Singapore Airlines -- is it easy to get ff miles?

[Cathyb]

We have Starpoint points to turn in to go to Bangkok next January. Is Singapore Airlines pretty good at honoring ffmile??

Would leave from Los Angeles (or San Francisco if necessary). We want to fly to Bangkok and fly home from Singapore, taking the Orient Express to get from one to the other. Can do the reverse trip.

Is Thai Airlines a better choice? Any insight on this is greatly appreciated!

 

[Icarus]

SQ (Singapore Airlines) is notoriously tough to get ff tickets from, especially if you're going to use a Star Alliance FF ticket. Thai (TG) is easier, so is United.

Thai has a new non-stop flight from LAX-BKK, flying on new 2-class equipment.

Some people on Flyertalk have noted that if you join either Air Canada's FF program or ANA's FF program that you can see star alliance award availability online, using their web sites. You might want to try that to see what's available. Then you can try booking a star alliance FF award ticket via United. You can mix/match Star Alliance carriers if you do that. For example, you can fly United to Narita, then SQ to Singapore, then TG from BKK to LAX. One stopover or one open jaw is allowed on these tickets, so you'll use the open jaw option to fly into SIN and return from BKK. The only downside to using a Star Alliance award is that they are totally unchangeable once travel starts.

-David

 

[Icarus]

Having posted this, I now see a thread on ft saying claiming that it seems like getting SQ awards may be easier now.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=519567

-David

 

[Cathyb]

Icarus: Thank you for your post If you were in my shoes and could place either Marriott Reward points or SPG points to get a carrier for either Bangkok or Singapore next January (2007) which airline would you choose? Also, are we smarter to put them in a major airline like UA and try as a partner to get Singapore Airlines(or another one) or put them in Singapore Airlines directly?

Icarus, we are not seasoned international travelers so your advice is most welcome! One more thing, what other routes could we ask the frequent flier agent to check to get us there? We found on getting to Figi that if we went to Sydney for 48 hrs we got our ff miles that were not available from lax with a non-stop. All these tricks we need to learn!!

 

[camachinist]

Considering where you live, I'd dump the miles into UA and go for a *A award. Call the UA MP int'l award desk at 1-888-674-4680 after you've researched possible UA and *A carrier routings. You can also call them prior to mileage transfer and check availability and hold at least the outbound, pending delivery of miles. Have specific flights and be flexible about dates. You can research routings at TIA (free registration required):

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/prego

Are you looking for F, C or Y seats? How many miles will you have?

Be aware January is very popular in South Asia. Another possibility is to find a good travel agent. They can book award flights with the airline, for a fee, which you will pay anyway if you call UA or most *A airlines for award tickets. Taxes should be between 70-100.00 per person.

Pat

 

[skim118]

Icarus: Thank you for your post If you were in my shoes and could place either Marriott Reward points or SPG points to get a carrier for either Bangkok or Singapore next January (2007) which airline would you choose? Also, are we smarter to put them in a major airline like UA and try as a partner to get Singapore Airlines(or another one) or put them in Singapore Airlines directly?

Cathyb,

I would never do the SPG points to United's Mileage Plus conversion, because it is the worst conversion deal ever. 20,000 SPG points turn into 12,500 UA miles, whereas it will become 25,000 Krisflyer or ANA miles.

Sara

 

[Icarus]

If it were me, I'd be getting business class award tix, and would try to go LAX-SIN on SQ and return on the new TG nonstop BKK-LAX. I'd use UA as a backup for both directions with connections in Narita, and then use other Star Alliance member airlines as a backup to that. If I couldn't get the BKK-LAX nonstop on TG, or if I decided that's just too long to fly without a stop, then I'd consider getting First class award tix and break up the return with a stop in Narita. Since my miles are mostly in UA, I'd do it through UA and made sure I called their international awards desk and also made sure I was date-flexible. The train only runs (what is it) one or two days per week? And I'd make sure I'd arrive in SIN at least a couple of days before I got on the train, and also make sure I'd have a few days in BKK after the train.

I wanted to do that train when I was in SIN, but it just didn't work out for me.

Sara is right .. don't transfer SPG points to UA because of the bad ratio. Use Marriott Rewards points instead.

-David

 

[camachinist]

Cathyb,

I would never do the SPG points to United's Mileage Plus conversion, because it is the worst conversion deal ever. 20,000 SPG points turn into 12,500 UA miles, whereas it will become 25,000 Krisflyer or ANA miles.

Sara

I was reading her other post about the Marriott travel package and didn't see the mention of SPG. Definitely agree about SPG and UA (don't do it).

If the OP isn't elite with SQ, she should take a hard look at their award availability (this can be done through AC Aeroplan) or by calling their award desk, before committing the points. Perhaps, with the A380's coming online in the next year, they are loosening up award seats. If so, well worth it. We're looking at nearly the same itin through *A and past reports show KrisFlyer members as having preference.

Pat

 

[Icarus]

Another back door for SPG Points -> Star Alliance awards would be via US Air.

And, yes, there are anectodal reports on FT about SQ only releasing 1 F seat award per day for other Star Alliance member airlines.

-David

 

[Cathyb]

Please tell me what SQ, TG, MP, TIA mean -- we are retired folks who are travelers and not familiar with the businessmen's shorthand. Thanks!!!

 

[Dave M]

SQ = Singapore Airlines
TG = Thai Airways
MP = United Airlines Mileage Plus FF miles program
TIA = Most common usage is "Thanks In Advance".

However, for that last one, I think Pat meant "ITA", which is the link that follows his comment.

 

[camachinist]

Too much on my plate today....thanks, Dave, for the correction

BTW, for Cathy, you can find airport codes (JFK,EWR,ORD,etc) by using this page on Flyertalk:

http://www.flyertalk.com/acl/

If I can find a good list of airline codes, I'll post it. It really helps when searching, as most systems use these abbreviations. Those of us who live in that realm just think in shorthand

Pat