For a recent trip to Germany I decided to pay the extra for Premium Y. Flying BNE-SIN-FRA-SIN-BNE there is no PE available on the BNE-SIN sector due to only A333 aircraft. It cost me an additional A$450 each way on SIN-FRA compared to the Flexi Saver which I book for the extra Points and SC with Velocity. (As an aside the extra SCs from PE got me to Gold which is a nice bonus).
SQ326 SIN-FRA - Aircraft 9V-SWO - Seat 33A
Checkin - I stopped overnight in SIN (Crowne Plaza) so I checked my luggage through to FRA so didn't use priority checkin but bag was priority tagged right through. Bag was waiting for me when I got to baggage claim.
Boarding - Can't remember gate number but it was an A gate at T3 and quite a distance from the central area. This gate had the unusual (to me) setup of boarding pass scanning right after security and you then wait for boarding announcements. Boarded early and quite impressed with the look of the cabin.
Seat - Noise cancelling headphones were in the seatback pocket along with the menu. I personally found the seat overall quite comfortable and well padded, seat width not much different to Y but the legroom is great and I was easily able to step over my neighbours legs to get to the aisle.
The IFE screen is an excellent size with great resolution however each time after exiting a movie it would restart which was a little annoying.
The seat recline was great, the calf rest didn't seem that useful however.
Food - I used BTC on this flight and had the Beef Brisket for lunch and Chicken Breast for Dinner. Both meals were fine although not really any different to a regular Y meal.
Flight Overall - Before departure the Captain described flying conditions to be Satisfactory which meant some turbulence (seat belt signs on) or general bumpiness most of the way due to cloudy conditions on a lot of the route. On descent into FRA we had to hold for 20 minutes or so due to storms and no landings being accepted, fortunately weather cleared and we didn't have to divert. Got a good view of some lightning during taxiing.
SQ325 FRA-SIN Aircraft 9V-SWL - Seat 33C
Check in - Used the priority queue and checkin was quick and easy, bag priority tagged through to BNE. Again bag was already out when I arrived at the belt and I got there pretty quickly in BNE.
IFE - On this flight both my seatmate and a few others were unable to get sound using the supplied Noise Cancelling headphones, after resets my seatmate got his to work. Mine and a few others still no luck however own non noise cancelling headphones worked fine. On my seat I noticed that the reading light appeared to have no power so am guessing it was a problem with seat power, let cabin crew know so they could get it fixed in SIN. The crew were very helpful with attempting to fix the problem, even tried some J or F Class headphones which while super comfortable still didn't work.
Food - I passed on BTC this time. Dinner was beef from memory but was a bit tough and I wasn't really hungry having had dinner earlier. Ice cream sandwhich for desert was quite nice though.
For breakfast the crew came around in advance to ask everyone what their choice was which was nice (guessing to save time), chose the Pancakes with Berry Compote, absolutely delicious, highly recommended if you are on a flight with this available.
Flight overall - There was some turbulence after departing Frankfurt then pretty fair conditions until the Bay of Bengal (no surprises there) and then pretty good into SIN arriving pretty much on time. I even managed some sleep which is a rarity for me.
Overall Impressions of PE
As someone who has only ever flown Y long haul I found PE to be quite an improvement over regular Y mainly for the extra space and comfort which on a 12-13 hour flight really makes a difference. I do think the food could be more premium however. The lack of a curtain between cabins doesn't bother me nor does the lack of dedicated toilet as I like to get up and stretch on long flights and walking down to the back and return is a good way to do this. For the price I paid I would happily go PE again on a Europe trip.
Pictures (only from SQ326 sorry)
Legroom Shot - For reference I am 180cm tall
SQ326 SIN-FRA - Aircraft 9V-SWO - Seat 33A
Checkin - I stopped overnight in SIN (Crowne Plaza) so I checked my luggage through to FRA so didn't use priority checkin but bag was priority tagged right through. Bag was waiting for me when I got to baggage claim.
Boarding - Can't remember gate number but it was an A gate at T3 and quite a distance from the central area. This gate had the unusual (to me) setup of boarding pass scanning right after security and you then wait for boarding announcements. Boarded early and quite impressed with the look of the cabin.
Seat - Noise cancelling headphones were in the seatback pocket along with the menu. I personally found the seat overall quite comfortable and well padded, seat width not much different to Y but the legroom is great and I was easily able to step over my neighbours legs to get to the aisle.
The IFE screen is an excellent size with great resolution however each time after exiting a movie it would restart which was a little annoying.
The seat recline was great, the calf rest didn't seem that useful however.
Food - I used BTC on this flight and had the Beef Brisket for lunch and Chicken Breast for Dinner. Both meals were fine although not really any different to a regular Y meal.
Flight Overall - Before departure the Captain described flying conditions to be Satisfactory which meant some turbulence (seat belt signs on) or general bumpiness most of the way due to cloudy conditions on a lot of the route. On descent into FRA we had to hold for 20 minutes or so due to storms and no landings being accepted, fortunately weather cleared and we didn't have to divert. Got a good view of some lightning during taxiing.
SQ325 FRA-SIN Aircraft 9V-SWL - Seat 33C
Check in - Used the priority queue and checkin was quick and easy, bag priority tagged through to BNE. Again bag was already out when I arrived at the belt and I got there pretty quickly in BNE.
IFE - On this flight both my seatmate and a few others were unable to get sound using the supplied Noise Cancelling headphones, after resets my seatmate got his to work. Mine and a few others still no luck however own non noise cancelling headphones worked fine. On my seat I noticed that the reading light appeared to have no power so am guessing it was a problem with seat power, let cabin crew know so they could get it fixed in SIN. The crew were very helpful with attempting to fix the problem, even tried some J or F Class headphones which while super comfortable still didn't work.
Food - I passed on BTC this time. Dinner was beef from memory but was a bit tough and I wasn't really hungry having had dinner earlier. Ice cream sandwhich for desert was quite nice though.
For breakfast the crew came around in advance to ask everyone what their choice was which was nice (guessing to save time), chose the Pancakes with Berry Compote, absolutely delicious, highly recommended if you are on a flight with this available.
Flight overall - There was some turbulence after departing Frankfurt then pretty fair conditions until the Bay of Bengal (no surprises there) and then pretty good into SIN arriving pretty much on time. I even managed some sleep which is a rarity for me.
Overall Impressions of PE
As someone who has only ever flown Y long haul I found PE to be quite an improvement over regular Y mainly for the extra space and comfort which on a 12-13 hour flight really makes a difference. I do think the food could be more premium however. The lack of a curtain between cabins doesn't bother me nor does the lack of dedicated toilet as I like to get up and stretch on long flights and walking down to the back and return is a good way to do this. For the price I paid I would happily go PE again on a Europe trip.
Pictures (only from SQ326 sorry)
Legroom Shot - For reference I am 180cm tall
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