I regret to have to moan about a not-so-good predicament I now find myself in regarding my SQ redemption booking. This is a prolonged saga so I will get on with getting down the details.
1. Originally I booked an F redemption from MEL-HKG-SFO for June of this year about 11 months in advance. This was originally when I intended to take leave from work. Note that my miles are about to expire so if I decide to voluntarily nix my trip, there is no refund of miles.
2. SQ cancels their flight from Hong Kong and downgrades my ticket to business class, but without providing a refund of miles. I call up their call centre and after about five business days, my miles for the difference are thankfully returned.
3. Work informs me to take my leave in September or later rather than June. I change and reroute my redemption to MEL-NRT-LAX on 22 September. There are no Saver awards for this flight and I therefore have to pay the difference for an Advantage award in miles.
4. A close friend of mine tells me he and his family happen to be in Tokyo the last week of September. I therefore decide I want to spend 1-2 weeks in Japan as a stopover as is allowed on an Advantage award. I ring Krisflyer last night (Tuesday evening) requesting that I would like a stopover in Tokyo and therefore change my last leg (NRT-LAX) to 3 October. I am informed there is plenty of J availability and they need to manually change the ticket butwould ring me back within 1 hour for confirmation.
5. The agent does not ring me back. Instead this morning I log in I find that my booking has indeed been changed but that my stopover is in SINGAPORE not TOKYO. I ring up and am connected to a different agent. She cannot find in the notes that I requested a stopover in Tokyo. I told her that I clearly wanted a stopover in the latter not the former. She also informs me there is no longer any availability from SIN-Tokyo on the 23 September! Moreover, there is no availability on any acceptable dates to get me a stopover in Tokyo. I am told that the original agent who I spoke to the night before has been informed with an urgent request to call me back.
6. What should I do? What is an acceptable resolution under these circumstances? If I cancel my redemption there is no refund of miles. Perhaps the "least bad" option is to accept a downgrade to PE from SIN-NRT but that would be pretty suboptimal. Alternatively, I could change my first leg to Monday 18 September (necessitating four extra days of unpaid leave and not a great option but I could tough it out in a capsule hotel** - some degree of sarcasm intended).
I understand these are first-world, upper-class issues and there are people out there barely treading water with their mortgages or indeed, rent. But this is a most annoying development and not all that surprising and I am left with a relatively bitter taste in my mouth.
Any opinions? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
PS. I do have Krisflyer Elite Gold, if that helps. I think it did in that at least I didn't have to wait two hours to get connected to the agent.
1. Originally I booked an F redemption from MEL-HKG-SFO for June of this year about 11 months in advance. This was originally when I intended to take leave from work. Note that my miles are about to expire so if I decide to voluntarily nix my trip, there is no refund of miles.
2. SQ cancels their flight from Hong Kong and downgrades my ticket to business class, but without providing a refund of miles. I call up their call centre and after about five business days, my miles for the difference are thankfully returned.
3. Work informs me to take my leave in September or later rather than June. I change and reroute my redemption to MEL-NRT-LAX on 22 September. There are no Saver awards for this flight and I therefore have to pay the difference for an Advantage award in miles.
4. A close friend of mine tells me he and his family happen to be in Tokyo the last week of September. I therefore decide I want to spend 1-2 weeks in Japan as a stopover as is allowed on an Advantage award. I ring Krisflyer last night (Tuesday evening) requesting that I would like a stopover in Tokyo and therefore change my last leg (NRT-LAX) to 3 October. I am informed there is plenty of J availability and they need to manually change the ticket butwould ring me back within 1 hour for confirmation.
5. The agent does not ring me back. Instead this morning I log in I find that my booking has indeed been changed but that my stopover is in SINGAPORE not TOKYO. I ring up and am connected to a different agent. She cannot find in the notes that I requested a stopover in Tokyo. I told her that I clearly wanted a stopover in the latter not the former. She also informs me there is no longer any availability from SIN-Tokyo on the 23 September! Moreover, there is no availability on any acceptable dates to get me a stopover in Tokyo. I am told that the original agent who I spoke to the night before has been informed with an urgent request to call me back.
6. What should I do? What is an acceptable resolution under these circumstances? If I cancel my redemption there is no refund of miles. Perhaps the "least bad" option is to accept a downgrade to PE from SIN-NRT but that would be pretty suboptimal. Alternatively, I could change my first leg to Monday 18 September (necessitating four extra days of unpaid leave and not a great option but I could tough it out in a capsule hotel** - some degree of sarcasm intended).
I understand these are first-world, upper-class issues and there are people out there barely treading water with their mortgages or indeed, rent. But this is a most annoying development and not all that surprising and I am left with a relatively bitter taste in my mouth.
Any opinions? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
PS. I do have Krisflyer Elite Gold, if that helps. I think it did in that at least I didn't have to wait two hours to get connected to the agent.
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