My favorite use for the website: making bookings. In the past, the SQ website has had a good booking engine. Be warned that since the upgrade, it seems to have become more buggy, particularly for multi-city options (which includes those where you specify the length of your stopover in SIN).

If you're looking to book simple roundtrip flights, however, it's a pretty good option to use. You'll get cheap fares, bundled options, and the ability to reserve your seating in advance, even in economy and even without membership in KrisFlyer. Booking trips with stopovers or with multicity destinations is also relatively simple, although clunkier IMO. Plus, the times when the website sputtered and crashed on me have been when I've booked multi-city itineraries. YMMV on that last point.

(Note: You can keep up-to-date on SQ's timetable by downloading the software highlighted by Savage25 in this post.)

From the home page, enter your origin and arrival cities. I recommend ticking the box that says 'Find low prices with flexible dates' even if you think you're pretty set with your travel dates. This will bring up a matrix of departure and return dates around the time you had originally intended. You might see that varying the departure and return dates you've initially selected might result in a lower fare. The default, bizarre IMO, is booking a single / one-way flight: make sure you mark the circle indicating 'Round Trip'.

The calendar function used to be smart and would automatically adjust the potential return date so that you couldn't possibly return before you left. But this intelligence went out when the August 2005 website upgrades were rolled out. Make sure you enter the return date (and that this return date is later than your departure date ).

Here are some things to note as you proceed with your potential booking.

(1) If you clicked on 'low prices with flexible dates', you'll need to choose the combination of departure and return dates that best fit your needs and budget. Just scroll your mouse over your choice, and click.

(2a) The website will bundle your options for you if you're transiting through Singapore. The options will be ranked according to (a) the departure time; and (b) the connecting time. This means if you want to leave some time to linger at Changi (about the most civilized airport experience you can have, IMO, but nonetheless, still an airport experience), you'll have to scroll down the page a bit for your preferred option. Note that you do have the option of changing either your departure and arrival dates at this stage, and thereby explore more flight options.

Booking a multicity itinerary works roughly the same way. You'll need to book a return with a stopover in SIN as a multicity itinerary. Similarly, if you'd like an extended (though still less than 24-hour) layover in SIN, you should use the multicity option.

You need to figure out in advance how many 'segments' your journey will consist of. For example, LHR-MNL-BKK with extended stays in MNL, BKK and SIN (between MNL and BKK) should have 4 'segments': LHR-MNL, MNL-SIN, SIN-BKK, BKK-LHR. The default for the website is 3 'segments', i.e., a simple return plus one stopover in SIN.

Finally, you'll have to specify departure times if the arrival and departure dates of any of the segments are on the same day.

Otherwise, the outputs are the same: a list of bundled options, usually set for the lowest fare for the itinerary you keyed in. The sort order will be the same as that for a simple return booking.

(2b) FINDING OUT WHAT AIRCRAFT YOU'LL BE FLYING: At this point, you can confirm what aircraft will serve your flight by clicking on the upward-pointing arrows next to the bundle you can potentially choose. Clicking on this arrow will open a new (small) window that shows the particular flight(s) and the aircraft type, as well as the total flight time for the option.

Information about the aircraft is particularly valuable when you're concerned out about getting SpaceBeds in Raffles Class. See this section of the FAQ for more details about SpaceBed availability on various SQ flights and aircraft types.

(2c) SEATMAPS: The relevant seatmap will come up when you click on the link to the aircraft type in the small window showing the flight details. At this point, take note of your desired seats (in whatever class), because this information will come in handy when you're reserving seats in advance at the payment stage. www.seatguru.com and www.seatexpert.com can give guidance on what are considered the desirable seats.

(3) MILEAGE-EARNING CLASSES: To check whether your fare is eligible to earn miles, look at the tab at the top of the flight selection page. If you're in the 'flexi' or 'fully flexi' tabs, you will, at the very least, get some economy miles. If you're on the 'flexi saver' tab, click on 'Fare Information'. The magic words are under the first bold-font line: Mileage Accruability. If it says 'Yes', KrisFlyer and the FFPs of SQ's partner airlines should grant miles -- whether this is 100% miles [most *A partners] or 50% miles [e.g., LH for SQ W-class fares] depends on your native FFP. Examine your FFP's T&C, or pose your questions at the appropriate forum in FT .

(4) Once you've selected your option, click on the 'Yes' button for the question on whether the credit card holder is travelling on the booking. Now you're pretty much set!

(If you click the 'No' button, you might need to sign an indemnity letter -- the link is posted at the website, below the button for whether the credit card holder is travelling on the flight -- and then present yourself and your credit card at ticket collection. I've never done this, so I can't comment on whether it's a big hassle.)