Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK Flight
I'm back, and Singapore Airlines didn't job me out of taking the world's longest flight this time around. If you read my previous post about scrambling to get to Thailand after Singapore cancelled my flight last minute, then you know what I am talking about. If not, I would encourage you to check out that write up too. In it I had said that I planned to do a travelogue of the flight experience, but those plans were dashed before they even started. Luckily, I had another shot at it on the way home thanks to my Singapore Airlines SIN (Singapore) to JFK (New York) flight. Let's buckle up and take this 17+ hour ride together.
How I Booked
I booked the flight with the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program for 111,500 miles and around $60 in taxes and fees. I transferred Membership Rewards at a 1 to 1 rate over to the Krisflyer program. Unfortunately, the flight wasn't showing on any partners when I booked which would have been a bit cheaper. I was willing to pay a little more to lock it at the time. The other option was to twiddle my thumbs and hope it made it to a partner's inventory, which may have never happened. Another plus was that the award flight was bookable immediately, without needing to waitlist as some Singapore awards require.
Singapore Airport Experience
I guess I should start off with the Singapore airport experience. Getting through customs is really easy and it is all automated, at least if you have the proper passport. I didn't even need to talk to a customs agent when I entered or left Singapore. You do need to fill out a customs arrival form before landing, but that only takes a few minutes and you can do it the night before.
Singapore's airport has a unique security set up to say the least. You walk through “customs” without having to go through any type of TSA set up. Once there you are free to shop, dine or head to the lounge. I'll try to do a separate write up about my SilverKris Lounge experience.
Once it is time to board your flight you will actually go through a security checkpoint at the gate instead of when entering the airport. It looks like most gates have their own security checks, and a few have pod set ups for multiple gates as well. This seems wildly inefficient, but it makes it a bit easier for us, so I am good with it. The really weird thing is that my ticket and passport were checked 4 times, by 4 different people, all within 15 steps of each other. It made absolutely no sense. It was almost like they needed a reason to create jobs, so they gave two people the task to double check the other two people's work. All while they were only mere steps away. Really bizarre!
I will say that the boarding process for this flight is very quick. There are only business class and premium economy seats on the flight. The first class is essentially the same as business, just in the front row, so I wouldn't even consider paying more for it myself. The boarding was supposed to start at 11:45AM, and we were the last to board walking through security at 11:50AM.
My First Impressions On The Seating Set Up
Get the bulkhead, get the bulkhead! That is all I have heard from people for months leading up to this flight. You know what, I did! The only problem is that it was on the JFK to SIN Singapore flight (sad trombone), which was cancelled. I was not as lucky on the flight going from SIN to JFK though. The reason everyone says to get the bulkhead is because the Singapore seating set up has a weird angle to the footwell. If you get the bulkhead it is a wide open area straight ahead of you for your feet. More like a normal business class flight, but even wider. That is because there isn't a seat in front of you to mess everything up.
My first impressions of the seating area for the SIN to JFK Singapore flight was that it was a huge seat. If I had to guess I would say it was 30% – 40% wider than my Cathay Pacific seat I had going from New York to Hong Kong on the way out. It also had some decent looking padding and felt really comfortable. The actual seat area was one of the better ones I have experienced in business.
Homebound on the world’s longest flight. First impression is seat is big and comfy but sleeping will be interesting. No bulkheads when I booked this way unfortunately pic.twitter.com/M9uspPI74G
— Mark Ostermann (@DetroitMark) January 4, 2025
The downside is the damn footwell. It is weird looking right off the bat, and you can just tell that you are going to have to bend your body in weird ways to fit. I am a side sleeper, so I thought it may work out okay, but oh was I wrong. The weird footwell set up even takes away from the seating arrangement when you are trying to relax and watch TV, or work as I am right now, because there is nowhere straight ahead to put your feet up.
When flying other business class products I like to recline the seat a bit with my legs straight out while watching tv. With the Singapore Airlines seat that isn't possible. I need to lean left and kick my legs to the right to relax while watching tv, all while not lying fully flat. It would me require to bend myself the opposite way on the other side of the plane. As you can already tell, this seat isn't great. You'll want to seriously consider which side you prefer to lay on when selecting your seat assignment.
The rest of the storage space is excellent! There are also multiple USB spots, a HDMI hookup plus a universal plug option. This is perfect for my mini USB fan! If you don't have one of these, get one and never leave home without it!
