I first flew ScootPlus back in 2019. I was starting my Malaysian adventure at Tioman Island and Singapore seemed to be the smartest place to fly into from Melbourne.
Once I started investigating flights, I came across Scoot!
The flights were at convenient times and, better yet, the price of Scoot’s premium offering wasn’t much more than economy.
Being such a huge AirAsia fan at the time, I’d actually never flown Scoot before but I was ready to give it a try.
After reading about what was then called ScootBiz, I decided it was worth paying a little extra – around SGD$200 per person when I booked.
After booking, the product was renamed ScootPlus. I think this is a much more appropriate name. Although people often refer to it as Scoot business class, it’s not comparable to business class on a full-service airline. Instead, it’s a premium bundle with a bigger seat and additional inclusions.
I originally wrote this review following my 2019 flight from Singapore to Melbourne with my seven-year-old.
I subsequently updated it in 2024 after further flights and booking problems changed my opinion of Scoot considerably. I flew ScootPlus again with two of my children and also experienced considerable difficulties trying to resolve a separate booking after schedule changes.
While I enjoyed aspects of the ScootPlus onboard experience, the customer support I received when things went wrong was simply not good enough. As a result, I no longer recommend booking Scoot, including ScootPlus.
Below, I’ll share my personal experiences, explain what ScootPlus currently includes and help you decide whether the additional cost is worth it. There’s also a video walkthrough of my flight so you can see what it’s like for yourself.
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Contents
ScootPlus/Scoot Business Class Review
Before I go through each aspect in this ScootPlus review, I want to answer some common questions.
Does Scoot have business class?
Not in the traditional sense. Scoot offers ScootPlus, a premium product available on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners. You get a wider seat, more legroom and additional inclusions, but not the lie-flat seats or full-service experience associated with conventional long-haul business class.
I think of it as something between premium economy and business class, although it’s really a product of its own.
What is ScootPlus?
ScootPlus is Scoot’s premium offering on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners. It combines a larger, more comfortable seat with additional baggage, meals, priority services and other extras compared with a standard economy fare.
Scoot markets it as a bundle of benefits rather than a traditional full-service business class product.
Check-In And Boarding
A ScootPlus booking includes priority check-in and boarding, although this can be hard to access.
On my most recent flight from Singapore Changi Airport, check-in was automated and I couldn’t find a separate priority check-in option. We used the same machines as everyone else, although this wasn’t a problem as barely anyone was around.
Priority boarding was somewhat similar, but with huge lines. At Singapore, you have to go through security at your individual gate. There is no priority here.
They scan your boarding passes here and not when you’re about to board.
When they were ready to board, they said ScootPlus and people who paid for priority boarding only to board but no one policed this and everyone stood up and got on.
In 2023, this did not exist. Everyone boarded through the front of the plane and walked through the ScootPlus area.
Scoot Business Class Lounge
There is no dedicated Scoot business lounge. There is also no ScootPlus lounge access. You can pay for other lounges at Singapore airport if you wish.
We used the SATS Premier Lounge.
You can buy entry to this lounge yourself via Klook here which is the cheapest way to do it.
We went to the lounge before our flight and enjoyed it. I think it’s worth the price if you like hanging out in airport lounges (we do!).
Make sure you check which terminal your flight departs from before booking a lounge. Scoot operates from Terminal 1 at Singapore Changi Airport, so this is the most convenient terminal for a lounge visit.
Click here to read our full lounge review.
ScootPlus Seat Review
ScootPlus seats are substantially bigger than economy seats, although they are not lie-flat seats or anything close to them.
Scoot currently advertises seat widths of approximately 47–50 cm, with a seat pitch of 96.5 cm (38 inches) and additional recline compared with economy. Seat pitch is the distance between corresponding points on consecutive rows of seats, rather than the amount of clear space available for your legs. On my flight, the second row certainly didn’t feel as spacious as that figure might suggest!
The ScootPlus seats are a comfortable size for a day flight, particularly if you get bulkhead seats like we did. There is a foot rest which comes up and the seat does go back somewhat.
The Scoot Airlines business class seats also have adjustable headrests.
The tray table is on the small side, but it does the job. It also folds in half for when you just need a bit of space. It does move backwards and forwards so you can adjust to what is comfortable.
There is an international power point for each of the ScootPlus seats.
The cabin is in a 2-3-2 configuration. There can be three or five rows.
ScootPlus Meals
ScootPlus currently includes one complimentary meal with a non-alcoholic beverage. On flight sectors longer than 11 hours, two complimentary meals are included.
On my flights, we were also given drinking water throughout the journey. It came in small plastic glasses, although the crew were happy to refill our water bottles when we asked.
The meal range is not huge. It can be a hot meal or a “light meal” option.
