SQ metal, VA flight number - accrue Elite miles?

[SQ747]

If I book an SQ operated flight through Virgin Australia (and fly on SQ metal) will I continue to earn Elite Miles and KF miles as normal? Or will it just be KF miles?

[alian]

There is an article here on the SQ discounted fares via VA. It answer your question.

https://hightechflight.com/2016/11/0...sia-from-a356/

I do believe there is both accruals but discount tickets usually limited to 10% so limited value. All the best

[SQ228]

If I book an SQ operated flight through Virgin Australia (and fly on SQ metal) will I continue to earn Elite Miles and KF miles as normal? Or will it just be KF miles?

Yes, but as alian says, depends on the fare type. It's normally only the absolute cheapest that is exempt.

Not only that, when you fly on any VA flight, you can credit your miles to Krisflyer, and I'm fairly certain they have earned me elite miles in the past. Does not have to be an SQ codeshare flight, all VA flights can credit you with KF miles.

[SQ228]

If I book an SQ operated flight through Virgin Australia (and fly on SQ metal) will I continue to earn Elite Miles and KF miles as normal? Or will it just be KF miles?

Sorry, I read your post incorrectly and my mind thought you were talking about flights within Australia. Now I get what you are asking...

What I have found out is that when flying VA within Australia, you only earn elite miles if the VA flight you fly is an officially codeshared flight. It makes sense to me now why sometimes I get an elite miles credit and sometimes not.

It stands to reason then that if the SQ flight is codeshared by VA, that the same agreement would most likely apply, provided that their partnership agreement is bilateral. SQ seem to reserve a certain quota of seats on their flights for VA, as last year when my brother wanted to fly his family to Japan on Xmas Eve, the only way they could source tickets on SQ228 out of MEL was to book it through VA. SQ was showing as fully booked for the same flight.

[SQ747]

Done some more research and the contact centre cleared it all up. They have a way of aligning each Virgin Australia fare code to the Singapore Airlines fare codes. So, for example, if I were to book a Singapore Airlines flight using a VA flight number, with fare code "T", this aligns to a Singapore Airlines fare code "K", and would earn both KrisFlyer and Elite Miles at the "K" level (just 10%), as if it were a normal SQ flight.

Unfortunately this table doesn't appear to be available online or anywhere public, so in future, it's best to find out your VA fare code and call the contact centre to find out what SQ code it aligns to, in order to work out what you will earn.

[alian]

Done some more research and the contact centre cleared it all up. They have a way of aligning each Virgin Australia fare code to the Singapore Airlines fare codes. So, for example, if I were to book a Singapore Airlines flight using a VA flight number, with fare code "T", this aligns to a Singapore Airlines fare code "K", and would earn both KrisFlyer and Elite Miles at the "K" level (just 10%), as if it were a normal SQ flight.

Unfortunately this table doesn't appear to be available online or anywhere public, so in future, it's best to find out your VA fare code and call the contact centre to find out what SQ code it aligns to, in order to work out what you will earn.

Interesting - Link from SQ Website http://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pd...FOALLevels.pdf for some reference.

Hmmm it seems if you book via Virgin Australia on a T class it looks like it's 50% though. Not sure if this is applicable to you.

Hope this info helps

[SQ747]

Interesting - Link from SQ Website http://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pd...FOALLevels.pdf for some reference.

Hmmm it seems if you book via Virgin Australia on a T class it looks like it's 50% though. Not sure if this is applicable to you.

Hope this info helps

Ahh I looked at this too and got excited! When I spoke to the call centre, they said that chart is only for travel on Virgin Australia. When it's SQ aircraft with VA flight no. it's apparently different: they use a fare level matching chart, and T apparently matches to K

[KeithMEL]

Ahh I looked at this too and got excited! When I spoke to the call centre, they said that chart is only for travel on Virgin Australia. When it's SQ aircraft with VA flight no. it's apparently different: they use a fare level matching chart, and T apparently matches to K

In a codeshare scenario the marketing carrier's fare buckets are mapped to the most equivalent operating carrier's fare bucket. On top of this, Star Alliance carriers process FFP accruals (and bill their partners) based on the operating carrier's fare bucket. The transparency of this can be debated but partner airlines try to align things reciprocally as in principle products are supposed to be 'metal neutral' (especially when the 2 carriers operate a JV or strategic alliance) and you're not meant to be disadvantaged when booking one carrier's code over another. In reality, the complexities of airline revenue management systems and FFP processes mean gaps can and do exist... T&Cs apply etc etc