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Review: Singapore Airlines THE PRIVATE ROOM – The World’s Most Exclusive Airport Lounge
OH MY GOSH! I urge every single one of you reading to put this on your bucket list. Flying out of Singapore in First Class will ruin you. It’s incredible. Not only do you arrive at a separate terminal where you’re greeted OUTSIDE by bellhops and a concierge, AND then proceed through your own special immigration, but the best part is still to come… Along with your boarding pass you’ll be given Golden Tickets that grant exclusive access to The Private Room – world’s most exclusive airport lounge.
Just so you can see how ridics the check in experience is. Here’s what my mom had to say about that
Check-In!!! Where to begin??? What an experience!!! At the airport, we had a designated road that lead us to the First Class Entrance, where several Singapore Staff gathered our luggage and escorted us into a private check-in and security. (We were the only passengers leaving at that time.)
Tell me more Miles!!! What’s the Private Room?
It’s a lounge inside a lounge inside a lounge that only First Class passengers departing Singapore can access. Yep…it’s kind of like the lounge version of Christopher Nolan’s Inception – and you don’t want the kick to ever happen! Why would you ever want to wake up from this dream?! It’s unbelievably luxurious, the food is delectable, and you’re treated as if your family has ruled a small country for several generations and then you liberated it.
When you leave your own private immigration station…you’ll see the lounge upstairs and to the left. You’ll flash those golden tickets and wait for it…
You’ll be escorted through the business class lounge….then THE FIRST CLASS LOUNGE, and finally to a private area beyond the Wall to the North where John Snow himself will greet you. Maybe I’m exaggerating that last part, but that’s what it felt like. In fact, I’m pretty sure, along the way someone from the business class lounge tried to sneakily join our party and our escort picked him up and body slammed him WWE style. Maybe this didn’t happen…maybe it did? I was too concentrated on what was inside the Private Room.
What did my Dad think?
The most amazing thing about flying Singapore First Class out of Singapore is the departure experience at the airport. We arrived on a dedicated First Class only departure ramp, were greeted outside the entrance by a team to handle our luggage and escort us through a private area for check-in, immigration and security, and were then escorted to an exclusive lounge called The Room. Only Singapore Air passengers holding FC tickets for departure that day are allowed into this ultra luxurious space. It is a large area with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the runways with a ton of comfortable seating and work stations. And oh yes, it also has it’s own white tablecloth fine dining area where you can select from a 5 star menu or just graze from a buffet line. There is also a large restroom area complete with showers and all the amenities. The Room is by far the best airport lounge I’ve ever been in. Miles definitely knew what he was doing when he booked us on FC out of Singapore.
Can you blame him…Look at the quality of this place.
I just want to rub my face on this supple leather
The TVs could be confused with billboards
What did the birthday girl think of The Private Room?
We were assigned a special escort to take us to The Private Room. We walked past the Business Lounge, Past the First Class Lounge to “The Private Room!!” I loved it!! It was a 5 star, white linen dining room where you order from menu or buffet!! Delicious food!!! I was so enthralled and impressed with the check-in that my expectation for the flight and service were quite high! I was not disappointed!! It was very comfortable, great food and service!! I was so happy!!! Who wouldn’t be!!?!?!?!
There is a guy who just sits in the bathroom – it kind of reminded me of my English teacher in high school except this wasn’t in a stall and was paid to be in there.
This was the only thing that I would change. There aren’t really private shower suites like in The Wing, etc. There are shower areas, but despite the quality of the bathrooms/showers, it lacked privacy.
A private dining room? Yes, please
We were seated – “anywhere we like” because….well…THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE THERE. SAY WHAT?! Yes…the most exclusive lounge in the world was all ours.
I don’t want to exaggerate, but I’m pretty sure on the 7th day…when the big guy rested…he did so in the Private Room.
The lobster was just that good!
The rest of the food was great too. If you didn’t want just the menu items…there was a small buffet area 🙂
Overall:
This was a dream come true. A large part of the planning of this trip revolved around making the “travel” part of the fun and the experience. We were unbelievably lucky to get 3 of us to clear both legs of the Singapore Airlines journey: Beijing to Singapore in Suites, and then continuing on from Singapore to Dubai in First Class. It was the Singapore to Dubai leg that gave us access to the Private room, and that didn’t happen until the last minute. Worst Case, had the waitlists not cleared, my mom would have been able to enjoy it, but it was extremely special that all 3 of us could experience it together.
You don’t have to stop here. Check out how we paid $5k and took a $125k Surprise trip Around The World to celebrate my Mom’s 75th
Flights:
- Boston to Beijing
- Beijing to Singapore
- Singapore to Bali Roundtrip
- KLM Business Class 777-200 Singapore to Bali ($400)
- KLM Business Class 777-200 Bali to Singapore
- Singapore to Dubai
- Singapore Airlines First Class 777-300ER Singapore to Dubai ($4k)
- Abu Dhabi to Cannes, France
- Etihad Airways First Class Apartment A380 Abu Dhabi to London ($8k)
- Etihad Airways Business Studio A380 Abu Dhabi to London ( $3500-5k)
- British Airways Club Europe A321 London to Nice
- Cannes, France to Dallas
- Lufthansa Business Class A321 Nice to Frankfurt ($10k)
- Lufthansa First Class A330 Frankfurt to Dallas
Hotels:
- Boston
- Beijing
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
- Club King ($250)
- Singapore
- Bali
- Mandapa, Ritz Carlton Reserve 1 Bedroom Rice Paddy View Villa ($600/night)
- Conrad Bali 1 Bedroom Ocean View Suite ($400/night)
- Singapore
- Intercontinental Singapore ($400/night)
- Dubai
- JW Marriott Marquis Dubai, 1 Bedroom Executive Suite ($450)
- Abu Dhabi
- Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi ($300)
- Cannes, France
- Intercontinental Carlton Cannes, France ($300)
- Dallas
- Grand Hyatt DFW ($150
- JW Marriott Beijing, 1 Bedroom Suite ($450 for 5 nights)
Lounges
- Boston
- Hong Kong
- Beijing
- Singapore
- Bali
- Garuda Indoneisa Business Class Lounge
- Premier Lounge
- Singapore
- Singapore Airlines First Class Check-In
- Singapore Airlines Business Class Lounge SIN
- Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge SIN
- Singapore Airlines Private Room SIN
- Abu Dhabi
- Etihad First Class Lounge
- Etihad Business Class Lounge
- Etihad Shave Experience
- London
- British Airways First Class Lounge LHR Terminal 5
- Nice
- Living Room Azur
- Frankfurt
- Lufthansa First Class Lounge Frankfurt Terminal A
Afternoon Tea
- Peninsula, Beijing
- Raffles, Singapore
- Burj Khalifa, Dubai
- Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
TIPS:
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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