A comfortable seat in a clean cabin that hasn’t yet shown much wear and tear. Sadly, Singapore Airline’s famous “Book the Cook” option is not available out of all airports so food options might be limited.

View other posts in this series:

• Qatar Airways A350-900 Q-Suites
• Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge
• Ritz Carlton, Part 1 – Arrival and Villa
• Ritz Carlton, Part 2 – Resort Facilities
• Ritz Carlton, Part 3 – Restaurants
• Ritz Carlton, Part 4 – Kids Club
• Singapore Airlines 737-8 Business Class (this post)
• Bonus: Video Review

Booking

While Singapore Airlines has partner airlines, first and business class award seats are generally blocked from redemptions using miles from their partners, forcing you to use Singapore miles. I had a significant number of Singapore miles originally intended on flights that never operated during the pandemic that ultimately expired in 2020. Singapore Airlines extended the validity of their miles a couple of times, giving me a chance to use them. So I definitely had a “use it or lose it” mentality with these points. I ended up using 580,000 Singapore miles + $352.16 for the flights home for four of us, including this flight and two more home. “Saver” award seats unfortunately did not open up for our trip and so I had to book their “Advantage” award seats. The price of the seats was higher than I would prefer, and I had some heartburn with this booking, but I needed to use up my miles. This is a good reminder to be judicious with which programs store your points; Singapore miles expire after three years and can’t be extended with recent activity.

While Singapore Airlines does not have a credit card available to those in the US, they do partner with all major credit card currencies (including Chase, American Express, Citi, Capital One), making it easy to obtain their points. Below are a few options to consider, along with refer-a-friend links:

Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR)

Chase UR points transfer 1:1 to Singapore Airlines miles, so 1,000 points could be transferred into 1,000 Singapore Airlines miles. Chase UR is a flexible currency, so you have the option of transferring to other partners, such as Air France, British Airways, United Airlines, or Hyatt. This offer is for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card for 60k Chase UR points when you spend $4,000 in three months and represents a solid starter card in the world of travel rewards.

If you have a small business, you could also consider one of Chase’s Ink business cards. Right now you could get up to 100k points at sign up, depending on the card you choose. These are elevated offers at the moment and are a fantastic way to rack up Chase UR points right away.

American Express Membership Rewards (MR)

Similar to Chase UR, Amex MR also transfers to Singapore Airlines and many other partners at a 1:1 ratio. While I find Chase UR is helpful for both airlines and hotel (specifically, Hyatt) travel, Amex MR shines more for airline awards based on the wide array of airline partners they have. I wouldn’t consider their hotel partners to represent a good deal if you were to transfer in points except in very specific scenarios.

If you’re looking for a personal card, the best offer at the moment is for the American Express Gold charge card (90k MR points for $4k spend in six months). Note that I already hit my max this year on earning points from referrals, but to my knowledge this offer is only available through refer-a-friend so I will continue listing it here as it’s a great deal.

If you have a small business, Amex offers a wide array of credit and charge cards to consider. The American Express Business Platinum card offers a massive 120k MR points but requiring an equally massive $15k spend in three months. The card comes chock full of travel benefits including $400 credit annually at Dell, a $200 airline incidental credit, and many more. But note this one has a $695 annual fee.

Citi ThankYou (TY)

I feel these days Citi tends to get overlooked as their credit card offering is not as robust as Chase or Amex and they sadly don’t have any travel protection on their travel credit cards. Points do transfer 1:1 to travel partners, including Singapore Airlines. The current best offer is on the Citi Premier card for 80k bonus after $4k spend in three months. Citi doesn’t have any refer a friend bonus on their cards, but the offer is still enticing, so I am just linking directly to their website.

Capital One

Lately Capital One has been stepping up their travel rewards game. They used to focus on cards that earn cash back but now have given greater flexibility by allowing 1:1 transfers to many travel partners. The Capital One Venture X card offers an excellent 75k points on $4k spend in three months. While the $395 annual fee might look intimidating, the card also offers a $300 travel credit and 10k miles at anniversary, so the card has strong value even after the first year.

Leeli Lounge at MLE Airport

If you’re flying in business class out of MLE airport in the Maldives, there’s a good chance you’ll end up here before your flight. We’ve been in this lounge a few times now and it has never felt crowded, likely because resorts tend not to bring guests to the airport until a couple of hours before the flight takes off. And that’s fine because this lounge isn’t anything special that would require a long visit. The interior feels outdated and the restroom doesn’t seem any better than options elsewhere in the airport. If you want access and aren’t flying business class, you could purchase access ($35/adult, $25/child), but I would not recommend it. Also, note there are no alcoholic beverages served here.

Initial Impressions of the Flight

Upon entering the cabin, the first thing we noticed was how new the cabin felt. It looked like the seats have not yet been worn in and the cabin seemed to well-maintained. We sat in the first row, which had 2-2 seating (not ideal if traveling alone but it works if you are traveling in pairs). Awaiting us at our seats was some simple bedding including a blanket and pillow. Singapore Airlines doesn’t offer pajamas in business class, but it isn’t needed for this roughly five hour flight. They also do not offer any amenity kit, which again wasn’t a problem here. And it did feel a bit claustrophobic during boarding since all passengers boarded through the forward door.

