How on earth do you actually use points?

[MEL_Traveller]

I checked SIN to LHR (which interestingly was available on the SQ non stop on that day in J) and it brought up a range of options on the star alliance tab such as via BKK, or via FRA. Although not sure if it would work for F - as not sure it will bring up mixed awards (eg J to BKK connecting to LHR in F).

I just saw something similar for SYD-BKK - a TG flight was listed. But given the US examples (zero return on SQ compared to more options no UA) I'm not sure I'd be reliant on SQ's availability Still might need to cross-reference and call for booking.

 

[dajop]

I just saw something similar for SYD-BKK - a TG flight was listed. But given the US examples (zero return on SQ compared to more options no UA) I'm not sure I'd be reliant on SQ's availability Still might need to cross-reference and call for booking.

Going a bit OT now, but just a thought, was the UA site bringing up UA flights that you couldn't see on SQ (this is to be expected as they do make more seats available to their own members than partners, particularly SQ which they don't co-operate well with) or was it CA/OZ/NH flights (that may fall foul of backtracking rules on SQ) or NZ/AC flights?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Not entirely correct - points don’t expire if you’re PPS for example.

True.

Though as one who never pays for long international flights and only uses points to redeem for them I tend to not see such fine print

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Going a bit OT now, but just a thought, was the UA site bringing up UA flights that you couldn't see on SQ (this is to be expected as they do make more seats available to their own members than partners, particularly SQ which they don't co-operate well with) or was it CA/OZ/NH flights (that may fall foul of backtracking rules on SQ) or NZ/AC flights?

OZ and NH. But also connections via Europe back to Australia.

It seems UA (or aeroplan) is still a good starting point. At least for now until SQ completes its roll-out of partner and star awards. Plus the UA tool is much quicker.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Very interesting....

Yes.

And as I have mentioned earlier I have often used *A partners/bookings for various reasons.

- After the recent points enhancement there was an opportunity to add on a *A leg and book at lower points cost than a KF all SQ Award (this has now closed as the SQ *A table has been revised)

- Destinations/Routes: Some locations/routes SQ does not service at all, or is too popular (ie London or New York)
-ie
Daughter as part of her 9 months post Uni graduation trip had volunteered in Togo Africa for 3 months and SQ metal did not fly from there or near there. So redeemed *A on Egyptair from Accra with a stopover in Bangkok with Thai then back to Oz.

Earlier in that same trip in 2012 booked on Egyptair to fly from Jordan to JNB with a stopover in Cairo. Also from JNB to LHR on SA.

- Number of seats: Prior to my 3 daughters getting older I was looking for 5 seats in J. That sometimes meant splitting the party to fly on consecutive days/flights, and sometimes I would split over 2 carriers.

Ironically my eldest daughter flew International F before I did (!!!) as she had to return to Uni in July for second semester commencement whereas the other 4 of us were continuing on. She originally was not coming onto the trip and she was booked in quite late. So she flew to LHR on Thai in J , but out of FRA in F as there were no J seats available. So F it was!

The amusing thing was that she was only 18 (and being the shortest of my 3 daughters probably only looked 16) and was not aware of her F status privileges and on going to board kept having older Y pax who had status push past her. One attendant initially starting telling her off for being in the wrong queue before suddenly realising that she had an F ticket in hand, and that she was the only F pax there at the time. Service suddenly changed. This contrasted with check-in where on turning up with no F window open an alert attendant spied her ticket and immediately showed her through to open J counter in front of everyone. Much to her embarrassment.

With LHR busy the other 4 of us flew with SQ into Manchester on consecutive days, and then out of AMS (which also avoided the additional departure tax that is levied if you fly out of the UK to Oz) also on consecutive days.

 

[dajop]

OZ and NH. But also connections via Europe back to Australia

OK, in this instances the KF engine may well be accurate in displaying what is available for zone to zone awards using KF miles, as NH/OZ and via Europe may all fall foul of Krisflyer’s very strict backtracking rules (that prohibit itineraries that are more than a certain % above point to point distance - not just based on direction). As an example I recall that PVG-SIN-LHR is OK but PEK-SIN-LHR is considered backtracking.

