We flew home from Bangkok on Singapore Airlines flight SQ713, using 25,000 KrisFlyer miles and paying approximately S$45 in taxes per person. It is a fairly generous amount of miles for a flight of roughly 2.5 hours, so the main reason to book Business Class was the airport experience and the chance to try out Singapore Airlines’ regional flat-bed seat.
Singapore Airlines has a fleet of Boeing 787-10 planes for regional flights, and these are fitted with the Stelia Aerospace Symphony seats. It is arranged in a staggered 1-2-1 layout, giving everyone direct aisle access, and the seat converts into a 76-inch fully flat bed. This is the same basic seat that frequent flyers may recognise from newer Turkish Airlines aircraft, although Singapore Airlines uses it as a regional product that can also operate on longer routes, including to Sydney.
I understand why the seat divides opinion. It is not the most spacious Business Class product when you compare it with Singapore Airlines’ other long-haul seats. I thought it was quite comfortable for this flight, especially from the bulkhead middle seats, which gave us a little more room around our feet. The bigger question for me was whether 25,000 KrisFlyer miles made sense for a flight this short. The answer depends mostly on how much you value the ground experience and whether you can get a bulkhead seat.
Check-in
We had some VAT refund matters to settle before leaving Bangkok, which meant going to the counters at the far end of the check-in hall just to get the approval. Singapore Airlines uses row J at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, so it can be quite a walk if you are coming from the refund counters. Once we reached the airline’s priority area, check-in was quick and straightforward.
The Business Class check-in counters also meant that we did not have to spend much time waiting. The more useful benefit came after that, when the staff pointed out that Business Class passengers could use the fast track lane for international departures, which is also located at the far end of the terminal.
This is helpful at Bangkok, where queues can be long whenever the terminal is busy. We had arrived roughly four hours before departure because we wanted some protection against Bangkok traffic and also planned to visit the Star Alliance lounges. The traffic reason made sense, although Bangkok has so much good food that arriving early is not always the best use of your time. We would probably have been happier spending another hour in the city and arriving later if the traffic situation had been less unpredictable.
Once past security and immigration, you are supposed to get the actual VAT refund in cash or back to a credit card. The credit card line was much shorter and is only available to those with e-P.P.10 forms. Do cater time for this, as the lines can be extremely long.
Boarding
As for boarding, it was called in the regular order, so we were able to board earlier with the other eligible passengers. The process was orderly, and there was no particular delay or confusion before we took our seats.
The seat
Singapore Airlines has 36 Business Class seats on the Boeing 787-10, arranged in a forward-facing staggered 1-2-1 configuration. The seat was manufactured by Stelia Aerospace, and Singapore Airlines describes it as a regional seat despite using it on some relatively long routes. The seat itself measures up to 26 inches wide and reclines directly into a 76-inch fully flat bed.
We chose the middle seats in the bulkhead row. The flight was not full, so there were empty seats around us, but the bulkhead was still useful in its own right because there was more room for our legs in the footwell. Rows 11 and 19 would be the seats I would look for on this aircraft, particularly since there is a bit more legroom at the footwell as compared to the other seats.
The centre seats have a divider that can be raised when you are travelling alone. We lowered it because we were travelling as a couple, which made it easier to talk and share the space. This is one of the better features of the layout because the same pair of seats can feel more private or more sociable depending on who is sitting beside you.
The side console has enough space for the things we wanted to keep close during the flight, including a phone and a bottle of wter. The design is still recognisably Singapore Airlines, with a dark finish and a mixture of storage, lighting and seat controls built into the same area.
The power panel has an international power socket and USB ports, so there was no need to choose between charging a phone and using another device.
The lighting controls are placed beside the seat controls, which makes it very easy to adjust the seat lighting once the cabin is dimmed.
Pillows and blankets were provided at the seat, and they seemed to be different bedding from the other business class seats on Singapore Airlines.
The seat reclines into a flat bed, and with the footwell directly in front of us, we did not have to sleep at an angled position unlike on other business class seats on Singapore Airlines. I did not need to sleep for long on this flight, but it was easy enough to convert and gave us a comfortable position for the rest of the journey. For a longer flight to China or Australia where this particular seat is offered, I am sure this would be especially needed.
The tall seat shell also gives you a fair amount of privacy, and you can’t see much of the rest of the cabin unless you deliberately lift yourself up to look over it.
The washroom also had Payot toiletries available for passengers to use, and is the exact same toiletries as what you would find in Singapore Airlines’ SilverKris Business Class Lounges in Singapore.
In-flight entertainment and Wi-Fi
The in-flight entertainment system was the standard KrisWorld setup used across Singapore Airlines flights. There was a large selection of films, television programmes and other content, although we were not going to make much progress through any of it on a flight of around 2.5 hours. I did not use it extensively, but there was more than enough available for the duration of the journey.
The handheld controller was stored beside the seat and made it possible to control the system without reaching towards the screen.
Wi-Fi was available on the flight. We did not need to use it for long enough to say much about the connection, and for this short flight, I was quite happy to leave my laptop in my bag.
Food and drinks
A hot towel was offered after boarding, before the dinner service began. It was a familiar part of the Singapore Airlines regional experience and gave us a few minutes to settle in before the tray tables were opened.
We had tried to pre-order a meal, but Bangkok does not offer Book the Cook, so the choice was from the regular in-flight menu. We selected the pan-fried barramundi, which came with a apple crumble cake and the other items on the dinner tray. The meal was not bad, although we had already eaten at the lounges before boarding and were not especially hungry by the time it arrived.
Concluding thoughts
The Singapore Airlines regional Business Class seat on the Boeing 787-10 is a reasonable product for a short flight home from Bangkok. The seat gives every passenger direct aisle access, converts into a fully flat bed, and has enough seat space for a short flight. The bulkhead middle seats are the ones I would choose because they provide more room around the footwell, while the retractable divider makes the centre pair usable for both couples and solo travellers.
The limitation is the award redemption price for sure. At 25,000 KrisFlyer miles, and adding on taxes, I would not immediately choose this for a short 2.5 hours flight unless there was a Spontaneous Escapes sale. If you value the fast track access at immigration, or want to experience multiple Star Alliance lounges at the airport, and can’t access them through other means, then I would recommend it. Or, if it is your first time flying Singapore Airlines Business Class, then this would make sense given that 25,000 KrisFlyer miles isn’t that hard to accrue.
