Scoot Is Leasing A Singapore Airlines 777 – But Is It Good Or Bad News For Passengers?

Yes - there was a new round of issues which also affected Singapore Airlines fleet - so along with the MAX issues have necessitated many adjustments to be made across SQ TR and MI flights, including Scoot A320s operating to Perth, A330s having their leases extended and the existing fleet worked harder with swaps on many flights across the region

Good news is currently the flights are back being operated by the 1-2-1 config with flat beds, so that would be a pretty good upgrade for you - though if it switches back to the regional 2-2-2 config it's still an improvement in my view. Just remember to bring some entertainment as the IFE may not be on (on my flight it was moving map only)

So an update on our Scoot/SQ flight in Dec 2018. We got to Changi airport, three and half hours ahead of flight time. We were third in queue. Discovered later that we could have just queued at the BizScoot counter instead (was only one queue when we got there). We got our prebooked Scoot Biz tickets but as the plane was different from original seating configuration our son sat a couple of seats away from us - not a biggie given it was proper SQ biz class seats, reclining to flat - nice! And he's a grown lad:) So one economy meal was given with free water - no grog. No other freebies, no power supply, no movies - just the same as if we would have been in Scoot. So i would def book again on BizScoot if they continue to 'upgrade' us to SQ proper reclining Biz class seats again.

I actually just flew Scoot for the very first time this past Sunday, and here is my experience:

Flew TR897 from ICN to TPE one way after I used my CX free stopover J ticket via Alaska redemption from HKG to ICN. Choose this flight mainly for its great departure time (10:35pm), so I can have the entire day in Seoul.

Bought this ticket for a middle of the road scoot price of ~$145 USD the lowest they go for is ~$102 if you book early). Like most low cost carriers, you have to pay extra for your checked luggage, so I chose "Fly+Bag", which adds about ~$18 to the base ticket. I did not choose fly+bag+eat for another ~$14 extra (which gives you a hot entree that you can pre-select and a drink) because 1) I would have already ate dinner, 2) That's way too much $$$ for airplane food, and 3) The picture of the teriyaki chicken Andrew posted didn't look appetizing~ :o). Next was seat selection and the "privilege" to pay for "any seat" you select. Regular seats at 31in pitch was ~$5, the price was the same for either aisle, window, or middle. This is drastically cheaper than Spirit and Frontier. Next tier up was the "super seats" that offered 34in pitch for about $13. These were mainly the "scoot silence" seats that's mostly in the front section of coach, where no one under age of 12 is allowed to sit. Lastly were the "stretch seats" for ~$26, these are the bulkhead and exit row seats with a reduced seat width due to tray table in the armrest. My plan was not to choose a seat at booking, and see if Travis' strategy on Frontier also works on Scoot (more on that later). The price also included an annoying "processing fee" of ~$8 that you do not see until after you entered your credit card number. I felt that was sketchy as some people would probably not have noticed it before they click on purchase, not to mention the fact that people aren't buying through a third party booking site.

On a side note, there was a ~$175 "Scoot Biz" price available for awhile, which includes a wider reclining leather seat, 30 KG of luggage, dedicated check-in line, early boarding, food, two drinks, free in-seat power (economy have to pay), and the ability to stream entertainment for free if you brought your own device. That's actually a great deal, but unfortunately it was no longer available and increased about $150 when I was ready to book with my confirmed date.

I was hesitant to fly an unknown LCC at first because leg room and seat width are very important to me. But after seeing the seat map on seat guru, I was surprised to find the seats are 18in in width and the basic seats have a 31in pitch, which is bearable for a 2.5-3 hour flight. The full service carriers (KE, OZ, BR, CI, CX, TG) all have expensive OW prices. There were several other LCCs operating the route (Jin, Eastar, Jeju, T'Way), but their seats are either abysmally configured or departing very early in the morning. With all the circumstances, Scoot it was for me.

I bought my ticket two days before the flight, and a search on experflyer about 48 hours prior to departure showed the entire coach has sold out. At about 36 hours prior to departure, the whole flight showed zero including business class, and the scoot website confirmed it with no seats available for sale. I would periodically check the seat map availability after I purchased my ticket, and it appears that most passengers decided not to pay for for advanced seat assignment, as most seats show unassigned. This is the case even after the flight sold out. Not wanting to get stuck in a middle seat, I was planning on showing up a bit early at the airport to see if I can get a better seat. With seat selection price that low, I normally would just prepay to lock it down. But since it's my first time flying the airline, I wanted to get a better understanding of how their system worked for future reference.

About six hours before my departure, I logged online again and saw that the airline had automatically assigned me a middle seat (keep in mind I was trying the frontier trick and never checked in). It was then I figured they would probably charge me a fee to change my seat at the airport anyways, so I decided to change my seat and pay for a scoot super seat in the scoot silence section. Paying for a bulkhead seat would put my total price over the low business fare I saw earlier, so I couldn't let that happen on the principle alone. I also have a larger than average ass, and don't really like the restricted seat widths on bulkhead seats. Paid ~$13, and was relieved that they didn't charge another CC processing fee for the separate charge. It also seemed like you can pay for all the extra fees (additional luggage, food, seats) after booking for the same price, unlike spirit and Frontier where the prices go up for the ancillary fees if you don't pay for them during the initial reservation process.

I was one of the last passengers to board, and was surprised to find that both scoot biz and scoot silence were only about 1/3 full, even though the flight was billed as "sold out". My $13 seat selection investment turned out to be a poor man's lie flat in an empty row to myself, winner~

The seat cushion was very lacking in support as with most LCCs. I would be OK with flying scoot in the future for a flight no longer than three hours in a super seat if the price is right.