ajca

I've been a PPS member for a couple of years. I do get value out of lounge access, better award availability and being able to 'chase' waitlisted awards and usually get them cleared.

Having said that, I don't really feel like we get a lot of love back from SQ considering the $$$ we spend to get to PPS. Especially compared to other FF programs that I am familiar with.

My short-haul travel around Asia is all in Y and I've recently been trying CX instead of SQ.

I'm Qantas Platinum (OWE) as well as PPS, and the difference between how CX treats even other OneWorld airlines' elites vs how SQ treats its own is quite noticeable.

Most notably, CX will always make a point of trying to get me an exit-row and blocking the seat next to me at check-in - which makes a huge difference to the overall Y flight experience.

This got me thinking, why can't / doesn't SQ do this?

With SQ I can barely ever even pre-select an exit row when I book, much less when I check in.

So there's my suggestion to SQ: make more of an effort to look after your PPS customers by giving them the best Y seats possible and blocking the seat next to them if possible. It can't be that hard.

yewgene

Another data point as a Kris Gold; Even EVA air recognizes the alliance status & proactively makes an effort to block my adjacent seat when im in Y. (which i am pleasantly surprised)

And we wonder why our home airline program doesnt treat us the same way (i thought at least they would do tt to the PPS tier?)

dickson_g

I'm PPS Solitaire and for a while, was American Platinum too, so am able to compare the love.

So far, my experience with SQ when travelling on Y had been good. I'm able to choose good seats (I call up and ask them to release a blocked seat). When I check in, if the flight is not full, they do make it a point to try to block the seat next to me. The lead steward/stewardess generally do come by to say a few words. I do not expect to get an emergency row seat because its like a "premium economy" where passengers who pay extra gets it.

The other thing I really appreciate about Solitaire status is that they really do try to clear waitlist quickly for me. I've changed flights numerous times and usually, purchased on a restricted fare (usually "D" class in business). SQ had been very responsive. Even waitlist on upgrades are generally cleared quickly, although I do have to make repeated calls to harrass them ("send a message to the controller to release").

When travelling with my partner, even if we're on different tickets (eg: she's on a redemption ticket ticketed using Lifemiles while I'm on a commercial ticket), I make it a point to ask SQ to "link" our PNR together. If the flight is overbooked, both of us get upgraded, not just myself. But as everyone here probably knows, if the flight is not overbooked, SQ does not proactively upgrade.

So my experience of "feeling the love" from SQ has been great so far. And I feel that in recent years, they've tried harder to make the effort. I suspect this is because SIA treats Solitaire differently from PPS, and do take into account the number of years too.

The one area CX excels in is in providing upgrades. They do so even if the flight is not overbooked. I guess there's 2 sides to the story here. If I purchase a Y ticket and can easily get an upgrade, I'll be happy. On the other hand, if I usually purchase premium cabin tickets and find that the cabin is quickly filled up with upgraders, I may wonder why I even paid extra for the premium cabin seats. So for me (and probably others will have a different perspective), I'm actually OK with SQ's strict no-upgrade policy.

SQ325

Iam puzzled that for SQ it seems so difficult to provide such care for their loyal customers.
While they block some front rows in Y for PPS, so that generally we are able to choose from some decent seats, they cant release exit rows if they arent occupied.
Once I asked at CI to assign me an exit row seat. The request was blantly turned down (weight distribution or whatever rubbish excuse they gave me). Once onboard i realised that the entire exit row was empty. When the purser greeted me, i asked if i could change my seat and it was absolutly no issue. I sent a complain, the answer was, as expected, saying nothing but we care about our customers bla-bla-bla. I never have bothered to ask again after this enconter at CI in SIN (on the outposts the staff seems to be more attentative).

Iam not sure what SQs thinks they gonna loose. Its a gesture to their loyal customer that costs nothing.
On the other a few years back, without any status, a few times i managed to get 2 middle seats blocked at CI.

Kiwi Flyer

SQ wants their PPS members to fly only first & business

GRUflyer

I reckon they could also provide better service in C and F.

Why not block the bulkhead seats for PPS only? I always get assined one of my prefeered seats autonatically when I buy a seat, but sometimes they are full (e.g: row 11 on the 77W).

Loalq

...and by the way the only way to reach PPS is by paying for first or business...

ajca

Yeah, but a LOT of companies have travel policies that say Y for short-haul and J for long-haul.

So there would be many, many PPS members that spend well over the $25k/ year on SQ J travel but still fly Y for short-haul.

Anecdotally I see quite a few PPS luggage tags in Y on SIN-CGK etc

fimo

Probably because a good portion of the cabin are PPS.... and are already seated at bulkhead.

Many of my colleagues are PPS, and I have been on a flight there are more of us (PPS and Solitaire), than there are bulkhead seats.

Kiwi Flyer

I've been on flights were the premium cabins are full and most pax in those cabins are PPS.

Jaunt411

And, if you fly at least Business (which gives you lounge access, extra luggage allowances) and often enough to be Elite Silver (to get bonus miles), what extra of any significance does PPS give you.

I'll start the bidding with "nothing".

SingaporeDon

+1

My record for clearing waitlists both for award redemptions as well as paid tickets, is quite good even without a PPS membership. And it generally comes from being nice to the CSR. So I wonder how many of the PPS members think their waitlist cleared because of their status whereas in fact it would have cleared even otherwise

GRUflyer

So be it!

HOWEVER, right now anyone can grab those seats. If there is another PPS seated there, good for SQ. But nowadays, it might as well just be a UA or AV miles buyer....


That is what I am saying....

Loalq

In my experience, it only brought me the "you know who you are talking to" factor when trying to clear redemption waitlists over the phone (without being arrogant of course ), but even that has proven to be of very, very limited value...

mitwg

I still feel that they make a conscious effort to provide you with better service, even in Y.

The crew will great you by name (I don't expect the whole cabin to know your name but there's always a few on each flight) and more often than not, will 'check' up on you to ensure that you're having a good flight.

Other than the inflight service though, I think an area where SQ really excels is with communication. I'm CX DM and I get close to zero comms from them even when I'm flying in F or J (I've recently had 3 aircraft changes a single flight in J without me being made aware and it happens so often with CX for intra-Asia that I'm not even surprised) but SQ are generally good with giving me a call when these things occur, telling me that my seat assignment has changed etc, even in Y.

I think a part of that is due to my conscious effort in ensuring my contact details on my KF profile are reliable but still, this is great service provided by SQ.