Help Me Get From Singapore To Vienna For The SQTalk DO!

[Kyo]

Hello KeithMEL! Are you transiting via Singapore around these dates for the Vienna DO?

How are you going, who are you flying... any suggestions, I mean ANY at all, fully appreciated!

Will buy you a cake... or let florianwagner do that... haha!

[KeithMEL]

Hello KeithMEL! Are you transiting via Singapore around these dates for the Vienna DO?

How are you going, who are you flying... any suggestions, I mean ANY at all, fully appreciated!

Will buy you a cake... or let florianwagner do that... haha!

I am actually flying in from LAX via LHR. I will be flying AA (evip upgrade already cleared ), then BA. Flying out to PVG via HEL on AY - it's a oneworld Global Explorer (xGLOBxx - the mileage based alternative to the xONEx). All in my ba97 page. If I was doing a point to point ex-MEL I'd have gone for AY who have extremely good value fares.

That TK option sounds good for *A. But if it's not 100% accrual I reckon the LX option represents better value.

I am SO looking forward to stuffing myself silly with coffee and cakes in VIE. Before proceeding to real drinks of course.

[Kyo]

I am now confirmed (reserved, but not paid) on Turkish Airways.

The cheapest Economy Semi Flexible, this is on S-Class = 50% mileage if transferred to TG ROP. Cost: $1344 + 593 taxes. Total: $1937 SGD. 1-month ticket.

However, Economy Flex, on H-Class = 100% *A mileage accruable as it doesn't fall under the lesser accrual classes on TG ROP. Cost: $1449 + 593 taxes. Total: $2042. 3-months ticket.

As given before,

S/ E/ Q/ T/ L/ U = 50%
G/ V/ W/ O = 25%
P = 0%

It gets better! Two stopovers, one complimentary!

Stopover #1 - I get to stopover in Istanbul (for a day) for $21.30 (departure tax ex Istanbul) on the 24th! (Have also always wanted to go there!)

Stopover #2 - Complimentary *newly launched* (30.06.2008) "Mysterious Istanbul" city tour (For all complimentary tours,10 hours MCT applies on Economy classes, 7 hours MCT applies on Business classes).


Outbound flight: Singapore - Vienna via Istanbul (STOPOVER) Tue. 23.09.2008 23:10 SIN - 06:00 +1 IST TK67 Economy Flexible (Class H)
Wed. 24.09.2008 16:05 IST - 17:30 VIE TK1887

Return flight: Vienna - Singapore via Istanbul (COMPLIMENTARY STOPOVER) Mon. 29.09.2008 10:00 VIE - 13:15 IST TK66 Economy Flexible (Class H)
Mon. 29.09.2008 23:25 IST- 15:30 +1 SIN TK1884

This makes Kyo a very happy camper indeed! Pity that H is non-*A miles upgradeable, or else I'd be so excited I'd probably jump out the window... ah hang on, that's a good thing...


pogonation: You have saved my day! Happy to buy you a drink if we meet up one day!

SQtalk is sooo great!!!! I could never have figured this out by myself...

[9V-JKL]

Since you've not ticketed, how about exploring OS?

They fly nonstop between BKK & VIE. So perhaps you can try:

SIN-BKK-SIN on your fav LX and BKK-VIE-BKK on OS. I've not looked at fares so dont know how much they will be

[9V-JKL]

Just checked. OS is THB46490 for BKK-VIE-BKK booked into Q class which unfortunately only gives you 70% miles on TG ROP

OR

You can fly codeshares so:

September 24, 2008
20:40 22:00 SIN-BKK OS 8610 Thai Airways International (TG) economy / Q

September 24, 2008
23:55 05:35+1 BKK-VIE OS 26 Austrian Airlines (OS) economy / Q

September 29, 2008
23:20 14:20+1 VIE-BKK OS 25 Austrian Airlines (OS) economy / H

September 30, 2008
15:35 18:55 BKK-SIN OS 8817Swiss (LX) economy / H

All this for S$2,167 taxes inclusive

[Kyo]

I did check the OS site actually.

