Fly in Singapore Airlines Premium Economy seats for free?
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 planned for 2024 that includes amenity kits and food/beverage options. I have recently managed to select them for free and reviewed them on my short flight to Jakarta. This is possible on a couple of regional routes. With that, I think it will be helpful to share a little about my process and how to get these seats for free. It might not be much, but it’s definitely more comfy than economy!
Singapore Airlines Premium Economy Cabin
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 the A380, A350 Long Haul variant and the 777 planes. There 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.
Singapore Airlines A350 Long Haul & 777 Planes
Singapore Airlines uses these two planes for certain regional routes as fillers between their long-haul planes with the spare capacity. As a result, these seats are available, but Singapore Airlines does not offer or sell the Premium Economy cabin. It is just being offered as special seats as part of the Economy Class cabin, something like extra leg room seats. The routes may change from time to time, given that it depends on where SQ uses these planes. Some of the usual routes include KL, Jakarta, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Male.
The A350 LH comes with 24 PY seats, and the 777 comes with 28 PY seats for you to try your luck in getting them.
How to get Premium Economy seats for free?
There are two ways to get these seats for free. To select in advance for the flight, a PPS Club or Solitaire PPS Club member can do so with all seat selection fees waived, including these seats in the Premium Economy cabin. They can do so at the time of booking and at any time after. Do take note if you are flying economy on regional routes. For all other passengers, you will have to pay to select in advance. The other way is to aim for the seats when check-in opens at the 48-hour mark. At this point, all seats available are open for selection. This includes empty PY seats. It can be really worthwhile to take the effort to do so straight away when it opens. In reality, it might be slightly more challenging to do so since SATS will, without reason, block off certain seats even when they are empty. It is left to the whim of the duty manager. I struggled with getting one, even when there are plenty of empty seats. I even head down to the airport to get it sorted out. 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.
Paying a Seat Selection Fee instead?
If you would like to secure one in advance and you are not a PPS club member, the only way to do so is to pay for it. Do note that seat selection fees on Singapore Airlines flights are in USD. It will then be converted to the currency of your departure city. There is a slight discount for Krisflyer and elite members. PY seats are segregated into normal PY seats and extra legroom PY seats, which cost even more. You can find the pricing below.
| Zone | Status | Standard | Extra Legroom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore to Band 1 | NIL | 30 USD | 50 USD |
| e.g Hanoi, HCM, KL, Jakarta | Krisflyer | 28.50 USD | 47.50 USD |
| Krisflyer Elite Silver | 27 USD | 45 USD | |
| Krisflyer Elite Gold | 25.50 USD | 42.50 USD | |
| Singapore to Band 2 | NIL | 55 USD | 90 USD |
| e.g Male | Krisflyer | 52.25 USD | 85.50 USD |
| Krisflyer Elite Silver | 49.50 USD | 81 USD | |
| Krisflyer Elite Gold | 46.75 USD | 76.50 USD |
Conclusion
In reality, if you want it for free, it does not work that smoothly! SATS practice is unpredictable, and it doesn’t follow the rules that SQ has laid out. SQ also doesn’t enforce it well. Once the seats are open for free, it also means that the flights are under the airport control, which is SATS. Singapore Airlines or Krisflyer’s hands are tied. It does feel good and enjoyable to get a little upgrade on your short regional flights. You will get an elevated hardware. I am looking forward to trying this out once again on the next earliest opportunity to see if my experience is a little smoother.
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