Award Booking Flight Change at Check-In
Apr 10, 2018, 8:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 201
Award Booking Flight Change at Check-In
I wanted to share an experience I had recently flying on SIA suites class with an award booking,
I had booked an award ticket for 2 pax SIN-ZRH-JFK on SQ346 in F suites & LX 14 in Business back in June 2017 for a flight in early April 2018. I was also waitlisted on SQ26 (SIN-JFK with stop in FRA) in Suites class and had made a few calls to check on the status but eventually it never cleared. I arrived at the airport around 6 hours before my flight (SQ 346 departs around 01:15) to check out the lounges and see what all the fuss about Changi is. Much to my surprise, when I get to check-in the person at the counter asked me if we wanted to get on flight SQ 26 to get to our destination faster (SQ 26 departed at 23:55). I was a little confused given that I was on the waitlist for this flight, so I asked her again if she meant we could fly on SQ26 in suites class to NY. The agent told us we could only fly in suites on the first leg, but would then have to fly in business on the 2nd leg (it was unclear to me if this was because our 2nd leg in LX was in business or if because there simply were no seats on the 2nd leg). She also confirmed that we could have the same seats (3D and 3G middle seats, which was important!). So we took the flight without hesitation, not only because we saved ourselves a 4.5 hr layover in Zurich but also because I’ve flown LX in C a few times before and was not that impressed. In the end, I’m glad we took this option since I find SQ business class to be pretty great. I had read some reviews/comments about how some people think it’s dated, uncomfortable to sleep in sideways, and uncomfortable to lounge I didn’t find any of those things to be an issue at all!! In fact, I think it’s probably one of the best Business class seats to travel with a companion. Of course, nothing beats the Suites experience!!
The interesting thing is that this original trip cost about 112,500 miles + 300 USD per pax because of the *A connection, whereas if were originally booked on SQ26 in F and C, it would have been 120,000 miles per pax but without the high taxes.
Has anyone else had experience with this? Also, is there any chance I could be refunded the taxes in return for providing the miles?
I had booked an award ticket for 2 pax SIN-ZRH-JFK on SQ346 in F suites & LX 14 in Business back in June 2017 for a flight in early April 2018. I was also waitlisted on SQ26 (SIN-JFK with stop in FRA) in Suites class and had made a few calls to check on the status but eventually it never cleared. I arrived at the airport around 6 hours before my flight (SQ 346 departs around 01:15) to check out the lounges and see what all the fuss about Changi is. Much to my surprise, when I get to check-in the person at the counter asked me if we wanted to get on flight SQ 26 to get to our destination faster (SQ 26 departed at 23:55). I was a little confused given that I was on the waitlist for this flight, so I asked her again if she meant we could fly on SQ26 in suites class to NY. The agent told us we could only fly in suites on the first leg, but would then have to fly in business on the 2nd leg (it was unclear to me if this was because our 2nd leg in LX was in business or if because there simply were no seats on the 2nd leg). She also confirmed that we could have the same seats (3D and 3G middle seats, which was important!). So we took the flight without hesitation, not only because we saved ourselves a 4.5 hr layover in Zurich but also because I’ve flown LX in C a few times before and was not that impressed. In the end, I’m glad we took this option since I find SQ business class to be pretty great. I had read some reviews/comments about how some people think it’s dated, uncomfortable to sleep in sideways, and uncomfortable to lounge I didn’t find any of those things to be an issue at all!! In fact, I think it’s probably one of the best Business class seats to travel with a companion. Of course, nothing beats the Suites experience!!
The interesting thing is that this original trip cost about 112,500 miles + 300 USD per pax because of the *A connection, whereas if were originally booked on SQ26 in F and C, it would have been 120,000 miles per pax but without the high taxes.
Has anyone else had experience with this? Also, is there any chance I could be refunded the taxes in return for providing the miles?
Apr 10, 2018, 9:08 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,267
I would hazard a guess that there was an operational reason why they didn't want you to fly on the original SIN-ZRH, for example faulty seat or overbooking (e.g. if J was overbooked and they wanted your seat).
Without some irrops situation, it's definitely not standard practice to offer you different routings on different airlines and city pair without reissuing the ticket.
Taxes - I doubt it, as the ticket was presumably not reissued with the correct taxes.
Without some irrops situation, it's definitely not standard practice to offer you different routings on different airlines and city pair without reissuing the ticket.
Taxes - I doubt it, as the ticket was presumably not reissued with the correct taxes.
Apr 10, 2018, 11:41 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: YVR, KUL
Programs: AC, MH, BA, AF-KL
Posts: 2,904
I would hazard a guess that there was an operational reason why they didn't want you to fly on the original SIN-ZRH, for example faulty seat or overbooking (e.g. if J was overbooked and they wanted your seat).
Without some irrops situation, it's definitely not standard practice to offer you different routings on different airlines and city pair without reissuing the ticket.
Taxes - I doubt it, as the ticket was presumably not reissued with the correct taxes.
