Scoot Airways consistently has cheap flights to Singapore, Asia and Europe. It’s tempting. So tempting. But what is it really like to fly Scoot with kids? How budget is it? And is the food OK? Is it cramped? Keep reading our Scoot review to find out.
Scoot Airlines in Luang Prabang Laos.
We booked our family of four on Scoot flights to Luang Prabang Laos in the April school holidays. The Laos flights started on April 1. We thought we could combine an exciting, new adventurous destination with a visit the Singapore Sentosa attractions such as Universal Studios and Adventure Cove Waterpark.
Flight times
The first thing to know about flying Scoot with kids is that the flight times have changed. Scoot used to have a late night flight back from Singapore to Australia. The flight now leaves at 10am Singapore time and arrives in Sydney at 7.30pm.
I’ve done dozens of red-eye flights back from Asia, with kids and without. They all suck. No one sleeps. The 10am Scoot flight was so much better with kids. When we arrived back in Sydney, they were far less grumpy and they were able to go to school the next day.
Boarding the Scoot flight to Sydney with kids.
Connections
If you are flying onwards to another destination from Singapore, check your connecting flight time. The one to Laos is not until the next day. That means you will need to organise a night in a hotel, or you could take the opportunity to do a stopover. We stayed at the Crown Plaza Changi – which has been rated as the best airport hotel in the world. Of all the hotels we stayed at on our three-week trip, my daughter chose this as her favourite. The pool is outstanding.
For the flight to Laos, Scoot will hold your check-in luggage overnight and ensure it goes onto the Luang Prabang flight. So pack your pyjamas, your toothbrush and your swimmers in your carry-on.
We found breaking up the flight with a stopover was much easier with the kids. They loved having time to swim and explore.
The Crown Plaza Singapore Changi Airport
The windows
My kids were obsessed with the windows on the Scoot plane. Ok, so was I. The windows do not have shades. You press a button and the window darkens. What’s really cool is that you can still see out the darkened window but the light won’t disturb your screen time. It was lovely to glimpse a few Indonesian islands and reefs as we flew overhead.
The windows are on the Scoot long haul flights, not the internal Asia ones. Expect a sad face when the kids see a normal window from now on.
The windows on Scoot are special.
The food
We booked fly, bag, eat flights and chose our meals before we left Sydney. The kids had chicken croissants and I had roast chicken with vegetables. The pre-ordered meal comes with a HUGE slab of cornflake chocolate and a choice of water or coca-cola.
The food on a Scoot Flight from Singapore to Sydney
You don’t have to pre-order. And I think next time, I probably wouldn’t. The food selection on board is really good. Scoot has a smoked salmon wrap with rocket and capers, a corn baguette with grilled chicken and cheddar cheese and finger sandwiches with tomato cucumber and capsicum. If you don’t pre-order you can also choose more drink options. Scoot has water, coca-cola, coconut water, mineral water, iced tea, sarsaparilla, orange juice and Ribena for $4 on board. You can also order ice-cream in loads of different flavours.
The kids said the food on Scoot was the best of any airline we flew on our trip. It was fresh, tasty and you can actually see the meat. I’ve seen far too many “brown slop and rice” plane food meals left untouched by my kids. I have had to cope with the resulting hangry behaviour. Scoot’s food quality was a lovely surprise.
My meal on Scoot from Singapore to Sydney
Make sure you have cash or a credit card. You won’t be able to use a debit card on board.
The seats
I’m not going to lie, they are smaller than other airlines. But it wasn’t that bad, particularly on a day flight and for a budget airline. It was totally fine for the kids. My eight-year-old had enough room to curl up and fall asleep. The seats were comfortable. My bottom didn’t feel sore, as it has on other full-price airlines. But that may also be because this was a day flight. I wasn’t really trying to sleep.
The only point where I did feel cramped was when the man in front of me fully-reclined his seat. It pushed my drink off my tray table. But for the flight price, I’ll take that. And you can always recline your seat to counter it.
Inside the Scoot flight from Singapore to Sydney
If you book as a family, make sure that you are seated together. It should happen if you do it in one booking. Check with the check-in desk when you arrive at the airport to make sure your seats are together. We didn’t do this properly and my son ended up separated from myself and my daughter because we booked his flight separately to ours. However, the Scootie was absolutely brilliant. She ensured that the three of us were seated together and managed a few other families in the same situation with expert kindness, politeness and professionalism.
Huge thanks to the Scootie who made sure we had seats together.
Overhead compartments
The luggage bins on Scoot are really large. We easily fit a big bag in our (and some delicate lanterns from Vietnam). Each guest can carry up to 10kg of cabin baggage on board, limited to a maximum of two pieces, including a laptop, briefcase or handbag. The cabin baggage cannot exceed dimensions of 54cm x 38cm x 23cm (total linear dimensions 115cm). We could have put the kids’ suitcases on as carry-on as they weighed 7kg and 8kg each – and we were away for three weeks.
Overhead compartments on Scoot from Singapore to Sydney
In-flight entertainment
You can buy WiFi and access to Scoot TV. But we didn’t. Instead, we downloaded Netflix TV shows and movies onto our devices. The kids also downloaded some of their favourite YouTube episodes to watch. In the end, we didn’t miss the In-flight entertainment system. The kids were happy because they had all the shows they wanted ready to watch. I was happy binge-watching shows I hadn’t yet seen on Netflix.
If you do want to watch a show together, you can also buy a headphone splitter to take with you.
Fast asleep on the Scoot flight from Singapore to Sydney.
The Scooties
The Scooties really work hard, welcoming everyone on board with a smile and a wave. They helped guests to get their bags into the overhead lockers and sorted out seating complaints easily with a smile. The kids felt welcome on board and felt they could approach a Scootie with a question if they needed. We couldn’t have been happier with the Scootie service.
Would we do it again?
Absolutely! Especially for the price, the flight time, the food. In fact, we’re now seriously considering the Scoot flights to Europe.
READ MORE:
South East Asia’s undiscovered gem
This is the best waterpark in Singapore
The Crowne Plaza Changi Airport Singapore with kids
Travel allows you to get outside your bubble. It makes you realise there are other ways to do things, and that’s OK. Plus, I am a huge fan of skiing and for the best powder – you need to head overseas.