Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Auckland, New Zealand to Singapore for $18

Surprise surprise – I’ve written a lot on this blog about Singapore Air Business Class, First Class and their First Class Suites, but until now, I had never sampled their Economy Class product. That all changed this year 🙂 . So let’s dive into if Economy on this airline lives up to the rest of its plane classes.

This is a part of a series of posts that I wrote about a bunch of Singapore Air flights I booked for me and my Partner with my points. Here are all the other posts in case you’re interested:

• Review: Singapore Air Business Class – LA to Tokyo, Japan For $5
• Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Tokyo, Japan to Singapore for $37
• Review: Singapore Air Economy Class – Singapore to Auckland, New Zealand for $37

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Booking

As I mentioned in those other posts, in a surprise to no one more than me, booking this flight was uneventful 🙂 . Most of my other post-pandemic Singapore Air flights have involved a lot of drama because of cancellations and rescheduling issues, but not this one. Perhaps that means the post-pandemic madness around airlines changing things every 10 seconds has calmed down. I hope so anyway.

• Cancelling My International Retirement Travel: Credits, Points and Money Lost

All I did to book this flight was transfer points from my Chase Sapphire Preferred card to Singapore Air’s KrisFlyer points and then I went on their website, logged in and used those points to book this flight. Easy 🙂 .

Pre-Flight

Baggage

Different airlines have different rules about how many bags you can check, how many you can bring onto the plane, and how much each of those bags can weigh. Previously I had only flown Singapore Air from the US, so I was used to that system of checking 1 bag in Economy and 2 bags in Business, each up to 50lbs, for free.

However, flights that originate outside of the US work a little differently. Instead of limiting the number of bags, Singapore Air only limits the total weight of your baggage with no limit on the number of bags. Cool!

The exact weight you are allowed depends on your cabin class and the level of ticket you bought. For example, I bought a “Standard” Economy Class ticket so I was allowed 30 kg or 66 lbs of baggage. My 40L Backpack usually weighs 24 lbs so I was good to go.

Checked Baggage Allowance

Lite and Value: 55 lbs (25 kg)
Standard and Flexi: 66 lbs (30 kg)
Premium Economy: 77 lbs (35 kg)
Business Class: 88 lbs (40 kg)
First Class and Suites: 110 lbs (50 kg)

In addition to checked baggage, this Singapore Air flight allowed one carry-on and one personal item with a total weight of 15 lbs (7 kg). However, I suspect that I’m the only one that abides by that rule because I saw a lot of people bringing full roller-board bags onto the plane that definitely weighed more than 15 lbs. But whatever – I’m a rule follower so I’ll keep just doing me over here 🙂 .

Flights Details

Below are the details for this journey. I’ve indicated the specific information for this flight leg in blue since the Points Used and Taxes covered this flight and the one to Tokyo (my final destination) which I’ll cover in my next post.

• When: March 2025
• Where: AKL-SIN-HND
• Flight: SQ 286 and SQ 636
• Aircraft: Boeing 777-300ER
• Flight Time: 10 hrs 40 min and 6 hrs 35 min
• Seat: 51K
• Distance: 8,531 miles
• Points Used: 45,500 KrisFlyer Points
• Taxes: $36.28 USD

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AUCKLAND (AKL) AIRPORT

Check In

My Partner and I were dropped off by an Uber in the Ride Share area 3.5 hours before our flight. The Uber from downtown Auckland cost $34.26 USD ($58.81 NZD).

We then followed large signs (which I appreciated) to International Departures. When we approached the building, there was a TV with check in counter information and it said that our counter would be opening soon in Zone C.

However, when we entered Zone C, the section with Singapore Air was open and there were lines including a line for economy. So we joined it!

We waited 10-15 minutes to get to the front and once we did, we realized that there was an almost empty line next to us that said “Internet Check In” so we could have gone there since we’d previously checked in online. I confirmed this with an employee once we reached the front of the line – Oops! I guess I’ll know for next time 🙂 .

When checking in, the Singapore Air employee asked for our Passports and then offered my Partner an emergency row seat for free because he’s tall – that’s so kind! This is why I love Singapore Air 🙂 . It seems that the customer service is amazing at every class (unlike on US domestic airlines).

After all of that, we were given our boarding passes and then headed towards security and passport control.

Passport Control

We went up an escalator to security and on the way, there was a firefighter working out and asking for donations of NZD coins. Sadly we didn’t have any left, but if we did that’s a great way to make sure extra cash goes to a (hopefully 🙂 ) good cause.

