Singapore Airlines - Latest news & views for loyalty members 

Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines restore ability to earn/redeem/transfer points between programs from 19 July 2022
5 Jul '22

The ability to transfer your Velocity Points and KrisFlyer miles between programs is due to restart on 19 July 2022!

If you are also a member of KrisFlyer, the loyalty program of Singapore Airlines, you can set up a link between your Velocity Account and KrisFlyer Account and convert Points and Miles between both programs. 

For every 1.55 KrisFlyer miles you transfer, you will earn 1 Velocity Point. A minimum transfer amount of 5,000 KrisFlyer miles is required. This is the same rate that applied just prior to the covid-19 crisis (but the minimum transfer has been reduced from 10,000 to 5,000 KrisFlyer miles).

Note that transfers cannot be reversed once made.

You will also be able to redeem Velocity Points for Reward Seats in Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class on the Singapore Airlines network (T&C's and exclusions will apply).

Great news for members of both programs, reopening opportunities that were available prior to February 2020.

It also provides an opiton for holders of larger KrisFlyer balances to "save" miles that are close to expiring, as KrisFlyer miles have a "hard" expiry of 3 years, whereas Velocity points do not expire as long as there is some activity every 2 years. Note that miles transferred cannot be transferred back again. Read More…

Singapore Airlines Upgrades Its Lounge Offerings At Changi
6 Jun '22

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is positioning itself for a potential shift in traveling patterns of premium and high-net-worth customers through Singapore Changi airport, as the market shifts toward Southeast Asia. The Star Alliance member has unveiled an upgraded and expanded SilverKris and KrisFlyer Gold lounge at Changi Terminal 3. The project cost the airline S$50 million (US$37 million) and took nearly three years to complete. 

The four lounge areas, known as Private Room, the First-Class section of the SilverKris Lounge, the Business Class section of the SilverKris Lounge, and the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge, can collectively accommodate around 1,150 customers within 6,100 sq m, an 30% increase. 

The business-class section of the SilverKris lounge can host 570 travellers, including 200 in the dining area.

All areas have a dedicated dining area, food service counters, restrooms, and showers, as well as baby care and accessible facilities.

Singapore Airlines boosts services to Australia
31 May '22

Singapore Airlines will increase its operations to four times daily to Melbourne, while Cairns and Darwin will increase to five times weekly, as travel demand continues to grow.

The increase in services to the two Northern Australian destinations aligns with the region’s peak visitation period and will support the recovery efforts of local tourism and travel operators.

The airline will roll out the airline’s newest narrowbody aircraft, the Boeing 737-8 (pictured) from June 2 on services to Darwin.

Singapore Airlines has invested around S$230 million in the development, design, and installation of the new cabin products, which elevate the standard for short- and medium-haul travel onboard narrowbody aircraft. The 737-8 is fitted with 154 seats across two classes, 10 in Business Class and 144 in Economy Class.

From June 2 onwards, the changes will be:

• Cairns services will increase from three to five-times weekly, with SQ203/SQ204 to operate every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• Services to Darwin will increase to five-times weekly, with SQ251/252 operating every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
• Victorians will have four-daily flight options between Melbourne and Singapore when SQ207/SQ208 begins operations. The fourth-daily service will be operated by SIA’s Airbus A350-900 medium-haul aircraft, fitted with 40 lie-flat Business Class seats, all with direct aisle access and 263 ergonomically designed Economy Class seats in a 3-3-3 layout.

After these changes,, Singapore Airlines will operate 113 weekly flights between Singapore and seven Australian ports, while low-cost subsidiary Scoot will operate 23 weekly flights across four Australian ports for a total of 136 weekly services.

Top 20 Safest Airlines for 2022
7 Jan '22

Airline Ratings has announced its 2022 rankings of the Top 20 Safest Airlines, taken from the list of 385 different airlines it monitors.

Qantas lost its long-held spot at number 1. This year, the winner's prize travels across the Tasman sea to Air New Zealand. 

When announcing the results, Airline Ratings noted that “there is very little between the top 20, they are all standouts.”  So all of these 20 are excellent choices from a safety perspective.

Two of the ME3 were in the top 5 with Singapore Airlines and TAP.

Qantas dropped to 7th spot. The Virgin cousins ranked 10th.

