Inside the budget airline zone where children are BANNED – here’s what it’s like
PLANNING a holiday to a far-flung destination like Thailand requires a little (or a lot) of saving for many.
But “no frills” airline, Scoot, is hoping to change that with the launch of a new bargain route from Gatwick to Bangkok, with seats from as little as £212 each way.
The Singapore airline’s basic approach means that customers pay a bargain fare for the flight alone, with no in-flight entertainment, meals or drinks included in the ticket price.
Although you can fork out some extra dosh to make your journey a little more comfortable with extras like blankets or wifi.
And those who fancy a decent kip on the 13-hour flight from London to Thailand, can even upgrade their ticket to a seat in the 'Scoot in Silence' kids-free zone, located near the front of the plane with one-way fares from £256pp.
These seats promise a child-free haven for adults in an “exclusive and silent cabin”. But is the extra £44 each way worth it?
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I jetted off on the inaugural flight from Gatwick to Bangkok last week, to find out.
Much like Ryanair and easyJet, everything is very on brand with Scoot.
Head rests, blankets and even the exterior of the plane are all kitted out in Scoot’s signature luminous yellow.
It reminded me a little of McDonald’s renowned logo – so can this budget airline do for flights what fast food joint, McDonald’s, has done for burgers?
The plane itself, a Boeing 787 dreamliner, is a relatively old model, but everything inside feels new(ish), with colour-changing lights glowing above the overhead storage and reading light buttons on the arm rests.
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I’d been treated to speedy boarding with my Scoot in Silence seat, another decent perk of shelling out that extra cash.
The main reason its so attractive to a single, solo traveller like myself, though, is that passengers need to be aged 12 and over to sit in this cabin – strategically placed in front of economy and behind ScootPlus, the budget airline’s equivalent of business class, with leather seats, more leg room and free power.
But can you ever make an area “child-free” when only a thin curtain separates the zones?
After all, if you’re in the back row and a child is howling a metre behind you, that measly curtain is doing diddly squat to help you sleep.
There’s nothing overly fancy about Scoot in Silence — you get the same seat and treatment as everyone else in economy, bar the speedy boarding.
But the pros are, with just 33 seats (as opposed to the 278 in economy), it does have a more luxurious feel to it.
And on the first flight out, it seemed that most passengers wanted to scrimp and save where they could, meaning I had a whole row of three to myself to snooze.
Although, that’s not so easy to do when you’ve just wolfed down a spicy curry moments before you’re about to settle down.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner is served an hour or so after take-off and costs an additional £9 for a hot meal with a dessert, which comes from the same menu whether it’s 9am or 9pm.
Meat-free dishes only come in one spice level and that’s hot, so for vegetarians it’s either like it or lump it.
But luckily for me I don’t mind a bit of spice and my veggie dahl with rice was nicely seasoned and had lots of chunky bits of veg in it.
Meat-eaters have more of a choice with seafood and pork fried rice or chicken curries.
Make sure to fill up pre-flight though, as one smallish meal, accompanied by a dessert of choccie biscuits wasn’t enough to keep my belly happy (or full) for the near 14 hours in the air.
And the airline states that “consumption of outside food & beverages is not allowed on board Scoot”, meaning you can’t bring your own snacks either.
So, it’s pay up, or go hungry.
Unfortunately for me, I’d boarded the plane at 9:30pm, when nothing but the Wetherspoons was open at Gatwick airport, so that meant no pre-dinner dinner for me either.
Perhaps this explains how one passenger had gotten so boozed up that they barged their way to the front of the aircraft slurring demands for a business class seat right after take off.
I have to give credit to the crew though as this agitated passenger was dealt with fast and efficiently.
Rather annoyingly, it’s in the technology where the real flaws lie and that’s not specific to the Scoot in Silence zone either.
The only way to order a drink, no matter which cabin you’re in, is via a QR code, on the back of the seats, that doesn’t work.
Despite entering my seat number on the order form and asking someone where my order was (after it hadn’t shown up for 30 minutes), they still somehow couldn’t locate me…
My overly-brewed tea had been walked up and down the aisles several times by this point.
But, I suppose with a budget airline like Scoot, you get what you pay for – except you don’t, because my pre-paid wifi package didn’t work.
After an hour of fiddling, I gave up and went to sleep.
It was only when I woke up mid-flight while everyone else was snoozing that I managed to get somewhat of a connection.
So, for the ultra low cost of £212pp, I’d love to say that Scoot really is great value for money and that their Scoot in Silence zone is a stroke of absolute genius – but it’s not.
If you’re strapped for cash and want as budget as budget can be, then you’ll be happy, as long as you don’t expect the same experience that you get on other airlines and remember to pack plenty of books or a tablet to keep you entertained.
The flights are staggeringly cheap compared to what else is out there and in terms of the money spent, the service feels about equal – although there needs to be more rubbish collections as my seat was overflowing with empty packages by the time the crew did their one bin collection.
Forking out that extra £44 not to be kicked in the back of the seat by little feet for a full 13 hours is definitely worth it too.
Everyone else in this zone seemed to be solo travellers, or couples, who were all respectful of the people around them.
And I guess what you save on the travel you can splash on treats when you’re there.
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But sadly, the yellow banners of Scoot have a long way to go to achieve the same status as Maccie’s golden arches.
Talking of which, is it time for a Big Mac? I’m starving.