Flying Premium Economy on Singapore Airlines A380

Fate and circumstance led me to recently purchase Premium Economy seats on Singapore Airlines’ A380 from Singapore to Zurich return. Fate and circumstance being that I was booking stuff last minute.

I’m a bit anal about airplane seats. I know what I want. I want First Class. But I can’t. It’s all about the Benjamins.
So I have Economy or Premium Economy (or whatever the airline is calling it) to choose from. Flying is hell, especially long haul. So any sense of added comfort or service can be very welcome. I will choose different airlines based on what seats and seat configurations are available. Yeah, that’s right.

Singapore Airlines’ Premium Economy is pretty expensive. Take for example, a flight in June 2017 to London below:

I would estimate you probably will be paying double-ish the price of Economy seats on any of the airlines (obviously that will go up as the months go on towards flight date). If you’re lucky. Seatguru has made a comparison list of all Premium Economy seats available on airlines worldwide which I have embedded at the end of this document. It’s an interesting read.

So what do you get with the extra (EXTRA) money spent on your seat? Inches yo, inches.
38″ inches seat recline instead of 32″ in Economy.
19.5″ instead of 19″ seat width in Economy. Now that may not read as much but the armrests in between seats in Premium Economy are huge and puts an end to the great elbow wars of the 21st century.
You also get two USB ports instead of one! Along with the standard power port too. Food wise, the only advantage is you can pre-book a set meal before you fly. Still the same airline food quality. Although I got a good piece of beef tenderloin on one of the legs.
The in-flight entertainment, naturally, is the same but the screen is 13.3 inches as opposed to 10.6/11.1 inches in Economy and they also give you over-ear noise cancelling headphones.
There is also a small amenity kit handed out with socks, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Boarding wise, you can avail of priority boarding and separate check-in counters (at least in Zurich we walked straight up to Premium Economy Check-In whilst guffawing at the throngs of Economy class passengers queuing up, I didn’t see a specific Premium Economy check-in at Singapore but it was quick anyways).

Specific experiences on these flights?

It was fine. On the way over SIN-ZRH the screens would flake out once in a while and on the way back we saw some passengers’ screens never work at all. So I think they have an issue there. I would not have been happy if my screen didn’t work at all!
I’m in two minds about non touchscreen displays which Singapore Airlines A380 has. On the one hand it stops people from banging your head with their excellent film choices from the seat behind you but on the other hand it’s cumbersome to twist your hand down to the remote every time to adjust volume or change what you’re watching.
The headphone sockets are pretty inconveniently located (behind and in between seats) and every time you take your tray out of the armrest your headphone cable gets caught up. Bad design in my opinion.
I didn’t find the leg rest and the foot rest added any comfort to my 5’11” skeleton, if I was a little shorter, maybe. Stretching out without them in place was good.
It also seems that the aisle seats C and D (not sure about H on the other side) have an inconvenient seat support from the seat in front that greatly restricts on foot space (see above video).
I guess the feeling of the small Premium Economy cabin space is nice, it doesn’t feel as mooooo cattle cart-esque as the seats behind. Although you have to walk all the way back to the Economy toilets so there’s that traipse through all that humanity has to offer.

Is it all worth it?

The A380 is a spacious plane as it is. It’s probably the best Economy seat experience you will get anyway so you really have to figure out what you want and what you can handle. Are you traveling as a couple? The two seat format by the window in Premium Economy can be nice (not having to deal with anybody else in your “area”) and the 28 seat cabin area can feel a little more spacious than the rest of Economy. When the person in front reclines fully it really does invade your space quite a bit though.
Service wise, there’s no real difference. Singapore Airlines is always going to have a very attentive and high level of service throughout. Don’t expect anything on the level of First Class Suites!

Would I choose Premium Economy again? Yes, of course, anything to alleviate the torture of long haul economy class flying will be entertained. IF it’s within economical boundaries ie. would it be cheaper to pay my way through flight school, rent a plane, and fly myself?

Here’s Seatguru’s Premium Economy Seating comparison which is pretty informative: