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Use Singapore Airlines Krisflyer points to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class?

Virgin Atlantic Upper Class SFO-LHR - 5 of 86

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This used to be a big no, no. Now? I see opportunity.

I’m always looking for better ways to fly like a baller for fewer points. Last night I was fiddling around on SingaporeAir.com and came across a Virgin Atlantic chart that I’ve never seen before. That being said, I don’t regularly check SingaporeAir for Virgin Atlantic redemptions, so maybe it changed awhile ago, but I looked for other blogs reporting this and only came across old links to an inferior chart. It also states that this chart has been valid since August 1st, 2017. Let’s take a look  at Singapore Airlines Krisflyer VERY ATTRACTIVE redemption options for Virgin Atlantic Upper Class.

The One Way Chart

  • North America to Europe for 50k Singapore Krisflyer. That’s fantastic ( compares to 47.5k to 67.5k with Virgin and 85k with Delta – see below)
Use Singapore Airlines Krisflyer points to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class
Singapore Airlines Krisflyer redemption chart for Virgin Atlantic

Region definitions:

Use Singapore Airlines Krisflyer points to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

There is a Companion Roundtrip Chart as Well

Update – the value of a companion is iffy seeing as though you’d need a full fare upper class ticket to attach it to, but here’s the info.

  • Must be Roundtrip. Must have Same itinerary as principal ticket
  • Roundtrip North America to Europe for 75k
  • Roundtrip Europe to Hong Kong for 105k
  • Roundtrip Europe to South Africa for 90k

Use Singapore Airlines Krisflyer points to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

Terms and Conditions

Use Singapore Airlines Krisflyer points to fly Virgin Atlantic Upper Class

How do these rates compare?

Here’s Virgin Atlantic’s Own redemption standard chart

a table with text on it

Virgin’s rates from the U.S. vary from 95k roundtrip to 135k depending on where you originate in America. Singapore charges a flat 50k.

Delta charges 85k to Fly Virgin Upper Class from U.S. to London, and 80k London and Hong Kong

a screenshot of a computer

I called into to check Taxes and Fees.

The first rep that I spoke to said that points couldn’t be used to redeem Krisflyer on Virgin only earn. That’s wrong. I had her check and when she got back on the phone she confirmed that I was right and redemption was possible and that one way awards were also permitted. The only problem was that she couldn’t see any space available whatsoever. I asked about various dates that I saw as avail on both VA and Delta – none showed up. Very strange. Then I had her check a whole month’s worth of dates. No dice.

I’m planning on calling back when it’s not the middle of the night and having a rep manually punch in flight information, but it could be that Virgin blocks a lot of space from Singapore. Or…it could be that this is a fairly new or unusual ask for Singapore reps and that’s the reason for the kinks. Either way, I want to suss what the taxes and fees would be on various tickets to figure out if this, in fact, offers an attractive redemption alternative.

 

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17 Comments

  • Matt September 28, 2018

    I tried calling to book JFK LHR DXB in March with no luck. The agent confirmed that she was searching G space but for all the dates I tried nothing came up (but was available via DL). Sad 🙁

  • djibouti April 4, 2018

    I’m still unable to use SQ miles for VS. They see only select dates way in the future. Delta can see it just fine. Is it possible that they’re really restricted as compared to Delta? It’s the same inventory (G)… I didn’t realize that an airline could restrict who has access to the same fare code. I always thought restricting access to partners was all-or-none and accomplished with a different fare code.

    I’ve tried to HUCA many times over the weeks with no luck.

  • Julie November 19, 2017

    Just wanted to add a data point. I called Singapore today and of course, there was no availability. The rep I spoke to said they open VA award flights two months out. I find that hard to believe though.

    • Howard December 27, 2017

      Data Point: Had the same issue you all are describing. Found VS Upper Class availability (from several US gateways on multiple dates) through DL a couple months ago that SQ was not able to see. My hope was that the issue would be resolved when KrisFlyer partner awards became bookable online as of Dec 7th; but alas, it wasn’t.

      Today, I found some additional availability on Delta’s website and decided to give it another shot. After a few HUCAs, found an agent who was able to see the availability and issue the tickets. To put the icing on the cake, they only charged 75k KrisFlyer miles per passenger, round trip (IAD/LHR), instead of the 100k called for by the VS Award Chart. Total taxes and fees came to about $643 per passenger, the bulk of which was comprised of YQ and the UK APD.

      Hope this info is useful.

  • Shiff September 28, 2017

    As frustrating a process as this continues to be, I’m still going back and forth with Krisflyer to see what availability there is for VA redemption. My initial request was for a flight from London to Bridgetown, but extended the search to include the whole of the caribbean anytime between 1st Dec 17 – 28th Feb 18. One flight appeared available – LGW to Havana, and that was it.

    So how do we get VA to unblock a few more flights to make this useful, and when oh when will SQ provide a way for Krisflyer &/or PPS members to search out partner redemption flights for ourselves??

  • Joe September 5, 2017

    Called today to check on a LHR-SFO flight on VS for Jan 2018…The rep was able to find flights on UA and AC but not VS. I wonder if VS is actually blocking seats from SQ or if there is another way for them to search the system maybe? (searching partner vs star alliance) I’m not sure how the system works so I don’t know but hopefully someone is able to figure out what the taxes look like using SQ miles.

    • Miles September 6, 2017

      Joe – thanks for the data point! I’m hoping it’s search error and not blocked space. I haven’t tried calling in a while, but will do in the couple weeks.

      • GregR October 2, 2018

        Miles, it’s been a year. Have you had any success booking VS upper class using SQ miles?

        I saw one success story from Howard on 12/27/17. Any pointers?

        • Miles October 2, 2018

          Greg – unfortunately I haven’t…i think by the books it technically is which is why i haven’t deleted the post, but no bookings from me or for any award clients…

  • Miles August 20, 2017

    Andy – thanks for the data point, will be interesting to see if this is more widespread going forward. Hopefully it’s just a glitch, and not a continued problem.

  • Andy Green August 20, 2017

    Called up today to check on a London to New York / Boston / Washington one-way redemption for July 2018. At first the rep was checking for Virgin Australia award seats, not Virgin Atlantic, but even once that confusion was resolved there were no upper class (business) award redemption seats available on all three routes with Virgin Atlantic for the entire month using Krisflyer miles, despite plenty award availability showing on the Virgin Flying Club site.

    So I think it’s either not working properly in their system, or so much award space is blocked from SQ that it’s a rather useless option. That would be a shame.

  • Cremalogy August 17, 2017

    Will be nice to see if there is actually an available slot the next time you call.
    Sadly, one can’t do North Asia to Singapore.

  • Sammy August 17, 2017

    I think you added a 1 to the 75k in the “There is a Companion Roundtrip Chart as Well” section.

    • Miles August 17, 2017

      thanks Sammy – I updated the section

  • Jarvis Marcos August 17, 2017

    Whilst I agree that there is some good value in the regular award chart, I think you’re misunderstanding the terms of the companion tickets.

    You can only apply for an Upper Class companion award if it is attached to an existing J class cash fare.

    The cost of A Full J fare is so astronomical that it rules out almost everybody, except for people flying on their company’s dime, who are looking to take friends and family along for the ride.

    • Miles August 17, 2017

      Thanks for the info…updated

  • UK August 17, 2017

    YQ?

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