When your airline doesn’t offer a premium economy seat option from your city, what do you do? Book a mixed-class ticket and compare the two. Here’s the lowdown on flying in Singapore Airlines’ Economy Class and Premium Economy Class from Brisbane to Brussels.
Two long-haul legs, two different cabin classes, one international carrier. I recently flew Singapore Airlines from Brisbane via Singapore to Brussels, travelling in Economy Class on the first leg and switching to Premium Economy Class for the second flight.
SQ236 from Brisbane to Singapore racked up less than eight hours’ flying time, while SQ304 from Singapore to Brussels was under 13.5 hours, both operated on Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which are due for a retrofit rollout from mid-2026.
So, how did the two experiences stack up? And how much do the two cabin classes differ in terms of inflight comfort and service? Find out whether it’s worth the upgrade.
Check-in and boarding
Singapore Airlines’ check-in and boarding process at BNE is seamless and stress-free, taking less than 10 minutes from bag drop to duty-free entry for a mid-afternoon flight.
SingaporeAir app users can check-in online or use the self-service airport kiosks to generate a boarding pass and bag tags for the bag drop section.
Passengers will need to remove electronic devices and liquids for security screening before entering the smartgates for passport and facial recognition.
On a midday Monday, Brisbane Airport is mostly quiet, despite some minor yet not disruptive construction noise from international terminal upgrades, with plenty of seating and space to stretch out.
SQ236 departs from gate 80, which is in the middle of the departures area, so you can wander around before boarding, which commences 45 minutes before departure.
Boarding is grouped from 1–6 with designated areas for passengers to wait in the terminal before proceeding to the main line, making boarding quick and efficient with everyone in their seats 15 minutes before departure. With an aisle seat in Economy Class, I’m in the last group to board.
After a three-hour layover at Singapore Changi Airport, Premium Economy boards in Group 3 with the departure gate opening just one hour before boarding time. Within the holding area, passengers can also sit within their designated group before being called to board.
Onboard comfort
Singapore Airlines’ hot-towel service is always a welcoming experience on board all flights.
For the first long-haul leg, the Economy Class cabin is configured in a 3-3-3 layout on A350-900 aircraft with each seat featuring a seatback touchscreen, adjustable headrest, pillow and blanket. It’s a mostly full flight, but in the middle aisle, my row companion and I have a seat between us.
Economy Class seats have a USB charging point and power point between the seats with earbud headphones provided. A cup holder on the seatback so you can keep the tray table stowed is a smart addition on all seats.
The Premium Economy Class cabin is arranged in a 2-4-2 layout with just 24 seats in total, including four extra legroom seats at the front over the wings.
Annoyingly, there’s no dedicated toilets for this cabin, so Premium Economy passengers need to use the ones at the back of the forward Economy Class zone. It’s also difficult to find at night when the lights are switched off, leading to several confused passengers looking for their seats!
Additional Premium Economy Class seat extras include more width and seat pitch, a calf rest and footrest, noise-cancelling headphones, a sliding mirror on the tray table and extra storage areas, and an adjustable reading light, two USB ports and a powerpoint built into each seat.
The Premium Economy cabin is only half full on this flight, so I have both A and C seats to myself.
The fun stuff
The recently upgraded KrisWorld entertainment system is available gate-to-gate and offers a huge range of movies, TV shows, audio, music and games accessible via handset (Premium Economy only) or screen controls.
Movies are divided by genre and language and include Chinese, Japanese, Korean, European, Bollywood and Indian regional options alongside Hollywood new releases and popular films.
You can access the e-Library via the app, which contains other useful tools such as a baggage measure scanner and Pelago activity bookings.
Passengers can also see the dining and amenity menu via QR code and KrisShop inflight duty-free shopping, while KrisFlyer loyalty members can also access free, unlimited Wi-Fi on board.
The current safety video features the signature ‘Singapore Girl’ in iconic Singapore locations and attractions to demonstrate the aircraft’s safety features.
Note: Singapore Airlines is part of a growing cohort of carriers to forbid the use of battery chargers while on board either to charge devices or the chargers themselves.
Inflight food
The inflight drinks service on both flights starts wth a savoury pea and cracker mix snack with beer, wine and non-alcoholic options – Premium Economy also offers a variety of meal choices (which the flight attendants ascertain before the first meal service and can also be ordered ahead) along with exclusive Champagne and wine options.
I’ve ordered a special vegan meal on both legs, which was served on trays with reusable stainless-steel cutlery wrapped in a white linen napkin.
The Economy Class meal consisted of a vegan tomato-based ravioli, warm bread roll, garden salad with a balsamic olive oil dressing and a sweet apple slice for dessert, followed by a refreshment meal service of a hot vegetable pastie (chicken and vegetable pastie for the main cabin).
The main cabin also received a potato salad, Kung Pao chicken stir-fry or braised beef with spring onion mash and a bread roll, plus a salted caramel gelato treat.
The Premium Economy meals are larger than usual portion sizes with a baked cauliflower and edamame rice dish, tempeh couscous salad, warm bread roll, berry cake, cranberry and raisin snacks for the vegan option, plus a small plastic glass of Champagne.
The second meal was a breakfast dish of falafel with a potato rösti and tomato baked beans, bread roll with jam, fruit salad and Vitasoy milk.
The Premium Economy Class passenger menu on this flight offered a choice of mains – lemon oregano creamed chicken pasta or Northeastern Thai-style beef curry – plus a seared tuna appetiser, chocolate cake, cheese and crackers, bread roll and chocolate.
The second meal service was a roasted chicken tortilla or scrambled tofu ciabatta and fresh fruit.
Snacks are available throughout for Premium Economy Class passengers, including assorted buns and muffins, chocolate, muesli bars, chips, dried fruits and popcorn, ensuring you won’t go hungry.
While there’s a lot of care taken with interesting meal options for general passengers, the vegan dishes seemed hastily assembled with either basic options or combinations that just didn’t make sense on the plate (falafel, potato rösti and baked beans?).
The details:
- Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
- Seat: 48G (Economy Class aisle) and 32C (Premium Economy aisle)
- Flight time: 7 hours 41 minutes (BNE-SIN) and 13 hours 24 minutes (SIN-BRU)
- Luggage allowance: 1x 30kg checked baggage (35kg for Premium Economy) plus 7kg cabin luggage and a personal item
- Arrival in Brussels: 7:45am (scheduled) / 7:30am (actual)
Takeaway
The Singapore Airlines service in both Economy Class and Premium Economy Class was genuine and welcoming on each flight. Sure, there was extra attentiveness with meal choices and fewer passengers in Premium Economy, but overall, I felt treated in the same kind and gentle manner on both legs, regardless of my seat.
Overall, the mixed-class experience left me with mixed feelings.
The extra space and comfort are always worth the additional cost; however, unless you place a premium on elevated meal choices, there’s not much else really separating Premium Economy from Economy, especially when you have to share the same bathroom facilities.
That said, I’m grateful for the option to fly the longer leg of my long-haul flight to Europe in the comfort of Premium Economy and hope it will soon be available on aircraft flying from Brisbane to Singapore so travellers can go all the way from BNE to Europe in the same class.
The writer paid for her own flights.
