What’s It Like to Travel on a Scoot Flight for 2 Hours?

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Have you ever heard of Scoot? If not, it’s a Singaporean low-cost carrier (LCC) that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. I recently had the pleasure of flying this LCC Scoot flight and was completely blown away by how good it was for my 2.5-hour journey from Singapore to Bangkok.

TR 608 (Scoot)
Airbus A321
Singapore-Bangkok (SIN – BKK)
Duration: 2h 30min
Seats: 16B & 16C

I always avoid LCC for fear of feeling boxed into a tight seat for hours surrounded by a generally loud and chatty vacation traveller crowd; this adds to my unpleasant experience aboard an LCC. Also, I like my fare to be all-inclusive, and the typical LCC model, wherein you pay for added frills, doesn’t appeal to me. So why did I fly Scoot for 2.5 hours? Well, sometimes situations arise when there is just no other choice.

This flight review is the 3rd part of a series covering my recent trip to Singapore, Thailand, India, and UAE:

Luxury Hotels, 2 First Class Flights, The Million+ Award Redemption

Singapore Airlines 19-Hour Non-Stop Experience

What’s it like to travel on Scoot for 2 hours?
The Singapore Suites Sweet Spot
An Epic Stay at Four Seasons Bangkok
Treated like Royalty at the Taj Palace Hotel Udaipur
Luxury Retreat at The Oberoi Amarvilas Agra
An Oasis in UAE: Qasr Al Sarab
Qatar Qsuites is home in the Sky

Scoot Flight Routes

Scoot has an extensive network in Southeast Asia and beyond, as shown on their route map:

Scoot has a young fleet of aircrafts with an average age of just 5.5 years. The fleet consists of A320/321neos and Boeing 787s. That’s right; this is an LCC with 787s! And not just a handful, 20 in total!

KrisFlyer Benefits

Recall I mentioned earlier that Scoot is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. As such, a KrisFlyer Silver Elite or higher status holder can benefit from the following benefits when flying Scoot:

• Priority check-in and boarding
• An additional allowance of 5kg with any baggage purchase
• A one-time complimentary booking change
• Complimentary standard seat selection
• 25% more KrisFlyer miles for every mile earned (1.25 miles per S$1 fare)

The only key status benefit lacking is access to a lounge, which you would otherwise have as a Gold or higher tier member on Singapore Airlines. However, offering just these many perks to a lowly KrisFlyer Silver status member like myself is quite impressive.

In addition to the status benefits, KrisFlyer miles can also be used partially or fully to offset the cost of a Scoot flight. However, the redemption rate is terrible at $0.7 US cents/mile, and I don’t recommend it.

Scoot Flight Booking

The booking process is very straightforward via flyscoot.com. The booking process will offer many options, as a typical LCC would. Let’s take my Singapore to Bangkok flight as an example. The route is operated by both narrow-body A321s and Boeing 787s. The 787 also offers a premium cabin called ScootPlus.

ScootPlus offers the following additional benefits:

As you proceed through the booking process, additional frills are offered that can be added, including the following packages:

I had a bag to check, so I chose the FlyBag option. Food can also be pre-ordered if desired. Here is their menu and pricing:

Next, weight can be added to the check-in luggage for a very reasonable prices:

Lastly, there is an option to purchase a sleep kit if desired:

I booked an A321neo flight as the departure time for the B787 wasn’t ideal for our travel schedule. As such, there was no ScootPlus cabin to upgrade to. However, if my flight wasn’t already full, there would normally be an option to purchase seats that offered extra legroom for an additional $27, located right in the front of the cabin. Behind these seats are rows of standard seats sold as “Front Seat” for $15. If purchased, these seats offer faster boarding and deplaning benefit.

Then, I could choose to pay extra to board first. However, this benefit is already included if you have KrisFlyer Silver or higher status. Just ensure your KrisFlyer membership number is on the booking.

The final frill that can be added is to make the trip flexible for an additional charge. For just an extra $20, unlimited changes are permitted – wow!

Door Score

I score my airline reviews out of 5 doors. Doors because I’m infatuated with doors on an airline seat, and it is a “must have” feature, in my opinion, for any premium cabin. Doors are NOT overrated.

