Trouble Booking SQ On-Line: Just Ex-Aust?

[soak01]

Rather than using a travel agent, as a Krisflyer member, I have been trying to price an itinerary using the SQ on-line booking system but it keeps coming up that the selected criteria is not available.

I am trying to price an Economy ticket for the following:

6/12/08 ADL/SIN (SQ268)
7/12/08 SIN/LAX (SQ12)
10/1/09 YVR/SIN (SQ17)
15/1/09 SIN/ADL (SQ269)

I can price individual sectors but not the entire trip using the multi-stop booking. However, when I substitute LAX with SFO it does quote me an itinerary and price??? Even if I try changing ADL to either SYD or MEL or modify my dates it still does not work. In case there is a problem trying to book itineraries ex-Australia to LAX I contacted SQ Aust Reservations by email and received this response:

Due to a system limitation, not all itinerary options are offered for selection by the website, even if the flights are available. The system also ignores any times specified in the search criteria unless the flights are connecting in Singapore within the same day.

If you wish to still book your preferred itinerary below, we invite you to ring our Reservations Office on 13 10 11 and our Reservations agents can make the booking for you over the phone.

Has anyone else had this problem. Also do you know if I make a booking by phone do they charge you any admin fee (like a TA) and can I still select my seats at the time of booking?

[super bean flicker]

When booking on the phone some agent will change the seat for you (rare) and some will say it can't be done. You can't change your seat online until OLCI 48 hours before the flight.

If you call the SQ Call Reservations in Singapore they charge SG$25 or 30 per passenger, not sure if they'll do the same in Australia.

You could try a 1 way booking ADL to LAX online, then phone SQ to make the departure date one day later for your stopover.

Then a 1 way booking YVR to ADL online, and again phone SQ to change the departure date for your stopover. Also note that departures from YVR are on Mon, Thurs & Sat, so the departure date would be 11th as no flights on 10th Jan.

Not ideal, but it would work. Also a travel agent/SQ Call Centre might be cheaper as they could purchase an open jaw return ticket instead of two one way tickets.

Also the fares will be increasing on 1st April so start ticketing now!

[soak01]

Okay, so now I'm confused.

I just tried my booking again but changed my location to Singapore. When I first tried an itinerary with LAX I got the selection error message again. I then substituted LAX with SFO and I got an itinerary and price. I then replaced SFO with LAX again and hey presto................it worked and it gave me an itinerary and price?????

I was also surprised to see on the flight options that in addition to SQ12 between SIN and LAX it also gave me the option of SQ28 but only between TPE and LAX, whilst SIN/TPE was on either SQ876 or 878.

[jjpb3]

Something's afoot with the website. I've been exploring flights ex-LHR to SE Asia, and it either comes up with a very restricted set of recommendations, or flashes a message about not being able to recommend an internet fare.

Based on my recent experiences, booking on singaporeair.com has become a grind compared to what it was in the past.