SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

[diningdecadence]

for the experts, is beign waitlisted a one in a million chance to get the seat

I know someone who in march booked a Jflight, Syd to SIN to LHR for August and got it afte about 2weeks,
and they were confident they were goign to get the allocated flights

do you mean J or F? have had ZRH-SIN and LHR-SIN clear F waitlists within about 3 days of departure in the past week, but not had success in SIN-SYD clearing on the same ticket.

also had J waitlist confirm instantly after the phone operator added it.

basically there's no hard and fast rule - supposedly SQ has some really good (comparatively) yield management algorithms so it's in the luck of the computer software

 

[SOPOOR]

do you mean J or F? have had ZRH-SIN and LHR-SIN clear F waitlists within about 3 days of departure in the past week, but not had success in SIN-SYD clearing on the same ticket.

also had J waitlist confirm instantly after the phone operator added it.

basically there's no hard and fast rule - supposedly SQ has some really good (comparatively) yield management algorithms so it's in the luck of the computer software

ahh I see, appreciatei it

it was J!

oh so no hard and fast rule, yeah Im still learning how the whole system works, so am scratching my head what to make of all of this stuff,

seems F seems a lot harder,

 

[Denali]

That moment of panic when you see your SQ reward booking doesnt have a E ticket #.

Logged online and the booking now has a E ticket number (whew).

I also noticed that my VA reward booking (SQ metal) now prints out with both the VA AND the SQ reservation code and I can select seats for my VA booking. Havent flown VA booking/SQ metal for a year+ so maybe its been like this for a while.

 

[JohnK]

for the experts, is beign waitlisted a one in a million chance to get the seat

That would depend on how badly you wanted the seat and the route involved.

I have been wait listed and followed up asking for seat to be released and it was released. That was a few weeks from departure.

 

[SOPOOR]

That would depend on how badly you wanted the seat and the route involved.

I have been wait listed and followed up asking for seat to be released and it was released. That was a few weeks from departure.

thats great to know that you can ask for it

however, surely, for most people, being unsure a few weeks before flights is not practical, as they ned to book hotels and accomodation etc. etc.

assuming you are travellign for leisure

personally i d ont think I could handle it

 

[coriander]

personally i don't think I could handle it

I've booked Saver Js and have waitlisted saver F as I agree with you that it's not practical to try to book accommodation, tours etc only a few weeks out (not to mention trying to organise staff rosters, locums etc at short notice).

 

[SOPOOR]

I've booked Saver Js and have waitlisted saver F as I agree with you that it's not practical to try to book accommodation, tours etc only a few weeks out (not to mention trying to organise staff rosters, locums etc at short notice).

thats why when people say "oh my flights were confiremd 2 weeks before departure"
my intiial reaction is "wow, that must be some unsettling stuff"

horses for courses though

 

[SponsorSFC]

You can mitigate the uncertainty some what by booking the lower cabin and waitlisting the desired cabin.

For example call up to book if J is available and ask that they waitlist the same flight in F.

That way you know you are going with a confirmed J seat and then it is a bonus if F clears.

You would need the miles in your account for F to do this and be happy to fly J if it doesn't clear.

EDIT: Already covered.

 

[SOPOOR]

You can mitigate the uncertainty some what by booking the lower cabin and waitlisting the desired cabin.

For example call up to book if J is available and ask that they waitlist the same flight in F.

That way you know you are going with a confirmed J seat and then it is a bonus if F clears.

You would need the miles in your account for F to do this and be happy to fly J if it doesn't clear.

EDIT: Already covered.

thanks that is a great strategy,
got plenty of miles,
obviously this straetgy would work iwell if J was aviaiable in the first place

 

[MEL_Traveller]

thats why when people say "oh my flights were confiremd 2 weeks before departure"
my intiial reaction is "wow, that must be some unsettling stuff"

horses for courses though

I'd reckon most people are confirmed on an 'acceptable' flight and waitlisted for their 'ideal' flight. This 'ideal' flight might be the same day (reducing transit time in SIN), or a day before or after.

Managing that waitlist can be as simple as booking a refundable first night hotel at your destination (and the rest non-ref)... if you get your waitlist cleared you use that night. If the waitlist doesn't clear you fly a day later as planned and can still have booked non-refundable rates.

having every flight waitlisted would mean you'd need 100% flexibility, and may not get to fly at all.

 

[SOPOOR]

I'd reckon most people are confirmed on an 'acceptable' flight and waitlisted for their 'ideal' flight. This 'ideal' flight might be the same day (reducing transit time in SIN), or a day before or after.

Managing that waitlist can be as simple as booking a refundable first night hotel at your destination (and the rest non-ref)... if you get your waitlist cleared you use that night. If the waitlist doesn't clear you fly a day later as planned and can still have booked non-refundable rates.

having every flight waitlisted would mean you'd need 100% flexibility, and may not get to fly at all.

thanks, thats great advice
apprecaite it , will deifnitely do that, for my relatives though, ill definitely do the waitlist the ideal fligjhts, and confirm the basic,

 

[JohnK]

thats great to know that you can ask for it

however, surely, for most people, being unsure a few weeks before flights is not practical, as they ned to book hotels and accomodation etc. etc.

assuming you are travellign for leisure

personally i d ont think I could handle it

As mentioned have a confirmed award in lower cabin.

