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Yesterday, I looked at How to Fly Singapore First Class and Suites Class from the United States to Europe or Asia. Today, I will look at the actual award space for 1-3 people in Suites Class. Here are the possible awards in First/Suites Class from the United States:

  • San Francisco to Hong Kong: 70,125 miles + $49.60 (15 hours flying)
  • San Francisco to Hong Kong to Singapore: 91,375 miles + $263.30 (17:45 flying)
  • San Francisco to Seoul: 74,375 miles + $203.30 (12:50 flying)
  • San Francisco to Seoul to Singapore: 91,375 miles + $263.30 (19:20 flying)
  • Houston to Moscow-Domodedovo: 57,375 miles + $211.70 (10 hours flying)
  • Houston to Moscow-Domodedovo to Singapore: 93,500 miles + $271.70 (21:15 flying)
  • Los Angeles to Tokyo-Narita: 74,375 miles + $113.30 (11:45 flying)
  • Los Angeles to Tokyo-Narita to Singapore: 91,375 miles + $275.97 (19:20 flying)
  • New York-JFK to Frankfurt: 57,375 miles + $203.30 (7:35 flying)
  • New York-JFK to Frankfurt to Singapore: 93,500 miles + $285.85 (20:05 flying)

Singapore First Class on its 777-300ER is world class, but Suites Class on the A380 is a whole ‘nother level with enclosed suites and the possibility of combining two beds into one double bed. Above, the two A380 routes are in bold.

Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.41.28 PM
The two Suites Class routes to the United States. LAX-NRT-SIN and JFK-FRA-SIN. Source: gcmap.com

As I mentioned yesterday, Singapore flights to the United States all have an intermediate stop, and you can fly any single segment of the trip as an award. Today, I am mainly going to look at award space from Frankfurt to New York and from Tokyo to Los Angeles.

Frankfurt to New York

Award space is very rare on this route, and the only space I found is this week. Unfortunately Singapore Airlines doesn’t show a calendar of award space, so you have to manually search day-by-day. Because of that, I searched the following dates to give you a good idea of award space at different times of the year:

  • June 5-11 (this week)
  • September 11-17
  • December 19-25
  • February 1-7
  • May 13-23 (last day of schedule)

I only found award space on June 7 and June 10 at the Saver price. This is what that looks like online.

Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 11.50.22 AM

Days without award space say “Waitlist” instead of “Available.” More on waitlisting Singapore awards in a future post.
Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 11.51.52 AM

I searched for award space for only one passenger initially, but I went back and looked at June 7 and 10 to see if there was award space for more passengers those days. I found three award seats at the Saver level in Suites Class both days.
Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.00.35 PMAlthough the price on the search screen is 67,500 miles, there is a 15% discount for booking Singapore awards online. The total price for one passenger one way from Frankfurt to New York is 57,375 Singapore miles + $314, about 60% of which is fuel surcharges.
Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.01.48 PM

In my searches from New York to Frankfurt and continuing on to Singapore, I see similarly dismal award availability. I believe New York <-> Frankfurt <-> Singapore and each individual segment are the hardest Suites Class awards.

Tokyo to Los Angeles

Tokyo to Los Angeles, by contrast, has great award availability for parts of the year for two passengers in Suites Class at the Saver level. I searched the same dates:

  • June 4-11 (this week)
  • September 11-17
  • December 19-25
  • February 1-7
  • May 13-23 (last day of schedule)

I found award space at the Saver price for at least one person in Suites Class:

  • June 4, 6
  • February 3, 4, 7
  • May 13-15 and 17-23

On all of those days except February 7, there is award space for two passengers. Today, June 4, there is award space for three passengers.

Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.11.59 PM

I didn’t find award space the week I searched in September or the week before Christmas.

The price is listed at 87,500 miles per passenger on the search screen, but the payment screen incorporates a 15% miles discount, so the total award price is 74,375 Singapore miles + $129, which is a little more than half fuel surcharges.

Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.14.35 PM

Many of the days with award space from Tokyo to Los Angeles have award space on the entire trip from Singapore to Los Angeles, but not all days. For instance, February 3 has award space at the Saver level for the whole trip as do a lot of the May dates.

Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.16.28 PM

The full journey from Singapore to Los Angeles in Suites Class costs 91,375 Singapore miles + $315, which is more than 75% fuel surcharges.
Screen Shot 2015-06-04 at 12.16.40 PM

Getting the Miles & Booking the Awards

Right now, the Citi Prestige offers 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 in the first three months. ThankYou Points transfer 1:1 to Singapore miles (and 10 other miles.) You can get both cards as long as you apply 8+ days apart. I’d get one if you want to book Frankfurt to New York and both if you want to book Tokyo or Singapore to the United States.

Search for award space on singaporeair.com, transfer your points and wait about 36 hours for them to post, and book your award.

Pay your award taxes and fuel surcharges with the Citi Prestige® Card. The first $250 in award taxes, fuel surcharges, airfare, or airline fees per calendar year are refunded to you as a statement credit. If you’ve already maxed out the statement credit, you will still earn 3x ThankYou Points on the award taxes.

Bottom Line

Award space is very tight on the New York <-> Frankfurt <-> Singapore route. The only award space I see on that route is within a week of departure.

Award space is much more open on the Los Angeles <-> Tokyo <-> Singapore route. There is award space this week but also in February and May. Almost every day with award space has space for two passengers.

You can search and book the award space on singaporeair.com. You can get the miles you need by transferring ThankYou Points from the Citi Prestige and Citi ThankYou Premier. The Prestige is also valuable to pay the award taxes and fuel surcharges, since it has a $250 Air Travel Credit each calendar year to offset that stuff.

Key Links:

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With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


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