If your algorithm is anything like mine, you’ve seen people like influencers and content creators gushing about the unbelievable luxury of first class flights.

Bottomless champagne, multi-course meals, amazing service and a bed in the sky are just the tip of the iceberg. Heck, sometimes there’s even a shower!

If your experience flying is also like mine, though, the closest you’ve ever gotten to anything other than economy is passing by those fancier seats while boarding, jealously glancing at all that extra space, the massive screen and everything else.

At least, that was until June 2023. After saving up frequent flyer points for years, I finally had enough to travel one-way between Sydney and London over two first class flights with Singapore Airlines.

My first ever first class flights

I’ll say from the outset that this is all my own opinion. It doesn’t necessarily reflect all first class flights with Singapore Airlines or any other airline.

Additionally, I think it’s worth noting that I consider myself pretty easy to please. I also didn’t come into this with high expectations after some poor customer service from Singapore Airlines.

A lot of online content about first class flights shows them in an overly positive light. This might be due to some kind of association between the content creator and the airline. Or maybe it’s just because it’s all ‘luxury travel porn’ where anything beyond appearance doesn’t really matter.

So I thought it would be worth covering my own experience and how it wasn’t what I was expecting. And yes, I was fortunate to have been able to take these first class flights at all. However, like many, I was only able to do so by saving up lots of points over a long period.

The adventure begins in the early morning. I arrive at Sydney Airport just before 5am for the first leg of this first class journey. The flight is departing at 7:55am and one of the perks of first class flights is a separate check-in line. But I’m very much in that group of people who worries about everything that might go wrong and arrives early.

Of course, no problems arise. The worker at check in helps me straight away, and I’m through security in no time. I have another handy perk of first class flights to look forward to: the lounge.

It begins in the lounge

I follow the signs to the Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge. When I get there, a worker opens a door to a separate section of the lounge. This is only for those on first class flights and top members of the airline’s loyalty program. It feels fairly unnecessary since this flight only has four first class seats, but I guess ‘exclusivity’ is part of the whole experience.

Once I’ve found a seat, a worker hands me a menu and asks if I’d like a drink. I order a cappuccino, which takes some time. This is understandable given it might be first coffee of the day, but I eventually receive my capp. The worker says, “let me know if it’s okay, we just got a new machine.”

This interaction ends up being kind of symbolic for the rest of the journey. Yes, there’s nothing overtly wrong about it. Complaining may make it look like I actually do have high expectations and am maybe even a bit of a Karen.

But I’d be worried if I was anywhere with food and drink and a worker said, “let me know if it’s okay”. If they’re not sure it’s okay, should I be having it? If that applies to a $5 coffee or a $20 meal, it definitely applies to coffee served before first class flights which sell for nearly $10,000!

Either way, the coffee is fine. Only later when reflecting on the trip do I realise that this interaction and others don’t really add up to a first class experience. At least, not what you see online.

However, the rest of my time in the lounge does feel fairly first class. I enjoy a nicely presented plate of scrambled eggs on toast and the service is friendly.

Crack the champagne!

We’ll now skip to an hour or two later when I’m finally on board. The seat on this flight isn’t quite as good as on Singapore Airline’s Airbus A380. On those planes, everyone has a sliding door for privacy as well a separate bed to rest in.

Coming from economy, though, first class on the Boeing 777 that I’m on is still leaps and bounds ahead. There’s heaps of legroom, plenty of storage, a big screen and a seat that feels wide enough for two people. This also transforms into a bed, which I’ll get to later.

Once seated, a flight attendant welcomes me on board and offers me champagne and orange juice. While it’s not yet 8am, Singapore Airlines serves Krug champagne on its first class flights. This retails in Australia for around $450 a bottle, so I naturally say yes to both.

I’m also given an amenity kit and a pair of pyjamas. The flight attendant asks if I want to change into the PJs before takeoff. This random moment really sticks in my head as showing a major difference between first class flights and economy. It just exudes a level of calmness that is totally unlike every economy flight I’ve ever taken.

Instead of shoving my bag into the overhead locker and finding my uncomfortable seat as quickly as possible, here I have time to sip on champagne and even get changed into PJs if I want.

“So this is how the other half live,” I think to myself.

Time to take off

Before long, the plane takes off and the 8ish hour journey to Singapore begins. Every first class seat is occupied with two men seemingly on a business trip and another man who looks to be on holiday.

There are two meal services on this particular flight. The first is pretty light, likely due it being morning and since breakfast is available in the lounge. I end up with a kind of afternoon tea including finger sandwiches and a scone which are tasty.

