Singapore Airlines has snuck in a new round of seat selection fee increases this month, with a freshly-updated schedule of charges for those travelling in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class, which is almost all bad news with no-notice fee increases now in place almost across the board.
At the top end, advance seat selection fees have increased by as much as 75%, which comes less than three years after the carrier’s previous hike in these rates by up to 88%, back in October 2021.
The unfortunate news means you’ll now pay more for ‘Standard’ and ‘Forward Zone’ seats on all routes, plus there are increases for ‘Extra Legroom’ seats on South East Asia and long-haul flights, while “fifth freedom” hops between the USA and Germany or Japan suffer a double-whammy repricing, with a zone banding change also in the mix.
Latest country banding
Singapore Airlines currently splits its routes into five bands based on distance when assessing fees payable for advance seat selection.
In this latest fees increase, a subtle change has happened to the table here, compared to the previous version.
| Band | Routes |
| Band 1 | Singapore to/from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Spain to/from Italy. |
| Band 2 | Singapore to/from Bangladesh, Hong Kong, China, India, Japan, Korea, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and U.A.E. |
| Band 3 | Singapore to/from Australia and New Zealand. |
| Band 4 | Singapore to/from Europe and South Africa. |
| Band 5 |
Singapore to/from USA and Canada. USA to/from Europe and Japan. |
As you can see, the airline’s “fifth freedom” flights between the USA and Europe (JFK – Frankfurt) and between the USA and North Asia (Los Angeles – Tokyo) now have their advance seat selection fees lumped into the most expensive Band 5, from Band 4 previously.
That means their seat selection fees are now in line with mammoth non-stop flights of up to 19 hours, which seems a little unfair for a 7 hour 45 minute flights from New York to Frankfurt!
We’ve separated these routes from the general band increases to accurately reflect how much seat selection costs have actually increased by on these city pairs, in the tables below.
Standard seats
Here’s the new charging structure for ‘Standard Seats’.
| Standard Seats Economy Class |
|||
| Till 30 Jun 24 |
From 1 Jul 24 |
Change | |
| Band 1 | US$8 | US$10 | US$2 ( 25%) |
| Band 2 | US$10 | US$15 | US$5 ( 50%) |
| Band 3 | US$15 | US$20 | US$5 ( 33%) |
| Band 4 | US$20 | US$30 | US$10 ( 50%) |
| Band 5 | US$25 | US$35 | US$10 ( 40%) |
| USA Europe — USA Japan |
US$20 | US$35 | US$15 ( 75%) |
Standard seat selection in Economy Class is payable by those booking cash fares in the following classes:
- Economy Lite
KrisFlyer Elite Silver and above are exempt from this fee, as are all award redemptions and all passengers travelling with at least one child (aged 2 to 11 years) in the same booking.
Economy Value fares became exempt from Standard seat selection earlier this year.
Forward Zone seats
Here’s the new charging structure for ‘Forward Zone Seats’.
| Forward Zone Seats Economy Class |
|||
| Till 30 Jun 24 |
From 1 Jul 24 |
Change | |
| Band 1* | US$15 | US$20 | US$5 ( 33%) |
| Band 2 | US$20 | US$25 | US$5 ( 25%) |
| Band 3 | US$25 | US$35 | US$10 ( 40%) |
| Band 4 | US$40 | US$50 | US$10 ( 25%) |
| Band 5 | US$50 | US$60 | US$10 ( 20%) |
| USA Europe — USA Japan |
US$40 | US$60 | US$20 ( 50%) |
Forward Zone seat selection in Economy Class is payable by those booking cash fares in the following classes:
- Economy Lite
- Economy Value
- Economy Standard
Forward Zone seat selection in Economy Class is payable by those booking award tickets in the following classes:
- Economy Saver
KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club members are exempt from this fee, whether booking cash or award tickets, and all Economy Advantage award ticket holders are similarly exempt.
Pro Tip: Bassinet seats are often located in the ‘Forward Zone’ in Economy Class. If you have a booking including an infant, you can select a bassinet seat for free, subject to availability, regardless of your fare type.Extra Legroom seats
Here’s how the changes look for Extra Legroom seats.
| Extra Legroom Seats Premium Economy Class Economy Class |
|||
| Till 30 Jun 24 |
From 1 Jul 24 |
Change | |
| Band 1 | US$25 | US$30 | US$5 ( 20%) |
| Band 2 | US$60 | US$60 | — |
| Band 3 | US$80 | US$80 | — |
| Band 4 | US$100 | US$110 | US$10 ( 10%) |
| Band 5 | US$120 | US$130 | US$10 ( 8%) |
| USA Europe — USA Japan |
US$100 | US$130 | US$30 ( 30%) |
The extra legroom fee is payable by most Economy and Premium Economy passengers.
