SQ and MI to charge for seat selection in Y

[SQ_326]

Maybe this is the trigger to drop your loyalty. I'm lucky that my company pays for my business travel, much of it on SQ. But for my personal travel (of which there is quite a bit), I go for the cheapest convenient airline. List of airlines I flew over the last 12 months on personal travel (all on Y): QF, JQ, EK, TR, TG, SK, CI, UA (including 15 hours on UA38), AS, NH. I live in Singapore but it's been years since I paid out of my pocket for SQ tickets. Fly other airlines and use the savings for better hotels and meals. Savings are 4x greater for me as all my personal travel is with family.

I am the opposite. Travel in Y for work and J for vacation. That said, it is time for me to switch.

[orionmiz]

wow, seems like most of the posters here travel on the more expensive fare code tickets.

I must be the minority that travel mostly on V and K tickets.

Advance seat selection isn't too much of an issue for me, since quite a number of times it's either there's no good seats left for me to choose, or maybe even no seats for me to choose at all until 48hrs before my flight...

[brissypete]

With charging for seat selection I would hope that the seats available for advance selection will be greater than what it is currently otherwise there would be little value in it.

[9V-SML]

While I’ve been perfectly fine with not choosing my seat up until about 48hrs before flight on BA and QF, I think this change at SQ means it loses one of the last vestiges of differentiation in Y class that I value when travelling in Y (which is 90% of the time).

My folks in Singapore recently balked at not being able to select seats on SQ despite paying for fully flexible Y tickets as “all seats available for advance seat selection are currently unavailable”. Anyone with similar experience? This happened 3 weeks out from the flight.

[davidfusq]

Well, I don't read these new rules with any joy at all. SQ customers specifically like me seem to have been hurt the hardest in all of this which is hardly a great reward for such unwavering brand loyalty.

I always plan out my flights so that I can accrue 50k status miles per membership year in order to maintain KFEG status. That's a lot of flying when it's in Y being paid out of your own pocket (not by work). I have never selected the cheapest fares because of the low or non-existent mileage accrual. In the vast majority of bookings, I am flying Flexi Saver, booked 6-9 months in advance.

So what do I get in order to "better meet my travel needs"? All my mileage accruals cut to 75%. So to now maintain KFEG, either I need to fly an extra 33.3% compared to now (I already spend close to 120 hours in the air per year) or pay for full Flexi fares, which would cost me several $1000 more per year.

Instead, SQ chooses to give greater rewards to people who fly with the cheapest possible fares by multiplying their accrual 5-fold. I'm sure they'll stick by you 100% like I do. I'm sure they'll fly from Australia to the US via SIN.

Thanks for rewarding my devoted loyalty, SQ.

@SQ228 Don't worry, the flights that you have ticketed prior to 20 Jan 2018 will still earn the old mileage accrual rates.

Will the new mileage accrual rates affect tickets I've already purchased?
If your ticket was issued or you make changes to your booking before 20 January 2018, the old mileage accrual rates apply. If your ticket is issued or you make changes to your booking on or after 20 January 2018, the new mileage accrual rates apply.

So after 20 Jan 2018, you can buy the cheapest ticket and still earn plenty of miles. I think it works both ways.

[SQuelch]

My folks in Singapore recently balked at not being able to select seats on SQ despite paying for fully flexible Y tickets as “all seats available for advance seat selection are currently unavailable”. Anyone with similar experience? This happened 3 weeks out from the flight.

This is basically my experience with SQ as well, I've always had to wait till the 96-hour mark before the seat selection opens up and I was able to choose a seat. Of course this just means the 96-hour window changes to a 48-hour one, yes?

[Jumbojet Lover]

I was thrilled that since its inception, PEY has had only 1 fare class, which means that as long as you manage to get a cheap PEY ticket, you still earn the same 110% mileage rate and can upgrade to J depending on availability.

Alas, it was too good to last

[spaceheep]

Ohh SQ is going down the path of QF & VA

[zilchster]

Well, I don't read these new rules with any joy at all. SQ customers specifically like me seem to have been hurt the hardest in all of this which is hardly a great reward for such unwavering brand loyalty.

