My first ever Singapore Airlines Premium Economy flight Review! 

Singapore Airlines launched its Premium Economy Class in May 2015. This added a bridge between economy and business class for mid and long-haul flights. The cabin is found on most of their wide bodies besides the 787 and 350 MH planes. It offers wider seats, more recline, better legroom, BTC meals, champagne and larger screens. It is already a second generation with a revamp in 2024 with amenity kits and food/beverage options. I have not tried it before. It is rare for me to get the opportunity, as I do not believe in splurging for it. It can be said as SQ’s newest offering if that is a thing. It’s always either economy or business class for me. Let’s see it this way, even on a long haul, in PY, you are still not going to be able to lie flat and sleep. You will still arrive with a backache. I always go with the mindset to go for the cheapest available option or go all out. PY is in the middle of nowhere. PY is more to the economic side of things rather than business. Just using London as an example, PY is around 2x the price of Economy but 2.5x cheaper than Business. US ULH flights are an exception and, in fact, rather good for clocking status. I was flying to Jakarta and managed to select PY seats while in Economy. This is available on some routes. I will share more about this in another post. I booked my ticket via Spontaneous Escape and paid 5600 Miles and 65.20 SGD in taxes. I was originally getting a Scoot flight. At my valuation with Cardup, the earn rate of 1.79%, which makes this ticket more or less the same as Scoot. I do understand that this is a very short flight duration, and I might not get the full experience. Furthermore, I will only get the hardware and not the full package. Let’s see how this is. I guess I will be going on my first-ever “premium economy” flight.

Checking In

I have already checked in earlier online when it opens. I aim to select one of those PY seats that are open for selection within 48 hours when check-in opens. My flight was rather empty since it was on a Tuesday early morning. KF told me that there are still empty seats, and I head down to the airport a day ahead to get it sorted out since I could not do it online. Sadly, the T3 SATS manager refused to budge and apparently claimed that the seats are taken up. When pushed further, he claimed that “these seats are paid for and taken by families, but they have not chosen the seat” WOW! Any seasoned flyers will know that this is a straight-up lie. Please tell me how I can pay for seats on SQ without selecting a particular one. Ridiculous! Thankfully, the night before, the lovely check-in agent at Terminal 2 assisted me and reassigned me the seats. 

I went back in the morning at around 5am to check my bags in and to get the boarding passes. I could use the dedicated check-in counters in T2 for Elite Silver members. It is not much of a premium since there is only one counter, and you can get some queues over here. I spent the rest of my time over in the SATS Premier Lounge and then over to the Natureland Spa.  

Boarding Process

Technically speaking, there are only two cabin classes on this flight, business and economy. SQ isn’t selling PY on this route. We just get to select the seats. Everything else is still economy class. I got assigned gate E22. Do remember to cater to security, given that they are all located at the individual counters. Boarding is scheduled for 6.40am, which seems way too early. That turned out to be very true. I got to the gate at boarding time, and the gate had barely opened. Boarding in reality started at 7am with status holders and premium cabin invited to board first, as well as those needing assistance. Then it goes to the rest of the plane. Do note that you don’t get any premium economy boarding status for this particular flight. I still managed to get some good pictures of the PY seats and cabin. We were warmly greeted by the crew at the door before turning right.

This is a very heavy PPS route. It is nice to see the XMAS decor up and running. What a joke from the SATS DM. Guess what? There were no families of 3, and we ended up with 6 empty seats in PY. A blatant lie! We had a slight delay and push back at around 7.50am and were airborne soon.  

Singapore Airlines A350 LH Premium Economy Class

The A350 PY Cabin is a cosy one. I do have to say that at first look, it looks pretty slick and nice with the grey finishes. There is only a single cabin of 24 seats here. It is in a 2-4-2 configuration over three rows. It might be slightly dated as of now, but it still looks well-maintained, at least on the plane that I am on. I do hope to see a facelift or a new product being launched together with the new planes late this year. These are ZIM Flugsitz seats, with JPA Design customising them to SQ preferences. The seats are in grey leather with some orange trimmings. You also have a much plusher pillow than in economy class. The seats are used on short regional flights like this to Jakarta as well as the world’s longest flight on the ULR to New York. The seats are 19.5 inches wide with 38 inches of seat pitch and 8 inches of recline. It comes with an extendable leg rest and a drinks holder platform in the middle of the armrest. Do also take note that the armrest can’t be moved for most of the seats. You can get an entire row and lie flat. 

