Singapore Airlines has historically given Business Class passengers free rein to choose their preferred seats — with some limited exceptions such as bassinet positions, or the coveted bulkhead and throne seats on selected aircraft, which are set aside for infant bookings or PPS Club members.
However, this has now changed. The airline has revised its advance seat selection policy to introduce a “restricted zone” in the Business Class cabin on all aircraft except the Boeing 737-8 MAX.
These seats are only available for advance selection by passengers on the more expensive Business Flexi or Business Standard fares, as well as the most expensive Business Access award category.
Passengers travelling on other commercial fares or award types — namely Business Lite fares or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards — will only be able to choose from a limited number of seats at the rear of the cabin, until closer to departure.
Singapore Airlines revises Business Class seat selection policy
Singapore Airlines’ webpage on Advance Seat Selection previously stated that Business Class passengers would enjoy complimentary advance seat selection at any time.
You’ll enjoy complimentary seat selection at any time.
The wording has now been updated with additional caveats, which specify that only “some fare types” allow the selection of any available seat, while others may face limitations.
Business Class seat selection depends on the fare type and membership status. Some fare types allow selection of any available seat, while others may be limited to certain seats at the time of booking.
The rollout of this policy has been somewhat messy. It briefly escaped into the wild on 23 May, and was picked up on Reddit. However, on 25 May, the seat blocks were lifted and selection reverted to regular rules, where it’s remained until now.
The restrictions on advance seat selection apply to Business Lite fares, as well as Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
| 💺Business Class Advance Seat Selection (Commercial Fares) |
|
| Fare Type | Full Selection |
| Business Flexi | ✅ |
| Business Standard | ✅ |
| Business Lite | ❌ |
| 💺Business Class Advance Seat Selection (Award Redemptions) |
|
| Award Type | Full Selection |
| Business Access | ✅ |
| Business Advantage | ❌ |
| Business Saver | ❌ |
| Business Promo (aka Spontaneous Escapes) |
❌ |
Solitaire PPS Club and PPS Club members continue to enjoy an unrestricted selection of Business Class seats, regardless of what commercial fare or award type they book.
There is no similar privilege for KrisFlyer Elite Gold and KrisFlyer Elite Silver members, who are treated the same as regular KrisFlyer members when it comes to advance seat selection in Business Class.
I reached out to Singapore Airlines for a comment, and received the following.
| 💬 Statement from SIA spokesperson |
|
Which seats are restricted?
Singapore Airlines appears to be taking its “Forward Zone” concept from Economy Class and applying it to the Business Class cabin, with the forward rows blocked off, and only the rearmost rows available for general advance selection.
Here’s an aircraft-by-aircraft list of which seats remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards, by a non-PPS Club passenger.
Airbus A350-900MH
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
Only four rows of the Business Class cabin — rows 17, 18, 20 and 21 — remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
Passengers on Business Flexi and Standard fares, or Business Access awards, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 11A 11D 11F 11K 19D 19F |
Blocked for PPS Club |
| 19A 19K | Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
Airbus A350-900LH
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
Only rows 17, 18, 20, 21 and 22 remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
Passengers on Business Flexi and Standard fares, or Business Access awards, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 11A 11D 11F 11K | Blocked for PPS Club |
| 19A 19D 19F 19K | Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
| Note: 18D is blocked for crew rest on long-haul flights to Europe or the USA | |
Airbus A350-900ULR
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
Only the last eight rows of the Business Class cabin — rows 22-29— remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
Passengers on Business Flexi and Standard fares, or Business Access awards, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 11A 11D 11F 11K | Blocked for PPS Club |
| 19A 19D 19F 19K | Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
| Note: 10A is blocked for PPS Club members on EWR flights. 17D and 17F are blocked for crew rest on EWR and JFK flights | |
Airbus A380-800
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
Only rows 23-24, rows 92-95 and row 97 remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
Passengers on Business Flexi and Standard fares, or Business Access awards, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 11A 11D 11F 11K 91A 91K 96D 96F |
Blocked for PPS Club |
| 91D 91F 96A 96K |
Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
| Note: 23D and 23F are blocked for crew rest on long-haul flights to Europe | |
Boeing 737-8 MAX
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
There does not appear to be any additional blocking on the Boeing 737-8 MAX, which is fortunate because this is a very small Business Class cabin to begin with.
All Business Class passengers, regardless of fare class or award type, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 12B 12J |
Blocked for PPS Club |
| 11C 11H | Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
Boeing 777-300ER
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
Only the last six rows of the Business Class cabin — rows 18-23— remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
Passengers on Business Flexi and Standard fares, or Business Access awards, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 11A 11D 11F 11K | Blocked for PPS Club |
| 15A 15D 15F 15K | Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
| Note: 19K is blocked for crew rest on long-haul flights to Europe and the USA | |
Boeing 787-10
| ✅ Full Selection | ❌ Restricted Selection |
 |
 |
Only the last four rows of the Business Class cabin — rows 17-20— remain available for advance selection on Business Lite fares, or Business Advantage, Saver and Promo awards.
