SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

[TomVexille]

I hope it does! I had a dream last night that we were getting ready at the house and almost out the door to go to the airport for our first trip in Suites, and my alarm went off. I had that feeling of excitement before I realised it was in fact a dream, it was 4 am, and I needed to leave for work in 35 minutes.



It makes me feel so much better to read when others book so far out as well. My work requires me to allocate annual leave (beyond the occasion extra day here and there) 15-18 months in advance, so we find we have to impatiently wait for dates to be released for booking as we know when we are going away long before inventory is available. Others though often ask "how do you plan that far ahead?!?!"

We've also been waiting a while for the seats to be released, plus I'd already run it past my boss so there were no guilts...

And we're going for a friends wedding, so dates were known well ahead of time

 

[LadyC]

And we're going for a friends wedding, so dates were known well ahead of time

My dates for July next year are also for a friend's wedding - just have to make sure we are invited to the wedding!

 

[TomVexille]

My dates for July next year are also for a friend's wedding - just have to make sure we are invited to the wedding!

I may or may not be a groomsman, so I hope we're invited :shock:

 

[Cruiser Elite]

I may or may not be a groomsman, so I hope we're invited :shock:

If you don't get invited Tommy spose your chances of being groomsman about shot huh?

 

[yld200]

I didn't want to wait anymore so I called up around 5pm yesterday to follow up and spoke to an operator who kept telling me that they do not do mixed class bookings at the higher rate since a change in June this year and that my booking was done correctly (20K + 75K miles). I asked to speak to a senior operator or a manager and was put on hold for 10 minutes, to which he came back and said sorry we do not make these mixed award bookings anymore at the higher rate. I firmly but politely asked for a manager to please look into this and call me back.

Got a call back around 7pm from the same guy and was told that he could now do the booking at the first saver rate as a mixed class booking. Bit of stuffing around but got the result in the end. He cancelled my original booking and waived the cancellation fee and re-booked my flights as requested. Points have been refunded and all is good

Woooo suites!!!!!

Tried booking my first award flight last night through the call center flying from BKK>MEL in mixed class J/R...

Being exhausted and a little bit flustered / nervous didn't help me I don't think. I asked the operator for a BKK>MEL mixed award flight flying from BKK to SIN in J and SIN to MEL in F. Instead of booking the flight at the 75,000 mile rate, I was booked at the 95,000 mile rate being 75K for the SIN>MEL and 20K BKK>SIN leg, then the 15% discount after I questioned the operator. I didn't click that something was wrong until after it was booked. I was then on the phone to the operator for 40 minutes trying to sort it out, being close to 12pm I just said please cancel the booking and get somebody to call me back tomorrow to re-book it correctly.

Still haven't heard back and the points haven't been come back into my account yet. Should this be pretty straight forward to do once they call back?

 

[robtemt]

Nice one! I found when I was making changes (initiated by us, but important to get them done), persistence was key! I've said on another thread I think ALWAYS stay on hold, and be firm about it. I always used the premise that I didn't want them to miss speaking to me if I was on another call, etc.

Glad it worked out, enjoy your flights and the PR in SIN.

 

[Comoman]

Just had a very pleasant flight LHR-SIN in Suites. The food and wine was wonderful (Krug and Cos d'Estournel a great combo). Crew couldn't have been better. Even though my next flight is in business I got escorted into TPR which was nice.

I have done BA,QR, QF and CX First and SQ beats them hands down IMO.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I have done BA,QR, QF and CX First and SQ beats them hands down IMO.

Could anyone expand on this comparison to include EY.....please?

 

[Danger UXB]

Could anyone expand on this comparison to include EY.....please?

I've done BA, EY and SQ F. SQ is way ahead of the others but as always it depends on the crew. The EY crew provided a great deal of entertainment to the whole of the F cabin as one flight attendant was constantly coughing about jobs delegated to her by the flight supervisor. The IFS did nothing about this conduct despite hearing everything ,as did we all !! Having said that the Bolly Grand Annee is a great alternative to Krug. Not all F is created equal but F is F.

 

[davidj]

The EY crew provided a great deal of entertainment to the whole of the F cabin as one flight attendant was constantly coughing about jobs delegated to her by the flight supervisor. The IFS did nothing about this conduct despite hearing everything ,as did we all !!

Do people here find this is cultural and age related? As in I never have experienced this from an Asian airline such as Singapore or Thai, but find I would get lots of FA personal dramas being shared on VA and even Emirates (with a largely English/Irish crew), both with a younger crew. The other night on VA I had an FA basically spill her issues with sectors she had worked with her fellow FAs in the back after the first and only meal/drink run, never to be seen again, but of course heard during the whole flight. Would have been nice if they actually worked, you know, being on the clock and all?

