SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

[SOPOOR]

Ah was remarking about the (low) quality of the house vodka on board though when the whiskey is JW blue?

I had a many johnnie blue before and during my flight!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I have also rcvd notifications of 2 flt downgrades for forward bookings - 217 01/07/2026 downgraded from F on 777 to J on 350 and 830 04/05/2026 downgraded F on 777 to R on 380 - I will be on phone to SQ as soon as I get time to get resolution to these

 

[lovestotravel]

I have also rcvd notifications of 2 flt downgrades for forward bookings - 217 01/07/2026 downgraded from F on 777 to J on 350 and 830 04/05/2026 downgraded F on 777 to R on 380 - I will be on phone to SQ as soon as I get time to get resolution to these

Thanks for another detailed review/photos and comparison to EK !

My MLE (Male)-SIN flight in April just went from regional J to long-haul J, that's a bonus

Sadly my MEL - SIN in March is still regional J

SQ 248 on 2 July 25 still long-haul A350

 

[MathNerd]

Is it weird to get really excited for upcoming long-hauls in SQ J?

I've had trips booked MEL-SIN-JFK (departing in about a month) and MEL-SIN-FRA & BRU-SIN-BLR (Dec '25) and BLR-SIN-MEL (Jan '26), which have been booked at the exact moment of release. The trouble with this, is that it gives you 355 days to think, and look forward with eagerness to a trip that just seems... so far away.

Mrs MathNerd just wants to get to the destination, I want to just... fly. She reckons I'm absolutely mad for choosing MEL-SIN-JFK rather than the most efficient MEL-LAX/SFO-JFK (or similar). But who flies J for efficiency (at least leisure J)? And when you're on a ULR for the first time - you want that flight time to get closer to 19 hrs rather than 18 hrs (pls weather gods, make some strong headwinds on the day haha). This USA trip was initially meant to be for Jan 2020 (but we all know what happened), in Suites.

What's even better - got 11D/F on both SQ218 and SQ24 (can't imagine getting a 'regular' J seat for the longest flight in the world), and 96D/F on SQ326. Would have loved 10A on the ULR but that would mean not sitting next to Mrs MN, and that would not go down well. Ticking many things off the bucket list with these flights. I've heard QF wants to knock SQ off the podium for longest flights in the world, so whilst SQ still wears the crown, need to make the most of it.

Excited is an understatement. Can't wait.

It's definitely not our first time in an SQ premium cabin (it all kicked off with a SQ R (old Suites) flight for the honeymoon all the way back in 2019 [pretty sure I wrote up a mini TR for it as well around here]), and it certainly won't be the last.
But there's just something special about it this time.
If I can contain the excitement, I'll post updates here as another TR.

But the main point of this post was to thank the community for all the "Tips, Tricks and Tales" that allow regular Joes like me to experience something that only a tiny % of the population get to experience. And that's just priceless.

 

[Happy Dude]

Is it weird to get really excited for upcoming long-hauls in SQ J?

Excited is an understatement. Can't wait.

Not here it's not. Flying J or F, for the most of us, represents the culmination of a plan that was hatched well before take off and which required significant time, effort, and research, and all manner of points scavenging, careful and targeted spending, together with a decent dollop of good fortune. You're right to be excited when the plan comes to fruition - the harder fought the better won. Well done and enjoy

 

[MathNerd]

Not here it's not. Flying J or F, for the most of us, represents the culmination of a plan that was hatched well before take off and which required significant time, effort, and research, and all manner of points scavenging, careful and targeted spending, together with a decent dollop of good fortune. You're right to be excited when the plan comes to fruition - the harder fought the better won. Well done and enjoy

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

You have a way with words, and reading that made the excitement grow even more.

As I mentioned, Mrs MN and myself have flown in SQ J plenty of times (mostly due to award redemptions, and a small number of mySQupgrades), so it's not new by any stretch; however this time due to the sheer lengths of all these flights it hits different.

You are right, it's an extremely long journey to get to this point, but the taste of success and bliss is pure ecstatic.