Into The Guts Of This Story
Alright, now that we have gotten all of the junk out of the way, let's get to this 17+ hours of flying.
Predeparture Notes
The flight started with a predeparture champagne, as expected, while we got settled in and stowed our luggage. I should note that bin space got a little bit tight since there are no bins over the middle two rows. Because of that, you may want to get to the gate on time – unlike us.
First Movie / TV Selection
First up on the IFE (in flight entertainment) was the Charlie Hustle series about Pete Rose. I had started it on one of my flights on the way out to Bangkok and still had an episode or two to finish. Sadly, the IFE on Singapore Airlines is a bit haphazard, and not the most organized. I noticed that on my Singapore Airlines flight from BKK (Bangkok) to SIN too. It makes it daunting to find something to watch at times.
00:15 – Warm Nuts & Drink Service
Once we reached cruising altitude they brought out the warm nuts. I missed this aspect during my Cathay flight a few days earlier. Cathay replaced the nuts with a shrimp cocktail type thing that I thought missed the mark. My second round of okay (but not great) champagne rolled out as well.
00:30 Shrimp Appetizer & Garlic Bread
A little while later they brought me the appetizer for my lunch. It consisted of a cold shrimp dish, with a splattering of sauce on it, and some vegetables / garnish mixed in. I'll admit that I am not much of a cold shrimp dish fan (see Cathay flight notes above), but I found this to be really good. The garlic bread was excellent as well. They knocked it out of the park with the starting dishes.
At this point I ordered a Singapore Sling to go along with dinner. We didn't have a chance to have an overpriced one at Raffles, so it felt like something I should make happen. We did walk over there while in town, but I wasn't going to wait 45 minutes to give away my hard earned cash for a drink. I save those poor decisions for rooftop bars with overpriced beers (pictured above)!
1 Hour: Lobster Thermidor
I had booked the cook ahead of the flight and selected the famous Singapore Airlines lobster thermidor for my lunch meal. You just need to be sure to make your book the cook choices at least 24 hours before the flight. The lobster thermidor wasn't an option when I set up my book the cook for JFK to SIN flight, so it may only be available on select routes.
Even though I am a big fan of lobster I have never had lobster thermidor before. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but wanted to give this famed dish a shot. To be honest, it didn't really hit the spot. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It was something that I was able to eat without forcing it, but I wouldn't order it again. The sauce just didn't have much flavor to it. I will say that the potato part of the dish was excellent, and I wish I had more of that. It dim light it actually looked like a mini filet the way they cooked it.
1 Hour: Baby Kicks Off The Screams – Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK Flight
It was around dinner time I started hearing the screams through my headphones. I worried about this a bit when the seating options left were near the bassinet area. There is no way a baby is going to quietly take a 17+ hour flight. Start the should babies be in business class debate! I don't mind that at all, and the parents seem to be trying at least a little bit, so I feel for them. Having said that, I could be in for a really long flight. It is breaking through my pretty loud show right now.
After being on a short turnaround in Asia (4+ days), jetlagged to high hell, and having not slept well at all – this was the last situation I needed. Hopefully my new mini headphones I bought for sleeping will block it all out with music pumping when it is time to dream.
Oh well, time to pound another drink I guess. That should help things – right?
1 Hour 15 Minutes: IFE Choice #2
The Pete Rose docu-show wrapped up during dinner so I decided to try a movie this time. I went with The Crow remake, as it was one of the few movie options I had not seen yet. There didn't seem to be much buzz around it, especially when you consider the original being a cult classic surrounded in tragedy. Let's roll with it through dessert and see how it goes.
1 Hour 30 Minutes: Dessert Is Served
There were a few different desserts to choose from, but the chocolate & vanilla ice cream with hard chocolate coating looked by far the best. I wasn't wrong either, it is fantastic. It is one of the few ice cream deserts I have been served on a plane that wasn't as hard as space poop too. Nothing worse than getting some amazing ice cream dish that you need to stare at for 30 minutes waiting for it to melt. All while nipping at it thimble by thimble because your self control is nonexistent.
