I’ve been fortunate in my previous jobs to have had the pleasure of enjoying First class on routes as nearby as Brunei, and as far as Houston (when it was operated by the 77W via Moscow). There’s normally no real reason to fly First class on such a short flight, but of course I wanted to review the new The Private Room. The block time for this flight was 1h45min, while the typical flying time is around 1h20min. SIA still manages to serve a full meal service in First Class on this flight, but would the experience really be first class on such a short flight?
Since SIA’s 777-300ER First Class has been around since 2013 and has been extensively covered on other blogs, I won’t talk about the seat product. Rather, I will focus on aspects of the food and beverage, and service. Therefore, instead of breaking down this review by aspects of the product, I will do it in a linear timeline.
So how well did the SIA onboard First Class experience hold up on a flight so short there’s barely even time to recline the seat? Did I even manage to recline my seat? Read on to find out!
Planning and Booking
I already shared a bit on my decision making when booking this flight in my review of the new TPR. To recap, I had booked myself on SQ964, the 5.20pm departure from Singapore. This allowed me to spend a decent amount of time during the day in The Private Room, while not arriving too late in Jakarta.
I redeemed a First Saver through Krisflyer, which cost me 27,500 miles plus SGD52.30 in taxes and fess. This was prior to the July 2022 devaluation. At current rates, this redemption would be 30,500 Krisflyer miles plus applicable taxes and fees.
Pre-departure
After a pleasant time in the new TPR in Terminal 3, I had to make my way to F59 in Terminal 2 at around 4.40pm. T2 is still in the first phase of reopening, with some nominally T3 flights departing or arriving from T2 instead. Thankfully, the A to F Skytrain isn’t too far from the SilverKris lounge, and on the T2 side not too far from F59 either. The Skytrain was just pulling in as I got to the platform. In all the journey probably took 10-15min.
Once at F59, I cleared security and was able to board immediately. At door 1L, I was warmly greeted by the inflight manager (IFM) and a leading stewardess (LSS). I turned right immediately to my seat 1A. When flying First Class on the 77W, I prefer 1A for the simple reason that I can watch the movement of the door 1 aerobridge.
On such a short flight, no amenities were on offer, nor did I ask for any. What was offered though, was a paper menu, even though I had pre-ordered a Book the Cook (BTC) dish. Yes, paper menus were back! This is something I have been clamouring for since my first “new normal” trip at the end of 2021. It wasn’t in the usual leather binder though. I’m not sure if CGK flights had the leather binder pre-Covid, but it certainly wasn’t present here.
I remarked to the LSS how happy I was to see the paper menu, and she mentioned that it was actually more convenient for the crew as well. Honestly, given how certain sections of the cabin crew community were so concerned about dwell time and exposure to passengers, I’m amazed how long it took for paper menus to return. From a crew protection perspective, it didn’t make sense to me for the crew having to spend time detailing the meal options to each and every passenger. It’s a situation that’s made worse by the fact that they sometimes have to go even closer to the passenger to do this, because of their mask.
Also making a comeback was pre-departure beverages being offered. Pre-departure drinks have quietly been on request for awhile, but it’s good to see it being proactively offered again. I requested for some champagne. On offer – according to the menu – was 2007 Tattinger Comtes de Champagne or Krug. I was asked if the Krug would be acceptable, which was what I wanted anyway, having had the Tattinger in the TPR earlier.
I had pre-ordered from the BTC selection, so the menu wasn’t of much relevance to me actually. For reference, here’s the menu for the flight:
And here’s the menu for the return flight, SQ965:
The full digital menu is below.
The Bang & Olufsen headphones were already at the seat. I was pleased to see that there were mesh earpad covers; these were not present on my business class flight CGK-SIN in May.
At around 5.25pm, the captain came on the PA to introduce himself, and informed us that we were waiting for some hold baggage to be loaded. He also mentioned a flight time of 1h15min.
At some point, the IFM stopped by for a chat and to introduce himself. He enquired if this was my first ‘post-Covid’ trip, which seems to be a standard question SIA crew tend to open with.
We ended up pushing back nearly 20min late. This certainly didn’t bother me, more time for champagne! It’s often joked that some passengers flying First between SIN and CGK try to drink back the cost of their ticket in champagne, and I was certainly going to give it a go.
We made the long trek over to runway 20L where we were delayed further due to a runway inspection. Eventually, we got airborne just before 6.10pm.
Inflight
With such a short flight time, the crew sprung into action once the seatbelt sign was turned off. Likewise, I quickly got up to check out the lavatory. As expected, it was immaculately clean, and surprisingly fully stocked for these quick turnaround flights.
Once I was back at my seat, the crew started with the meal service. My table was laid with the tablecloth, with more champagne and a glass of still water.
On short sectors like CGK, it’s a single-tray service. Once upon a time during Covid, single-tray (or worse) was the norm across the network, but thankfully that’s now limited to only the shortest sectors. However for such a short flight, there’s no choice of appetiser or dessert.
With the single tray service for First class, the appetiser, bread plate and main are all on the tray. With limited space on the tray, the crew wisely placed my champagne glass within closer reach on the tray, while leaving the water glass beside. She clearly knew what I’d be drinking more.
