Lots of miles
 

You're going to thank me after reading this.

So, I was reading a TR by some poor guy who had to endure Jetstar from Singapore to Auckland. That's over 9 hours of flying on an LCC. Wouldn't be caught dead doing that, though I'd probably die in the process anyway.

That's what I thought anyway. His TR actually makes Jetstar sound like a pretty good way to fly. And his ticket worked out to be S$ 600, or AED 1,800, or USD 500. Round trip, including purchased food and amenity kits etc. Not bad for such a long flight.

So, naturally, the first thing I had to do was figure out how much EK wanted for this routing. You can fly via either BNE or MEL, which does give some flexibility. EK's cheapest fare is just above S$ 900, or AED 2,700 or USD 750. Probably worth the difference.

Here's where it gets interesting. If you purchase a flex fare, and that costs about S$ 1100, or AED 3300, or USD 900, you get a lot of miles. Like seriously, a LOT. 22,000 to be precise. And that's tier miles. There's another good 4-5k of miles accelerator bonuses to be had.

And if you do this in J for about S$ 4,000, you get 38,500 tier miles. But given that the MEL flights are apparently easy to get op-ups on, why spend all that extra money, right?

I think I know where I'm going for my next holiday.

Excellent find Grasshopper! Excellent.

Use EF to check loads as some of the flights in Y in late Aug are already oversold in Y, meaning if you have status on EK, op-ups will be plentiful.

Also remember that there are a lot of Aussies in Europe at present, and at some point, will be returning home, which adds to high loads. The loads at present between SIN-MEL have been sporadic, but my op-up rate over the last 3 flights have been 3 out of 4 (2 from Y to J and one from J to F).

Unfortunately this next holiday is going to be a while away, unless I want my credit card to burst in flames. I'm very tempted though, and need something to calm my nerves!

A drug addiction would be so much easier to deal with...

Holy Sh**... this got me leaning forward in my seat.


Damn I just did a SIN - MEL on the DBS promo for S$734 and received a meagre 3000 miles
$1.1K for 22K tier miles is awesomely sweet.

Ok so who's up for a mileage run. I just booked my hotels for Prague. But seems like its time to cancel those.



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And I've been wondering the past few days if EK will bring back the sale fares they had ex-SIN back in May 15 - 25. All the other airlines have slashed prices for the annual NATAS travel fair. This seems a lot sweeter. Ha!


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Ok I think I'm really going to do this. While I've been to Mel a few times. I've not done Brisbane or Aukland. So perhaps I'll do AKL + 2 stopovers!

Btw thanks ung1 for posting this.

I totally understand what you mean. For the past few months I've always had a holiday to look forward to for the following month. Now I just returned from my most recent trip with none on the horizon and I can't sleep properly at night! I keep dreaming that I'm overseas!

90% sure I'll take this up. Have hotel points to burn in Auckland and Brisbane and will crash on a friend's couch in Melbourne again!
Plus weather's still pretty good, and the AU$ and NZ$ have depreciated significantly recently!


*** Since I have to call in to book a Flex ticket. Will the mileage be spotted and rectified since the I'm calling in?

I KNOW that feeling. I can't rest if I don't have a trip booked. And considering I just got back from a long holiday 3 weeks ago I can only say I'm going insane. All I have booked right now is a return leg of a flight to Dubai - how boring.

I'm also definitely going to do this, at some point. Can't take any time off right now but sometime later in the year. If you want to do it again, maybe we can do it together. I mentioned it to some of my friends and they all think I've lost it (I might have let slip that I didn't care whether I actually got out of the airport at AKL).

Haha yeah I just did 3 weeks in Melbourne doing pretty much nothing.

I did tell my friends I could camp at the airport, for the return, but they were sensible enough to tell me to just visit the city since I've not been to NZ.

How long do you reckon this is going to last? I want to call in to book, but I'm afraid it will be spotted by the operator? Seeing that it's the weekend I'm guessing we're safe for now?

Maybe I'll do it twice. So I can shower on the A380 one of these days!

