Call center can't see same award availability as website
 

I'm trying to make a first time SQ award booking and have run into a bit of trouble...hoping someone else has experienced this as well and can advise. I have a SIN-LAX saver biz award on hold. Before booking, I realized that I could also add a MLE-SIN segment for 109k total miles instead of 95k (and paying the $100 stopover fee as I would have a 24 hour+ stopover in SIN). I found the flight I wanted MLE-SIN, confirmed that there was coach saver availability and waitlist saver availability in biz on that flight via the website, and called to book. Reservations agent I spoke with stated that he did not see any saver availability at all on that flight. I thought that was odd, but that maybe it had just disappeared. I hung up, checked the website again, saw the same availability I'd seen before, and checked ExpertFlyer, which is also showing coach award availability. So, I called back and got a second agent who also said there is no availability on the flight I'm looking at - he asked where I was calling from and told me that there are different allocations in award availability for USA and SIN and he can only see SIN availability (I called the USA 800 number). I asked if there was anywhere else I could call that would see the USA availability, he said no.

This is a SQ flight, so no partner award issues. I could book this segment directly on the website, but would need significantly more Krisflyer miles to do so than if I could work it into the existing itinerary, which seems absolutely ridiculous. Am I out of luck, or is there a way around this?

It's a married segments issue (you can search this forum), just because the individual sectors are available doesn't mean that a through-fare is available.

Yes married segment
MLE-SIN available
SIN-LAX available
does not meaning MLE-SIN-LAX available.

But since you are having stopover, guess the agent should be able to book. Did you tell the agent that you need to have a paid stopover ?

Yes - my understanding was that the married segment issue would not be a problem here since I have more than a 24-hour stopover. I told both agents the dates (SIN-LAX flight is 3 days after than MLE-SIN), and that I was looking to do a paid stopover.

I think the issue might be the mixed class booking. It seem like you want to book Y saver (MLE-SIN) n SIN-LAX(business).

SQ IT might not show the availability or allow them to book. (similar to first class/business class mixed class). Need to overwrite their system.

Maybe you can call the Singapore call Centre hotline (via Skype or VOIP), I think they are able to help.

oops glossed over your stopover plans! sorry.... Yes if so I echo the others that it should be bookable the mixed class is probable throwing a monkey wrench in all this. You'll have to try and be persistent to get someone to override and book the ticket. Good luck!!

And on the topic of married segments, I once had some KF agent say that because I had SIN-HKG on SQ872 connecting to SQ2 HKG-SFO, I can’t “break off” the SQ872 and just fly SQ2 only. After I insisted, voila! - they suddenly could! Which leads me to believe they actually can do funky things if you insist / demand that they see sense.

Still no luck...called again this afternoon and it initially looked positive as the agent I spoke with said he was able to see and confirm availability...but when I checked my itinerary online he had only added the waitlist for business class and not the confirmed coach seat. Called back and asked to add the confirmed economy award on that flight, and was initially told again that there was no availability. When I said that I was looking at the website and it said there was, I was queried about whether I was sure I was looking at the right date, looking at award instead of paid inventory, etc. Then I was put on an extended hold, and when the agent came back he again told me that they do not see the inventory, what I am seeing is "online only" inventory and they have no way of booking it. I'm going to try the advice above to call the Singapore call centre when I get home from work tonight, but this is incredibly frustrating.

I have the exact same problem, today, with MLE-SIN-SFO showing up as 109k for Business yesterday, with the call center saying they couldn’t see the Male departure I need. They advised me to move 109k into my account to pay for it while on hold, and booked me for a day earlier on the MLE-SIN segment. So I Have. The mle-sin saver segment is STILL available online. Now, despite the MLE departure being available at the saver level online, I am told that “nothing can be done”, as SG is apparently not permitting the combo of MLE-SIN-stopover-SFO issuance shown available on the website..... I didn’t accept this, and after insisting on a supervisor, I was told that the “relevant department” has been contacted to see.

After this schit-show, I have NO confidence in Singapore to fix this, and/or call me back. And my on-hold reservation has only 36 hours remaining.

Questions for those with more insight: A). Does Singapore actually hold back saver segments online like this regularly? B) if I decline the reservation and go back to book online, will the SIN-SFO likely go back into inventory so I can complete this online? C) or does Singapore’s website show phantom space and refuse to complete the transaction when I try to accept their stopover 109k still showing online?

Would you 1) End your vacation in the Maldives a day early in favor of an extra day in Singapore (which I’ve visited 4 times) and let SG win on this?; or 2) pay a total of 39k and 95k for the two tickets by immediately, as separate awards? (Even though I’ll have another 24-36 hour waiting period getting AMEX to transfer the extra (50k extra for two tickets))?; or continue to argue for the “discount” for a stopover ticket (if this still exists)??

all responses appreciated. I am at my wits end. This is NOT a first class airline’s policy, is it? It seems like their IT is terrible, their customer service is useless, and if this is by design, apparently the half dozen long haul flights I’ve taken this past couple years aren’t worth much.

Did you tell them you want to pay US$100 for the stopover ? Normal one way saver award does not allow free stopover.

which call center did you call?

Got the default call center when calling from USA, not sure where. Yes, I explained “stopover”, but they claim they can’t see availability on their system when it shows up on SingaporeAir.com.

It’s as if the award inventory for a one direction trip with a stopover online is wholly different from just booking two one ways, or a thru trip over the phone. That’s not true, is it?

You might want to try to call SQ’s SG call centre at 9am-5pm GMT+8.

How do you get the stopover to show up on SingaporeAir.com?
The issue lie with married segment as per previous advice.

If you are able to book MLE-SIN-SFO online first , then you will have better chance of getting stopover later on by changing the date

If you see MLE-SIN n SIN-SFO Saver seat separately online Does not mean it is available for stopover.

There are separate inventory available.

if you are able to secure a through trip first, then u should be able to get stopover more easily.