Thanks for joining in the excitement!

 

[prozac]

Is it weird to get really excited for upcoming long-hauls in SQ J?

I've had trips booked MEL-SIN-JFK (departing in about a month) and MEL-SIN-FRA & BRU-SIN-BLR (Dec '25) and BLR-SIN-MEL (Jan '26), which have been booked at the exact moment of release. The trouble with this, is that it gives you 355 days to think, and look forward with eagerness to a trip that just seems... so far away.

Mrs MathNerd just wants to get to the destination, I want to just... fly. She reckons I'm absolutely mad for choosing MEL-SIN-JFK rather than the most efficient MEL-LAX/SFO-JFK (or similar). But who flies J for efficiency (at least leisure J)? And when you're on a ULR for the first time - you want that flight time to get closer to 19 hrs rather than 18 hrs (pls weather gods, make some strong headwinds on the day haha). This USA trip was initially meant to be for Jan 2020 (but we all know what happened), in Suites.

What's even better - got 11D/F on both SQ218 and SQ24 (can't imagine getting a 'regular' J seat for the longest flight in the world), and 96D/F on SQ326. Would have loved 10A on the ULR but that would mean not sitting next to Mrs MN, and that would not go down well. Ticking many things off the bucket list with these flights. I've heard QF wants to knock SQ off the podium for longest flights in the world, so whilst SQ still wears the crown, need to make the most of it.

Excited is an understatement. Can't wait.

It's definitely not our first time in an SQ premium cabin (it all kicked off with a SQ R (old Suites) flight for the honeymoon all the way back in 2019 [pretty sure I wrote up a mini TR for it as well around here]), and it certainly won't be the last.
But there's just something special about it this time.
If I can contain the excitement, I'll post updates here as another TR.

But the main point of this post was to thank the community for all the "Tips, Tricks and Tales" that allow regular Joes like me to experience something that only a tiny % of the population get to experience. And that's just priceless.

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Happiness quotient is real.

 

[SOPOOR]

Is it weird to get really excited for upcoming long-hauls in SQ J?

I've had trips booked MEL-SIN-JFK (departing in about a month) and MEL-SIN-FRA & BRU-SIN-BLR (Dec '25) and BLR-SIN-MEL (Jan '26), which have been booked at the exact moment of release. The trouble with this, is that it gives you 355 days to think, and look forward with eagerness to a trip that just seems... so far away.

Mrs MathNerd just wants to get to the destination, I want to just... fly. She reckons I'm absolutely mad for choosing MEL-SIN-JFK rather than the most efficient MEL-LAX/SFO-JFK (or similar). But who flies J for efficiency (at least leisure J)? And when you're on a ULR for the first time - you want that flight time to get closer to 19 hrs rather than 18 hrs (pls weather gods, make some strong headwinds on the day haha). This USA trip was initially meant to be for Jan 2020 (but we all know what happened), in Suites.

What's even better - got 11D/F on both SQ218 and SQ24 (can't imagine getting a 'regular' J seat for the longest flight in the world), and 96D/F on SQ326. Would have loved 10A on the ULR but that would mean not sitting next to Mrs MN, and that would not go down well. Ticking many things off the bucket list with these flights. I've heard QF wants to knock SQ off the podium for longest flights in the world, so whilst SQ still wears the crown, need to make the most of it.

Excited is an understatement. Can't wait.

It's definitely not our first time in an SQ premium cabin (it all kicked off with a SQ R (old Suites) flight for the honeymoon all the way back in 2019 [pretty sure I wrote up a mini TR for it as well around here]), and it certainly won't be the last.
But there's just something special about it this time.
If I can contain the excitement, I'll post updates here as another TR.

But the main point of this post was to thank the community for all the "Tips, Tricks and Tales" that allow regular Joes like me to experience something that only a tiny % of the population get to experience. And that's just priceless.

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Any flight in J or above gets me excited! like super excited ,

Just seeing the massive seat that I know can go flat and the service and food upcoming without having to climb over anyone else,
Get my endorphins going

 

[JustSlash]

Is it weird to get really excited for upcoming long-hauls in SQ J?