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For my review of Scoot, the scoring will be based on an economy class experience and employ a different scoring algorithm than business and first class on mainstream airlines.

Positioning

After getting off the Singapore Airlines 19-Hour Non-Stop Experience, we spent the night at the Crowne Plaza Hotel inside Changi International Airport. It is located landside right next to the entrance to the Jewel, where we spent a few hours in the evening exploring.

The Crowne Plaza Changi hotel is fantastic, albeit pricey, at ~$350 /night. However, the hotel offers special rates to eligible individuals. In addition, since the hotel is an IHG property, points can be redeemed for a stay costing 37-55k/night.   I highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking to stay at the airport for a night. It offers the added benefit of being easily accessible to the Jewel, right next door.

Ground Experience

Door Score:🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪

My TR608 Scoot flight to Bangkok departed from Singapore’s Changi International Airport Terminal 1. The check-in process was primarily self-serve from the many available kiosks. I entered my booking number on the kios and printed off the boarding pass and bag tag.

After affixing the baggage tag, I walked over to a Bag Drop, scanned my boarding pass and placed the bag on the belt. The process was so smooth and efficient that I did not need to speak to a Scoot agent, although they were around for assistance if required.

We then proceeded through the self-serve immigration channel and into the main departure hall. The entire process from check-in was just under15 minutes! After grabbing some snacks, we headed to the gate, preceded by security first.

The gate area where we were waiting to board felt like an oasis! I could not help but feel how outdoor it felt watching the leaves in the trees beside me rustle in the artificial wind (air conditioner?). Did I mention how much I love Changi Airport? Its such a fantastic airport which just aids to the 5-star Scoot ground experience.

Scoot Cabin & Seat

Door Score:🚪🚪🚪🚪

The A321neo is a new plane with mood lighting, good overhead compartment space, and unscratched windows, although this did not matter as I was stuck in a middle seat in the 3-3 configuration.

The new Recaro SL3510 slimline seat offers a 28″ pitch, 17.7″ width, and 2″ of recline in the standard seat that I was seated in. These are definitely specifications for an LCC seat. However, the seat was surprisingly comfortable. While legroom was tight, it was not as bad as other LCCs I have flown where my face is kissing the headrest before me, and the tray table jabbing my knees.

I would love to one day try the Scoot Boeing 787 aircraft on a future trip as I feel it would be a perfect LCC hard product, worthy of a 5-door score.

Scoot Food and Drinks

Door Score:🚪🚪🚪🚪🚪

Scoot has an exciting concept for ordering inflight food. It is all done through ScootHub, the inflight portal. To access, a QR code must be scanned from the seat back seat in front that will connect to the ScootHub. From there, food items can be ordered via the Scoot Café section of the app, and they will be delivered right to the seat. ScootHub also contains additional items, such as a live map function and a duty-free catalogue.

As you can see from the tabs on the right of the menu, there were many more pages with various food and drink optionts to choose from.

I ordered some Chicken Gulai with Rice from the Scoot Café through the app, and it was delivered to my seat in about 10 minutes. It was delicious! (for economy-class food). Unfortunately, my daughter stole it from me after I got a few bites in. It was that good!

Scoot Inflight Entertainment

Door Score:🚪🚪

Unfortunately, no inflight entertainment is offered on any of Scoot’s aircrafts, which is acceptable given that it’s an LCC. However, some games can be played through the ScootHub Portal.

Inflight Wi-Fi connectivity is available, but only on the Boeing 787s. Pricing is as follows:

Scoot Flight Service

Door Score:🚪🚪🚪🚪

The service from the flight attendants on my flight was excellent! The same cannot be said for many LCCs and Ultra LCCs in North America. Having professional flight attendants is the baseline expectation, but I’m impressed when service goes beyond that. All the flight attendants, including the ground staff, seemed genuinely happy in their jobs. The flight on our flight visited each family with the kids to ensure they felt more comfortable.

Bottom Line

Low-cost carriers are my kryptonite, and I actively avoid them to the best extent possible. When a situation arose that I had no other choice but to fly one, choosing Scoot to fly from Singapore to Bangkok was the right decision. Scoot delivered a nearly 5-star LCC economy-class flight experience that surprised me. In the future, I have no qualms flying Scoot and I will actively seek them out for any short-haul journeys within Southeast Asia.