First Class Flight Experience

After collecting miles since 2015, I finally achieved my dream to experience First Class flight. If I have the option, I will not choose such a short Jakarta - Singapore flight. Initially my plan was to redeem for Business Class since all I needed was more space to put my laptop bag, hand carry bag and my backpack. I was left with the normal redemption (35000 miles) for the dates I was aiming at first. Thus 27500 miles for saver First Class on a later date was considered a 'bargain', although on this date there were still saver Business Class for 19000 miles. Lol.

I learnt a little bit more about how the waitlisting works. There are only 4 First Class seats and I redeemed the first one since all 4 seats were available for me to choose. Immediately after I booked, I only saw waitlist for that flight. It seems that after one Saver First Class is redeemed, the remaining seats would become waitlist at normal rates.

Honestly redeeming for First Class in Jakarta is wasteful. The quality of the airport and airport service is nowhere comparable to Singapore. There is no dedicated First Class check in area, no First Class lounge, and no quicker security check. Bleah... There is no signage that I even had to ask if there was a separate check in counters for Business or First Class. When I reached the counters, the supposedly First Class counter was not even manned. The boarding experience was bad too. Instead of separate group callings, everyone was standing to queue. Of course the Business and First Class queue was one. It was only when the person saw my First Class, he tried to expedite. Since it was not boarding time yet, I went to sit in a nearby waiting areas. The person came to approach me when boarding was allowed for me to board first.

The in-flight experience was also underwhelming. I did not expect a VIP treatment but to me, it seemed that people on duty were more interested in introducing themselves "I am so and so. You can call me if you need anything" instead of attending to me. When I went for Business Class previously, the first thing the stewardess did was to orientate me to the buttons and functions on the seat. I had none of that sort and I had to find things and open the compartments myself. I did not even know how to recline the seats. Bleah.. The worst part was that I did not even ask them to take a photo :( One good surprise was that this was a new First Class seat. When I saw I could only book the flight with Boeing 777-300ER, I was expecting the old seat since this airplane type is gradually upgraded to the new First Class seat.

At least it fulfilled my purpose of comfortable storage space for all the stuff I brought to cabin

Since it was still COVID, there was no Book the Cook service. I opted for Dim Sum breakfast set which I expected to be meh. Thank goodness it exceeded my expectations because the dim sum pieces were the biggest pieces I ever experienced in my life. The taste and quality were definitely better than restaurant dim sum so at least I felt that meal was not that bad. For the meal, I asked the stewardess to help me take a photo. I also tried the toilet which was just slightly bigger than the Economy Class toilet. At least I did not bump into the four walls when I was inside.

Bleah.. blur photo. Taken before the bread basket was served

The flight was too short to experience the luxury of First Class. After taking off, it was immediately meal time and then it was time for descend. Bleah.. I did not even get to experience the headset. Anyway I only watched Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning so the subtitles were good enough for me. Of course the flight ended before the movie ended. Too bad Shang-Chi was no longer available so I could not finish what I watched at my flight to Jakarta in January. Perhaps the only good thing in First Class for this flight is the much reduced noise. The whole journey is smooth unlike in Economy Class in which the take-off preparation, take off, flight and descend stages are so obvious.

So yeah, that is my rather underwhelming First Class experience with SQ 953 on 20 June. One thing for sure, I will not take Business or First Class for short flights anymore. Hehe.. of course unless situation makes it a must.