SQ Tips, Trips and Tales

[Cruiser Elite]

Data Point: WiFi in MEL SKL F not overly quick - better to connect to AMEX Lounge network (situated right next door) - password is ‘MemberSince’.

 

[travelnutjohn]

so ive got my first ever flight in anything above Y next week,
pretty excited

im flying MELB to SING 00:05,
staying for a few days and off to Taipei
Booked F, but SING to Taipei is in J

ok, so ive done/planned the following, have I missed anything?
- booked window seat
- BTC lobster (but will ask for it just before landing
- will checkin online
- Access to TPR when I land and leave
- going to have a glass of posh champagne before I pass out on the plane
- hopefully getting the noise cancelling, slippers, PJS, amenity kit, hopefully a bear too
- Kris/NZ lounge in Melb when I leave
- Priority boarding
- a nice chat with the SQ staff
- No more coloured boarding passes
- 40kg checkin luggage

 

[Cruiser Elite]

posh champagne = both Krug and Dom - sample both as Crew will readily oblige. And yes you will def get all the amenities you mentioned - you might have to ask for Teddy Bears though but do t be backward - tell them your maiden voyage and they will look after you like a motherless foal.

 

[travelnutjohn]

posh champagne = both Krug and Dom - sample both as Crew will readily oblige. And yes you will def get all the amenities you mentioned - you might have to ask for Teddy Bears though but do t be backward - tell them your maiden voyage and they will look after you like a motherless foal.

Haha awesome. Don't know how much pampering I can get on a plane

That's going to be me!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

so ive got my first ever flight in anything above Y next week,
pretty excited

im flying MELB to SING 00:05,
staying for a few days and off to Taipei
Booked F, but SING to Taipei is in J


- Access to TPR when I land and leave
- Kris/NZ lounge in Melb when I leave

Access to TPR on arrival due to your inbound F boarding pass. You will not enjoy the same access prior to your departure to TPE in J. You will only be invited to use the business class lounge.

On departure from MEL, stick to the SQ F lounge. It is a dedicated F facility, streets ahead of the NZ lounge which caters to economy/business class.

 

[chk123]

evening all, Ive got an upcoming flight in J in just over a month, any idea when the menus will become available? It showed late June initially but has now says menu isnt available?

 

[travelnutjohn]

Access to TPR on arrival due to your inbound F boarding pass. You will not enjoy the same access prior to your departure to TPE in J. You will only be invited to use the business class lounge.

On departure from MEL, stick to the SQ F lounge. It is a dedicated F facility, streets ahead of the NZ lounge which caters to economy/business class.

ok i wasnt aware of that

so even though ive redeemed a first class flight, im getting a J product which is fine, but my lounge access is also downgraded to J lounge?

also looking fwd to the novelty of internet on my flight

 

[akan28]

ok i wasnt aware of that

so even though ive redeemed a first class flight, im getting a J product which is fine, but my lounge access is also downgraded to J lounge?

also looking fwd to the novelty of internet on my flight

You get TPR access courtesy of your inbound F boarding pass on the day of arrival only. When you leave for TPE a few days later you are only flying out in J, so you will only get biz lounge access.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

ok i wasnt aware of that

so even though ive redeemed a first class flight, im getting a J product which is fine, but my lounge access is also downgraded to J lounge?

also looking fwd to the novelty of internet on my flight

Unfortunately this is the case. Partly that was the reason I suggested the onward connection to HKG in F. This would have 'maxed' your award with more F cabin and TPR time

 

[travelnutjohn]

Unfortunately this is the case. Partly that was the reason I suggested the onward connection to HKG in F. This would have 'maxed' your award with more F cabin and TPR time

You get TPR access courtesy of your inbound F boarding pass on the day of arrival only. When you leave for TPE a few days later you are only flying out in J, so you will only get biz lounge access.

thanks guys, yeah I did look very hard for a SIN - HKG flight, but there was literally one per day that was avaiaible and that arrived about 10pm at night, and id have to stay overnight in HKG to get to taipei,

oh well, next time
learning heaps!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

tnj are both your flts in same booking with a paid stopover in SIN? ie a ‘Mixed Class’ booking or did you make 2 seperate bookings?

 

[travelnutjohn]

tnj are both your flts in same booking with a paid stopover in SIN? ie a ‘Mixed Class’ booking or did you make 2 seperate bookings?

assuming you are talking to me

I did a single "mixed class" booking, or whatever the terminology is

if I did it correctly it was 88 or 90k points doing a single booking, if I did it separately it would have been 115k points

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Ok if 1 x ‘mixed class’ booking incorporating a F sector and a J sector then you are entitled to full benefits of highest class contained in the booking for the entirety of the booking - so technically even though you have added a stopover you are still entitled to TPR access prior to your J flt.

Now I have never done this but it is my understanding these rules will stand - when is your flt? If it is still a few days out pm me your name, date of fly and flt numbers and I will contact a Lounge Manager for you.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This is the grey area. Mixed itineraries for same day - and in some cases next day - departures where the connecting flight is in J or Y are not an issue. Access is granted by virtue of the arriving boaridng pass.

Where it gets more complicated is the introduction of the stopover. SQ did a Q&A about the unpublished 'rules' a couple of years ago. IIRC mixed itineraries and a stopover were not mentioned (as having access). I guess that makes sense though... with a stopover the passenger is choosing to connect in business class, and also taking advantage of the lower through fare (the component pricing of the two or more sectors would be more expensive). Not like they're paying the full F for each sector but having to fly J.

