Best place for SQ points? *A status?

[mainly tailfirst]

Hi all,
I have to fly to SIN this weekend on SQ from ADL. For various reasons I have a J seat there and a Y one back (then straight back to work <sigh>). Not having flown *A since AN went bellyup, I'm a little put of touch with how *A works compared to OW.

Based on what I've read, UA is the best place for earning *A points - but I'm having a few problems at the moment opening an account (see UA MP thread . I'm probably just going to dump them in KrisFlyer as the path of least resistance. IIUC, having a Kris# will automatically enroll me in PPS.

Assuming I get more *A flights next year (likely transpac - hopefully in J), I'll be more interested in trying to match my OWS status than FF miles. Would PPS or UA MP be a better bet here? I'm assuming here that UA won't comp my QF SG to 1P (if they do, then it's a no brainer .

thanks,
mt

 

[infoworks]

If you sign up for Krisflyer and UA MP then you can get the PPS sectors credited to SQ and the miles to UA. This gives the best of both worlds, especially if you have a UA account. Othrwise just accrue everything with SQ.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

A one-way flight on SQ J ADL-SIN will earn 2.5 PPS sectors. Need 25 within a year to qualify PPS. You wont earn any PPS sectors unless flying SQ in paid J or F.

I am not sure that QF SG would be comped to 1P. OW Emerald is normally comped to 1P so QF SG may end up with 2P (* Silver - not much in the way of benefits except UA E+ seats).

For an infrequent *A traveller whose main FFP is OW, I would stick with UA Mileage Plus. By all means open a Kris Flyer account to get the PPS sectors since it doesn't cost you anything and a small way towards status if plans change.

 

[dajop]

The only reason to think about crediting to SQ's program is if you have a CC (Amex or ANZ Rewards) to supplement miles earnt through flying with CC points, however 2:1 is best transfer achievable. IIRC, you can do likewise from Diners to Mileage Plus, again at poor transfer. You should look at burn rates, bearing in mind that SQ Krisflyer redemptions are reasonably generous ex Adelaide/Perth (at least compared to east coast cities).

 

[mainly tailfirst]

Well it's now 'all the way in J' (hmm, that's not a bad slogan...). My waitlist came through so I can now sleep on the Redeye back to ADL

As for the points, does anyone have experience with posting them to UA (for miles) and SQ (for PPS credits) *after* the flight is taken? Assume that the there will be no # associated with the ticket unless I do so at checkin.
Although it's clear I get better rewards with UA, I can't see myself resolving the UA MP snafu before I fly, so I reckon into KrisFlyer they will go.

As for the weekend trip, I'll lodge a report on ADL SQ lounge and my stay at the Grand Hyatt. I figure the 772, SIN Lounge and general experience have been done to death by others

mt

 

[infoworks]

As for the points, does anyone have experience with posting them to UA (for miles) and SQ (for PPS credits) *after* the flight is taken? Assume that the there will be no # associated with the ticket unless I do so at checkin

Make sure the SQ booking (can be done at check in) has both UA and SQ numbers in - you won't get PPS for an upgrade to business, only paid business or first.

Many of the SQ agents have trouble with getting both FF numbers in correctly in my experience.

Also, UA often won't post because it goes through to them as an award ticket (because of the upgrade) and it's a right royal pain getting it fixed. Even with the help of SQ, I am still waiting on UA points to come through for a recent SQ SIN-BKK return trip paid Business Class, points upgrade to F because the UA ssystem saw it as an award ticket.

It must be a fairly universal system glitch as on QF sometimes I also get 0 SCs when I've upgraded a domestic ticket for example, but QF fixes it with a phone call (only in business hours though).

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Well it's now 'all the way in J' (hmm, that's not a bad slogan...). My waitlist came through so I can now sleep on the Redeye back to ADL

As for the points, does anyone have experience with posting them to UA (for miles) and SQ (for PPS credits) *after* the flight is taken? Assume that the there will be no # associated with the ticket unless I do so at checkin.
Although it's clear I get better rewards with UA, I can't see myself resolving the UA MP snafu before I fly, so I reckon into KrisFlyer they will go.

As for the weekend trip, I'll lodge a report on ADL SQ lounge and my stay at the Grand Hyatt. I figure the 772, SIN Lounge and general experience have been done to death by others

mt

The easiest way is to give them your UA card at check in (and before they print the boarding pass so you can check it is entered correctly). If you are already *G then you may want to call SQ and put the UA # in beforehand, to get benefit of better seating, extremely slim chance of op-up, etc.

As long as your UA # is registered in your Kris Flyer profile (if you haven't already done this then enter it in now) then the PPS credit should be automatic. If it doesn't happen then chase up afterwards.

Trust me, with SQ you really don't want to be chasing credit afterwards if you can possibly avoid it. It is a right pain.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

It must be a fairly universal system glitch as on QF sometimes I also get 0 SCs when I've upgraded a domestic ticket for example, but QF fixes it with a phone call (only in business hours though).

I haven't had problems with that on QF, but have issues when fly the same route twice on the same day - the system error checking assumes only the first flight is flown. A simple phone call or email using the online feedback quickly resolves it.