I don’t ride on the Boeing 737 Max very often, but today we’re riding with Singapore Airlines from Da Nang to Singapore on their 737 Max 8 in Economy. The 737max is a somewhat newcomer to the Singapore fleet. It’s used on short regional flights around Asia where a widebody airplane wouldn’t make much sense. Da Nang to Singapore is the perfect role for the 737-8 in the Singapore Airlines fleet.
A few airlines operate between DAD and SIN, but on Saturdays Singapore has the best schedule for our trip. This is scheduled to be just about 3 hours in flight. I was tempted to book business class, but just couldn’t justify the price difference. Unlike Vietnam Airlines, the price differential between economy and business was somewhat significant on Singapore and I’m cheap. At the end of the day, it’s a relatively short mid-day flight and economy is perfectly pleasant.
Bottom Line: I ended up really enjoying Singapore Airlines 737 Max in economy. The economy seating was comfortable, the in seat entertainment was excellent, the provided meal was decent, and the flight attendants were amazing. All around, a great experience in Economy on Singapore Airlines 737 Max and one that I would highly recommend.
In This Review
Da Nang Airport Check-In
We arrived curb side at the Da Nang Airport about 2 hours before our flight down to Singapore. This is earlier than I usually would, but we have to pass through exit passport control and I wasn’t sure how long the process would take.
We arrived at the check in counter for Singapore Airlines. We used the Internet Check-in line as we had checked in on the App already. We didn’t yet have boarding passes though so we needed to stop for a passport check.
Looking around the Da Nang Airport I was really impressed. The terminal is beautiful, clean, and modern.
Da Nang Airport Exit Immigration
After getting our boarding passes we walked down the terminal towards the Departures area.
Like many other countries, Vietnam has exit immigration. When we applied for our visas, we chose SGN airport as our point on entry and then DAD as our point of departure. I’m not sure what would happen if you had a change of plans and departed from somewhere else.
From curbside to airside took just about 30 minutes. About 10 minutes at check in then 20 minutes for immigration and security. Not bad at all. Did I mention how nice the Da Nang airport is?
After spending some time in the CIP Orchid Lounge(Review here), it was time to head down to our gate. DAD international terminal is one terminal with 10 , our Singapore 737Max is departing from gate 4. The whole DAD terminal is compact and easy to navigate.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Boarding
Here at DAD, the boarding gates are one level lower than the main terminal level.
We apparently departed the lounge a little early as our Singapore 737 had not yet arrived. We found some seats and waited a few minutes and we watched our 737Max arrive at the gate and was serviced. Sorry about the blue picture, the windows here at DAD are tinted.
Or flight is a little bit delayed as the inbound was a little late too. We started boarding about 15 minutes late, not a big deal. Singapore first boarded business class, followed by elite flyers, then they began boarding from the rear of the plane.
It was soon our turn to board and we headed down the jet bridge.
The Singapore Airlines livery looks great on anything, even the 737-8.
The boarding door of the Singapore 737-8 Max.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Economy Cabin
Onboard the Singapore 737-8 the economy cabin is standard 3-3 seating with 144 seats. There are a total of 154 seats on the plane including business class.
We found our seats just behind the wing on the right hand side of the plane. The middle seat in each row is a different color fabric than the outer two seats.
We stowed our bags in the overhead bin. We’re carry on only for this trip, and we didn’t have any issues finding space for our bags. The flight attendants gave there welcome and told us the flight time between Da Nang and Singapore would be 2:40.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Economy Seats
The leg room on the Singapore 737 is adequate but nothing remarkable. I also had my back back under the seat in-front so that did take up some foot space.
The over head vents on the 737-8 Max kinda suck. They just don’t put out enough air.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max In Seat Entertainment
Every seat on the Singapore 737 has in seat entertainment. The screens are large and responsive.
The selection of shows and movies is immense. There’s also an option for a selection of live TV channels.
I thought this was interesting, you can sign into your KrisFlyer account on the entertainment. You can then save shows and movies to watch for later over different flights. You can also use your phone as a remote. I skipped all of that.
A welcome feature was the search function. The selection of shows and movies is vast so being able to search instead of scrolling is nice.
Each seat on the Singapore 737 has a USB power port to charge devices.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Departure
Outside it looks like a great day for flying. Bamboo Airways is a relatively new airline to the Vietnamese market.
