The Singapore Airlines Premium Economy Class cabin gets less attention that its Business Class and First Class / Suites counterparts. That’s probably because while the product does rate positively compared with similar offerings from other airlines, there’s no lounge access, no significant improvement in privacy, no flat-bed, no bells and whistles.
Whether it’s a seat product that interests you or not however, there are good reasons to know which Singapore Airlines routes and specific flights have a Premium Economy cabin installed and which don’t.
Click here to view our full guide covering which Singapore Airline routes feature at least one flight with a Premium Economy cabin, and exactly which flights on those routes do and don’t have one.
Why is it important?
Assuming you don’t actually want to fly in Premium Economy (you may well do and that’s fine – our guide is perfect for you), the real advantage to this information is all about upgrades.
As most of you know rather than using KrisFlyer miles for a redemption directly into Business Class you can buy an Economy Flexi ticket and use a lower number of miles to upgrade to Business. However, all upgrades on Singapore Airlines are one-class only, so you can only do this on flights where no Premium Economy cabin is fitted.
On flights with a Premium Economy cabin you’ll have to hold a Premium Economy Standard or Flexi ticket to apply the one-class KrisFlyer miles upgrade into Business Class.
On the other hand if you wish to purchase a Business Standard or Flexi fare and upgrade into First / Suites using miles, our guide on which SIA routes and flights have a First Class cabin should help.
Other uses
Let’s say you’re a KrisFlyer Elite Gold member and have earned the ‘Short-haul Advance Upgrade’ voucher through the new Elite Gold Rewards program launched this week.
If you have a commercial ticket flying on an eligible fare code from Singapore to Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia & Laos (or vice-versa), or Melbourne to/from Wellington and Moscow to/from Stockholm, you may wish to apply the voucher to upgrade your booking by one class.
This is where flights with Premium Economy come in. If you were hoping to upgrade an eligible Economy Class fare and instead fly one sector in Business Class using your voucher between Stockholm and Moscow, you’re out of luck. As this flight is equipped with a Premium Economy Class cabin, and the upgrade voucher is good for a single class upgrade only, you’ll only make it into Premium Economy.
In order to upgrade to Business on this flight using your voucher you would have to buy an eligible Premium Economy fare from the outset.
Another new perk for KrisFlyer Elite Gold members clearing 100,000 Elite miles in a membership year on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir flights is the Premium Economy Advance Upgrade voucher, allowing you to upgrade an Economy Standard or Flexi booking to Premium Economy.
Here our Premium Economy routes and flights guide will help you easily identify if any flights on your proposed routing actually feature a Premium Economy cabin, which is somewhat necessary if this voucher is to be of any use to you!
It will then help you know which flight numbers to choose, assuming not all the services on your chosen route have Premium Economy.
The same principle applies for Solitaire PPS Club members using their Standby Upgrade vouchers and / or Advance Upgrade vouchers. These will only get you a one cabin class upgrade, subject to a booking in a valid fare code, so you’ll want to know if you’ll have to book into Premium Economy to get a Business Class upgrade, or which flights to choose without a Premium Economy cabin whereby you can instead buy a valid Economy Class ticket and upgrade straight to Business Class.
Click here to view our route-by-route and flight-by-flight guide for Singapore Airlines Premium Economy
(Cover Image: Singapore Airlines)
hi, i clicked on your various links to the premium economy routes and flights guide but they all bring me to the business class one! is there one available for premier economy? i want to do just what you’ve mentioned in your article – use an award to upgrade from economy to business!
Same here. There is no clue as to which flights operate PREMIUM ECONMY