I've had trips booked MEL-SIN-JFK (departing in about a month) and MEL-SIN-FRA & BRU-SIN-BLR (Dec '25) and BLR-SIN-MEL (Jan '26), which have been booked at the exact moment of release. The trouble with this, is that it gives you 355 days to think, and look forward with eagerness to a trip that just seems... so far away.

Mrs MathNerd just wants to get to the destination, I want to just... fly. She reckons I'm absolutely mad for choosing MEL-SIN-JFK rather than the most efficient MEL-LAX/SFO-JFK (or similar). But who flies J for efficiency (at least leisure J)? And when you're on a ULR for the first time - you want that flight time to get closer to 19 hrs rather than 18 hrs (pls weather gods, make some strong headwinds on the day haha). This USA trip was initially meant to be for Jan 2020 (but we all know what happened), in Suites.

What's even better - got 11D/F on both SQ218 and SQ24 (can't imagine getting a 'regular' J seat for the longest flight in the world), and 96D/F on SQ326. Would have loved 10A on the ULR but that would mean not sitting next to Mrs MN, and that would not go down well. Ticking many things off the bucket list with these flights. I've heard QF wants to knock SQ off the podium for longest flights in the world, so whilst SQ still wears the crown, need to make the most of it.

Excited is an understatement. Can't wait.

It's definitely not our first time in an SQ premium cabin (it all kicked off with a SQ R (old Suites) flight for the honeymoon all the way back in 2019 [pretty sure I wrote up a mini TR for it as well around here]), and it certainly won't be the last.
But there's just something special about it this time.
If I can contain the excitement, I'll post updates here as another TR.

But the main point of this post was to thank the community for all the "Tips, Tricks and Tales" that allow regular Joes like me to experience something that only a tiny % of the population get to experience. And that's just priceless.

You're definitely not alone! Just like Happy Dude said, when you put in the effort searching different routes, airlines, and reward programs to snag those J or F seats, it feels even better when you finally get to fly them! Well done and enjoy

 

[kevrosmith]

I read recently on a thread someone scolding a group of hunters returning on a flight excited for the “kills” they had scored…. We all know what the real thrill of the hunt is here for us that gets our endorphins running…. The all elusive and mostly nocturnal dwelling Reward Redemption… a threatened species becoming all the more rare and demanding even higher and higher rates on the (black?) market.

 

[Human]

I read recently on a thread someone scolding a group of hunters returning on a flight excited for the “kills” they had scored…. We all know what the real thrill of the hunt is here for us that gets our endorphins running…. The all elusive and mostly nocturnal dwelling Reward Redemption… a threatened species becoming all the more rare and demanding even higher and higher rates on the (black?) market.

I've often likened the thrill of grabbing a reward seat to the thrill of a hunt (not that I've ever literally hunted...). There are of course some species that are more thrilling and elusive than others!

 

[zsw]

FYI - For anyone visiting the private room in the next few weeks. Krug Rose is available as an off menu order to celebrate SG60. We were offered when we sat down (at which stage we were the only people in the The Private Room).

I figured we would be limited to 1 mini bottle per table or per person and would have been very satisfied regardless. But surprisingly the very generous pours continued and were happily offered. I'm not sure 4 hours has ever passed so quickly

Food was good too.

 

[SBD]

Is it weird to get really excited for upcoming long-hauls in SQ J?

I've had trips booked MEL-SIN-JFK (departing in about a month) and MEL-SIN-FRA & BRU-SIN-BLR (Dec '25) and BLR-SIN-MEL (Jan '26), which have been booked at the exact moment of release. The trouble with this, is that it gives you 355 days to think, and look forward with eagerness to a trip that just seems... so far away.

Mrs MathNerd just wants to get to the destination, I want to just... fly. She reckons I'm absolutely mad for choosing MEL-SIN-JFK rather than the most efficient MEL-LAX/SFO-JFK (or similar). But who flies J for efficiency (at least leisure J)? And when you're on a ULR for the first time - you want that flight time to get closer to 19 hrs rather than 18 hrs (pls weather gods, make some strong headwinds on the day haha). This USA trip was initially meant to be for Jan 2020 (but we all know what happened), in Suites.