Now I’m ready to test out the bed while also sort of testing the first class service. Something you’ll often see about Singapore Airlines is that their service is on another level. Apparently, they’ll put slippers on your feet and maybe even tuck you into bed.

Neither of these things happen to me, thankfully. I honestly can’t imagine anything more awkward. Outside of the meal service, I didn’t really see or interact with the flight attendants at all.

Service on first class flights

From what I’ve seen and read, service is typically quite proactive in first class. Once you’ve finished eating, the flight attendant might ask if you’d like them to turn your seat into a bed.

This didn’t happen to me, although admittedly this is a daytime flight. A couple other passengers do seem to have their beds made up without having to hit the call button.

To get things moving for me, I try to be obvious. In fact, maybe a bit too obvious. I pack everything away at my seat and turn off the screen. Then I open up the pyjamas and make my way to the bathroom with them clearly in hand.

I slip behind the curtain separating the cabin from the galley, where two flight attendants are chatting. They glance at me while continuing their conversation and I go into the bathroom to change. I think that they will either make the bed up while I’m gone or ask me as I exit.

Neither occur, and I end up just hitting the call button. By the way, I don’t think you can actually make up the bed yourself, which I would prefer to do for sure. But nobody explains anything about the bed during either of my flights so I don’t actually know.

A bed in the sky

So far I’ve tried to write about my experience objectively. This next part probably isn’t. Essentially, if you have trouble sleeping on the ground like me, things probably won’t be any better in the sky even with a bed. At the end of the day, you’re still in a loud and slightly stuffy aircraft.

I’m sure the difference between an uncomfortable economy chair that barely reclines and a first class bed which lies flat will be significant for many. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them.

Anyway, after lying down and doing nothing for a while, I sat back up and watched another movie or two. A second meal begins and this one is a multi-course situation.

Nobody asks if I want the bed changed back to a seat before the food starts coming out. This makes eating legitimately awkward. When sitting up in bed mode, the tray table is so far away I can only just reach it. I end up having to lean far forward to eat and almost spill food on the bedding.

Sure, asking the flight attendants to change the seat back must be an option. However, I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of service and make things difficult. It just seems obvious to ask someone whether they want to eat in bed or in their seat though? At least from where I’m sitting, anyway.

For this meal, I start with some kind of soup and legitimately delicious garlic bread. These are followed by a salmon main and a meringue dessert. Again, all of the food is tasty.

Things get weird

The last part of this flight is where things get quite weird. I don’t have any other interactions with any of the flight attendants after they clear my final plate and glasses. Like, at all.

Strangely, it feels like I’ve done something wrong. Seeing the flight attendants talk to all the other first class passengers multiple times before landing makes this worse.

The passenger sitting on the other side of the cabin receives an extra pair of pyjamas. One flight attendant thanks the passenger closest to me for flying Singapore Airlines when she walks by. I definitely wasn’t expecting either of these things, but no conversation whatsoever is pretty odd.

I end up thinking that maybe it’s on me for not talking more during the flight, but who knows? It may be that, unlike the others on business and/or who seem wealthy, I don’t really belong?

This weirdness extends after landing. Out of nowhere, a worker standing near the exit shouts a pretty aggressive “go!” to get us to leave. I guess that might count as my last interaction?

I’m first to get moving and say thanks to the flight attendants as I walk by. They say nothing in return, which is a first for me. Every other airline I’ve flown, from Jetstar to ANA, from Qatar Airways to Ryanair, the flight attendants seem to wish everyone a goodbye. It must be one of the easiest ways to leave a good impression about your airline but, apparently, not for Singapore Airlines!

My initial thoughts

Summing up this first flight, the food and drinks were all great, the seat and bed were comfortable and the entertainment options were wide-ranging. But the service was overall average, maybe even lacklustre, and didn’t seem to be ‘first class’.

I walk into Changi Airport feeling no need to fly first class ever again, not with Singapore Airlines anyway. You get an objectively better experience than economy and it’s amazing to have so much space to yourself. But, at least in this case, the service is just off and unlike anything I’ve experienced, whether flying in economy, eating at restaurants, staying at hotels or anywhere else. When taking into account the advertised $10,000 price tag, it simply doesn’t add up to me.

This was just the first part of the two-leg journey, and thankfully there is less bad service and fewer odd moments to point out in the second part.

Round two

A couple days later, I’m back at Changi Airport to check out The Private Room in the SilverKris Lounge. Only first class passengers have access to this. Of the few lounges I’ve been to, this is definitely the nicest, although unusually there aren’t any windows facing outside.

