New! SQUpgrade - Bid $ for One Class Upgrade

[SQueeze]

Sadly many small to medium corporations place price over convenience In their corporate travel decision. A one-stop is common place and usually there is no absolute loyalty towards a particular carrier. I believe SQ's target segment are the EYCL upgraders rather than corporate accounts. Most of their marketing for PEY are done on the mass public than corporate accounts.

What marketing needs to do is to improve the value of their product in order to gain wider acceptance. As many of the members here have said,their S fare is poor value when compared to our Regional carriers's J fare.

Mine is not a small company, but corporate travel policy is crafted by people who don't travel. They count beans only. They are not sympathetic to us the road warriors. They don't understand what is Premium Economy. To them, everybody except directors travel economy period as is written.

What I find most ridiculous is the economy flexi ticket prices. How many people actually buy them ??? Just like redemption full (which I believe they are removing) nobody pays 300% more (or do they?)

If the Y tickets drop then S will drop too since they tie it to "a bit" more than economy flexi.

Oh. Corporates buy flexi Y tickets all the time. At least mine. And they don't understand anything about value. They follow what is in the book. As long as it's economy they won't question the fare. so for India, at one point, I highlighted that AI biz class is cheaper than SQ Y flexi, but they still would not authorise flying on the J fare. They told me to fly AI Y instead. Haha.

[icn.sg]

Oh. Corporates buy flexi Y tickets all the time. At least mine. And they don't understand anything about value. They follow what is in the book. As long as it's economy they won't question the fare. so for India, at one point, I highlighted that AI biz class is cheaper than SQ Y flexi, but they still would not authorise flying on the J fare. They told me to fly AI Y instead. Haha.

Sometimes it's best not to educate them too much. The moment they become more aware, they'll be pushing you to fly on the cheapest flexible fares i.e. AI in Y vs SQ in Y.

Flexible fares are a must for most corporate travelers as our schedules can be kinda fluid. I once had the 'misfortune' of beating traffic to arrive at the airport 2 hours earlier than planned. I couldn't check in on the earlier flight home as my fare was restricted to certain flights only...I wasted so much time loitering at the airport.

[SQ228]

What I find most ridiculous is the economy flexi ticket prices. How many people actually buy them ??? Just like redemption full (which I believe they are removing) nobody pays 300% more (or do they?)

If the Y tickets drop then S will drop too since they tie it to "a bit" more than economy flexi.

People in MEL buy them because frequently it's all that is left for us.

My recent trip I just came home from was booked more than 6 months in advance. Nothing but Flexi available.

I thought, oh well at least I could use some miles to upgrade my final sector home on the horrible old 772ER which has refurbed J, as I'd never bought flexi tickets before (normally I book 9 months in advance!) so I clicked the upgrade button. Not even waitlisting for paying the full miles for the sector was available. So I was paying flexi fares to travel in the lowest class in their worst product...

[alian]

People in MEL buy them because frequently it's all that is left for us.

My recent trip I just came home from was booked more than 6 months in advance. Nothing but Flexi available.

I thought, oh well at least I could use some miles to upgrade my final sector home on the horrible old 772ER which has refurbed J, as I'd never bought flexi tickets before (normally I book 9 months in advance!) so I clicked the upgrade button. Not even waitlisting for paying the full miles for the sector was available. So I was paying flexi fares to travel in the lowest class in their worst product...

Sorry to hear mate. That's why I don't buy flexi it really does not show value in many perspective unless it's a super last minute option. Why not try call the contact center but talk to someone in reservation instead of the standard call center folks. Might be able to assist in your upgrade. Worked for me on a couple of occasions on redemptions and 1 J upgrade to F.

Good luck

[Audio]

This "bidding for a SQ upgrade" feature that SIA is offering is laughable. Yes, if you have been a frequent flier with SIA (like I had for 14 loyal years), it seems like a great way to get an upgrade....since you hardly get one.

I have moved since the Elite Gold priority boarding fiasco, I stopped flying SQ and went completely with CX. Suddenly, I discovered that I was offered free upgrades to business class even when I am only a Silver Marco Polo member. In about one and a half year, I became a Diamond CX member, I am now wondering why do I have to put up with being capped as a Elite Gold member with SIA for 14 years.

Right now, upgrades are often, an average of once in 4 flights at least. Last month, as I was flying with my wife, both of us were upgraded to business class on both sectors and we only bought discounted economy tickets. All FOC, no bidding required.

(Audio)

[ST_Travel]

Hi Alain,

I'm a journalist and I'm writing an article about SIA's potential integration of a bid to upgrade programme.
I saw your post about your invitation to bid to upgrade the other week and I'd like to ask you a few questions about your thoughts on the invitation and SIA's recent changes, either in email or over the phone. Let me know?