The best seats are definitely in the first row and the bulkhead rows, since they come with even more extra legroom. Seats on either side will be best for couples. On proper PY flights and if your flight timing is above 7 hours, SQ do provide an amenity kit from OUT OF THE WOODS with eye shades, lip balm and slippers. 

I will be seated over in the last row, row 33. I got two of the middle seats. Let me give you a brief introduction to the seats. Right in front, you have a 13.3-inch Full HD screen paired with the iconic KrisWorld in-flight entertainment system. The screen can be adjusted to different angles, which will come in handy if you are sitting at a different height. Wi-Fi is also available for KrisFlyer members. On both sides of the TV screen, you can find a USB power outlet as well as a coat hanger. They do not have any of the newer USB-C ports. The TV is also touchscreen. 

Below the TV screen, you can find reading materials and a pouch, which will allow you to place some of your small and loose items, such as a laptop. You have a leg rest if you prefer that; if not, you could just stretch out under the seat in front of you. The leg space is very spacious, even for my size. My knees never touched the seat in front of me, no matter how I slouched.

In the middle of both seats, you have additional compartments for you to store some small and loose items. Maybe a spectacle box or so. Left on the seat, you can already find a plush pillow which is larger and plusher than those found in economy class. There is also a blanket pre-left on it too. 

There are two buttons on the left of the seats. These manual buttons are the controls for the leg rest and the recline. The seats do recline pretty well, and I can imagine slouching into this for a good 3 to 4 hours. This will be a nice seat to fly for mid-hauls. It is as good as US domestic first class. 

On the other side of the seat, you can find the remote for the seat, which can be used to control the in-flight entertainment system as well. I prefer using the touchscreen instead. The location of the remote is also not well placed. It is very easy to accidentally touch it with the side of your legs. 

You can adjust the headrest both vertically and horizontally. There is also a reading lamp on the right. 

In the middle of both seats, we can find a small drinks holder or platform for you to place your small items, as well as a glass of drinks. With Premium Economy, the crew usually do a welcome drinks service. That won’t be available today. Speaking about this, SQ should definitely bring back welcome drinks in Economy. These are the little things that make an airline world-class. 

The table comes out from the armrest. It is of a good size and will be able to fit a laptop to work on or to dine from. When the table is out, it is impossible to get out of the seat. Charging ports are located under the seat.

To sum it up, you still won’t be able to get out of your seat without crossing over the person sitting outside, even in PY.  There are some differences between the economy and PY. The pillows and blankets are different. There are no dedicated toilets for PY; it might just be for this route.  

Meal Service

With a flight time this short, the crew started the service immediately upon levelling off with the seat belt sign turned off. It is important to take note that there is no PY service on this route. While you get the hardware, the software is all economy class. This meant that all the food and drinks were the same as the rest of the plane. You can find the menu for the flight here. Special meals were served first before the crew brought over the cart. Everything was served at once. There were two options for breakfast. I went with the Scrambled Eggs with Herbs and Chicken Sausage. This was served with creamed mushrooms, paprika-scented potatoes, and baked beans. They are located in one of those new eco-friendly cardboard boxes where everything is put together. It was pretty delicious. I really love the mushrooms and potatoes. They were flavourful. The sausage was alright, but the scrambled eggs were way overcooked.

10 minutes after the plates and trays were cleared, we were already preparing for landing. So this is really a very short flight. 

Conclusion

What a short flight this was! I could do with another hr or so. This is a lovely seat to fly on. It will be great for regional flights. I am lucky to be able to try this at the cost of the economy. If you are flying long, it might be something worth considering for the extra comfort. We barely had an hour of flying time. This is really one of the shorter routes to enjoy this. Simply enjoy your meal with 5 to 10 mins of cruising time, and you will already be preparing for landing. The PY seats make the effort to hunt them on such routes worth it. Jakarta is also a very elite-heavy route, and it will not be easy to get them. This is technically not a full PY experience since I only get the hardware. The soft product is all Economy. I would love to try a true PY flight to review it soon. Perhaps an HKG would be nice. In general, I would love SQ to improve the Wi-Fi connectivity. It will be nice if we can already use it on the ground. What an upgrade from the Scoot, which I was originally getting.