This is something a little bit different, but that I thought will be interesting regardless, even if it’s not business class.

1. The case for premium economy
2. We’re flying Singapore Airlines in Premium Economy to Bangkok
3. Why we booked these flights
4. Why is Singapore Airlines premium economy so cheap? The secret…
5. It’s not just NYC to Bangkok that has these prices
6. Summary

The case for premium economy

So far I’ve pretty much only been writing about flying in business class, but of course it’s not the only way to get to your destination. The truth is that premium economy these days becomes a very popular alternative: clearly more spacious and comfortable than economy, without breaking the bank as much as business class will. Do you have your own suite? of course not, but your seat will probably be wider, you’ll have several inch extra legroom, that also allow more of a recline. The seat will have better padding and depending on the airlines, you may have elevated food options and other amenities. For example, on Japan Airlines (see below) you will get slippers, an eye mask and a toothbrush in premium economy, though the food will be the same as in economy.

In money terms, premium economy is generally about twice as expensive as economy, and about 25-50% the price of business class. In the below examples, flying from New York to Tokyo on the random dates May 1-9, the price differential from economy to premium is indeed about a 100% markup, but to business class it’s 4 times as much, both on Delta…

…and Japan Airlines…

In my opinion, this is where premium economy shines, as you get a significantly better seat, and sometimes better food and amenities as well, while not breaking the bank like in business class. That doesn’t mean the value differential is always better: on transatlantic flights, the differences won’t be as stark as they are for transpacific flights, but in the end it all depends on how you value these sorts of things. But, hopefully this gives you an idea of what you might expect. And certainly on very long flights, if you don’t want to pay for business class, premium economy could be a much more affordable, yet still comfortable way to travel.

We’re flying Singapore Airlines in Premium Economy to Bangkok

So my husband and I will visit his family in Bangkok at the end of this year, and we were looking at ways to travel there. We ultimately settled on flying Singapore Airlines’ premium economy:

We will be flying from JFK to Singapore on the carrier’s Airbus A350-900 in premium economy, have a ~3hr layover before flying in economy on the carrier’s Boeing 787-10 to Bangkok. The way back is similar, flying in economy on the 787-10 to Singapore, we’ll have a 3hr layover, and then fly on premium economy to EWR (rather than JFK). The reason for flying to EWR is because the layovers for the flight to JFK would be at least 11 hours, which seemed kind of crazy.

Premium economy on Singapore Airlines is in a 2-4-2 configuration, and we will be sitting together at the window seats both there and back. Besides a more comfy seat than in economy, we’ll be looking forward to an ‘elevated dining experience’ (this includes Singapore Airlines’ signature “book the cook” the service, which allows you to preorder a meal in advance), a small amenity kit that seems to contain an eye mask, lip balm and slippers in a nice-looking pouch and priority treatment on the ground.

Why we booked these flights

So why did we book these flights? First of all, the truth is that our credit card spend is only so much per month, and while we strategically use our cards for certain spend categories, and acquire new credit cards here and there to boost points at strategic moments, there’s only so much we can do to accumulate points. So, we will need to pay cash for flights here and there.

The question becomes: what flights do you pay with points, and which do you pay with cash? All things considered, you’d probably want to maximize your points and pick to pay with points for a business class seat on a long flight, where you can really get everything out of the experience: a comfortable bed for a good night’s sleep, good and plentiful food and privacy when you need it. So, in that sense, using the points to go to Bangkok would be a great idea.

Part of your ‘homework’ for any points redemption is a search on Google flights to get an idea of the cash fares. Now the truth is that I started doing this already last year, and at the time I had spotted some pleasantly surprising fares from New York to Bangkok.

In economy the best fares were $800-900:

Then, in premium economy, the best prices seemed awfully low at $1300-1400:

And finally, in business class, the best prices were in the $5000-6000 range.

