Questions and Answers

I’ve got about 100K Amex miles that I’m thinking about transferring to Krisflyer (50Kish actually). My goal is to get from JNB-Europe (destination isn’t very important) one way. Is it best to search for space on United first or is that not a good representation of what SQ will have available? The only flight I found is JNB-DAR-ZRH on Swiss in J, which is what I’d book.

Obviously, I don’t want to transfer miles to SQ if they are unable to located that space. I suppose I’ll give them a call this weekend to see if they can look it up manually.

Also, is there a way to calculate the exact mileage and fuel surcharges for that flight? According to Krisflyer’s award chart, that should price out at 45K each way in J, but does that booking qualify for the 15% discount or is that not applicable since I cannot book online? United shows about $60 in fees but I’m sure that’s not a good representation of what SQ will charge.

SQ’s online award search only shows space for their flights, not partners. Use UA or Aeroplan to search and then call SQ to verify that it’s available along with the costs. 15% off the miles needed is not available for partner redemptions.

If you dont have any miles with SQ already and the difference between booking with UA or SQ isnt that great, I’d go with UA since they dont pass on fuel surcharges. I’m not sure what the charges for booking with SQ will be.

Matt, I didn’t find your exact flight on Matrix (perhaps the routing is different on the day I selected) but the non-stop JNB-ZRH on Swiss would have about $210 in fuel surcharges. So balance that against the extra miles UA would charge and see which you prefer.