Is it worth bidding for ScootPlus seats on Scoot?

Flying business or first class on air seems like almost an unattainable dream for me. I’ve always wondered what it is like to travel luxuriously. So this year, my travel goal is to earn enough miles in order to exchange for a business class air ticket. I am keeping my fingers crosses and I hope you can wish me luck. The only closest business class experience I had was on this budget airline in Singapore called Scoot.

They do offer a business class version of their plane seats called ScootPlus. It was called ScootBiz previously. My fiance and I flew ScootPlus from Singapore to Osaka sometime in late December last year. But we got it at a cheaper rate during the bidding round where Scoot releases the remaining ScootPlus seats for bidding. Since my fiance wanted to splurge a little during our Japan trip, we decided to bid for ScootPlus seats.

The full ScootPlus experience is enticing.

Before flying on ScootPlus, I actually did some research and got to know about the bid. It is indeed pretty worth it considering that you get to enjoy the following benefits.

I actually received an email from Scoot, inviting me to bid for ScootPlus about 5 days before. It was rather late to be bidding for a seat but we went ahead anyway as we’ve got nothing to lose.

Comfortable ScootPlus leather seat with double the legroom of economy seats with one hot meal, priority check-in, in-seat power and 30MB wi-fi? Why not? In addition, the upgrade also includes a 30kg check-in baggage allowance and 15kg carry-on baggage allowance.

So, is it worth it?

Before I bid for ScootPlus seats, I actually went online to compare the prices in order to find out if it is truly worth it for us to bid. In order to secure the bid for a ScootPlus seat on the flight from Singapore to Osaka, we need to bid a minimum of $190 per passenger. Since there’s the two of us, it’s a total of $380. I read somewhere online that if we have already bought add-ons like additional luggage weight, it is easier for us to secure ScootPlus seats. So, we made a bid of $190 for each person. Besides the original costs of a ScootPlus seat is almost double the costs of an Economy seat. So, why not?

In addition, I could also earn extra miles with the upgrade. If you did not know, Scoot is a low-cost airline which is owned by Singapore Airlines (SIA). Thus, you can also earn KrisFlyer points when you fly Scoot. You will definitely catch me ‘scooting’ away more often on Scoot.

Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore
Source: A screenshot of the minimum bid amount on Scoot website

However, for the flight back from Osaka to Singapore, the minimum bid for a ScootPlus seat is only $170. I am not sure why it costs lesser but we also made a bid of $170. It is still very worth it so we went ahead without thinking much. Besides, there isn’t much to lose because if the bid is not successful, they will not deduct any amount from your credit card.

The Actual Costs of a ScootPlus seat

It is actually very expensive to travel to Japan during the December period so we incurred a lot of costs for this trip.

Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore
Source: Scoot website

We actually bought FlyBag which allows us to bring a 20-kg Check-in baggage. But it turns out that both of our luggage weighs only 10kg each. We both really travel light, even it is a week-long winter trip.

Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore
Source: Scoot Website

Was our bid successful?

YES! But we were only notified a day before departure that our bid was successful. That also means that you may not have much time to repack your bags. And on second thoughts, we thought that maybe we should have bid for ScootPlus seats on our return flight so that we can make full use of the benefits. That’s because the flight back is longer and our luggage would probably be heavier with all of our shopping loots.

Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore
Source: Scoot Website

Enjoying the perks and privileges of ScootPlus on Scoot

1. Board Me First on Scoot!

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

Checking in at the airport is a breeze. But even without this BoardMeFirst priority, it is still a breeze checking in because Scoot counter has started introducing automated Check-in stations.

Anyway, with the time saved, we were able to spend more time at the airport lounge using our Priority Pass. Do check out my review of the airport lounges in Changi Airport in my next blog post.

2. Priority Board to Scoot Aircraft!

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

I thought it was no biggie to not be able to board first. But now I understood why there are perks in boarding the plane before everyone else does. First of all, you store your bags and luggage and in the luggage compartment. Secondly, you can use clean plane toilets before it gets dirtied throughout the flight. Thirdly, you get to rest comfortably in your seat to do some work or text farewell messages to your family and friends. And if you are in transition between flights, you can also catch longer naps onboard.

3. Well-cushioned leather seats but…

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

Scoot usually flies old SIA planes (Boeing 787 Dreamliner) like this one over here. Thus, these ScootPlus seats are probably the ‘ancient’ SIA business class seats. These seats are so last century because it is way different from the present SIA business class seats.