The safety video was shown as we pushed back from the gate. We are a few minutes delayed but nothing major.
Inside the cabin, the pilots gave their welcome and asked for the cabin to be prepared for takeoff.
We headed for the runway. Looks like we’ll be taking off towards the North today.
We wasted no time getting into the air.
On the climb out of DAD we got a great view of Da Nang and the surrounding sea.
Da Nang has one of the busiest ports in Vietnam. We got a great view from the Singapore 737 Max.
As we made our turn towards Singapore and South we made a nice sweeping turn around the Son Tra Peninsula.
As we continued down the Vietnamese coast we got to see the Sheraton Grand Da Nang that we had just departed. How fun is that!
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Economy Meal Service
About 10 minutes into the flight the seat belt sign was turned off and then about 10 minutes after that the meal service began.
On the 737-8 Max, Singapore serves a hot meal to all economy passengers on this sub 3 hour flight. There’s a reason Singapore is the best airline in the world. The food comes all on a tray in little boxes. There were two options, beef stew or nasi lemak.
I had the beef stew that was served over mashed potatoes. As desert there was a piece of banana bread. To drink I had a Coke. I really enjoyed the meal, it was piping hot and pretty tasty. Not anything amazing, but considering this is a sub 3 hour flight around dinner time, I was glad to have it.
Val had the nasi lemak. It was also with the same Banana bread. Val also had a Singapore sling as her drink because she’s less boring than I am. She reports that the Singapore Airlines nasi lemak is quite good.
I’ve seen some complaints from people online about the Singapore meals being served in the little boxes and with bamboo utensils. I’m really not sure why, it works just fine. I think people just like to find fault in things.
The remnants of the meal service were collected with about 1:45 left in the flight down to SIN. Anyway, I enjoyed the meal on Singapore’s 737 Max in Economy. I was pretty impressed that even on a short flight, a hot meal was served. Other airlines could take a look and see what Singapore Airlines does.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Economy In Flight
In the cabin, it was nice a quiet. The flight attendants came around and offered a second round of drinks. I just had a water.
Outside, the sun was setting. Inside the cabin I had settled into a movie.
The cabin lights were dimmed and we did have a little bit of rough air to pass through. The seatbelt sign was turned on for about 20 minutes.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Lavatory
Once the seatbelt sign was turned off, I headed back to the bathroom. It wasn’t anything special, typical Boeing 737 lavatory. It was clean, but there was some water on the floor. Not a big deal.
I then headed back to my seat in the darkened cabin. I always find if funny when airlines say that people would rather have a stream to your own device instead of built in entertainment. Clearly, that’s just not the case.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Decent into Singapore
Outside our window, the sun had fully set. With 150 miles and 35 minutes remaining in flight, the pilots gave their final announcement and asked for the cabin to be prepared for landing.
The flight attendants came around and collected any remaining garbage and did their final safety checks. They then dimmed the lights one more time as we continued to descend into SIN.
We got a great view of the lights of Singapore as we approached the airport.
And on the ground here in Singapore. I’m excited to be back. It’s been 7 years since we last visited and have been talking about returning for nearly all 7 of those years.
Arrival Into Singapore
We arrived into SIN and walked up the very steep jet bridge. I don’t think this part of SIN is setup for such a low plane like the 737.
There was zero line at passport control. We passed through the E-Gates without issue. A little bit sad that Singapore doesn’t stamp passports anymore when using the E-Gates. Oh well. Glad to be back.
Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max Economy Final Thoughts
The Singapore Airlines 737-8 Max is probably the nicest 737 I’ve ever experienced in the economy cabin. The 737 Max is nothing remarkable, it’s a pretty generic narrow body aircraft. Singapore Airlines turns what should be a commodity trip, into something pleasant. It’s obviously not earth shattering, but I would gladly take the Singapore 737 in economy again.
The economy cabin is perfectly comfortable, but I wouldn’t say spacious. Where Singapore really shines is the in flight entertainment, free wifi, and hot meal service. The in flight entertainment selection is fantastic and responsive. The hot meal served in economy on this short 3 hour flight from Da Nang to Singapore was solid. Some plane meals are best skipped, this is not one of them, it’s worth eating. Free Wifi for KrisFlyer members is just the icing on the top.
At the end of the day, I liked this trip on the Singapore 737-8 Max in economy.
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