Originally Posted by
TerryK
..IdeaWorks conducted the study using host airlines miles, no partner redemption was studied. They tried to book 3-6 months ahead, no last minute bookings.@:-) Hence, the US number represents using US miles to redeem on US 3-6 months ahead; SQ number represents using SQ miles to redeem on SQ 3-6 months ahead. They may not fit what you use your miles for, but they are comparable platforms.
Got it ... but it still makes for no good comparison as SQ has exclusively intl routes, US mostly domestic. SQ has many different levels of award redemption for the same service. It is really measuring apples with oranges.
If they probed standard awards on longhaul Biz, they probably would have gotten a 0% success rate on SQ.
..Bear in mind that articles were written for general public consumptions. FT represents a tiny fraction of the flying public; average fliers don't know much about alliance partners; most earn/redeem on host airlines.
I know that airline managers like to think of their customers as idiots. But we should not follow that example. The is no "general public" unless you mean a US based customer who redeems on domestic flights.