You can select this when booking or online in the lead up to your flight or they come round after you board to get your order. They also ask at this time about what drink you would like.
I would check the available meal options before deciding whether to pre-order. While we had additional choices onboard on my flights, availability can vary. If there’s a particular meal you want, especially when travelling with children, arranging it in advance may be the safer option.
We also ran into problems with this on our most recent flight. We were originally booked in economy and had booked meals, one of which was a light meal option (cheaper than a hot meal).
The upgrade conditions stated that our previously purchased extras would be non-refundable, but that we’d receive the ScootPlus meal inclusion. Scoot’s current policy also warns that changing a pre-ordered meal may not be possible when an upgrade is confirmed within 72 hours of departure.
We were unable to change what we had previously booked meal-wise before the flight. When they came round once onboard, I asked if I could switch my kid’s light meal to a hot meal. They said this was fine.
But after take-off, they came back and said this wasn’t fine because the light meal is cheaper than a hot meal… I argued that ScootPlus included a complimentary meal, so I didn’t understand why I should have to pay extra when we’d already lost the meals we’d purchased before upgrading.
The flight attendant got her manager, and I went through all this again.
In the end, after I showed them my itinerary and my upgrade email and they took screenshots of them, we were able to change to a hot meal.
These discussions went on for quite a while and were very annoying. I was obviously in ScootPlus. It says everywhere on the Scoot website that you get a meal in ScootPlus… They argued I didn’t upgrade and had always been in ScootPlus… Why this would even matter is beyond me since ScootPlus includes a hot meal. It was crazy.
Anyway, you are warned.
You can see most of the menu below.
What I did love was that my meal came with some yummy chocolate ice cream that I wasn’t expecting. It’s lucky this was there though as the meal isn’t anywhere near enough. The meals are small and there are no sides.
It was okay but quite flavourless. I couldn’t taste any ginger.
Any other meals and drinks you need to pay the regular price for. The prices aren’t crazy but not cheap either. This is no AirAsia.
ScootPlus Review – Other Amenities
On our flight, the welcome drink was a small serving of water. There was no amenity kit, pillow or blanket provided, and ScootPlus doesn’t offer the same entertainment experience as business class on a full-service airline.
One inclusion has changed since my flight: Scoot now provides a complimentary blanket on flight sectors longer than 11 hours. This doesn’t apply to shorter flights such as Singapore to Melbourne.
So this is definitely a cut price business class product even for a budget airline.
But there are some inclusions.
ScootPlus currently includes 30kg of checked baggage and up to two pieces of cabin baggage weighing a combined maximum of 15kg. This consists of a cabin bag and a smaller personal item, both subject to Scoot’s size restrictions. Priority baggage isn’t available.
You get free seat selection. In-seat power is also included.
ScootPlus now includes 200MB of complimentary WiFi, compared with the 30MB allowance we received on our flight.
Unfortunately, the WiFi was very slow during my experience. I couldn’t even get an email to open, although it was handy for WhatsApp messaging. Hopefully, the connection has improved since then.
ScootPlus generally offered better service than economy. We seemed to have a dedicated flight attendant who was helpful, but I was frustrated by how long we waited for our included drink. We asked more than once and our requests were acknowledged, yet passengers behind us had already been served a second drink before we received our first.
The meal service was a couple of hours after take-off on our most recent flight which was later than we expected. My kids were quite hungry and getting louder by then.
On my previous flight, we opted to have our included meal towards the end of the journey. However, because the meal service was slow and the crew prioritised pre-ordered meals, we couldn’t even buy a snack until a couple of hours into the flight. We could have eaten something faster in economy!
This is especially frustrating when travelling with a child – a couple of hours is a long time to wait for something to eat and drink.
Otherwise, they were quite attentive and I was impressed.
Other than the service, as someone who travels carry-on only the majority of the time, I didn’t find the inclusions impressive in my Scoot business review.
ScootPlus Review Video Walk-Through
Below, you can watch exactly what it’s like on ScootPlus in this video of my most recent flight on ScootPlus from Singapore to Melbourne.
What Happens When Flights Change?
The following describes a separate booking problem I experienced when Scoot changed my flight schedule. I’m keeping the details here because the experience had a significant impact on my opinion of the airline. These were the options Scoot offered me at the time, rather than a statement of its current schedule-change policy.
I spent many hours trying to get assistance from Scoot when my flight changed.
This is because the flight changed to departing Singapore at 2:30am. Not a time I want to fly with my kids! Especially as my connecting flight from Kuala Lumpur got there much earlier.
Because the change was within four hours of our original departure time, Scoot offered us no alternative. I was stuck with this flight time. The online chat and their support system both told me my only option was to pay to change to another flight. They would not refund, and they would not change the flight for me.
