I happened to spot an advertisement for the new A380 service offered by Singapore Airlines, so I thought I’d check it out. The real standout is their …whoa. And then I checked out Emirates Air, which also has . When I checked out the for Singapore’s A380s, I was surprised to see it’s a double-decker aircraft. I don’t think those have been around for a while now – as Wikipedia , except for the Boeing 747, there haven’t really been double-deckers since WWII.
But anyway, the Singapore A380 has some pretty amazing suites. My favorite part is that some of them can be mated – two adjacent suites can have their dividing walls removed, and you can have the bed made up as a double bed. I think this is a first on aircraft – there have been lay-flat seats for a long time, but Singapore actually puts a bed in there, giving the possibility for two people to sleep together. On a plane. In the air.
Of course, there’s also the fancy restrooms, champagne, quality food, and powerful entertainment system. But for me, the real highlight is the space and comfort you get in these. Having spent 12-14 hours in a plane four times in three months, I can tell you…it is extremely important to be comfortable. It makes all the difference in the world to be able to shift your position around while flying.
Of course, this doesn’t come cheap. A round-trip flight between Tokyo and Singapore – no A380 flights to the US yet – is $7400 in a suite. It’s a seven-hour flight, so I’m not sure that you really need the suite, but that’s the price. For comparison, first class on the same flight is $6500, business is $4300, and economy is $1500. So per hour, that’s $215 for economy, $615 for business, $928 for first, and $1057 for suites. Is it really worth more than a thousand dollars per hour for a suite?