The full list of rankings are:

• Air New Zealand
• Etihad Airways
• Qatar Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• TAP Air Portugal
• SAS,
• Qantas
• Alaska Airlines
• EVA Air
• Virgin Australia/Atlantic
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• Hawaiian Airlines
• American Airlines
• Lufthansa/Swiss Group
• Finnair
• Air France/KLM Group
• British Airways
• Delta Air Lines
• United Airlines; and
• Emirates.

Congratulations (and thanks) to all these airlines for their ongoing commitment to safety !

Singapore Airlines Supporting its Corporate Customers with Carbon Offsets
28 Dec '21

Singapore Airlines continues to be invested in conducting business responsibly and integrating sustainability in its operations.

To help its corporate customers (through its HighFlyer loyalty program) it has launched a program where In partnership with Tasman Environmental Markets (TEM) and its BlueHalo® digital solution, businesses can calculate and offset carbon emissions associated with the travel of their employees.

Perhaps not as good as SIA offsetting it themselves, but a step in the right direction and every little bit helps.

Once you have calculated the amount to offset, businesses can offset them using Paying.Green's CarbonEasy program. (advertiser)

Shangri-La extends status of its Diamond & Jade members until end of 2022 !
4 Oct '21

Shangri-La's Golden Circle has extended tier status for all of its Diamond and Jade members globally. With this extension, all Golden Circle Diamond and Jade members will maintain their current tier status and benefits until 31 December 2022.

American Express Platinum (multiple jurisdictions) members had the Golden Circle Jade status benefit discontinued on 31 March 2021, so this tier extension is definitely welcome news. Golden Circle members typically need the following stays and nights to qualify or maintain their status in the year ahead - Diamond: 50 Nights or 25 Stays or Jade: 20 Nights or 10 Stays.

But the Shangri-La status does not just have benefits by itself, but also, it has many associated perks which come with it, including:

1. Short-cut to Star Alliance Gold status - Shangri-La Jade-tier and Diamond-tier members receive instant KrisFlyer Silver status once they join up their Shangri-La Golden Circle and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer accounts. After that, Shangri-La Jade Members need to take 3 flights on Singapore Airlines, or just 1 flight as a Diamond member to receive KrisFlyer Gold status.

Once you have KrisFlyer Gold status, you have the equivalent of Star Alliance Gold status, which means you unlock the associated benefits on flights on Star Alliance members across the globe.

2. Enjoy Taj InnerCircle Gold status - Under the terms of a strategic alliance between Shangri-La Golden Circle and Taj Inner Circle, there is an automatic status match between the tiers of the programmes.  Golden Circle Jade members match to InnerCircle Gold and Golden Circle Diamond members match to InnerCircle Platinum (and vice-versa).

While Taj InnerCircle is mostly an Indian hotel company’s loyalty programme, Taj also has hotels in various countries worldwide, such as the US, UAE and UK.

Shangri-La will also waive the cancellation charges regardless of booking channel for all guests, if cancelled more than 24 hours prior to arrival date. The hotels reserve the right to contact all inbound international guests at least 30 days prior to their arrival dates to confirm or cancel their reservations.

These changes are part of the Shangri-La Cares program. 

2021 Airline of the Year - Skytrax
30 Sep '21

 
The 2021 Skytrax World Airline Awards winners were announced this week.  ....and the winner of the 2021 Airline of the Year goes to...Qatar Airways.
Singapore Airlines ranked 2nd, and ANA All Nippon Airways in 3rd place. Qantas was ranked 8th

Qatar Airways also received the awards for the World’s Best Business Class, the World’s Best Business Class Seat and the Best Airline in the Middle East.

Singapore Airlines, ranked No 2 worldwide, won the top accolade for the World’s Best Cabin Crew and was also honoured with awards for the World’s Best First Class, the Best Airline in Asia and the World’s Best First Class Seat.

ANA All Nippon Airways maintained its No 3 global ranking from last year and also won the World’s Best Airport Services award. Winning the 2021 award as the World’s Cleanest Airline is a particularly important success during the global pandemic.

Best First Class class was awarded to Singapore Airlines, with Lufthansa and Emirates second and third respectively.

The rankings for Best Business Class were identical to the overall rankings - Qatar, follwed by Singapore and then ANA.

Virgin Atlantic was named the World's Best Premium Economy Class airline, ahead of Singapore Airlines in 2nd place and Lufthansa in 3rd position.

For more details, or to see how your favourites fared, click below. Read More…