Qantas or Singapore Airlines BNE - BKK regularly

[stan101]

I will be doing probably 4 regular trips per year from BNE to BKK for the foreseeable future. I may occasionally need an extra one or two and I would like to get the most benefit out of the FF or Kris membership. I am currently base level with both and the accumulated flight points have just been deleted on both accounts.

I have a about 95000 points with QF and 24500 miles with Kris. My next flight is about November 7. Any advice on the best airline to focus on to get a higher status?

 

[jase05]

Surely the main priority is which airline offers you the better flight times, connections and service rather than the FFP.
I would think that SQ makes the most sense but it depends whether you think you can achieve the tier requirements

 

[Mattg]

I would personally choose Singapore Airlines as they have a choice of more flight times, are more reliable and IMHO have better service. You should be able to make Star Alliance Gold by crediting your flights strategically, which will also make the trips more pleasant.

 

[AIRwin]

QF will involve a transit in either SYD (between T1 and T3) or SIN (not sure if flight arrives in time for same day connection with Jetstar Asia 3K?)

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Also, QF does not fly BNE - BKK direct, so you would have to always go via SIN and then 3K up from there.
Or backtrack via SYD to get the SYD - BKK flight.
TG does not fly to BNE.
JohnK goes to BKK often, and he is BNE based.
Probably as mentioned above, SQ would be the one to go for.
They still have a liaison with VAd, but their tie in flights on the dom sector agreement, can be a bit iffy, ie, if you put in your SQ KF # into a VA booking, if its not a codeshare, ie, pure Aust dom flight, SQ might decline the points.
So, keep VA alive as well, and if you occasionally shop at Coles, or 7 eleven, you can keep your VA points alive and not expire, as long as there is activity per 24 months.
KF points do expire 3 years after accumulation, (no extensions possible), so after you have amassed the points in KF, move the points to VA so you can use the points on Aust VAd flights.
===
Both systems (QF and SQ) do need you to fly a lot to climb the status ladder.
If you are going to be flying J (business) I would go with SQ, go with them, SIN Changi is a great airport to transit, it also has the internal hotel, or the Holiday Inn next to the airport to rest overnight, or have some downtime between flights.
I think SQ has 3 flights a day from BNE - SIN, QF has 1.
To get to QF SG, you need 700 SC, and that is a lot.
You don't say what class you are flying, or if your employer/payer pays for the flight.
If with J (business), SQ would be my first choice, if I were doing the flying.
QFd would be good for Aust dom flights, with QFd flights, if there are U seats, you can upgrade immediately.
On QFi, flights, if you are QF NB, your upgrade chances are down the bottom.
On my several SQ flights, I can't fault the high standards of the SQ inflight crew.
They really work hard.
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Also as of now, QF is using AY planes and crew, from SYD - BKK, not sure for how long, on these flights, there are premY offerings, so for the time being, if you want to fly SYD - BKK for a bit less than paying J, and collecting QFF points and QFF SC, it might be of to fly with QF's AY service.
But that is up to you to decide, as to if its financially worth it.
Maybe in 12 months, QF might again bring their own planes back to SYD - BKK, and they don't have premY.

 

[ceetee]

I will be doing probably 4 regular trips per year from BNE to BKK for the foreseeable future. I may occasionally need an extra one or two and I would like to get the most benefit out of the FF or Kris membership. I am currently base level with both and the accumulated flight points have just been deleted on both accounts.

I have a about 95000 points with QF and 24500 miles with Kris. My next flight is about November 7. Any advice on the best airline to focus on to get a higher status?

I am BNE based and pre Covid used Thai for all BKK trips. Now that they only go out of Melb or Syd I use VAd to Melb(don’t have to switch terminals), then to BKK. There is no comparison Thai to SG. I am gold with Thai and they treat you like a king. I have codeshare with VA and SG and they don’t know who I am. Yes I get lounge, priority boarding, but no priority seating and no recognition at all onboard. Thai staff take the time to greet and take your meal and drink order when I board. Then bring meal early. Then one long leg to BKK instead of two international flights, SG and BKK.

 

[Mattg]

I am BNE based and pre Covid used Thai for all BKK trips. Now that they only go out of Melb or Syd I use VAd to Melb(don’t have to switch terminals), then to BKK. There is no comparison Thai to SG. I am gold with Thai and they treat you like a king. I have codeshare with VA and SG and they don’t know who I am. Yes I get lounge, priority boarding, but no priority seating and no recognition at all onboard. Thai staff take the time to greet and take your meal and drink order when I board. Then bring meal early. Then one long leg to BKK instead of two international flights, SG and BKK.

Do you know if Star Alliance Gold gets this treatment too on board TG flights, or just if you have Thai status?

 

[Sprucegoose]

SIN Changi is a great airport to transit

It's one of my least favourite in Asia, the carpet isn't flash for wheeled bags and there is always an obstacle to navigate. There is reasonably good shopping generally. It does exceed the standards at MNL.