What's even better - got 11D/F on both SQ218 and SQ24 (can't imagine getting a 'regular' J seat for the longest flight in the world), and 96D/F on SQ326. Would have loved 10A on the ULR but that would mean not sitting next to Mrs MN, and that would not go down well. Ticking many things off the bucket list with these flights. I've heard QF wants to knock SQ off the podium for longest flights in the world, so whilst SQ still wears the crown, need to make the most of it.

Excited is an understatement. Can't wait.

It's definitely not our first time in an SQ premium cabin (it all kicked off with a SQ R (old Suites) flight for the honeymoon all the way back in 2019 [pretty sure I wrote up a mini TR for it as well around here]), and it certainly won't be the last.
But there's just something special about it this time.
If I can contain the excitement, I'll post updates here as another TR.

But the main point of this post was to thank the community for all the "Tips, Tricks and Tales" that allow regular Joes like me to experience something that only a tiny % of the population get to experience. And that's just priceless.

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I flew on SQ24 in J in June, after flying SYD-BNE-SIN and spending 12 hours in Changi, all booked with Velocity points . SQ24 is a magnificent flight (in J at least) and choosing it is absolutely not mad. Arriving JFK before dusk was lovely - went straight to the rooftop bar at the TWA Hotel for sunset. Certainly not time-efficient compared to SYD-LAX-JFK (which I'm doing on UA in ten days) but it was definitely comfortable. SBD

 

[MathNerd]

I flew on SQ24 in J in June, after flying SYD-ADL-SIN and spending 12 hours in Changi, all booked with Velocity points . SQ24 is a magnificent flight (in J at least) and choosing it is absolutely not mad. Arriving JFK before dusk was lovely - went straight to the rooftop bar at the TWA Hotel for sunset. Certainly not time-efficient compared to SYD-LAX-JFK (which I'm doing on UA in ten days) but it was definitely comfortable. SBD

Amazing job @SBD, thanks for the feedback about SQ24. I can't wait to jump on it.
MEL as usual will issue coughpy thin black-and-white paper Boarding Passes for both SQ218 and SQ24, so will have to visit the Transfer Desk @ Changi to change the SQ24 one over to the "nice" coloured, thick Boarding Pass. This might be the first and last time I fly SQ24 so want to make the most of it.

SYD-LAX-JFK (which I'm doing on UA in ten days)

How did you book this (if in J)? UA has nulled all its IN space (which VA could access for last minute J awards), so I couldn't use this for the journey home.
I've currently got SFO-SYD booked for the end of the trip (in Y [not Basic Y thankfully]), and have put in a MileagePlus Upgrade Award (30k UA miles pp + 600 USD pp), and given the regular light load in J I'm hoping that Mrs MN and I both get an upgrade to Polaris for that long stint.

 

[SBD]

Amazing job @SBD, thanks for the feedback about SQ24. I can't wait to jump on it.
MEL as usual will issue coughpy thin black-and-white paper Boarding Passes for both SQ218 and SQ24, so will have to visit the Transfer Desk @ Changi to change the SQ24 one over to the "nice" coloured, thick Boarding Pass. This might be the first and last time I fly SQ24 so want to make the most of it.

How did you book this (if in J)? UA has nulled all its IN space (which VA could access for last minute J awards), so I couldn't use this for the journey home.
I've currently got SFO-SYD booked for the end of the trip (in Y [not Basic Y thankfully]), and have put in a MileagePlus Upgrade Award (30k UA miles pp + 600 USD pp), and given the regular light load in J I'm hoping that Mrs MN and I both get an upgrade to Polaris for that long stint.

