davidj1

If an airlines tries to 'sneakingly' charge less upfront because they want to recoup profits from selling overpriced and sub-par secondary items (eg food) (bait pricing), I don't see why paxs can't 'sneakingly' BYO food and drink as well.

I know why they do it, just don't agree.

Its like saying toilets are pay-per-use, drop the ticket price by $40, then start charging $40 per bathroom visit knowing most paxs will need to use, and some may use twice.

On a side note..

I had a friend recently travel on Jetstar and didn't have a credit card or AUD cash on them, couldn't buy sustenance, therefore went hungry and thirsty for 8 hours. Obviously they didn't research property.. but sometimes the average person just assumes they will accept departure country currency.

cowie

I'd have gladly paid on their behalf with my card in exchange for cash. More points for me...

percysmith

Well if you knock yourself out on self-provisioned Xanax like this guy https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cath...l#post26879374 you'd be fine on any airline

That's usually me at the end of pre-holiday rush.

YuropFlyer

I'd not even TRY that.

Even if the police lets you go, you'll most probably be banned from flying Scoot, and possibly all SQ-related airlines.

Phaze

Finally a worthwhile ban in Singapore

carrotjuice

I don't see why passengers have to resort to being sneaky at all.

To quote back the airlines' stance, our main purpose is to get you safely from origin to destination, your comfort is perfunctory. As such they have done their job and it is our own responsibility to make ourselves comfortable based on the price that we paid - and that includes enjoying the food and beverages that we want or are accustomed to, even if we have to bring our own. And the airline should have no leg to stand on if the food and beverages that we bring are within our carry-on capacity and we do not disturb other passengers while consuming them.

Imagine the airline starts confiscating passengers' pillows and blankets, just because they sold them onboard.

Or ripping passengers off their pyjamas, again in case they decide to sell these onboard.

Or position someone to stand in front of the toilets to sell you toothbrush and toothpaste, and preventing you from using your own to wash up.

FWIW, I don't recall if I've ever taken Scoot, and after reading about last weekend's Sydney stranded without sustenance and accommodation fiasco, I never will.

percysmith

I will be hesitant too but what's your grounds?
- no food
- seating
- lack of responsibility during IRROPs or tactical cancellations
or?

lokijuh

What do you define as long haul though?

My personal dislike is long short-hauls :-) (ie 4-5 hrs on A320's). Short hauls on A320's and the 787 flights seem OK.

carrotjuice

Tacky yellow costumes that scream attention.

Or is that Tiger Air? (That goes to show how familiar I am to LCCs!)

Phaze

You clearly know your stuff. Have you been stung too?

kaffir76

I'm really surprised that u chose a LCC for a long haul flight, & even more so that it's on a 787. I remember reading several TR's that u wrote speaking about the dislike of the seating config of the 787 (3-3-3 except for JAL). It really goes to show how pricing can affect a traveler's decision to purchase a product that they otherwise would not pick.

I don't particularly like the 787 seating configuration either but last Nov. I flew SIN-SFO on a UA promo fare for S$850 so yeah, I totally get it.

S$800 round trip SIN-ATH including 20kg baggage allowance & meals is indeed a tempting price but I don't know if I can do it. I'd have to pre book the extra legroom seats which will cost extra. Factor all these add on's & I think it wouldn't cost much more to book a sub S$1,000 promo airfare on full service airlines such as LH, AF, AY etc. And these airlines have IFE which really helps to make the flight time go by faster.

Glad you enjoyed the flight, and even plan to fly Scoot on future long hauls. And as always great trip report, I'm about 1/2 way thru reading it! ^^

shuigao

To be fair to Scoot, they're not the only airline that prohibits pax from bringing their own food - practically every other budget airline in the region does, too (for example Air Asia).

Furthermore, any airline is free to set their own rules and conditions. My view is either you abide by those rules, or feel free to take your business elsewhere.

FWIW, I disagree with the rules too, but instead of trying to stick it to the poor cabin attendants by blatantly eating my own food, I choose to fly full service airlines instead.

sqyf

Hello kaffir76! Thanks very much for your comments! While I have flown short haul LCC on a few occasions, this was my first long haul LCC experience, and I was pleasantly surprised at how little, in real terms, I had to compromise compared to the more average full service carriers, and my personal opinion (And it is just an opinion) is that long haul LCC out of Singapore will be very successful for leisure travel.

I think my expectations are very different for work travel and leisure travel. For business travel, although I fly mainly Y, I avoid LCC's. But for holiday travel, if an LCC offers a good deal, it may mean the difference between a doable trip and a trip which is out of budget.

Airfares vary a lot. Many full service carriers will discount very deeply at certain times of year, or for less popular routings. At this point in time, you can get sub S$900 (About USD 660) return fares on full service carriers from Singapore to Europe, although this will typically involve a stopover either in the Middle East or one of the European hubs. And if you buy tickets close to departure date, LCC fares can jump quite high too. For any given holiday trip, I will check both full service and LCC and decide based on the exact prices for those dates.

In terms of actual inflight experience in Y, once you get over the fact that you need to pay a trickle of dollars during the flight for each perk/add-on, whether food, blankets or IFE, there is very little difference in hard product between a Scoot 787 in 9-abreast, and the equivalent full service carrier 787 Y cabin on UA, BA, NH, QR or AI. Of course JL with it's marvellous 2-4-2 Dreamliner cabin, is an exception. And I would prefer to fly on a new Scoot 787 than on an older generation full service 772/773/77W if configured 10-abreast in Y. I have my own tablet/computer, and I don't need a seatback IFE screen, so I don't see that as a showstopper. On the other hand Scoot offers wifi, which even some full service carriers don't offer.

And what I like about the LCC Y experience is that you can pay a little extra for the comfort you need (Like extra legroom seats, or a bid for an empty seat next to you). In many scenarios, this would still work out cheaper than a full service carrier fare.

I also think ScootBiz is not an extravagant option for holiday travel (I would not dream of paying for a J ticket for a holiday, although J or F point redemptions can be great value).

So don't get me wrong: I still avoid 9-abreast 787's or 10-abreast 777's whenever I can, and my favourite economy class is still SQ's full service Y on their newer planes, but for holiday travel, I would definitely consider LCC's for both short haul and especially long haul!

Thanks again for taking the time to read it!

setec

I am looking at a Scoot flight SIN-BLR, 4h20min on A320. Any idea how wide their seats are on A320? I can only find maps for 787s online. And any idea how reliable they are? I have to make sure I make it to BLR on a specific date.

lokijuh

You're not looking hard enough then

No only joking. Presumably you're using a tool like seatguru, who haven't caught up with the merger between scoot and tiger. If you look at tigerair on seatguru it will show the seat map for the A320's and lists 18" width + 30" pitch. As with most A320's width is Ok, pitch is tight especially if you are moderately tall.