I also ordered a Tiger beer to go along with my dessert. Ice cream and beer, a match made in heaven after all! Seriously, not at all – it is a disgusting combination, but baby is at defcon level 1 (yes, lower is worse), and I need to up my game to beat this thing. The flight attendant gave me understanding eyes as the beer was poured into my glass. She must not have fully understood the mission though, since she walked away with what was left in the can!
2 Hours: Waiting It Out – Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK Flight
This movie is already losing my attention, it is dragging a bit and the timeline seems all messed up. The main actor just doesn't draw you in quite like the original, and the bad guy is like the go to for every devil / vampire role in Hollywood. By the way, baby is still screaming and I am still pounding beer. It is a race to see who passes out from exhaustion first. An epic battle of wills that your children's children will talk about!
I would normally be getting in my comfy pose around now, maybe pop a melatonin gummy, and hope to get 3-4 hours of zzzz's. The problem is that I don't want to waste my shot mid blood curdling screams. The worst thing is to wake up all drowsy after an hour or two.
I think I am going to order another beer, wait this standoff out, and find another movie that can hopefully keep me rolling for a bit. Probably need something with a ton of action, gunfire and car chases to drown out the wailing. Did they make a Fast & Furious 39 yet? That might do the the trick!
2 Hours 30 Minutes: Shooting My Shot
The sweet relief of silence! It seems like things have calmed down a bit, and I am going to shoot my shot. Time to hit the bathroom, make my bed, settle on another movie choice and pop this ZZZ Quill gummy. I wanna get into that snore zone in the next hour or so. I'll update you all in hopefully several hours, but that could be just me daydreaming over here. Can you daydream if you don't even know what day it is anymore? Man, going to Asia for 4 days was a seriously questionable decision. No regrets – it was a lot of fun. Talk to me again next week though…
A look at the weird footwell for my Singapore Airlines write up pic.twitter.com/X8r1BDGxsk
— Mark Ostermann (@DetroitMark) January 16, 2025
5 Hours 30 Minutes: The Stupidity Of The Singapore Airlines Seat
I guess you can tell by the timestamp that things aren't going so well. It all revolves around the monstrosity of the Singapore Airlines business class sleep design. It defies logic. I knew the fact that you have to fold the seat down, on itself, to make a bed would likely lessen the sleeping situation. Oh boy, did it. The tiny slanted foot hold was strike two in this set up.
Poor Bed Design
Let's talk about this horrid seat design for a minute though. Imagine you have an SUV that has a really comfortable leather seat in the back row. Then imagine folding it down, as one does to put in cargo, but instead of throwing cargo there it is your body. Gone is the leather and that lush, lush seat padding. That comfortable seat is instead replaced with the firmness of the back of the seat. Yes, that very same hardness that keeps all of the comfortable padding you are no longer using in place. They took a Mercedes and made it a Ford Pinto with this design.
All of this is besides the fact that the set up is annoying. Most planes have you simply hold a button to change from sleep position to sitting position. Not here! Gone is the ability to adjust the seat to how you see fit when sleeping. You know, something like a slight incline for better breathing etc. Not only that, but when it is time to go back to a seat you need to stand back up, move everything over and pop that thing back into a functional seat. It is the clunkiest design in the sky.
If you like firm beds then the Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK flight might still work out for you. If not, this lie flat “back of the seat” bed will push on every pressure point you have along both sides of your body. Maybe it is my fault, maybe I need some more personal padding to get more comfortable. Maybe if I had some more meat on my bones I would be perfectly comfortable with this set up. At that point the problem would be that I could probably only fit one leg into the cubby that is the size of a mini fridge freezer. This is coming from a guy that is only 5′ 9″ too! I fear for you if you are over 6 foot. That would mean you are stuck with a bulkhead or misery decision.
What I Like About The Set Up
One of the few things they do right is they give you lots of pillows. Maybe that is to make up for the lack of flexibility in non customizable sleep set up. I also like that there is a gap behind the seat to shove the pillows and blankets down there and keep it all out of your way when eating etc. Look at that objectivity right there people!
It just pains me to see them take what is one of my favorite seats in the fully upright position and butcher it into this mess of a bed situation.
6 Hours: Baby Is Back At It – Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK Flight
Baby is once again unhappy, but we are now kindred spirits. She is just outwardly expressing what I am I doing on the inside. Scream baby, scream! Only like 11 hours to go at this point.
