First online ticket purchase experience

[Edwin P K 0]

Just got my air ticket returning to the UK with SIA using their online booking system at SingaporeAir.com . I must say I'm TRULY impressed with their system and website, and how much detail they thought over for whole process when implementing this system. Lots of catch up to be done at the Malaysian Airlines website! The integration with my KrisFlyer login is nothing new but it is good to see it in the works. Sign in using my KF and you can manage your booking from there, etc. Also the user interface is just brilliant.

 

Gonna fly SIA for the first time, feeling kinda sad not seeing those usual MAS FAs' uniform that I'm so acustomed to. CURSE YOU DAMN MAS SYSTEM! Great airline, bad management! Speaking of which, no reply for my Enrich points...I'm getting tired of calling them and being attended by rather unaccomodating officers...

 

 

 

[Seth K 3]

I did bought a ticket from LAX to SIN with SIA long time online. Easy, with several click, they give you the number, then go to airport show the credit card and number, you got your boarding pass, it's that simple

Edwin, it's OK to fly SIA, you can discover different type of Ah moi

[Keith T 2]

Your itinerary as it currently stands will yield you approximately 48650 status miles. Very very close to SQ KF Gold/*G status which is achievable at 50 000 status miles.

 

What's your 'qualifying year' btw?

You're supposed to get 50 000 miles in 12 months from ur date of enrolment in KF. That;s unless you enrolled before 1 Apr 2006, in which case you have till 31st March next year to qualify.

 

1350 is not hard to achieve....just throw in a KUL-BKK-KUL weekend on TG when you're in the area, before ur 'year' is out and you're there. Just beware of non-mileage earning fare classes though - G N O Q R T and V on SQ, and the V, W fares on TG that only get you 50% accrual.

 

Think access to the SKLs (SATS Lounge in SIN, TG Lounge in KUL), *G lounges, Virgin Clubhouses, priority check in....and 25% tier bonus. And you're based in LHR which means the VS Clubhouse there is the one to go to while you're waiting for ur SQ flight - heaps better than the LHR SKL. SQ KF Gold gets u into the VS CH even with SQ boarding pass.

[Edwin P K 0]

Seth,

It's really simple huh, and I'm a huge supporter of online purchases, I go crazy on ebay, amazon, hmv, etc! So this experience was really amazing.

 

Keith,

I should've signed up for KF yesterday instead of signing up I think a month ago, early May. But anyway, I'm planning to convert most of my Citibank Rewards Points to Krisflyer Miles, that should set me around 15,000 KF miles, and will probably get me closer to Elite status. And then not forgeting my AMEX KF GOLD Card which I'll be getting when I'm going back to KL. Too bad I was not able to get the card earlier, otherwise I'll earn double miles on the purchase via SIA.com. I should hope that I'm able to achieve Gold status within a year...unless project gets busy and I won't be flying back KL, every 10 weeks. Yikes.

 

But I might switch one of my future flights back to MH if MH ever gonna credit those 3 missing flights, just to fly GCC.

[Keith T 2]

Keith,

I should've signed up for KF yesterday instead of signing up I think a month ago, early May. But anyway, I'm planning to convert most of my Citibank Rewards Points to Krisflyer Miles, that should set me around 15,000 KF miles, and will probably get me closer to Elite status. And then not forgeting my AMEX KF GOLD Card which I'll be getting when I'm going back to KL. Too bad I was not able to get the card earlier, otherwise I'll earn double miles on the purchase via SIA.com. I should hope that I'm able to achieve Gold status within a year...unless project gets busy and I won't be flying back KL, every 10 weeks. Yikes.

 

But I might switch one of my future flights back to MH if MH ever gonna credit those 3 missing flights, just to fly GCC.

 

Going by ur schedule you should be able to make KF Gold on flights alone. MH award miles will sit in ur account for 3 years - plenty of time to use them.

 

Your Citibank Rewards Points will count for award miles but NOT status miles. Neither does the Amex Gold card. There's a big difference between award miles and status miles. Award miles get you free flights and upgrades. Status miles are the one to look out for to achieve KF silver or KF Gold. The only way to get status miles is by actually flying on SQ, *A, and its other airline partners - MI, VS etc. I expect that you'd get KF Silver halfway through, but even then the tier bonus only counts towards redeemable miles and not status miles. The only form of bonus miles that count as status miles are the class of service bonus - 25% in J and 50% in F. And you also get PPS Club miles in J and F.

