SQ website blocking award searches for accounts with zero KrisFlyer miles

[kpc]

Went to see what Aaron of MileLion (who knows everything about Sq's KrisFlyer) had to say about this:

Singapore Airlines adds new restrictions on award searching - The MileLion

KrisFlyer members now require a minimum balance of 1,000 miles to search for awards, as SIA seeks to clamp down on automated queries from award search tools.

milelion.com

 

[anat0l]

Won't this all just backfire on them? Their call centres will be flooded by people wanting to confirm seat availability before transferring points over.

Who the <insert word here> calls the call centre to inquire about seat availability?

If it is you specifying the date and flight, fair (fare?) enough. If you're just expecting the agent to do the legwork for you, especially if your balance doesn't meet a threshold, I think you'll be told to go jump.

Reducing redemptions and, in the long run, reducing overall engagement in the program!

The reduction in engagement might just be that from the type of people that they may feel comfortable in jettisoning. For all we know, their PPS and PPS Solitaire members may be thinking the same thing.


I have zero miles right now, so I won't be able to search a thing. But I can respect this decision by SQ. I wonder if they were contemplating something similar to a recent QR change which requires someone to credit one flight to its programme before you can search for multiple seats (let alone do any searches).

 

[HeavyElectricity]

I've had 1400 miles in my account for a while, with ~200 due to expire in September. But the website won't let me search for reward seats, and says I don't have enough.

 

[Mattg]

I've had 1400 miles in my account for a while, with ~200 due to expire in September. But the website won't let me search for reward seats, and says I don't have enough.

I guess we'll have to wait for Milelion to get a straight answer from Singapore Airlines as to what the actual requirement is (and why).

This does seem like a rather regressive step at a time when most programs are making it easier than ever to search for reward seats. Heck, Qantas just launched a free, publicly available reward seat finder!

I guess the upshot is that KrisFlyer still genuinely has reasonable award availability, and it wants to protect that. But if genuine program users can't get access to finding it, that's a genuine issue.