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Best Airlines In The World Comparison

Ultimate Showdown: SQ Versus Best Airlines In The World 2019

profileCherie Tan

Recently, I was told to clear my annual leave and to stop stocking them up.

When I shared my first-world problem with my friend, she said:

“Why don’t you head to somewhere you’ve never been before? Like… Los Angeles!”

She’d just came back from her trip to LA and was talking about it non-stop, trying to convince me to visit the place where Kevjumba resides in.

So I figured that there’s no harm checking out the flight prices and went to SIA’s website to do a quick search on their ticket prices to Los Angeles.

“From S$1,268! That’s quite reasonable…” I mused as I looked at the prices. Considering that LA is at the other end of the world, I thought that it would cost me close to S$2K just to head to the US. (Maybe I’m still living under a rock)

Source: SpongeBob SquarePants | giphy

While doing my research, I also found out that Singapore Airlines won the World’s Best Airline 2019 award!

And yes, this is probably the only time I would willingly opt for the best and probably the safest airline possible, especially since I’m going to be on a plane for over 15 hours.

FYI: I’ve never been on a plane for more than 6.

Wondering which airlines are considered the world’s best? Here’s the top 10:

The World’s Best Airlines 2019

RankingAirlines
1Singapore Airlines
2Air New Zealand
3Qantas
4Qatar Airways
5Virgin Australia
6Emirates
7All Nippon Airways
8EVA Air
9Cathay Pacific
10Japan Airlines

Source: AirlineRatings

How Much Does It Cost To Fly From SIN To LAX Via The World’s Best Airlines?

Back to my not-so-concrete-plans to travel to LA, knowing that it costs S$1.2K to fly to LAX to find meet Kevjumba, I wondered how much it would cost to fly on the other best airlines like Qatar for example.

Here are their prices as compared to Singapore Airlines

 World's Best AirlinesReturn Flight
(SIN to LAX)
Higher or Lower than SQDetails
1Singapore AirlinesFrom S$1,268-Book by 30 Sep 2019
2Air New ZealandDoesn't fly from SIN to LAX
3QantasFrom S$974CheaperTravel by 31 Mar 2020
4Qatar AirwaysFrom S$1,409
(1 stop)
More ExNo Promo
5Virgin AustraliaDoesn't fly from SIN to LAX
6EmiratesFrom S$1,389More ExTravel by 12 Dec 19
7All Nippon AirwaysFrom S$1,050CheaperThrough Skyscanner
8EVA AirFrom S$1,100CheaperNo Promo
9Cathay PacificFrom S$1,300More ExNo Promo

Note: For airlines with no promotions, travel dates used are from 1 Sep to 14 Sep 2019.

And…shucks, I’ve always thought that the middle eastern airlines would cost more and true enough, it’s more expensive to fly with Qatar. The good thing is that – looking at the list – there are cheaper options like ANA, Eva Air, and Qantas!

I’ve got a confession to make. The recent spate of aircraft accidents and planes disappearing has made me slightly paranoid and I’m actually more inclined to fly with Qantas since they were awarded the World’s Safest Airline 2019.

That said, what if things like comfort and peace of mind didn’t matter to you as much? All you care about is just: price, and you want the biggest bang for your buck. Let’s use Skyscanner and Google Flights and see what we get.

Cheapest flights from SIN to LAX using Skyscanner and Google Flights

AirlineLayoversDurationPricePlatform
Air China1 stop24 hours$852Skyscanner
Air China1 stop24 hours$884Google Flights
Xiamen Air2 stops43 hours$919Skyscanner
China Eastern1 stop34 hours$989Skyscanner
China Airlines1 stop23 hours$1,010Skyscanner
ANA and UNITEDNonstop21 hours$1,047Skyscanner
China Airlines1 stop23 hours$1,067Google Flights
Xiamen Air1 stop19 hours$1,069Google Flights

With these lower prices, something’s gotta give – so the travel hours are WAY longer. To put things into perspective, SIA takes 15 hours 45 mins to fly from SIN to LAX.

Back to the list of top 10 world’s best airline 2019, awards were awarded for different aspects of the flight experience, even best in-flight entertainment is considered!

If you’re curious, SIA won best first class (duh).

Awards For Specific Categories

AwardsAirlines
Best First ClassSingapore Airlines
Best Business ClassQatar Airways
Best Premium EconomyAir New Zealand
Best EconomyKorean Air
Best Cabin CrewVirgin Australia
Best CateringQatar Airways
Best LoungesQantas Airways
Best In-Flight EntertainmentEmirates
Regional Airline of the YearQantasLink
Most Improved AirlinePhilippine Airlines
Best Ultra-Low-Cost CarrierVietJet
Best Long-Haul AirlineEmirates (Middle East),
EVA Air (Asia-Pacific),
Lufthansa (Europe), and
Delta (Americas)
Best Low-Cost AirlineWestjet (Americas),
AirAsia/AirAsia X (Asia-Pacific), and
Wizz (Europe)

Our very own Singapore Airlines won ‘Best First Class’ after unveiling their new First Class suites in 2017. They also recently released their very own retail bond that yields about 3.03% p.a. (Psst! Did you get your hands on any?)

On the same note, if you are keen on adding SIA to your investment portfolio, you may want to check out what the Community thinks of SIA (SGX: C6L).

“I personally think that SIA isn’t very profitable due to high staff costs, depreciation and fuel expenses. Weak cashflows…” Read More

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About Cherie Tan
Turning finance into boba-sized pieces. One iced milk boba tea, please!
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