The market from London where I normally am is very competetive though. Especially on European routes, British Airways makes a good challenge to the budget carriers and yes, I would pay a slight premium for flying on them (due to "convenience" of LHR / decent airports / full-service carrier backup).

I fully understand the concept of yield management and appreciate its implications for SIA ex-SIN. However, as a student unfortunately SIA unlikely to be the most economically viable or rational option (even though the UK government throws student loans at us).