The Master SQ Guide (Krisflyer, Waitlists & Waitlists Clearing)

albatross710

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work in progress, appreciate feedback on format, links and of course, please suggest content....


Everything you need to know about Krisflyer Waitlists & Waitlists Clearing


One of the best ways to use those hard earned Krisflyer miles is by taking advantage of the Krisflyer Saver Awards which provide the best use of Krisflyer miles. If booked via the website, then a discount of 15% is allowed.

This post will provide the answers to “when will my waitlist clear” as well as strategies optimising your Waitlist clear.

What are the chance of my Waitlist clearing?

New member Simon83 asked the classic question “How does the wait list work?” IN this thread we find the answers.

Dajop advises : I have never waitlisted months out, usually just weeks. Sometimes they come through and sometimes they don't, and I also have status with Krisflyer/Singapore Airlines, which I suspect helps clear them, so my answers may not be valid unless you also have status! When they have cleared it's usually within 2 weeks of making the booking, anything that it still waitlisted after that tends to either expire (expiry date on waitlist) or not come through at all.

Alanslegal suggests: I have wait listed various flights over the years, some have been approved 48 hours, others came a few weeks after, and others just never came at all so in my interpretation, there is now exact science or reason why they do or do not come through. Most of my wait listing are usually for flights 3-6 months away so if none of them clear by 6-8 week mark I would start looking at other ways of getting there.

PS. I managed to wait list on SQ 747 and SQ 748 in F savers (before they removed them and only allowed to wait list F full awards). Sadly the wait list didn't come through and miss out on those commemorative 747 SIN-HKG-SIN flights. Yes I was being very very optimistic




Does Status help?


According to Vantage03 the answer is Yes!.

My understanding from hearing other PPS member experiences is that they regularly clear for PPS members.
As an ex-silver / blue KF member (as I almost always fly SQ on points), Fist Class / Suites savers *sometimes* open.
If you are departing Australia, it's the Australian SQ office which has to open the seats for you - not the call centre. This is probably different for PPS members though.
It also appears to have nothing to do with loadings, as I recently had 2x Suites seats open for me SYD-SIN on a flight that had 75% First class full (the most I've ever seen on an SQ A380 First).
Then, the next leg I wanted (SIN-FRA A380) the cabin literally had 1 seat booked according to Expert Flyer (confirmed by check-in girl in SYD) and even at T-12 hours they wouldn't open it up for me.

How do I get my Waitlist to clear?




How have people been successful with Waitlists?


Waitlist Strategies


Infinity shared his strategy:

F Suites or F Class Wait list clearing

I know its a bit of a lottery when and where a WL will clear in my favour, but here's what I have done ( Suites/F Class only)

1/ ensure I have enough points to stack as many waitlists as I need in KF account

2/ go for all combinations of me, my partner, me and my partner etc

3/ I always put me as 1st wait list so if it clears just for me I can call KF and plead to release for partner

4/ get a firm seat on something I can cancel for nominal penalty so at least I know I am going; Just a question of "in how much style"

5/ look at F/Suites to nearby hubs and so as get a short haul to my final destination if I have to

6/ book lots of one way sectors so if one clears I try to call KF to get others released to get me where I want to go

My experience is that WL generally won't clear until sometime in week before travel, then cross one’s fingers
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Waitlist Multiple flights to the same and alternate destinations


New member fireflyer asked about this strategy in this thread. It is a big yes. This thread also provides some guidance on how to confirm the sectors when they do come through.

The Krisflyer Program
To make the most of the Krislfyer program and give yourself the best chance of getting your waitlist bookings to clear, be sure to familiarise yourself the Krisflyer Program Terms & Conditions.


How many miles need for a Redemption flight.
There are at least two way to determine the number of miles that are needed for a redemption:


a) Login using your Krisflyer number and Pin and do a trial redemption booking, the required number of miles is shown.


b) Use the Award PDF tables which can be found here or can be referenced from this page : https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/ppsclub-krisflyer/RedeemMiles_SQMI/


What's the difference between Saver, Standard & Full?


The only difference is number of miles that you will need to redeem the seat. It's the same seat, same SQ service, same departure and arrival airports! The Saver awards will generally be taken first, then Standard and finally for those that really must redeem miles for a particular flight, the Full award seats are usually available up until the last few days. For the best value redemptions plan early to obtain the Saver award seats.
 
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A question please albatross710 - if I have a confirmed Standard J booking but have a waitlisted Saver Suites/First that clears do I get a refund of the points difference?
 
A question please albatross710 - if I have a confirmed Standard J booking but have a waitlisted Saver Suites/First that clears do I get a refund of the points difference?
SQ will treat these are separate transactions. The Krisflyer conditions on which they will manage this is that Redemption bookings cannot be upgraded. So they will need to refund the Standard Booking miles and the taxes, less the refund fee and then issue the First Saver and charge the new taxes. You may need to have enough points to cover the First Saver if there is a time delay on the refund.

Please let us know what happens.
 
Waitlist? What does this mean?

