Lately, I have flown for training purposes to Singapore. As I was on duty travel and there was space available on both flights, I was lucky enough to fly both ways in premium economy. As I work for the airline, this is obviously a bit of a biased review.
For check-in in Zurich, there is a specific premium economy line that you share with KrisFlyer silver members, the loyalty program of Singapore Airlines. It’s normally never crowded and when I flew back home from Singapore I used the automatic check-in machines, which worked perfectly fine too. So, check-in was definitely on both ways not an issue at all. Just make sure that you fill out the Singapore Arrival Card online before you board your flight – they won’t check it, but you need it for immigration in Singapore.
As Zurich is my home base, I know this airport very well. For everyone who is not familiar with that place, many long-haul carriers depart from Terminal E (non-Schengen) where you have to take a short skytrain, as it is a satellite terminal. The security control and immigration are before the train. If you want to take an empty water bottle through security, this is perfectly fine, you can fill it up with tap water after security and save the money for overpriced bottled airport water.
In Singapore, the system is a bit different. After check-in, you continue straight to immigration – if you expect humans here, you’re wrong, with most passports you can pass the automated immigration now. There are many shops and restaurants in the duty-free area – you can spend time at this airport, landside, and airport. Changi is one of the best airports worldwide for a reason. What I found a bit weird, is that the security check is only before you enter the boarding gate, so be sure you come early enough to your assigned gate. In most gates, there are water fountains to fill up bottles after the security.
Boarding is conducted in groups, 1 and 2 consisting of first and business class, while the premium economy is group 3 followed by groups 4 and 5 in economy class. It was on both flights very organized and most of the passengers seemed to listen and wait for their call to board.
Once on board, you settle in and get mentally prepared for roughly 13 hours on the B777. Cabin doors won’t be closed before everyone is seated. In premium economy, you get a hot towel as pre-departure service and the crew informs you about the water bottle at your seat. There are no pre-departure drinks though as on other airlines in premium economy.
In-flight, you get regular drink services, and they really make sure you stay well hydrated. You are served lunch & breakfast (on SQ345) and dinner & breakfast (on SQ346). Between meal services there is more than enough time to sleep or use the IFE (= inflight entertainment) – as I did not watch any movies, I can’t tell you anything about that, but you can preview what is available with the Singapore Airlines app. If you wish to watch your own movies, make sure to download it to your device – there are two USB power outlets to charge it. A small minus point is that the premium economy has no own lavatories, so you share them with the economy class which leads to a queue most of the time. I’ve seen people also using the ones in business class without the crew sending them back, but I’m pretty sure this is not how it is supposed to be.
Overall, I had two good flights although they were both really long, but this is nothing the airline can change, and a direct flight is still the most efficient way to reach so far-away destinations.
