hour before landing the same FA and I got to chatting a little bit and she became even friendlier.

She had just opened up a fresh bottle of champagne before descending and we started joking how much of it could be finished by the time we landed. After that interaction, she came around every 5 minutes to top me off ?.

While I only had an interaction with one of the FA's onboard she was splendid. When it comes to rating I could not fault her in any way, she went above and beyond. Although as we will be able to read in the next few posts the best service was yet to come!

arrival

The captain came on about 30 minutes before landing and informed us that it would be extremely bumpy approaching Singapore as there had just been a thunderstorm which, of course, we would be flying through. 

We made it through the storm (with the cabin crew strapped in) and made the 180 to land south to North. 

We touched down a little bit behind schedule due to the roundabout approach into Singapore. Since no one was seated in front of me, I was first off the plane towards electronic immigration which consisted of 0 people tonight.

And off to the Yotel I was!!

If you want the lounge review I can't post it here but it's here, https://www.jettoajet.com/post/review-angkor-business-class-lounge-siem-reap-new-airport-sai

Once again mods if this isn't allowed, my apologies.