Waitlisting Tricks for Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

What Does “Waitlist” Mean?

Waitlist means that the flight that you are trying to book on is full or there are no redemption awards left on that flight.  Singapore Airlines will only release a certain number of redemptions for each flight and this may be reduced or increased by the demand for that flight.

So if it’s a popular route on a popular day you’re going to be out of luck.  But should your waitist clear and become available then you can get your award redemption confirmed.

How to Book a Waitlist Flight Using KrisFlyer Miles

In order to book a waitlist flight you’ll need a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer account.  You can search for a redemption flight directly from the Singapore Airlines home page via the “Flight Search”.  You’ll need to input your preferred flights, select redeem award flights and then you’ll need to login.

Once through you’ll need to then select the flights that you want, and in this case a “waitlist” flight as you want a “Saver” award which isn’t currently available.  In the example below I want the early flight but it’s only available as Waitlist.

The final part of the process is to book the waitlist flight, just continue on through after you’ve selected your flights you’ll then see the page below.  As long as you have enough KrisFlyer miles you’ll be able to waitlist.  You can reserve your “Waitlist” without the need to pay the fee that’s stated on the fare – you’ll only be charged this when the waitlist clears and becomes available.

 Note that at no part during the booking process will miles be deducted from your KrisFlyer account – this comes in handy keep reading to find out why.

Booking a Confirmed and a Waitlist Flight

Singapore Airlines allows you to book both a confirmed flight and a waitlist flight award.

So take for example an upcoming flight to Melbourne. I originally wanted to fly out on SQ217 but I ended up booking the confirmed saver award on flight SQ237 so that I would ensure I got an award booked on the right day. I was also able to book the waitlist saver award on SQ217, but it hasn’t cleared yet – I would prefer the flight as it’ll enable me to save a day of leave, but it’s better to have a confirmed booking so I don’t need to worry.

You can see an example here where I have waitlisted SQ217 and booked SQ237:

Upgrades and Waitlist with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

You can also waitlist for upgrade awards and they work in much the same way as normal flight redemptions.  Sometimes you might find that upgrades are waitlisted, whereas there is a availability for an outright redemption.

So for example if you were wanted to upgrade from Business to first class for First and there was a Saver First flight redemption available an you could only waitlist for a saver upgrade here is what you should do.  Call in to Singapore Airlines to get yourself upgraded, it’s a known problem where waitlists don’t clear.

What Does “Not Available” Mean

You’ll see when booking award flights you’ll sometimes see “Not Available” instead of Waitlist. My understanding of this is that when both available award seats and ticketed seats have both been filled. So unlike waitlist there is no chance of getting an award at that price.

I’ve Booked My Waitlist How Does It Confirm?

Singapore Airlines will send out an email confirming that your waitlist can now clear.  However this does not put you on that flight you need to take action and confirm your booking within the next day.  So keep an eye on your emails for it clearing!

When Will My Waitlist Clear?

This is a question that I hear and read about a lot.  Well unfortunately there is no clear answer to this – it really depends on how popular that flight is and what Singapore Airlines revenue management wants to do.

The reality is that the waitlist may never clear and if it does it could be the following day after your booking or just a few days before your actual flight.  There are a few things you can do to improve your chances though.

• If you are a status passenger in particular PPS then your chances are far higher, it’s always a good idea to call in to encourage them to make it clear.
• Booking quieter flights increases the chances of a waitlist to clear
• Traveling solo will help as they’ll only have to clear 1 redemption
• Increase your chances by going for all the combinations you can of you and your partner etc,

Tips in Finding Availability

Here are some tips that I’ve gathered together to try and help you out find the flights that you want.

Look In Advance

Award availability on Singapore Airlines flights open up 350 days in advance, so if you are able to book that far ahead that’ll help you out. Note that the very furthest date is usually all waitlisted except for the full award.

Searching by segment might help you out with finding availability

If you can find award availability for the whole trip you can look for your flight segment by segment so if you’re flying from Bangkok to Sydney check the Bangkok to Singapore and Singapore to Sydney segments separately.

You may find that one on the legs has availability whilst the other you can waitlist on, or even pay for a standard or full reward (costing more KrisFlyer miles of course).

Booking Preferred Waitlist Flights Before Booking Confirmed Award

Let’s say you are limited in KrisFlyer Miles and only have enough for one booking here is a tactic to help you increase your chances for that preferred flight. Waitlist awards require you to have the full KrisFlyer miles in your account prior to requesting the waitlist – so as long as you have the miles you can book a waitlist. Importantly when you book a waitlist flight the KrisFlyer miles are not deducted from your account whereas for a confirmed award they are.

