What seats will I get on my upcoming SQ flight?

[Update 8 Mar 2018]: Please refer to this post for the latest SQ fleet guide. 

For many people, flying First or Business Class could be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the type of seat you get can make or break it.

Why does this matter? Well, there’s nothing more sian than splurging your hard-earned miles on a business class seat only to find out you didn’t get what you bargained for.

Consider Singapore to Seoul, a 6.5 hour flight. It costs the same number of miles to redeem a business class seat on SQ8 and SQ608. The difference? SQ8 is a 777-300ER with SQ’s newest business class seat that goes full flat and is 1-2-1 configured for direct aisle access.

SQ 608 is an A330-300. Its business class seats only go angled flat, and the cabin is 2-2-2 configured with no direct aisle access for some seats.

So I imagine if you were a newbie and assumed all the seats from SIN-ICN would be the same, you’d be pretty steamed for paying the same number of miles for an inferior product.

Although more seasoned travelers will know SQ’s fleet at the back of their hands, first-timers to the miles game may be unfamiliar with the seven types of planes SQ operates.

Therefore, I wanted to create a guide to SQ’s fleet, showcasing the different First and Business Class seats available and how you can figure out which ones your flight has.

First Class- Suites

Let’s start with the easiest of all. It’s a no brainer to figure out if your first class seat is a suite. I mean, the SQ website calls your ticket class Suites, not First Class. And there’s the pretty obvious fact that they’re only on SQ’s A380. This topic will get much more interesting once SQ introduces its new suites cabin and we have a mix of new and old suites…

You can read reviews of the SQ Suites product here, here, here and here.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re on an A380, you have a 100% chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

First Class- 2006 Version

This seat was introduced in 2006 along with SQ’s first-ever lie flat business class seat (I’ve written a piece about the history of SQ’s premium cabin seat design here, it’s well worth a read in my humble opinion).

It’s now passing the 11 year mark and the seat has obviously seen quite a bit of wear and tear. First Class seats tend to go out empty more often than Business Class seats, so the wear won’t be as bad as on the 2006 business class seats, but something to note nonetheless.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re on a 777-300, you have a 100% chance of this seat
• If you’re on a 777-300ER (aka 77W), you have a 22% (6/27) chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

Look at your seatmap- if you’re flying on a 777-300ER and see 8 seats in the F cabin, you have a 67% (9/12) chance of getting the 2006 First Class seat. If you see 4 seats in the F cabin, you know for sure you have the 2013 First Class seat (see next section)

First Class- 2013 Version

Way more chio than the 2006 version, the 2013 First Class seat incorporates sophisticated dark leather tones and a little set of orange lines near the headrest that for whatever reason I find super classy. It’s also 7 years newer than the 2006 version and is less likely to be worn. Other great features include a lot more privacy from the aisle and a bigger, crisper TV screen.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re on a 777-300ER (aka 77W), you have a 78% (21/27) chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

Check the seatmap. If you see a 4 seat First Class cabin, you definitely have the 2013 First Class seat (if you see 8 seats, you may have the 2006 seat, see above)

 Business Class- 2006 Version

This old girl was revolutionary when she came out, but time has taken its toll and she’s ready to be put to pasture. Although these seats are still wider and more private than what a lot of airlines have in first class, 11 years of service mean you’ll find discolored upholstery, chipped panels, the odd sticky controller and other deficiencies. It’s not a seat you should actively avoid, but it still pays to be informed.

You can read a review of the 2006 business class seat here.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re flying on an A380, you have a 100% chance of this seat
• If you’re flying on a 777-300ER (aka 77W), you have a 22% (6/27) chance of this seat
• If you’re flying on a 777-200ER, you have a 90% (9/10) chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

If you’re on a 77W, a quick check you can do is to look at the seatmap. If you see a forward J cabin of 8 seats, you have a 67% chance (6/9) of having the 2006 J seat. (If you see 12, you have a 100% chance of the 2013 J seat, see below)

If you do see a 8 seat forward mini-J cabin, you can’t tell for sure whether you have the 2006 or 2013 seat because there are 9 such 77Ws in service, 6 with the 2006 version and 3 with the 2013 version. Read to the end for another way of verifying.

Business Class- 2013 Version

This is the refreshed version of the 2006 seat that SQ launched in 2013. I love the design philosophy behind this seat- it’s sleek, gorgeous and on some newly-refitted aircraft still has that new seat smell. Look forward to a touch screen controller, bigger screen and more lounging positions over the 2006 seat.