Qantas is not too bad in this regard, but probably because of the more senior staff who fly and know to use discretion?

 

[alexy23]

I've got some confusion about booking award flights. Basically I want to travel SYD-SIN (R class) SIN-MLE (J class). According to the SQ award chart Zone 9 - Zone 6 (is 102,500 points) in R class. SIN-MLE is not available in R/F class obviously.

The issue is that I cannot book this route online as it kept putting SYD-SIN back down to J class. Therefore I had to ring up, however the assistant told me it would need to be booked separately for SYD-SIN (75,000 points), SIN-MLE (35,000 points), thus equalling 110,000 points. So an extra 7,500 points per person, per way, totalling a difference of 30,000 points.

The SQ award chart speculates to the fact that it can be booked for the 102,500 given the following T&C.

Singapore Airlines Suites and First Class are only available on selected SingaporeAirlines flights. SilkAir does not have a Suites/First Class cabin. Business Classseats will be allocated to members who redeem their miles for SingaporeAirlines Suites and/or First Class on Singapore Airlines flights which do not have a Singapore Airlines Suites/First Class cabin. The number of miles required for the entire trip may be determined at the redemption level of the highest class of service flown. Please check the classes available on the flight before making a redemption.

This comes to my conclusion that if you book First Class the whole way - and First Class is not available you'll be downgraded to Business Class.

What's everyones experience with this?

 

[LadyC]

I made a similar booking - MEL-SIN-DPS. You can definitely book it as one booking at F rates as you have outlined. I would call up again and if you get the same response, I would ask to speak to another agent.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

... on VA I had an FA basically spill her issues with sectors she had worked with her fellow FAs in the back after the first and only meal/drink run, never to be seen again, but of course heard during the whole flight. Would have been nice if they actually worked, you know, being on the clock and all?

It doesn't matter the age or nationality of the FA. Sure some nationalities are far more attuned to keeping their personal lives personal, but what you witnessed unwillingly on VA is a total breakdown of the supervisory role. If CS's (and their bosses/mentors) did their jobs correctly and consistently, the cabin staff would work as required of them. The problem children would be "let go" and VA would not feel even half the angst they are currently experiencing. I've said it before, but I cannot understand the corporate gurus at VA, letting this FA cough continue. It would cost them nothing more than they already pay, to fix the problem.

 

[alexy23]

I made a similar booking - MEL-SIN-DPS. You can definitely book it as one booking at F rates as you have outlined. I would call up again and if you get the same response, I would ask to speak to another agent.

I'll give them a call and ask I figured this was the case.

 

[alexy23]

What's the difference between R and J class. If it is 75,000 for SYD-SIN and 55,000 for SYD-SIN. Is it worth the extra 20,000 points? Can you lye flat in J class on the A380? What's the food difference like?

We are already taking an R class flight next year but looking say SYD-SIN-DPS. Wondering whether to conserve points or not

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What's the difference between R and J class. If it is 75,000 for SYD-SIN and 55,000 for SYD-SIN. Is it worth the extra 20,000 points? Can you lye flat in J class on the A380? What's the food difference like?

We are already taking an R class flight next year but looking say SYD-SIN-DPS. Wondering whether to conserve points or not

They are both flat beds, but the service, food and beverage, and amenities in First are a marked step up from business. Is it worth 20K? Only you can decide, but if you haven't done F before it's something akin to J class 'getting you there in comfort' whereas F is 'an experience'.

 

[alexy23]

I guess I'm saying if I just wanted an affordable but comfortable flight to DPS is the J class worthwhile? Can we sleep be comfortable but enjoy somewhat of a nice meal?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I guess I'm saying if I just wanted an affordable but comfortable flight to DPS is the J class worthwhile? Can we sleep be comfortable but enjoy somewhat of a nice meal?

yes to all those things. SQ business is still a good product.

 

[LadyC]

SQ business is definitely good but first is better! From what you have written, it sounds like business will suit your needs.
Also, the SIN-DPS leg will have the intra-asia regional product which isn't as nice as the Australia region product (still good though).

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I guess I'm saying if I just wanted an affordable but comfortable flight to DPS is the J class worthwhile? Can we sleep be comfortable but enjoy somewhat of a nice meal?

Yes to both.

Where the J is the truly flat bed, then the actual quality of your sleep is no different in my opinion.

The food and wine etc is good, but F is better. And with F one really notices the level of service where one feels special.

If one is tight for points then IMO flying more often in J is better than flying rarely in F (ie more trips is better than less trips). Having said that, you should still sample F if you have not before at some stage for the sheer experience and pleasure of it.