Scoot is offering a AUD199 one-way “Fly” fare from Sydney and Gold Coast to Singapore. Returns are priced at just over AUD400. Note that we found booking a separate one way out of Singapore was actually cheaper (equivalent to about AUD150 vs the AUD203 when booked as an ex-Australia return leg – though be aware of your credit card forex fees).

Scoot is a budget carrier and its Fly fare includes no frills – only 7kg of hand luggage is allowed. You will pay around AUD22 per flight extra for a “FlyBag” fare which offers 15kg of checked luggage. Add an additional AUD13 for a “FlyBagEat” fare which gives you meals and drinks on board.

Scoot will use Boeing 777-200ER aircraft (ex-Singapore Airlines) which can carry up to 402 passengers. The economy cabin will be the tighter 10 abreast 3-4-3 configuration with 31″ seat pitch. Extra legroom seats (35″ pitch) by exits will be available at extra charge, as will pre-assigned seating choice.

There will also be a ScootBiz cabin (essentially premium economy Zim leather recliner seating of 38″ pitch, 22″ width in a 2-4-2 config). ScootBiz will include seat selection, a dedicated check-in counter, priority boarding, meals and drinks, an iPad for in-flight entertainment, 20kg checked luggage plus 15kg carry-on allowance and in-seat power. ScootBiz fares are priced at around AUD600 each way though some dates are showing a AUD499 limited special offer.

Scoot will fly from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2. Scoot plans to expand its fleet of aircraft from 4 to 15 by 2015 with plans to serve New Zealand, Asia and possibly the Middle East and Europe. However, with competitor Air Asia X (which flies Kuala Lumpur to Sydney, Gold Coast) having pulled its longer flights to Europe and New Zealand, it remains to be seen whether the budget long-haul concept can work economically in the light of high oil prices and increasing flight taxes.

Scoot’s arrival on the scene should ensure some competitive fares on similar routes – keep a watch for Air Asia X and Jetstar sale fares.

Scoot sale fare are available until April 9th 2012. Note that flights are subject to regulatory approval.

Despite aviation being seen as vital to worldwide trade and tourism, one of the UK’s solutions to a £126 billion budget deficit and £1.1 trillion national debt is to squeeze airline passengers further. The airlines themselves are heavily opposed to the tax as are the governments of Australia, New Zealand and various Caribbean countries who are losing significant tourist numbers from UK.

There are 4 APD bands based on flight distance, which bizarrely is calculated as the distance between London and the capital city of the destination country. There are tariffs for economy passengers (known as the “reduced rate”) and for premium economy / business class / first class passengers (known as the “standard rate”). APD will increase again in April 2013.

APD only applies to departing – not arriving – UK flights. Note that flights from Belfast in Northern Ireland and from the Scottish Highlands and Islands are exempt from APD.

So from April 2012 (2013) a family of 4 will pay £368 (£376) in APD to fly economy from the UK to Australia or £736 (£752) if flying premium economy or higher – by no means an insignificant sum.

Theoretical avoidance of APD is always possible but such strategies may sometimes trigger additional costs – such as increased airfare from stopovers, “higher intermediate points” and open-jaw tickets; and sometimes needing to purchase “positioning” travel. Booking multiple flights also introduces possible connection risk.

Some points to consider for UK APD:

*By avoiding the UK completely you will not have to worry about APD! Be aware that Germany has the second highest taxes which range from €7.50 to €42.18 – considerably lower than UK.

*You do not have to pay APD if you are in transit in the UK – that is if you arrive in the UK and then depart on a “connected” flight on the same booking within 24 hours. For example, flying New York-London-Paris or Amsterdam-London-Tokyo would not trigger any APD charge if the London stop is less than 24 hours.

However, if the London stop is greater than 24 hours then you would pay band A APD for the London-Paris flight or band D for the London-Tokyo flight.

*UK passengers, particularly those in the north should consider originating travel from Dublin or Belfast. A cheap Ryanair flight could be booked to Dublin although do watch the connection by allowing plenty of time.

*Flying long-haul from Amsterdam Schiphol (which has no airport taxes) is also possible for UK travellers. Price your flight from Amsterdam to see if it undercuts the ex-UK price. You can book a cheap Easyjet or British Airways flight over (or come by train). To avoid connection issues it is recommended that you position to Amsterdam the day before and stay at the budget CitizenM airport hotel on site.

*UK travellers should compare UK long-haul prices with those originating from various other European cities. This does remove the APD component but ticket prices can also vary significantly from different Euro starting points. You could also consider departing from a Euro city, but having the return flight back to London.

*Travelling on the Eurostar train from London to Brussels or Paris does not attract any departure tax. Amsterdam and Cologne can also be easlily reached by train from London via Eurostar and the Thalys.

*If flying long-haul from London, a European stopover would reduce the APD. For example, flying London-Madrid-Buenos Aires with a stopover in Madrid would reduce the APD from band D to band A. However, adding the stopover could increase the base fare.

*Note, if flying London-Madrid-Buenos Aires with only a transit in Madrid you are liable for the full band D APD. If the London-Madrid flight is economy but Madrid-Buenos Aires is business then you will still pay the full standard rate (business class).

*For transatlantic flights consider flying business class to the UK (where the flat seat comes in handy for the overnight trip) and no APD is charged. Fly economy class from UK to US/Canada which will reduce APD and being a day flight this should be more manageable.

