Increased Singapore Airlines Award Availability
Even before I entered into the perilous realm of being a points & travel junkie, I had the pleasure of flying Singapore Airlines. Though my thoughts have now changed slightly, I remember feeling that I was being treated like royalty—even in “cattle” class.
Singapore Airlines however, has been known to typically block partner award space on their newer aircraft. And for their own award redemptions, they have been known to charge high levels, without any sort of Saver availability for First and Business Class.
But that should all change, according to a new improvement they are about to implement:
With this improvement, you will be able to redeem Saver Award for First and Business Class on most flights, including First and Business Class on our B777-300ER flights; and Business Class on our A380 and A340-500 flights. This will be available for redemption bookings from 8 March 2012, for flights departing 1 April 2012 onwards.What Will This Mean?
While it is known that they will release more premium-cabin award space in general, it is still up in the air (pardon the pun) on how much they will actually release to partner airlines. Although, The Points Guy seems to think it will. While I am hoping he is right, I still ask myself if they have been stingy when it comes to partner award redemptions in the past, why wouldn’t it continue to be that way? In addition, partner awards will be blocked out from redeeming for First Class Suites.
My Thoughts on This
As I mentioned recently about earning miles, it is important to always operate with a goal in mind. I bought a boatload of US Airways Dividend Miles last summer and I am itching to use them and would love to be able to redeem them for travel on Singapore Airlines.
There is a workaround to find availability, possibility even in First Class Suites. You can still transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to the Singapore KrisFlyer program at a 1:1 ratio.
I love being able to obtain aspirational awards that I would otherwise not be able to afford. Because of this, just as I do not have a problem paying a mileage “premium” to sit in Business/First over Coach, I do not have a problem using a few more miles to upgrade my overall experience.
As an example, I checked Singapore’s website, and it costs 195,000 KrisFlyer miles to fly round-trip between New York and Singapore. And generally I would say that is a bit much for any award redemption, let alone in First Class. But if my goal is a very exclusive experience, then it is my miles working for me, not the other way around.
The official announcement, including Frequently Asked Questions can be found by clicking here. Also, their Award Chart can be found here.
Point Me to the Miles 