ScootBiz no more

Status
Not open for further replies.

OZDUCK

Established Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2010
Posts
3,642
I have just got an e-mail from Scoot saying that ScootBiz has been replaced by ScootPlus. Based on my experience a week ago this class has been 'enhanced' in the QF style. The fairly reasonable meals have been replaced with the standard BOB type. ScootTV which worked quite well with the choice of half a dozen movies and a few TV shows has been replaced with an useless 30MB of WiFi.

I wonder if it was beginning to cannibalise SQ's Y seats sales so they have knocked the level of service back a bit? I am really only in to it for the seating size and comfort.

The e-mail is below -:


"Hi,

Thank you for choosing ScootBiz for your upcoming flight.

We will be updating this cabin name to ScootPlus with effect from 2 September 2019. This name change is to better reflect the product and what you can expect to receive - an upsized Scoot experience!

Rest assured that there is no change to the privileges you will receive, so expect to enjoy:
• Wide premium leather seats with more legroom
• 30kg check-in baggage - 15kg cabin baggage
• Choice of meal + beverage (includes alcoholic beverage choices)
• Priority check-in and boarding
• 30MB WIFI (replacing ScooTV, which has been removed since August 2019)
Please look out for ScootPlus boarding signs at the check-in counter at the airport. We look forward to seeing you onboard.

The Scoot Team "
 
I thought the meals were always just a free BOB and single alcoholic drink.

Loss of TV is a pain but I assume they've dumped it across the whole fleet

Then it's just a rename - Business was always a misnomer for the product.
(As is Jetstars Business, StarClass was more apt. Even AirAsiaX only uses PE naming)
 
I thought the meals were always just a free BOB and single alcoholic drink.

Loss of TV is a pain but I assume they've dumped it across the whole fleet

Then it's just a rename - Business was always a misnomer for the product.
(As is Jetstars Business, StarClass was more apt. Even AirAsiaX only uses PE naming)

I agree that it was never a "Business Class" product. While I am not saying the old meal was a taste sensation but it was much better than the BOB one we got this time. A link to a photo of the "old style" one, similar to what we had last time, compared to the current BOB one. You also got a chocolate bar with the old meal.

IMG20190809184438 - Copy (2).jpg

1566074591126.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:
• 30MB WIFI (replacing ScooTV, which has been removed since August 2019)

Not sure how to say this nicely... this is pointless. Utterly pointless. That data will be gone in 2 minutes on almost any smartphone today. As soon as a phone gets a sniff of that connectivity it will try to sync every app known to man and 30MB is such a pitiful volume that I am shocked they've paid for all of the infrastructure to offer it. Whilst I get that it is an enticement to pay more for this overpriced service, how is giving someone the experience of popping up "connected" followed by "give me your credit card number" 20 seconds later going to entice them into paying for wifi?
 
It is hilarious that they talk about streaming on their website... Not with those plans. And 200Mb is the top paid plan - https://www.flyscoot.com/en/fly-scoot/onboard/wifi

Satellite data is expensive and metering seems to be the way most airlines are managing it.

Both modern Apple and Android phones have the ability to nominate WiFi points as "metered data" or similar which generally turns off the background updates, albeit you can still be caught out by autoplay/download in some apps.
 
Both modern Apple and Android phones have the ability to nominate WiFi points as "metered data" or similar which generally turns off the background updates, albeit you can still be caught out by autoplay/download in some apps.

This is true, and hopefully is automated with Scoot's system, but the top metered plan is still only a couple of facebook feed refreshes away from gone. My wife and I just did 9 days of driving around NZ and I went through 21GB of data in that time (shocked me, but shows you what today's utilization looks like), just from our phones being connected via wifi to my portable 4G hotspot. Admittedly we did stream music on the trip but even then my phone downloads all of the playlists automatically (so I can listen on flights without wifi), so the actual data use for streaming audio (given we played one of those playlists the entire way) would honestly have been minimal, perhaps being generous 2-5GB or so of that.

What's more incredible is that we used hotel wifi wherever we stayed to reduce our 4G data usage. No doubt a lot of pictures and things like iCloud would contribute to this and clearly our phones don't see that 4G service as metered, but it goes to show what you can consume without much effort - it wasn't like we were actively trying to consume roaming data, but I also don't let $40 of data get in the way of enjoying a holiday....
 
Not sure how to say this nicely... this is pointless. Utterly pointless. That data will be gone in 2 minutes on almost any smartphone today. As soon as a phone gets a sniff of that connectivity it will try to sync every app known to man and 30MB is such a pitiful volume that I am shocked they've paid for all of the infrastructure to offer it. Whilst I get that it is an enticement to pay more for this overpriced service, how is giving someone the experience of popping up "connected" followed by "give me your credit card number" 20 seconds later going to entice them into paying for wifi?

