How to beat the "waiting list" to redeem an award ticket with Singapore Airlines
After reading my review of the Suite on board Singapore Airlines' A380, many readers wrote to me asking [...]
Singapore Airlines
Star Alliance
After reading my review of the Suites on board Singapore Airlines' A380, many readers have written to me asking. what the "waitlist" was and lumens on its operation. Since, if you want, you can book a ticket on board SQ, not only the Suite but even regular business class up to to the round-the-world ticket. So I thought I would explain in detail all the workings and how to survive the waitlist system to redeem an award ticket with Singapore Airlines.
What is the Singapore Airlines Waitlist
In this article:
We have repeatedly talked about the Krisflyer program and how, even taking advantage of monthly offers, it is possible to redeem award tickets at truly competitive prices, with a carrier that also charges some of the cheapest fuel surcharges in the world.
What is special about the program is that it offers members the opportunity to put themselves on a waiting list to redeem a prize ticket. Here are the salient info on how it works:
- Elite status in the Krisflyer program is the only known factor that improves the chances Of getting a ticket if you are in the queue
- The waiting list is Only possible for Singapore Airlines flights.
- It is possible to get in line for both Saver (the cheaper ones) and Advantage award tickets.
- It is necessary have enough miles on the account In order to get on the waiting list
- No miles are deducted When you get on the waiting list
- There is no limit to the number of flights For which you can put yourself on a waiting list
- If the position is released, usually you have 72 hours to confirm your reservation, but there is no obligation to proceed with the purchase
- Waiting lists are open up to three weeks before departure. All waiting lists will be automatically cancelled two weeks before departure
- Waiting lists are generally cleared within a month of departure, but it is not certain at 100%
- Spontaneous Escapes awards cannot be placed on the waiting list
If you are looking for a place to fly into the Suite from Singapore, I found, for example, a place on March 19 at a price two and a half times what I paid to fly from Frankfurt to New York. But even given the rising cost of award tickets, it will be difficult to revise those figures. All other dates are on the waiting list.
In practice, Singapore Airlines will make additional seats available-if unsold in the traditional way-to passengers waiting for confirmation.
How to get on the waiting list
The operation is simple. You search for the ticket you want to book, and if there is only a waiting list, all you have to do is select it.
Virtually all flights have this option, and if you don't see it, the reason is only one: the waiting list is also full.
Once you have chosen an itinerary, you can confirm your position on the waiting list. The system will also try to suggest a possible bookable backup ticket in case you cannot get the seat you are in the queue for.
From this moment the patient waiting begins. A wait that, as mentioned, lasts up to a couple of weeks before the assumed departure. If you do not redeem the seat, the option will expire without cost or penalty. If you do not redeem the seat, you will spend nothing and suffer no penalty.
What happens when I'm on the waiting list
In the months between booking and travel date Singapore Airlines will remind the passenger of the existence of the booking at regular intervals: 9months, 6months, 3 months, 1 month. The emails will not tell anything new.
The important thing to know is. while on the waiting list you can use the Krisflyer points you have in your account without losing your place in line. The important thing is to have the points to redeem the ticket if you get the seat.
Is there anything I can do to get the ticket?
First come, first served, again. As in Disneyland, here too, getting in line first gives you a better chance than coming in last (with equal status).
Single is better, just as it is more difficult to have theUpgrade if you are traveling as a couple or in a group, The same goes for the waiting list. Given that if you aim for First there are only 6 seats. I do not recommend putting 3 in the queue: better to try with three single reservations.
Making phone calls (maybe) doesn't help. There are legends, but I have no direct experience of phone calls that have unblocked the situation. And I am like St. Thomas, I believe only if I touch with my hand.
In conclusion
There are two cabins in the world where it makes sense to aim for the waitlist: the Singapore Airlines Suite and the All Nippon Airlines Suite. Both airlines have the waitlist system and one is more nerve-wracking than the other. But the reward is high so it is worth getting in line and hoping.
