With airmiles getting harder to earn, we can only redeem business class for the trip using remaining points during the days of easy airmiles. For Qsuites, it has lesser chances to get equipment swap for flights departing Singapore. Therefore, I redeemed from Singapore to US. In addition, we can also do lounge safari in Singapore.
For the positioning flight from KL to Singapore, we purchased Jetstar. And with Priority Pass, we visited Travel Club Lounge in KLIA2.
Travel Club Lounge – KLIA2
There are ample spaces to sit and there’s also a bar. The food and drinks choices are ok. But it’s definitely a nice and quiet place to chill before your flight.
Lounge Safari
Story time 1: We landed in T4 so by right the lounge safari journey is easy as T4 is a standalone terminal. There is no need to travel to T4 and then going back to T/1/2/3. However, I thought it’s better to collect our luggage first. But I forgot we can’t do online check in for Qatar for this US flight. Therefore, once we collected our bags we deposited at T4 since we thought we will be back later. After that, we head over to Jewel for Changi Lounge since we have time and it’s on landside.
Changi Lounge
The entry gives you access to 1 food, 1 beer, and shower. The choices are limited but the selections are quite interesting for both the food and beer.
Story time 2: We found out that we can do early check-in for Qatar in Jewel. So we have to take the shuttle back to T4 to get our luggage and check in at Jewel. After that, we head back to T4 again for the Cathay Pacific Lounge but this time via the airside shuttle at T1 Gate C21.
Lounge Safari 1: Cathay Pacific Lounge
The entrance of the lounge gives a serious, formal welcome but yet inside it gives a very homy feel. The noodle is good and portion is small which is perfect as you can savor more food options. And because it’s a lounge safari, you want to conserve your stomach space.
Lounge Safari 2: Qantas Business Lounge
Qantas lounge is really spacious and there are a lot of seats available. They have a good selection of food and alcohol which includes mocktails and cocktails.
Lounge Safari 3: British Airways Lounge
For British Airways Lounge, you want to come here for the alcohols and not the food as there is not much food choices but plenty of alcohol options. You can even do you own cocktail.
Lounge Safari 4: Qatar Premium Lounge
The food is served ala carte here with some buffet options as well. The food is good but we were too full from visiting the other lounges. For a comprehensive guide on the lounge safari, you can read Milelion’s article here.
Qatar Qsuite
From Singapore to New York, we will stop at Doha Airport. And for both segments of the flight, we are taking the same aircraft type and the same Qsuite.
After converting it to a ‘double bed’:
You get Diptyque amenities and pyjamas:
Some of the food that we had:
The food is really beyond our expectations. We thought the beef would be dry and hard, but it’s not as bad. In fact, some parts are still quite tender. The lobster, absolutely perfect for a in-flight food. We see the others don’t really order it so we ordered a few, haha. However, one of the least expected and the best that I tried is this Qatari chicken mashkool with green mabouch. It is filling because it has rice but I would highly recommend you to try this.
Al-Mourjan Business Lounge – The Garden
We only visited 2 lounges in Doha Airport. The first was the newer Al-Mourjan Garden Lounge. There is a LV Lounge in the lounge itself which was a lounge-ception. However, you need to pay for the food and drinks inside the LV Lounge. So we just stick to the Al-Mourjan Garden Lounge for the free food and drinks.
Al-Mourjan Business Class Lounge
After that, we head over to the business class lounge on the South.
There are quiet rooms at this lounge but it gets full very quickly. So we went over to the family room instead. It’s not really a room but good enough for us to rest for the night.
I rearranged the chairs for a makeshift bed. You can get the blanket over at the quiet room. By the way, the quiet rooms are really quiet, it’s basically pin-drop silence.
The next morning, we had breakfast at the lounge before taking the 2nd leg of our flight to United States.
As with Emirates, Middle East airways’ lounges are very large. However, Emirates lounge is so large that it’s creepily quiet and empty; Al-Mourjan lounges are large but you can still find serenity among the crowd in the lounge.
American Express Centurion Lounge JFK, New York
At JFK for our flight from New York (JFK) to Orlando (MCO), we went to our highly anticipated Centurion Lounge in JFK. However, it comes with huge disappointments. I thought it would be a premium lounge with not much crowd but I guess The Platinum Card or even the Centurion Card is common in US, haha. Firstly, the lounge is small with not much seating. Next, the food selection is little. The bartender is not friendly (not the 1850 bartender). The 1850 speakeasy bar is small and packed. I think Plaza Premium First wins easily, haha.
The Club MCO
There is no Centurion Lounge in Orlando International Airport (MCO). There is a Delta Sky Club in MCO which we can enter with The Platinum Card. However, Delta changed the rule earlier this year that if you purchase the basic economy class, you cannot enter the lounge with credit card. I’m not gonna pay extra just to visit the lounge so we use Priority Pass to visit The Club MCO instead.
After the Centurion Lounge in JFK experience, I don’t have any expectations for US lounges. This lounge is basic but enough to fill the stomach and chill before the flight.
Centurion Lounge LAX
The Centurion Lounge LAX is very small and most likely you will be on a waiting list. Inside the lounge, it’s very narrow. But hey no expectations, no disappointments.
Centurion Lounge SFO
The lounge was closed just a few days before our flight to Seattle and the temporary lounge is still in progress.
The Club SEA
The Club SEA is the largest lounge that we visited in United States. Food selection is so-so but we are satisfied to have a place to rest before our midnight flight.
EVA Air Royal Laurel Class
For our trip back to Malaysia, there are 2 flights. The first leg is from Seattle to Taipei with a B787-9 aircraft which is the new business class.
EVA Air’s business class is what you would expect – Taiwanese hospitality and good service. We got the famous Jason Wu pyjamas and also a Giorgio Armani amenity kit. The food is good but there is no on-demand food service unlike Qatar Airways. You also can’t make a double bed because the middle frame cannot be lowered.
EVA Air Infinity Lounge – Taoyuan Airport
There are a few EVA Air lounges in Taoyuan Airport which you can do lounge safari as well. However, some of them require some status to enter which you can read here.
Although the lounge is large and there are a lot of seating, but there are also a lot of people so finding a place to sit can be quite hard. However, there are a lot of food choices and there’s dim sum also. Last but not least, there is Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Oriental Club Lounge
Oriental Club Lounge is Priority Pass’ Lounge of the Year 2025. It’s like EVA Air’s Infinity Lounge where it’s big but can be hard to find a place to sit. The food choices is good as well and there’s even Oden here. There’s also made to order menu as above for a taste of Taiwanese food.
Plaza Premium Lounge Taoyuan
The Plaza Premium Lounge is significantly smaller than the other 2 lounges. Food selection is also limited but there’s also a made to order menu as above.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold Lounge
The lounge is quite huge and it looks empty in the photo above is because we are one of the first few that entered the lounge as soon as it opens. Food and drinks selection is good and there’s even Bak Kut Teh.
EVA Air B777-300ER Royal Laurel Class
For the final flight back to Malaysia, it’s a B777-300ER business class with reverse herringbone layout. As it’s a short flight and because of the layout where we will be quite far with each other, we decided to take window seats.
As you can see, the IFE system is very old but I’m ok with it because the braised pork rice is really good, haha. That concludes our flights and lounge safari experience to and fro United States. If you are interested to know where we went in US, you can read the post here.
Is there any lounge or flight that gave you memorable experience? Please feel free to share in the comment section below.
