Assessment: Starlux Airways new enterprise class on the Airbus A350

The introductory one-way redemption charges begin at 20,000 miles for economic system, 40,000 miles for premium economic system and 60,000 miles for enterprise class — improbable values in comparison with Starlux’s money fares. (Sadly, first-class awards through Alaska gained’t be accessible.)

It isn’t clear but how a lot accomplice award availability Starlux will launch, however hopefully, the airline will a minimum of make awards accessible when it has unsold seats on the final minute.

In the event you do find yourself splurging for a round-trip money ticket from L.A. to Taipei (which begins at round $5,500 in enterprise class and a whopping $18,000 in top notch), now you can credit score your flight to Mileage Plan.

Starlux’s COSMILE loyalty program will quickly enable mileage incomes and redemptions on Alaska, Liu stated, besides, most U.S.-based vacationers can be higher off banking miles with Mileage Plan.

Starlux isn’t at present a member of a serious airline alliance, although “becoming a member of an alliance is all the time our objective,” stated Liu. Of the three main alliances, Starlux would appear to be finest fitted to Oneworld, presumably as a “Join” member.

As talked about within the disclosure above, Starlux offered TPG with a free round-trip business-class ticket for the inaugural L.A. to Taipei flight, however all opinions expressed listed here are mine alone.

Apparently, the first-class cabin went out fully empty on my flight. I inquired a couple of last-minute improve on the check-in desk, hoping for the same end result to my latest Air France La Premiere expertise.

I used to be shocked when the agent instructed me the astronomical charges:

• Economic system to premium economic system: $1,000.
• Premium economic system to enterprise class: $3,000.
• Enterprise class to top notch: $5,000.

Suffice to say, I caught with enterprise class.

Starlux Airways enterprise class floor expertise

Whereas most flight experiences start on the check-in desk, this one was particular.

To have a good time the inaugural, Starlux hosted an invite-only media occasion on the Flight Path Museum and Studying Heart, which is situated adjoining to the final aviation space of Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX).

The occasion started with speeches from the airline’s chairman, CEO and different companions. The road that caught with me most was the chairman’s imaginative and prescient that “luxurious shouldn’t be the unique expertise of the elite however available to everybody [on Starlux].”

After the speeches, the airline previewed its upcoming tie-up with the Los Angeles Clippers and Dodgers. When the partnership begins in June, you’ll discover Clippers- and Dodgers-themed meals and branding all through the airplane on flights from L.A. to Taipei.

The media occasion concluded with a stroll down the purple carpet to the two-week-old Starlux Airbus A350, registered B-58503, that had simply landed from Taipei and can be heading again there later that night with me onboard.

After a quick tour of the airplane’s 4 cabins, I used to be much more excited for my 14-hour flight — the business-class seats seemed extra spectacular in individual than they did in renderings.

5 hours later, I used to be on my approach to LAX’s Tom Bradley Worldwide Terminal to start the Starlux business-class expertise.

I rapidly discovered the airline’s check-in counters situated in row B — it was the one space with extra workers than passengers.

The precedence business-class counter had no line, and my boarding cross was issued inside a couple of minutes. (Simply notice that Starlux’s check-in desks don’t open till about three hours earlier than the flight — some passengers acquired there too early and had been pissed off by the wait.)

My solely gripe in regards to the check-in expertise is that Starlux doesn’t but take part in TSA Precheck. The airline is supposedly engaged on a tie-in, however till then, you’ll have to clear commonplace safety at LAX, a course of that took me round half-hour on account of how busy the terminal will get earlier than the late-night departure financial institution of transpacific flights.

As soon as airside, I made my approach to the Oneworld business-class lounge, which is situated simply up a set of escalators in the primary departure corridor.

That’s the place Starlux’s business-class passengers can calm down earlier than their flight, however I definitely wouldn’t suggest arriving early to camp on the market.

The excellent news is that with over 600 seats, the practically 42,000-square-foot lounge doesn’t endure from overcrowding even throughout peak intervals. There are many seating choices, starting from couches to particular person recliners to coworking tables.

You’ll be able to even calm down on a round sofa surrounding an digital fire.

That stated, the remainder of the lounge expertise could be finest described as “ok.” The buffet featured an assortment of three ready salads and three scorching entrees, none of which seemed too appetizing.

The bogs and bathe rooms are situated within the far again nook of the lounge, and whereas they had been clear, they weren’t essentially the most spacious or luxurious.

So far as worldwide lounges at LAX go, this one is in the midst of the pack. It’s not practically as drabby because the Korean Air lounge, but it surely’s additionally inferior to the Star Alliance Lounge, which options an outside terrace and extra pure gentle.

I’ve heard significantly better issues about Starlux’s Galactic Lounge in Taipei, so I’m trying ahead to checking that out on my return journey.

I spent the remainder of my time earlier than the 12:10 a.m. boarding name wandering across the terminal, which I discover to be one of many nicest in America.

I acquired to the gate a bit early to see if there have been any festivities occurring, however other than just a few hanging posters, you wouldn’t have essentially identified that this was Starlux’s inaugural U.S. departure. I suppose the airline saved the celebration restricted to the outbound service from Taipei (and the media occasion).

