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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 3:01 pm
  #1  
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Thumbs down Why to avoid SQ

After my last experience on SQ, I have decided to avoid them when possible. Yes, the entertainment, food, & seat comfort is the best, but it just isn't worth the other pains.

I spent the $200+ extra to book in B to get miles, but discovered on the return from ICN that my UA M+ isn't on the ticket. I have been fighting w/ UA for 6 months to get the credit, but w/o success. It was an e-ticket, so I have no receipt. I sent copies of my boarding stubs with the tix #. but now I'm told SQ will only issue credit if the ticket receipt is supplied. They are just playing games, as they know I flew it, they have the ticket #, etc.

My other complaints w/ SQ: the flights are always full, mostly of non-FT types. This flight I had the last open seats next to me until the last moment when 2 men come. The one next to me has a death grip on my arm rest, squishing me. Once in the air, he has 10 whiskeys & passes out on me. The main steward tried to limit his drinks, but the other girls kept supplying them. On the return, the check-in agent tells me the flight is completely full, so I don't change from the 1st row of coach. (I was 1st to check in, which is essential on SQ as they don't pre-assign seats). Most rows have empty middle seats except mine, which turns out to be the baby row. Fun for 10 hours!

The bottom line: SQ treats UA elite like dirt, even after charging much more for the mileage credit.

Added: OK, SQ Y is too crowded for my taste; I can't put up the cash for C. Perhaps if UA miles can buy upgrades... UA tells me SQ won't accept the docs I have, that they want a ticket copy showing fare codes & fees, which I didn't know existed for e-tix. I sent my agent's internal doc & am waiting for the outcome.

Last edited by foothill; Jul 30, 2006 at 8:28 am Reason: remove reference to ethnic dress (sorry)
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 3:13 pm
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Sorry you didnt have a good experience.

Even e-tickets do generate a receipt for your travel. You should have been emailed this when the booking was ticketed. It is common for FFPs to ask for receipt when pax makes a missing mileage request for travel on another airline.

FWIW the bassinet row is marked as such on SQ's seat maps, and I think when you select the seat (at OLCI in this case) it even brings up a warning that you may need to be moved. On most airlines the first economy row is for bassinets.
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 3:37 pm
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Is it the SQ's fault if a man next to you has a turban (?) and drink whisky ? I think you just had a bad flight but believe me, it could happen on every airline. most of the time, the quality of your Y flight is down to your neighbours and the way they behave...
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 4:15 pm
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I've flown e-ticket with SQ and could pick my seat on their homepage at least a day before travelling. I actually changed my seat to a empty row before going to Changi and got three seats next to eachother on SIN-MEL and back. ^
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 6:21 pm
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Originally Posted by foothill
My other complaints w/ SQ: the flights are always full, mostly of non-FT types. This flight I had the last open seats next to me until the last moment when 2 men w/ turbans come. .
What is an FT-type pax?
Please define ...
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 9:03 pm
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Originally Posted by foothill
Yes, the entertainment, food, & seat comfort is the best, but it just isn't worth the other pains. (...) The bottom line: SQ treats UA elite like dirt, even after charging much more for the mileage credit.
????

Because you have been treated like ....? I think the two facts are that 1) you have forgotten to keep your receipt of the E-ticket; 2) the guy besides you got 10 whiskeys. Is that a reason to be so harsh about an airline, even if etertainment, food and seat comfort is the best?
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 9:25 pm
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Originally Posted by Fly-Swiss
Is it the SQ's fault if a man next to you ... drink whisky ?
They are not supposed to serve so much as to cause a problem - someone quietly passing out might count, but it's far better than some of the alternatives.
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 9:29 pm
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Originally Posted by foothill
Yes, the entertainment, food, & seat comfort is the best, but it just isn't worth the other pains.
Yes, I can totally see why superior entertainment, food and seat comfort are going to make someone avoid SQ. Why, no other airline has ever credited mileage wrongly or featured drunk pax. Standards on SQ are indeed slipping!

Originally Posted by foothill
My other complaints w/ SQ: the flights are always full...
Geez, something must be seriously wrong with SQ in that case.

Originally Posted by foothill
This flight I had the last open seats next to me until the last moment when 2 men w/ turbans come.
And why is the fact that they wear turbans relevant to your complaint? Please elaborate.

Last edited by Keith009; Jul 25, 2006 at 9:40 pm
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 11:21 pm
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Originally Posted by foothill
I spent the $200+ extra to book in B to get miles, but discovered on the return from ICN that my UA M+ isn't on the ticket. I have been fighting w/ UA for 6 months to get the credit, but w/o success. It was an e-ticket, so I have no receipt. I sent copies of my boarding stubs with the tix #. but now I'm told SQ will only issue credit if the ticket receipt is supplied. They are just playing games, as they know I flew it, they have the ticket #, etc.

My other complaints w/ SQ: the flights are always full, mostly of non-FT types...
Since you're an FT-type passenger, why didn't you check your BP to see whether your *G status was reflected (to maximize the chances that miles are properly credited)? Also, as Kiwi Flyer pointed out, receipts, even for e-tickets, are often required by airlines when you submit missing mileage requests. What made an FT-type passenger like you think this case would be an exception?
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Old Jul 25, 2006 | 11:40 pm
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Think everyone else has nicely covered most of this, but this is what gets me....

Originally Posted by foothill
The bottom line: SQ treats UA elite like dirt, even after charging much more for the mileage credit.
Why do people think (mainly UA elites) that airlines single them out for bad treatment based on where status came from!?

Other airlines dont care where your status came from all they care about is *S or *G, even if you are UGS all you are to other airlines is *G! Same as UA would only see a Lifetime Solitaire as a *G!
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Old Jul 26, 2006 | 5:56 am
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I avoid them in Y because of the cramped seating and the garish colour scheme. Gives me a headache !
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Old Jul 26, 2006 | 8:25 am
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Originally Posted by Al B
I avoid them in Y because of the cramped seating and the garish colour scheme. Gives me a headache !
For the same reasons I too avoid SQ Y at all cost! ... The cost of a C or F seat!
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Old Jul 26, 2006 | 8:57 am
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If your UA MP# was not on the ticket, then why didn't you supply the number during check in? You could have also done so at the lounge or at the gate area. I thought as a "FT-member", checking the BP for your FF# would be second nature.

It's too bad you had a bad experience on that flight.
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Old Jul 26, 2006 | 11:49 am
  #14  
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Don't worry, SQ will not mind about your decision not will they miss you from their services - be happy flying with someone else if they really are better
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Old Jul 26, 2006 | 3:32 pm
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Turbans vs overweight

Turbanned or not, I would prefer the typical svelte diminutive neighbour typical of SQ to the montrously overweight neighbour spilling over the armrests such as one encounters occasionally on UA.

If you are *G you can call SQ to allocate you a window or aisle seat, though they won't tell you the seat-number till check-in This can be a problem, once they gave me a window seat with only one armrest, squeezed in at the narrow end of the plane where other airlines don't put 3 seats in the row.
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