SQ Award Booking using Air Canada Aeroplan - Good Idea?
 

OK experts, we are looking at SFO-SIN business class award booking using either KrisFlyer or Aeroplan award points transferred from Chase Ultimate Rewards. Award points required seems to be less on Aeroplan than on Krisflyer. Also, Aeroplan points transfer almost instantly from Chase whereas KrisFlyer points can take up to 48 hrs. Are there any negatives to using Aeroplan vs Krisflyer?

On a separate issues, has anyone had issues with seeing award availability on Krisflyer, then waiting the 48 hrs for the points to transfer, and then not seeing the award there anymore (realize this is always a possibility)? Is it possible to get Singapore Airlines to hold the reservation while the points transfer?

Of course. Even instant transfers aren't bulletproof.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/sing...-recourse.html

Can they? Yes. Will they? Probably not. Unless you get a particularly competent and lenient call centre agent, but that's akin to winning the lottery these days.

I don’t have Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer data point. But my Citi Thank You points transfer to KrisFlyer took 2.5 days. Thankfully the Advantage redemption was still available after 2.5 days. I didn’t see any option to hold award either.

How much cheaper is it via Aeroplan? I also saw Aeroplan availability for one of our trips but still opted to book via KrisFlyer. In case of award changes, IRROPS, etc., I wanted to be sure I could talk directly to Singapore Airlines without them telling me to seek help from where I purchased/redeemed award.

I was looking at SFO-SIN on KrisFlyer at 107,000 one way vs 87,000 on Aeroplan. I agree that I am more comfortable talking to SQ directly.

OP & folks on the thread - if any of you are SG based, go to the customer service centre in ION Orchard, as they can hold award tickets for you at the saver rate for one month; this has saved me a few times when I saw limited saver space and was waiting on a KF miles to transfer in.

Note that to then book the held ticket, you can either 1) do it online via the SQ website / in your account for free or 2) call customer service / return back to the ION Orchard centre to have them ticket it, for an extra $25 or $50 USD fee (exact amount I forget, would need to double check).

Aeroplan is way cheaper and Chase transfer is instant . It’s so cheap , that is matter of time SQ redemption to be devalued .Aeroplan Emirates redemptions were doubled two months ago. The extra 5000k Aeroplan miles for a stopover is beyond awesomeness. I did redeem last month JFK-SIN( stopover )-DPS and SIN-JFK.

Not sure how often it pops up, but there I've seen J availability on SQ through Aeroplan that was not available booking directly with SQ (LAX-SIN non-stop). Aeroplan had four seats and SQ only had a waitlist.

I'm a big fan of aeroplan. They've got dozens of partners and you can mix and match airlines to suit your itinerary. I am flying on SQ, TG, EY, and AC (all in one PNR), over 30 hours of flying time, with a 3 day stopover in Dubai, all for just 115,000 aeroplan points. It's one of the best FF program out there and I hope they don't change it!

SIN-CAN for 30K, and DPS-SIN-PEK for 45K in J is definitely a steal considering how ex these ticket goes for cash and that you can purchase aeroplan with cash at 1.3 CPM(USD) almost half the year.

But were the seats actually bookable with Aeroplan? This could also indicate that Aeroplan's availability information lags SQ's. Which would be awful when you then transfer points to Aeroplan only to find that you can't book the ticket you want.

Yes, I booked three of the four J seats on the SQ flight through Aeroplan.

Another question about phantom award availability on SQ. If ExpertFlyer and Air Canada both say that there is no business class availability on SQ, but Singapore Airlines says that there is, should I assume that this is a phantom award availability? Everything I read says to check other *A carriers to confirm availability but I am not sure. Of course the issue is I don't want to transfer points to Krisflyer just to find out it is all smoke and mirrors.

What you see is what you get with SQ. Have never heard of nor experienced phantom availability on SQ.com wrt SQ flights.

No. Different programs have different availability. Depending on the flight, KF may have greater or lesser availability than AC, AS, UA, etc.

not sure if what u saw on aeroplan was phantom avail though meaning u might face an error if u actually try to ticket.