Cheers,
Lydia

[ST_Travel]

Is anyone annoyed by Bid to Upgrade?

Is anyone annoyed by the changes SIA has made recently to its upgrade system?


1) They increased the miles needed to upgrade on some routes.

2) On flights where premium economy is available, customers who purchase an economy class ticket cannot upgrade to business class. They must upgrade to premium economy instead.

3) It seems SIA is now implementing a bid to upgrade programme on an invitation only basis.

I'd like to know how everyone feels about this, whether you feel like these are acceptable changes for SIA to make (and why) or if you feel like SIA is slowly making it harder for its frequent flyers to reap the benefits of their loyalty?
Are there other areas of frustration with the Kris Flyer programme you want raised?

If so, I'd like to know for an article I am writing about SIA's potential use of bid to upgrade and what that will mean for Kris Flyer members.

All comments welcome!

[alian]

I don't mind following up but you'll need to turn on your private message (PM) so that I respond separately

[viraj735]

1. The KF devaluation wasn't as drastic as other airlines, I think the rates are fine given how long it's been since the previous devaluation.

2. What? Who said you can't upgrade to Business Class? Just pay the fare difference? If you're referring to op-ups - they're so rare it's not even something worth considering. If you're talking about upgrading with miles from a Flexi Y ticket to Business Class, in my experience redeeming the Business Saver award has been better value but I don't think there was anything wrong with that approach, flexi Y fares aren't cheap and that's fine.

3. This program isn't unique to SIA, there are plenty of airlines that offer such a service (from Economy to Business even) either in house or through third party websites. I don't see any downside to such a system. It's another avenue for a passenger to get a Premium Economy seat and for the airline to generate additional revenue. Premium Economy is still a variant of Economy class.

It seems like you're looking for very one-sided responses using a leading question.

[maestro]

I for one am furious. As a long time KrisFlyer member, I often upgraded from Brisbane to Paris, Economy to Business. Even though they still advertise it (Zone 9 - Zone 11), it's now IMPOSSIBLE. Because no flights from Brisbane have Premium Economy and all flights to Paris have it. Thus, impossible.

[fone]

Flexible fares are a must for most corporate travelers as our schedules can be kinda fluid. I once had the 'misfortune' of beating traffic to arrive at the airport 2 hours earlier than planned. I couldn't check in on the earlier flight home as my fare was restricted to certain flights only...I wasted so much time loitering at the airport.

Yes, as our schedules tend to change, I'd usually get changeable fares. Flexi saver if available, if not, then Flexi fares. At least, this is for company.

Just looking at CNY 2017 travels for conference (sadly conference dates coincide with CNY 2017). The new SIN - SFO non-stop is having a 2-to-go Super Saver fares for like S$1400. Good for anyone looking to travel during CNY ex-SIN, but if company were to book now, it would probably be at least flexi saver fare or saver but not the super cheap super saver. Comparing prices, Premium economy is $3,500.

Editted: I'm in a SME of less than 15 people.

[alian]

Hmm its been a while since the bidding came about ... has anyone had any experience to share? or has this fizzed out ?

[SQ319]

Yup, keen to know too... Would also be good to have some datapoints of successful bids.

[scooby5]

I did an experiment a couple of weeks ago......

Bought a Flexi-Saver return from SIN-HKG for something like S$515 and put in an upgrade bid on the return only from Y to PY at $120, and got it. I might have got it for a bit less given there were a few seats left and given the flight left about 2hrs late with 40min of that on board funnily the extra comfort was a bit handy that particular day.

Given that a Flexi-Y ticket is over S$700 I got a semi-flexible with an upgrade to PY on the return for ~S$630......and more miles banked.

Up to you to decide whether worth it or not, especially on just a 4hr hour flight like that but for me, it was just a try see anyway.

[alian]

I did an experiment a couple of weeks ago......

Bought a Flexi-Saver return from SIN-HKG for something like S$515 and put in an upgrade bid on the return only from Y to PY at $120, and got it. I might have got it for a bit less given there were a few seats left and given the flight left about 2hrs late with 40min of that on board funnily the extra comfort was a bit handy that particular day.

Given that a Flexi-Y ticket is over S$700 I got a semi-flexible with an upgrade to PY on the return for ~S$630......and more miles banked.

Up to you to decide whether worth it or not, especially on just a 4hr hour flight like that but for me, it was just a try see anyway.

Thanks for sharing .... since you got the PEY benefits and additional accrual there is some usefulness but based on your experience that day the load and up take is not that high. I think SQ should relook into PEY and how to make it a success.