Review of Singapore Airlines flight New York → Frankfurt in Business

introduction

After a a week visiting NYC, it was time to get back to Europe. Still impressed by the daytime SQ flight to the US, I was keen to try the same service on the return red eye flight.
Sadly (for us Avgeeks or passengers in premium cabins at least) this flight made use of the jet stream, reducing the flying time to less than eight hours.

Nevertheless, I was very excited about the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, which is considered o be one of the best airport lounges in New York JFK. 

ground experience

Check in went quite smooth, despite all document checks reguarding COVID-19 at that time. Although the check-in agent wasn’t particularly friendly, she got the job done.

To my surprise the agent attached a SQ Solitaire Baggage Tag to my suitcase. I am not a PPS Club Solitaire member (at least not that I know of). As far as I know, to reach PPS Club Solitaire, you have to have a ridiculous number of SQ flights within year.
I didn’t mind it though and kept the two tags as souvenirs. 

Airport lounge

At the time of my flight, Singapore Airlines business class passengers could access the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse in terminal 4. As the name already suggests, Virgin Atlantic Upper Class passengers can also enter the Clubhouse. There are a few other exceptions for Skyteam / SQ status members on Virgin Atlantic operated flights.

I’ve heard many things from people considering this lounge to be the “holy grail” in terminal 4.  

In terms of design, this lounge is one of the more exciting places out there. Every section looked different and not monotone as some other lounges. There was comfortable seating in the middle section of the lounge. The center section was separated by from the rest by nice looking wooden palisades. 

As you can see in the picture above, you can find a pool table in the lounge. Nice idea there Virgin.

(Sorry for the poor picture quality) 

Next to the big windows to the apron, there is a section with slightly more private seating.

As I visited the lounge in the evening, it was quite dark outside. But I suppose the lounge is filled with natural light during daytime.

Again, a shot of the beautiful wooden palisades giving the lounge a very nice touch.

The bar was at the end of the center section and offered various drinks / beverages. 

The dedicated restaurant was located in the far-right corner. The menu was extensive and there was free flowing Champagne of course.

Overall, the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse JFK is still one of my most favorite lounges in the world. It felt exclusive, had very good food and just looked so good in terms of design.

Comment:
A few days prior to publishing this review, a friend of mine was flying out of JFK on SQ and "had to" visit the Air India Maharaja Lounge. Despite being labeled a Star Alliance Gold Lounge, it felt like a crowded bazaar with even worse food. As he further explained, he left the lounge to hang out in the terminal building, as it was less stressful.

He said quote:"felt bad for all the business passengers paying several thousand dollars for a flight and being offered a lounge like this". 

I feel very, very grateful to have visited the Virgin Clubhouse and to have been spared Air India’s offering. 

At the time of writing however, unless you are flying SQ Suite / First class or you are a PPS Club status holder, you won’t get access to this lounge as a SQ passenger.

aircraft

Carrier:                         Singapore Airlines
Type:                             Boeing 777-300ER
Registration:               9V-SWI
First flight:                   28/02/2007
Cabin configuration: 4F / 48J / 28W / 184Y 

cabin / seat

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER are equipped with a total of 264 seats in a four class layout. Four first class seats are placed in the front of the aircraft, followed by 48 seats in business class.

The business class seats are split into a mini cabin behind first class and into a bigger section behind door 2. Further back you can find 28 premium economy seats and two economy class cabins with 184 seats.  

Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER first/business class layout @aerolopa

Although the cabin has seen almost 10 years of service, it has aged surprisingly well. There are no overhead bins installed above the middle rows, giving the cabin an airy feeling. There certainly are cabins which offer a more open design such as Qatar Airways' Boeing 787-8 business class. But it surely makes up ground with a higher privacy for each seat. 

What are the best seats for couples?
The first choice should be the seats between the aisles (seats D and F). Try to get the bulkhead seats (11D, 11F, 15D, 15F). There is a small privacy divider if you decide to isolate yourself from your neighbor.

What are the best seats for solo travelers?
I can recommend any window seat (seats A and K) for improved privacy because of the construction of the shell. Again, the bulkhead seats (11A, 11K, 15A, 15K) should be your first choice, if available.    

The business class cabin in front of doors 2 only have 12 seats, creating a very private and unique atmosphere.