So taking the example of a flight to London from Singapore my preferred flight is on a Friday. When looking for availability all Friday flights are waitlisted, but Saturday has a business class saver award available. So I would do the following:

1. Waitlist Friday flight(s)
2. Book Confirmed Award
3. Waitlist clears
4. Cancel Confirmed Award and Book original waitlist flight

I suggest you do step over the phone with an agent to make sure nothing goes wrong on it, ensure you ask for the 15% discount. I’ve not had to pay any fees for doing so either, but others have paid $30.

Finally – Book An Alternative

If you’re traveling I can’t imagine a worse scenario than not having a flight and yet having all the hotels/travel booked.  So I always recommend to people that they should book an alternative.
Singapore Airlines charge for the most part low fees for cancellation so if you have an alternative at least you have something booked rather than nothing!

Do you have any more tips on waitlisting with Singapore Airlines Buy KrisFlyer?  Please share!

Actual Worth of Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Mile

It’s a question that I get a lot how much is a KrisFlyer mile actually worth?  It’s also a very difficult question to answer because it depends how you value them.  Is it for upgrades?  Is it for economy flights? Or is it for Business Flights?

In this post I’ll look at the straight value for booking Economy and Business Class redemptions on Singapore Airlines flights only.  But before we get started there are four points that everyone should be aware of when redeeming miles on Singapore Airlines flights with KrisFlyer:

(1) Award Flight Types

There are three different award types of Economy, Business and First/Suites Class redemptions.  These are Saver, Standard and Full award which increase in the amount of KrisFlyer Miles required respectively.  For more details and the award chart please check out the 

(2) Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Discount

Singapore Airlines does offer a discount for those redeeming on their flights online.  They offer a 15% discount, which of course makes your KrisFlyer Miles more valuable!  You can find more about the Discount 

(3) Availability isn’t Always There

Singapore Airlines along with every frequent flyer program will only release a certain number of award seats available to book, so even if you have the KrisFlyer Miles you may not be able to use them.

(4) Devaluations

Whatever you value a KrisFlyer Mile at always remember that this is a frequent flyer scheme and so is subject to change at any time.  2013 saw quite a few programs, notably Hilton HHonors reduce the value of their scheme.

How to work out what your KrisFlyer Redemption is worth:

I tend to use the same method for calculating what I’m getting for my Frequent Flyer miles or Hotel points.  You take the cash cost of the booking, i.e. a flight and then subtract the taxes and fees you would be charged for an award booking.  The remaining figure you divide by the number of points that it costs to book.

(Cash Booking Cost – Taxes and Fees on Award Booking) / Points Used = Point Value

So let’s see what a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Mile is actually worth.

Economy Redemptions

Long Haul – Example Booking Singapore to London – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($2,301.60-$801.60)/59,500 = $S0.0252 so 2.5 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Short Haul– Example Booking Singapore to Bangkok – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($297.30-$169.30)/21,250 = $S0.006 so 0.6 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

So according to this example long-haul economy redemptions are of better value than short-haul.  However there are a few things to consider.  For example was the long haul ticket a sale fare? Was the short-haul ticket a peak season fare?  Always check before you redeem whether it is worthwhile!

You may also notice the very specific KrisFlyer Miles costs – this is due to the 15% award discount that has been applied to my dummy booking.

Business Class Redemptions

Long Haul – Example Booking Singapore to London – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($7471.30-$1071.30)/136,000 = $S0.047 so 4.7 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Short Haul– Example Booking Singapore to Bangkok – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($1,311.10-$211.10)/34,000 = $S0.032 so 3.2 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Note here that both the long haul and short-haul redemptions offered better KrisFlyer value than that of the economy redemptions.  Obviously you need far more KrisFlyer Miles for a business class redemption so it may not be suitable for some especially if you don’t fly frequently enough to save up before expiry dates.

First Class/Suites Redemptions:

Now the last look is at a Class redemption and specifically a Suites redemption on the A380 Singapore to London route, here’s how it looked!

