Singapore Airlines
Gate: 7A
Seat: 3A (First Window)
Plane: A380-800
Boarded: 20.15
Pushback: 20.54
Departed: 21.31 (Scheduled 20.55)
Arrived: 10.14 (Scheduled 10.40)
Duration: 7 hour 20 minutes
Distance: 6,206 kms

This was the first leg of three flights (2 different airplanes) to get back home to Melbourne, Australia. This flight provided a 1 hour 50 minute transit in Frankfurt before the next flight.

This flight was from the John F Kennedy International (New York) to Rhein Main Airport (Frankfurt).

Airport Check In
Airport Check in was from Terminal 4. Singapore Airlines opens up their check-in desks 6 hours before departure at JFK and I checked in about 5 hours before the flight. Security took around 35 minutes and they used sniffer dogs while you were in line.

Lounges
As I was travelling in First Class I had access to the Virgin Atlantic JFK Clubhouse which was outstanding. The lounge review is located here.

Boarding
We boarded from Gate 7A using priority boarding. As someone travelling in First Class I was given first opportunity to board and I just walked past the long economy boarding line. As the allocated gate was close to the Lounge it took less than 5 minutes from lounge to being greeted on the plane.

The Seat
Singapore Airlines A380 First Class seats are arranged by two rows of 1-1 (no centre seats) and two rows 1-2-1 with 12 seats overall. The first class seats, or suites, are massive.

To turn into bed mode you need a staff member to make the bed. The bed while being on the hard side is still great with a lot of leg room and the two pillows provided were exceptionally soft and comfortable.

Comfortable (but firm) bed

The first class seat / suite included a massive Seat Back Entertainment Screen.

Amenity Kit
The amenity kit included associated facial creams and a candle (not to be used on the plane). You are also given slippers, nice pyjamas and facial mask to aid sleeping.

Meals
You are provided with pre-departure drink options but nothing alcoholic but they do take alcoholic orders so you can be served immediately once in the air. During the flight I tried Krug, Dom Perignon, Coca Cola and water.

During this flight we had both Dinner shortly after departure and Continental Breakfast about 2 hours before arrival in Frankfurt.

Using the Book the Cook service there were 15 dinner meal choices (see full listing here). I had the stir fried chicken in Chinese wine.

For breakfast I ordered scrambled eggs and fruit platter.

Service
The service was first rate. All staff members called me by my name and several times they checked in to ensure everything was going right. I asked for a Singapore Airlines bear for my niece and was provided with one immediately.

Clothes were hang up and provided back at the end of the flight. Offer to turn the seat into a bed was made just when I wanted it and was quickly created and later turned back just as quickly.

Entertainment System
The KrisWorld entertainment system was massive. I watched the remake of Aladdin remake with Will Smith which I found enjoyable. Very good idea not to even try and match Robbin Williams comedic performance as the Genie plus they updated the story enough to be different enough from the original (which I loved).

The movie selection and TV selection will easily keep you entertained. The flight map feature is something I always love and I have that up when I went to sleep obviously checking when I woke up.

The Flight
The flight was very comfortable with only a little air turbulence and the flight deck always warned us before it occurred.

The First Class toilets are a good feature, not as massive as Emirates but bigger than the standard plane toilets which made changing into pyjamas a lot easier. This is something QANTAS could do to match.

Safety video in English with English and German subtitles and sign language. There was a lengthy delay after pushback until takeoff, according to the Flight Captain this was due to a large number of arrivals at this time of night.

I managed around 2 hours sleep on this 7 hour flight. I’ll be aiming for a lot more on the next 2 hour flight as I attempt to adjust my sleeping hours back to Melbourne time.

Arrival
We landed at Rhein Main Airport (Frankfurt) at 10.14 at Gate B46. First Class passengers were escorted to the Lufthansa Frankfurt Senator Lounge (review here).

Summary
This is an excellent flight. I booked this as a Saver Award. While Singapore Airlines is in the process of updating their First Class product on A380 to having fewer seats / suites this now ten year old product is still a brilliant service. I’d never pay for cash ticket for first class but I don’t regret using points to book this, in fact this is probably one of my best ever award redemptions.