We were not going to shell out $5000+ for business class seats. However, those premium economy prices on Singapore Airlines really caught my eye. $1369 for premium economy on Singapore Airlines is a total steal! Especially when you look at economy class with other carriers: $800 on Korean Air is only in the lowest of the lowest fare class, where you have to pay $50 for a seat reservation… We are two people, so that would mean at least $200 just to pick seats on the flights there and back. Incorporate those extras, and you’re already getting eerily close to premium economy prices on Singapore Airlines.

So, with that in mind, it became painfully obvious that, if were were to pay the cash fare for a flight, this would be a good place to do it. We’d still get elevated comfort on what is definitely a very long flight, without breaking the bank.

Why is Singapore Airlines premium economy so cheap? The secret…

To be clear, Singapore Airlines really is by far the cheapest among its cohort. Just have a look at the rundown of prices on other carriers:

Singapore Airlines sits at the top of the list at $1350. Then, next is $1884 with American/JAL, and a little later, with Finnair, we are already at $2200+. How come Singapore Airlines is a $1000 cheaper than the vast majority of its competitors?

It sounds kind of suspicious, right? Is this some sort of dumbed down version? Are they not giving you food? No premium economy service, perhaps? It took me a bit of time but I finally understood what was going on. The key is in the layout of the plane:

As you can see, the A350 that Singapore Airlines uses is an ‘ultra long range’ version of the A350 (ULR) and is configured in a low-density, uber-premium configuration. It has business class throughout the cabins between doors 1, 2 and 3, and then a large premium economy cabin in-between doors 3 and 4. Meaning: this jet doesn’t even have an economy class cabin, and premium economy is about 2-3 times as large as it normally would be.

On the other hand, if you fly from NYC to SIN on a flight that makes a stop in Frankfurt (which is how we will return from our trip to Switzerland in a few months), you will see that premium economy on those flights is as expensive as its competitors, at $+2300. Those planes do have an economy cabin.

Long story short, I believe the low price of the premium economy tickets comes down to increased premium economy cabin capacity on these particular jets. I have mentioned this in passing above, but let me reiterate that we go right back to economy on the flights between Singapore and Bangkok, since the 787-10’s that we’re flying on do have an economy cabin. So, if we were to select premium economy for the entrie journy, the price would go up, but frankly not by all that much given that the flights between NYC and Singapore are the most expensive part of the journey.

Now, we may still upgrade those flights between Singapore and Bangkok, but who know. I haven’t checked to see how much extra that would be. Given that we did buy the cheapest premium economy fare, we cannot further upgrade to business class if we’d want – though I really don’t think that we’d get a good deal on that anyway.

It’s not just NYC to Bangkok that has these prices

One more note of interest: the A350-900ULR planes don’t fly everywhere, so these prices are not available in every market. You’d need to fly from NYC to Singapore, for instance, but I don’t think you’d need to connect to Bangkok necessarily. For example, these are the flights from NYC to Bali:

And these are the flights from NYC to Hanoi:

Or going to Kuala Lumpur we also see these low prices:

However, a little further afield, these prices don’t hold up. If we want to fly to Hong Kong Singapore Airlines is still on the cheaper end, but the price is significantly higher:

And if you want to fly to Seoul, actually now United is the cheaper option (and also at a journey duration that is 7 hours shorter, mind you):

So, go and ahead and check for yourself where Singapore Airlines premium economy can take you and you may be pleasantly surprised. Of course it’s more expensive than economy, but it guarantees a more comfortable and convenient option without asking you to pay $5000-8000 for business class (base don your final destination).

Summary

My husband and I will be visiting family in Thailand towards the end of his year, and have decided to fly with Singapore Airlines’ premium economy, with a stop in Singapore. The main reason is that it’s such an excellent price for what looks to be a comfortable seat with good food and friendly service. I’m excited to try this product and see what it’s worth. If it works out, we may try it again in the years thereafter.

Finally: does this mean that this is always better than points redemptions? No! You can probably find great value to fly with points to all these destinations – all I’m saying is that if you don’t or can’t use points, Singapore Airlines premium economy could represent good value.