I have flown plenty in my lifetime, but like most of us, I’ve never had the pleasure of sitting anywhere but coach. Even that’s getting ridiculous. Lately it feels like you’re paying for the privilege of traveling like livestock, or perhaps the luggage. If you want anything better, you’ll have to pay through the nose.
But hey, some airlines will let you! If you’re not so fabulously wealthy to be able to afford your own private jet, there’s still another way to travel in the lap of luxury.
Back in 2008, Singapore Airlines introduced a class of air travel beyond coach and first class: Suites class.
But even the well-to-do would have to do a double-take when they see the bill for a flight in suites class.
A Singapore-New York flight comes in at a whopping $18,400. Derek Low , a determined travel blogger, wanted to find out what that gets you, so he cashed in “a colossal amount of miles” to take the trip of a lifetime.
The pampering begins not only before you leave the ground, but before you even get on the plane.
Derek’s bags weren’t weighed at check-in, and he soon found that suites class passengers don’t have to sully themselves by having to hang around lowly first class passengers.
It’s hard to imagine something being more impressive than first class, but Suites class has done it.
They get their own, private lounge, where they can order things like champagne, steak, and lobster rather than hoping the lineup at Starbucks isn’t too crazy.
Once you’ve boarded via the jet bridge dedicated solely for suites class passengers, you find yourself surrounded by individual suites.
Complete with doors that close and windows that can be shuttered for privacy.
Derek ended up in the middle row of suites, which was doubly fortunate. With only three passengers flying suites class that day, Derek could spread out even more than normal.
In the middle row, two suites are separated by a partition.
With no neighbor to worry about, Derek could lower the partition, doubling the area he had to himself. That would come in especially handy at bed time.
Again, before the plane had even left the ground, Derek received the royal treatment.
He was offered a glass of Dom Perignon, given Bose noise-cancelling headphones to keep the roar of the airplane dulled, a Ferragamo amenity kit that included a full bottle of cologne, and Givenchy slippers, pajamas, blankets, and pillows.
And if you want to relax with a coffee that retails for $120 a pound, so be it. Of course, Derek did.
Because nothing says Suites class like taking in as much luxury as one possibly can, in a single flight.
What are the meals like on an $18,400 flight? In a word, extravagant.
You can opt for the standard five-course meal offered on board, which includes things like foie gras and caviar, or you can book a particular meal ahead of time.
Derek booked himself a nice lobster thermidor with saffron rice and buttered asparagus.
But he also dipped into the caviar, lobster fennel salad, some of the duck foie gras, a little bit of shaved fennel-orange salad, fish noodle soup for his main course, and rounded his meal off with a vanilla bavarois with raspberry coulis for dessert.
That seems reasonable for a flight, right?
You know how in coach, you have to watch the little screen embedded in the back of the seat in front of you? Not so much in suites class.
Look at all that leg room! There’s even a little ottoman to put your feet up on while you relax in front of a screen and sip tea that comes in hand-sewn cotton tea bags.
Naturally, suites class has its own bathroom, and what a palace it is.
At least, compared to the glorified broom closet you have to squeeze yourself into in coach.
“There’s a seat that folds down that’s actually more comfortable than most economy class seats,” Derek noted.
Suites class is at its best when it comes time to sleep, however.
This is where that double room really paid off for Derek. See, the seats in suites class don’t just fold down for beds.
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Attendants put down a real mattress for you, and for this nap, Derek got a whole double bed to himself. Just imagine that at 35,000 feet!
During a brief layover in Frankfurt, the airline provided access to a special lounge.
Not just any lounge, though. The Lufthansa Senator Lounge offered spa and showering services — just in case you wanted to freshen up for the rest of your flight.
For Derek, the most difficult part of his trip was actually leaving the plane when it finally arrived in New York.
“Coming off a flight in the Singapore Airlines’ Suites, I (a) didn’t want to leave the airplane, and (b) see a,” he wrote.
Who could blame him? For $18,400, it sure seems like Singapore Airlines wants their Suites Class travelers to get their money’s worth!
h/t Derek Low