Passengers on Business Flexi and Standard fares, or Business Access awards, can select any seat except the following.
| Seats | Remarks |
| 11D 11F | Blocked for PPS Club |
| 11A 11K | Blocked for PPS Club or infant bookings |
What if you have an existing booking?
If you have an existing booking and have chosen a seat in the restricted zone, that’s fine. Nothing will happen to your selection, so long as you don’t touch it further.
If you do decide to switch your seat, you will not be able to switch back to a seat in the restricted zone again.
In other words: move it and lose it.
What about travellers in a group?
The biggest issue I see arising from this change is that travellers on a group booking are no longer able to select seats together.
This could easily happen in the case of a couple booked on the A350-900MH or B787-10, where there are only two pairs of seats in the “honeymoon” configuration (the other two pairs are in the “divorce” configuration, where passengers are separated by the side table).
In that case, you can only pray you get lucky when seat blocks are lifted four days before departure.
Seat blocks removed at T-96
Business Class seat blocks are removed 96 hours before departure (known as T-96), at which point you can select any open seat left in the cabin regardless of fare/award type or status.
However, here’s an important quirk to note: the Singapore Airlines website and app do not allow online seat selection between 96 to 48 hours of departure.
You could wait until T-48, when online check-in opens and all seats can be assigned online, but that runs the risk of your preferred seat getting snapped up. Instead, it’s safer to switch seats at T-96 by calling the Singapore Airlines hotline or chatting with an agent via the website. Simply quote your booking reference number, and provide the seat you wish to switch to.
| Time | Status |
| Beyond T-96 | Seats are blocked |
| T-48 to T-96 | Seat blocks are released. Online seat selection unavailable but can be done via phone or chat |
| Within T-48 | Online check-in opens, any available seat can be selected online |
This restriction does not affect bookings made through partner airlines, so if you booked your ticket through a different frequent flyer programme, you should be able to visit the respective website and select the unblocked seats at T-96.
Do remember that certain seats may be blocked for crew rest, and those will not be unblocked at the T-96 mark.
Pay a fee for seat selection?
Singapore Airlines’ new restrictions on advance seat selection naturally raise questions about whether it is moving towards monetised seat selection, as many rivals have already done for cheaper commercial fares and award tickets.
It’s not impossible, but the way I see it, the airline’s current Business Class seats do not lend themselves particularly well to monetised seat selection. This isn’t an Allegris situation where there’s a bewildering number of different seat types, and some are genuinely better than others.
Business Class seats on Singapore Airlines are basically identical, with the exception of the bulkhead seats which allow passengers to sleep parallel to the aisle (instead of at an angle), and the throne seats on the B737-8 MAX which offer extra privacy and storage.
Those seats would be the ones most suited to monetisation, but they’re already blocked for PPS Club members, and I can’t imagine the earful the airline would catch if they tried to make them available to the highest bidder.
Moreover, given that Business Class is relatively low density, there isn’t much of an advantage to being in the forward zone. It’s not like Economy Class where every row you regress by adds another nine people ahead of you in the queue for immigration (and besides, at some airports the aerobridge might connect to the rear Business Class door, giving those passengers a leg up instead!).
Therefore, the only scenario where I could see someone on a restricted fare or award type paying for advance seat selection is if they’re travelling as a group, and want to guarantee they’ll be seated together.
Conclusion
Singapore Airlines has introduced new restrictions on Business Class seats selection for Lite fares, as well as Advantage, Saver and Promo awards. These passengers will only be able to choose from a limited selection of seats until closer to departure, mostly at the rear of the cabin.
This restriction does not apply to Solitaire PPS and PPS Club members, as well as passengers travelling on Business Flexi and Standard fares or Access award bookings. All seat blocks will be lifted at the T-96 mark, which is your best opportunity to snag your preferred seat from whatever’s left over.
I don’t expect Singapore Airlines to introduce paid seat selection in the near future, though the mechanism certainly exists now. But even if it does happen, I don’t think there’s much value in paying for anything other than a bulkhead or throne seat, unless you strongly prefer a window seat, or need to guarantee seating together.
What do you make of SIA’s new policy?
I am fine with these changes as long as they do not impact PPS and more so TPPS. I have experience with Miles & More, where even HON (TPPS equivalent) cannot access lounges, bring extra luggage or even select, as per blog post topic, seats. It might make sense to limit the Star Alliance Gold “credit card” US flyers, but to have public fares that even the very highest paying members cannot access is a trend I SINCERELY do not wish SQ follows.
SIA will not dare to touch PPS and TPPS
Why not? They are proven to be sheeps and will die die take SQ irregardless of whatever SQ does
now compare the price of SQ tickets vs your miles & more ticket. Regardless of cash or redemption , SQ charges multitude more and prides itself as being the best airline in the world , best service etc etc
How can the “best in the world” have such restrictive policy when the other “lesser” airlines dosent ?