If you’re flying by yourself (or perhaps if you need some time away from your companion after all the time you spent together in the Maldives), you’ll want to choose the middle row in business class, which has a “throne” seat and a good amount of privacy. Meanwhile, there isn’t much privacy from your seat mate in the first and third rows.

Once we were seated, flight attendants came around to introduce themselves and to offer us a predeparture beverage. They took our meal order and also handed out a small toy each to Alex and Char. Singapore Airlines appears to have some collaboration with Marvel based on the selection of toys given to the kids. Alex received a small Marvel-themed board game that, while nice to have, was a bit difficult to enjoy during the flight.

The scenery is always nice when taking off from the Maldives. As you can see, even during monsoon season, the weather can still be pretty nice. Having a window seat on departure is quite awesome for island spying.

Food

Menus were already awaiting us at our seats. Singapore Airlines has a great “Book the Cook” meal selection system, where you can select your desired meal in advance of your flight and includes options that are not available in the in-flight menu. While the option is available on a number of flights for those in first and business class, it is not available when leaving MLE airport.

If you’re into tea, Singapore Airlines does offer an extensive array of TWG teas.

Shortly after takeoff, flight attendants distributed mixed nuts to the adults and cookies to the kids. I thought this was a nice touch as our kids aren’t yet at an age where they can appreciate nuts that aren’t peanuts.

Shortly after the nuts and cookies were handed out, we received a beverage. The kids opted for apple juice, while I went with the champagne.

The meal started with the marinated salmon and cucumber salad on Mesclun lettuce. While I am personally not a big fan of uncooked tomatoes, I do enjoy salmon in almost all forms, so I was satisfied with this salad. The portion is a bit small, but after eating way too much at the Ritz Carlton, it was a nice change of pace.

After the salad, I opted for the seafood kway teow. I ordered this mainly as a hedge in case the kids did not enjoy their meals. I knew they would love the noodles, if nothing else. Thankfully, I did not need to worry about their meal (as I will explain in a bit). The noodles had great flavor and the seafood tasted fresh. I wouldn’t hesitate getting this meal again.

For dessert, I selected the chocolate orange pound cake. It wasn’t too heavy of a dessert on its own, but after eating everything else, it felt a bit hard to finish this dessert. In retrospect, it would have been a wiser decision if I chose the fruit instead. There was nothing wrong with the dish, I just realized I was full a bit too late after making my decision.

While we couldn’t order a meal for the adults in advance, we were able to order kids meals for the little ones. However, the online description didn’t make it obvious what would actually be provided. The kids received chicken tenders over steamed vegetables, a bag of chips, and some chocolate pudding. They were happy with the selection.

Alex also received the fruit plate for dessert. He is a big fan of fruits and gobbled this up.

After dinner, I decided to wash it down with a SilverKris sling. Personally, I like this drink better than the Singapore sling they serve onboard.

In-Flight Media

I thought the movie and TV selections were a little limited on the flight. But some of that is because Alex decided to watch the same Lego movie on repeat (not just on this flight but on the next two flights home). They do have a decent assortment of recent movies, but it took me a little while to find something that interested me.

Singapore Airlines also offers complimentary Wi-Fi for business class passengers up to 100MB. This lasted me almost the entire flight and I greatly appreciate when Wi-Fi is offered for free. It makes it easier for entertaining the kids if they get tired of the in-flight movies and TV shows. And this flight was perfectly timed for me to spend almost the entire journey trying to learn more about UCLA’s departure to the Big Ten conference.

The Seat

Since the flight is only about five hours long and departed during the day, there wasn’t any need to take a nap. It is still nice to make the seat into a bed for lounging purposes. I appreciated there wasn’t a small foothold I needed to squeeze my legs into. And the seat length felt well suited for what I needed. If this were an overnight flight, I think some extra padding on the seat would be helpful, but otherwise I can’t think of any real complaints. I think it is a solid business class seat with no extra frills.

Service

I thought the service from the flight attendants was efficient, though not overly friendly and a bit robotic at times. They made sure we were comfortable and it ultimately was an enjoyable flight. I find this is generally the case with Singapore Airline’s service in business class and they are good about enforcing consistency. If you’re looking for more personalized service, you’ll want to fly first class but of course they don’t do so on this route.

Recommendation: Yes, if the price is right

I feel like this is a solid choice for business class, if you can swing the price. Ultimately, since this is a five hour daytime flight, you might not need all the features of business class like a lie-flat seat or included meals. It’s a tad tricky to get mixed cabin awards on Singapore Airlines as it’s not bookable online and phone agents may not be aware of how to handle the request, so we ultimately kept this segment in business class. When returning home, I do prefer to remain as well-rested as possible before the shock of regular life hits.

The points price of this flight felt heavy, which speaks to just how good of a deal it is using American Airlines miles to book Qatar’s business class at roughly half the price. Finding Saver availability with Singapore Airlines would help somewhat, but it would still end up being an expensive journey home. I felt justified in paying the higher price because my miles expired, but Singapore has devalued several times in recent years (including just last month) making it tougher to find a good deal to fly them in premium cabins. I do have fond memories of past flights on Singapore Airlines, so I might be a tad biased.