F booking downgraded to J after change from 777 to A350

[Ken1]

We are currently booked to fly SYD-SIN-LHR in February, in F on SQ242 and in R on SQ308. We have just received notification from SQ that we have been downgraded to J on the SQ242 SYD-SIN leg. This was to be on a 777-300ER but I see that it is now listed as being on an A350-900 which does not have F.

The email says we have been given seats in J and also says: "If there has been a change in your cabin class, we will be contacting you to assist with your bookings. We seek your patience as we will be contacting affected customers progressively."

These tickets are booked as an F Saver for me and as an F Advantage for Mrs Ken1, after changing flights from originally booked J seats and then having F seats on separate days and we then decided to use the extra KF miles to book an Advantage fare for Mrs Ken1 so we could both travel on the same flights and experience the R seats together. What should I expect as a refund of some KF miles when travel is now in J on the SYD-SIN leg? We used 163K miles for the Saver and 275K for the Advantage ticket.

On that day there are 2 other flights with F or R that day - SQ222 with R that departs SYD at 1610 on an A380 and SQ212 that departs SYD at 0905 on a 777. (Our currently booked SQ242 departs at 19:10 and we plan to book the Ambassador transit hotel as our SIN-LHR flight departs SIN at 09:00.) Is it possible that SQ would consider moving us to one of those earlier flights so we can still travel in F or R? I will certainly ask when they contact me. I don't know how long it will be before I hear from them so I'll wait a couple of weeks and then I'll call them if I haven't heard anything. Has anyone had any similar experiences with aircraft changes and being downgraded on one leg?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[coriander]

Hopefully they will have improved their customer handling of pax with 777-A350 downgrade. When they did that to me, they simply cancelled my bookings and NEVER contacted me. I had to contact them repeatedly and finally got someone who knew what to do (this was in Feb this year when things were a lot more locked down). I wrote my experience here: TL;DR they wil help if you get right person - don't wait for them to contact you.

SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

wow, changed some award flights online (same destination), just a date change from Mar/April to August now Took 5min and painless online. no $ involved either for change of date no extra miles either (outward journey was originally saver and still is, return journey was advantage and it still...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

(EDIT: link is correct despite the description which is taken from that page's first post)

 

[Ken1]

Hopefully they will have improved their customer handling of pax with 777-A350 downgrade. When they did that to me, they simply cancelled my bookings and NEVER contacted me. I had to contact them repeatedly and finally got someone who knew what to do (this was in Feb this year when things were a lot more locked down). I wrote my experience here: TL;DR they wil help if you get right person - don't wait for them to contact you.

Thanks coriander. I was also upgraded to KF Elite Gold after transferring from Amex. We have only received an email so far for Mrs Ken1's booking but not for mine. We have different PNRs for each of us since we were originally booked to travel on different days. When I log in to "Manage Booking" it currently shows: "We cannot process your request right now. Please try again later, or get in touch with your local Singapore Airlines office." so I can't check the bookings online yet.

According to the email they have given Mrs Ken1 seat 12F in place of 1D. Looking at Check My Trip it shows I am now in 12D. Our SIN-LHR flight on SQ308 in R is thankfully unchanged. At least they aren't trying to cancel our whole booking. Once the bookings show up again in SQ Manage Booking I'll call and ask if there is any chance they could move us to one of the earlier flights if there is F/R availability, although I realise it will probably be unlikely.

I've just looked at award availability for SQ212 that departs SYD at 0905 on that day we could book 2 F Advantage seats and looking at SQ222 that departs at 1610 searching for 1 or 2 R seats it shows Advantage Waitlist. Looking at paid tickets I could book up to 4 First seats on either flight so there must still be 4 unsold seats on each of those flights. Since we used one Saver fare and one Advantage fare maybe there is a chance they could consider moving us to that flight on the 777 but I would think it would be unlikely they would put us on the 380 flight since there is only Advantage waitlist showing.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Ken1 I too have been there a few years back - I had 2 F MEL-SIN on 218 connecting to 2 F SIN-PVG and 777 on 2318 subbed for 350. In the end I just had to accept downgrades to J as alternative flts were just not acceptable given rigid itinerary I had in place. Compensation offered was return of excess pts F to J Saver on the MEL-SIN leg alone + 1 x FREE future upgrade J to F on MEL-SIN only for whose name was original Booking Reference.

Given I was taking 3 of my sisters to China for a weeks holiday on my dime there was ZERO chance my sister was ever going to book another MEL-SIN J sector ion her name - so that upgrade had to be forfeited. I did use my upgrade at a later date.

Now I certainly feel your pain and you will need to call ASAP and try to talk your way into a swap if possible - be very pleasant and plead your case - you might be lucky but you will need to try - wishing you luck.

 

[Ken1]

Now I certainly feel your pain and you will need to call ASAP and try to talk your way into a swap if possible - be very pleasant and plead your case - you might be lucky but you will need to try - wishing you luck.