*Note that some APD discrepancies arise from the capital city distance calculation. For example, flights to the USA / Canada are based on the distance between London and Washington DC / Ottawa respectively – which are band B (under 4,000 miles).

This means that flights from London to Vancouver (4,723 miles), San Diego (5,485 miles) and Honolulu (8,012 miles via LAX) remain in APD band B – whilst London flights to Nassau, Bahamas (4,342 miles) and Kingston, Jamaica (4,688 miles) are in band C.

Other distinctions arising from the mileage bands are flights to: Pakistan (B) and India (C); Ecuador (C) and Peru (D); Uganda (B) and Kenya (C).

Note that Greece, Cyprus, Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya all fall into the cheapest band A. However Egypt, Israel, Lebanon and Jordan fall into the significantly higher band B.

*If you are flying UK to Australia or New Zealand (band D) and plan to make one stopover in Asia or the Gulf then do it on the outward leg rather than the return. Notable stopover bands are Dubai (B), Thailand (C), South Korea (C), Vietnam (C) and Hong Kong (C). Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia are all in band D – the same as Australia and NZ. Alternatively, make a stop in Europe (A) or originate from Europe (no APD).

*If you are flying on an ex-UK Round-the-World ticket then fly the first flight to a band A destination to minimise the APD component.

If you are on any RTW ticket then do not book a long-haul sector from the UK – you will save money by adding a stopover elsewhere in Europe. Say you were considering part of the RTW ticket as New York-London-Singapore then instead book New York-Frankfurt-Singapore or New York-xLondon-Frankfurt-Singapore (where xLondon is transit and Frankfurt could be any applicable Euro city).

*You should also try and avoid premium long-haul mileage redemption flights from London. It should not make any difference to the miles spent if you choose travel to/from another European airport

*Free operational upgrades on ex-UK flights are not subject to any additional APD charges – but paid upgrades are subject to the higher rate.

Singapore Airlines has recently started selling “Preferred Seats” in economy (coach) class. These are seats located on exit and bulkhead rows which have extra legroom.

The seats are now available for passengers booking online at Singapore Air’s website and cost US$50 per sector. Preferred seats can be purchased at the time of booking or at anytime up to 48 hours before departure using the “Manage Booking” facility.

The number of Preferred seats varies by aircraft type:

Airbus A380-800 – 23 seats
Airbus A380-800A – 11
Airbus A330 – 4
Boeing 777-300ER – 8
Boeing 747-400 – 8
Boeing 777-300 – 4
Boeing 777-300A – 6
Boeing 777-200 (3 Class) – 4
Boeing 777-200 (2 Class) – 4
Boeing 777-200ER – 0 (no exit rows)

A Preferred seat is marked as ‘P’ on the seat maps. They are not available on short-haul routes around south-east Asia or flights to Taiwan and Japan.

Best seats on the A380 plane

The best seats to get are on the Airbus A380-800 upper deck which has a small economy cabin at the back of the aircraft with a 2-4-2 configuration. The pick of the bunch are the window seat pairs on row 81 – seats A/C or H/K at the “mini” cabin right at the back. Further forward, row 71 also has great legroom but is windowless.

We recently tried out the A380 upper deck economy cabin on a 13 hour flight between London Heathrow and Singapore Changi airport. We found the $50 investment for row 81 was money very well spent. In comparison, Qantas charges AUD80 (around US$80) for a pre-assigned exit row (A380 lower deck or 747) on the same route.

The upper economy deck has a quieter and more intimate ambience than the large cabins on the lower deck. However, Singapore’s newer A380 deliveries have the economy cabin removed so that the entire upper deck is dedicated to business class. The original configuration will remain on SQ’s first 12 A380s for the time being.

On the lower deck, preferred seats can be purchased for exit rows 44 and 55, and also middle row seat 48D which has no seat (47D) in front.

It is likely that the newer config aircraft (A380-800A) with no economy upper deck will eventually be deployed on the London-Singapore route – so check your aircraft type carefully when booking. You should also book early to secure a Preferred seat – particularly if flying on the A380 upper deck.

Other airlines that have a small economy cabin on the upper deck of the A380 are Air France and Thai Airways.

It’s time for our annual review of which airlines accept Paypal as a form of payment for purchasing flights.

Paypal has become a mainstream form of online payment used by millions of people worldwide. A number of large international airlines allow Paypal transactions, though in some cases there are restrictions of use in terms of countries and currencies.

Let’s take a look at this year’s listing:

AirTravelGenius.com Paypal Airlines List for 2011

Air Asia – direct debit in AUD only
Air China – US, Australia, Singapore, South Korea
American Airlines – US/Canada/UK only
British Airways
China Airlines
China Southern Airlines
Continental Airlines
Delta Airlines – US only
El Al
Emirates – GBP/EUR only
Hainan Airlines
Jet 2 – GBP/EUR only
JetBlue
LAN – US
Lufthansa
Monarch Airlines – GBP/EUR only
Singapore Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Transavia
United Airlines – US only
US Airways
Vueling

China Southern and Hainan currently have a 3%-10% rebate off flights when paying by Paypal for international flyers.

Note also that Australian travel agents Webjet, Jetabroad and Flight Centre accept Paypal for flight bookings.