Questions and Answers

For the date that I need Singapore Airlines have availability in Business at a saver level and waitlist for First at a saver level.
I am very tempted to waitlist for First. Yet I am afraid that while I am waiting for it to get cleared, Business saver disappears. Then I would have neither.

Before I transfer my Chase points to Singapore Airlines, I hope you would advise – what would be the best strategy?

I have enough points for either First or Business, but not both (so I cannot get one and waitlist for another since they require miles to be in your account).

Should I get Business saver now and then try to upgrade to First (is it even possible on Singapore Airlines? How does it work?).
Or should I take my chances and waitlist for First from the start?
What would be the best course of action?
thank you!!!

I believe you should be at to book business and then upgrade to first if it becomes available. SQ has reasonable change fees. Just know that mileage transfers take a few days so the seat could be gone by the time the points transfer. You could transfer points ahead of time but if the seat isn’t available, you’re stuck with SQ miles that expire in 3 years with no way to extend I believe.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 14690, member: 29″]I believe you should be at to book business and then upgrade to first if it becomes available. SQ has reasonable change fees. Just know that mileage transfers take a few days so the seat could be gone by the time the points transfer. You could transfer points ahead of time but if the seat isn’t available, you’re stuck with SQ miles that expire in 3 years with no way to extend I believe.[/QUOTE]
thank you for your answer! and the upgrade cost is the difference (in miles) between business and first, right?
If it becomes available, can it be done on their website? Or only by calling?

Yes, the upgrade is the cost difference between the awards. Keep in mind the 15% off miles for booking online. I’m not sure if it can be done online, u haven’t done it before.

[USER=1241]@T.A.[/USER] also just to clarify you can get one and waitlist for the other but you would need to transfer enough miles to cover the wait list award. So you would transfer enough miles so you can waitlist for first, then you can book the business award. If the F seats become available you would just pay the nominal change fees and switch the award to first.

Yes, you can definitely waitlist for one, then book the other. You need the miles in your account to waitlist, but once you’re on the waitlist, you can do what you like with the miles, including ticketing another booking. If/when you clear waitlist, they will send you an email saying so, giving you about 72 hours to get the points into your account and ticket it.

So, you can transfer over enough miles for first, waitlist it, ticket business and see what happens. Miles redeposits with SQ typically take weeks to appear in your account, but if you explain the situation, they can do it in minutes. So, if you clear waitlist, call up and tell them what you want to do, cancel the J class, ticket the F. I’ve heard quite a few reports of people noticing award space available on the SQ website for segments they’ve waitlisted. This implies the waitlist system is faulty, so I’d advise you to check back regularly, especially in the last two weeks before the flight.

I’ve not flown SQ J class, though will later this year. I’ve flown F and Suites. If you can get the double bed in Suites, it’s amazing, but if it’s regular F, on many aircraft there are J seats with extra legroom that are almost as spacious as F seats, and objectively plenty spacious enough for anybody. The service in J will likely be very good, though not as spectacular as it can be in F. SQ’s ground services in any class, even at SIN, are pretty unremarkable. I personally love The Private Room, but most people seem underwhelmed. There is quite a gap between the food in F and J on SQ, if that’s important to you.

Thank you all for your replies!! My husband and I are already booked in Suites for that flight… It’s my daughter I am trying to book in the same cabin. I will do what you suggest – thank you!
The thing is – we happen to fly on my birthday, and Singapore Airlines would present me with a birthday cake ( which I requested and they confirmed). So I wonder – even if I would not be able to get a Suite for my daughter – would they allow her to visit us in Suites to share the cake?
Anyway, it’s still a few months out and I hope I get that upgrade. Thank you all again so much for replying!

Technically no, she can’t visit. If you ask nicely, they may make an exception, particularly if you have a centre pair of Suites. This will let the four of you all sit together. You and your husband in your seats, your daughter on one of your ottomans.

If you haven’t already, assign yourselves a centre pair to get the double bed. Go for row 3, not row 2, as the latter are bassinet seats and you may get bounced if somebody books with a baby.

Yes, I already assigned two middle seats in row 3, so at least that is taken care off 🙂
Since it’s a few months away, I am still hoping to find saver Suite availability for her… and – if I don’t get lucky with that – I am hoping that the nice Singapore Girls would grant me my birthday wish to share birthday cake with my daughter in Suites 🙂
Thank you again for great info and advice!!!!