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Singapore Airlines Spontaneous Escapes March 2020 offer now on

Published by Shane

Singapore Airlines have unveiled its offerings for the March edition of Spontaneous Escapes, with 55 destinations on sale.

Surprisingly for a school holiday month, there seems to be a bumper crop of destinations on offer, although there are also plenty of restrictions. One possible reason for the extraordinary availability could be Covid-19, although China is (obviously) not on offer at all.

The promotional mileage is 30% off the usual redemption rates, down from the one-off 51% discount last month.

As usual, bookings must be made by 29 February 2020, for travel between 1 to 31 March 2020, barring blackout dates.

What is good this month?

If you still dare to travel in the month of March, you can consider the following:

Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Rome and Zurich are all available in Business Class available at 64,400 miles plus taxes.
San Francisco on SQ1/2, going at 66,500 miles each way. Note that SQ1/2 will be operating non-stop to/from SFO between 17 Feb and 28 Mar to avoid Hong Kong.

Full list of destinations and details below:

Singapore Airlines

Southeast Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur	5,250	SQ104, SQ106, SQ112, SQ116, SQ118	–	13,300	SQ104, SQ106, SQ112, SQ116, SQ118	–
Kuala Lumpur to Singapore	5,250	SQ105, SQ107, SQ113, SQ117, SQ119	–	13,300	SQ105, SQ107, SQ113, SQ117, SQ119	–
Singapore to Jakarta	5,250	SQ950, SQ958, SQ960	–	13,300	SQ950, SQ958, SQ960	–
Jakarta to Singapore	5,250	SQ953, SQ967	–	13,300	SQ953, SQ967	–
Singapore to Surabaya	5,250	SQ930, SQ932	–	13,300	SQ930, SQ932	–
Surabaya to Singapore	5,250	SQ931, SQ933	–	13,300	SQ931, SQ933	–
Singapore to Bali	–	–	–	13,300	SQ938, SQ940, SQ942, SQ946, SQ948	–
Bali to Singapore	–	–	–	13,300	SQ939, SQ941, SQ943, SQ947, SQ949	–
Singapore to Bandar Seri Begawan	–	–	–	13,300	SQ148	–
Bandar Seri Begawan to Singapore	–	–	–	13,300	SQ147	–
Singapore to Yangon	8,750	SQ998	–	15,050	SQ998	–
Yangon to Singapore	8,750	SQ997	–	15,050	SQ997	–
Hanoi to Singapore	8,750	SQ175, SQ187	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City	8,750	SQ184, SQ186	–	–	–	–
Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore	8,750	SQ183, SQ185	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Bangkok	8,750	SQ970, SQ976, SQ978, SQ982	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ970, SQ976, SQ978, SQ982	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020
Bangkok to Singapore	8,750	SQ973, SQ981	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ973, SQ981, SQ983	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020
Singapore to Manila	8,750	SQ912, SQ916, SQ918	–	15,050	SQ912, SQ916, SQ918	–
Manila to Singapore	8,750	SQ915, SQ919, SQ921	–	15,050	SQ915, SQ919, SQ921	–
Singapore to Phuket	8,750	SQ992	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ992	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020
Phuket to Singapore	8,750	SQ993	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ993	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020

North Asia – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Seoul	17,500	SQ602	13-16, 21-23 Mar	32,900	SQ602, SQ608	–
Seoul to Singapore	17,500	SQ603, SQ609, SQ607	–	32,900	SQ603, SQ607, SQ609	–
Singapore to Fukuoka	–	–	–	32,900	SQ656	18-30 Mar
Fukuoka to Singapore	–	–	–	32,900	SQ655	–
Tokyo to Singapore	17,500	SQ631, SQ635, SQ637, SQ639	19-22, 25-29 Mar	32,900	SQ11	–
Nagoya to Singapore	17,500	SQ671	4-14 Mar	32,900	SQ671	25-29 Mar
Osaka to Singapore	17,500	SQ621	18-22 Mar	–	–	–

North Asia – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Tokyo to Singapore	24,150	SQ11	–

South Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Ahmedabad	12,950	SQ530	–	27,300	SQ530	–
Singapore to Kolkata	–	–	–	27,300	SQ517	–
Kolkata to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	SQ516	–
Dhaka to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	SQ447	–
Singapore to Malé	12,950	SQ452	–	–	–	–
Malé to Singapore	12,950	SQ451	–	–	–	–

