Singapore Airlines announced its new premium economy product last year, and it now offers it on enough aircraft that it’s been formally added to their award chart. That means you’ll have more options for redeeming KrisFlyer miles and avoiding the crammed feeling of standard economy on a long-haul flight.
Fortunately the new award levels were implemented with few, if any changes to the rest of the award chart for business and first class tickets. That means you won’t pay more for flying up front just because Singapore had to squeeze a fourth cabin class into the middle. But it could also make it more difficult to score a sweet upgrade from coach, since now the next logical cabin is premium economy, not business class.
From the West Coast to Singapore, one-way saver level awards are 65,000 miles in premium economy, which is roughly double the cost of coach but a quarter less than business class. Flights from the East Coast and Houston are slightly higher. You can redeem 15% fewer miles if you book your awards online rather than by phone. For example, expect to pay 136,000 miles round-trip in premium economy round-trip in business class from either San Francisco or Los Angeles.
I generally don’t recommend redeeming miles for upgrades anyway (it’s easier and more cost-effective to just book a business class award) but some travelers with reimbursable expenses don’t have that option.
You can find the new premium economy award pricing in my Award Maximizer search tool for comparing multiple award charts at once. These awards are only available on routes operated by Singapore Airlines, so I’ve gone to the effort of excluding most airports from the database if Singapore Airlines doesn’t serve them. You’ll continue to see awards for Singapore Airlines’ Star Alliance partners.
I haven’t flown the new premium economy yet, and honestly it doesn’t look that impressive. It seems to consist of mostly a leg rest and extra legroom, although there is a Book the Cook menu available similar to business and first class. The greater width (seats are in a 2-4-2 configuration) is what really matters to me. For the opinion of someone who’s actually tried it out, you can find a review on The Points Guy.
