Velocity reinstates Singapore Airlines redemptions

[djtech]

Do you recommend seats.aero? I'm considering signing up

Had good experiences with it. Much faster rewards search than expert flyer, and they actually added a few route suggestions of mine (which I wanted to monitor). Alerts came in quick, and I had a few successful bookings with it. They have one for hotels award availability too which works a treat. I like the explore tab where you could search for destinations by continent which is really helpful when you don't have a particular destination in mind. No need to pay for the premium subscription if searching within 3 months. I would try using just that first.

 

[ben95]

Not sure if it's mentioned here but does SQ release any on long haul 777/350 business class to VA for booking or do I need to transfer to SQ to book those?

 

[jase05]

Not sure if it's mentioned here but does SQ release any on long haul 777/350 business class to VA for booking or do I need to transfer to SQ to book those?

They release them to VA.
Plenty on here have booked them with Velocity points.

 

[Auski]

They release them to VA.
Plenty on here have booked them with Velocity points.

I booked Muc Sin and Sin to Cbr for July back in Aug. Seats Aero was very helpful for looking at various options. You can also set alerts if seats come up.

 

[bcworld]

Not sure if it's mentioned here but does SQ release any on long haul 777/350 business class to VA for booking or do I need to transfer to SQ to book those?

Have you looked? Because there is loads of it available via Velocity.

 

[antycbr]

They release them to VA.
Plenty on here have booked them with Velocity points.

There are advantages in transferring to SQ if you really want specific dates as they release availability 355 days out not 330 for VA.

However there is a transfer penalty of course.

 

[whoopsy]

Does anyone know if VA Gold status gets additional baggage allowance on Singapore Airlines?

We have a Krisflyer Economy rewards booking returning from a ski trip in Japan (HND-SIN-SYD) and have our ski gear. Standard booking has total of 30kg for all checked including sports equipment.

I can't find any listed additional baggage allowance in the VA/SQ partnership. The only additional partnership allowance mentioned on SQ seems to be for Star Alliance status.

Wanting to know if I should prebook additional baggage as it's much cheaper than at the gate.

 

[antycbr]

Does anyone know if VA Gold status gets additional baggage allowance on Singapore Airlines?

We have a Krisflyer Economy rewards booking returning from a ski trip in Japan (HND-SIN-SYD) and have our ski gear. Standard booking has total of 30kg for all checked including sports equipment.

I can't find any listed additional baggage allowance in the VA/SQ partnership. The only additional partnership allowance mentioned on SQ seems to be for Star Alliance status.

Wanting to know if I should prebook additional baggage as it's much cheaper than at the gate.

Additional 15kg for Gold but the issue may be that your award is a KF award which means they may not recognise the additional allowance as the booking will have your KF number not your VA number linked. May result in some issues at check in.

 

[bcworld]

Additional 15kg for Gold but the issue may be that your award is a KF award which means they may not recognise the additional allowance as the booking will have your KF number not your VA number linked. May result in some issues at check in.

SQ can add both FF numbers to the booking...but you can't do it yourself online...would need to be done via the customer service channel (if wanting to get it done in advance).

 

[Auski]

The error message about needing email added was still there in both of my Velocity award bookings until a couple of days ago, so whatever fix may have been applied across the system did not (it seems to me) resolve the block on editing pax details. I have finally got the problem fixed for me by going to the SQ ticketing desk at Row 6 in SIN T3 Departures, and I now have full access to MMB for both the affected SQ PNRs. The SQ agent at SIN confirmed to me that an IT systemic problem had prevented contact details - phone as well as email - from migrating from my VA redemption bookings into SQ's own booking system.

An update on this ongoing problem. I got SIA via chat to add my Krisflyer number to bookings in place of my Virgin number I used to redeem the flights. I can now access seat selection without the "no email" message. I can also access the passenger details input area however after inputting the details, passport etc and saving (which all seems to work) if you go back in the details do not stick. I am happy to wait until check-in to add as my main issue was to get access to seat selection.

 

[Telemachus]

An update on this ongoing problem. I got SIA via chat to add my Krisflyer number to bookings in place of my Virgin number I used to redeem the flights. I can now access seat selection without the "no email" message. I can also access the passenger details input area however after inputting the details, passport etc and saving (which all seems to work) if you go back in the details do not stick. I am happy to wait until check-in to add as my main issue was to get access to seat selection.

Well that is a new variation on how the problem manifests itself in the SQ booking. As the thread had gone quiet on this IT glitch I thought that SQ & VA between them might finally have implemented a full fix, but perhaps not. Agree that seat selection was the main driver for most of us to take action, and this was generally achievable via email/phone/chat but people have had mixed success in getting agents to do anything with the missing email that made it impossible to add to or amend pax details. What bothered me most was the possibility that, if my email wasn't in the SQ GDS (Amadeus Altea) I could be relying on EF or other means to learn about any change of flight schedule, aircraft etc.

 

[shuuy]

However there is a transfer penalty of course.

But SQ taxes (and # of points required for saver) is usually lower than VA...

 

[jase05]

But SQ taxes (and # of points required for saver) is lower than VA...

Not always.
Our regular route is ADL-SIN and KrisFlyer is 68,500 miles plus around $100 in charges.
With Velocity points it’s 57,000 plus around $250 in charges

 

[747sardine]

Guys, what am I missing here? I see this on lots of dates that I care to check and for different origin/destinations. SQ has Business Saver availability but I'm not getting anything for same date and flight in Velocity. I read all your stories of booking SQ through Velocity, but I am a complete failure at it. What's the trick I am missing (Red status if that changes anything)

And I thought I was good at this stuff

 

[chk123]

Guys, what am I missing here? I see this on lots of dates that I care to check and for different origin/destinations. SQ has Business Saver availability but I'm not getting anything for same date and flight in Velocity. I read all your stories of booking SQ through Velocity, but I am a complete failure at it. What's the trick I am missing (Red status if that changes anything)

And I thought I was good at this stuff

View attachment 372855View attachment 372856

Are you saying there's redemption seats through Kris flyer but not velocity? If so, Singapore Airlines generally has more seats available through its own ff program

 

[clifford]

It seems you're correct. I tried various dates in May and all I could come up with was MEL-SIN via BNE and DRW (who wants to do that?).

It seems that SQ and/or VA are playing games, which doesn't say much for the value of Velocity points.

I thought that QF was bad, but the new VA??? I'm probably wasting my money with VA Platinum.

 

[747sardine]

Are you saying there's redemption seats through Kris flyer but not velocity? If so, Singapore Airlines generally has more seats available through its own ff program

Ah. I was under the possibly mistaken impression if there were savers in SQ, they were all available through Velocity.

 

[chk123]

Ah. I was under the possibly mistaken impression if there were savers in SQ, they were all available through Velocity.

that hasnt been the case from my experience but I could be wrong. Theres also less flights to choose from on velocity vs krisflyer. For example, theres 1-2 flights out of 4 on the same route and day that show up in velocity

 

[SheikYerbouti]

Yeah you're right, SQ prioritise their own FFs before partners (fair). To be fair though I've found it easy to transfer VFF to KF points (albeit at a penalty) and get reward seats, I've also had no issues booking VFF reward seats to the USA, and to Europe - however they usually push me to a Qatar codeshare and as we refuse to fly Qatar I'd prefer to pay for SQ Y and use points to upgrade.

 

[bcworld]

Ah. I was under the possibly mistaken impression if there were savers in SQ, they were all available through Velocity.

People say this...but I don't think it has ever been 100% the case...I honestly wouldn't expect it to be...all frequent flyer programs do this (make more space available to their own members than partner programs).