Australia & New Zealand – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Adelaide	19,600	SQ279	1-10 Mar	43,400	SQ279	–
Adelaide to Singapore	19,600	SQ278	26-31 Mar	43,400	SQ278	–
Singapore to Brisbane	19,600	SQ255	–	43,400	SQ255, SQ265	–
Brisbane to Singapore	19,600	SQ236	–	43,400	SQ236, SQ266	–
Singapore to Canberra	19,600	SQ288	–	43,400	SQ288	–
Canberra to Singapore	–	–	–	43,400	SQ288	–
Singapore to Melbourne	19,600	SQ207, SQ227, SQ237	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Sydney	19,600	SQ211, SQ221, SQ231	–	43,400	SQ231, SQ241	–
Sydney to Singapore	19,600	SQ222, SQ232, SQ288	–	43,400	SQ288	–
Singapore to Wellington	19,600	SQ247	–	–	–	–
Wellington to Singapore	19,600	SQ248	–	–	–	–

Australia – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Canberra	32,900	SQ288	–
Canberra to Singapore	32,900	SQ288	–
Singapore to Melbourne	32,900	SQ217, SQ227, SQ237	–
Melbourne to Singapore	32,900	SQ218	–
Singapore to Sydney	32,900	SQ221, SQ231	–
Sydney to Singapore	32,900	SQ212, SQ232, SQ288	–

Africa & Middle East – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Dubai	17,500	SQ494	–	34,300	SQ494	–
Dubai to Singapore	17,500	SQ495	–	34,300	SQ495	–
Singapore to Johannesburg	17,500	SQ482	–	34,300	SQ482	–
Johannesburg to Singapore	17,500	SQ481	–	34,300	SQ481	–

Africa & Middle East – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Dubai	25,900	SQ494	–
Dubai to Singapore	25,900	SQ495	–
Singapore to Johannesburg	25,900	SQ482	–
Johannesburg to Singapore	25,900	SQ481	–

Europe – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Paris to Singapore	26,600	SQ333	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Barcelona	26,600	SQ388	–	64,400	SQ388	–
Barcelona to Singapore	26,600	SQ387	–	64,400	SQ387	–
Düsseldorf to Singapore	–	–	–	64,400	SQ337	–
Singapore to London	26,600	SQ308	–	–	–	–
London to Singapore	26,600	SQ305, SQ317	20-31 Mar	–	–	–
Milan to Singapore	26,600	SQ355	20-31 Mar	–	–	–
Rome to Singapore	26,600	SQ365	21-28 Mar	64,400	SQ365	–
Singapore to Zürich	26,600	SQ346	–	–	–	–
Zürich to Singapore	26,600	SQ345	–	64,400	SQ345	–

Europe – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Paris	45,150	SQ334	–
Paris to Singapore	45,150	SQ333, SQ335	–
Barcelona to Singapore	45,150	SQ387	–
Düsseldorf to Singapore	45,150	SQ337	–
Rome to Singapore	45,150	SQ365	–
Zürich to Singapore	45,150	SQ345	–
Frankfurt to New York	32,900	SQ26	–
New York to Frankfurt	32,900	SQ25	–

USA – Economy & Business

Dates	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to San Francisco	26,600	SQ2	–	66,500	SQ2	–
San Francisco to Singapore	26,600	SQ1, SQ31	–	66,500	SQ1	–

USA – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Los Angeles	47,600	SQ36, SQ38	–
Los Angeles to Singapore	47,600	SQ35, SQ37	–
Singapore to San Francisco	47,600	SQ2	–
San Francisco to Singapore	47,600	SQ1	–
New York to Singapore	51,100	SQ21	–