That stated, loads of passengers knew what was occurring; many had been lined up in opposition to the glass home windows snapping photos of the airplane. Some even got here from the other gate throughout the corridor — an EVA Air departure to Taipei — to seize some pictures, too.

The joy continued as soon as I acquired onboard, as I noticed lots of my fellow flyers taking movies and posing for photos within the new cabins.

As for me, my instant focus was on testing out each nook and cranny of this brand-new business-class product.

Starlux Airways enterprise class cabin and seat

Starlux’s Airbus A350 includes a single seven-row business-class cabin situated between the primary and second exit doorways on the airplane.

The 26 seats are organized in a reverse herringbone 1-2-1 configuration, giving every flyer direct aisle entry with privateness.

Starlux determined to market the bulkhead row of the business-class cabin as top notch, however there aren’t any curtains separating the cabin. Quite, the 4 first-class suites are demarcated by greater privateness partitions and sliding doorways.

At first look, I used to be struck by how visually interesting the cabin was.

From the gold headrest accents to the illuminated seat quantity panels to the flower-themed design on the galley wall, Starlux enterprise class definitely exudes a way of understated luxurious.

Furthermore, the dimmable facet lamps at every seat contrasted superbly with the darkish grey and brown tones of the seat finishes.

Mixed with the temper lighting and the shortage of overhead bins above the middle seats, this is among the nicest business-class cabins I’ve seen. (The one draw back is that the overhead bins above the window seats had been overstuffed.)

Don’t neglect to take a whiff of the cabin as soon as onboard — the airline partnered with fragrance producer P.Seven for a customized “Residence within the Air” perfume that it sprays onboard its planes.

Collins could also be finest identified for its fashionable Tremendous Diamond seat discovered on many main airways, together with American and British Airways, however this next-generation product raises the bar for the business-class expertise.

Many facets of the seat design might be acquainted when you’ve flown on Etihad’s Airbus A350 or within the British Airways Membership Suite.

The 21-inch-wide seat was snug, and you could possibly regulate the seat and its lighting utilizing the 4.7-inch touchscreen panel situated on the armrest.

The seat additionally featured a singular “Zero-G” place, which was supposedly developed primarily based on NASA’s impartial physique posture specs to assist alleviate fatigue.

Similar to the Tremendous Diamond seat, there’s a small storage compartment that may be unlatched alongside the facet desk. It’s not that massive or deep, so don’t anticipate to maintain greater than a pockets and AirPods within it.

That stated, the brand new Starlux seat options one of many largest and deepest storage closets I’ve ever seen in enterprise class. It opens on the push of a button and has loads of room for your entire unfastened gadgets. It might simply match an iPad, however not a laptop computer.

I liked the gold-lined end, the built-in lamp and the big selfie mirror on this closet — three design decisions that present Starlux actually paid consideration to the small print.

Lastly, there was a small, uncovered storage compartment alongside the facet of the seat close to the footwell and literature pocket, which was the proper place to maintain my amenity package in the course of the flight.

One other enchancment over the Tremendous Diamond seat was the armrest design, which not solely may very well be raised or lowered but it surely additionally may very well be moved ahead to enlarge the floor space of the mattress by a minimum of six inches.

When it was time to sleep, the seat transformed right into a 77-inch-long mattress on the push of a button, however maybe the largest enchancment with the Components suite was the noticeably bigger footwell space.

Personally, I had no hassle getting six hours of uninterrupted sleep throughout my flight.

Whereas many airways have put in doorways in enterprise class, the Starlux suite sports activities one of many tallest doorways I’ve seen. It rose 50 inches excessive from the ground.

I booked my flight on the final minute, and sadly, no window seats had been accessible. I wasn’t initially trying ahead to being a solo flyer sitting within the center part, however the privateness panel between the middle seats (which defaults into the locked place) saved me shielded from my neighbor all the flight.

In actual fact, at 18 inches excessive, the privateness divider gave the impression to be a lot taller than many present merchandise within the skies.

Similar to the Tremendous Diamond seat, the bi-fold tray desk could be prolonged from beneath the leisure monitor. It measured 16 inches huge and 18.5 inches lengthy, and I appreciated the faux-wood design that Starlux selected right here.

The Starlux A350 can be the primary of its type to function electronically dimmable home windows.

I performed round with the home windows whereas we had been on the bottom, and I discovered the slider controls to be intuitive and responsive, much more so than the comparable system on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Sadly, Starlux did not set up private air nozzles on its A350. The passenger service unit above every seat solely featured a lightweight and a digital seatbelt and a no-smoking signal.

With out overhead bins over the center seats, the studying lights shine from method above, which may very well be distracting in case your neighbor makes use of their gentle at night time.

There are three properly appointed toilets shared between the 30 first- and business-class passengers. Two of them are situated subsequent to row 8, so I’d keep away from seats 8D and 8G in any respect prices — the toilet door basically opens straight into these seats.

The opposite bathroom is situated within the ahead galley. It’s a tiny bit bigger than the opposite two, however all three of them function touchless sinks, an association of inexperienced succulents and a few further facilities, reminiscent of Huygens hand cream and moisturizer, in addition to fabric towels and floss picks.

True to the airline’s mission, Starlux’s business-class seats are a number of the most luxurious within the sky. It is probably not the Qatar Qsuite or ANA The Room, however Starlux enterprise class is definitely up there as the most effective merchandise flying round.