drvannostren

I'm looking to figure out the SQ award availability...

I called about a week ago to try and piece together an award. I had availability lined up on EF/UA/Aeroplan sites...so I figured this was pretty straightforward.

I gave the woman on the phone city pairs, YVR-EZE-MSY-YVR. Fairly quickly she came back with "Nope sir...nothing available on the day you want, or the next 3 days". I told her I had already found the space and had the flight numbers and stuff if she could look for them individually.

She found all the UA flights I had requested, but none of the domestic/transborder availability for AC I was looking for. She found the AC INTL flight I wanted, but not the YVR-YYZ or SFO-YVR ones. Can anyone explain this?

She also had told me, if I was able to find the flights the cost would be 60,000 + something like $300 or whatever (I can't remember the exact number). So i tried to break the system by searching just a YVR-YYZ flight on a random day, she found like 2/5 flights I found available, so clearly AC domestic space wasn't 100% blocked.

Then I found a routing for the flights I wanted all on UA since she could find those, for YVR-EZE-MSY-SFO-YVR for now 25,000 points and like $800. I asked her, how is it possible for the points to go down but the price almost triple? She had no explanation.

I can't imagine this stuff is common place with SQ redemptions. Was this just an incompetent agent? Miscommunication between us? Can anyone explain the availability she found? I know not ALL airlines release the same space to all partners, and I can assume SQ has some reciprocity against them for not releasing premium space on long haul to their partners. But for the life of me, I can't explain why I could find like 5 options for domestic canadian flights and she got 0. My other question is, would there be anywhere I can search that would show me the same availability the SQ agents would see? Otherwise all the searching and work I do in advance is rendered useless when I phone SQ and they can't see even a small % of what I see.

mkavie

Can I book a paid J ticket, and then at a later date if available pay to upgrade to F?

Basically the J tix is for work, and upgrade on my own dime

enelym1978

Well I called +44 20 75 31 20 41 three times (KF Membership Services) and all I had were annoying helpless operators...

Then decided to call +65 6789 8188 (KF Membership Services but somehow, indicated under "Reservations") and managed to get a Singapore based person (recognized the accent )

She finally managed to work an itinerary out for me. Basically, she went the extra mile to get me alternatives, rather than just telling "I can't see this or that or this flight doesn't exist"...

All booked now, redeemed in J but had to do separate redemptions as the GVA-FRA-GVA leg was on LH....
Then linked that to a FRA-SIN-DPS and SIN-FRA on SQ.

For what it's worth:

GVA-FRA-GVA on LH: J class 25,000 miles + SGD 229.80
FRA-SIN-DPS on SQ: J class 120,000 miles (full Biz redemption) + EUR 89.02
SIN-FRA on SQ: J class 85,000 miles + SGD 34.00
^

terbangalways

Yes, do cross check which fare bucket.
IMO F is marginally better than J. Exception is O on A388.

terbangalways

89EUR + 34SGD... Good Job!!!

mkavie

@terbangalways, thanks for the response. Definitely trying to find the A380 Suite...Can you expand what you mean by cross check with the fare bucket. I believe i would be booking into D. Also is it possible to guesstimate the incremental cost to F, is as simple as the fare difference? Thanks again

terbangalways

No worries!
Best is to call for the exact amount to upgrade from D.

puchong

When flying on other Star Alliance carriers (e.g. SK, TK, AI) approximately how long does it take for miles to post on Krisflyer? Do the Krisflyer accounts get updated on weekends also?

NA-Flyer

For US residents, where to call to make Krisflyer award bookings? Calling SQ in Singapore is quite costly!

stargold

SkypeOut?

Alternatively, +1 (312) 843-5333

NA-Flyer

Excellent. That's a Chicago number so cost is zero for me ^

Mlee888

I took J on NH last year, took a few days after to be updated on KF. The dates backtrack too so if you're aiming to qualify for a certain status level then the miles will be counted from the day flight was taken rather than when the points were entered on the account.

merridius

i just realised the flight that qualifies me for SQ gold is the day before my qualifying deadline (i.e fly on 30th, qualifying deadline on 31st), hoping this doesn't cause any problems...

atojbk

I'm booked saver suites SIN->FRA->JFK with 0 stopovers, could I add an award leg (Y or J) let's say, BKK -> SIN or TYO -> SIN for a discounted award price? Would Singapore be my $100 stopover?

mycity68

Hi, I know miles must be redeemed before they expire, do I have to fly by the expiry date or can I use them to book a reward ticket that is valid for up to 12 months, after the expiry date?