Review: Premium Economy *Bulkhead* on the Worlds Longest Flight (Singapore Airlines A350: EWR-SIN)
- CP
- Nov 29, 2018
- 6 min read
If you don’t already know by now, Singapore Airlines relaunched the world's longest flight between Singapore and Newark, NJ as of October 11th. I had the incredible opportunity to take part in the return portion from EWR-SIN the following day. I debated how I wanted to go about getting a ticket (I considered transferring Chase ultimate reward points over to my Krisflyer account), but when I saw a one-way fare in Premium Economy for $720 I thought it was worth the price to be a part of an event such as this (and accrue 9,529 KrisFlyer miles). Plus I got a quick trip to Singapore out of it! You can read about the inaugural experience here, but I want to talk about the flight itself.
Newark New Jersey (EWR) - Singapore (SIN)
SQ21; A350-900ULR
10:45 - 17:15+1 — 17 hours and 35 minutes
Seat 31K (Premium Economy)
Check in and boarding is pretty simple considering the total passenger count on top of there only being two classes of service on Singapores only flight out of Newark. At the check in counter a line for Premium Economy (P/E) and another for business. Even Star Alliance status wasn’t advertised for preferred check in, more than likely because it wasn’t necessary as they had more than enough agents to diminish any wait for either line. Boarding was similar as well -- Business first followed by P/E passengers, although for the inaugural flight it was somewhat of “board at your own leisure”.
The seat:
Fortunately for this flight Premium Economy is as low as it gets, but not all seats are created equally. This A350 has six really unique stand alone window seats in the last 3 rows that are easily the most desired in all of P/E; situated like a window seat in a common international business class cabin with a window and direct aisle access, but of course a downgrade in overall comfort and service (for a fraction of the cost of course!). These are usually the first to go when booking, but there is an additional option if you’re looking to “upgrade” within the P/E cabin — the bulkhead.
*Disclaimer, they do charge an extra ~$100 for these seats, but in the long run I found the extra cost worth it*
One of the things I immediately noticed as I took my seat were the 4 bulkhead seats on the sides had great legroom — essentially unlimited. While seated, I had no problems; I was comfortable and relaxed thanks to the foot and head rest, and if I felt like throwing my legs out I could do so without meeting the wall. I’m 6’ 5”, so of course legroom is important to me and it got my approval in that aspect. The cushion was comparable to any P/E product I’ve sat in, but brand new which is always a plus. Although I wasn’t blown away by the seat like I thought I would be for the world's #1 airline I found most attributes to fall on the positive side, but it wasn’t perfect, however, as there was a catch for those sitting in the window seat like myself.
With the room that I had I was able to get around my seat mate without bothering them. I would find this to be a huge deal on any flight of significant length, but for this flight it was a luxury. Mostly good marks, however there were two things that made it tricky to get into the seat.
1). The panel in between the two seats which stored the IFE screen extended approximately 2 feet out. Close where that panel ended, the emergency exit door protruded out slightly into that same space. (Pictured above)
2). Right above this area is where the overhead luggage bin began (Not pictured above). I admittedly bumped my head twice.
It took a little bit of maneuvering to get into my seat (I went with a awkward backward wattle) which I found a little annoying.
Dining:
Shortly into the flight we began the first meal service where I had the Pan Fried Fish in Thai Choo Chee Curry Sauce (a bold strategy for an inflight meal) with veggies and rice. Each meal for SQ21 & SQ22 was created in partnership with Canyon Rock, so the caloric intake and ingredients for each meal had extra attention and effort made into it. I wasn’t impressed with my choice, even keeping in mind that it was airplane food (hindsight I would’ve gone with the chicken).
Our second meal service came with somewhere around 8 hour left to go. I went with the Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder in Mustard Sage Sauce with sautéed veggies and polenta. The meat itself certainly made up for my overall opinion of the airline’s highly marked food rating, and the tiramisu was a cherry on top.
We received a few refreshment services through the flight, and a final one about an hour and a half before landing. Pizza Quattro Formaggi, although the least fancy of the meals, was a really delicious little personal four cheese pizza. With a small jar of vanilla cake and coconut/pineapple juice to drink this was surprisingly a really tasty but simple meal right before landing.
Inflight experience:
We had somewhere around 15 hours to go after meal number 1, and with the time being shortly after noon in New York I went for a movie over sleep. Some solid Singapore Airlines branded noise cancelling headphone were supplied for all passengers along with basic socks and eye shades in an awesome “A350ULR” pack. An extensive (~12,000 hours!) Inflight Entertainment selection was available for viewing on a screen with a similar responsiveness of an iPad (the best I’ve ever experienced on a plane). I had plenty of new release movies to pass the time until meal number 2, and a refreshment service along with a route almost directly over the North Pole added some bonus entertainment as well.
I spent most of the flight eating and watching movies, so thankfully the seat was comfortable for sitting. After meal number two I actually nodded on and off until about 2 hours out from Singapore (so around 5 hours total of “napping”). I was able to get into a position that I found comfortable enough to sleep, mostly thanks to the wall to my right I could lean on and the legroom in front of me — and it being somewhere close to midnight back at home. The seat width is listed at 19.5 inches which might technically be wider than most other Premium Economy products (by half an inch), but it arguably felt tighter. Although I did manage to catch some z’s, I wouldn’t label this as a great sleeper seat.
Conclusion:
As we descended into Singapore the weather was cloudy and grey, but the atmosphere as the world longest flight came to an end was electric. We arrived close to an hour early which is bittersweet on a historic flight such as this. As the passengers debarked I immediately began digging into my impressions as I walked through customs at Changi airport.
1). The route is impressive.
No matter which way you go and no matter how many hours it ends up being on any given day, theres something about stretching across the globe and pushing 10,000 miles on a flight.
2). I didn’t feel jet lagged one bit.
Perhaps it was the new plane. Maybe it was being well fed and refreshed. I certainly didn’t feel like I had been on a plane for 17 and a half hours.
3). The bulkhead was worth it, but it has it's flaws.
The legroom is outstanding and it’s a solid product to sit in for such a long time. I could certainly see an argument claiming the space as tight, and it certainly isn’t outstanding for sleeping.
4). I had too high of expectations for Singapore Airlines.
They are the number 1 airline in the world, and I’m not disputing that (after all, it was my first experience with the airline). Incredible plane that depicts the reputation of their fleet. The crew was nice and the service was attentive, but nothing over the top. I was impressed in almost every aspect but not blown away like I had expected (and maybe that is on me for setting the bar so high).
5). I would do it all over again!
I had an incredible time with the inaugural experience, and got to meet some neat people (shoutout to Sam Chui!). Whether it be in business, or any seat within Premium Economy the world’s longest flight is without a doubt worth it.
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