Starlux Business Class Flight Experience

Starlux is a Taiwanese international airline company headquartered in Taipei. Their first flights launched on January 23, 2020 and expanded to North America in 2023. They are one of the newer international carriers available to us, and I wanted to test it out myself. I recently had the opportunity to fly Starlux on their Taipei (TPE) to San Francisco (SFO) route and wanted to share my Starlux business class flight experience with you.

Booking

Assuming you don't want to book your Starlux Airlines with cash, your options for award flights are a bit limited. They have their own rewards program, called COSMILE, but that isn't useful for most. One option that we want to focus on is their partnership with Alaska Airlines that started back in April of 2023. When airlines have a partnership, it allows you to earn & redeem miles between the two airlines. It also allows you to book connecting flights on a single ticket between the two airlines. This is assuming your award search shows those options of course. With the Alaska partnership, this meant I could use Alaska miles to book a Starlux Airlines flight. Luckily, I had just took advantage of the Bank of America Alaska Airlines business card welcome offer. We covered the full booking process with tips for this airline previously as well.

Check In & Lounge Access

I checked in on my mobile device and was able to add my boarding pass to my apple wallet. When I arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, I found the check in desk in Terminal Two (International terminal) to stop and verify gate and lounge access. Once given a lounge pass ticket and a map to the lounge location, I was able to use the expedited security lane for business class passengers. I found the Galactic Lounge near gate D7 and spent some time prior to my flight. We reviewed the Terminal Two Galactic Lounge here.

Starlux Business Class Flight Experience: Boarding & Seat

Surprisingly, both international departures for Starlux were delayed. Luckily I discovered this while at the lounge and could relax a while longer. I received a Peanuts luggage tag at the gate entry point, which I thought was a nice touch, and then made my way downstairs to the boarding area.

Once started, boarding was fast and efficient. I found my seat 5A which was a window seat I selected after booking. One of the issues I am having with this A350 configuration is the overhead bins. If you are on a window seat, you have an overhead bin directly above you. However, the center section has no overhead bins. This is a common set up and I had just flown it on the China Airlines A350 as well. This means if you choose to carry on the overhead bins could fill up quickly. I was one of the first to board so it was not an issue for me. When I placed by carry-on suitcase in the bin, I also noted they had mattress pads for sleeping as well.

I found the seating area to be large and spacious.

The seating area has a suite feature with a sliding door that closes. A large screen for the TV is always a welcome feature.

Starlux Business Class Flight Experience (A350): Amenities

My Starlux business class flight had a standard array of amenities, but I wanted to share my experience with each of them.

Wifi

Wi-Fi is complimentary for business class and was initially easy to connect to. Overall service was good with some instances where it was spotty or where I needed to reconnect.

Amenity Kit

Amenity kits are a hot topic for travel nerds like us. They are basically a small package containing various toiletry and hygiene items you may need on a flight. The amenity kit was a cute suitcase design and made by BRIC's . Amenity kits are always up for debate. While some open and use them, I tend to keep them. It's one of those weird things some of us travelers do.

Entertainment System

The system glitched for about the first 30 minutes of the flight starting before departure. The crew had to restart it twice before it began working. But once operational, there were plenty of options. I enjoy the products like this with large screens as well.

Sleeping

I was given a seat with a pillow, blanket, and slippers, and pajamas were given to me. Honestly for someone of my size and height, while these are nice gestures, I rarely find that anything like this fits. You also have headphones in your seat if that helps you sleep like me, and a facial mask.

It just becomes extra things you need to have in your seating area. There was also a bed cover in the overhead bin above my seat. I never used it but the friendly crew will offer to help make your bed if you require it. All of these items are a bit too much for the seating area so you may need to store them in the overhead bin if you are not using them. I found the seating and bed to be comfortable. As someone who does not typically sleep well on planes, I did get some sleep. The seating area features the Suite style with a door that closes. At times, we can all find little things we may not like such as footwell space. I found everything to be comfortable with the seating and space. It was by far one of my favorites in recent memory.

Dining

I was welcomed with a pre-departure juice beverage and towel which was a nice touch. The flight attendant greeted me and went over the menu. A couple of things struck me as odd initially.

The menus were hidden from my view by the seat pockets. So when the flight attendant was going over the menu with me, he had one menu in his hand and I had to look quickly and make decisions. I only later found the menus. Typically you might find the menus already out so you can peruse them prior to ordering.

Secondly, they also took your order for breakfast prior to departure. I prefer to make this selection later based on how I am feeling or how much I may eat at dinner. While yes, I am sure it is an easy thing to change, just one of my travel preferences. I wasn't overwhelmed by the meals but was at the end of a long trip. Exhaustion and mood probably played a role in this so I am not critiquing too much.

For breakfast I elected to only have part of the meal selection and electing just for the yogurt and fruit. The crew seemed perplexed by this but I wanted something lighter. This was good and kept it light given I still had to travel after this flight.

Starlux Business Class Flight Experience (A350): ToP Thoughts

The Starlux business class flight on the A350 was a fun experience. This is especially so, given it was new for me which is always exciting. I would put it high on my list when booking flights to Asia in the future. Finding a redemption of 75,000 Alaska miles was great compared to other options as well. Finally and most importantly, you get an extremely comfortable product with solid service for the long haul which is most important to me.

Have you flown Starlux? Come over to the Facebook Group and share your thoughts.