In what appears to be an as yet unannounced policy, Singapore Airlines has started offering KrisFlyer members discounted seat selection fees, including Forward Zone and Extra Legroom options, whether they pay cash or redeem miles for their flight.
Background
You have to cast your mind back to December 2017 to recall Singapore Airlines’ announcement of a range of new fare categories.
While Extra Legroom seats already attracted an additional charge, the airline introduced fees for Standard Seats and Forward Zone cabin sections on SIA and SilkAir flights, for those booking the cheapest ‘Economy Lite’ and ‘Economy Standard’ fares.
Our article here broke down the new paid seat selection at the time. In a nutshell you have to book a ‘Standard’ fare in Economy to get complimentary Standard Seat selection, or a Flexi Fare to also get complimentary Forward Zone seat selection.
| Standard | Forward Zone | Extra Legroom | |
| Economy Lite |  Charged |
Charged |
Charged |
| Economy Standard (incl. Economy Saver Awards) |
 Free |
Charged |
Charged |
| Economy Flexi (incl. Economy Advantage Awards) |
Free |
Free |
Charged |
| Premium Economy | n/a | n/a | Charged |
If you’re travelling as a family with infants or children, you’ll always be entitled to ‘Standard’ seat selection regardless of your fare type.
KrisFlyer members and PPS Club passengers can also benefit from free seat selection regardless of their fare category, depending on their status in the programme.
| Standard | Forward Zone | Extra Legroom | |
| KF Member | Charged |
Charged |
Charged |
| KFES | Free |
Charged |
Charged |
| KFEG | Free |
Free |
Charged |
| PPS Club | Free |
Free |
Free |
KrisFlyer Elite Silver members can choose Standard Seats in advance for free, while KrisFlyer Elite Gold status holders also get Forward Zone seats for free.
Extra Legroom seats are charged to everyone regardless of booking class, with the exception of PPS Club members.
The new discounts
From 1st March 2020, KrisFlyer members are entitled to a discount on the paid seat selection fees, as follows:
- KrisFlyer basic members: 5% discount
- KrisFlyer Elite Silver: 10% discount
- KrisFlyer Elite Gold: 15% discount (your travel companions on the same booking are entitled to a 10% discount)
The following tables summarise the advance seat selection fees now applicable by destination band and KrisFlyer status tier.
| Standard Seats Economy Class |
||||
| Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | Band 4 | |
| Non-KF | $5.00 | $10.00 | $15.00 | $20.00 |
| KF Basic | $4.75 | $9.50 | $14.25 | $19.00 |
| KFES | No charge | |||
| KFEG | No charge | |||
| Forward Zone Seats Economy Class |
||||
| Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | Band 4 | |
| Non-KF | $8.00 | $15.00 | $25.00 | $35.00 |
| KF Basic | $7.60 | $14.25 | $23.75 | $33.25 |
| KFES | $7.20 | $13.50 | $22.50 | $31.50 |
| KFEG | No charge | |||
| Extra Legroom Seats Premium Economy / Economy Class |
||||
| Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | Band 4 | |
| Non-KF | $25.00 | $60.00 | $90.00 | $120.00 |
| KF Basic | $23.75 | $57.00 | $85.50 | $114.00 |
| KFES | $22.50 | $54.00 | $81.00 | $108.00 |
| KFEG | $21.25 | $51.00 | $76.50 | $102.00 |
- Band 1: SIN to/from Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam. Melbourne to/ from Wellington, Moscow to/from Stockholm
- Band 2: SIN to/from Australia, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, U.A.E.
- Band 3: SIN to/from Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, USA to/from Europe
- Band 4: SIN to/from USA
At the top end, KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will save US$18 per sector when making an advance booking for an extra legroom seat to or from the USA and Europe.
Note that the fees are quoted in USD and will be converted into your ticketing payment currency (normally SGD for most of our readers) during the booking process. The charge itself is levied in your ticketing payment currency.
PPS Club is still free
PPS Club members still have unlimited complimentary Standard, Forward Zone and Extra Legroom seat selection on all flights across all cabins, whether booked using cash or KrisFlyer miles.
They also get access to the most prized Business Class seats, as we cover in our guide to which of these seats are blocked for advance selection (think Row 11 in Business Class, for the most part).
PPS Club companions get a discount
If you are a PPS Club member or Solitaire PPS Club supplementary cardholder, your travel companions on the same booking are entitled to 15% off Extra Legroom seats.
Summary
A discounted seat selection fee (where applicable) for KrisFlyer members is a nice new benefit, with a maximum of 15% off for Elite Gold members equating to a discount of US$18 (approximately S$25) per passenger per flight for extra legroom seats on the longest routes to and from the USA.
It’s not clear why Singapore Airlines has not announced this new benefit, which seemingly kicked in from 1st March 2020, but perhaps they intend to do so later.
Remember you can always have a full choice of remaining available seats on any Singapore Airlines or SilkAir flight from 48 hours prior to departure time, without any need to pay extra.
(Cover Photo: Edward Russell)
do they extend the free selection to KFEG’s same booking companion?
It’s not yet announced as the amount is peanuts. The discount should be a lot more generous for tiny amounts like this.