Only the trans-Pacific sector is in J with Velocity points - booked about five weeks ago (and I oversimplified above... I'm actually flying SYD-MEL-LAX on a reward J ticket). The connection to JFK is paid J direct with UA. So three flights on two different bookings but I'm confident UA will look after me if delayed on their own flight. SBD

 

[SOPOOR]

Amazing job @SBD, thanks for the feedback about SQ24. I can't wait to jump on it.
MEL as usual will issue coughpy thin black-and-white paper Boarding Passes for both SQ218 and SQ24, so will have to visit the Transfer Desk @ Changi to change the SQ24 one over to the "nice" coloured, thick Boarding Pass. This might be the first and last time I fly SQ24 so want to make the most of it.

How did you book this (if in J)? UA has nulled all its IN space (which VA could access for last minute J awards), so I couldn't use this for the journey home.
I've currently got SFO-SYD booked for the end of the trip (in Y [not Basic Y thankfully]), and have put in a MileagePlus Upgrade Award (30k UA miles pp + 600 USD pp), and given the regular light load in J I'm hoping that Mrs MN and I both get an upgrade to Polaris for that long stint.

I thought all boarding passes were on thermal paper or just plain cardboard now.

My last one was and I think my family members on was too

 

[MathNerd]

Only the trans-Pacific sector is in J with Velocity points - booked about five weeks ago (and I oversimplified above... I'm actually flying SYD-MEL-LAX on a reward J ticket).

Wow, you must have been one of the last redemptions to have made it through the cull! There's completely nil availability passed over to VA from UA - in Y there is but none in J!
With that SYD-MEL-LAX ticket, how hard was it to find? Or you just stumbled upon availability and snapped it?
From all my reading/research/dummy searches, it appeared that UA was releasing J space to VA only about T-0 to T-30, and it varied by route. I was gunning for SFO-MEL on UA60, but since the end of July it all dried up.

and I oversimplified above

Me too, I'm actually flying SEA-SFO-SYD (and then SYD-MEL separately on a VA flight in the afternoon, so plenty of breathing room in case of delays on SFO-SYD).

Crossing my fingers tightly that the MUA comes through, or else it's going to be a long long flight at the back of the bus (and not a good way to end a trip that started with the excitement that you read about in the OP)....

 

[MathNerd]

I thought all boarding passes were on thermal paper or just plain cardboard now.

My last one was and I think my family members on was too

Depending on where they were printed/issued and which class (and whether kiosk or counter).
From what I've been able to tell from recent data points (both personal as well as others):

• MEL J counter: thermal paper
• MEL Y kiosk: plain cardstock
• SYD J/F/R (counter?): proper cardstock with Blue/Gold strip on top
• SIN J/F/R counter: proper cardstock with Blue/Gold strip on top
• SIN J transfer desk: proper cardstock with Blue/Gold strip on top

So basically if you're flying SQ ex-MEL, you'll get thermal paper from the counter. If you have an onwards flight ex-SIN, you can go to the transfer desk and ask them to print off your ex-SIN boarding pass and it'll be the 'proper' one.
YMMV.

 

[SOPOOR]

Depending on where they were printed/issued and which class (and whether kiosk or counter).
From what I've been able to tell from recent data points (both personal as well as others):

• MEL J counter: thermal paper
• MEL Y kiosk: plain cardstock
• SYD J/F/R (counter?): proper cardstock with Blue/Gold strip on top
• SIN J/F/R counter: proper cardstock with Blue/Gold strip on top
• SIN J transfer desk: proper cardstock with Blue/Gold strip on top

So basically if you're flying SQ ex-MEL, you'll get thermal paper from the counter. If you have an onwards flight ex-SIN, you can go to the transfer desk and ask them to print off your ex-SIN boarding pass and it'll be the 'proper' one.
YMMV.

Mine was F ex mel and was on thermal paper.
But that was a few years ago

 

[MathNerd]

Mine was F ex mel and was on thermal paper.
But that was a few years ago

Yeah, it's been like that for a while. Absolutely no stock of any premium BPs ex-MEL, so you have to get a new one printed at SIN (but only if you have an onwards flight from SIN, don't worry I've asked if they can re-print the MEL-SIN one, no bueno no cigar unfortunately).