The most ridiculous part of this is that when I tried to change the flight, any option that comes up, says “not applicable” and wouldn’t let me change. Besides which, the other options were still 2:30am and I would have to pay to change it.
A few hours difference in departure time in the middle of the day is not the same as the middle of the night. And at the very least, they could have moved us onto a different flight out of KL that connects better.
While asking them on Facebook to help with this (they didn’t even reply), I connected to someone else who had an issue with a ScootPlus booking – they had changed his aircraft so ScootPlus was no longer available and wouldn’t refund anything. So he paid for ScootPlus, didn’t get it and they were refusing to help.
A month later, I had this experience as well. My flights changed again and, this time, ScootPlus no longer was available on one of my two flights. Initially, it didn’t seem like I could change or refund either, but with persistence, I was offered a refund.
However, months later, I still have not been able to get this.
I struggle to understand how this is even legal?
That experience put me off booking Scoot again, particularly well in advance.
Scoot Upgrade To Business Class
If you decide to fly ScootPlus, the simplest option is to book it when purchasing your flight. Depending on the route and date, the difference between economy and ScootPlus can sometimes be surprisingly reasonable.
If you’ve already booked economy, Scoot currently offers three possible ways to upgrade:
- Pay the fare difference: Change your booking to ScootPlus if seats are available.
- Upgrade2Plus: Purchase an upgrade at a fixed price if your booking is eligible.
- Bid4ScootPlus: Make an offer for an upgrade and find out whether your bid has been successful.
Not every booking will qualify for every option, and upgrades depend on seat availability. You can check the current options through Scoot’s website.
When I tried Bid4ScootPlus, the lowest offer for my Singapore–Melbourne flight was SGD$195 per person. I offered SGD$201 and was successful.
The page where I made the offer said 15 people on my flight had already bid… I doubt this was true though as the seats that showed as available on the seat map were still available during the flight.
Final Words – Is ScootPlus Worth It?
This really depends on how much you pay and if your flight runs to schedule and you don’t end up with any awful changes.
For what we paid on our original experience with ScootPlus, definitely yes. But honestly, I wouldn’t pay more than a couple of hundred dollars extra even for the 7.5 hour flight to Melbourne.
Scoot is right that it is more like a bundle than a business class product. It’s a group of extras to make flying more comfortable and it does deliver on this.
I do think it’s a shame ScootPlus doesn’t include a few more comforts on shorter flights, such as a blanket, pillow or a more substantial welcome drink. Scoot now includes two meals and a complimentary blanket on flight sectors longer than 11 hours, but these benefits don’t apply to shorter journeys such as Singapore to Melbourne.
And, of course, passengers shouldn’t have to argue to receive the meal included in their booking!
After our experience with schedule changes and the difficulties we had getting assistance, I would not book them again in any class and would not recommend to anyone else to book them. They need to come up with reasonable alternatives when your flight is moved, particularly to 2:30am. It feels like this airline doesn’t care about their customers at all.
When we were planning a trip to Europe, I considered booking ScootPlus from Australia as it’s not all that much more than flying a full service airline in economy.
However, even before our experiences with Scoot schedule changes, I wouldn’t do this. The connections are not good, I wouldn’t trust I would be looked after if they changed their schedule and the prices just aren’t cheap.
So, what is Scoot business class like?
There is no denying you are on a budget airline.
I definitely felt more special being at the point end of the plane in a more comfortable seat, but whether it is worth it or not really depends on what you pay.
ScootPlus Vs Jetstar Business Vs AirAsia Premium Flatbed
If you are weighing up between the other budget airline business class packages in this part of the world, ScootPlus comes in last.
The Jetstar business product into Singapore is far superior in my opinion. The seats are basically the same but the service is more comparable to what you get in a “proper” business class. The included food and drinks make it a lot better.
I took Jetstar business from Melbourne to Singapore in 2023 on the same trip as the ScootPlus trip and they just aren’t even comparable. Read about that flight here.
AirAsia has a similar amount of inclusions but with a far superior lie-flat seat. However, they cost far more and I didn’t find them a viable choice when I compared prices. They also have incredibly bad service if you have a problem with only an AI chatbot being available!
So if everything is equal, I vote to pick one of those airlines. I recommend Jetstar for a day flight and AirAsia at night.
After experiencing such a difficult schedule change with Scoot, I would not recommend them at all unless you feel any cost saving is worth a 2:30am departure and that any four hour schedule change is not a problem for you.
I hope you found this ScootPlus review useful. Click here to read our full review of Jetstar business class or click here to read our AirAsia Premium Flatbed review. Or see how Scoot compares to full service airlines with our Singapore Airlines business class review here and Malaysia Airlines business class review here.
Planning a trip to Malaysia? Have any questions? Join our Malaysia Travel Planning Facebook group here now! It’s the perfect place to ask any questions and to be inspired!
