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Yesterday, I looked at How to Fly Singapore First Class and Suites Class from the United States to Europe or Asia. Today, I will look at the actual award space for 1-3 people in Suites Class. Here are the possible awards in First/Suites Class from the United States:
- San Francisco to Hong Kong: 70,125 miles + $49.60 (15 hours flying)
- San Francisco to Hong Kong to Singapore: 91,375 miles + $263.30 (17:45 flying)
- San Francisco to Seoul: 74,375 miles + $203.30 (12:50 flying)
- San Francisco to Seoul to Singapore: 91,375 miles + $263.30 (19:20 flying)
- Houston to Moscow-Domodedovo: 57,375 miles + $211.70 (10 hours flying)
- Houston to Moscow-Domodedovo to Singapore: 93,500 miles + $271.70 (21:15 flying)
- Los Angeles to Tokyo-Narita: 74,375 miles + $113.30 (11:45 flying)
- Los Angeles to Tokyo-Narita to Singapore: 91,375 miles + $275.97 (19:20 flying)
- New York-JFK to Frankfurt: 57,375 miles + $203.30 (7:35 flying)
- New York-JFK to Frankfurt to Singapore: 93,500 miles + $285.85 (20:05 flying)
Singapore First Class on its 777-300ER is world class, but Suites Class on the A380 is a whole ‘nother level with enclosed suites and the possibility of combining two beds into one double bed. Above, the two A380 routes are in bold.
As I mentioned yesterday, Singapore flights to the United States all have an intermediate stop, and you can fly any single segment of the trip as an award. Today, I am mainly going to look at award space from Frankfurt to New York and from Tokyo to Los Angeles.
Frankfurt to New York
Award space is very rare on this route, and the only space I found is this week. Unfortunately Singapore Airlines doesn’t show a calendar of award space, so you have to manually search day-by-day. Because of that, I searched the following dates to give you a good idea of award space at different times of the year:
- June 5-11 (this week)
- September 11-17
- December 19-25
- February 1-7
- May 13-23 (last day of schedule)
I only found award space on June 7 and June 10 at the Saver price. This is what that looks like online.
Days without award space say “Waitlist” instead of “Available.” More on waitlisting Singapore awards in a future post.
I searched for award space for only one passenger initially, but I went back and looked at June 7 and 10 to see if there was award space for more passengers those days. I found three award seats at the Saver level in Suites Class both days.
Although the price on the search screen is 67,500 miles, there is a 15% discount for booking Singapore awards online. The total price for one passenger one way from Frankfurt to New York is 57,375 Singapore miles + $314, about 60% of which is fuel surcharges.
In my searches from New York to Frankfurt and continuing on to Singapore, I see similarly dismal award availability. I believe New York <-> Frankfurt <-> Singapore and each individual segment are the hardest Suites Class awards.
Tokyo to Los Angeles
Tokyo to Los Angeles, by contrast, has great award availability for parts of the year for two passengers in Suites Class at the Saver level. I searched the same dates:
- June 4-11 (this week)
- September 11-17
- December 19-25
- February 1-7
- May 13-23 (last day of schedule)
I found award space at the Saver price for at least one person in Suites Class:
- June 4, 6
- February 3, 4, 7
- May 13-15 and 17-23
On all of those days except February 7, there is award space for two passengers. Today, June 4, there is award space for three passengers.
I didn’t find award space the week I searched in September or the week before Christmas.
The price is listed at 87,500 miles per passenger on the search screen, but the payment screen incorporates a 15% miles discount, so the total award price is 74,375 Singapore miles + $129, which is a little more than half fuel surcharges.
Many of the days with award space from Tokyo to Los Angeles have award space on the entire trip from Singapore to Los Angeles, but not all days. For instance, February 3 has award space at the Saver level for the whole trip as do a lot of the May dates.
The full journey from Singapore to Los Angeles in Suites Class costs 91,375 Singapore miles + $315, which is more than 75% fuel surcharges.
Getting the Miles & Booking the Awards
Right now, the Citi Prestige offers 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 in the first three months. ThankYou Points transfer 1:1 to Singapore miles (and 10 other miles.) You can get both cards as long as you apply 8+ days apart. I’d get one if you want to book Frankfurt to New York and both if you want to book Tokyo or Singapore to the United States.
Search for award space on singaporeair.com, transfer your points and wait about 36 hours for them to post, and book your award.
Pay your award taxes and fuel surcharges with the Citi Prestige® Card. The first $250 in award taxes, fuel surcharges, airfare, or airline fees per calendar year are refunded to you as a statement credit. If you’ve already maxed out the statement credit, you will still earn 3x ThankYou Points on the award taxes.
Bottom Line
Award space is very tight on the New York <-> Frankfurt <-> Singapore route. The only award space I see on that route is within a week of departure.
Award space is much more open on the Los Angeles <-> Tokyo <-> Singapore route. There is award space this week but also in February and May. Almost every day with award space has space for two passengers.
