JCrew7384

I flew to Singapore in July, and planning another work trip there in October. Looking for suggestions. In July I flew United metal EWR>SFO>SIN. Good earnings, coffin like Polaris for 18 hours on the SFO-SIN leg is pretty rough. On the way home I flew Singapore Air direct SIN>EWR. Great seat, food, service, dismal PQD and award mile earnings due to that particular flight not being a code share, just a Star Alliance not preferred partner.

What would people here do. Suck it up and fly direct? The opportunity cost of dollar spend and mileage earnings is pretty darn high. Really struggling with this one. The Singapore Air direct flight is not only more convenient, but also generally much more comfortable than the United Polaris seats.

Eneka

Perhaps United metal from EWR to SFO and continue on the journey in SG metal? And book two one way tickets so you get away with the 75k award mileage cap.

JCrew7384

I'll go look now, but I assume the SQ SFO-SIN flight is also not a code share flight with United, so the majority of the earnings will be limited?

Eneka

Something like this? Awfully expensive though.

https://www.google.com/travel/flight...NgY1uo4Rz8oBa7

looks like it's crediting all the PQP when you try to checkout and looks at the earnings. I'd let someone else more knowledgable to chime in though

bmwe92fan

If you give us some dates we can probably help more -- in the past few months I have found two one ways to asia cheaper than round trip -- but it varies by route a lot. We also live in NYC and frequently travel to SE Asia -- and we dislike 16 hours straight on any one plane and will sacrifice arrival time to connect in Tokyo / TPE / ICN to stretch / take a break....

To give you an example -- on October 3rd you can fly one way from EWR to SIN connecting in SFO in J for $5.1k -- return flights available for even less -- easily putting the total ticket under $10k and maximizing miles / PQD on UA. My wife and I are partial to NH for food and hard product from NYC -- but others prefer UA -- it's all up to what you value most....

If using the UA tool makes sure you scrolll all the way to the bottom and show all flights -- sometimes the best connections can be found down there...

hirohito888

I would fly JFK-TYO-SIN to get better mileage earnings and better seat/service on NH. Between UA and SQ, as you said, it's an opportunity cost and it really depends on the fare I'm paying. If it's high fare and earns a lot of PQD/RDM then I would pick UA. If it's a cheap ex-India SQ fare, then I don't mind going on SQ. It really depends on how much you like SQ or dislike UA.

Kacee

Code share or not isn't the issue, it's the ticketing stock that determines how accruals are calculated.

I believe the only other reasonable option on UA ticket stock is UA EWR-NRT, then NH to SIN. Otherwise you'll just have to make the call what's most important to you. For me, mileage accrual wouldn't matter nearly enough to base the decision on that, but PQP might depending on whether there's a status goal.
Unfortunately that doesn't work, because NH is not flying JFK-NRT. The only all-NH itinerary is via HND with 17 hour connection.

jsloan

Your focus on codeshare is misguided; codeshares do not have any effect on United earnings at all.

United-operated or United-ticketed flights' earnings are always based upon the fare. Flights that are both partner-ticketed and partner-operated earn based upon the distance, fare class, and preferred / non-preferred status. The only affect that a codeshare might have is to allow you to book a flight on a United ticket that you otherwise couldn't -- and you're correct that SQ and UA do not codeshare on their long-haul flights. Furthermore, due to carrier restrictions on the UA fares and ticketing restrictions on the SQ fare, it's virtually impossible to ticket a long-haul SQ flight on a UA ticket. The nonstop SIN-EWR flight will always credit 1000 PQP each way. That's the penalty you're going to pay for nonstop service.

I don't believe you gain anything from flying SQ JFK-FRA-SIN, because I don't think UA considers the FRA stop, but I'm willing to be corrected by someone who's tried it.

Your best option, from a comfort + earnings perspective, may be to fly NH via Tokyo.* It's about a thousand miles shorter than the SFO route -- only 500 miles longer than the nonstop -- and you have options with NH. If the fare is less than about $5000, you can book NH-operated flights via ANA and earn about 5K PQP. If the fare is more than that you can book via UA and earn full PQP.

FWIW, I find Polaris much more comfortable than SQ's A359 seat. Obviously opinions differ on that subject. The only concern that I'd have about adding an extra connection is that connecting has become perilous in the COVID era; if you don't have permission to enter Japan, you could end up with a mess if there's a delay.

* once it's operating again. Thanks Kacee.

hirohito888

But it works on the inbound, SIN-HND-JFK with a 4h layover. OP just has to figure out the outbound I guess.

Kacee

So OP can get three out of four segments on NH with 016 stock. Not a bad compromise outcome.

mahasamatman

Tokyo is a great city. There's a lot you can do with a 17 hour connection.

bmwe92fan

Unfortunately not right now - and highly unlikely before the end of the year - Japan is still closed to tourists….

Kacee

Not if you can't enter the country due to Covid restrictions which are presently in place.

aquanine

I'm still holding out hope that Japan will open by the end of the year...

That said, I believe overnight connections in HND are possible so the 17 hour would be valid, just uncomfortable when the lounge closes overnight. NRT is the one with the no overnights allowed.

Kacee

17 hours, sleeping on the floor in HND . . . I'm not sure why we're even discussing that option when UA and SQ fly nonstop and there's a 3.5 hour connection at NRT.