‘Suite’ dreams do come true

Two giants are teaming up to help make your “suite” dreams a reality.

The SM Department Store and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have partnered to give avid shoppers and major credit cardholders a chance to experience luxury air travel for free.

Every single-receipt purchase worth P5,000 at any SM Department Store branch from Jan. 15 to March 31, 2013 through any of seven participating credit cards entitles one to a raffle ticket and a chance to win one of 12 pairs of SIA A380 Suites tickets. Twelve lucky pairs or a total of 24 shoppers can choose to fly to their dream destinations — Los Angeles, London, Paris, Zurich, Melbourne or Sydney — for free aboard SIA’s A380 Suites and enjoy an unforgettable air travel experience.

An A380 single Suite on a flight to London costs around P900,000 each. A double comes at P1.8 million.

Participating card companies include BDO, Metrobank, BPI, Standard Chartered, EastWest Bank, Citibank and HSBC. Shopping is twice as much fun for SM Advantage Cardholders who get double raffle points when they present their cards.

“We’re thrilled to team up with SM to bring the A380 Suites experience to more people,” said Ranjan Jha, SIA general manager for the Philippines, Guam and USTT. “Our Suites are, without a doubt, a groundbreaking product in luxury air travel and we want to share that once-in-a-lifetime experience with SM’s valued customers.”

“Our collaboration with Singapore Airlines will create a lot of excitement especially among upscale shoppers as the A380 Suites are a class beyond first,” said SM Department Store president Jorge Mendiola. “Partnerships with premiere global brands like Singapore Airlines, as well as the card companies, will enhance the SM shopping experience and give us more opportunities to serve our customers better.”

Most luxurious space on air

Widely deemed as a “class beyond first,” the Suites is a cabin class exclusive to SIA’s A380 aircraft. It is literally a private cabin separated by sliding doors and adjustable roller-blinds so passengers can control the level of privacy. It has its own personal chaise lounge for companion seating and socializing and each Suites cabin features elegantly upholstered and fully adjustable leather chairs. It also has its own stand-alone, full-size bed complete with plush mattress and Givenchy-designed duvets and cushions.

Inflight service-wise, Suites passengers get nothing short of the best that SIA has to offer. Special menus, created by SIA’s celebrated International Culinary Panel, are available for the Suites passenger’s choosing, to be enjoyed in exclusively-designed Givenchy tableware. To complement the gourmet meal, Suites passengers can choose from a selection of the finest wines and spirits available onboard.

SIA’s award-winning KrisWorld inflight entertainment system, which offers more than 1,000 entertainment options ranging from movies, international television shows to audio books and 3D games, is also available for Suites passengers to enjoy in a personal 23-inch high-resolution LCD screen.

Once-in-a-lifetime chance

Jha added, “Flying on an SIA A380 is a historic experience in itself considering that SIA is the first carrier to commercially operate the world’s largest passenger aircraft to date. Flying on SIA’s A380 Suites is an experience of a lifetime. It’s quite simply the most luxurious air travel experience today and a must-try for all travelers.”

Pinoys like the ‘suite’ life

Filipinos are said to be among the top buyers of the SIA Suites — and the identities of these high flyers only their travel agents know.

Setting a new standard in ultimate premium air travel, the SIA Suites features a bold and unique cabin concept where each Suite is the customer’s private cabin in the sky. Behind its discrete sliding doors is a spacious and truly personal area with lavish furnishing and finishes.

“Developed with our most valued and distinguished customers in mind, the concept of the SIA Suites is nothing less than ground-breaking in the luxury travel market,” said Yap Kim Wah, Singapore Airlines’ senior vice president for products and services. Each A380 has eight singles suites and two doubles.

“SIA Suites customers can look forward to a flight with an unprecedented level of personal space, in their own private cabin in the sky. The exquisite new product offerings, together with the special service from our world-renowned cabin crew, will delight the most discerning of our customers.”

The new SIA Suites were designed by leading French luxury yacht designer Jean-Jacques Coste, whose designs cleverly utilize space to make the flight experience even more luxurious.

Elegantly furnished, each of the SIA Suites opens up to a plush and luxurious leather seats. In a perfect marriage of classic style, ergonomics and technology, each seat is upholstered by world-renowned Poltrona Frau in the finest leather, with an elegant pumpkin finish.

The seat is fully adjustable, with a simple-to-use electronic control panel to accommodate a variety of sitting and lounging positions.

For those who want to sleep, a full-size flat bed with plush mattress is built into each individual SIA Suite, and does not utilize the seat as part of the sleeping surface.

Lavish Givenchy-designed duvets and cushions ensure customers can drift into peaceful and comfortable sleep.

The intelligent design of the full flat bed not only offers customers the choice to rest in their preferred sleeping positions, but also allows them to sit or lounge in bed as they might in the comfort and privacy of their own home.

For customers who need to catch up on work on board, the SIA Suite can be transformed into a stylish office in the sky. Each SIA Suite includes a chaise lounge for companion seating, ambient and mood lighting, luggage storage space and personal closet.

In addition to working in complete privacy, each SIA Suite comes furnished with generously wide and height-adjustable table, which can function as a workstation, meeting table or large dining table.

Customers with laptops can tap into the in-seat power supply, while customers with just a thumb-drive can also get work done by plugging into the USB ports and utilizing the comprehensive suite of office tools available on KrisWorld, SIA’s award-winning inflight entertainment system.

Sumptuous gourmet offerings feature among a wide choice of meals, including those exclusively designed by top chefs on the Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel, such as Gordon Ramsay (UK), Georges Blanc (France), Matt Moran (Australia) and Sam Leong (Singapore).

These meals are accompanied by a range of the best old world and new world wines, champagnes and spirits selected by SIA’s panel of renowned wine experts.

The fine dining experience is further enhanced with the use of fine bone chinaware, full-sized crystal ware and silverware, also designed by French fashion house Givenchy.

Inflight amenities

Completing the luxurious experience is the exclusive Ferragamo amenity kit, which will be presented to SIA Suites customers on long-haul flights. Exclusively available on the A380, the amenity kit features the latest fragrance, F by Salvatore Ferragamo, Ferragamo lip balm, hand cream and facial mist.

The SIA Suites is truly a class beyond first and will set new standards as the ultimate luxury inflight experience for those who expect nothing less... exclusively on the new SIA A380.

(For more information about the promotion, visit  www.smdeptstore.com. For more information about SIA’s A380 Suites, visit www.singaporeair.com.)

(You may e-mail me at [email protected].)