'Operated by...'

[evaret]

Hi

I plan on going Business class from Brisbane to London and return early next year. I am looking for advice on what it means where the flight is offered by one airline but you seem to be travelling with another

For example, today I found a deal from SAS for about $4900 (via bestjet.com). But the flights from Brisbane to Singapore to Copenhagen are shown as 'operated by Singapore Airlines'. Which presumably means I am flying with Singapore Airlines, not SAS

Only the last leg Copenhagen- London is with SAS. And the price is some $1300 cheaper than Singapore Airlines fares.

I would like to understand how this works. Do i get the same or restricted service?

I would appreciate member's advice about these types of tickets. And what i might need to look out for

Cheers

 

[TomVexille]

This is completely normal. You can equate this to SAS acting like a travel agent for the legs they do not operate.

 

[mannej]

Quite normal - this is a codeshare.

One thing that may be of issue is difficulty selecting seats etc, which is a fairly common issue with a codeshare.

 

[Denali]

I would be thrilled that I got a cheaper price and majority of flights is with SQ instead of SAS.

"Operated by" is only an issue when reading the fine print of your loyalty program (ie Virgin Australia for me) and you might/might not get points or status credits from flights "operated by" an airline thats not in their partner program.

 

[evaret]

Thanks for the comments.

A couple of follow up points. I had been using Google flights to monitor fares. But I don't remember seeing this deal on Google flights. So I need to start looking at other portals.

Packages like this are quite viable for me - the actual SAS flight is only one hour.

Cheers

 

[OZDUCK]

Another thing that you need to be aware of is that the Copengahen - London legs will possibly be in European "Business Class" which means economy seats, and if my research was correct SAS don't even block the middle seat.

 

[evaret]

Another thing that you need to be aware of is that the Copengahen - London legs will possibly be in European "Business Class" which means economy seats, and if my research was correct SAS don't even block the middle seat.

Thanks for the tip, ozduck

 

[andye]

It sounds like all the flights in the itinerary will have SAS (SK) flight numbers rather than Singapore (SQ)
As such,they would not be eligible for status credits, points or eligible sectors in Velocity
As SAS is in Star Alliance you would still be able to credit those flights to Krisflyer (or another Star Alliance programme) but you wouldn't get an SQ Status bonus if you were eligible
The fare for Aus-EU on Singapore J is great though, so wouldn't get too worried about Velocity points (you could get an Amex Platinum Charge with the savings and get VA lounge access that way if you wanted )