Long Haul – Example Booking Singapore to London – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

 

So using the formula it’s ($13,905.30-$1,105.30)/182,750 = $S0.07 so 7 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Short Haul– Example Booking Singapore to Hong Kong – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($13,905.30-$1,105.30)/182,750 = $S0.0658 so 6.6 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Conclusions

So this is what a KrisFlyer Mile was worth on Singapore to London Redemption (cents per KrisFlyer Mile)

• Economy – 2.5
• Business – 4.7
• Suites – 7

As you can see the value increase as the class of travel increases.  This is a logical link as the taxes and fees which you have to pay on all award tickets becomes a smaller proportion of the total cost of a ticket for a higher class.

For short-haul I used the example of Singapore to Bangkok (although not available for First so Hong Kong was used):

• Economy – 0.6
• Business – 3.2
• First – 6.6

As you can see the value of a KrisFlyer Mile drops if you use them to travel short-haul, especially for economy class tickets – but note business class short-haul is still better value than long haul economy.  Suites and First redemptions across the board represent great value for your KrisFlyer Miles – but of course they require a much higher amount of KrisFlyer Miles.

In general as I’ve researched this piece the minimum that KrisFlyer members seem to value a KrisFlyer Mile is at 2 cents/Mile.  This is the benchmark that you should be using for your redemptions.

Things you should remember – redeeming for a short-haul ticket may actually be worthwhile if the cash cost is too high, again remember to check the value.  Also business and first class redemptions are always in high demand and limited supply so that trip of the lifetime on points may not be possible.  Finally, I’ve only looked at 6 examples here, and the value of a point is always subject to variation!

Are KrisFlyer Miles Really Worth It?

Singapore Airlines introduced the Pay with KrisFlyer Miles option in 2013 and this is my review of what I think they are actually worth when you use KrisFlyer Miles in this way.  If you are interested in what a KrisFlyer Mile is worth for standard redemption 

What is Pay with KrisFlyer Miles?

Up until last year you could only use KrisFlyer miles for a full award redemption on flights.  Now you can mix cash and KrisFlyer Miles for Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights.  This was great news for those that only had small amounts of KrisFlyer miles, or those with expiring balances.  It also puts Singapore Airlines and it’s KrisFlyer program on par with other frequent flyer programs.

How do you book with Pay with KrisFlyer Miles?

When Singapore Airlines released the details of this new offering it actually launched a specific website explain what it is and how to use it.  You can find the website here: 

It’s a pretty simple process, but is only available right at the end during booking.

What’s a KrisFlyer Mile worth when using the Pay with KrisFlyer Miles Option?

You can read my previous post on what a KrisFlyer Mile is Worth for standard Singapore Airlines redemption. When you use the Pay with KrisFlyer Miles option you are basically substituting the cash payment by paying with KrisFlyer Miles.  But you aren’t getting the same value or worth a you might do from a regular award redemption, I’ll explain below.

How much you are getting back for you KrisFlyer Mile:

I did a dummy booking for an economy flight from Singapore to London (16th July-23rd). The Economy cost was SGD 2301.60, if I were to pay some of that with 4900 KrisFlyer Miles then it would cost 2251.60. This represents a saving of SGD 50, not much but that doesn’t matter really, what we want to know is the value. If we use the same value formula as I used in the KrisFlyer worth post we can see that the value is (2301.60-2251.60)/4900 the KrisFlyer Miles are worth nearly exactly 1 cent per Mile.

Economy flight from Singapore to London (16th July-23rd) – Value 1 cent per KrisFlyer Mile:

I did this on a number of different bookings including paying for Economy, Business, First and Suites – long haul and short-haul and they all came back with the same value per KrisFlyer Mile of 1 cent. The value of the KrisFlyer Mile does not change (well it did but only by 0.00001 cent!) whether you use the minimum of 5000 or 100,000 KrisFlyer Miles. So effectively it’s a straight transfer rate that you are getting for your KrisFlyer Miles.

Economy flight from Singapore to Bangkok (16th July-23rd) – Value 1 cent per KrisFlyer Mile:

Using the Pay with KrisFlyer Mile option for 100% payment Singapore to Bangkok (16th July-23rd) – Value 1 cent per KrisFlyer Mile (Economy):

Short-Haul Economy Redemptions are therefore worth using Pay with KrisFlyer Miles compared to booking an Award Saver:

• KrisFlyer Award Saver Value: 0.6 cents/mile
• Pay with KrisFlyer 100% Value: 1 cent/mile

Because all other redemptions meant a value of over 1 cent per KrisFlyer Mile it means this is the only case where you are sure you’d be getting better value for your KrisFlyer Mile when a saver award is available.