My originally assigned seat 12F was a normal business class seat. In comparison to the bulkhead seats, these seats offer less personal space and passengers have to sleep angled to the side.

The footwell is located toward the side, rather than straight on. 

Because the flight was near to empty, I asked the friendly flight attendant if I could move to the bulkhead seat 11A, once boarding was complete. She of course agreed. 
 
The seat itself is made out of a leather-like material, with a nice square pattern stitching. The seats are either made in a grey or dark-purple finish. 

On the left you can find an open storage area and the power outlets. There was also a closable storage compartment right next to the table, which of course was stowed. Above that there was the IFE-remote. I found another storage cubby to the front-left of the seat. These housed the inflight magazines and were perfect for smaller items like tablets or laptops. Needless to say, I didn’t have problem storing all my belonging at my seat.   

I highly recommend reserving a bulkhead seat in advance or during check-in, because it is more spacious than the other seats not located behind the bulkhead. The only minor downside is the IFE-screen, which is quite far away in the bulkhead seats. The bulkhead seats are only accessible by Krisflyer Elite Members and passengers travelling with infants. During check-in you can select these seats if they are still vacant. 

The picture below shows the bulkhead seat (15A) I sat in on the outbound leg SQ26. 

SQ didn’t offer amenity kits on this flight. Instead there were a pair of slippers, a sleep mask an a pair of socks waiting at the seat. 

There was also a comfortable pillow. 

food / beverages

There was a pre-departure drink service on offer. I ordered a glass of Champagne.

Dinner was quickly served, in order that passengers can get some sleep after the meal.
The appetizer consisted of cooked salmon on cucumbers and fish eggs on top, accompanied by a warm bread of your choice. Mine had a nice herbal flavour to it.  This was a nice start.

For the main I took advantage of the Book-the-cook service and ordered a steak with potatoes. This potatoes and the sauce tasted really good, although the beef was a bit underwhelming and dry. 

To finish the meal, I ordered the ice-cream and the cheese plate. Both of them were delicious, alhough the ice-cream was not the same fantastic coconut ice-cream from the outbound flight. 

There was still more room for a Singapore Sling and more Champagne.

The Singapore Sling was really good. I will try to order it again, whenever I'm flying with SQ. 

Shortly before our descent into Frankfurt I ordered a small snack from the menu. This sandwich was tasty and had a distinctive “American” touch to it which was nice.

I think I saw this sandwich on SQ’s 5th-freedom flights in Europe somewhere. I think it was the service between Copenhagen and Rome, but I could be mistaken. 

Overall, the meal service was very good, from the presentation to the food quality. I've expected more from the steak, but  the starter, main and the dessert were otherwise delicious.

In general, the catering from hub airports is usually considered to be the best in terms of food quality. I’ve heard from many people, that the catering originating from the US isn’t that great. The food quality on the flight originating from Frankfurt to New York was better altogether.  

lie-flat bed

It was time to get some sleep. The seat cannot be turned into a lie-flat bed automatically. I asked for turn-down-service and the crew made up the bed. The bed is very wide and thanks to the bulkhead in front, there was more than enough legroom.

In addition to the pillow mentioned before, there is a mattress cover, a thick blanket and another pillow.

You can always ask for more, if you desire to do so. 

Here you can see the legroom when lying down. I used the left side of the seat to store my jumper and additional blankets / pillows.
The bed itself was very spacious and comfortable. I got some hours of sleep.

I was waking up, when the sun was rising above Europe.

service

The service was incredible. As said in my previous SQ review, they are highly trained, friendly, attentive and such a pleasure to interact with. This flight crew was truly no exception. The flight attendants seemed to be very passionate about their jobs and there were constantly asking if they could bring more drinks. This was surely helped by the low load-factor of the flight. 

IFE

The screen was of a decent size. Although the seat and the screen was first introduced in 2013, the IFE controller felt very modern and had an own display, which you could tuck into the console to the left of the seat. It showed you basic flight stats, which was a nice touch. The main IFE-screen was easy to see, although not touch sensitive. Passengers can also tilt the screen downwards when lying down in bed mode.

As of the content, there were plenty of options to choose from.

I decided to watch the movie 1917 on this flight.