Best Strategy for Dealing with Waitlist?
Despite having had KF Gold for a couple of years, I've never taken an award flight on SQ. Given that my *G on SQ will likely end in Mid 2020, I'd like to try using my KF miles for an award while I still have status (and a hopefully better chance of being able to clear the waitlist).
However, my worry is that the waitlist won't clear before the 'fill or kill' date, so I'm wondering what the best strategy might be, out of the following:
1) Book in Y and then simply use points for the upgrade to J. If the waitlist doesn't clear, I still have a seat. Usually I wouldn't do this for most airlines (preferring to book straight J with miles) but the difference is that I regard Y in SQ as survivable for longhaul (and the list of airlines I can say that about is very short!).
2) Book in J and (assuming it's waitlisted) add an Advantage booking to cover me if the waitlist doesn't clear. At the moment I don't have enough miles in KF for an Advantage RT but an MR transfer would fix that. I'd have to pay the reinstatement fee but that's still better than the alternatives (using more miles or having no seat).
3) Book a fully flex Y fare and then cancel it if/when the waitlist clears. Again, I'd be paying more for peace of mind, but if the price difference is significant then this would make less sense than the options above.
If there are better ways then I'd be happy to hear them. Like I say, since I've never done a redemption on SQ I've never had to delve into the mechanics of how their waitlisting system works, so if my understanding of it is faulty then feel free to correct me on this.