I was "generously" given a voucher for 4MB worth of free internet on my recent Iberia long-haul flight in J. It didn't even last 30 seconds. :(
 
When you travel, you just gotta learn to turn all that background stuff off.
 
This is true, and hopefully is automated with Scoot's system, but the top metered plan is still only a couple of facebook feed refreshes away from gone. My wife and I just did 9 days of driving around NZ and I went through 21GB of data in that time (shocked me, but shows you what today's utilization looks like), just from our phones being connected via wifi to my portable 4G hotspot. Admittedly we did stream music on the trip but even then my phone downloads all of the playlists automatically (so I can listen on flights without wifi), so the actual data use for streaming audio (given we played one of those playlists the entire way) would honestly have been minimal, perhaps being generous 2-5GB or so of that.

What's more incredible is that we used hotel wifi wherever we stayed to reduce our 4G data usage. No doubt a lot of pictures and things like iCloud would contribute to this and clearly our phones don't see that 4G service as metered, but it goes to show what you can consume without much effort - it wasn't like we were actively trying to consume roaming data, but I also don't let $40 of data get in the way of enjoying a holiday....
If you are at all concerned about data use switch app updates to manual and disconnect icloud.
There is no conceivable reason why you would need either during a flight.
(Personally I never use icloud and always have app updates set to manual.)
I would also turn off all background updates so only the app I am actually using can use the internet.
Switching to battery saving mode also helps shut down any sneaky background apps.
 
The problem with these tips are that you are dealing with the average user.

I've been in technology my entire life and I still sweat when I turn off flight mode and quickly check I'm not inadvertently roaming on one of my SIMs (dual sim phone). Even a few minutes could be a massive bill still. You can know all of these tips but you can be sure the average punter neither knows nor has the inclination to change all of their connectivity settings to suit whatever context they are currently connected in.

Auto-detect hotspot features to set the wifi connection as metered are great and don't require user intervention, but anything that does is sure to fail, especially when the average person is going to be boarding with 2 or more wifi devices nowadays. The airlines are offering a service that's only usable to the technically inclined and motivated and the user gets blamed when it's gone in 5 minutes.

Clearly I wasn't worried about using 21GB that I had prepaid for $40, in fact had I not used it I would have lost it, but my point was how ridiculously effortless it was to do when you're on holiday and therefore MORE likely to use it than when you're sitting in an office with it in your pocket, yet the data is significantly more expensive, and then they have the hide to suggest you could use it to stream during the flight. For how long?
 
Well, I have just been notified that our Scoot B787 has been replaced by a 'chartered' SQ777-200R. I assume that this will be one of the old non-refitted regional planes pulled out of mothballs just for us. I am not sure if we will still get our "deluxe" meal on board as they have said you can take you own food. I am not even sure what seats we will get - all part of the rich tapestry of travelling I guess. This makes the 3rd change of aircraft type in our 6 sector trip.
 
Scoot plus fares from Sin/per are currently around Sgd700+. Far cry from around high $300s previously. Need to remember it's Budget Biz Class. You get what you pay for. KOKYCAT
 
Scoot plus fares from Sin/per are currently around Sgd700+. Far cry from around high $300s previously. Need to remember it's Budget Biz Class. You get what you pay for. KOKYCAT
Yes, I think they are having a bit of a 'loss of direction' moment. With Silkair shortly to be folded into SQ plus the problems with a/c availability they seem to have lost their way a bit.
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

I think they've more just changed the pricing.
Both Scoot and AirAsiaX both often had Biz/PE for only $100 more than Y, which made it a steal.

Both now much more, reflective of the additional space, but still a good deal
 
Well we have just returned last night on our SQ 'Charter Flight' and I have to admit I was very impressed.

We got to the airport very early in case there were problems but it all went fine and we had our boarding passes 3 1/2 hours before the flight.

The plane was an A330-300 rather than an B777 as advised. It had the old Regional business class seats which were better in every way than the SCOOT seats except that they are rather narrow and especially a bit tight for shoulder room. I had read about surly cabin crew on these charters but our crew where some of the best I have run across. They were cheerful and attentive.

All pax got a economy meal which was fine, the only difference was that there was no "dessert" dish of fruit or cake. In our cabin we got offered fruit juice and a pea & cracker snack packet as soon as the cabin crew were released after take-off. During the flight we were continuously being offered water or fruit juice and tea and coffee was served.

The IFE system was operating - the only difference was that they gave out 'bud' earphones. The seat recline worked as per normal.

In the end it was a far better experience than you would ever get on an actual SCOOT flight.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Enhance your AFF viewing experience!!

From just $6 we'll remove all advertisements so that you can enjoy a cleaner and uninterupted viewing experience.

And you'll be supporting us so that we can continue to provide this valuable resource :)


Sample AFF with no advertisements? More..
Back
Top