Enter the Singapore Airlines 30th Anniversary Sweepstakes

This week Singapore Airlines celebrates their 30th anniversary of flights between Singapore and the United States. Their first USA flights were to San Francisco, via Hong Kong and Honolulu! As part of the celebration, the airline is giving away a pair of round-trip business class tickets (grand prize), four pairs of economy class tickets (first prize), and 25 Singapore Airlines Airbus 380 model airplanes (second prize). According to the rules, you may enter weekly, now through the end of April 2009.

Convention Reveals Latest Airline Amenities

(Wall Street Journal)

San Francisco to Hong Kong $598 RT/taxes included

Hot Deal from one of the top airlines in the world - Singapore Airlines
San Francisco to Hong Kong (non-stop) $398+$200 taxes=$598
Purchase tickets by March 19th, and fly between March 24th and April 30th.
Departure travel is permitted Monday-Thursday only.
"V" class fare; typically does not earn frequent flier miles.

No 'Mile High Club' Memberships on Singapore's Airbus 380

Singapore Airlines has taken the unusual step of publicly asking passengers on its new Airbus A380 plane not to engage in any sexual activities. The potential problem has arisen because the first class area of its giant superjumbo contains 12 private suites complete with double beds.

Singapore, which is the first airline to start flying the A380, said the suites were not sound-proofed. It said it did not want anyone to offend other travellers or crew.
Singapore added that while the suites were private, they were also not completely sealed.

"All we ask of customers, wherever they are on our aircraft, is to observe standards that don't cause offence to other customers and crew," the airline said in a statement. "Nothing different applies for our Singapore Airlines Suites customers." -BBC News (Thanks Yih!)

History about to unfold: Airbus 380 flies in October

The grand mamma/pappa (you can choose the gender) of planes will soon be put into service for everyone to enjoy. This will truly be an amazing moment in aviation history. The Airbus-380 will begin flying passengers by the end of October.

First though, Singapore Airlines will auction off their inaugural flight to some lucky folks through eBay. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to charity organizations.

More information can be found here.

First Airbus 380 Flight to be sold to charity
Singapore Airlines, the first commercial airliner to fly the long awaited double-decker Jumbo Airbus 380 airplane is auctioning off seats for their first flight scheduled for October 2007. Money raised will be donated to charity organizations.

Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Chew Choon Seng says "the first commercial A380 flight will be a moment in aviation history. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, on an aircraft that will mark a new chapter in air travel"
Click here for more information or to place a bid

Your First Class Seat Awaits

First on & first off the plane, complimentary fine foods and alcohol, massage, warm terry cloth socks, down-filled duvets and more are waiting for you (really); come aboard.

The quiet, the relaxation, the temptation...ugh, the price. Business and First Class for international flights can set you back well over $5000-$10,000. But, there are other options. First, consider this sampling of luxuries that await you when flying business or first class on some of these top international airlines:

Forget standing in long lines at the airport. Qatar airlines will have your personal escorted to the plane by way of a ride in a 7 series BMW. Once aboard and relaxed they offer a 10 course meal, "that typically includes caviar, lobster, prawns, Arabic mezzas, fine chocolates, cheese platters, freshly brewed cappuccinos, and the finest wines from the old and new world."

Singapore Airlines rolled out the SkySuite on some of its flights (ya can't just call it a seat), which fully reclines to any angle - right down to a flat bed. Also offered is turn down service, fresh bed linens and a down filled duvet.

Malaysia Airlines features 15" LCD monitors in first class, including video, TV and music on demand and tempting cuisines from around the globe. Malaysia Airlines also offers advanced onboard lighting systems, which replicates outside lighting providing a more natural feel to your journey.

Virgin Atlantic prides itself on having the longest fully flat (79.5") bed in its upper class suites, an upper body massage and mini-manicure.

Emirates Airlines 500 channels of on demand entertainment await their customers, along with Internet access on board for laptop enabled laptops and currently a promotion for 2 complimentary nights at the Ritz-Carlton, Dubai for first class travelers. First class cabin reportably comes with the highest ratio of crew-to-passengers of any airline in the world.

Wake up. Dream is over. These amenities (and really, this is a short list of them) do make hops over the Oceans a lot easier. An alternative to paying cash for these great seats is to redeem frequent flyer miles. For example, United frequent flyer members can redeem points toward business class travel on its partner Singapore Airlines. Another way are operational upgrades (rare), where an airline may be oversold in economy class and "bumps" folks (typically high paying or elite passengers) to business or first class.