Let's give It Ends With Us a try and see if this thing can pass some time. Next time I look to rest I may just try to sleep in the most reclined position the seat goes. Kind of like I am your grandpa watching football in his recliner. Couldn't be any worse…
8 Hours 30 Minutes: Things Are Looking Up
It Ends With Us ended up being a pretty good movie, even if depressing the last half. It helped pass a few hours and it is now time for some more food service. We are looking at a little over 8 hours to go, so around half way home.
I am still a bit flabbergasted how this seat can be so comfortable while sitting upright, and even when you find an acceptable lounging angle, but be so terribly bad when it is a bed. Everything else on the flight has been top notch so far, but I pay for the bed!
Bonus good news, I think baby SQ (yes I just named her) has finally found happiness or just passed out from exhaustion.
9 Hours 15 Minutes: Meal Two Is Served – Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK Flight
We are starting up with the second meal service now. The whole process has taken around 45 minutes or so. It started off with a chicken skewer appetizer with some kind of sauce. As much as I loved my street meat chicken skewers in Bangkok, and at the hawker centers in Singapore, that is equally how much I hated these things. They were overall pretty inedible for me. The flavor and texture was just weird. Bad all around.
Next out was the salad along with some more of that amazing garlic bread. I don't like cold chicken on my salad (if you can't tell cold meat isn't my thing) and the croutons were really mushy. Another miss overall for this meal service, but I did eat everything else on the plate.
My choice for the second book the cook was a strawberry waffle plate. It was a weird choice no doubt, but I wanted to go with something a little lighter and sugary later in the flight. It just felt like I would be in the mood for breakfast type food at this point. I had wanted to select a ramen style dish I had booked on the cancelled flight, but I didn't see that option for this route. While the portion was on the small side, it was really good overall. It ended up being exactly what I needed.
As dessert rolled out I was really hoping for another bowl of that fantastic ice cream. That would have paired perfectly with the waffle and strawberries in my stomach. Unfortunately that wasn't an option, and the flight attendant suggested their sesame seed cake. I thought that was a weird combination, but decided to take her word for it. I should have gone with my gut, because it was spongy / squishy nothingness with some seeds sprinkled on top. Round two of the food was noticeably worse overall, but my main course was excellent.
10 Hours: Sleep Attempt Round Two
We still have around 7 hours left on this flight so I figured I would try my best to get some more rest. Upon landing I still needed to transfer from JFK to Newark (EWR), and I didn't want to go through that completely exhausted. I went with my gameplan discussed earlier, the grandpa watching football pose. I reclined the seat to the maximum, threw some pillows in the lower left corner of the seat and scrunched down there on an angle with my feet in the mini fridge freezer sized cubby.
I also started up Avatar: The Way Of Water. Even though I have already seen the movie, I figured it will either help me pass out or give me something to stare at for over 3 hours.
15 Hours: Semi Victory
Mission accomplished! The movie kept me entertained for about half of it, and then I passed out for 3-4 hours. There was some tossing and turning, no doubt, but I did think it was a better overall experience versus laying on that plywood thing Singapore calls a bed. My kneck and back may scream at me tomorrow, but I am feeling at least a bit rested at this point. There are only a few hours left on the flight which I am using getting this travelogue written up.
I'll pop into the bathroom and change into something a little bit warmer before braving that New York cold. I wore shorts and t-shirt on the flights both ways since I knew Asian carriers like to keep the cabins a bit warmer. The USB fan mentioned earlier helped a lot as well, since they don't have personal vents on these planes. I may have looked a bit weird walking around the American Airlines lounge in shorts and a t-shirt while at JFK a few days ago. Who cares, it was well worth it!
Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK Flight: ToP Thoughts
Would I fly the Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK flight again? Nope! At least not until they update their business class cabin. If you prefer soft product over hard product, then this could still be a very viable option for you. The same could be said if you are a side sleeper that likes firm beds. If not, then I would go with another option. Being able to arrive at my destination rested is the most important thing to me. I don't really care about the food, or what kind of champagne they have. What I want is a comfortable seat and a decent bed. Singapore Airlines only hits on one of those two things. Next time I would rather go New York – Hong Kong – Bangkok on Cathay Pacific. That was a much more enjoyable flight, even if the food and service was better overall on Singapore Airlines.
Have you flown the Singapore Airlines SIN to JFK flight in business class before? Let me know your thoughts over in the ToP Facebook Group.
