With 400,000 FF points to burn I took my wife on a once in a lifetime trip from Brisbane (Australia) to Paris flying Business (Raffles) class on Singapore Airlines. This is a very long journey of around 24 hours flying time so it is important to be either very comfortable or completely unconscious.

The route has just one stop in Singapore to change planes, as the distance is such that no plane can do it in one go.

Normally these 2 seats would cost us $AUD15,000 ($US7,500)which is about 1/3 of the average Australian yearly wage, so it is not something you would go out and buy. So getting the seats through FF points is the only practical way we could do it.

The first leg from Brisbane to Singapore was on a 777, which is much the same size and layout as a 767, but the business class seats were much better than I had traveled in domestically around Australia. We both were very happy, however I thought that there was something missing...the seats didn't appear to offer the sorts of comforts that the brochures promised and the cabin seemed a bit cramped.

However, the leg to Paris was on a 747 400, upstairs, and a whole different story and soooo much nicer and very exclusive! The seats were fantastic. You couldn't touch the next seat with your leg outstretched, and they laid back almost horizontal. Everything was controlled by buttons form the angle of the foot rests to the personal entertainment system in the centre console.

The electronics in the entertainment system was mind boggling. It was such that you can pause, rewind, fast forward your movie, (dozens on offer), as well as a myriad of short movies, music and games. The headphones are designed to cut out any outside noise, but upstairs in the Jumbo there was absolutely no engine or other passenger noise anyway.

We expected a little "gift" that friends had received on other airlines, but our "comfort pouch" contained just a sleeping mask and a pair of socks that were too small for our feet. However there were some packs of playing cards available.

The food on Singapore was as good as we thought it would be, and it was the whole experience with the wines, white linen etc as well. The wines were French which got us into the right mood. The cabin staff were very attentive when we needed them, and left us alone when we were asleep.

The Raffles class lounge in Singapore left a lot to be desired (our domestic lounges in Australia are much better). The showers were great and the towels were soft but the food was pathetic.....skinny little spring rolls and noodles with very little taste were the only meals avail. However, we were offered a free city tour which killed the few hours between connections, and that was a great idea.

SIA has no lounge in CDG, so we had to hunt down another Star Alliance lounge to have a shower before setting of to explore Paris, but as we had slept so well, we got off in Paris and spent the entire day on our feet walking between attractions, and we just were not tired or jet lagged after 30 hours of flying and changing planes in Singapore.

This trip had spoilt us but this year because of the demise of Ansett Airlines, we have lost all our ff points so this year we are going to have to pay for our tickets to Europe in May. After reading the Epinions on different airlines, we are going to fly EVA air in their Evergreen class (between economy and business classes), so we will report on that when we have done it.

All in all if you can afford SIA Raffles class then do it.

Recommended: Yes