New York – Frankfurt and Los Angeles – Tokyo flights are the hardest hit here, with a 30% increase in the ‘Extra Legroom’ advance seat selection fee to US$130 per flight, though it’s also noteworthy that this fee is hiked by 20% on the shortest intra-South East Asia (Band 1) sectors too.
Extra legroom seat selection in Economy Class and Premium Economy Class is payable when booking in any fare class or redeeming any award ticket in those two cabins.
PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club members are the only ones exempt from this fee.
Premium Economy “Upgrade”
Singapore Airlines operates a Premium Economy cabin on some of its regional routes where no service differentiation is offered, and on these shorter hops you can pay an additional fee to sit in this cabin to benefit from a bit of extra legroom and seat width.
The fee only applies for travel in Band 1 and Band 2, because for Band 3-5 flights the PEY cabin is sold as a separate fare class whenever an aircraft with the seats installed is deployed (e.g. Singapore – Hong Kong).
There’s good and bad news for the new pricing on these flights.
| Premium Economy “Upgrade” Standard Seats |
|||
| Till 30 Jun 24 |
From 1 Jul 24 |
Change | |
| Band 1 | US$35 | US$30 | US$5 ( 14%) |
| Band 2 | US$75 | US$50 | US$25 ( 33%) |
| Premium Economy “Upgrade” Extra Legroom Seats |
|||
| Till 30 Jun 24 |
From 1 Jul 24 |
Change | |
| Band 1 | US$50 | US$55 | US$5 ( 10%) |
| Band 2 | US$90 | US$90 | — |
As you can see it’s now a bit cheaper to secure these seats in advance as a non-PPS Club member, with the exception of Extra Legroom PY “Upgrade” seats on Band 1 flights, which are hiked in cost by 10%.
Interestingly as you can see an Extra Legroom seat in Economy Class is now priced at the same rate as a Standard Premium Economy Class seat on these routes (previously, the “PY Upgrade” seat was US$10 or 40% more expensive).
On Band 1 flights between Milan and Barcelona, Premium Economy is sold as a bookable cabin class, and the option to pay extra to select a seat in that cabin when travelling in Economy Class is therefore not available.
It’s important to remember here that all you’re getting is the wider Premium Economy seat with more legroom, there is no service differentiation from Economy Class on Band 1/2 services.
Most people therefore probably won’t consider this option, especially since no Band 2 services currently benefit at the time of writing. It’s really a perk for PPS Club members, who are exempt from the fees.
You can check out our recent guide to Premium Economy seat selection on Band 1 and Band 2 routes here.
Solo seats in Premium Economy (ULR)
On selected non-stop flights between Singapore and the USA operated by SIA’s two-class Airbus A350 ULR aircraft, the airline offers six solo seats at the back of the cabin, which benefit from “more space, greater privacy, plus an extra compartment with generous stowage – so you can keep everything within reach”.
The six seats you need for this experience are:
- 40C / 40H
- 41C / 41H
- 42C / 42H
These have come at an additional seat selection fee of US$140 since 2020, and escaped any increase in the last fee increase round, but have now been hiked by 20% to US$168 per sector.
| Premium Economy A350 ULR ‘Solo Seats’ |
|||
| Till 30 Jun 24 |
From 1 Jul 24 |
Change | |
| Band 5 | US$140 | US$168 | US$28 ( 20%) |
The fee is waived for PPS Club members.