HON cannot access, lounges that is not true, HON will be treated as F and you will get picked up with a private limousine at the airplane in FRA, MUC and ZRH with private immigration. “Relax in an exclusive setting, and enjoy the comforts and amenities of our Lufthansa First Class Lounges, SWISS First Lounges, Austrian HON Circle Lounge, and the lounges at the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt.” https://www.miles-and-more.com/row/en/program/status-benefits/hon-circle-status.html
it is unfortunately true when flying with Eurowings, a very common airline that flies “for” LH as it is in their group. STR for instance, a powerhouse city of the German, as is HAM, all have near 100% EW flights, which mean their are not a “choice”. In said flights, even a HON cannot access the lounge flying in Economy. Apart from lounges, even HON cannot bring an extra luggage on the cheaper Economy fares.
I see yes this is true. Wow not even an extra luggage, that is very frustrating.
For same booking number, we will still able to seat together right?
I’m sure they will try to seat you together, but the scenario I have in mind is: what if all the unrestricted seats have been chosen already, and at check in only single separated seats exist
It wouldn’t make a lot of sense to split up premium class passengers like that. Maybe the system would have a way of opening up extra rows if together-seating is no longer available at time of purchase? I don’t know. It wouldn’t sit very well if they separate people like that – especially when it entails separating groups of SQ’s premium customers (lite / saver pax notwithstanding)
I do a lot of redemptions with SQ via Aeroplan, and yeah can confirm same thing, so much less seats available that made me find this article.
This is such a dumb move by SQ management. Really hate this segregation mentality, even within J class. As though paxs who redeemed Saver Awards are not worthy of the full J class experience. SQ better not follow the path of US airlines (Where J/F domestic class does not even entitle you to lounge access etc)
With the use of technology, I am sure it will only be a case of time before those on the “cheaper” business class fares get a different wine, a limited food selection on book the book, and maybe the crew skip those seats when it comes to the hot towel? Oh, and don’t dare ask for an amenity kit if you are one of those cheap business flyers!
It’s a shame, just the next step in lowering the standards of J Lite rather than raising the perks of the higher J classes
Lowering and purposely creating a lesser experience for lower fare class : cost SQ nothing
Increase benefits for higher fare class : cost SQ a lot more from planning , training , purchasing , execution
Such an unnecessary restriction and this at a time where fares are very high already.
W.T.F… For a business class charging higher amount of money than any other carriers and they don’t allow people to select seat?
Nobody taking their “access” seats so have to purposely create a benefit for it?
Read the article properly. You can still select a seat for free in business.
Even as a PPS Solitaire member, I find this increasingly frustrating. Singapore Airlines continues to devalue the Business Class experience while meaningful improvements to the hard product remain years away. Seat selection changes, delays to the new Business Class product, and now a connectivity roadmap that effectively leaves much of the fleet without next-generation internet. The reality is that Singapore Airlines no longer has a leading Business Class hard or soft product. Qatar Airways, several Chinese carriers, and even some US airlines offer more modern cabins, better privacy, and faster connectivity today. And while many will argue that Singapore Airlines… Read more »
Well said. find myself have been flying CX a lot more often nowadays, they don’t release premium seats to other redemption platforms and still provide the fundamentals required for the frequent and higher grossing clients. Not to mention silver members get access to the full fat CX lounges rather than watered down KF gold lounge.
Why do you find this frustrating? As a Solitaire PPS Club member this change has zero effect on you.
as a fellow TPPS I might chime in. I think SQ is not acting in good faith when they make any type of Business related restrictions BEFORE they introduce the new seats, ie. the hard product 11A is referring to.
Rediculous they cut the benefits to Singaporean yo compensate air India. Someone has to take the responsibility for the decision that they keep the vistara investment
I have a redemption ticket and already chosen my seat months ago. However I recieved an email today to inform me that I have been moved to row 92. So it might not be true that you can still keep your seat if you do not move.
On the A350 and A380, the smaller cabin at the back can actually be nicer. A couple of days ago I purposely chose row 93 because the cabin was mostly empty, and it’s the best sleep I’ve had on SQ in a while (less noise from people eating).
Unfortunately, with this policy, those smaller cabins will become busier…
Indeed! I’m actually a fan of the mini cabin at the rear of the a380
Time to jumpship folks….
Sq going down the drain time to change brand. Inexperience crew , snobby crew, increase of miles , higher price, and now seat restricion why would anyone still want to go with this airline.
A grossly unnecessary step backwards, with no true benefitting party
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The cost of seat selection is implicit. That is to say that the seat selection fee is worked into the price of the ticket for business standard, flexi and access. As the product is largely similar except for a few seats, their backlash would be greater if there is officially a selection fee for seats. On a related note, it then tells me that based on the seat map, the number of seats for saver, advantage and business lite are really only those seats at the rear – ignoring other factor such as whether 2 different booking or seat classes… Read more »
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