travellingwineO

I'm planning a trip to Vietnam for my wife and I and would love to fly Singapore's Suites on our return to the US using a combination of Amex and Chase points. I finally figured out that I need to search each segment separately in order to identify availability (since there is no first class between Vietnam and Singapore, every search for every date shows no suites availabilty). I have also come to the realization that I will need to book J seats and waitlist the suites.

Given that the first class/suites availability doesn't show when I search SGN-LAX and that it only shows when I search SIN-LAX, how do I both secure at least J seats for the entire itinerary, while also waitlisting a suites award? I can't be the first one to encounter this dilemma, so I'd love to hear strategies that have been successful for others.

Disclaimers:
1) I am very new to the points/miles game, but have done tons of research, including extensive reading/searching of this site, so my question isn't out of the blue. Please go easy on this newb.....

2) While I am really excited about getting to experience Singapore's suites, I'd be ok with flying business class if my waitlist approach fails to yield any results.

travellingwineO

Nobody knows how to book the business class seats and waitlist the suites when the suites doesn't show up on the search for the entire itinerary? My concern is that I will only be waitlisting SIN-NRT-LAX and if seats become available, I won't have availability on the corresponding SGN-SIN flight unless I can waitlist the entire itinerary....

I'm dumbfounded that this legitimate (granted, my perception) question doesn't merit a response and the frankly ridiculous rant about an itinerary change that changed a one hour layover to a five hour layover has resulted in two pages worth of responses

csidler

You can't search reward space by sector.

SQ doesn't work like that, unless you want to book individual awards.

I'm not 100% sure, which is why I held off on replying, but I don't believe you can book a mixed award like that. But don't take my word for it.

What I can say is:

I think you need to do 3 things:
1. Book SGN - LAX in J.
2. Waitlist SIN - LAX in F.
3. Waitlist SGN - SIN in J.

But ofcourse you could always call up SQ and I'm sure they would tell you what is and isn't possible.

travellingwineO

Thanks for the reply. I thought about calling them first, but there are clearly instances where the airline operators seem to know less about booking awards and the subtle ins and outs than folks here. So, I thought I'd try here first!

fimo

It's easier to give an opinion that provide factual responses to non-standard situations.

My thought when I saw your post is that you can't mix fare classes on award tickets, and that the married segments rule would apply so you can't combine a separate sector into an existing itinerary without a manual rebooking. But not having done any of it myself, I'm not going to provide inaccurate information based only on my recollection of other threads on this issue. But I sure do have an opinion about the redonkulous layover post (not that I publicly commented as I knew it would get plenty of attention).

elleana

In general, SQ's website is very limited, you may be better off calling it in. If you manage to get what you want, remember to ask for the 15% discount for booking online since you couldn't do it yourself.

friendlyplanet

Note also that your chances of clearing off of waitlist for two Suites seats on the SIN - LAX route, with no status, is very, very low. Personally, I'd use the points you are presumably transferring from a US credit card to lock in 1st class on another carrier, like Korean Air.

travellingwineO

That was my second choice. The more I research, the closer I've gotten to bailing on the Suites idea....