However, their absolutely shocking booking system which floods you with options like the Lufthansa one would not allow stopovers in Germany, on a Q class. FRA or MUC - I really had no inclination to go through 30 different combinations on Austrian, especially when it doesn't credit me a full 100% of miles at minimum.

So, the TK combination still gives me the most mileage, at the cheapest cost, and now, with 2 stopovers, a city tour, and 1 night in Istanbul (can be two, if I ask for it)...

It's so good, I just told my gf and she wants to come as well now. Except she is trying to figure out how to do the same from Bangkok... (either that or she has to fly an additional flight down to SIN and join me to Istanbul).

This means I also have to pay a substantial amount to bring her along, so it's very unconfirmed thus far for her... *ouch - looks at wallet*

[zander]

Hmm... why not consider crediting them to KF instead. S and U earn full 100% on KF.
If you change your ticketing such that your originating destination for your TK flight is BKK, a U class fare to VIE for TK will be $907 before taxes. S class is $1092 before taxes.
You can then get a seperate LX ticket to BKK.

[Kyo]

Hi zander,

Short version: TG is the better FFP for me.

Long version: I have decided that because most of my flights are regional, mileage takes a lot longer to accrue and many more flights are necessary.

Krisflyer is by no means the easiest FFP for a newcomer late to the game like myself. I started with Krisflyer back in 2007 March, failed to qualify for anything by 2008 March (only went for the cheapest fares before I stumbled upon Swiss SIN - BKK promotional fares one fine day on Zuji). However, after flying Swiss so often, I started paying more and more attention to the importance of *A status. So, when I failed to qualify (I was already aware it was going to happen, but didn't have the knowledge about other FFPs until maybe 1.5 months ago), it hit me that the only way to hit *G (seeing as I do fly SIN - BKK frequently for personal reasons, and occasionally SIN - SGN, and the odd sojourn SIN - ICN maybe once in a year), was for me to switch to another FFP with less-stringent requalification requirements.

Thai's Royal Orchid Plus program seems to suit this need perfectly. Whilst KF*S / *G is straightforward (25k for *S and 50k for *G), the reality is I may not actually fly 50k in a year on *A. It depends on what I have planned for the calendar year from April onwards.

I realised that *S is probably the easiest level to achieve if the FFP is Thai's ROP. With a 10k requirement, I'm guessing a whole lot more *S's would exist if people only knew how easy it was to obtain. Until a month ago, I didn't know this.

Sadly, I have already racked up 13,765 'bum-in-seat' miles (Thailand, Korea, Japan and Vietnam so far since early March) that I credited to KF. Yes, I could qualify for KF*S at 25k after this run, but since *S is pretty much worthless anyway, it would mean next to nothing for me. I'd rather let the 13,765 miles reset to zero by end of March 2009. I currently have studied the ROP program (I'm by no means an expert yet), and feel more confident that it is a heck of a lot easier to maintain due to the lesser miles needed to maintain *G status out of all *A FFPs. Not to mention that whatever status is achieved is valid for 2 years instead of the normal 1 year (like KF).

But wait. Other contenders I considered were Turkish Airways' Miles and Smiles and Asiana (both easier to reach than KF). BD's Cash + Miles was also considered - in fact, jhm made a very compelling case, but I just can't shake the nagging feeling that I'd be paying everything in British Pounds, and that it's alot more redemption-centric, not so much status, which is what I'm going for. Not to mention most people on the BD forum (and some even on SQTalk) believe that the end of the Diamond Club is drawing near with LH taking over BD. And to start as a fresh newcomer and aim for 57k (when I am already concerned with hitting KF's 50k requirement for *G), it's just not a feasible option, and too risky as I don't prefer Miles + More. I know LH Sen is pretty much out of the question, despite my frequent Business tickets on SIN - BKK.

Additionally, M+M becomes significantly more attractive if you have a M+M credit card issued in Europe. Which is not possible for someone working in Singapore to obtain.