I always plan out my flights so that I can accrue 50k status miles per membership year in order to maintain KFEG status. That's a lot of flying when it's in Y being paid out of your own pocket (not by work). I have never selected the cheapest fares because of the low or non-existent mileage accrual. In the vast majority of bookings, I am flying Flexi Saver, booked 6-9 months in advance.

So what do I get in order to "better meet my travel needs"? All my mileage accruals cut to 75%. So to now maintain KFEG, either I need to fly an extra 33.3% compared to now (I already spend close to 120 hours in the air per year) or pay for full Flexi fares, which would cost me several $1000 more per year.

Instead, SQ chooses to give greater rewards to people who fly with the cheapest possible fares by multiplying their accrual 5-fold. I'm sure they'll stick by you 100% like I do. I'm sure they'll fly from Australia to the US via SIN.

Thanks for rewarding my devoted loyalty, SQ.

I feel the same as you do. I got to Gold travelling Economy. With this change is accrual rates and a change in personal circumstances, this would also hit me hard. I guess I'll just survive on Aegean Gold then. The only reason why I maintain Krisflyer is because I could redeem my miles on SQ.

And yes, thanks for rewarding my loyalty SQ for devaluing your accrual rates. And with the few unpleasant incidents I have had with SQ recently, I guess it is time to take my business with SQ to other airlines (TG...CA..)

[zilchster]

The cheapest ticket currently is those earning 50% miles, but there are the sale fares which earn 10%. Wonder whether those tickets will still be available.

I guess I would have to wait with bated breath to see how things pan out post Jan 20 accrual rates and classes and fares wise.

[sbs2716g]

Lucky SQ did not say that for LITE fare must pay/buy the meals.

[KC*]

Lucky SQ did not say that for LITE fare must pay/buy the meals.

DON'T speak too soon.

[zilchster]

Lucky SQ did not say that for LITE fare must pay/buy the meals.

SQ meals are really get bad nowadays. It's a far cry from 10 years ago (okay that's really long...but if you compare the meals to 5 years ago, it's really bad)

I had the same options for breakfast on SQ 800 (SIN-PEK) and SQ 231 (SIN-SYD)...the only difference was that I have an additional yogurt cup on SQ 231. SQ 800 was just a fruit, bun + main course

SQ 609 ICN-SIN I had the Korean option - some Chicken braised stew. I had 4 small pieces of chicken. And the appetiser - pre packed kimchi, the Western option had a slightly better appetiser. Dessert was some cup custard.

It won't be long before SQ does an AF/BA and allows you to purchase better meals on Y.

[flyguy]

yes have noticed the drop in the quality of its meals esp in Y class for most of its sectors. And now with more pay for options, it would be a matter of time before passengers realise the drop in quality of SIA inflight services and will try other carriers. It's sad to see SIA lowering its standards because of its cost cutting and should know where to make the heavier cuts on other than to its passengers' services. Even its PE meals are the same as economy which other airlines have their own PE meals.

[EWR]

Ditto on the meals. The dessert icecreams have halved in size over the last decade, for instance. Menus are gone on shorter routes (not even a card for each customer), snack options cut back that they actually run out, and drinks options no longer communicated to passengers. Not to forget the poor hard products for most regional routes. Granted, the B787-10s and A359s are coming online (and when is that?), but the interim years could be enough to see SQ losing - especially overseas - customers already. Personally, I have already lost loyalty all these years, opting for QF, BA, and even UA - many of these (maybe with the exception of the terrible BA seats in Y and JCL) have decent hard products now - e.g. UA's polaris.

Back to the subject of the (confusing) new fare structure: I found this at the bottom of the FAQs:

"My award ticket was issued before 1 Mar 2018. What happens when I make a change to my ticket after that date?

For award tickets issued before 1 March 2018, the old change fees apply the first time that the ticket is changed. However, the new fees will apply if you make any subsequent changes or cancel your ticket thereafter."

Given that most folks book redemption tickets way in advance, what does this mean for those on waitlist and having to change their flight dates two or more times following 1 March? It's also a little unclear if the first free change includes a cancellation after 1 March.

Confusing and a totally unnecessary - possibly damaging - downgrade of service. I remember the time when SQ used to set standards and buck the trend; now it's just following the crowd and racing to the bottom. The transformation unit is a disaster, IMHO