Thanks Cruiser Elite. I've just called SQ and was answered within a minute. I asked if we could be moved to one of the earlier flights that day with F availability and gave her those flight details. She said that "those flights are closed" and that she had looked at both redemption and cash bookings and there are none available.

I then told her that I can see two Advantage redemption seats available on SQ212 and that Advantage seats are waitlisted on SQ222, and that when I searched for cash bookings I would have been able to book 4 seats on both of those flights and I asked her if she can check again.

15 minutes later she came back and said she is "still working on finding a solution". 20 minutes after that she came back and said "we really did our best to see another alternative for your cancellation and I really do acknowledge that this is our fault. The only alternative that we can give you is that you have to stick with this class, or we will be refunding you the miles you used and we can find another date with first class availability. At the moment we really can't find any available seats at my end."

I asked her about the seats I can see online, both redemption and cash, and she said "That is for online it is for new bookings only. We have different availability here on our end. For the seats for first class that you have seen online, it is only for new bookings" First I've ever heard of that unless things have changed recently. I told her to keep the booking as it is and I will try in a few days in case availability shows up then.

We are flying home in April AMS-SIN-SYD in J and are booked on SQ211 for SIN-SYD. I see that there are 2 Advantage F seats available on that flight (777-300ER). If they won't move me onto one of the SYD-SIN flights with F availability I could ask would they consider moving us to F on that SIN-SYD flight at the end of our trip.

 

[Pointy Bird]

That is really pathetic service. Can you try to change the flight online via the change date option under manage my bookings?
The other option is to use the chat option online to a real person ( after 11am Melb/Syd time). Found some of these chat reps better than the phone service.
Good luck.

 

[drron]

You are not the only one. I just got the old 1-2 punch from SQ.
This morning an email to see if we would accept a time change on SQ326 SIN-FRA from 1355 to 1155. Well I was hoping to finally have a lunch in the TPR instead of brekkie but no biggie accept the change.Then tonight the sucker punch. Your seats have changed from 1C,D to 20 D,F.
Yes now an A359 instead of the 777.
Really annoyed as this was going to be the last time we could realistically afford F,R awards. So if ever we do go F again it will hopefully be with the luck of CE and get future J-F upgrades. I don't think I have that much influence at SQ.

 

[Ken1]

That is really pathetic service. Can you try to change the flight online via the change date option under manage my bookings?
The other option is to use the chat option online to a real person ( after 11am Melb/Syd time). Found some of these chat reps better than the phone service.
Good luck.

Thanks Pointy Bird. I can't access the bookings through SQ Manage Booking since we were advised of the change by email. I still get "We cannot process your request right now. Please try again later, or get in touch with your local Singapore Airlines office." Looking at Check My Trip it shows both old F and new J seat numbers as separate bookings with no e-ticket number issued yet for the updated booking.

I'll try calling again tomorrow and if I have no luck I'll then try the chat option as you suggested.

 

[Ken1]

Then tonight the sucker punch. Your seats have changed from 1C,D to 20 D,F.
Yes now an A359 instead of the 777.
Really annoyed as this was going to be the last time we could realistically afford F,R awards. So if ever we do go F again it will hopefully be with the luck of CE and get future J-F upgrades. I don't think I have that much influence at SQ.

Sorry it's happened to you too drron. This was going to be our first time flying in First and is going to be our only chance to fly in F / R. I retired last year and had enough Amex points to do this return trip to Europe but won't have enough to do another in F since I can no longer earn points from the business I had and our everyday spending will not build them up quickly enough. At least we are still in Suites on a 380 for the SIN-LHR connecting flight so we get to experience that but I'd still prefer to fly in F on the SYD-SIN flight if they will change it since we used the miles for F all the way.

I originally booked SYD-LHR in Advantage J @ 150K miles as there were no Saver seats for the date we wanted. Then I noticed that we could get F Saver for 163K for 777 flights, only 13K miles more than Adv J. Mrs Ken1 didn't mind if I flew the day before her so we could both experience F. I then saw availability on SQ242/SQ308 so I could travel in Suites on a 380 for the SIN-LHR flight. We are celebrating our 39th wedding anniversary a week after our flights to LHR and I wanted to make it special so Mrs Ken1 could be on the same flights as me rather than flying one day apart like we were originally doing. Once I was able to book the SIN-LHR sector on a 380 in R for me I decided I couldn't do that and have her still on the 777 flights a day later so we decided to use the extra KF miles to upgrade her from an F Saver fare to an Advantage fare (275K) to fly on the same flights as me.

 

[Amberlower]

We are currently booked to fly SYD-SIN-LHR in February, in F on SQ242 and in R on SQ308. We have just received notification from SQ that we have been downgraded to J on the SQ242 SYD-SIN leg. This was to be on a 777-300ER but I see that it is now listed as being on an A350-900 which does not have F.

