Basic Economy Comes to Singapore Airlines

Asian carrier introduces new fare classes, with basic economy style fares.

For flyers who want to travel abroad but can’t quite afford Singapore Airlines’ Suites product, the carrier will launch new fare categories with the goal of getting new flyers aboard their aircraft. The revised fare types, ranging from “Lite” to “Flexi,” will become official worldwide on January 20, 2018 – and share many things in common with certain basic economy airfare plans.

At the lowest level, “Lite” tickets will still let flyers check one bag up to 66 pounds, but comes with several key limitations. Flyer’s on “Lite” fares cannot choose their seats in advance unless they pay a $5 fee per flight segment, but they can select their seat during check-in. “Lite” flyers are also not allowed to upgrade seats with KrisFlyer miles and will only earn half of the full KrisFlyer miles allotment for their trip. Cancellations are not allowed, but changes and no-show tickets are subject to additional fees.

At the next highest tier, “Standard” fares allow flyers to select their seats and upgrade with KrisFlyer miles. However, they will only earn 75 percent of the full mileage allotment of their flight. To earn full miles, economy travelers must fly on a more expensive “Flexi” ticket, which allows selection of Forward Zone seats and complimentary flight changes.

Additional booking options are also coming to the premium economy and business class sections of the aircraft, with each section offering different benefits for more expensive tickets. The airline says the new ticketing plan allows flyers to control their experience based on their budget.

“Depending on the class of travel, customers will have up to three types of airfare to choose from when making a booking,” a press release from the company reads. “Each will offer a combination of fare, feature and flexibility options, to provide clearer choices to customers to better fit different travel needs.”

The move comes as more low-cost carriers begin to compete with major airlines for customer share in the United States. Earlier this month, Eurowings announced they would add a “business class” product to long-haul flights, while low-cost carrier AirAsia X launched flights to Honolulu, Hawaii from Malaysia in 2017.

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