Disparity in point requirements between partner airlines

[davestan]

I have been trying to book a business class reward seat from Milan to Sydney. Apart from the fact there is no seats available with Etihad, the agent told me that points required for Singapore airlines for similar flights will always be significantly more , regardless of class. I 'm not sure why this should be the case as it seems other FF program's have better seat availability and partner airlines are relatively in sync as far as point requirements are concerned. Trying to get any European flights to and from from Sydney with Velocity points(I'm travelling September) continues to be a major challenge and I have been phoning since the beginning of the year. You can't book much through the online search engine - you are directed to a call centre. As far as I'm concerned Velocity have gone from one of the better FF program's to one of the worst.

 

[RB]

I have been trying to book a business class reward seat from Milan to Sydney. Apart from the fact there is no seats available with Etihad, the agent told me that points required for Singapore airlines for similar flights will always be significantly more , regardless of class. I 'm not sure why this should be the case as it seems other FF program's have better seat availability and partner airlines are relatively in sync as far as point requirements are concerned. Trying to get any European flights to and from from Sydney with Velocity points(I'm travelling September) continues to be a major challenge and I have been phoning since the beginning of the year. You can't book much through the online search engine - you are directed to a call centre. As far as I'm concerned Velocity have gone from one of the better FF program's to one of the worst.

How many passengers are you trying to book for on the same flight?

 

[davestan]

How many passengers are you trying to book for on the same flight?

Just one reward seat.

 

[rtyuiop]

I sympathise (and regard Singapore as completely pointless for booking VA rewards points, the rates are *insane*).

The only thing I can suggest is that some European destinations have better availability than others - flying into DUS (FRA was a possibility too) and then connecting elsewhere is what worked for me with a recent booking.

 

[davestan]

I was finally able to cancel the entire Milan - Sydney flight with Etihad, and rebook the Milan - AUH sector in business flying Etihad and then change AUH - Sydney to business flying VA(previously Etihad economy). Luckily though I decided to have a 2 night stopover in AUH , otherwise a business flight right through would not have been possible. The good thing is there was no charge for the change (other than the extra points to upgrade from economy to business AUH - Syd) and an included limo transfer to and from the AUH hotel.
It seems at the moment though for point redemption flights through Velocity, Singapore Airlines is a dud partner. Not only can't you get flights from European destinations, but the points required across all classes are astronomical compared to Etihad and VA.

 

[paultiffen]

Hi,

This is on their website actually with the points redemption table. I too was shocked at the number of points needed for Singapore however most likely Singapore have the power here and are charging them more. The points amounts for Eithad are great considering that for the moment you get SCs on the AUH Sydney leg