Tara Ward takes to the skies to experience the flight upgrade of her dreams.
It’s been two decades since I took a long haul flight, and a lot has changed since then. For one, I no longer wear three tank tops layered over each other, but also, flying is very different. 2004 was so long ago that the plane was probably made of wood, and you passed the time by enjoying whatever movie was playing on the big screen located at the front of the cabin. I have treasured memories of trying to watch the classic Hollywood epic Garfield from 18 rows back, smooshed between two passengers who snored from Brisbane to Bangkok.
So when the opportunity came to fly Premium Economy Class with Singapore Airlines from Auckland to Bangkok via Singapore, I was more amazed than a ginger cat wearing sunglasses. Not only is Singapore Airlines an award winning airline, but everyone I know who has flown with them has raved about their experience. Also, I myself am a little bit premium and a little (fine, a lot) bit economy, so this was a dream come true. After all these years, this was my chance to see exactly what a little-bit-fancy long haul flight was really like.
The perks began the moment I stepped into Auckland Airport. Having flown up from Dunedin, I was steeling myself to join the long queue of frazzled passengers at the international bag drop. Suddenly, choirs of angels began to sing as I spied the line dedicated to Singapore Airlines Premium Economy check-in – with nobody in it. Bag drop was a breeze: no queues, no waiting, no worries. I was 25kg under the generous 35kg weight allowance, and Singapore Airlines still stuck a bright orange “priority” sticker on my suitcase.
Stick it on my forehead, Singapore Airlines, tattoo it across my heart. I was priority. I was premium. I was ready to fly. Premium Economy Class passengers also get priority boarding, which gave me precious extra minutes to soak up every little detail of the Premium Economy experience. Although it would be 10-and-a-half hours before we’d land in Singapore, there was no time to lose.
The moment I sat down in the Premium Economy Class cabin (an intimate three rows of seats, with configuration 2-4-2), I began reading every leaflet in the seatback pocket. I memorised the menu for a flight I wasn’t even on. I put the cute ear covers on the noise cancelling headphones and counted the USB ports (two, did not take long). It took no time at all to locate the tray table, (hiding under the lift-up arm rest) and even less time to find where to plug in my headphones (behind my shoulder). I pressed every button on the remote control tucked into the side of the seat and tried out the two different leg rests, adjusting the height and pitch to suit my short little shanks. The world was full of wonder. It was like I had never left the house before.
Nobody else seemed as impressed by the marvels of Premium Economy. I was surrounded by fliers who barely noticed that their screen tilted up and down or that there was a special compartment for their drink bottle. Unlike me, they didn’t mistake a cupboard at the front of the cabin for the toilet. I was the only one who clapped when a flight attendant came around with a tray of hot towels, and the only one who had forgotten to pack a hairbrush, venturing into international airspace looking like I had arrived through a hedge backwards.
A man across from me simply boarded the plane, sat down and put on a Lord of the Rings movie. As we taxied down the runway, Gollum’s withered face stared back at my own, looking a lot like I suddenly felt inside. I hastily put on every item from the complimentary amenities kit – slippers, eye mask, lip balm– and hoped for the best. We hadn’t even left Auckland yet. If anyone could do with another hot towel, it was me.
But nobody can be a husk in Premium Economy for long, especially with this much seat space. Never before have I been so obsessed with where I sat. Nerd alert: the Singapore Airlines Premium Economy Class seat pitch is 97cm. This means, in official airline language, that there’s a tonne of room between the seats, as well as in the seat itself. I could stretch out my legs. I could stand up and move my body. Someone could have piled an entire tray of hot towels over me and I would still have room to turn on my personal adjustable reading light.
When the passenger in front of me reclined their seat I barely even noticed. Channing Tatum’s face simply came a little closer to me and the fistful of free toothbrush kits that I’d just gotten from the loo. Tatum was playing an astrophysical engineer in a movie called Fly Me To the Moon and I was playing an intrepid traveller flying with minty fresh breath. It was a marriage made in heaven. It was a marriage made in Premium Economy.
All this excitement was making a traveller hungry, and the first meal arrived shortly after the flight began. I’d made the most of Singapore Airlines’ Book the Cook service, which gives Premium Economy passengers the option to pre-select their meals up to 24 hours before their flight departs. The extensive menu included fine dining options like grilled New Zealand beef fillet in mushroom sauce, steamed New Zealand snapper, herb crusted sea bass and roasted cauliflower steaks. I chose spring lamb loin with red wine rosemary sauce, and used silverware and a cloth napkin to hoover down that banquet before Channing Tatum could even think about putting a man on the moon. It was hot, it was good, and I was starving. Five stars, would scoff again.
Not only were there meals, there were snacks too, with staff bringing around a tray of delicious options to choose from. There were chips, chocolate and cashews – the three C’s of my heart. I was, officially, a happy camper. I unfolded my grey blanket and placed my soft orange pillow behind me, adjusting my adjustable headrest to support my adjustable head. Next to me, my fellow passenger scrolled through the many TV and movie options. She chose Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent four times, yet curiously never watched a single episode. Mostly, she stared into space. She was probably thinking about the hot towels.
After a few hours, the cabin lights were dimmed. I reclined my seat, stretching out to capacity, but I was too high on spring lamb loin to sleep. Somewhere over the Java Sea, I realised I’d forgotten to pay for my daughter’s school camp, and used the free wifi on board to settle my debts. I watched Twisters and sucked up every moment of that stupid film, and followed it up with a documentary about Elizabeth Taylor, who would have loved Premium Economy. I ate another meal (butter chicken with basmati rice), while my neighbour next door continued to stare blankly into Jake Gyllenhall’s eyes – still presumably innocent – and sighed.
Ten and a half hours can be a long time to sit in one place, but when we landed in Singapore, I felt as hot to trot as Elizabeth Taylor on her eighth marriage. My hair had somehow detangled itself. My breath was still minty fresh. I had devoured several good meals and even more good snacks, and been delighted by two American chumps chasing some wind. I never found out if Channing Tatum actually made it to the moon, but as I stepped off the plane, I had certainly arrived at my own far flung destination in a better – some might even say, more premium – condition than when I left.