I can't fault the high standards of the SQ inflight crew.
They really work hard.

SQ is great. They are becoming less robotic and are always consistent - a hallmark of Asian service.

They do work hard.

I am gold with Thai, and they treat you like a king.

The King of Siam!

There is a Platinum level in the TG Royal Orchid Program. If you are treated as King with Gold, does Plats confer god-like benefits?

There is no comparison Thai to SG

There is a comparison from my experience, TG adds an additional human dimension to its service, which is probably what you are alluding to with your 'King' comment; TG service reflects more than a robotic acknowledgment, perhaps?

I like both airlines. SG is more stable from a business perspective, but TG does personalise its service.

 

[dajop]

Do you know if Star Alliance Gold gets this treatment too on board TG flights, or just if you have Thai status?

This is a good question. TG is far far from my program of choice for star alliance. I joined them pre-2020 to credit some (thankfully soon to be discontinued) Thai Smiles flights, but wasn't impressed with the earn/burn ratio of the program. As always YMMV.

 

[dajop]

I will be doing probably 4 regular trips per year from BNE to BKK for the foreseeable future. I

What class of travel?

 

[ceetee]

Do you know if Star Alliance Gold gets this treatment too on board TG flights, or just if you have Thai status?

I’ll guess only due to ROP status. My SAG did not garner any extra service on my recent ANZ flight.

 

[drron]

The good thing for us is you can have daylight flights both ways on SG. But of course a problem coming back. OK connections going to BKK from SIN.
However we always overnight in SIN which you probably don;t want to do.

 

[JohnK]

I'm QF Platinum and VA Gold, soon to be Platinum, but I find that SQ has better schedules for BNE-BKK flights.

The biggest problem for me is the flight comfort as the A350-900 economy seats for someone my size are very uncomfortable. But in saying that did manage to sleep most of the flight the other night when we returned. Wife and daughter have no complaints at all.

In terms of service in my mind Thai do it much better especially if you have status or class of travel.

In terms of lounges the TG lounge in BKK is very nice but the new SilverKris Lounge is also very nice with decent food options.

In SIN the KrisFlyer Gold lounges are ok but can get boring as menu is pretty much the same all year round. Have not tried the SilverKris lounges for a few years but will get the chance again mid-next year. For me SIN Emirates lounge beats all of them and would like to return there at some point.

In BNE the SilverKris is very ordinary. Small and very limited food options. Again the old EK lounge beats them all but I've not been in there since Covid.

 

[eastwest101]

As others have said - the best one-stop tradeoff with schedules/duration and price and onboard product options worth considering would be:

Singapore Airlines (via SIN) - best schedule, best transfer and almost no backtracking, Star Alliance
Qantas (via SYD) - OK schedule but a little bit of a back track and dom->international at SYD not the best, Star Alliance
Virgin & Thai (via MEL or SYD) - a fair backtrack for MEL but at least same terminal transfer, and again pita SYD transfer, Star Alliance
Cathay Pacific (via HKG) - a bit of a sidetrack via Hong Kong, not the airline it once was and fairly expensive, OneWorld Alliance
Vietjet Air (via SGN) - cheap price but some awkward transfer times in Ho Chi Minh City in some directions, no alliance at all.
Jetstar (via MEL) - some backtracking, cheap price and Melbourne transfer could work for some but Jetstar reliability questionable
Any Airline & Thai Air Asia X (via SYD) - might be cheap but brutal seating pitch and seat density in Y on Thai Air Asia X, no alliance at all.
Philippine Airlines (via MNL) - a bit indirect but if the transit experience in Manilla improves might be a consideration northbound
China Eastern (via PVG) - quite the long backtrack, OK connections but might be fairly cheap?
Eva Air (via TPE) - bit of a side track, awkward transits in Tapei sometimes, and SkyTeam so no Australian alliance partners
China Airlines (via TPE) - bit of a side track, awkward transits in Tapei sometimes, and SkyTeam so no Australian alliance partners


If you can put up with the terminal transfer at Sydney then there are many options, Melbourne a better transfer but the trade-off is a considerable back-tracking, most terminal transfers at Singapore are pretty good and all the other options go through peculiar and rather back-tracking one stop itineraries via Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Ho Chi Mihn City, Manilla, Taipei etc that sometimes don't have the nicest/or smoothest connection times.

There would be many other cheaper multiple ticket options with separate ticketed airlines but a bit of a pain if things go wrong with missed connections. There is a thread around here with discussions about Jetstar Asia moving terminals at Singapore so flying Qantas to Singapore and then Jetstar Asia is not as convenient and easy as it once was.