Last minute flights and accommodation can be very expensive.

 

[SOPOOR]

sooooo...

been having a play around

one of hte dates given to me were
melb to CPH 29/5
CPH to melb 16/6

looking at first class, melb to sg is a380 which is great
return leg 1 out of 3 flights available, great
but go leg is waitlist for 3 out of 3

so from what I gather, the best strategy is to book the return leg thats availalbe, and wait list the 3 on the go leg?
and should I wait list a few more flights on the previous day as well?

its quite fun looking for these flights when you come across an availalbe one

 

[MEL_Traveller]

looking at first class, melb to sg is a380 which is great
return leg 1 out of 3 flights available, great
but go leg is waitlist for 3 out of 3

so from what I gather, the best strategy is to book the return leg thats availalbe, and wait list the 3 on the go leg?
and should I wait list a few more flights on the previous day as well?

Sorry - you've lost me... what is a go leg? What do you mean by return leg 1 out of 3 available? What do you mean by go leg 3 out of 3 is waitlist? There is only one daily flight from CPH.

I would not be holding your breath for the waitlist to clear. Instead I'd be looking for flights into other cities - Zurich, Frankfurt, London and then connecting from those cities to CPH. You need confirmed seats now, waitlist for preferred seats (non-stop out of CPH).

 

[potm]

The 3 flights if probably for the MEL-SIN leg, connecting to the 1 CPH flight.

As Mel_Traveller says, try and confirm something in first. Look at other airlines and programs if you need to.

 

[SOPOOR]

Sorry - you've lost me... what is a go leg? What do you mean by return leg 1 out of 3 available? What do you mean by go leg 3 out of 3 is waitlist? There is only one daily flight from CPH.

I would not be holding your breath for the waitlist to clear. Instead I'd be looking for flights into other cities - Zurich, Frankfurt, London and then connecting from those cities to CPH. You need confirmed seats now, waitlist for preferred seats (non-stop out of CPH).

ok, sorry, im not familiar with terminolgy

Ill start again
MEL to CPH 29/5/19
CPH to MEL 16/6/19

the MEL TO CPH leg on 29th May has 3 flight options, all waitlisted on flightsaver
the CPH to MEL leg 16/June
when I choose 1 pax, the 3 flight options all 3 available on flightsaver
when I choose 2 pax, the 3 flight options, 1 available, 2 waitlist on flightsaver
which indicates that only 1 seat avaiaible on the 2 waitlisted ones

hope this is better?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

ok, sorry, im not familiar with terminolgy

Ill start again
MEL to CPH 29/5/19
CPH to MEL 16/6/19

the MEL TO CPH leg on 29th May has 3 flight options, all waitlisted on flightsaver
the CPH to MEL leg 16/June
when I choose 1 pax, the 3 flight options all 3 available on flightsaver
when I choose 2 pax, the 3 flight options, 1 available, 2 waitlist on flightsaver
which indicates that only 1 seat avaiaible on the 2 waitlisted ones

hope this is better?

In this case I wouldn't be relying on the waitlist clearing for any flights. Seek confirmed alternatives to any one of a number of European cities (you can then include the leg onwards to CPH for free anyway as part of the award on a partner airline such as Lufthansa or Swiss), and waitlist your CPH non-stops.

On your current itinerary above there's nothing confirmed at all.

 

[travelislife]

Has anyone here got experience travelling with an infant in SQ business class, long haul to Europe? Aircraft types A380, 777-300ER. Main question: Is it better to be across the aisle from each other or in the 2 centre seats?

- Being across the aisle gives us both access to the same overhead bins and don't need to pass the infant over the divider. But will have to get up out of seat/bed to pass infant.
- Being next to each other in the centre means can easily swap the infant between us over the divider. But if either of us needs to get up and help or get something out of overhead will need to walk around the other side through the galley.

Interested to hear of other experience who have done this?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Has anyone here got experience travelling with an infant in SQ business class, long haul to Europe? Aircraft types A380, 777-300ER. Main question: Is it better to be across the aisle from each other or in the 2 centre seats?

- Being across the aisle gives us both access to the same overhead bins and don't need to pass the infant over the divider. But will have to get up out of seat/bed to pass infant.
- Being next to each other in the centre means can easily swap the infant between us over the divider. But if either of us needs to get up and help or get something out of overhead will need to walk around the other side through the galley.

Interested to hear of other experience who have done this?

Is this the bulkhead with bassinet? In that case I'd select one bulkhead and the seat beside (window). If you select the two centre seats someone else with an infant could come and take the other bulkhead, forcing you to sit a long way away from the other seat.

 

[travelislife]

Is this the bulkhead with bassinet? In that case I'd select one bulkhead and the seat beside (window). If you select the two centre seats someone else with an infant could come and take the other bulkhead, forcing you to sit a long way away from the other seat.

Yes the bassinet seats are always bulkhead. Have been able to select online.

I reckon SQ would make some effort to try and keep you within a reasonable distance, it is better for everyone I would have though!

When we were on our honeymoon we had selected both window seats behind each other and someone in the middle offered to swap so we could be across from each other, we declined, haha.