Of course these may be available over the phone by adding points required for separate awards (eg North America to North Asia + North Asia to Australia).

 

[laffer]

My experience in recent times with SQ J was that availability out of BCN and ARN was good. But that all changes of course with time. I waitlisted flights but was prepared to be flexible (my flight out of BCN was booked a week ahead of departure). But I did find SQ a whole lot better than QF.

 

[Renato1]

Whilst I know all about the mechanics of the flying game, I know nothing about how you use your points. For various reasons, in a year or two, I'd like to look at getting to Europe, probably from Singapore, using points. Looking at the Krisflyer system, flights mostly seem to be waitlisted right through the end of 2019. How far out do they allow points bookings. What is the best way to actually use them (they're Amex points at the moment).

I concur with your sentiment.
It's a lot of hard work.
I've got hundreds of thousands of points I'm not sure what to do with - I don't want to waste them on Business Class, just because it is better value to travel less far, at times when I don't really want to travel.

I think I'll be using them up on short flights to Asia, when a Jetstar of Virgin special isn't available -which is pretty rare.
Regards,
Renato

 

[blu]

...do you not get a golden handshake....

A long retired QF Captain we knew (RIP now), used to fly LH annually. I recall he said he would be waitlisted & have to turn up at SYD not knowing if he had a seat or not. Don't know if there was any cost involved. May be different now.

 

[blu]

subscribed to JBs "trip report"

 

[jb747]

Hi JB when you eventually retire do you not get a golden handshake in the way of cheap fares based on the length of service to QF and the seniority obtained with in the airline? Trust that this is not too much of a personal question.

Staff travel was emasculated by Geoff Dixon. Basically, in return for a wage freeze, a particular group of staff were given upgrade priority that trumps pretty well all other staff. Fast forward a decade or so, and the size of the group has gone up dramatically, so the upshot is that a Jetstar office person who joined last week will probably push a 30 year Captain out.

When you retire, you don't get any 'golden parachute'. I doubt that they notice you've gone. But, you become 'retired', so your travel status drops through the, already low, floor.

In my entire 33 years with the company, I have used staff travel for overseas flights twice. I don't expect to add to that post retirement.

 

[JessicaTam]

Jb, if you are looking at starting in SIN, don't discount starting in AU. The points required is not much different.

I booked my current trip to CDG last March with a Jan 1 departure. I don't think there was anything for LHR/FRA/ZRH when I searched. Be flexible with destination and dates and you should have more success.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Staff travel was emasculated by Geoff Dixon. Basically, in return for a wage freeze, a particular group of staff were given upgrade priority that trumps pretty well all other staff. Fast forward a decade or so, and the size of the group has gone up dramatically, so the upshot is that a Jetstar office person who joined last week will probably push a 30 year Captain out.

However, a jb747 travelling on a commercial ticket with a points upgrade request (even as a bronze ff) would trump any JQ office johnny as commercial upgrade requests are generally processed the day prior. Staff upgrades only get what's left over at flight close after commercial upgrade requests have been processed.

Even commercial pax who choose to opt-in for another chance to upgrade on the day at the airport (where the upgrade hasn't cleared ahead of time) get a higher priority than any staff travel leisure category.

 

[cymbolz]

I recently booked a *A RTW J using KF points transferred from Velocity. Total 240k KF + ~ $500.

I booked in Nov for July-Sep travel so not the full 12 months out. What I found availability / wait-list was:

• Australia to Asia was pretty good, almost half the flights were available for saver award
• Asia (flying out of Tokyo) to US was challenging but I eventually found a day where SQ12 (NRT-LAX) had availability
• No availability across continental USA, not even Y (so open-jawed it)
• USA to EU (Frankfurt, again on SQ metal) was a bit challenging but I found a couple of dates
• EU to Asia I'm on Thai as I wanted to go to Thailand, not back to Singapore. Plenty of availability on Thai

I used a combination of the Singapore site and United to check availability. Note the United site showed Y and occasionally J awards within US but those were not available to SQ / *A for booking.