Once we reached security, there was a kiosk where I scanned my boarding pass and then there was a separate section that said eGates with flags for a few countries including the US indicating who can use the eGates.

So I went to the eGates and followed the instructions on the screen in front of me. The kiosk then asked me to scan my passport and afterwards, to step forward so it could scan my face. After that was done a gate opened and I could go through.

Security

I then joined the one long security line. There were signs saying to keep electronics in your bag so I did.

At the front of the security line, there was an employee directing people to specific lines and bins within those lines. I followed their instructions and then put my bag in a pin and pushed it forward.

Then I saw that there was no one else ready for the scanner so I walked to the front and went through the scanner. Then my bag came out, but was automatically sent to the “more scanning” side – uh oh 🙂 .

But it turns out that it was all good. An employee looked at my bag’s scan again and just gave me my bag without additional screening. After my Partner was also done with security, we headed to the gate.

The Gate

To get to the gates we had to walk through the usual labyrinth of duty free shops. Once we were done with that, we emerged into a food court that had a gorgeous glass window with a view of the beautiful water on the beach in Auckland.

My Partner grabbed a bagel from “Best Ugly Bagels” and I bought a local draft from the “Aroha Café” (specifically the Panhead Supercharger if you care 😉 ). Then we sat down and watched the water.

When we were done, we headed towards our gate, which was Gate 18. On the way there we saw a section of comfy seating with chargers and a view of the water, so we chilled there for a bit before heading to our gate shortly before boarding.

THE JOURNEY

Boarding

We reached the gate and sat down. While we were there, someone came around with an iPad from the New Zealand Tourism Board saying that they wanted to see how our trip was and how they could improve. They asked if they could email us questions and even though I was skeptical, I gave my email (Update from the future: This was surprisingly legit. I got an email about a week later with a survey and haven’t received any spam).

Anyway, boarding was supposed to begin an hour before departure, but there was no announcement about it at that time, which was a bit strange. Instead there was an announcement later that said boarding would start 30 minutes before take off. So since they say they close the doors 15 minutes before departure, we have 15 minutes to fill this giant plane. Damn – alrighty then, let’s do it!

Once boarding officially began, the usual pre-boarding sections were called and then they started with Economy by saying people in Rows 54-62 should board. After that they called our section, which included Rows 49 and 51.

As all of those rows were boarding, an employee opened an extra boarding lane that used to be for Business Class so there were 3 line options and we went to the newly opened one. When we reached the front of the line, the employee asked for our passports and boarding passes and then let us onto the jet bridge.

Outside of the plane there was a bin with headphones, which I would suggest taking because regular headphones won’t work on Singapore Air Economy since the headphone jacks on the TVs require 2 prongs.

The Flight

Once I entered the plane, I was surprised to see that even though only 2/3 of boarding sections had been called, most of the overhead bins were already full. Maybe people are bringing a lot of luggage to Singapore to shop or something 🙂 . So I had to get creative and move some bags vertical to fit mine in there as well.

Once I got in my seat, I saw that I had a pillow and a blanket. The blanket was wrapped in plastic, but when I took it out, it looked like someone had spilled something on it. Not ideal 🙂 , but having a pillow is nice.

Then a flight attendant (FA) brought around hot towels, which I loved 🙂 . A few minutes later the FA came back to collect the towels and then 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave there was an announcement that the boarding door was closed.

Meanwhile, I explored the Entertainment system and loved the big “Browse All” button in the movie section (on my last flight I couldn’t find that option to save my life, but a reader mentioned that an “A-Z” option is at the very end of the featured movie list options. But this time it was wonderfully front and center!)

I went through all of the available movies like I always do, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the options had changed since I was last on this route about a month before. I fast-forwarded the ads before my movie started playing and settled in for my flight.

Soon after that we took off. Meanwhile I was watching Sonic The Hedgehog 2 since I watched the first one on my first Singapore flight of this 3 month Asia/Oceania trip, and found it cute and funny.

45 minutes after takeoff, the FAs came around with a snack, which was a pack of peas and crackers. I then set up the WiFi that’s free for Singapore KrisFlyer members (which is free to join) and started texting my Mom and responding to a message from my next Airbnb’s host. So productive 🙂 .

1 hour after takeoff, the FAs came around with the drink cart and 10 minutes after that, they came back to take the cups from people who had finished. Soon after that, the lunch meal service started.