 

Trust me, you're going to achieve KF Gold by flying alone - just throw in a weekend trip around South East Asia - one of those cheap TG flights to BKK, or UA transatlantic promos(but not too cheap that u can't earn full miles) and you'll be Gold by 'early May' 2007, if not sooner.

 

As for switching to MH - do it after u get KF Gold. Remember you only have up till May 2007.

 

And have you considered either BD or AC FFPs btw? I suggest you check them out. No mileage expiry on both. BD has awesome double miles promos which sometimes count towards status. BD*G gets you access to the very nice VS CHs too. As for AC...just 35 000 miles to get *G, nuff said.

 

Although I do have to admit the optimum choice for redeeming on SQ is KF itself, if you don't care about the comparatively sparse benefits of KF Gold or spend miles in a hurry on upgrades.

Edited June 7, 2006 by Keith T

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Great airline, bad management!

 

 

 

So as the country...great country..but.....

[Walter Sim 1]

not to be rude of disrespect.

 

That is indeed very true Mr Kee. Even if i'm a Malaysian.

[zealich 0]

not to be rude of disrespect.

 

That is indeed very true Mr Kee. Even if i'm a Malaysian.

 

 

your both true...

 

I havent buy online with SIA..might be trying some day..hope i'll be amazed..

[Alexander K 0]

Guys,

 

Yes, it is true that online purchase with SIA is obviously a much better and more refined system than what MAS offers.

 

But not to burst your bubble, but SIA's online purchase experience isn't that unique. Most top airlines worldwide offer online purchase and e-ticketing, and the purchase experience isn't (in my experience) that different from one airline web site to another.

 

I would say the "unique" airlines are now ones like MAS that have been so slow to adopt things like e-tickets and online purchase. I am a big SIA fan and like to give credit where due, but their online ticketing is rather ordinary and similar to most other leading airlines. I'm just not sure how it is demonstrably better than United, Cathay, Qantas, etc.

 

Cheers!

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

I would say the "unique" airlines are now ones like MAS that have been so slow to adopt things like e-tickets and online purchase.

 

I agree. I just purchased ticket with MAS via travel agency here (Sydney) and been told 'unfortunately' MAS has only paper ticket. The travel agency will ring me few days later ask me to go and collect ticket. Unlike other airlines with E-ticketing, we can go straight to check-in by presenting passport & credit card once we have purchased the tickets.

[Edwin P K 0]

Going by ur schedule you should be able to make KF Gold on flights alone. MH award miles will sit in ur account for 3 years - plenty of time to use them.

 

Your Citibank Rewards Points will count for award miles but NOT status miles. Neither does the Amex Gold card. There's a big difference between award miles and status miles. Award miles get you free flights and upgrades. Status miles are the one to look out for to achieve KF silver or KF Gold. The only way to get status miles is by actually flying on SQ, *A, and its other airline partners - MI, VS etc. I expect that you'd get KF Silver halfway through, but even then the tier bonus only counts towards redeemable miles and not status miles. The only form of bonus miles that count as status miles are the class of service bonus - 25% in J and 50% in F. And you also get PPS Club miles in J and F.

 

Trust me, you're going to achieve KF Gold by flying alone - just throw in a weekend trip around South East Asia - one of those cheap TG flights to BKK, or UA transatlantic promos(but not too cheap that u can't earn full miles) and you'll be Gold by 'early May' 2007, if not sooner.

 

As for switching to MH - do it after u get KF Gold. Remember you only have up till May 2007.

 

And have you considered either BD or AC FFPs btw? I suggest you check them out. No mileage expiry on both. BD has awesome double miles promos which sometimes count towards status. BD*G gets you access to the very nice VS CHs too. As for AC...just 35 000 miles to get *G, nuff said.

 

Although I do have to admit the optimum choice for redeeming on SQ is KF itself, if you don't care about the comparatively sparse benefits of KF Gold or spend miles in a hurry on upgrades.

