Review of Singapore Airlines flight Jakarta → Singapore in First

After a couple good days in Jakarta, I headed back up to Hong Kong, via Singapore. I've always wanted to try Singapore Suites, and although Suites don't operate on the CGK route, there is one daily flight from SIN-HKG that operates on a A380. Since the Krisflyer mileage cost is the same when going from SIN-HKG as CGK-SIN-HKG, I figured it was worth it to add on the extra leg from Jakarta to experience the 777-300ER First class product, before the A380, esepcially for the same price!

The trip plan is outlined below:
BNA - ORD (American CRJ700 Economy - no review)
ORD - HKG (Cathay 777-300ER First)
HKG - TPE (Cathay 777-300ER First)
TPE - CGK (China Airline A330-300 Business - no review)
CGK - SIN (Singapore Airlines 777-300ER First)
SIN - HKG (Singapore Airlines A380 Suites)
HKG - JNB (Cathay 777-300ER Business)
JNB - CPT (Kulula 737-800 Economy - no review)
CPT -JNB (British Airways 737-800 Economy - no review)
JNB - DXB (Emirates 777-300ER First)
DXB - BAH (Emirates 777-300 First)
BAH - DXB (Emirates 777-300ER First)
DXB - CDG (Air France 777-300ER Business)
CDG - OTP (TAROM A318 Business)
OTP - BEG (Air Serbia ATR42 Economy)
BEG - ZAG (Air Serbia ATR42 Economy)
ZAG - FRA (Croatia Airlines A320 Business)
FRA - DMM - BAH (Lufthansa A330-300 First)
BAH - DXB (Cathay A330-300 Business)
DXB - MCT (Emirates 777-300ER First)
MCT - SLL (Oman Air 737-800 Economy)
SLL- MCT (Oman AIr 737-800 Economy)
MCT - DXB (Emirates 777-200 First)
DXB - JFK ( Emirates A380 First)
JFK - BNA (American CRJ700 Economy - no review)

Points:

I believe the cheapest way (in points) to experience SQ Suites is on SQ's SIN-HKG route, which is about 4 hours. The point cost is 37.5k Krisflyer miles and in my case gets you too legs on SQ First and Suites class. A really good value, if you ask me :) If you want to experience SQ Suites, this is the most economical point way to do it, even if it's just SIN-HKG.

Krisflyer miles are very easy to obtain, as all the major credit card transferable point companies transfer 1:1 to SQ. You can also accrue Krsflyer miles by flying Star Alliance airlines, like United. On a few of my domestic US flights in the months prior, I booked all my miles to SQ and had a few thousand Krisflyer miles saved up before transferring the rest from AMEX. On this flight, taxes were very small, at about $15 USD.

The retail cost on these two flights (as one ticket) is about $3,500, so it's about 9.4 cents/ Krisflyer mile for value, which is pretty good.

Airport:

CGK can be a bit of a mess. It's not super organized and if I recall you have to go through a security check before even getting into the airport. However, when flying SQ First/ Business the process is a bit smoother once you clear the security, as there is a dedicated First class desk, which is quite efficient, and the Esplanade Lounge is right next to the check in desk. So, essentially, as soon aas you're checked in, you're whisked off by an SQ employee to the lounge. They also hang on to your passport and essentially take care of the departure immigration, which is quite helpful. I was handed back my passport/ boarding pass about 30 minutes prior to boarding.

The lounge itself isn't particularly fancy or anything, but there are a variety of breakfast options (buffet) and coffee/ tea/ juice. I had a coffee and made some calls, as I didn't find the food to look particularly appetizing. I also didn't want to fill up pre flight, as I was looking forward to the onboard meal.



The lounge exits into the departures area and you then have to go through an additional security check at the boarding gate. Boarding was pretty quick, and once the SQ employees saw my F boarding pass, I was whisked to the front of the line and boarded first, which was appreciated.

Flight:

Although the CGK-SIN leg is only about 1.5 hours, SQ had a 777-3000ER flying the route. The first class cabin consists of 8 seats, with 2 rows of 1-2-1 configuration. I believe on this flight only 2-3 of the seats were taken.

The seats themselves are very spacious - almost too spacious. Also, the recline wasn't super intuitive, but the seat was so wide you could pretty much configure yourself however you wanted and were comfortable. This airplane had the "older" cabin, but was still in good condition and there were no noticeable issues with my (massive) seat. After playing around with the seat, I started off the flight with some Dom, which was great. A nice way to start the morning.



Another great aspect of SQ First is the entertainment system and screen size. I think it was a 23 inch screen, which was awesome for TV viewing. It made Cathay's F TV screen look very small in comparison. They had a pretty good selection of TV's and movies and the entertainment unit was pretty easy to operate, which was a plus.



We had a rather lengthy wait - 30 minutes - before we were ready for take off, which allowed for some more champagne and a nice view of some Garuda Indonesia planes at their home airport.



Prior to take off the FA's distributed the "brunch" menu for the flight, which consisted of a couple egg options, as well as a more traditional option. I went with the mushroom omelette with sausage, which was quite tasty. It wasn't amazing by any stretch, but it was perfectly edible and had good flavor. I also had some more Dom as well as some OJ throughout the flight. The FA's were very good and attentive during the entire flight and I was never left waiting with an empty plate/ glass. For me, at least, it's nice when FA's are proactive about drink refills and asking if you need anything, instead of me having to ask for everything, within reason. That's one of the things I notice that differs a lot between F and J, at least from my experience.



The flight was very short and there was only really enough time for brunch and a couple TV shows before our decent into Singapore. It was a pretty clear day which made for nice views coming in of the northern part of Indonesia as well as Singapore.



Landing was smooth and the taxi in was very short. Changi airport is probably one of the nicest airports I've ever been in - everything is just very clean and looks new. Before clearing immigration, I wanted to stop by the Private Room - SQ's first class lounge - to have some lunch. From where we arrived, it was probably a solid 15 minute walk to the lounge, but it was definitely worth it.

SIN Airport:

The Private Room at Changi certainly has an exclusive feel to it and all the staff were very good. The quality of the lounge is exceptional and SQ has obviously put a lot of thought into ensuring it is a pleasant experience for their F passengers. When I arrived at around 12:30pm, I was escorted from the Krisflyer lounge check-in area, through the business and first class sections, and into the Private Room dining room. For those who don't know, the Private Room is reserved just for SQ First/ Suites class travelers. If you are flying F on a different Star Alliance partner out of Changi, then you can use the normal F lounge.



In the dining room I was offered a full a la carte menu and chose to start with Champagne, which was very nice. That was followed by some traditional Satay as well as their Dim Sum sampling. I was impressed by the quality of both. Also, the service in the dining room was impeccable and very professional. I believe there was only one other guest in the dining area, which made the space feel very private.

After eating lunch, I headed out to the immigration for arrivals and got a taxi to my hotel. All in all it's a very efficient terminal, in my experience, and having the Private Room available for arriving flights is a major plus in my opinion.