We did a family trip to the Gold Coast in June and decided to Scoot it. It was our 1st experience with ScootBiz and it was definitely a pleasant one. I search around in googleland while I was doing my research if it was all worth flying on a non commercial airline with a child on a infant ticket but nothing came up. With a leap of faith, I decided that we will be the well equipped ones and not rely on the crew if we do need assistance for I do not think service does exist much (imoh) in budget airlines. But you did well Scoot .
There were a few worries before booking, I may have all the experience as a ex crew but flying with 1 child and a toddler has to be my very FIRST. 10 years of watching how parents suffered is still very much etched in my mind, I have taken over the duties of mummies+ daddies who was dying to get some sleep, on the brink of breakdown and wonder sliently to myself on why do they do this to themselves? A few other times n days where parents come to me for milk and got me to add packets of sugar sachets or pour coke or add coffee into their children's milk got me riled up. Trust me when I say I have been through much.
The main concern is time is that although we have flown enough with V, is that K is a different ball game altogether. Have you seen her? Altough her ticket is a INFANT (hurhur) She is as tall as a 3 year old and how do I carry her to sleep without a bassinet (not that she can use coz she is over the maximum weight). The thing about budget airlines is if you chose to change dates - the prices are EXORBITANT . Scoot was all about fun, value and empowerment to choose the no frills you value, including baggage, meals, in-flight entertainment and comfort kits. Which means no free flow food, no free flow of drinks, no TV.
Now, if I fly into Brisbane, time spent travelling to and fro is another factor. So with a leap of faith, I ensured my dates are FIXED, I equipped myself of all things I can carry and not, got all the iPads loaded, prepared blankets/pillows and I booked. Here is my survival tips for those planing to fly Gold Coast with Scoot.
Booking: We never usually book early. For this, I started planning in December when I insisted on a family trip together. Dates on our business/school calender was blocked out. Tip: We got ourselves a good deal on Scoot business class and I'm sure you can if you know what you want early.
Check In:
- Singapore Check In
- Gold Coast
Queues: There was no Q in Singapore but ex Gold Coast was full.
- Scoot Ex Gold Coast - Chockablock
- We had 1 family in front of us
Priority for ScootBiz: Tip: There are 2 more Q inside of Gold Coast Airport and they DO NOT have Priority Lane. The 2nd check has officers who are very anal about water. I mean they are for milk and I have difficulties bringing it in. Be warned.
Baggage ScootBiz allows up to 10kg vs economy of 7kg. If you are looking for a new luggage, may I reccomend you this Tumi bag. I have Rimowa, Louis Vuitton, Samsonite but this is my ultimate favourite! You can read it here .
- We couldn't handle 2 carry ons, so I brought the Coach carry on as a double up bag.
Areobridge: One of the reason why we cannot handle so many bags. In Gold Coast, we land in remote bay and we have to walk to the airport. If you are bringing elderly, I saw that they have assistance till the aircraft but no lifts up. They will have to climb up and down the stairs for this sector. In Singapore we got a connected areobridge.
Welcome Drink: Each of us got a passcode card and water once we boarded. and Immigration cards for entry. Tip: Please remember to fill in the green exit card as I saw alot of people who were asked to re-Q immigration for failing to produce filled cards. I mean the queues were LONG and to re-Q was seriously not worth the time.
Seats Feature: ScootBiz has a configuration of 2-4-2 with a total of 32 seats in the cabin. The seats are okie though a better recline will be ideal but we are really pleased with the leg space that it came with. The cabin temperature on the return sector was slightly warm as leather seats traps heat more than canvas. Sometimes crew forget this little details especially when you depart from a winter station that the body has been trained to trap heat for the last few days and that we are all dressed warmer.
- The ScootBiz Seat
- 11 DEFG we got and the bulkhead space
- In built tray table
- Wide space
- The seats come with inseat power
Seat Space:
- My legs gets a full stretch
- 3/4 stretch in seat 11 E/F
Reading materials:
Ipads: There was free streaming that came with our seats, we did download Foxtube (an app to dowload/store all youtube videos). Guess what? The app had an update and refused to work onboard. Murphy's law! Thank goodness for loaded game apps and few movies that we prepared. But that GogoTv that Scoot offered helped entertained K a little. Tip: If you must know, there is only ONE child program, and thats' Hi 5 (30mins).
- Head sets was our own, I let K use my B&O headsets as it fits children well
- Watching her Hi 5 that was streamed to our iPads
Sleep: I packed my children's blankies (Thanks to Emirates children amenities) V brought her pink travel U shaped pillow and K had her favourite Mickey Mouse pillow. Tip: you can lift the arm rest for the middle seats.
- We were able to lift the center armrest to relieve our aching arms and lie the children to drink milk + sleep
- Didn't I tell you that she is really tall?
- Seat Upright
- A full recline
Food: Milk and biscuits on the way up. (Note Food and Arigcultural restrictions into Australia) Milk, chips, grapes, yogurt, cheese, chocolate on the way back. Our tickets comes with pre ordered food but seriously not very worth the calories. Tip: Take the instant noodles instead.
- Meal comes with 1 drink with ice (nice touch) and chips
- We didn't take our chicken/rice and croissant but opted for 1 cup noodle instead. It was da bomb!
- The chips came in handy
Our Verdict: We enjoyed the experience and was impressed with the safety of the crew. I saw the strictness of SQ standard when it came to safety and security that we are famous for. Scootees were really friendly and encompasses of few traits of the SQ girls who are famous for looking after young kids. Ex Sin, the boarding was great and purser was jovial who took time to explain what was to expect in our flight. Scootees were a fun loving bunch who was so silent for the 7 hours that I was wondering what they were doing. I mean most will be chatting right? Scootee offered to wash my bottles when I went to the galley but I did it myself so as not to trouble them. Ex Ool The scootees were relaxed and came to play with the girls and the purser came with chocolates before landing. Scootee in Biz class didn't reject my request for not serving my meal after take off which to me is a service. Purser came forth to check on the well being of K as she was cranky in the middle of the flight. In the end we requested of a cup of ice that she played with to cool down. It was only after I changed to a romper that she finally settled and slept. Toilets were really clean with dry sink and toilet paper were folded 90% of the time which was a nice touch in a LCC.
We are definitely going to fly with Scoot as we realized we do not need the frills that commercial airline offers. I mean with 2 children, we didn't get to finish 1 show on our iPad. I was comfortable with my outfit and didn't miss the smelly blankets and not so happening pillows.
With the exception of free flow of drinks that me & T miss but Scoot can offer a buffet of drinks for a nominal sum and we will be 1st to take that up. Food wise, I will stick to instant noodles for now. A final note, they arrive early for both sectors which is a plus point isn't it?
Please feel free to ask me questions regarding my flight as I know its daunting to travel LCC with the young ones.
*Disclosure: We paid full fare for our trip and all opinions are from our family. No monetary compensation was given. I'm very keen on the Sydney and Toyko destinations and the Dreamliners that Scoot will be getting soon.