The email says we have been given seats in J and also says: "If there has been a change in your cabin class, we will be contacting you to assist with your bookings. We seek your patience as we will be contacting affected customers progressively."

These tickets are booked as an F Saver for me and as an F Advantage for Mrs Ken1, after changing flights from originally booked J seats and then having F seats on separate days and we then decided to use the extra KF miles to book an Advantage fare for Mrs Ken1 so we could both travel on the same flights and experience the R seats together. What should I expect as a refund of some KF miles when travel is now in J on the SYD-SIN leg? We used 163K miles for the Saver and 275K for the Advantage ticket.

On that day there are 2 other flights with F or R that day - SQ222 with R that departs SYD at 1610 on an A380 and SQ212 that departs SYD at 0905 on a 777. (Our currently booked SQ242 departs at 19:10 and we plan to book the Ambassador transit hotel as our SIN-LHR flight departs SIN at 09:00.) Is it possible that SQ would consider moving us to one of those earlier flights so we can still travel in F or R? I will certainly ask when they contact me. I don't know how long it will be before I hear from them so I'll wait a couple of weeks and then I'll call them if I haven't heard anything. Has anyone had any similar experiences with aircraft changes and being downgraded on one leg?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

We paid a fortune in cash to get into their first class suites to Zurich, and made sure we were flying on the A380 - and soon after, they switched all the aircraft so we were paying a fortune to fly in what is effectively a business class seat but at double the price. This is a sneaky thing they do without telling you..

My husband and I were also pushed down into Business after paying for First class and told there was 'no availability in First" after having tickets confirmed 6 months earlier. They stated there would be no refund for the difference and I could cancel the whole flight if I wasn't happy. There is no wonderful service any more that set SQ apart from Qantas and the rest .

 

[umberloidster]

Argh, same here for a trip I'd booked my parents on, LHR-SIN-MEL in November. The LHR-SIN leg has been downgraded to J.

Admittedly, the downgraded leg is the overnight portion (SQ321 which leaves Heathrow at 10:05pm), and as long as the F booking remains for SIN-MEL they'll be able to access TPR (which Dad is most excited about). But it's pretty poor form for SIA to be doing this en masse.

To be honest, when I booked them this trip in F (which I did back in April), I was semi-hoping that SIA would be flying A380s by November and that this would open up Suites! Looks like I can add that to the very very (very) long list of times that I was wrong

 

[Berrocca]

I had an interesting update regarding my redemption flight from FRA to SIN. The booking I originally made was under the old A380 configuration. I checked a few days ago and the layout has now been updated to the new 'suite' layout. Bonus!

I'm still in the regular 777-300ER F class for the SIN to SYD leg.... hopefully that won't change.

 

[Ken1]

As a follow up to my initial post on Wednesday - I was advised of the aircraft change from 777 to A350 on Wednesday and after calling later that day and being told that the other flights that day that have F or R SQ212 and SQ222 are closed and that what I see online are only for new bookings. I called back yesterday after 11am Syd time. After explaining everything I was put on hold for 30 minutes and she came back and said that she has sent an email to the back end office to see if they can over-book us back to F for the SYD-SIN flight. She said she will call me back and that it should be later that day. I hadn't heard back since then so I called back at 4pm today.

I was told the same as the first call, that they could not see any availability for either SQ212 or SQ222 and that First Class is closed for both flights even though I could see it online and she said that what I can see online is only for new bookings. I mentioned again that an email had been sent yesterday to the back office to request that we can be booked on another flight that day and asked her if she could check for me. After being on hold for 25 minutes she came back and asked if SQ212 that departs at 0905 is ok and I said yes! This is a 777, the same as I was booked on SQ242 before it was changed to an A350. She said it will take a while to make the changes and that she would call me back.

3 hours later she called back and said that she can no longer get us on SQ212 and asked if it would be okay if we take SQ222 (a 380 flight with Suites) so of course I said Yes! I received the e-tickets 25 minutes later and we now have Suites on both SYD-SIN and SIN-LHR so are very pleased, especially since we have never flown First Class before and this will be the only opportunity to ever be able to do it.

For anyone else with problems being downgraded from F to J like we had and you can see alternative flights that would work for you it's worth calling multiple times until you hopefully find someone who can help you. Thanks to everyone who offered advice here. I'm glad I called that day and kept calling each day rather than waiting for SQ to call me as was stated in the email change notification (which probably would never have happened).

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

Well done !
Enjoy.

 

[Mattg]

For anyone else with the same problem, this article might also be useful:

Cabin downgraded on Singapore Airlines: Now what? - The MileLion

Singapore Airlines' upcoming winter schedule has thrown a spanner into the works of some travellers. Here's what to do if you've been downgraded.

milelion.com