You can search and book the award space on singaporeair.com. You can get the miles you need by transferring ThankYou Points from the Citi Prestige and Citi ThankYou Premier. The Prestige is also valuable to pay the award taxes and fuel surcharges, since it has a $250 Air Travel Credit each calendar year to offset that stuff.
Key Links:
- Citi Prestige® Card with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points (Singapore miles) and a $250 statement credit to offset award taxes and fees
- Anatomy of an Award: Booking Singapore Suites
- Trip Report: Singapore Suites From Singapore to Tokyo to Los Angeles
- How to Fly Singapore First Class and Suites Class from the United States to Europe or Asia
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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If only KrisFlyer account did not expire after a period of time of inactivity. It’s quite a pain to re-join them 🙂
If only KrisFlyer account did not expire after a period of time of inactivity. It’s quite a pain to re-join them 🙂
I think “Tons” is a bit of an overstatement…
Almost every day in May.
I think “Tons” is a bit of an overstatement…
Almost every day in May.
For flight of interest (LAX-NRT), I see only 1x in F, 1x in C. Can I book for 1 F & 1 C and later once another F opens up, upgrade the C to F over the phone (while still getting 15% discount)?
Or is there a better method to “book now upgrade later”?
Thx!
I would waitlist the First Class seat. That way you get it before they open it up publicly.
For flight of interest (LAX-NRT), I see only 1x in F, 1x in C. Can I book for 1 F & 1 C and later once another F opens up, upgrade the C to F over the phone (while still getting 15% discount)?
Or is there a better method to “book now upgrade later”?
Thx!
I would waitlist the First Class seat. That way you get it before they open it up publicly.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
I have been trying to help the son of one of my best friends plan a destination wedding and extended honeymoon. We had him set from LA to Rome and Rome to Tokyo but we were challenged in finding the best and affordable option for him to return from Tokyo to LA. Your email came at the perfect time. We were able to use American express points and $3000 and book him in 2 adjoining suites on the a 380. It will be the topper of his honeymoon. Without your email I probably would have missed this opportunity. They are flying May 7.
Additional information on mileage transfers from Ultimate Rewards and Amex to Kris flyer. I did a “test” 1000 point transfer at 3p.m. yesterday with both programs. Kris flyer said Amex would take 2-3 days and Chase would take 2 weeks. The test 1000 points from Chase showed up in 4 hours. The Amex 1000 point test took about 8 hours and the 74000 point transfer from Amex took about 8 hours as well. The chase 74000 points still hasn’t shown up. Very inconsistent information. I transferred from both because I was freaked out about the chance of missing this opportunity.
thank you once again!
$3,000!? It should be about $100-something per person for NRT-LAX in Singapore Suites. Why did it cost so much?
Sorry, if I did not explain clearly. He did not want me to use 150000 Amex points. He wanted to pay for part of it, but he is mileage poor. Since I had 1/2 of the necessary points Singapore Air allowed him to purchase 75000 points for $3000. Yes, I know, perhaps not the absolute most efficient use, but he was ecstatic. 2 adjoining suites from Tokyo to LAX for $3000. We could have waited a couple of months for him to have enough miles, but what’s the chance those seats would still be there? Calculated risk. If anyone would have suggested a different option I’d like to hear for future reference.
4 cents per mile is tough! But if he’s happy, he’s happy. That’s the bottom line.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
I have been trying to help the son of one of my best friends plan a destination wedding and extended honeymoon. We had him set from LA to Rome and Rome to Tokyo but we were challenged in finding the best and affordable option for him to return from Tokyo to LA. Your email came at the perfect time. We were able to use American express points and $3000 and book him in 2 adjoining suites on the a 380. It will be the topper of his honeymoon. Without your email I probably would have missed this opportunity. They are flying May 7.
Additional information on mileage transfers from Ultimate Rewards and Amex to Kris flyer. I did a “test” 1000 point transfer at 3p.m. yesterday with both programs. Kris flyer said Amex would take 2-3 days and Chase would take 2 weeks. The test 1000 points from Chase showed up in 4 hours. The Amex 1000 point test took about 8 hours and the 74000 point transfer from Amex took about 8 hours as well. The chase 74000 points still hasn’t shown up. Very inconsistent information. I transferred from both because I was freaked out about the chance of missing this opportunity.
thank you once again!
$3,000!? It should be about $100-something per person for NRT-LAX in Singapore Suites. Why did it cost so much?
Sorry, if I did not explain clearly. He did not want me to use 150000 Amex points. He wanted to pay for part of it, but he is mileage poor. Since I had 1/2 of the necessary points Singapore Air allowed him to purchase 75000 points for $3000. Yes, I know, perhaps not the absolute most efficient use, but he was ecstatic. 2 adjoining suites from Tokyo to LAX for $3000. We could have waited a couple of months for him to have enough miles, but what’s the chance those seats would still be there? Calculated risk. If anyone would have suggested a different option I’d like to hear for future reference.
4 cents per mile is tough! But if he’s happy, he’s happy. That’s the bottom line.