You can read a review of the 2013 business class seat here.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re on an A350, you have a 100% chance of this seat
• If you’re on a 777-300ER (aka 77W), you have a 78% (21/27) chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

Check your seatmap. If you see 12 seats in the forward J cabin, you know for sure you have the 2013 business class seat.

If you see 8 seats, you may have either the 2006 version or the 2013 version. At the end of this post I’ll teach you another way of figuring out what seat you have.

Business Class- Regional

This is easily my least favourite SQ business class seat- it doesn’t go full flat, and it’s simply uncompetitive for some of the longer flights SQ deploys it on (destinations as far as ICN/BNE) or routes where there’s a clearly superior competing product, like Eva Air).

These seats most often make an appearance on regional flights to Bangkok, HCMC, Perth etc. They’re ok for daytime flights (in fact, some weirdos even prefer them because they’re better for work), but good luck if you get one of these babies on a red-eye. And if you burn your miles on this, well, do your homework next time.

You can read a review of the regional business class seat here and here.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re flying on an A330, you have a 100% chance of this seat
• If you’re flying on 777-200, you have a 82% (9/11) chance of this seat
• If you’re flying on a 777-300, you have a 100% chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

Business Class- Ultimo

A rare pokemon is the Ultimo business class seat. The DNA of this seat harkens back to 1998, so count yourself lucky it’s only on two of SQ’s oldest aircraft. You can sometimes see it on runs to Bangkok. I remember it has in-seat power, but it requires a special adapter/converter that only the crew has. Ah, the 90s.

You can read a review of the Ultimo business class seat here.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re on a 777-200, you have a 18% (2/11) chance of this seat
• All other aircraft have a 0% chance of this seat

If your seatmap looks like this 2-3-2 configuration-

Then congrats, you have the Ultimo seat. Send me a postcard.

Business Class- Spacebed

A rarer rarer pokemon still is the Spacebed. We are really digging the bottom of the barrel here. I thought all Spacebed aircraft had long since flown into the sunset, but apparently there is still one aircraft with the Spacebed seat.

9V-SVF is its registration, and it’s sometimes seen plying routes to Manila and occaionally Hanoi. It’s also sometimes activated to operate Scoot routes.  I don’t know why people would get excited about this though, because the IFE won’t work, there’ll be no hot towels, extra amenities, extra refreshments or anything of the sort. If you’re in economy anyway, I’d much prefer to fly on a brand new 787 than one of these.

How to know if I’ve got it?

• If you’re on a 777-200ER, there’s a 10% chance (1/10) you’ll get this seat

An alternative way

Knowing the SQ fleet is half the battle, and I believe with the guide above most people should be well-equipped to know what they’re getting themselves into.

Just looking at the seatmap and following the heuristics above should be enough to figure out what seat you have. You can even check the seat map before you book- just do a dummy revenue booking and look at the seat selection map before you make payment.

There are of course situations where the seatmap can’t tell you everything, especially in the case of the 77Ws where some of them have 2006 premium cabin products and others 2013, all arranged in the same layout.

In this case you can try the following

Step 1: Look for SQ’s fleet list 

Here’s SQ’s latest fleetlist, courtesy of the folks over at SQTalk. These guys update the list ever so often to reflect new aircraft fitouts and new deliveries.

Step 2: Find the operating history of your flight on FlightRadar24

Google your flight number and look for the FlightRadar24 link. You’ll see something like this

Step 3: Cross refer the operating history and fleet list

Look at the operating history of SQ635. You’ll see on some days it has the 2006 business class seats (SWS, SWI, SWT ) and on others the 2013 (SWV, SWZ, SWD). This isn’t foolproof, but you may be able to work out certain days when the new product operates and certain days when it does not.

Final Caveats

Airlines reserve the right to swap equipment for “operational reasons”, i.e. as and when they please. I remember being at the airport a year or so back and seeing that SIN-IST had an equipment swap where a 777-200ER with the 2006 J seat was swapped for 9V-SVF with the Spacebed. Man, I thought, are they going to get some angry letters.

Airlines don’t owe you anything if they do this, insofar as they promised you a business class seat and they’re giving you one, but if you make noise SQ will often give you some miles or a Krisshop voucher as compensation.

Hope this helps!

Edit: Here’s a useful chart created by Rajv that summarizes your options. Thanks!