The final nail in the coffin for KF as my regular FFP comes from the credit card I use - Citibank PremierMiles. For *A (which is the alliance I fly the most frequently), this card allows me to credit all the miles I earn to KF or TG ROP. I.e. I can double-dip with the better FFP at that time: if I want to use redemption miles on KF to get the 15% off on SQ metal, I will just have to divert what I need in terms of credit card miles over to KF. If I need more miles on ROP, I can send them there as well. As a side note, they also do AsiaMiles (CX) and WorldPerks (Northwest). Both carriers, I don't use.

Here's how to hit *S on TG (the wording used / date requirements to be honest, confuse me a little):

This second tier status is attained with Qualifying Miles earned during 3 evaluation periods. 10,000 Qualifying Miles from the date of enrolment up to December 31 of the same year, or 10,000 Qualifying Miles during the first complete calendar year after enrolment, a calendar year defined as January 1 to December 31 of any given year.
15,000 Qualifying Miles from the date of enrolment up to December 31 of the next complete calendar year.
On attaining Silver status you will receive your personalised membership card, a Member’s Handbook, and 3,000 threshold bonus miles.

Here's how to hit *G on TG (the wording used here / date requirements to also confuse me a little here):

This top tier status is attained with Qualifying Miles earned during 3 evaluation periods. 50,000 Qualifying Miles Miles from the date of enrolment up to December 31 of the same year, or 50,000 Qualifying Miles during the first complete calendar year after enrolment, a calendar year defined as January 1 to December 31 of any given year.
80,000 Qualifying Miles from the date of enrolment up to December 31 of the next complete calendar year.


On attaining Gold status you will receive your personalised Gold membership card and 2 luggage tags, plus 5,000 threshold bonus miles.

So now that we've established the main reasons - the benefits upon requalification on Royal Orchid Plus are simply more substantial than on Krisflyer in addition to the standard *G benefits. Upgrade vouchers and threshold mile bonuses are also a very nice touch indeed and tangible, usable rewards. Plus the hotels I favour in Bangkok are very generous with ROP (especially the Pullman's triple mileage on TG ROP, which is where I stay)

So, with a Economy flight to Europe, at least 3-4 more on Business to Bangkok this year, potentially one to visit my family back in Australia still to come next year, and enough CitiMiles to ensure that this happens, I think Thai's ROP is the better choice over KF, but I will still use the 15% discount on SQ flights, when I need to redeem on SQ. In fact, I just did that last week to fly to TPE (first ever FFP redemption, hooray for 15% off).

That's the long version... very long-winded, and still need more research to be done!

[Kyo]

I will be cancelling all the Swiss / Turkish bookings I made tomorrow... I'm now booked / ticketed / paid all the way (and back) to VIE and will be doing it on an assortment of SQ, SK, OS, TK, TG...

Yes, I decided to throw *A status out the window...

[KeithMEL]

Yes, I decided to throw *A status out the window...

... and ride comfortably in premium cabins on good value redemptions instead.

[jhm]

ride comfortably in premium cabins on good value redemptions instead.

Long haul as well! That or *S on TG ROP ? Hard decision!

Kyo - I'm glad it's worked out for you!

[Kyo]

KeithMEL: 'Twas a difficult choice...!

Now I have to figure out how to get to Brissie AND Tassie in 8 months or my folks will kill me if I keep avoiding them...

jhm: Butttt... it's ROYAL Orchid Plus!!!! (I have to show some support/divided loyalty *depending on how you look at it* to the other half... heheh)

Seriously, I owed you a drink before, now I owe you way more - a drink and some cake! heheheh

(seriously, we'll have a great time in Vienna... you've been more than forthcoming)

[jhm]

I hope this is the best forum for this enquiry (since I wasn't able to find a SIN-VIE flight on SQ this was the best I could come up with)

...

How things change in 18 months!

[kapitan]

How things change in 18 months!

yes, from whY to F all the way.....

how he did it???

[Kyo]

Actually I'm still toying with the idea of TG ROP... could come in handy if I keep taking TG flights!

Wow, this thread revives old memories...

jhm, you unleashed a monster?