This isn't a mistake fare or anything. It is a published fare from SIN to AKL, and the Skywards mileage awarded is also according the rules of the programme. The only discrepancy is that there are no discounted (non Y/J/F) fares from most of SE Asia to NZ - only to OZ.

And there's no A380 involved. BKK-SYD-AKL doesn't work. Or you mean just to rack up enough miles and upgrade to F.

Roger that so I won't have to rush to book then.


Meant the A380 on another flight. Previously I was on it from DXB - JFK in Jan. Sat on 81K which is not too bad. But would like shower at 40K feet for sure! Ha!

Hi,

I am kind of confused & do not understand why is everybody so much looking forward to bang his/her $$$$ to do an YCL MR on EK:confused:

I mean ok EK is Good. Ok ok its pretty Damn Excellent in F. I love it.:D

But why to do an MR in Y especially if you r gonna be buying Y too??

Pls advise & moreover especially if u r in SIN then you have a world of oppurtunity infront of you even if you are in Y. Why EK???

All ok if you fancy the EK Gold Card Kit & the May be not so common OpUp once in a while that you might get on a Holy day. Otherwise looks like the Alliances offer a better deal for Y paxs if they are in the League or looking forward to getting in it@:-).


Pls correct me.


Safe Flying

EGT

Well, firstly, the miles earned this way are cheaper than buying them off skywards.com. I sort of have nothing better to do in life, so I'm happy doing a Y MR (with the hope of an op-up somewhere).

Second, I've never been to Auckland so a few days there would be a good change from SIN.

Third, I'm based out of DXB and SIN, so EK/ EY are the only options. I don't like SQ. I love EK, but their whole Saver and Flex thing is making attaining status very difficult. A couple of these AKL runs a year and then I won't care so much about buying Saver fares.

1) As far I know that mate YOU are in IT and can give a BANG to lot of IT stuff on a roll sooo you have much more to do than you wanna tell us. Its ok we won't call IRS:D & why the $%@# would you wanna buy miles on skywards.com?? I think they NOW cost an arm & a leg!!!

2) AKL rocks. Kind of that is:D You need to push & push. Then it really rocks.@:-) Atleast you start feeling it that way. PM when you plan to be there. We might try to rock it together^

3) Try SQ. Even if its just for a change. You never know. Wonders happen & Love is Blind.

Safe Flying

EGT

1) I wouldn't buy the miles on Skywards, but still a good deal. A flex ticket to DXB costs the same and you earn 10k miles vs. 40k miles. It's too good. I really have nothing to do these days, literally, but I'm on a self imposed exile in SIN till I've found something useful to do.

2) Totally - that would be fun. Since I'm on exile in SIN, PM me if you're ever here. It's a bit harder to rock this city, but we can try.

3) I might try SQ on miles in a premium cabin. Their FF programme is rubbish, so I'm definitely not going to turn over all my revenue travel to them. They have lots of little things that annoy me. I flew them to DPS last year (AVOD was off for half the flight) and to DXB a couple of times a few years back (old planes, no miles, annoying crew, DXB T1).

Ok mate since I am gonna be crash landing in from DME so the Caviar & the Vodka is on me. You arrange the Sling & Satay part & we ask the Big Daddy
(8 BL) to take care of the other stuff:D If he chickens out then I do have back up plan:D

I am sure that our miles can buy us a 3 night accomodation since 1 night would pass away in the bar's only & the 2nd night hopping & jumping around:D. Right???

Won't fly EK to SIN though just for the sake of it!!!!

C Ya Sooooon. Perhaps this will be after Diwali only as have the 1st one getting ready to come out to the real world after 9 months of interior suffocation & my owner is really looking forward to it. So I do the odd jobs now & then around the globe when I can but do try to stick my butt near the Big B inorder to not to sleep in the dog house when around:p

Safe Flying

EGT

Haha, consider it done. See you around.

Well it doesn't seem like everybody is interested in this. From the looks of it just ung1 and I are? Haha

But honestly my traveling priorities at the moment are to travel to places I haven't been to before, at good prices, and at the same time to increase my status with airlines and hotels.