One of crew members then came around with the bread basket, from which I selected garlic bread and a bread roll.
The appetiser was Malossol Caviar with Pave of Balik Salmon. The Balik salmon was good, though the texture seemed a bit rougher than the one I once bought to consume at home. Unfortunately, the caviar taste was a bit lost in the saltiness of the salmon.
While SIA’s garlic bread has long been a favourite of frequent flyers, my recent experience have been mixed. The texture has either been too hard or too soft, or the garlic butter was lacking in garlic. Today’s taste was better, but the texture was a little on the soft side. My new favourite bread might be the roll, which I think is a brioche? I first had it ex-SIN in business class to Sydney in April, and I had it again here. I like the slight sweetness, which goes well with the butter, and the fairly fluffy texture.
For my main, I had pre-ordered the BTC lobster thermidor. The lobster thermidor recipe was refreshed a few months back to make it slightly lighter. As shared with Executive Traveller by SIA’s F&B Director Antony McNeil, the changes in recipe were mainly to reduce the heavier cream and cheese elements, while enriching the flavour with more lobster stock and Cognac. The accompaniments have also been changed up, with a fondant potato replacing the saffron rice, and the vegetables rotating seasonally rather just asparagus.
I’ve had the old lobster thermidor a couple of times, and since the normal menu hadn’t appealed I ordered the thermidor to see how the refreshed version compares to before.
While the flavour did seem more intense without being overpowering, I wasn’t too sure it’s lighter than before. IT definitely isn’t as cheesy, but it actually felt more creamy than before. The lobster meat seemed to have survived the cook-chill-reheat process, and wasn’t too rubbery or chewy. The fondant potato was disappointing though. It was rather hard and tasteless. The vegetables were a little better, and having a medley of them was nicer than just plain asparagus. Overall, my opinion of this dish hasn’t changed. A fairly safe choice when nothing else appeals, but not necessarily something I’d look forward to eating.
Once I finished my main, the tray was cleared away. At this point one of the pilots announced that we would be commencing our descent into CGK shortly. Dessert was quickly then brought out, which was Warm Brioche Toast with Kaya Spread. My first reaction when I saw this on the menu was “Really? Kaya toast for dessert?”. As it turned out, it did not resemble kaya toast.
This dish was surprisingly good. The various elements came together well. The sweet kaya and gula melaka contrasted with the tart mango passionfruit jelly, with the coconut sauce adding a bit of creaminess to the dish. The brioche was soft and airy as well. My only complaint was that I wished the brioche was warmer.
Once dessert was cleared away, and with the aircraft already descending, that was pretty much the end of service. I normally favour a cup of TWG Moroccan Mint tea post-meal service, but there simply wasn’t time for that.
Overall, the crew were extremely efficient, while still delivering the level of service expected. I never felt rushed during the meal service either. Both the champagne and water glasses were topped up regularly during meal service.
Arrival
Having departed nearly 50min late, we touched down 25min late at 6.30pm. We were at the gate shortly after, where 1K was first off the aircraft, with me close behind. I headed for the counters to verify my vaccination certificate, before moving on to immigration. Unfortunately the late arrival meant that the Qantas flight from Sydney had arrived before us and deposited its full load of passengers. While most of them were still stuck waiting to get the Visa-on-Arrival, there was still a moderate queue at immigration which moved rather slowly. (As a Singaporean, I was exempt from visa requirements if staying less than 30 days).
In all, it took me nearly half an hour to clear immigration. At baggage claim, I was able to grab my bags immediately and quickly passed through customs, where unlike my experience in Bali, no one bothered scan the e-CD Customs Declaration QR code. Once landside, it was off to the mess that is the pickup point in the carpark.
Conclusion
To first answer the question about reclining my seat, no I did actually not touch the seat controls at all. As for how the First class experience fared, I would say besides the lack of appetiser and dessert choices, it was not worse off than a First class flight on a longer route. There was no skimping on the food portions, or the beverage choices. All the serviceware were the usual Lalique. The service, as always in First, was excellent, with the caveat there wasn’t really much for them to do anyway. Perhaps the biggest positive takeaway from this flight is that the overall First class experience has returned to what it should be, with pre-departure drinks proactively offered, and a paper menu to thumb through.
That said, this is not an experience I would care to repeat. There simply isn’t a need to fly First on this route. In my view, there’s two main differentiators between the SIA First and Business onboard experience: F&B quality and choices, and the seat when converted into ‘sleep mode’. The former isn’t significantly different on on this route – champagne aside – while the latter definitely doesn’t get any usage on this route. For all the jokes about drinking back the value of the ticket in champagne, I’m not sure it’s humanly possible. Not to mention I doubt SIA stocks that much Krug onbaord anyway. This flight didn’t change my opinion of the BTC lobster thermidor either, refreshed or not.
Next trip to Jakarta, I’m sticking to Business class. That’s going to happen in the next month-ish thereabouts so stay tuned for that.
What’s your opinion of First class on such a short flight? Let me know your comments