philipat

Yes, you're right. If you fly First or Business then PPS makes not an iota of difference. In view of this, one wonders why they bothered to pi*s off a very large number of formerly regular customers with the changes to PPS rules? But they certainly succeeded because I constantly hear complaints from ex-PPS members who, like me, simply refuse to fly SQ ever again on principle.
As it turns out, their timing for doing this was sublime!

Also, I don't suppose SQ Management have considered for one minute that their fares are more than the market will bear? I know of several large Companies who have prohibited the use of SQ Business Class because of the fare differentials. I find that I can consistently get Business Class fares on other quality airlines for around half the SQ fare. And I don't think the present service quality, particularly on the ground, justifies such a large premium.

IMHO, SQ Management has caused irreparable damage and should be held accountable.

lokijuh

I sit here reading this with a huge grin on my face. I feel an immense sense of deja vu.

I'm a QF platinum who is also SQ PPS. SQ have got me mainly for scheduling and convenience out of MEL to a fair chunk of Asia. QF to North America/domestic Aus.

The same sorts of comments I am reading about SQ have been made about QF at different times , how they are arrogant, etc .... Always puzzles me why the critics are so unhappy with these two airlines yet they (to my knowledge) remain two of the more profitable airlines around the globe. Time will tell with the current downturn I guess, but cutting services and maintaining prices (which both airlines seem to be doing quite vigorously at the moment) seems to me to be a sound strategy to try and maintain profitability - or at the very least minimise losses.

Also interesting that some of the redemption discounts on offer seems to suggest that it isn't all one way - SQ are trying to do something for KF members and at the same time fill planes without necessarily dropping paid fare pricing too much. Regardless, I am sure they will monitor the market closely.

Both QF & SQ do to be operating in a different sphere, say compared to the likes of MH & EK which seem to be maintaining services but dropping prices substantially to try and fill planes. Interesting times ahead no doubt.....

philipat

With respect, I'm not sure that is entirely correct. From what I see, fares are not falling dramatically for all carriers, despite the fall in oil prices. Rather, during the good times, SQ went crazy in the post-IATA standard interline fare days. Against your arguement, I would add, firstly, to your list of airlines you could add many others providing quality services at a great price, including QR, EH,TG.
Secondly, it's a question of degree. Every market is a market with price points and there is a point at which you price yourself out of the market. As an example, out of Indonesia, at present, I can get RT Business Class to UK for around USD 3-4K on these airlines but USD 8K with SQ. In both cases, researched best fares on the internet and on airline websites. So that's a 100% premium for SQ! Now, that means I can bring my wife on UK trips for free and still use a very high quality carrier.

I now use EK as my carrier of choice and I even get upgraded out of DXB which happened to me TWICE in TWENTY years with SQ!! The fares are better, the lounges are better, the food and wine in the lounges are better and the crews are human, so vary quite a lot (Aka having personality)

lokijuh

It probably isn't, and comes from an Australian perspective.

Here we have seen huge discounts from EK from BNE/MEL-SIN (and SYD-BKK) in economy class ($600 AUD return) but only minor discounts on same routes by QF/SQ (around $1K AUD return). (although Qantas did briefly have a 2 for 1 sale - but nowhere near the EK prices). Similary towards the front in business class EK are charging around $3k for there discount return fares, whereas on QF/SQ you see fares in the order of $4.2-$4.5K. But there may be special forces at play - EK have just commenced a massive expansion of routes here which would see passengers avoid routes via SE Asia in favour of Dubai direct.

Also, EK is often mentioned in the same breath as QF/SQ in terms of profitability so they must be doing something right as well. But there are a lot of carriers who perhaps aren't as successful, and are really struggling now (MH, TG + a few European carriers??) Not sure about CX, they still seem to be tracking with the "Q"s

philipat

Thanks and, yes, you know the other thing that really pis*es me off is that airfares out of Asia are still so much higher than in The US/UK/Australia. There are also no Internet sites that provide competetive fares. Zuji is a joke from Asia. Bali/Singapore in particular is a joke. SQ/GA have a virtual monopoly which results in a RT Business Class RT of USD1K. For a 2 hour flight if you can believe?

aurigakb

hmmm.... this is highly questionable!

philipat

Check fares on Zuji Singapore site and SQ website for fares SIN/Australia VV as an example. Then compare these fares with Australian sites and SQ Australia site for Australia/SIN VV.

Then we can talk.

philipat

Check fares on Zuji Singapore site and SQ website for fares SIN/Australia VV as an example. Then compare these fares with Australian sites and SQ Australia site for Australia/SIN VV.

Then we can talk.

SmilingBoy

Good they are not cutting any domestic flights!

fimo

Nah they wouldn't. Those Changi-Seletar shuttles are always fully booked, that's a cash cow sector if any!