Nelumbo

Anyone tried to use UA miles to get upgraded to "R" from Y? :P

FriendlySkies

lol. Not gonna happen.

JetAway

I expected to see SQ's premium seats filled (or close to it) with beneficiaries of the Awardfest but in checking the seat maps of my two First roundtrips on the SQ website I'm the only one at this point in each cabin.

azepine00

Why?
Most people don't care. Most of those who do have no plans to travel or do not have the miles. Most of those interested and with plans that can align with sq and with miles to spend missed it.
Plus aside from novelty derived from the fact that sq semi fraudulently IMO hides award space, why is redeeming miles at normal rates is such a big deal?

JetAway

Given that this thread has nearly 125,000 views, add that many travel bloggers have written extensively about the SQ premium availability and, finally, factor in the limited number of SQ premium seats that exist, I think it is reasonable to expect more than one person in First on at least one of my four segments. That was my point.

Happy

Exactly. I actually have miles and have time to travel, even held 3 rezzies but at the end decided to let go of them. The only regret is, SQ1/2 might now be an A380 route for the period I would have traveled. That is it. A380 suite the novelty.

But it really is no bargain other than an SQ F award was not bookable in the past. If one can travel on CX F almost any time one would want to, given CX F great availability at last minute, what is the big deal of SQ F other than the scarcity?

ma91pmh

CX last minute availability is no use to those of us who have tight work schedules and travel with family. I can't fly my family around the world on the hope that I can find a return trip within a few days of my required time. Also SQ opens up a host of other destinations CX serve.

FLYDCA

I don't think that SQ released more award seats then they normally do to their own direct frequent flyer program members. The difference is that they released the inventory to partner members and not just thier own program members. The total number of available award seats did not increase but the audience to which they were available is what seems to have been opened during what you call the "award fest".

Goosh

Last night I noticed that my SQ1 flight changed from 00:05am departure to 10:50pm the day before. Flight is in mid november. I actually want to get from SFO to HKG about 24 to 48 hours later than my current SQ reservation and fly CX (which I think should open up closer in). I'm already booked on SQ16 coming home (separate one way award), so it's not that big of a deal for me to lose the SQ1 flight. My question is, since there was a schedule change, does that mean they will refund my miles for free? If so, how long will I have this option? Hoping that my CX flight opens up and I can cancel the SQ flight for free.

ok2uselane

Um, the big deal was that you could redeem at the saver rates.
That's just what I did, because SQ hasn't offered this and probably won't for a very long time!

Thunderroad

But isn't that very scarcity part of the appeal? F award seats on one of the world's top airlines, when ordinarily they're not available. In addition, there are other reasons why this SQ availability is so appealing...

1. 2. Also, lots of folks don't have the OW miles to use on CX to begin with. So the SQ glitch opened up award space to people who otherwise couldn't access F on any of the world's top airlines.
3. AFAIK, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong on this, award availability for any of the top A* F sections is very constrained these days, ever since LH severely cut back on this. Yes, there's UA F availability, but that's not a top airline. On a regular, reliable basis, it doesn't seem like great F seats are to be had through *A the way CX and BA are often available through OW. (And even there the big caveats with BA are that its F is not in the same class, so to speak, as CX, SQ or LH and that it costs an arm and a leg in extra charges.) The only other regularly available great F seats I'm aware of using partner airlines' miles are on EY using AA miles. But again, I'd love to be educated otherwise.
4. The extra excitement about SQ F also stems from some folks being able to fly in the suites on the 380s.
5. As someone who has both *A and OW miles, I'm glad to use them for this one-time SQ F availability because I'd rather conserve my OW miles for CX F later (assuming that the current levels of availability remain in place in coming years).
6. Finally, I do think my UA miles are much more of a diminishing asset than my AA ones, given the downward spiral that UA is in and the possibility that the current management team will find ways of diluting its FF program any ways it can in years to come. So for reasons completely unrelated to SQ, better to take advantage of good ways to spend the UA miles now.

Adam1222

My February 2013 flight on SQ2 is already half full upfront. Probably luck of the draw.

patchan8984

Many peak travel times also opened up, such as the two weeks at the end of December and first week of January that had 0 availibility in pretty much all classes on united.com. When SQ let the floodgates open, i was able to book from 12/22-1/1, probably the most "peak" dates of the tourist season to asia. Kids begin vacation on 12/22 and start back at school on 1/2...this was HUGE!

azepine00

Perhaps it's just me but just because a widget is made "limited edition" it doesn't make it any more appealing if i simply do not need a widget.
It is beyond me why people book an award for the sake of "experience" even if they don't need to go where that flight takes them... Maybe only if you have millions and millions of accumulated miles...
SQ or not it's just a flight and for the value of those miles i can buy a lot of Krug and caviar on the ground (last time CX F caviar was watery, mushy and overly salty but i digress )

IMO problems with UA are mostly operational - if anything UA miles are more valuable as it is harder to earn them with lower earning bonuses and fewer irrops freebies. I have not seen any indication of dilution so far (perhaps arguably some status perks but that's not miles). AA on the other hand is in bankruptcy, gave away lots of miles and status perks and goodies and I personally worry about those miles much more. This is of course on top of *A being head and shoulders about OW and very hefty copays needed for BA and other AA redemption options.

YMMV of course.

That was of interest to me but perhaps i was a bit late. I could not find four seats on one flight between 12/20-25 when we plan to travel to asia.
Availability on 12/1-15 was of little use to us...

DavisCalifJr

This was a big deal for me flying SQ 11/12 to Japan next April in J class on the A380. I would not have found this flight unless these awards were released on *A as I've been flying SFO/NRT on UA in the past. For this award flight, I am using my local airport at SMF (Sacramento) instead which is only 15-20 mins from the house compared to the 1.5 hr drive to SFO. Additionally, I would have no issues paying the full J fare as it's pretty cheap at $3600 RT in J which makes me much happier to be able to fly to Japan whenever I want (and not worrying about points) on such a great airline.

SQ just gained a new long term customer over this screw up if all goes well with my flight. This maybe SQ's best accidental marketing strategy ever for all the buzz this has created. I hope their marketing folks do a few more of these so called "screw ups"