News and notes from around the interweb:
- Singapore Airlines offers fantastic award availability to their own Krisflyer members (and American Express and Starwood points transfer well to Singapore) but very little long haul premium cabin space to their partners. Since you can’t book business and first class on Singapore using United miles anyway, it wasn’t such a big deal that United pulled Singapore Airlines award availability off its website and misled membes that it was somehow Singapore’s doing.
Now it turns out that United is having trouble ‘seing’ Singapore Airlines coach award space for flights to and from the U.S.. But United promises it isn’t intentional.
- Chase is sending out targeted spending bonuses to their Hyatt Visa cardholders.
- How to Fly Spirit Airlines (A guide for the perplexed.)
- Delta is going to test making their lounges better with pancakes (like Alaska Airlines offers), bagels, soups, sandwiches, and desserts as well as shoe shines and chair massages.
- American announced back in November that they were bringing back elite buyback for folks who didn’t earn the status they wanted in 2013, and even offering a way to get top tier Executive Platinum status if short no more than 10,000 miles. The system for doing this was supposed to be live in mid-January and is now available.
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Gary: I have flown intra-Asia SQ business class many times over the years using United miles. You should clarify that the problem is with long-haul flights in premium aircraft.
@Daniel M, that’s why I wrote “very little long haul premium cabin space to their partners.”
It’s just semantics, I’ll admit, but the way you write it as its own clause suggests from an outsider’s perspective that one cannot book SQ using UA miles. After all, you wrote “Since you can’t book business and first class on Singapore using United miles anyway.”
I guess Delta does not care for testing in MSP which is one of their main hubs. I will have to fly somewhere else to see what is an upgraded bagel. Delta is pathetic!!!
Santastico—- These are actual, real improvements. You serious feel that Delta is “pathetic” for not holding one of their test clubs in your area?
Given SQ’s fantastic availability and UA’s lack of access to SQ award space, I joined KrisFlyer last fall hoping to find two business class seats from SIN to any US gateway over a three day window in late March. My experience has differed from Gary’s.
After checking for space over a four month period now, there has never been business availability to any of the US gateways. In checking random dates in other weeks in March or April I see much the same thing. Even the once legendary premium class availability to SIN-Australia seems rather limited.
I am now hoping I will find last-minute availability, but wonder if it will emerge so late that I cannot adjust my travel plans. I wonder if SQ has changed how they release space to KrisFlyer members as well?
I live in Seattle and fly to Singapore fairly often. I have 1 million United miles, but United just dropped their only Seattle to Asia flight (SEA-NRT) and SQ doesn’t serve SEA. I assume ANA via NRT would be the best use of my United miles to get to SIN, correct? Any tricks to getting Business or First class on ANA? Saver availability is sparse on the United website. Thanks!