Some questions on VA / SQ alliance

[RooFlyer]

Up till now I've only been an occasional VA flyer (enough for Silver) but courtesy the 110K point Velocity AMEX offer and my tipping a wad of CBA Awards points into my Velocity account, I'm about to be rather flush with Velocity points and am looking to fly SQ premium cabins courtesy of the VA/SQ alliance. Apologies to the VA regulars who I may now be in competition with, but it'll only happen once or twice, I promise !

I have trawled the VA and SQ forums this morning but can't find simple answers to queries I have, so any help would be appreciated.

* If I have a fixed number of VA points (say, 500,000) and intend booking a SQ J or F flight Oz-SIN-Oz for instance, is it more efficient points-wise to keep them as VA points and book from the VA site, or convert them to Krisflyer miles and book from the SQ site? I have no status on KF and only Silver on VA.


* Does premium cabin availability on SQ vary between booking through VA site Vs SQ site?


* When I look on the VA site for flights to SIN from MEL or SYD, it doesn't bring up any F column - it brings up 'Business' and 'Premium' (often with no availability) but no F mentioned at all. Can anyone explain what might be going on there? I don't think its an availability issue, as several fare classes are unavailable, but still display.


* Finally, can I sneak in a pure SQ question here: I see SQ has a 'new' F - is this on the 777ER AND the A380 services into Australia?

Thanks .

 

[TomVexille]

F and R probably require a phone call to VA to book. Although the points required once you transfer points across is close enough that the transfer is worth it.

I suspect there's more availability on the SQ site.

New F is only on a few 77W so far (designated as 77WN). Although I don't know if it's possible to tell the difference when booking. Will let others advise. Most would say that Suites on the A380s is still superior but that comes down to peoples personal preferences.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks again .

OK I see SYD-SIN on SQ site with Krisflyer miles is 75K on the cheapest F redemption; on VA that distance will need 100,000 VA points. At the conversion rate, almost the same - as you indicate.

I see lots of availability for F Saver on the SQ site - amazing!

Ah .. I didn't appreciate the difference between 'Suites' and 'First Class' before . Has to be an A380 then.

 

[Pele]

Gday

* Does premium cabin availability on SQ vary between booking through VA site Vs SQ site?

Answer is yes. I can also confirm that two weeks ago when i had to book a ticket at short notice the SQ desktop website and Android SQ App showed different availability.

In my opinion the VA alliance with SQ is Velocity's best feature. Compared to most programs SQ has plenty of J and F availability especially at short notice. The ability to instantly transfer points makes it only necessary to transfer points at the moment you are ready to pull the trigger. That's how it should be.

Flew J on the A380 last week and was reasonably impressed but am planning an F trip in 2018 so looking forward to your trip report.

Pele.

 

[im.daniel]

Thanks again .

OK I see SYD-SIN on SQ site with Krisflyer miles is 75K on the cheapest F redemption; on VA that distance will need 100,000 VA points. At the conversion rate, almost the same - as you indicate.

Also keep in mind that you get a 15% discount booking SQ flights online with krisflyer - so SYD/AKL-SIN/HKG in F would be 63750miles one way.

 

[RooFlyer]

Also keep in mind that you get a 15% discount booking SQ flights online with krisflyer - so SYD/AKL-SIN/HKG in F would be 63750miles one way.

Yes, I noticed that discrepancy tonight with some dummy bookings. Now explained, thanks!

 

[TomVexille]

Also keep in mind that you get a 15% discount booking SQ flights online with krisflyer - so SYD/AKL-SIN/HKG in F would be 63750miles one way.

Something I forgot to mention