Will be good to get clarification on the issue though - even if unpublished.

 

[travelnutjohn]

This is the grey area. Mixed itineraries for same day - and in some cases next day - departures where the connecting flight is in J or Y are not an issue. Access is granted by virtue of the arriving boaridng pass.

Where it gets more complicated is the introduction of the stopover. SQ did a Q&A about the unpublished 'rules' a couple of years ago. IIRC mixed itineraries and a stopover were not mentioned (as having access). I guess that makes sense though... with a stopover the passenger is choosing to connect in business class, and also taking advantage of the lower through fare (the component pricing of the two or more sectors would be more expensive). Not like they're paying the full F for each sector but having to fly J.

Will be good to get clarification on the issue though - even if unpublished.

correct me if im wrong, but even with a stop over if I book a F redemption , then im still paying the F price/points, so if I get a J flight because there is no F plane available on the route, essentially im losing out (which is my choice),

 

[MEL_Traveller]

correct me if im wrong, but even with a stop over if I book a F redemption , then im still paying the F price/points, so if I get a J flight because there is no F plane available on the route, essentially im losing out (which is my choice),

Sector prices:
AU->SIN in F = 85K
SIN->TPE in J = 30.5K
Total 115K

You're paying 88K.

So you have the advantage of the lower price by paying the through fare. Which is not something a lot of airlines offer if you are including a stopover.

At least in the case of the lower award zones - those most likely not to have F as a connector - the awards are pretty much priced as a through business class price but charging you differential J->F on sectors where that applies. Example:

AU-SIN-TPE all business class 65K
AU-SIN only J is 62K, F is 85K = difference of 23K
So 65K + 23K = 88K, which is what you paid.

Is the ticket an underlying F ticket? Or is it an underlying J ticket with one sector upgraded to F Now there are some exceptions to this in that if you are flying to HKG or CGK where they have short-haul F offerings, you'll be getting F/F for a slight saving.

 

[travelnutjohn]

Sector prices:
AU->SIN in F = 85K
SIN->TPE in J = 30.5K
Total 115K

You're paying 88K.

So you have the advantage of the lower price by paying the through fare. Which is not something a lot of airlines offer if you are including a stopover.

At least in the case of the lower award zones - those most likely not to have F as a connector - the awards are pretty much priced as a through business class price but charging you differential J->F on sectors where that applies. Example:

AU-SIN-TPE all business class 65K
AU-SIN only J is 62K, F is 85K = difference of 23K
So 65K + 23K = 88K, which is what you paid.

Is the ticket an underlying F ticket? Or is it an underlying J ticket with one sector upgraded to F Now there are some exceptions to this in that if you are flying to HKG or CGK where they have short-haul F offerings, you'll be getting F/F for a slight saving.

excellent point mel, youve opened up my eyes

I wasnt 100% sure how they calculated all the points requirements, I was seeing things as, "a first class flight, but with one sector in J because I had booked it as one booking, so by getting only J benefits for one sector, means I was losing out"

 

[MathNerd]

Just completed an award booking SYD-SIN-(FRA)-JFK for June next year, in the USA summer period.

Absolutely stoked that I was able to get 2 x Suites Saver confirmed without waitlisting, at what is probably the busiest time of year to head to the States. 334,000 KF + 320.18 AUD later, and the golden words "Redemption confirmed" appeared. Bliss ensued.

Would have preferred to book ex-MEL, however due to SQ ditching the A380 here in favour of the 777, getting 2 x Suite Savers ex-MEL effectively proves impossible!!

Booked 3C/D for Mrs. MN and I for the entire journey, I was contemplating booking 2C/D but given the time of travel there could be a higher than average chance that a couple with a baby could be on board so we didn't want to stuff around for the bassinet seats.

Thanks to all for the great tips, tricks and tales described here, I hope to put a TR together when the time comes.

We are hoping to visit the US in an East -> West direction so will most likely depart from LAX (could leave from SFO or SEA quite easily however the timings for LAX-SIN-MEL are incredible (leave LAX on Saturday early morning [just past midnight Friday night] and arrive in MEL on Sunday night at ~8:30pm, ready for work next morning!).

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I think 3CD is betterthan 2CD anyway. No point staring at a wall in front of you if you don't have to

Not tempted to mix it up and take a couple of windows for a sector?

i would monitor the booking in case they swap to the new version. You don't want to get auto-seated apart from each other.

 

[MathNerd]

I think 3CD is betterthan 2CD anyway. No point staring at a wall in front of you if you don't have to

Yep I think so too, 2C/D and 3C/D are effectively the same anyway, there's no discernible difference. The one (and only) time we've flown in SQ Suites we were seated in 2C/D and we slept in 3C/D, as there were only 3 others in the cabin with us, all with window seats.

Not tempted to mix it up and take a couple of windows for a sector?

That is a very valid point, I guess I'll have to run this by the wife (cue the "wait, you don't want to sit next to me?" spiel that's probably stemming from this discussion)!

i would monitor the booking in case they swap to the new version. You don't want to get auto-seated apart from each other.

I definitely will. The adrenaline rush is extremely high, this particular redemption (well, from MEL rather than SYD but SYD is so close to MEL anyway that it doesn't really matter) has been the goal of my point-collecting/hoarding craze ever since I started, so I'll be monitoring the booking as often as possible. Thanks!