The points transfer was immediate so was able to confirm availability on the phone to SQ first, then tx the points and settle the bill (all the taxes etc) on the spot.

I've posted a little more info in the KF section of this forum. You might be ok with SQ but do consider *A, may be a few more points if just a return award but certainly benefit from lots of seats on Thai. Or do RTW (doesn't have to be US, can go via Canada as others have).

 

[jb747]

Looking through all of your suggestions....Singapore was just an idea, because I like the place, but going via Bangkok seems more practical now. Anyway the actual routing is fairly unimportant. Ultimately want to get to Manchester, but getting there from anywhere in Europe is easy, and cheap enough not to worry about.

Some airlines I won't be flying with...no matter how cheap.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Looking through all of your suggestions....Singapore was just an idea, because I like the place, but going via Bangkok seems more practical now. Anyway the actual routing is fairly unimportant. Ultimately want to get to Manchester, but getting there from anywhere in Europe is easy, and cheap enough not to worry about.

Some airlines I won't be flying with...no matter how cheap.

SQ will take you direct to MAN, but also Lufthansa, all included in the one ticket (and might as well fly 'business' the whole way. If you're ok with TG they can also take you to FRA or MUC with an LH connection from there to MAN (all one ticket which brings through check of baggage and protection for delayed inbound)).

 

[jb747]

SQ will take you direct to MAN, but also Lufthansa, all included in the one ticket (and might as well fly 'business' the whole way. If you're ok with TG they can also take you to FRA or MUC with an LH connection from there to MAN (all one ticket which brings through check of baggage and protection for delayed inbound)).

I'm fine with Thai.

What's the story with breaking the journey at various landing points? I don't have any desire to go through in one hit.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I'm fine with Thai.

What's the story with breaking the journey at various landing points? I don't have any desire to go through in one hit.

View the Singapore Airlines and SilkAir Award Chart

Learn about Important Changes to Flight Redemption

Learn about award tickets on Star Alliance airlines

Learn about award tickets on partner airlines


* A stopover refers to a stop of 24 hours or more in between two flights.


Round-trip award tickets are available at twice the number of KrisFlyer miles as one-way award tickets. All taxes, charges, and fees are applicable and payable by credit/debit card.

For the full terms and conditions of redemption, please click here .

Which for SQ is is Section I and for for *A booked through Krislyer is Section J

and so for Stopovers on Thai booked via Krisflyer we get:

f. One complimentary en route stopover is permitted for round-trip awards, unless otherwise stated below. Up to three additional stopovers are also permitted at USD100 each, regardless of the class of service.

g. Complimentary stopovers are not permitted in a purely domestic itinerary, or within the country of departure in an international itinerary.

h. Complimentary stopovers are not permitted if an itinerary contains only European cities, or is between the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands.

i. Complimentary stopovers are not permitted for one-way awards.

j. A stopover is defined as a connection above four hours in an itinerary within or between the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands, or a connection above 24 hours in all other itineraries.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm fine with Thai.

What's the story with breaking the journey at various landing points? I don't have any desire to go through in one hit.

Krisflyer allows one free stopover on a return journey. No free stopovers for one ways, but they can be purchased for USD100.

A stopover is longer than 24 hours (for itineraries outside the USA), under that it's a connection and doesn't count. So you could arrive in Europe in the afternoon and fly onwards the next morning without using your stopover (or paying for one on a one way award).

 

[Mikael]

I've found that SQ J is hard from Sydney. I got tickets on the day bookings opened for SYD-LHR. But have had more success with SYD-AMS. Our of SIN it is better. For one trip we bought Scootbiz tixs for about $500pp SYD to SIN. Stayed at the transit hotel and picked up an SQ reward flight. You need to give yourself a fair amount of time at Changi for contingencies and there is risk. In fact Scoot changed our flight from about 9am to about 8pm in thtt case.