Without some irrops situation, it's definitely not standard practice to offer you different routings on different airlines and city pair without reissuing the ticket.
Taxes - I doubt it, as the ticket was presumably not reissued with the correct taxes.
Apr 10, 2018, 5:40 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: MNL / SFO / NYC
Programs: IHG Spire | Marriott Plat | UA Plat | AA Plat Pro
Posts: 533
It is possible they wanted to avoid the LX connection, since they re-booked you on SQ 26. The LX flight could have been full or IRROPS (or SQ wanted to save having to pay LX)?
Apr 10, 2018, 7:27 pm
#5
Join Date: Jun 2007
Programs: SQ AA TK
Posts: 1,438
The ZRH flight is the last A380 flight to leave during the night departure bank. If any of the A380 went tech, they'll swap it with the ZRH A380 and hence the ZRH flight is usually the one to take the hit. So I reckon it might have something to do with that?
Apr 10, 2018, 10:59 pm
#6
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: SIN
Programs: TK-G | Accor P | SQ-G | Marriott T
Posts: 3,831
Apr 11, 2018, 3:17 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 201
My original flight was SQ346 on 9 Apr at 01:50 on arriving in ZRH at 08:15 then connecting to LX14 departing from ZRH at 12:55. I monitored that flight and it actually left and arrived on time. Instead I was put on SQ26 on 8 Apr at 23:50.
Surprised that this turned out to be more rare than common. It was the very first thing the check in agent brought up when she saw our passports and inputted our info so I assumed it was something common (my very first question was: "but are the middle seats available on SQ26??") She did have to make a couple of phone calls and had some issues at first getting us seats together on the FRA-JFK leg and then went somewhere off with our passports for a few minutes during which time I was expecting this to fall through until we finally got our boarding passes in hand.
Surprised that this turned out to be more rare than common. It was the very first thing the check in agent brought up when she saw our passports and inputted our info so I assumed it was something common (my very first question was: "but are the middle seats available on SQ26??") She did have to make a couple of phone calls and had some issues at first getting us seats together on the FRA-JFK leg and then went somewhere off with our passports for a few minutes during which time I was expecting this to fall through until we finally got our boarding passes in hand.
Apr 11, 2018, 4:32 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,267
I can confidently tell you that 99.9% of the time on an identical itinerary, they will not offer you this option. It's not the way SQ works. So if you enjoyed the new routing, I'd just chalk it up as an unexpected win.
Timing within the same day, sometimes they are willing to accommodate. Different route and different airline, on an award no less? It really doesn't happen without some sort of disruption or unexpected circumstances.
Apr 11, 2018, 5:43 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 201
Someone would have organised this in advance and put in a note on your PNR, so that it would have popped up prompting the check-in agent to ask you.
I can confidently tell you that 99.9% of the time on an identical itinerary, they will not offer you this option. It's not the way SQ works. So if you enjoyed the new routing, I'd just chalk it up as an unexpected win.
Timing within the same day, sometimes they are willing to accommodate. Different route and different airline, on an award no less? It really doesn't happen without some sort of disruption or unexpected circumstances.
I can confidently tell you that 99.9% of the time on an identical itinerary, they will not offer you this option. It's not the way SQ works. So if you enjoyed the new routing, I'd just chalk it up as an unexpected win.
Timing within the same day, sometimes they are willing to accommodate. Different route and different airline, on an award no less? It really doesn't happen without some sort of disruption or unexpected circumstances.
Apr 11, 2018, 8:52 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2016
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ TPPS, QR Gold
Posts: 380
Someone would have organised this in advance and put in a note on your PNR, so that it would have popped up prompting the check-in agent to ask you.
I can confidently tell you that 99.9% of the time on an identical itinerary, they will not offer you this option. It's not the way SQ works. So if you enjoyed the new routing, I'd just chalk it up as an unexpected win.
Timing within the same day, sometimes they are willing to accommodate. Different route and different airline, on an award no less? It really doesn't happen without some sort of disruption or unexpected circumstances.
I can confidently tell you that 99.9% of the time on an identical itinerary, they will not offer you this option. It's not the way SQ works. So if you enjoyed the new routing, I'd just chalk it up as an unexpected win.
Timing within the same day, sometimes they are willing to accommodate. Different route and different airline, on an award no less? It really doesn't happen without some sort of disruption or unexpected circumstances.
Apr 12, 2018, 1:59 am
#12
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Anywhere
Posts: 6,576
Wouldn’t SQ would have had to pay LX at the time the redemption ticket was issued by SQ?
Apr 12, 2018, 2:53 am
#13
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,267
Carriers would only get paid once the ticket has been used.
That said, this would not be a reason for the check-in agent to be proactively offering to change tickets around in this way. They just don't have that flexibility without a flight disruption or other operational need.
That said, this would not be a reason for the check-in agent to be proactively offering to change tickets around in this way. They just don't have that flexibility without a flight disruption or other operational need.