True enough, the seats are looking really old and worn-out. Even though it is comfortable sitting on well-cushioned leather seats which are roomier than Economy class seats, I did not really like the sight of the shabby-looking seats that looked somewhat dirty and not well-maintained. In fact, the economy seats actually looked newer than the ScootPlus! Also, we noticed that there was some rubbish left lying on the sides of the chair. It was a huge turn off! I wish Scoot would do something about their ScootPlus seats though.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

4. Ample Leg Room especially for the shorties.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus  Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

Seats may look worn-out and unkempt but I am loving and enjoying the spacious legroom. If you are a shortie like me, you can enjoy more legroom space. You might be able to stretch and do a yoga pose with the amount of legroom given.

My fiance has longer legs so the moment the passenger in front of him lower his chair backwards, there isn’t much room for his legs. But as for me, there’s sufficient space to prop my legs up and sit cross-legged on the chair.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

There’s also a leg rest which can be propped up so that you can rest your legs comfortably on. We could also lower our backrest all the way down without worrying if we intrude the space of the passenger sitting behind. That is because we were sitting in the last row!

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

5. What’s in our seat pocket?

Nothing much. It’s pretty much the same as the ones in the Economy class. I thought they might have included some free magazines or some sort.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

6. Other seat facilities

Sadly, there’s nothing much going on at our seats other than the power source. And from the images, you can roughly tell how worn-out these chairs were.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

Power Sockets at our ScootPlus seats

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

But they do have these cool feature where the window planes can be tinted with a touch of a button. This is way cooler than plastic window shades. I am not sure if this feature is present at the Economy seats but this is cool. Or maybe I am just an aviation idiot who did not know of such technology.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

Rickety old plane tables that pop up from the armrest.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

It was tough pulling the foldable table out as it was probably a thousand years old? Scoot, it is time to change out these seats!

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

But thank God it is still sturdy.

7. Our welcome drink? Water.

I am not complaining as they actually serve us cups of water every now and then throughout our flight.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

8. Our seat comes with a meal that includes 1 main and 1 drink.

I was not expecting much about when it comes to their onboard meals. But they have recently revamped their menu to include more food items from local brands like Old Chang Kee and Ooh Mala Potato Chips.

Once we boarded the plane, we were asked to order our mains and drinks from their menu.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

I went with their Oriental Treasure Rice which is supposedly the Chef’s recommendation and it tasted not too bad. It tasted like one of those microwaveable frozen dishes though. For drinks, I ordered coconut water. What’s surprising is that my meal came with a box of chocolates by Aalst, a local chocolate brand. It was a pleasant treat.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Budget Airline Business Class Singapore meals onboard
Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Budget Airline Business Class Singapore meals onboard

What’s surprising is that my meal came with a box of chocolates by Aalst, a local chocolate brand. It was a pleasant treat.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

9. Our Free 30 MB wi-fi

After taking off, they hand each of us an inflight wi-fi voucher with the passcode for us to enjoy 30 MB data. To be honest, the wi-fi speed is rather slow and 30 MB isn’t much. You probably can surf online for about 15 minutes or so.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

To be honest, this free 30 MB wifi isn’t really much of a perk to me. I can totally do without it.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Budget Airline Business Class Singapore onboard wifi

Our Overall Flight Experience on ScootPlus

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Budget Airline Business Class Singapore

We actually only managed to secure ScootPlus seats on our flight to Osaka only. On our return flight, we sat at the Economy Class seats. Given a choice, I would still rather bid for ScootPlus for its spacious seats and service, especially on long flights. I just wish that they have revamped the business class seats to provide more comfort for passengers.

Japan Trip 2019 Day 1 Kyoto Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Economy Class seats Singapore

The economy seats are not bad either. It is actually not as crammed as compared to other budget airlines like Jetstar or AirAsia. I mean, check out the leg space. It’s not that bad, isn’t it?

Japan Trip 2019 Day 7 Bid for ScootPlus Fly Scoot Budget Airline Economy Class Singapore

This is actually my first time sitting Scoot. Though I wasn’t very satisfied with their ScootPlus seats, I have to give them a thumbs up for their service. Their flight attendants are polite and attentive. They actually clean the plane toilets several times throughout the flight! Overall, I would say that Scoot is definitely one of the better low-cost airline carriers I’ve sat.

Are you a Scoot-er too?

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