 

 

Hey Keith,

 

Thanks for the detailed information, I should've consulted you on this earlier! Hmm I can't predict beyond Feb 2007 but hopefully I'll be able to chalk up the Elite Silver at least. Maybe a project in the US would help! Anyway I didn't realise there were 2 distinctive miles being awarded! Now I'm thinking if I should even apply for the KF Amex Gold Card! Oh dear, my planning is now totally gone nuts! I think I'll aim for flight upgrades instead of KF Gold Status, in that case, which one would be better?

 

MAS Enrich: 1 Return Q Class Ticket approx 4611 miles, to redeem one way upgrade to LHR 30,000 miles

SIA KF: 1 Return W Class Ticket approx 6711miles, to redeem one way upgdrae to LHR 45,000 miles!

 

Btw, what are BD / AC airlines? Newbie here lah...

 

 

 

 

 

Guys,

 

Yes, it is true that online purchase with SIA is obviously a much better and more refined system than what MAS offers.

 

But not to burst your bubble, but SIA's online purchase experience isn't that unique. Most top airlines worldwide offer online purchase and e-ticketing, and the purchase experience isn't (in my experience) that different from one airline web site to another.

 

I would say the "unique" airlines are now ones like MAS that have been so slow to adopt things like e-tickets and online purchase. I am a big SIA fan and like to give credit where due, but their online ticketing is rather ordinary and similar to most other leading airlines. I'm just not sure how it is demonstrably better than United, Cathay, Qantas, etc.

 

Cheers!

 

I agree it's nothing new, I mean even AirAsia has this system! I've also done online booking via RyanAir, and latest BA.com before, but their interfaces just don't make up to the mark. As for SIA's website, they have a uniformed interface, and it gives you this feeling of prestige.

 

 

[Keith T 2]

Hey Keith,

 

Thanks for the detailed information, I should've consulted you on this earlier! Hmm I can't predict beyond Feb 2007 but hopefully I'll be able to chalk up the Elite Silver at least. Maybe a project in the US would help! Anyway I didn't realise there were 2 distinctive miles being awarded! Now I'm thinking if I should even apply for the KF Amex Gold Card! Oh dear, my planning is now totally gone nuts! I think I'll aim for flight upgrades instead of KF Gold Status, in that case, which one would be better?

 

MAS Enrich: 1 Return Q Class Ticket approx 4611 miles, to redeem one way upgrade to LHR 30,000 miles

SIA KF: 1 Return W Class Ticket approx 6711miles, to redeem one way upgdrae to LHR 45,000 miles!

 

BD - BMI

AC - Air Canada

Both are Star Alliance carriers - you can use their FFPs on SQ flights.

 

It's come down to upgrade opportunity now so...

Flight upgrades on SQ- best to do Krisflyer over other *A carriers. Good at base/Silver levels but KF Gold gets more access to upgrade/award inventory (I class inventory is the upgrade class for base/Silver levels; Golds get access to some secret fare buckets). So with KF Gold = more access to upgrade/award seats. Plus you have the option of earning/using ur miles on other *A airlines. Good when you want to hop across the atlantic as you can then earn miles on those cheap UA promos. You can also use SQ miles to upgrade on certain *A airlines like TG, LH, OZ, NH but these will cost slightly more.

 

Flight upgrades on MH - pretty decent at base level. Enrich elites get more access - but you cannot make MH Enrich elite by flying economy alone. KF Gold can be made solely in economy. MH Enrich also has very limited airline partners.

 

I've never used Enrich before and I've only accumulated PPS miles on KF (ie no award redemption) - but judging from what's posted here and friends' experiences, Enrich customer service is really lacking. KF seems to be much better, even for non-PPS members.

 

So it's really up to you. My advice is to stick with SQ. You get to earn KF Gold = more award miles through tier bonus + more access to upgrade inventory = more chances at upgrades. Plus you get to enjoy *G benefits such as lounge access and priority check-in/boarding even when flying Y! You might just have to wait a little longer to use those miles for an upgrade but trust me, it's worth it in the long run. I have a feeling competition for I class space will heat up with the introduction of the A380 on the LHR route so this is when KF Gold proves to be most helpful - you'll be trumped by PPS but you still have an edge over no-status members and Silvers.

 

Feel free to ask more questions in FT, as there are people in there who are far more knowledgable than I am. Just post in the SQ forum.

Edited June 10, 2006 by Keith T