SQ ‘Flexi’ Business Class Fares – Not So Flexible!

[MichaelWR]

I’ve twice recently purchased Singapore Airlines’ Flexi business class fares (J class), with the expectation I may need to change a flight date, and was surprised to discover how limited the flexibility is when requesting a flight date change.

To change a flight date without repricing, there needs to be availability in the exact same booking class (in this case, J). If that specific fare bucket isn’t available, you can either pay the fare difference to upgrade to a higher available fare class, or wait for J class availability, as you cannot downgrade to a lower fare class—even if lower-priced business seats are available (which would, in theory, entitle you to a refund, and is therefore not allowed).

I'm thinking I need to revise my booking strategy. Rather than paying a premium for a Flexi fare on the assumption that it will provide date change flexibility, it may be more pragmatic to book the lowest available fare class, and if a change is needed, pay the fare difference as required.

Has anyone else encountered problems in this area? My issue is the labelling of these tickets as “Flexi” when, in practice, flexibility is limited, and a cheaper ticket may actually enable more flexibility (at additional cost when making the change).

 

[pauldab]

Flexi in almost every case means no or little additional fee to do the change. Not sure why you couldn’t get the new seat if cheaper, maybe that was a mistake by the agent as I’ve purchased flexi tickets with SQ before and haven’t had to work around things like you describe.

 

[MichaelWR]

Unfortunately it wasn't a mistake. It has happened to me twice - dealing directly with SQ. The first time I was trying to change the flight by one day (the next day) - plenty of cheaper fare seats available, the second time was changing the date many weeks in advance. Thankfully in this case they waitlisted me, and I was able to change the date for no fee. The SQ fare rules say: CHANGES ANY TIME: ... THE NEW BASE FARE MUST BE EQUAL OR HIGHER THAN THE ORIGINAL BASE FARE FOLLOWING ANY TICKET CHANGES....

 

[dajop]

The first time I was trying to change the flight by one day (the next day) - plenty of cheaper fare seats available, the second time was changing the date many weeks in advance.

The only thing I can think of the fare dropped after your initial purchase or a lower type of J fare was available. Fare class order on SQ in business class is Z C J U D. I can’t recall ever seeing U and D availability and not J or higher.

 

[Cruise Luxury]

I struggle with airfares, but my general understanding is if you change the first flight on a ticket it’s defined as a reissue (instead of a revalidatiion which is a date change on subsequent flights) where they put the value of the original fare towards a new ticket - hence it can’t be less in value. You probably could have just put the original ticket in a refund and taken the cancellation fee hit and bought a new ticket at lower costing, if it was available?