I've done some work on this but I thought I'd get some comment from those who have more experience before I proceed any further.
Looking to visit TSE next year for a week during one of my holiday breaks. SQ don't have any codeshares to Kazakhstan so I've come up with the most obvious *A itineraries involving maximum SQ:
1. MEL-SIN-PEK (SQ) then PEK-TSE (CA)
2. MEL-SIN-IST (SQ) then IST-TSE (TK)
I decided I should look into finally doing a J redemption because Y redemptions don't seem to offer much value and I might need some comfort on this long trek! I've checked all possible combinations of dates via both possible routes and there are still Saver redemptions available on the SQ sectors in J. I'm sitting on plenty of miles to cover, provided they are saver J or standard Y. I'm lead to believe by the website that *A redemptions have their own schedule of miles.
Firstly, is the best way forward to call the KF membership services number and see if they can book either of these routes through as a *A redemption flight? If I could get the ticket as a single booking that would offer me a lot more security.
Secondly- any tips anybody can offer on these two itineraries:
CA via PEK:
On the way to TSE, the transfer would be 2h40. With the next flight 2 days later, is this too short and I'd be better arriving on the previous flight and sitting in PEK for hours to be sure? If I am on one ticket, do I simply go through clearance on to the next flight or will luggage collection and checking in again be needed? I was thinking I could just do a redemption to/from PEK, but the idea of a separate ticket PEK-TSE gets me very nervous. If I did separate, the CA sector would have to be Y because it's 10% of the price for J. Is CA really, really awful for a 4 hour flight? Would English speaking staff work a sector like this?
TK via IST:
The flight times for this option are horrendous (they arr/dep TSE at around 0300!) but I've heard good things about *A Gold lounge at IST and the transit times are long, so there's little worry about missing connections. There's plenty of redemptions available in J on flights to IST so I wouldn't have to endure the old 772ER Y. Is this likely to be a safer itinerary that's worth dealing with the older plane, the awful flight times and the extra distance?
Any thoughts appreciated!
Looking to visit TSE next year for a week during one of my holiday breaks. SQ don't have any codeshares to Kazakhstan so I've come up with the most obvious *A itineraries involving maximum SQ:
1. MEL-SIN-PEK (SQ) then PEK-TSE (CA)
2. MEL-SIN-IST (SQ) then IST-TSE (TK)
I decided I should look into finally doing a J redemption because Y redemptions don't seem to offer much value and I might need some comfort on this long trek! I've checked all possible combinations of dates via both possible routes and there are still Saver redemptions available on the SQ sectors in J. I'm sitting on plenty of miles to cover, provided they are saver J or standard Y. I'm lead to believe by the website that *A redemptions have their own schedule of miles.
Firstly, is the best way forward to call the KF membership services number and see if they can book either of these routes through as a *A redemption flight? If I could get the ticket as a single booking that would offer me a lot more security.
Secondly- any tips anybody can offer on these two itineraries:
CA via PEK:
On the way to TSE, the transfer would be 2h40. With the next flight 2 days later, is this too short and I'd be better arriving on the previous flight and sitting in PEK for hours to be sure? If I am on one ticket, do I simply go through clearance on to the next flight or will luggage collection and checking in again be needed? I was thinking I could just do a redemption to/from PEK, but the idea of a separate ticket PEK-TSE gets me very nervous. If I did separate, the CA sector would have to be Y because it's 10% of the price for J. Is CA really, really awful for a 4 hour flight? Would English speaking staff work a sector like this?
TK via IST:
The flight times for this option are horrendous (they arr/dep TSE at around 0300!) but I've heard good things about *A Gold lounge at IST and the transit times are long, so there's little worry about missing connections. There's plenty of redemptions available in J on flights to IST so I wouldn't have to endure the old 772ER Y. Is this likely to be a safer itinerary that's worth dealing with the older plane, the awful flight times and the extra distance?
Any thoughts appreciated!
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