SIA will fly its 777-300ER First Class seats to Jakarta from March 2020

Around this time of year we typically see Singapore Airlines starting to set in stone its flying and aircraft allocation programme for the upcoming summer season, which next year kicks off in late March 2020.

We’ll be extending our First and Business Class seats by route analysis to the end of October 2020 in a month or two, once the summer changes have settled down and the schedule is more likely to be accurate, but one change already loaded did catch our eye and it’s on the airline’s busiest route – Jakarta.

The schedule

The second morning departure from Singapore to Jakarta each day is SQ952, departing at 7.40am. It’s currently flown by the airline’s 3-class 777-300 with the older 2006 First Class seats, 2009 Regional Business Class and an Economy Class cabin.

From 29th March 2020 the 4-class 777-300ER will take over that morning flight, with four of the much more refined and up to date 2013 First Class seats.

Singapore to Jakarta

From 29th March 2020

After a 1-hour turnaround in Jakarta the aircraft heads back to Singapore as SQ955 at 9.25am, touching down at Changi in time for lunch at 12.15pm.

Speaking of lunch, a post-flight visit to The Private Room after SQ955 might be just the ticket, especially if you’re travelling with hand luggage only.

Jakarta to Singapore

From 29th March 2020

Aside from introduction of the 777-300ER as highlighted, other changes you may notice here from the winter schedule are:

• SQ958/959 changes from a 777-300 to a 3-class A350 (without First Class)
• SQ966/967 changes from a 777-300 to a 3-class A350 (without First Class)
• SQ968/951 changes from a 777-200 (without First Class) to a 777-300 (with 2006 F)

For First Class fans on the Jakarta route the equipment swaps mean a net loss of 12 First Class seats per day in each direction from 29th March 2020, however two additional 3-class A350s in addition to the 777-300ER service means a big shift to the 2013 Business Class seat on this route, which will feature on five of the nine daily flights.

It seems strange to have over 50% of flights on this route featuring the long-haul Business Class seats (isn’t this what Regional Business Class is for?), but short flights like Jakarta often slot nicely between the long-haul assignments for these aircraft, which is why the airline does this.

2013 First Class

This is the newest First Class seat (i.e. not Suite) in the Singapore Airlines fleet, and is exclusive to the 27 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, predominantly flying to the USA, Europe, North Asia, Japan and Australia.

Though there are some shorter flights with this cabin (Hong Kong is currently the shortest, if you don’t count Sydney-Canberra), it’s predominantly used for long-haul flights.

We flew the 2013 First cabin from San Francisco to Singapore via Hong Kong last year and loved the experience of the newer seat and intimate single-row cabin, so much so in fact we chose it for our London trip later this month over the 2006 Suites on the A380 (both were available).

You can read our full review of the San Francisco to Singapore flights, though of course the service offered on the short Jakarta route won’t quite be as extensive and we can’t see you managing to get the bed down for long!

Premium Economy?

The 777-300ER is also fitted with 28 Premium Economy Class seats, however that cabin class is not sold on the Jakarta route and in common with the 3-class A350s these seats are included in the Economy Class capacity and selectable only by Elite and PPS Club passengers.

If you’re lucky on a very busy flight in Economy Class, you might be allocated a seat in the Premium cabin even without any status, but there is no service differentiation.

KrisFlyer redemptions

The KrisFlyer miles requirements for flights between Singapore and Jakarta are as follows.

First
Saver	Advantage
27,500	52,500
Business
Saver	Advantage
19,000	35,000
Economy
Saver	Advantage
7,500	15,000

Singapore Airlines seems to mostly have loaded one saver award on each of the 777-300ER flights on this route during the first month of operation, though it’s not impossible to get two on the same flight even in this four-seat cabin. We managed it from San Francisco last year and to London this year.

27,500 miles now represents the cheapest award rate available on the Singapore Airlines network for the 2013 First Class seat, but it’s not exactly what we’d call good value.

Earlier this year we updated our required KrisFlyer miles per minute analysis and it probably won’t surprise you this short route doesn’t fare well in value by that basic metric.

In fact it’s the worst route on the whole network in First Class if measured this way, with a saver redemption setting you back a Champagne-gulping 262 KrisFlyer miles per minute gate-to-gate (162 miles per minute is the First / Suites Class average for a saver redemption).

For upgrades from Economy Class (to Business) or Business Class (to First) on the Jakarta route, the following rates apply, assuming saver upgrade award availability in your proposed travel class:

Upgrade using KrisFlyer miles Singapore ⇄ Jakarta
Upgrading to →	Business	First
Existing booking ↓
Economy Standard (Class: M, H, W)	16,500
Economy Flexi (Class: Y, B, E)	15,000
Business Standard / Flexi (Class: Z, C, J, U)	→	15,000

An outright Business saver award (19,000 miles) is far preferable to the upgrade rates from Economy fares on this route.

However, if your company has paid for a Business Class ticket already in the Standard or Flexi fare codes, 15,000 miles to upgrade to First Class on the SQ952/955 is arguably not a bad deal, especially on SQ952 from Singapore with the added benefit of breakfast in The Private Room before departure (it opens at 5.30am for the early risers).

As we mentioned above, you can also use The Private Room after your SQ955 Jakarta to Singapore flight in First Class, where you’ll find the lunch menu being served. There’s a high chance your 777-300ER will park up in T3 anyway for its next flight, so it should just be a short stroll.

Blocked seats in Business Class

Singapore Airlines often blocks specific seats in Business Class on newer aircraft like the 777-300ER and A350s so that they can be selected in advance by PPS Club members. The Jakarta route is no exception, with row 11 being off limits to non-PPS Club passengers until 96 hours before departure on this new 777-300ER flight and the A350 Regional service.

There is one exception though. For whatever reason, row 11 is not blocked for advance selection on the 3-class A350 aircraft on the Jakarta (or for that matter the Kuala Lumpur) route. That gives you four flights a day to and from Jakarta in summer 2020 with all the bulkhead positions open for advance selection on the A350’s 2013 Business Class.

You probably don’t need the extra space on such a short flight, but it’s still the row to go for if you can.

The 777-300 with 2009 Regional Business Class seats continues to have no seat blocks enforced.

You can read our full guide on which Business Class seats SIA blocks for advance selection by aircraft type and route.

Summary

No Singapore Airlines route has more flights, or carries more passengers each day, than Jakarta. As we mentioned, Singapore Airlines aircraft changes for the summer 2020 season are still filtering through, but we thought this was a particularly interesting change many of our readers would want to know about, so we decided to do an update on this route now.

27,500 miles one-way is certainly not good value for a 1 hour 45 minute flight, even if you account for some time in The Private Room, but First Class is more about the experience and this will now represent the lowest miles rate for the 2013 F cabin across the network.

We’ll have more news of aircraft type changes for the summer 2020 season in due course, but for now our First Class Seats by Route and Business Class Seats by Route pages are up to date through the end of the winter season in late March 2020.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)