I enjoy a delicious laksa and spend the rest of my time reading and watching shows. Workers walk around occasionally to take drink orders.

It’s super quiet the entire time that I’m there, which makes things a tiny bit uncomfortable. I eventually leave to check out some of the great features of Changi Airport before my flight including a butterfly garden and a nice view of the Jewel Rain Vortex from the sky train.

Then it’s time to head on board once again. Before long, I’m in my seat with another glass of Krug. I’ll admit, this part of the experience is undoubtedly great. Rain does delay take off for a while, but I just get a head start on watching another movie.

As I mentioned, the service on this flight is better. This comes down to one flight attendant who, unlike all others on either flight, seems actively nice and naturally stops to have a chat a few times.

I really can’t fault her service, but I was definitely getting more ‘kind motherly figure’ vibes from her than ‘first class’. Hopefully you’ll understand what I mean with some more context in a sec.

The first meal begins with caviar (how first class!) followed by a great noodle dish. Just like last time, I change into the PJs, ask for the bed to be made up, and lay down for a while before giving up.

A first class flight attendant

For the second meal, I preordered the Lobster Thermidor, a dish Singapore Airlines is apparently famous for. I take a couple bites of it sitting awkwardly in bed and it seems nice. Unfortunately, I quickly realise I actually don’t have much of an appetite and feel a bit unwell.

I ask the nice flight attendant if she could take the food away. Her first reaction is, essentially, a bit of a “but you haven’t finished your dinner!” routine. She is much more sympathetic when I explain though, and I end up skipping the rest of the meal.

A while later, she brings out some fruit for me to have. This ends up being the nicest thing to happen on either flight and is a genuinely kind thing to do. She insists I try a granadilla, which I had never tried or I think even seen before. I struggle to open it with a butter knife, but once I do it’s tasty.

The rest of the flight goes by without much else of note. The nice flight attendant stops by to talk again before landing. The silent treatment must not be standard after all!

As I exit the plane after landing, I say thanks to the flight attendants. This time I do get a response, which is of course from the nice flight attendant: “I hope you feel better!”

This second flight is a little harder to boil down than the first. Clearly I didn’t have the same issues with the service. That’s only due to the actions of one individual. Her service was first class, but not really the kind you see online. I definitely appreciated it, but others might not.

My take on first class flights

Are first class flights with Singapore Airlines really worth all the extra money and/or points? Everyone’s opinion will be different, but I think the answer is a resounding no.

The actual seat and the bed it transforms into are spacious and comfortable, but you still might struggle to sleep and, if you do manage to, that means less time to enjoy the first class experience.

The food and drink are great, but not anything better than you can get at a solid restaurant or cafe, and besides, food tastes blander when flying anyway so it can only get so good.

The entertainment is extensive and the display bigger, but you’re watching the same stuff as everyone else on the plane and seated pretty far from the screen.

The extra perks like pyjamas and amenity kits are certainly nice to have, but you probably already have PJs you actually like and all the toiletries you actually want.

The lounge is nice to relax in pre-flight and enjoy some food and drink, but both the ones I experienced on this journey felt more like fancy libraries and, again, didn’t serve anything better than you’d find at a solid restaurant or cafe.

Finally, the in-flight service is completely down to the flight attendants working your flight and their training. If you’re on a flight with ones who are indifferent or randomly favour other passengers, that’s just bad luck. You’ll end up with an experience that’s nothing like what people gush about online. But maybe you’ll have good luck and have an experience different to mine!

Can first class flights ever be worthwhile?

All these things aren’t in line with the thousands of extra dollars, or tens of thousands of extra frequent flyer points/miles, needed to book first class flights on top of economy.

That is, for most people. You might have access to discounted tickets, which would make first class flights much more worthwhile in my eyes. Or maybe you are able to benefit in some other way…

Like posting about your experience on a blog filled with credit card affiliate links? Or flying for free in return for a completely unbiased review in a newspaper or website? Or by uploading a glowing and uncritical video to YouTube to generate advertising and sponsorship revenue?

When it comes to spending extra money to fly first class, I honestly believe this would be better put towards meals and experiences at your destination. Yes, that means suffering in economy for extended periods, but you’ll probably forget about that soon enough. In comparison, nice meals and experiences will likely stay with you for a long time.

Coming to a conclusion about the extra points/miles is a little more difficult. Redeeming for first class flights is generally viewed as the way to get the best value redemption. In this case, I’d say go with first class if you really want to try it out, but otherwise look at what other options are available.

Business class may seem like a better middle ground but, as I’ll cover in a future post about another airline, also isn’t as amazing as it appears. Stay tuned!