Take a look at the new look lounge at Changi
The BA lounge in Singapore was refreshed late last year. It was a perfectly decent space, although it had competition in Terminal 1 with other oneworld alliance lounges. If you’re not a fan of the BA lounge, you can always pop into the Qatar or Qantas lounges.
Where is the lounge located at SIN?
The BA lounge is in the same space as before, located in Terminal 1, up the escalators. It’s a long space that has food and drink options in a middle section and then seating on either side. I’ve visited twice over the last few years, and it’s a pleasant enough lounge to sit in before a flight. I would not want to spend more than two hours in there.
The lounge has decent showers, accessed from the reception area. It also had a separate space (a room) in the lounge for first-class passengers.
What has BA updated in the lounge?
It’s been through a significant refresh. The old space was comfortable but dark. The refresh makes the lounge much lighter, and as there’s not a lot of natural light, that’s beneficial. The lighting in the lounge has been upgraded, but it’s not easy to determine what changes have been made as the walls and furniture are now much lighter.
The seating has been upgraded, and there’s a variety of seating types, including some semi-enclosed pods with built-in side tables. There are also new relaxation areas that offer more privacy than regular seating. These are not rooms or cabanas but more comfortable spaces with half-height walls.
The first-class room is now called the Concorde Dining area and operates similarly to the BA lounge at Heathrow T3. It’s a lounge within a lounge – it’s not huge, but it’s a space to hide away if you’re travelling in First. The food menu in there has also been revamped to include “British favourites”, and three new premium champagnes have been added to the drinks list, including options from Bollinger and Joseph Perrier.
BA promises that this is “This is the first of many more exciting changes to come to our lounges this year.”
Is the BA Singapore lounge any good?
I enjoyed the old lounge, but our visits were fairly short. Both times we’ve flown back from Singapore we’ve checked in then gone over the road to The Jewel. That – to me – is a better use of your time than sitting in a lounge, but if you want to work, or if you don’t like shopping centres then the lounge is a good option. It’s probably doing The Jewel a disservice to call it a mall – it’s stunning, and of course it houses the water feature that has made Changi famous. It’s officially called the HSBC Rain Vortex.
What I did like about the lounge was the layout, and that structure still remains. The showers were good, and the food and drink offering was fine. We ate both times in The Jewel and just had soft drinks in the BA lounge.
What I do like about the lounge is that it has different places to sit, from slightly more formal dining seating to more relaxed sofas and chairs.
This refresh was probably needed. It’s an important route for BA, and Singapore is becoming more and more popular. Singapore is also the only city on the BA route map where the plane refuels and then flies off again to another destination: Sydney. It then does the same on the return leg.
What’s the Avios availability like to Singapore?
Singapore is a beautiful destination, and that’s why we’ve been there twice and have a third trip this Summer. We’re not alone in adoring it – it’s very popular. At the time of writing, there are no first-class seats available over the next 350 days. In Business, there are 11 outbound seats and 9 inbound, but the dates mean it’s impossible to travel out and back for a week’s holiday.
The city/country is popular for a reason. We’ve found it to be incredibly safe, friendly and easy on the wallet. Some people report that it’s expensive, but we’ve never found it to be particularly costly compared to other major cities.
There’s also a plethora of hotel options that I find to be well-priced. There are also some stunning hotels that are absolutely not for the budget-conscious. I still think about our stay at the Capella on Sentosa Island and wince at how much we spent. It was – however – worth every penny, and we got to stay at the hotel where Donald Trump and Kim Jonh Un met.
What does the new lounge look like?
The spacious entranceway remains after the refresh
There’s a shiny (literally) new wall behind the two check-in desks
And here’s a close up on that sparkly BA logo
The central food and drink space remains. I really liked this layout when I visited, it’s easy to access it wherever you’re sat in the lounge.
The seating in the lounge has been updated.
For first-class passengers there’s an upgraded food and drink offering, including three premium champagnes.
There’s dining-style seating available, now decked out in softer colours.
Finally, more sparkles above the sparkling drinks.
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