Air Canada awards on SQ seem to have increased

[Generic username]

Thanks so much Nexus007! Got my mother in law and wife a reward booking this morning with Aeroplan.

 

[am0985]

Okay here's something strange...not only has availability on Aeroplan suddenly improved massively to/from Singapore, it's also sometimes better than KrisFlyer at saver level.

Just booked MEL - SIN - DPS in J on 16/12, 1925 departure. Peak Christmas season I should add.

Involves 6.5 hours overnight, I'll probably just chill out in the lounge and sleep on a sofa.

I just booked it for 45k points on Aeroplan. Couldn't see it as an option on seats.aero but sure enough the Air Canada app showed it.

Not available at Saver level on KF. Would cost me 108,000 KF to book the same seat on KF. Also checked availability before I booked the award so definitely was like for like inventory.

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Okay here's something strange...not only has availability on Aeroplan suddenly improved massively to/from Singapore, it's also sometimes better than KrisFlyer at saver level.

Just booked MEL - SIN - DPS in J on 16/12, 1925 departure. Peak Christmas season I should add.

Involves 6.5 hours overnight, I'll probably just chill out in the lounge and sleep on a sofa.

I just booked it for 45k points on Aeroplan. Couldn't see it as an option on seats.aero but sure enough the Air Canada app showed it.

Not available at Saver level on KF. Would cost me 108,000 KF to book the same seat on KF. Also checked availability before I booked the award so definitely was like for like inventory.

The same can happen with other partners, too. Sometimes Velocity has a seat on SQ that KF doesn't, and vice versa. Appears that they manage KF and close partner inventory separately (perhaps maintaining a certain allocation for certain partners ).

 

[am0985]

The same can happen with other partners, too. Sometimes Velocity has a seat on SQ that KF doesn't, and vice versa. Appears that they manage KF and close partner inventory separately (perhaps maintaining a certain allocation for certain partners ).

I knew they managed Velocity and Aeroplan inventory differently but I would've assumed KF had prime access like with most other airlines.

I'd be fuming if I was an SQ Elite at this, though I understand PPS Club members at least get extra access to award seats.

It is odd how Aeroplan availability changes so much at the drop of a hat...

 

[aaa99]

Slightly OT, but how come Virgin's own flights (Qatar operated) are available on Aeroplan, but not elsewhere (including Velocity)

 

[MEL_Traveller]

And lots of them, too on Aeroplan. When I booked my VA/QR flights there were 4 seats available every day!

 

[ChrisFlyer]

Could be part of an exchange agreement between VA and AC, for X number of business class reward seats on airline A for program A, and X number of business class reward seats on airline B for program B? Given VA doesn't fly long-haul aside from these Doha flights, the availability may be concentrated around these few routes. Having said that, I haven't really seen much in the way of AC flights on Velocity lately, but the VA Doha flights have been available through Aeroplan since the beginning.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

SQ is certainly back in a big way!

19 Jan as an example… choose from three departures ex MEL in J, with connections to London from as little as 2hrs30 transit.

I wonder if SQ makes a certain number of seats available to partners… say 10,000… and that explains why availability is so good early in the year, but tapers off later on? Once they’re exhausted all remaining seats are restricted?

 

[luxury-lizard]

Great news - I saw this a few weeks ago - from zero to hero.

 

[somebol]

I think VA doha flights availability on AC is phantom. I've seen lots of availability, but the booking fails before getting to payment page.

 

[luxury-lizard]

I've not tried to book a VA fight to DOH via AC - one reason it that the cost is 110,000 points in J (same as all the way to Europe) but the *A options ex-DOH are very limited - TK or MS and never seem to show up on a search ....

 

[lovestotravel]

SQ is certainly back in a big way!

19 Jan as an example… choose from three departures ex MEL in J, with connections to London from as little as 2hrs30 transit.

I wonder if SQ makes a certain number of seats available to partners… say 10,000… and that explains why availability is so good early in the year, but tapers off later on? Once they’re exhausted all remaining seats are restricted?

Middle of January travelling in the wrong direction - Quiet period
Try getting them coming back from SIN-MEL for that period

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I've not tried to book a VA fight to DOH via AC - one reason it that the cost is 110,000 points in J (same as all the way to Europe) but the *A options ex-DOH are very limited - TK or MS and never seem to show up on a search ....

TK didnt show up for ages, but I think I saw some recently? At least for euro short-haul. You can book it via the call centre if you can find the availability on another booking engine.

But be warned… TK will spoil you in terms of seating, IFE (massive 4K hi def screens), and catering (Do&Co).

We booked TK-VA without any problems.