Singapore Airlines will resume flying the longest commercial flight in the world from Newark to Singapore in October after a hiatus of several years. The 9,534 mile flight takes a whopping 18.5 hours to fly!
There is now excellent business class saver award space on the flight.
The flight will be operated daily on an A350-900ULR with 67 business class seats and 94 premium economy seats. There will be no economy or first class offered on the plane.
You can redeem 70K Singapore miles for a one-way saver award flight between Newark and Singapore in premium economy or 92K Singapore miles in business class.
Singapore doesn’t charge any fuel surcharges:
In 2013 I redeemed 60K United miles to fly business class from Cleveland-Newark-Singapore-Maldives. Back then the flight was operated by an A340-500 with 100 business class seats. There were no other classes of service on the flight back then. It was an excellent way to get to the Maldives.
Unfortunately Singapore no longer allows partner airlines to book premium cabin long-haul awards, so you’ll need to use Singapore miles.
You can transfer AMEX, Chase, or Citi points to Singapore at a 1:1 ratio or Starwood points to Singapore at a 20K:25K ratio. AMEX and Chase transfers should post within a day. You can try calling Singapore to hold award space on the flight, though you may need to HUCA.
With the S. Regis Maldives and W Maldives offering villas for just 20K Starpoints starting on August 18th, lots of people are going to be looking for the best way to get there.
Singapore charges 110K miles to fly from Newark to the Maldives in business class via this flight. It’s worth noting that late arrivals into the Maldives mean that you have to overnight near the airport in the Maldives as seaplane flights to the resorts only operate in the daytime. You can take an overnight connection in Singapore to avoid that:
What did I think of the 19 hour flight?
You can read the trip report here, but in short, I loved it.
Business class seat from Newark-Singapore, February 2013:
The problem with flights to Europe in premium cabins is that there’s not enough time to enjoy a meal and still get a good night’s sleep.
On this flight there was plenty of time for me to eat, drink some wine and scotch, surf the web, watch Argo, get a full night’s sleep, eat again, watch Lincoln, and then land in Sinagpore.
In fact Singapore served 3 separate kosher meals on the flight. The plane was split into 3 sections and I was one of the only passengers in my section, giving the flight an almost private jet feel.
Business class seat from Newark-Singapore, February 2013:
I emailed Singapore if they have kosher wine on the flight and they even catered kosher wine for me!
I’ve flown Singapore in economy, business, and suites class and the service has always been impeccable. The flight attendants seem to know exactly when to bring you another glass of seltzer and when to leave you alone. It’s my favorite airline to fly in any class of service.
I had ordered delicious Sesame Chicken from New Kosher Special with free delivery to Newark Airport and the flight attendants were happy to store it for me in a fridge and warm it up double-wrapped (BYOK).
The sign of a great flight is when you’re sad to have it end. And even after a 19 hour flight, I was sad to have to deplane. Though I sure enjoyed the showers in the Singapore lounge.
Will you book an award on the longest flight in the world?
Wouldn’t be surprised if some partners can access this space. I saw one date that united had availability in March, and apparently M&M has access to more.
Which date?
March 31
Took that flight also back in A340 days. Got stoned, fell asleep, woke to take some Tylenol. When I woke the second time there was still a full 10 hours left.
Business shizness. Do they offer basic economy for the world’s longest flight?
Lol
Ik this is direct but would you rather use the miles to stop in Frankfurt and go to Singapore in order to sit on the suites or go direct from EWR in business class. I did the suites class once and it was amazing. Slept in one seat sat in another and ate in a third
Depends how much you value your time.
All in all is it like another 5 -6 hours? I feel like i would give more time to have the suites class!
Is this bookable with Chase Ultimate Rewards hybrid points? That way I can take advantage of the 1.5x bonus with my sapphire reserve
Everything is bookable, but it won’t be a good deal. Just transfer the points to Singapore.
How many days do i need in the Maldives? Is a sunday to thursday doable with the flying times? Or should I plan to stay in Singapore for shabbos?
It’s not really a question of need. I’ve gone for 2 days, I’ve gone for 5, and I could do 10 as well. It’s just a place to relax and decompress.
If you have the time, then spend more time.
This is unrelated to the topic. But can amex cash points from their new amex cash magnet card be transferred to point cards, for points or is it strictly statement credit? Thanks
Dan: What email address can one use to request kosher wine for a Singapore Airlines flight? I called reservations and after looking into the topic I was told that there is no way to request kosher wine in advance. One can only request in advance kosher meals. My flight on Singapore will be from LAX (Los Angeles) to NRT (Tokyo).
The problem with the longer layover is that the second leg is on a silkair a320. Ugh
I just booked jfk-fra on sq J using miles and more. Not sure if this is not considered intl long haul
Is there a way to use United points for this instead of Singapore points? Maybe by calling?
If we already did the Maldives and though beautiful not looking to go again right now what other places would anyone suggest to go to that makes sense using this deal and going through Singapore? From what I have been reading on the trip reports it doesn’t seem to make sense to stay in Singapore more then a day or so, is that correct? We probably could be away 10 days, possibly 14, including travel time. Thanks.
Thailand?
Thanks for getting back so quick. I will check it out though I don’t see any trip reports just a lot of technical back and forth on the trip forum. Trying to figure out if worth the trip, what is the main draw to Thailand (besides the good availability to Singapore!) Any other suggestions in case that doesn’t pan out?
Tons of trip reports on this site and DDF for Thailand. Lots of fascinating cities.
I have always wanted to go see the elephants that can paint self portraits. That alone could be worth the trip!!
Thanks will check it out.
So thanks to this post – I have the following itinerary on hold for April 2019 (all legs are in I):
EWR to SIN Sunday Morning 10:45 Arriving 5:30 Monday.
SIN to MLE Tuesday Morning 11:00 Arriving 12:35.
MLE to SIN 11:25 Thursday night arriving Friday morning at 7:10.
SIN to EWR Monday night 11:35 and arriving back at EWR 6:00 on Tuesday morning.
A few questions –
1. I was told that it would be criminal to fly to MLE and stay only 48+ hours at the OWB. What’s your take on this – Dan? It seems you had this itinerary your first time around in the Maldives. Also, is SilkAir a decent airline for the SIN-MLE leg? I see some negative comments on that.
Thanks