The lunch options included Lamb Stew, Poached Chicken or Sabzi Dum Biryani. I chose the Lamb Stew with Chive Mashed Potatoes, Carrots and Green Peas.

It was really good all mixed together! And despite the seemingly small portion, I was full when nearing the end of the main dish. Nice!

Meanwhile the WiFi stopped working for bit, which wasn’t a big deal and often happens when flying across oceans. However, it was back on when I checked 30 minutes later.

I’d been really enjoying this flight because of the peace – unlike my last two flights in Singapore Air Economy I didn’t have multiple children in front or behind me kicking my seat and making a ruckus 🙂 . After those flights I started to wonder if I was in an unofficial family area, but this flight disproved that theory. There was one baby on my flight in the bassinet row, but it was pretty quiet. Nice work baby.

3.5 hours after take off, the FAs came around with water and turned the overhead lights off. And then something strange happened 🙂 . Previously I’ve raved about Singapore Air’s TVs not just because of their huge list of available interesting films, but also because the TVs have some type of coating so that it’s darker when viewed from the sides so my neighbor watching something in the dark doesn’t blast my face with light.

Well on this flight after the lights were turned off, I turned the brightness all the way down on my TV like usual. People were going to sleep and closing their window shades, but my TV brightness kept going back up on its own.

It wouldn’t stay down all the way for more than a minute or so. It seems to be linked to brightening the screens when ads at the beginning of movies start, which is annoying, but I couldn’t figure out why this was happening when I was just watching the actual movie.

I didn’t want to be bothering people with my brighter than ideal screen so I kept turning it down every minute or so, which wasn’t ideal. I could have asked an FA to restart my TV, but I didn’t want to interrupt my seat neighbors who were trying to sleep. Oh well 🙂 .

The FAs continued to come out with water regularly and I watched Jumanji (2017), which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be 😉 . I then tried watching Moana 2 and the first song was so bad I had to turn it off 🙁 . So I did a full 180 and watched Heretic, which was phenomenal. After that I needed to watch something stupid so I chose Kraven The Hunter. And wow – it was reeeeal stupid. So stupid that I gave it a whole 2/5 on my Letterboxd.

3 hours before landing the lights started coming back up and dinner service started. We had the options of Black Bean Beef, Roasted Chicken or Palak Paneer and I chose the Roasted Chicken with Mushroom Ragout.

And it was good! The chicken was impressively moist and I was so full that I didn’t finish my dessert. When I was finished eating, we had about an hour left on the flight so started up one of my favs, Knives Out, to relax.

Even though it was almost 1am, I was only just starting to get sleepy. But there was no time for sleep because shortly afterwards we landed in Singapore!

THE REVIEW 

So that’s what happened, but now let’s get into the actual review portion and what I thought of the experience 🙂 .

Customer Service

As always, the customer service on Singapore Air was fantastic. It’s one of the reasons I love flying with them so much and I was happy to see that their wonderful approach to customer service applies to Economy as much as Business and First Class. Also after this flight, I got an email asking for me to fill out a survey and provide feedback. I love that stuff 🙂 .

Seat

I continue to be impressed with how relatively comfortable these seats are. They fit my wide hips and have enough cushion that I don’t feel like I’m sitting on hard plastic like on some airlines 😉 .

This plane configuration also had a perfect little spot for me to fit my foot between the window and seat divider, which I enjoyed 🙂 . Overall it was a seat I didn’t mind sitting in for 11 hours (I didn’t get up once).

Food

The food was also surprisingly good and filling! Everything was yummy and flavorful and there was enough that I never felt hungry. I also appreciated how varied the lunch and dinner options were. I’d be happy to eat this food again 🙂 .

In-Flight Entertainment

Once again, I love Singapore Air’s entertainment system for the number of interesting movies offered. No other airline I’ve flown has beaten their number and variety.

I had a great time watching all kinds of movies and the only negative was that weird auto brightness issue, but it didn’t seem to bother others around me and that was my main concern so no worries there. I was thoroughly entertained on this long flight so that’s a win.

CONCLUSION

And that’s it for my first flight of this travel saga! I was curious what the flying experience would be like with Singapore Air in Economy after sampling all of their Fancy Classes, and I was impressed.

In fact, I would happily fly their Economy product again, especially given the wonderfully low number of KrisFlyer points required to do so. Those are fairly easily racked up on the only credit card I use regularly, my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which is currently offering a 75,000 point sign up bonus if you spend $5K in the first 3 months.

In my next post I’ll finish up this travel saga with my flight to Tokyo, Japan. Until next time!