Flights to Singapore advice

[ellen10]

So I took everyones advice and positioned myself in Singapore to get Business JAL reward flights to Europe next April, return in June.
Being low status there wasn't anything on offer from an Aus starting point. So I am very happy with my flights.

Now looking at flights to Singapore. Qantas have some Y sale fares that are very reasonable in price at the moment. Flight over is on QF1 a day time flight, which we can cope with, but the return flight is overnight. Even Premium economy is 4 x as much! My current thoughts are to book and pay for these flights whilst available ( as the difference between sale and normal is significant).
My thoughts were to book these flights and then pay for exit row seats, for the extra leg room and no-one reclining.

I am a bit of a procrastinator, I was hoping for maybe another reward flight dump soon. But I will be miffed if my waiting will only eventuate in higher fares.

I haven't seriously looked at any other airline options at this stage. I will also add that I will be flying over the day before our J flights, giving myself a buffer as they will be separate tickets.

Any suggestions?

 

[Gold Member]

Dump Qantas.

FlyScoot offers Premium Economy seating cheaper than Qantas Economy. They also offer day time flights to and from Australia.

 

[SYD]

To avoid the redeye back you could try looking at SIN-PER-SYD (QF72/QFxx_). The flight to PER gets in around midnight, so jump in a cab and stay overnight in town or near the airport. So long as the next flight to SYD leaves within 12 hours (ie by noon‘ish the next day) it should price as a transit - not two flights.

If you can get it to price, it will be more than a simple return booking but hopefully much less than PE back (even allowing for the hotel in PER).

I managed to snag that combo last year as Classic Reward. QF81 SYD-SIN//QF72+QF650. I stuffed up not booking a day with another A330 over to SYD but they were in short supply then.

The other left field option is Bali. I believe there’s now a JQ day flight from DPS to SYD that should be bookable SIN-DPS-SYD (again, may require an o/n in Bali? I literally just flew back from Europe last week via Bali CX J and QF/JQ.

 

[drron]

@Mattg did a good reference piece on daytime flights from Asia to Australia.

Daytime Flights from Asia to Australia

This article lists all of the daytime flights currently available from Asia to Australia, including the flight number and schedule.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

So you can check those ones and see what's available at a reasonable price. But you do pay for convenience.

 

[dajop]

If looking at QF, and considering overnights in PER or DPS, the other option for day flight is QF coded service QF8404 - on EK metal - from SIN-MEL. But it requires an overnight at MEL.

 

[ellen10]

Dump Qantas.

FlyScoot offers Premium Economy seating cheaper than Qantas Economy. They also offer day time flights to and from Australia.

thanks @Gold Member
I have just read some reviews, which are mixed. Have you flown this route with them?
As we are connecting with our reward flight (the next day), I would be a little concerned with their cancellations, but even their business class prices are good.

 

[ellen10]

To avoid the redeye back you could try looking at SIN-PER-SYD (QF72/QFxx_). The flight to PER gets in around midnight, so jump in a cab and stay overnight in town or near the airport. So long as the next flight to SYD leaves within 12 hours (ie noon next day) it should price as a transit - not two flights.

If you can get it to price, it will be more than a simple return booking but hopefully much less than PE back (even allowing for the hotel in PER).

I managed to snag that combo last year as Classic Reward. QF81 SYD-SIN//QF72+QF650. I stuffed up not booking a day with another A330 over to SYD but they were in short supply then.

The other left field option is Bali. I believe there’s now a JQ day flight from DPS to SYD that should be bookable SIN-DPS-SYD (again, may require an o/n in Bali? I literally just flew back from Europe last week via Bali CX J and QF/JQ.

thanks @SYD I did do some researching of these flights returning via Perth and it is definitely a good consideration and I can get flights as you suggest. It is a little more $ than the direct return but a sleep in a bed is tempting.

I also looked at the Jetstar options. Is there no direct Jetstar flights from Sydney? They all seem to go via Melbourne and the return is via Bali and an overnight flight.

Thank you for your suggestions. I need to investigate more

 

[clifford]

thanks @Gold Member
I have just read some reviews, which are mixed. Have you flown this route with them?
As we are connecting with our reward flight (the next day), I would be a little concerned with their cancellations, but even their business class prices are good.

My wife and I have both flown (separately) with Scoot to/from SIN from SYD in their PE-style seats, and couldn't be happier for the price.

We'd do it again in a heartbeat. I looked at booking it again for next April, to get back to SYD after a FCO-SIN J-class flight on SQ, but unfortunately it would have meant an overnight in SIN, so I booked a Qantas Y award on BA instead (managed to get an exit row, as I'm also a BA Gold flyer). However, I would have preferred Scoot if the schedule permitted.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

thanks @Gold Member
I have just read some reviews, which are mixed. Have you flown this route with them?
As we are connecting with our reward flight (the next day), I would be a little concerned with their cancellations, but even their business class prices are good.

The seats are qantas domestic business class, with even more legroom. Service is economy, actually… very basic economy! But you get a big seat, meal, bottle of water, and entertainment. It’s a pretty sweet deal considering you can buy lounge access in singapore for next to nothing! Cancellations aren’t necessarily a Scott thing. Aussie airlines aren’t doing so well either at the moment

If you are connecting on separate tickets I would recommend at least 24 hours connecting time. On time departures or cancellations really mean you can’t risk less than that these days… even for QF.

 

[ellen10]

If looking at QF, and considering overnights in PER or DPS, the other option for day flight is QF coded service QF8404 - on EK metal - from SIN-MEL. But it requires an overnight at MEL.

@dajop I couldn't seem to get the QF8404 option to appear.

 

[Gold Member]

thanks @Gold Member
I have just read some reviews, which are mixed. Have you flown this route with them?
As we are connecting with our reward flight (the next day), I would be a little concerned with their cancellations, but even their business class prices are good.

Yes, on this route and a few others in “ScootBiz” (premium economy), but only ever on a day time flight. It’s a decidedly Low Cost Carrier experience, but then so is Qantas. For the price and assuming you understand the risks of separate tickets etc, it’s fantastic value.

In fact it’s one of my go to tricks to avoid the Australia tax. This option lands me in SE Asia, and I then originate a cheap commercial Business fare with a huge choice of reputable carriers to and from Europe/NA.

As a broader and more general suggestion - Are you finding business awards ex-Aus impossible and loaded to the gills with exorbitant carrier charges? This FlyScoot option bypasses all of that malarky and opens up plentiful ex-SE Asia Business Awards with loads of other programs offering much better earn/buy/burn ratios but without the carrier charges ala the Qantas Frequent Fraud Program.

I gave up on Qantas years ago. I recommend others consider their options.

 

[jase05]

To get home from SIN you also have the option of J on PR which can often be purchased at a decent price