[…] if you fly Singapore Suites to Tokyo, taking advantage of wide open award space for two, you might want to stay at the Conrad […]
[…] if you fly Singapore Suites to Tokyo, taking advantage of wide open award space for two, you might want to stay at the Conrad […]
Addendum: Mileage transfers to Krisflyer. Chase rewards points posted overnight. So, about 36 hours for 74000 points to transfer. 1st 1000 test transfer points took 4 hours. Amex took about 8 hours to transfer in each case. much better than anticipated, but never a guarantee on transfer time. And, no way to “put a rush” on either.
Addendum: Mileage transfers to Krisflyer. Chase rewards points posted overnight. So, about 36 hours for 74000 points to transfer. 1st 1000 test transfer points took 4 hours. Amex took about 8 hours to transfer in each case. much better than anticipated, but never a guarantee on transfer time. And, no way to “put a rush” on either.
Tip:
1. To search award space in “calendar” form, download the Singapore Air app from App Store or Google market. Then when you search for award space, click on flexible date +/- 3 days, then it will show you miles needed for the whole week. Not exactly whole month, but at least gives you an idea if there are seats on the week you plan to travel.
2. JFK-FRA-SIN itself is hard to find in saver level. But if you extend the trip to say eg. SYD, then all of the sudden the award space is wide open. I just randomly looked at SYD-SIN-FRA-JFK on May 6-12 2016, there are saver awards on 5 out of 7 days!
1. Great tip! They must be the only airline that makes it easier to search on the app than on the site.
2. I’ll have to check this out. That’s very odd.
I looked into number 2. I searched SIN-JFK and SYD-JFK for May 5-12, 2016 departures.
I saw award space on both on May 5 and 8-11. I didn’t see what you saw at all.
Sorry, I think what I meant to say was, if you search JFK-FRA and FRA-SIN as each individual segments, the space will be very rare. However, if you search JFK-SIN (and vice versa) and beyond, the spaces suddenly opens up, even on the same date when each segment has no space. (Was late at night last time I commented and got mixed up)
The spaces are most available at 10-11 months out, ie. late Mar to mid May 2016. I can see that every week they have 3-5 days that has savers award for suites, even up to 2 pax. Certainly it’s not OZ or TG level of wide open space, but definitely not very rare either.
The space does get tight from early Mar downward. So my advice is to plan 10-11 month out.
Tip:
1. To search award space in “calendar” form, download the Singapore Air app from App Store or Google market. Then when you search for award space, click on flexible date +/- 3 days, then it will show you miles needed for the whole week. Not exactly whole month, but at least gives you an idea if there are seats on the week you plan to travel.
2. JFK-FRA-SIN itself is hard to find in saver level. But if you extend the trip to say eg. SYD, then all of the sudden the award space is wide open. I just randomly looked at SYD-SIN-FRA-JFK on May 6-12 2016, there are saver awards on 5 out of 7 days!
1. Great tip! They must be the only airline that makes it easier to search on the app than on the site.
2. I’ll have to check this out. That’s very odd.
I looked into number 2. I searched SIN-JFK and SYD-JFK for May 5-12, 2016 departures.
I saw award space on both on May 5 and 8-11. I didn’t see what you saw at all.
Sorry, I think what I meant to say was, if you search JFK-FRA and FRA-SIN as each individual segments, the space will be very rare. However, if you search JFK-SIN (and vice versa) and beyond, the spaces suddenly opens up, even on the same date when each segment has no space. (Was late at night last time I commented and got mixed up)
The spaces are most available at 10-11 months out, ie. late Mar to mid May 2016. I can see that every week they have 3-5 days that has savers award for suites, even up to 2 pax. Certainly it’s not OZ or TG level of wide open space, but definitely not very rare either.
The space does get tight from early Mar downward. So my advice is to plan 10-11 month out.
[…] Singapore miles are a 1:1 transfer partner of Citi, Chase, AMEX, and SPG, so getting just two cards like the Citi Prestige and Citi ThankYou Premier with 50,000 ThankYou Points each after spending $3,000 in the first three months is enough to fly one way anywhere that Singapore Suites flies. […]
[…] Singapore miles are a 1:1 transfer partner of Citi, Chase, AMEX, and SPG, so getting just two cards like the Citi Prestige and Citi ThankYou Premier with 50,000 ThankYou Points each after spending $3,000 in the first three months is enough to fly one way anywhere that Singapore Suites flies. […]
[…] Saver is the cheapest, around one-fifth to one-eighth of the price of Full. Saver is also the least likely level to have award space available, though there are some routes and times of year when Saver space in Singapore Suites Class is a gimme…. […]
[…] Saver is the cheapest, around one-fifth to one-eighth of the price of Full. Saver is also the least likely level to have award space available, though there are some routes and times of year when Saver space in Singapore Suites Class is a gimme…. […]
[…] Saver is the cheapest, around one-fifth to one-eighth of the price of Full. Saver is also the least likely level to have award space available, though there are some routes and times of year when Saver space in Singapore Suites Class is a gimme…. […]
[…] Saver is the cheapest, around one-fifth to one-eighth of the price of Full. Saver is also the least likely level to have award space available, though there are some routes and times of year when Saver space in Singapore Suites Class is a gimme…. […]