Payoffs Include Saving Up to 100,000 Miles in Business Class and Up to 170,000 in First
As mentioned in an FCF alert on Feb. 7, Singapore Airlines announced mileage upgrade and award changes to both its own chart and those it uses for partner airlines. Singapore was the second major airline in February to announce mileage program changes (see page 5 for more on this subject), begging the question, “Are alliances now trying to align themselves?”
The answer is no, by and large. Carriers have not ironed out the anomalies in mileage charts. That’s great because anomalies offer lots of opportunities to save miles. But that also means you need to have a suite of mile-age accounts if you want to take advantage of them. Loyalty to one loyalty program is very limiting.
Singapore’s Changes: The Good News
Free mileage awards: You can now get one of the best Busi-ness Class cabins for up to 100,000 fewer miles than before – and perhaps the best First Class cabin for up to 170,000 fewer miles. That’s because the carrier is now making “saver awards” available on most of its routes from the U.S., where-as it only offered “standard”.
Mileage upgrade awards: The miles required to upgrade from economy to Business and from Business to First have also been reduced. Decreases in the former range from 15,000 to 42,500 miles one-way (up to 35% less), and in the latter from 22,500 to 57,000 miles one-way (up to 40% off).
With Any Singapore Airlines Opportunity: Think Value, Not Miles
Granted, Singapore still requires more miles than many other airlines do but it also, usually, delivers a much higher experience. The airline has been a leader in premium cabin advances and in service— outperforming most other airlines.
You can fly New York-Frankfurt on Delta, Lufthansa or United/Continental for 100,000 or 105,000 miles round-trip in a Business Class seat. On Delta that’ll buy a seat on a B767 that is only 18.5 inches wide and only reclines 160 degrees, which is nearly as bad as it gets. Pay 115,000 miles on Singapore and you get the widest Business Class seat in the sky (34 inches; that’s 84% more room side to side) and a flat-bed (you get the idea). A much-better night’s sleep is surely worth 10,000 to 15,000 miles.
Moreover, there’s the service. Singapore Airlines has the most conscientious corps of flight attendants in the sky. They diligently patrol the cabin throughout the flight (unlike on many airlines where the flight attendants disappear after the meal service).
The Mixed News
The Bad: As we pointed out in our Feb. 7 alert, many Singapore Star Alliance “partner mileage awards” increased on March 1.
Good News: Singapore Star Alliance partner awards for travel within North America (including Hawaii) are not go-ing up. They still offer savings of up to 25% (10,000 to 20,000 miles) when compared with major U.S. carriers such as United.
New saver mileage awards can be booked starting March 8 for departures on or after April 1.
Survey of Award Availability on British Airways to London for One Traveler in First Class
[table_opt style="gray-header" id="824 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]