I choose EK cause its prices are competitive and also easier to attain status - you still get miles on the tickets that are cheaper, unlike most other Asian carriers. EK's network is also extensive enough for me.

Ticket cost is really important for me as I've been traveling (holidaying) a fair bit, and I pay for everything out of my pocket. So for 1.1K SGD, this deal really works for me.

Plus if there was a EK fare mistake in F or J I'll be all over it. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be very common.

While I love SQ for seemingly treating me quite well on board even when I don't have status with them, the only time I fly them is if they have good sale fares, or I redeem my CC points for miles on their J flights. With KF Gold, it still seems nothing compared with being PPS or Solitaire. Whereas EK Gold doesn't seem to be that shadowed by IO? (This is just my impression).

Sorry for my lack of understanding here but how do you get to 22k miles for a BNE-MEL RT? Skywards says one mile per mile flown on Jetstar. I just came back from OZ (my first time there) but as far as I remember it is certainly not a 11k one-way trip. What am I missing?

It's 22k miles for a SIN-AKL RT (via either MEL or BNE). Jetstar flights don't earn Skywards miles.

Oh silly me - I even took Jet Airways for Jetstar...way too late here...

Thanks!

BUT SIN - AKL is only 5k miles each - where does the multiplier come from - Gold status?

I am really interested to book this !

Tried SIN- AKL return , one-way ( each way) & even multiple destination for various dates but couldnt get the 22k miles at all :(

The online booking shows only saver fares for 11k miles ...

help please - really interested to book this

thanks

You'll have to call EK to make a flex booking or go through a TA.

Thanks ung1

Is it through any EK call centre or only in EK-SIN ?

Currently out of SIN !

thanks again :)

You can call the number for whichever country you are in. You'll likely be redirected to a call centre in timbuktu anyway. Or Mumbai.

You can also do this via email with the EK SIN office but you'll have to go there to cough up the cash.

Thanks ung1 :)

This is a very interesting find and has definitely got my attention!
I currently have silver status on EK and need a good chunk of tier points to retain it. However, to justify this purchase I would like to stay in Singapore for a few days and actually do something. Any tips on things to do around October/November? Also, there is a 7-8 hour layover in Brisbane each way, any ideas on what to do to help the time pass? (the return leg layover is from midnight til 8am!).
Cheers!

I would stopover in Australia (free stopovers) to ease the pain of that layover (don't think lounges would be open throughout).

Singapore is the same any time of year so doesn't really matter when you visit. If nothing else there'll be a group of FTers you can join for drinks :P

Oh and if you pay with a US AMEX (PLatinum?) there is an add. 10% off tickets on emirates.com. So I hope EK honors this when booking through teh call center as well.

How do you get the 10% discount? Is there a promo code or something? I'm flying the SIN-MEL route at the end of aug and am booking a F seat. I have a USD Amex with a US address. I need the tier miles and a 10% off the fare would be great!

It was too good to be true :( You will need to include at least one transatlantic leg...

T&C's

*Savings of (10) percent are applicable on all unrestricted annual roundtrip fares and savings of five (5) percent are applicable on all restricted roundtrip fares sold only via www.emirates.com/us/americanexpress. Offer is only applicable to tickets purchased with any valid American Express Card from July 25, 2011 from 12:01 AM (EDT) till March 31, 2012 11:59 PM (PDT). Fares valid only when utilizing scheduled Emirates non-stop transatlantic service (Emirates flights EK 201, 202, 203, 204, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 225 and 226) to and from New York (JFK), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO). Savings is applicable to all Emirates destinations. Travel must commence by March 31, 2012. Black out dates may apply. Fares quoted include applicable discounts, taxes and fees. No redemption necessary. Fares are subject to terms and conditions as posted. Savings are only applicable to fares that are available at time of booking on www.emirates.com/us/americanexpress.

Oh no worries. They're J and F fare is about half of what QF/BA and SQ are asking so I'm still going to book it anyway. Thanks!

Back when the DXB-BNE-AKL flight went via SIN you could get F AKL-SIN return for NZ$3-4k.