V-Flyer

Hi All

I know that using Virgin miles with 'partner' airlines is difficult, but it's got bl**dy ridiculous with Singapore airlines. This is my difficulty for next year.

Virgin's website clearly quotes for First Class London -Singapore
and for Business Class London-Singapore (180,000 and 120,000 miles respectively)

However Singapore says (and Virgin confirm) that you can't use miles on A380's OR on the B-777.

There used to be a B747 service London - Singapore (on which you could
use miles for First or Business) BUT this doesn't exist now. There are ONLY the 2 x A380's and 1 x B777 flights every day.

So Virgin are clearly advertising something that they know they can't fulfull. Doesn't the trade descriptions act come into this somewhere?

I agree, there are other threads covering this, but it is worth a thread on its own to highlight the ?new? policy of no VS Flying Club points redemptions in first or business class on SQ.

Nick

You could try a call to your local council's trading standards department or the consumerdirect website

Nick

I think this is a NEW policy. The FC representative read this policy to me, dated about a week ago. It used to be difficult but possible to fly business or first (I did it last year) but with the 747 option it wasn't technically incorrect for Virgin to claim you could.

Now it's not difficult - it's banned totally - and therefore definitely misleading

It's a bit like a lottery with no winners:)-

Misleading yes, but as the website says europe - singapore I guess they could argue that 747's still fly to some european locations?

It was first mentioned on V-Flyer by Milliemoo in this thread on 11th April.

If the policy is nearly a month old, that is plenty of time for VS to change their website, I would have thought.

As there has been no official word or press release about this, we have no idea if it is a temporary stop or a permanent one.

As you say - VS redemptions on SQ have never been easy - I always got the impression that the booking system was made deliberately difficult to try and stop it happening - but that may just be me being cynical.

If it was a deliberate policy, then it worked - as I gave up and spent my points on VS flights to HKG and SYD instead. [:?]

Nick

This is a prime example of why it is key to know how you plan to use your miles when earning them. If the goal was a free SQ business ticket via VS flying then possibly having the VS flown miles credited to a SQ KrisFlyer account would have been an affective path.

quote:Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
This is a prime example of why it is key to know how you plan to use your miles when earning them. If the goal was a free SQ business ticket via VS flying then possibly having the VS flown miles credited to a SQ KrisFlyer account would have been an affective path.

I thought KrisFlyer reservations were also banned on the A380 in J and R?

quote:Originally posted by McMaddog
quote:Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
This is a prime example of why it is key to know how you plan to use your miles when earning them. If the goal was a free SQ business ticket via VS flying then possibly having the VS flown miles credited to a SQ KrisFlyer account would have been an affective path.

I thought KrisFlyer reservations were also banned on the A380 in J and R?

Scrub that - just found the link - R is not allowed

quote:Originally posted by mcmbenjamin
This is a prime example of why it is key to know how you plan to use your miles when earning them....


I agree with your sentiments Ben, but until recently saving VS miles for SQ redemption was perfectly legit. It is only recently that the rug has been pulled from under us - without warning. [n]

Nick

MCMaddog

To share my conversation with the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer help desk, they confirmed that there is a class of reward fare available for Kris Flyer members to use to travel in First & Business on non-747s (ie A380s and B-777s) but 'Virgin members can't use this class

So one rule on Singapore for Kris Flyers, and a poorer rule for Virgins...

Barnstable

Yes, you're right. The SQ25 flight from Frankfurt to Singapore is still a B747 - so that's their 'getout', as in theory (if space is available) you can go Frankfurt to Singapore First class

Thanks for pointing out this little loophole - just the things I'd expect from experienced V-Flyers.....

And I suppose you could get a flight from a regional airport to Frankfurt quite reasonably. although with the extra change perhaps miles would be better spent on Jet Airways from London via Mumbai or MH perhaps?

I've done some more research and now believe that it's possible to travel Business (but not first) on Singapore airlines flights from Manchester, because it's a B777-200

I'll report back later on my hypothesis

I Called FC last night, and surprisingly the Manchester-Singapore route IS allowed in business. The plane used is a B777-200 which doesn't have a First area (so first is not allowed) but on a dummy booking some legs appeared to have capacity

Every time I learn more about FC rules I realise there's so much more I don't know!

So....

SQ to VS : We're going to use your check-in, clubhouse, etc. OK? (tough)

SQ to VS : Oh, and by the way, we're taking away benefits to YOUR members left, right and center.



OK.... [ii][n]