The only other time when it may of better value is when you book a Flexible Award, where for Economy including Long Haul the value drops to below the 1 cent per KrisFlyer Mile mark.  I used the same formula as above but using 119,000 and 161,500 Miles for Standard and Flexible redemptions.

• Economy – Standard Redemption Value – 1.2 cents / KrisFlyer Mile (so less value)
• Economy – Flexible Redemption Value – 0.93 cents / KrisFlyer Mile (better value)

For business class and First Class/Suites you should be using your KrisFlyer Miles for award redemptions rather than Pay with KrisFlyer Miles as they offer way above 1 cent per mile in all cases.

Remember as well even is you pay part with KrisFlyer Miles you can earn KrisFlyer and Elite miles if the fare is eligible to earn miles. KrisFlyer and Elite miles will be earned in proportion to the fare (excluding taxes), that you have paid with your credit/debit card.

KrisFlyer and Elite miles will not be earned if your ticket has been paid entirely with miles.

So When to Use Pay with KrisFlyer Miles?

These are the scenarios that you should be using Pay with KrisFlyer Miles:

1. Expiring Miles – this is by far the best use for this option, if your KrisFlyer Miles are expiring then you might as well get some value back on your next booking
2. Economy Short Haul – as you can see they are worth nearly double compared to an Award Saver redemption due to the cost of the taxes and fees (that you still pay for on an Award booking)
3. Flexible Award Bookings on Economy (long or short-haul).
4. Ease of use – I know that there are also those that may just want to use their KrisFlyer Miles up whenever they can and this is by far the simplest method to use your miles.

You can find more about the Pay with KrisFlyer option here on the Singapore Airlines website.

Basic Usage of KrisFlyer Airlines for Families

I was speaking to one of my friends recently who’s just had a child and she was asking me how to use Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles for Families, so I thought that I’d continue the series looking at families.

Earning KrisFlyer Miles for Children

Something that many people forget is that kids can Earn KrisFlyer Miles too.  Anyone aged 2 and above can join and therefore earn KrisFlyer Miles.

Children 17 and under (but not infants 2 and under) earn the full miles that an adult earns but only pays 75% of the adult fare.  This means earning miles for your child is a must!  If your kids aren’t already signed up then sign-up using the link below:

Using Redemption Nominees for Families

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer members can have up to 5 redemption nominees which can be family members who can then have flights redeemed for them.  This is particularly useful for parents with children who travel for work and can then use the miles earned for the rest of the family.   If you have a large family note that you can only change someone that has been selected as a nominee six months afterwards.  In addition if you are not Gold status or above there will be a cost to change nominees past the original 5 selected.  For more details on the fees and for more information on nominees click the links below:

Redeeming KrisFlyer miles for members 17 years of age and below

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer have some additional rules for redeeming miles for KrisFlyer members under the age of 17:

• 12 and Under – Can only redeem if an adult (18+) redemption nominee is travelling with them on the same award
• 17 and Under – Are not allowed to redeem for others unless they are travelling with them
• 12-17 – Can travel alone if a “Unaccompanied Minors Assistance and Handling form” is completed

Family or Household Pooling of KrisFlyer Miles

Singapore Airlines has no household membership options – you join as an individual, this makes earning and spending as a family slightly difficult.  Firstly I recommend setting your family up as a web of redemption nominees to give yourself the flexibility to redeem as you need to.

The new partnership with Virgin Australia’s Velocity does open up an interesting option for families to pool their Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles.  Velocity has a programme called “Family Pooling” where a member can pool points (potentially KrisFlyer Miles) into a single pot.

In order to be able to do this family members would need to be part of Velocity and you’ll need to transfer minimums of 5,000 KrisFlyer miles each time.  You’ll lose 35% in the process due to the conversion rates.  I’d really only do this if you have a stack of expiring miles.

You can find out more on the conversion and on Velocity Family pooling below:

Tracking Family or Household KrisFlyer Miles

One of your problems for using Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles for families is going to be tracking your household members miles and expiry.  

I recommend that you use Award Wallet to help you out track your miles and points.  For Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer you’ll always be able to check the balances for your children, but their expiry will only be shown if the miles expire within the next 12 months (i.e. in your KrisFlyer statement).  This is more than adequate warning.

Please use my referral link below if you are interested in the service:

If you have family members with expiring miles then I suggest to have a read through the post below on what to do with small amounts or expiring miles:

I hope all of this helped and if you want more information on travelling with kids on Singapore Airlines then check out the Singapore Airlines website via the link below: