Everyone has been so helpful here planning August trip to Bali!! I asked a couple of days ago what people thought of EVA Air, and someone suggested Singapore Air non-stop from EWR to Singapore (to Bali). Fantastic idea. Shortens flight time, less expensive, available, etc. They are holding reservations for us. I went on Flyer Talk forum to ask this question but I can't find the answer.....has anyone flown Executive Coach? This long flight only has 2 classes....Raffles and Executive Coach. They said Executive Coach has seats almost as big as business, etc etc. Has anyone flown this? Are the seats comfortable? (most important thing, more so than service). I do know they have individual t.v.s, which is great. We are taking our kids. My husband is 6 foot 3 and, as he puts it, two hundred and too many pounds so we need the room. Most important to me is how it reclines. Anyone try this yet???
Thanks so much, whoever recommended this flight THANK YOU forever!!! What a timesaver. And I love Singapore, didn't like the Taipei stopover on EVA anyway.

The seating is 2 x 3 x 2 instead of 2 x 4 x 2 plus extra legroom, the PTVs have probably the Best entertainment selection of any airline, excellent food plus the great Singapore Airlines service.

SQ's non-stop from NY to Singapore begins June 28 so no one's experienced it yet. It sounds great, however, and I'd be very interested to hear first hand accounts. I've flown just about every route and every carrier between Asia and the US and I keep coming back to SQ as by far the best in overall service. Even in economy the airplanes are clean, the service professional and the food acceptabel. The movies are the best!

I've heard that the non-stop flight will be priced higher than regular SQ flights. Do you mind me asking what fare you've been quoted?

As a second alternative, I'd suggest that you take SQ through Frankfurt or BA/CX through London and Hong Kong. (It's not easy getting to Indonesia. My son studies in Western MA; getting him home for the holidays is a challenge.)

Here's a link to more info:
http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/app/.../NTE_2704.html

The aircraft are the same as used on SQ's LAX-SIN Non-stops ( Airbus A-340-500's ) and there had been praise from those who have flown already on that route. CNN did a full report on one of their Travel programs a while back.

It would be great if someone who had flown on both EVA Evergreen class and SIA Executive Economy would do a comparison.

I had flown on SIA's Executive Economy between Singapore and Jakarta. The flight was just over an hour but it gave me a chance to check it out. I would definitely recommend it. The seat was slightly smaller than business and I felt the padding wasn't as thick, but it was very comfortable and much much better than any enconomy. There was space between me and the arm rests! The seats have leg rests in addition to the foot rests. Good leg room.

The only complain I have is that I don't like pulling the seat table in and out of the arm rest, but that's just my preference. In exchange, you get a much wider screen for your movies/games. There's a drink holder and a pocket for your eyeglasses on the seatback. In-seat power supply will keep your laptop going on the long flights.

The cabin feels more spacious due to the 2-3-2 seat map. Also, you'll notice there is a gap between seatbacks so when you look forward you can see beyond the seat in front of you and you feel less enclosed.

Considering the high price of a business class ticket and not everyone has FF miles for upgrade, these delux economy seats are the way to go!

Thanks so much for these replies. We are definitely going on the EWR/Singapore flight. I was surprised there was availability. 18 hours door to door to Singapore. Had we done what we originally intended....PHL/LA and transfer to international terminal, LA to NRT....it would have been 22 hours just to get to NRT....let alone the portion to Bali.

Marmot...pricing on Executive Economy as I thought very reasonable. $1500 pp (give or take a little) for adults, $1100 for kids under 11 (I have 2 of those). In the original arrangement I had made, on AA, I had enough miles for 3 of the 5 tickets so still had to pay for 2 business class (9K since it was multiple carriers)...I will pay less for all 5 tickets this way and still keep the 330K AA Miles.
I am thrilled, thanks again for all the great input. We go the 1st 2 weeks in August and I will post my review of Executive Coach.

Stockexchanger- have a great trip- I look forward to your trip report- know that you are flying the Gold Standard of Airline service- nobody does it better than Singapore Air!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to sign up for SQ's KrisFlyer program. As I said in your other thread, for your R/T EWR-SIN before August 31, it's double miles, and you've earned enough for a intra-Asia or domestic US roundtrip on all Star Alliance carriers (including United and USAirways). Basically, an instant $250 rebate.

rwwkan...can't thank you enough for the suggestions....with double miles and a family of five, there's our next vacation. Appreciate it, I never would have known!!

Also want to add, they have a promotion going on from EWR to Singapore through the end of the summer....20% off executive coach or 2 for one in business/raffles class.
I wonder why they need to do this, I would think these flights would be full but I guess not. We were able to book easily. And double miles too, so from EWR to Singapore then Bali, double miles gives us 40K each.

Why do they have seats in the summer? I have some theories:

- There just isn't that much a market for Singapore (and surrounding areas) to the U.S. East Coast. SQ had long have one-stop services via Amsterdam or Frankfurt, and it's no hard to find cheap fares from NYC to Frankfurt on SQ. Apparently, they don't have 250-300 people flying this route daily regularly. Even on SQ1/2 SIN-HKG-SFO, most of the people flying SFO-HKG get off in Hong Kong.

- Cost. This flight cost more than other services in coach. Keep in mind that many of the Chinese/Asian travellers are very budget minded, and will not spend the extra if they can fly to the same destination for less, even if it means longer connection, etc... And to some Asians, 31-32" pitch isn't as intolerable as you may think.

In a way, the Executive Economy seats may take away more business from the higher-priced Business Class people, rather than having people upgrading from coach. You are one example! You were thinking about $4000 Business Class seats, or $1,800 Deluxe Class from EVA.

I think they'll probably get more business people later in the fall, but not in the summer...