Please excuse my ignorance, but if looking at redemption flights what exactly does "waitlist" mean? Do you get notified if a seat becomes available at any time before the flight leaves? If that is the case, it would mean you could miss out on travelling to your destination altogether or getting home for that matter.
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

Please excuse my ignorance, but if looking at redemption flights what exactly does "waitlist" mean? Do you get notified if a seat becomes available at any time before the flight leaves? If that is the case, it would mean you could miss out on travelling to your destination altogether or getting home for that matter.
Can you let the group know if your questions were answered through the sticky. Would love to hear more ways to expand the content.
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

When I read "Everything you need to know about Krisflyer Waitlists & Waitlists Clearing" it did answer questions about how it all works. I wasn't aware that you could put in any amount of waitlisting without it taking your points. I was thinking they took your points for every waitlisted seat you entered. Seems a bit silly really as I have read people have like 17 things waitlisted and they are only ever going to use 2. Do you think it ties things up in the system being if so many seats are waitlisted it might show up then as unavailable for that flight?
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

Can you let the group know if your questions were answered through the sticky. Would love to hear more ways to expand the content.

I'm also new to SQ and KrisFlyer (except for the odd flight over the years ... usually in J paid by a client). Going to do more now via VA points converted to KrisFlyer

My rather embarrassed question re waitlists is ... how does getting on a waitlist come about :oops: ? I imagine that its when you go to make a redemption flight, but there are an seats available so the airline puts you on a waitlist and advises you when a redemption seat becomes available ... but I also imagine there are various nuances and conditions to waitlists.

Having been on the side of answering queries re QF and some other airlines for ages, its interesting being on the other side of the fence re SQ!
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

Seems a bit silly really as I have read people have like 17 things waitlisted and they are only ever going to use 2. Do you think it ties things up in the system being if so many seats are waitlisted it might show up then as unavailable for that flight?
At any one time there are millions of seats churning around inside the booking. As soon as one waitlist come through, it clears up other lists and people keep moving through. In the past year SQ changed how it was working so that now any 'confirmed' flights are released back into the system and are not held up by the waitlisted sectors.



how does getting on a waitlist come about :oops: ? I imagine that its when you go to make a redemption flight, but there are an seats available so the airline puts you on a waitlist and advises you when a redemption seat becomes available.
When going through the redemption booking, the availability will appear as "Waitlist". Proceeding will put that sector onto Waitlist. As people bookings progress on the flight SQ might release more redemption seats, or someone might cancel or move their redememption travel to another flight. In that case, everyone on the waitlist moves along, presumably with the more privileged flyers moving along a little quicker than others.
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

Thanks a710 :). Presumably if there is a seat available, it gets confirmed there and then? Or is the demand such that a redemption booking will (nearly) always go onto a waitlist (except, perhaps for SQ status pax)?
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

Thanks a710 :). Presumably if there is a seat available, it gets confirmed there and then? Or is the demand such that a redemption booking will (nearly) always go onto a waitlist (except, perhaps for SQ status pax)?
If there is redemption itinerary available then it can be ticketed immediately. Lots of tix can be done this way.
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

If there is redemption itinerary available then it can be ticketed immediately. Lots of tix can be done this way.

albatross710....thank you for putting in the effort to start this thread. I've only just come accross it.
Although I've enjoyed a quite a few suite trips PER-LHR, CDG-PER, PER-JFK all booked through call centre because no first class from PER, I found the Saver Award chart in your sticky thread very interesting and easy to work out..... the whole K/F booking experience is very do-able.......
 
The Frequent Flyer Concierge team takes the hard work out of finding reward seat availability. Using their expert knowledge and specialised tools, they'll help you book a great trip that maximises the value for your points.

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

albatross710....
Although I've enjoyed a quite a few suite trips PER-LHR, CDG-PER, PER-JFK all booked through call centre because no first class from PER, .

No first class from BNE either. How does booking through the call centre make a difference please? :confused:
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

No first class from BNE either. How does booking through the call centre make a difference please? :confused:

Allows you to book the leg with first class in first and the leg in business in business on the one ticket. It usually costs the full first saver reward value, but everything is linked. Ask nicely and you will also get the 15% discount as it couldn't be booked online.
 
Re: Waitlist? What does this mean?

Allows you to book the leg with first class in first and the leg in business in business on the one ticket. It usually costs the full first saver reward value, but everything is linked. Ask nicely and you will also get the 15% discount as it couldn't be booked online.

Awesome. Thanks, although I might fly SYD-LHR and get suites all the way if I can. Don't fancy J class in the old seats on the A330 from BNE to SIN if I dont have to;)
 
If you are managing lots of waitlist bookings to get the fligths you want in/around a particular date if might be prudent to decide to skip putting you mobile number on the waitlist request.

When a waitlist clears, for me, it has always been at 8pm Singapore time. This means a text on your phone at 10pm Brisbane or 11pm Sydney.

In any case, an email is also sent, which can be actioned the following morning, remembering that when a waitlist does clear, there are three days to ticket.

Alby
 
Has anyone managed to get a savers reward ticket in J or F without being waitlisted for a longer journey like to North America or Europe? Is there any trick to it? Its just that I dont have time to wait, I need to book it in.
 
What dates are you looking at?

I haven't had too many problems with finding availability to Europe. ZRH seemed to have much better availability than LHR if that helps. Most of the time it was the SIN-PER legs that had no availability so adding a stopover in SIN often helped.
 
Has anyone managed to get a savers reward ticket in J or F without being waitlisted for a longer journey like to North America or Europe? Is there any trick to it? Its just that I dont have time to wait, I need to book it in.
Dozens of times RoseAnna - no trick to it other than with most rdpt bookings on most airlines seek seek seek and book as far out as possible.
 
Are multi-city Award bookings possible on-line? It appears not, as the multi-city option disappears if you select 'redeem miles'.

If this is the case, I guess you have to ring up to book? Any extra charges with this?
 
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