As some of you may recall, earlier this year I took my mom to the UAE and Singapore for a quick getaway. She hasn’t had the opportunity to travel much in recent years, and was really excited about the prospect of flying something “fancy.” To be honest, that was the entire impetus for the trip,…
Continue reading: Taking Mom On An Airplane Ride: Introduction
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Awesome! So excited for a new trip report on OMAAT. Can you write a bit about finding availability on Emirates? I know Ben has discussed before but having a hard time trying to find Emirates F availability for December/January leaving from the US.
Can't wait for your trip report. We're doing Etihad in F to ABU on our way to India. We have a 10 hour layover, so we will probably go see the big mosque.
Ben - heard your radio interview on the BBC World Service in Singapore on Saturday. Some great press coverage!!
What's wrong with SQ 2? Any particular reason that leg isn't going to be part of the trip report?
Always enjoyed your writings Tiffany!
As for the SIN-HKG sector, even SIN-BKK-HKG, or SIN-KUL-HKG was out of luck in J?
(SIN-HKG has hardly any F these days.)
@ All the Right Points -- No real trick to it, unfortunately. We booked within about a week of departure, when availability is generally much better than the six-month window you're looking at.
@ gba -- Well, it's a double "supper" flight, so the catering is meh. The connection in Hong Kong is really annoying, I was cranky by then, etc. I can look at putting something together, maybe.
@ Gaurav -- Yep, nothing direct on the return, and the price was reasonable enough on the outbound that it made sense to pay (and get the EXP upgrade) versus using Avios at a less convenient time.
@ flyingfish -- Thanks! Yeah, there was nothing. So bizarre. The only potential option was economy with really terrible connections (like short overnights in both KUL and HKG). At that point it's not like SQ F is terrible...
Can you share methods you used to accumulate so many Alaska Miles... Somehow they seem more out of reach than other programs.
@ Luis -- Hah, agreed! We were there at the end of February, I'm just behind on writing 🙂
@ Alexander C. -- Well, the credit card is a good option, and so is purchasing them. Most of mine are from actually flying Alaska though.
Tiffany: Lol. I now just realised you had mentioned that you are flying out of SIN right after the Chinese New Year, and certainly yes, all possible flights to KUL, BKK, HKG via awards in OneWorld is near impossible. Okies, make that, simply impossible (if left to last min), and no exceptions ever (absolutely hopeless if you are hoping something will open up in the last min, it is not going to happen at all during this period.)
I was looking at paid tickets (not just award tickets) during that period, and you know it is impossible when even Y booking class is sold out.
It was fortunate that locked in your SQ Fs earlier! The SIN-HKG leg in SQ would be very difficult if you have left it late!
I am not sure if you would have enjoyed Singapore during that weekend as well, as Westin Singapore's nearby area would be very quiet that weekend, though some shopping malls in Singapore would reopen on 21 Feb - 22 Feb on Sat & Sun. It is generally not advised to visit Singapore on the first few days of Chinese New Year as many shops will be closed. However, there is a fantastic Chinese Restaurant In Asia Square 1 (Westin Singapore is in Asia Square 2) that would have remained opened during that weekend, but it may be very hard to get seats without prior reservation, especially during Chinese New Year. I hope you had a chance to dine there during your trip though.
Looking forward to your reports!
@ Tiffany - SQ F is NOT horrible that's for sure 🙂 Did you try waitlisting on A380 flights (SIN-NRT-LAX) to experience the Suites?
P.S. Off-topic, any idea what's the longest SQ A380 flight?
@tiffany how can you do a stopover in Dubai to continue to Singapore? Also, how did you get from Dubai to Abu Dhabi?
@ Frank -- Alaska allows stopovers on one-way awards, which is a nice perk! We took an Emirates car from Dubai to Abu Dhabi -- that isn't technically a benefit of award tickets nowadays, but in February it was still possible in practice to present your boarding pass at the desk and receive car service.
@ Frank - to add to what Tiffany said, I believe Emirates car service generally works to anywhere in UAE which is why so many were unhappy it got discontinued from partner award tickets.