Obviously depends on your budget and what class you intend to fly Economy/Premium Economy or Business but going into the Qantas points and status ecosystem gives you points earning and burning upgrades possibilities on Qantas/China Eastern/Cathay Pacific and Jetstar, and alternatively going into either the Virgin/Thai or Singapore system gives you status and points earning and burning upgrade possibilities on those three. Not having any Thai or Malaysian based carriers serving Brisbane makes this more painful than it would otherwise be.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

I think OP was also chasing/trying to chase airline status as well.
For SQ, its the PPS value, and its very high if OP only flew full J/subclass of J.
With QF, flying J or premY with AY, can get some SC, but unless flying J, or subclass of it, also quite low, ie, OP might only make QFF PS and half way to SG, before dropping back to PS.
Its hard without more info, like who is funding this, and can it be claimed as a work expense (?)...
Heh, maybe after 1.5 years of this, the OP would be mentally drained, or maybe 2 years into this odyssey.

 

[dajop]

If you can put up with the terminal transfer at Sydney then there are many options, Melbourne a better transfer but the trade-off is a considerable back-tracking,

I wouldn't characterise the via MEL option as considerable - overall it adds about 30 mins travel time in each direction vs routing via SYD, and of course in SYD you've got allow almost that amount of time to move between international and domestic. But moot coming on TG out of BKK, which into SYD arrives in the evening and would require overnight at SYD, whereas MEL has 2x daily with an overnight flight into MEL.

 

[eastwest101]

I wouldn't characterise the via MEL option as considerable - overall it adds about 30 mins travel time in each direction vs routing via SYD, and of course in SYD you've got allow almost that amount of time to move between international and domestic. But moot coming on TG out of BKK, which into SYD arrives in the evening and would require overnight at SYD, whereas MEL has 2x daily with an overnight flight into MEL.

Yep good point, I hadn't realised the Thai Airlines flight into SYD would leave no connection options for the OP to get home to BNE, so that's pretty impractical, options via MEL look better if flying Thai.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

1 BNE - BKK return J standard trips = 11,280 miles per return, x 4 = 45,120 this is not enough for SQ PPS Elite Gold, and then it drops off before the next cycle starts.
PPS Elite Silver has some benefits, but its PPS Elite Gold that has the more benefits.
If OP flew J flexi, then the earn rate is more per return trip, and PPS Elite Gold is achievable in the first year.
Need 50,000 Elite miles for SQ Elite Gold.
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On the QF website, if a person books BNE - SIN - BKK, the weirdest combo comes up, they would put the pax onto an SQ or TG flight from SIN - BKK, instead of a 3K flight.
Of course, we know that if did accept this, that the person would not earn any QFF points or QFF SC on the SIN - BKK sector, so...
This would mean having to do a 3K separate booking, on the JQ website.
On a separate tix, QF51 arr into SIN at 16.50, and 3K513 dep SIN for BKK at 19.15, on a separate PNR to the QF one.
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So, up to the OP now to weigh out the costings, and what class they want to travel each flight.

 

[stan101]

What class of travel?

Economy. And sorry for late reply. Have been caught up with a few matters.

I'm a one man show and I can probably only get away with charging the customer for economy but possibly flex. So on SQ I would get getting 1:1 status miles for miles flown. I could personally top up a bit if I get some useful benefits. I lost my QF gold status about 10 years ago.

Thanks for the tips on transferring points to Virgin. As AU Poochie mentioned, getting to gold with SQ will be a task.

Sydney is a real pain for transiting on the bus from domestic to International and back.

Ceetee, has given me food for thought. I have to wait at either Sin or SYD. So I will check total flight time BNE > MEL > BKK.

I have some research to do.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Oh, its a pity its in Y.
SQ is only keen on those who choose to fly J, and that is where PPS elite comes into play, they have 2 systems, the normal KF, where you earn a point per mile sector band flown, but unless you fly J/subclass of it, or F, climbing the status ladder with SQ will be hard in Y, and tough on the lower expensive fares, ie, cheaper fares earn KF miles, which can be used for redemptions, but status wise, you do need to fly the premier/premium classes to climb.
Flying SQ Y/premY will not earn PPS elite, so status wise, you are always down the bottom as well, which under QF is a bit of different system.
QF for you, to BKK, will entail back tracking to MEL/SYD, but their status earning and climbing system, is more egalitarian, meaning what ever fare you pay, you will earn QFF SC, but it will still be a long hard road to get to QFF SG.
In the end, its your choice, and what funds you have, and who covers it.
Looks from my pov, its QF, even tho as I mentioned, back tracking to MEL/SYD.
For the time being, fly AY's (Finnair) QF service in premY will earn a bit more status, so maybe for the time being, do that.
But it could mean having to fly down to SYD the night before, spending time in the Rydges, and then taking the AY service, SYD - BKK.
Even flying QF Y, and the majority of it, you will earn QFF SC, but in Y/subclass of Y, the earn rate is quite low, so maybe you will get to QFF PS (Silver), with only 4 trips in Y/subclass of Y.
Also as a QFF PS, the call center you call, for any trouble shooting, will be the overseas one.