Let’s face it, we all want to fly the brand spanking new A380, and I’m sure many of us wouldn’t mind doing so in Suites or Business. Of course the reality is that SQ isn’t releasing any award availability in anything but coach, and I doubt that’ll change for at least a few more years, not to mention there’s no way to redeem for “Suites Class (R),” so chances are many of us may never see the front of the plane with our miles, at least in the foreseeable future.
If you have the miles to spare and are able to plan, you may have a shot though. The strategy of booking a certain flight before it’s converted to the aircraft type which doesn’t allow award redemption has long been used, but in this case seems especially tempting.
Well, SQ should be launching the A380 on SQ1/2 (SIN-HKG-SFO-HKG-SIN) for at least a few days a week starting early next year at the latest. So if you have the flexibility and the miles, consider “reserving” a seat on those flights and hope that it turns into the A380. If it does and your reservation is in business, your booking should definitely be honored. If you book in first, I’d say there’s a good chance it’ll be honored, although there’s no guarantee since technically there’s no first on the flight, but just Suites.
If you have the miles, take it a step further, hedge your bets. Make one reservation for flights on a certain day of the week, and another reservation for flights on different days, since it likely won’t be the A380 daily to begin with.
One small tip– getting F availability using Star Alliance miles can be a real challenge on SQ1/2 for some reason, but the availability seems to be quite good using Delta miles, surprisingly. So if you want F, consider getting your hands on some DL miles, preferably from a Platinum Medallion so there are no cancellation fees if it doesn’t turn out to be the A380.
What do they do about paid F pax if there is change from a 77w to the A380? Would they bump them down to business or give them a suite. And if they do bump them down to Business, would they be owed a partial refund on their ticket?
Taxied right behind the A380 as it was parked at the gate at LHR on Sunday. Impressive machine! :)
I pointed it out to my seatmate, who regarded me with the usual "who is this airline geek" look. :)
Thanks for reading my blog Jordan, I really appreciate it. I'm a bit tired at the moment (sitting in the lounge at NRT after a few long flights), but I'll do my best.
If you want to use your DL miles for SQ you need to call DL, specifically the international partner awards desk. They should be able to help you out and find all the availability for SkyMiles members.
Generally speaking SQ releases quite...
Thanks for reading my blog Jordan, I really appreciate it. I'm a bit tired at the moment (sitting in the lounge at NRT after a few long flights), but I'll do my best.
If you want to use your DL miles for SQ you need to call DL, specifically the international partner awards desk. They should be able to help you out and find all the availability for SkyMiles members.
Generally speaking SQ releases quite a few award seats a few days before flights, assuming you want to plan so close to departure. That being said, as a matter of principle they won't open up seats in the new C/F for people not using SQ miles, and they pay a premium.
In general most flights will open up a few days out, but since EWR-SIN is the new config and LAX-SIN will soon be the new config, there aren't that many options. There's still LAX-NRT-SIN and SFO-HKG-SIN for the time being.
I would just try to get an agent that knows what they're doing (which really shouldn't be that hard to find), and plan from there.
Please let me know if you have any other questions. :)
Hey Lucky, love the blog; just recently came across it.
I, like all aircraft aficionados, would love to ride the A380. In fact, I've racked up a lot of Delta SkyMiles, as a Gold Medallion based in Atlanta, and I'm planning to use my miles for a business class Singapore Airlines trip to Bali (so I look forward to your InterContinental hotel report). I was eyeing working in that A380 leg from NRT to SIN,...
Hey Lucky, love the blog; just recently came across it.
I, like all aircraft aficionados, would love to ride the A380. In fact, I've racked up a lot of Delta SkyMiles, as a Gold Medallion based in Atlanta, and I'm planning to use my miles for a business class Singapore Airlines trip to Bali (so I look forward to your InterContinental hotel report). I was eyeing working in that A380 leg from NRT to SIN, but after reading this post, I see that getting an award in business is probably not possible.
I've inquired about award travel using SkyMiles on SQ, and neither DL nor SQ have been particularly helpful, either on the web or through their call centers. I know most of your expertise comes from your extensive experience (and I know you're a United guy), but I was wondering if there was an easier way to inquire about SQ award availability using SkyMiles? If I book less than a week in advance (which might be the case), what are my chances with this? Is there a particular gateway (LAX-SIN or EWR-SIN nonstop all-biz, LAX-NRT-SIN, SFO-HKG-SIN, etc.) that might have less of a biz award demand than others? Or, should I just bite the bullet and hope I get a DL agent on the phone who knows what he/she's talking about?
To be clear, I'm not trying to use you as a travel agent... :) I'm just soliciting some friendly advice. Keep up the interesting posts!