Discounts for KrisFlyer members
If your cabin and booking class requires you to pay a fee for seat selection, don’t forget you’ll get a discount based on your KrisFlyer membership tier, while there are no charges payable for PPS Club members, as outlined in the following table.
| Seat Selection Fees KrisFlyer Member Discounts |
|||
| Standard | Forward Zone | Extra Legroom PEY “Upgrade” Solo Seats |
|
| Non-KF | No discount | No discount | No discount |
 KF Basic |
5% discount | 5% discount | 5% discount |
 KFES |
Free | 10% discount | 10% discount |
 KFEG |
Free | Free | 15% discount |
 PPS Club |
Free | Free | Free |
Travel companions on the same booking may get discount on seat selection fees if they hold a lower status level themselves, compared to the highest status holder on the same booking, as shown below.
| Seat Selection Fees KrisFlyer Companion Discounts |
|||
| Highest status holder in same booking |
Standard | Forward Zone | Extra Legroom PY “Upgrade” PY Solo Seats |
| Non-KF | No discount | No discount | No discount |
| KF Member |
No discount | No discount | No discount |
| KF Elite Silver |
5% discount | 5% discount | 5% discount |
| KF Elite Gold |
10% discount | 10% discount | 10% discount |
 PPS Club |
Free | Free | 15% discount |
You read more information about this benefit and all the other perks of KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club status at our dedicated and recently updated guides linked below:
Seat selection becomes free at T-48 hours
Exactly 48 hours before departure time, additional seat selection costs are cancelled and any passenger can select any available seat for free within their cabin class.
This does not apply to those hoping to sit in the Premium Economy cabin on shorter Band 1 flights, which then becomes blocked for selection to all except PPS Club members.
There’s still a chance to secure an Extra Legroom, Forward Zone or Solo seat for nothing, however we recommend logging on to the manage booking portal exactly 48 hours before your flight departure time if you want to try and do this, as any available seats tend to disappear quickly – especially the Solo seats on Airbus A350 ULR flights.
One slightly frustrating “feature” of the Singapore Airlines website and app is that since COVID-19, once online check-in opens 48 hours before departure it often no longer allows you to modify your seat selection, making it impossible to move into an empty seat.
In this case, you can still switch your seats by calling SIA or using Kris the Chatbot (click “Chat with a live agent”). They will happily assist to move you to an unoccupied seat.
Full guide to SIA seat selection fees
We’ve updated our comprehensive guide to seat selection fees on Singapore Airlines flights for a full overview of the fees applied in all cabins and on all routes by fare type, so you know what charges to expect in advance.
This guide fully covers the rules when you’re travelling with infants and/or children in your booking too, essential reading for many families.
Summary
Singapore Airlines has rolled out another round of fairly significant no-notice fee increases for seat selection from July 2024 onwards, less than three years after a similar hike was quietly implemented in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The increases will of course particularly affect families and larger groups, where the fee often applies across several passengers on the same booking.
The only travellers to benefit will be those seeking a Premium Economy “Upgrade” on shorter Band 1 and Band 2 flights like Singapore – Jakarta, where a slight reduction in the cost of ‘Standard’ seats now applies, bringing them in line with Economy Class Extra Legroom seats on these routes.
Your KrisFlyer status still saves you some money, while PPS Club members continue to have no seat selection fee concerns in any cabin on any routing.
The best strategy to avoid these fees (short of becoming a PPS Club member) continues to be jumping online exactly 48 hours before your flight, when seat selection fees are cancelled and you then get free pick at whatever is left.
(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)
If I can no need to fly SQ to anywhere out there, I will not fly SQ…. everything from Singapore Airlines hikes after post pandemic….
Pure money grab. That’s why staff are getting 8 months bonuses and the CEO’s pay is $8m.
This is a win for PPS Clubbers when flying economy – far better chance of the extra legroom seats being available and not having anyone sitting next to you!
Those seats you refer to are available to any passenger to select 48hrs prior to departure, for free.
Since they’re so coveted, they will likely be occupied by departure time. All PPS does is give members first dibs.
I have a ticket booked for a journey from India ( Coimbatore) to USA LAX. Onward journey in May and return journey in September having booked tickets in February 2024. Please clarify as to whether I have to pay the difference amount on my return journey in September as it has been hiked from July.
Economy seat selection prices on SQ are still significantly less than AA, BA, LH, UA, etc., and the New York-Frankfurt pricing is more attractive, as is the service. The “I’m never flying SQ again” reactions are misinformed.
Business was bad during Covid and that SQ started to cry father cry mother and asked gov for help. To ensure the airline survived during the crisis, gov pumped millions of dollars. Now that the business is doing great they started to hike the fare. Instead of giving back to the society, they are having 8 months bonus. Blood sucking airline.
These seat selection fee hikes are getting out of hand. It’s not as if they make that big a difference in comfort too.