SilkAir

South East Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur	5,250	MI322, MI324, MI326, MI328, MI330, MI340, MI342	–	13,300	MI326, MI328, MI330, MI340, MI342	–
Kuala Lumpur to Singapore	5,250	MI321, MI323, MI325, MI327, MI329, MI339, MI341	–	13,300	MI321, MI323, MI325, MI341	–
Singapore to Penang	5,250	MI346, MI348, MI350, MI352, MI354	13-15, 20-22 Mar	13,300	MI346, MI348, MI350, MI352, MI354	–
Penang to Singapore	5,250	MI345, MI347, MI349, MI351, MI353	13-15, 20-22 Mar	13,300	MI345, MI347, MI349, MI351, MI353	–
Singapore to Bandung	5,250	MI192, MI194, MI196	15-31 Mar	–	–	–
Bandung to Singapore	5,250	MI191, MI193, MI195	15-31 Mar	–	–	–
Singapore to Bali	–	–	–	13,300	MI176	–
Bali to Singapore	–	–	–	13,300	MI175	–
Singapore to Surabaya	5,250	MI226	–	13,300	MI226	–
Surabaya to Singapore	5,250	MI225	–	13,300	MI225	–
Singapore to Lombok	5,250	MI124, MI128	–	13,300	MI124, MI128	–
Lombok to Singapore	5,250	MI123, MI127	–	13,300	MI123, MI127	–
Singapore to Medan	5,250	MI234, MI238	–	–	–	–
Medan to Singapore	5,250	MI233, MI237	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Davao City	8,750	MI562	–	15,050	MI562	–
Davao City to Singapore	8,750	MI562	–	15,050	MI562	–
Singapore to Cebu	8,750	MI562	–	15,050	MI562	–
Cebu to Singapore	8,750	MI559	–	15,050	MI559	–
Singapore to Phuket	8,750	MI750, MI756, MI758	13-15, 20-22 Mar	15,050	MI750, MI756, MI758	13-15, 20-22 Mar
Phuket to Singapore	8,750	MI749, MI751	13-15, 20-22 Mar	15,050	MI749, MI751	13-15, 20-22 Mar
Singapore to Koh Samui	–	–	–	15,050	MI774	–
Koh Samui to Singapore	–	–	–	15,050	MI771	–
Singapore to Yangon	8,750	MI518	–	15,050	MI518	–
Yangon to Singapore	8,750	MI519	–	15,050	MI519	–
Singapore to Siem Reap	8,750	MI614, MI616	–	15,050	MI614, MI616	–
Singapore to Phnom Penh	8,750	MI602, MI606, MI608	–	15,050	MI602, MI606, MI608	–
Phnom Penh to Singapore	8,750	MI601, MI605, MI607	–	15,050	MI601, MI605, MI607	–

North Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Hiroshima	–	–	–	32,900	MI868	–
Hiroshima to Singapore	–	–	–	32,900	MI867	–

South Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Chennai	12,950	MI436	–	27,300	MI436	–
Chennai to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	MI435	–
Singapore to Hyderabad	12,950	MI472	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Kochi	12,950	MI468	–	27,300	MI468	–
Kochi to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	MI467	–
Singapore to Colombo	12,950	MI428	–	–	–	–
Colombo to Singapore	12,950	MI427	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Kathmandu	–	–	–	27,300	MI416	–
Kathmandu to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	MI415	–
Singapore to Malé	12,950	MI480	–	–	–	–
Malé to Singapore	12,950	MI479	–	–	–	–

Australia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Cairns	19,600	MI811, MI813	–	43,400	MI811, MI813	–
Cairns to Singapore	19,600	MI812, MI814	26-31 March 2020	43,400	MI812, MI814	–

Alaska Airlines plans to join Oneworld by June 2021

Published by Shane

The non-affiliated airline is finally hopping on the alliance bandwagon.

2020 is proving to be a really exciting year with a lot of unexpected twists.

After so many years of cultivating eclectic airline partnerships and wow-ing the world with crazy miles-buying deals, Alaska Airlines has announced a deepened partnership with American Airlines, and along with it, its intentions to join Oneworld by Summer 2021.

By ‘summer’, it can means anything between June to September.

Deeper partnership with American Airlines

The pledging of allegiance to Oneworld comes on the back of its latest partnership with American Airlines. Effective immediately, Alaska Airlines passengers and Mileage Plan elite members have greater access to American Airlines inventory, as well as benefits.

What this means for Alaska Airlines and its customers:

Customers can redeem Alaska Mileage Plan miles on all American Airlines flights (subject to award availability),
Alaska Lounge members can access American’s nearly 50 Admirals Club locations,
Customers can also continue to earn and redeem miles on Alaska Airlines’ current partners, including Singapore Airlines & Emirates.

In a few months’ time, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members can also earn miles on all American Airlines flight, both domestic and international.

Oneworld benefits come Summer 2021

Of course there are perks when Alaska Airlines officially joins Oneworld. These include a mapping of Alaska’s own frequent flyer tiers to the Oneworld tiers, as well as its corresponding benefits.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan tier	Oneworld tier
MVP	Ruby
MVP Gold	Sapphire
MVP Gold 75k	Emerald

Alaska Airlines tier mapping to Oneworld

What does this means for Alaska’s own partners?

Alaska Air has some of the most interesting mix of partners, which are all individually negotiated. This has resulted in a very special award pricing, where each award partner gets their own award chart, and a mixed carrier chart is somewhat impossible (with the exception of Alaska’s own metal plus a partner).

Also, the earn rates are incredibly generous at the moment. Just a case in point: a customer flying business class on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to London and back will earn a whopping 26,892 miles if they accrue their miles on Mileage Plan, while getting only 16,620 miles on Asia Miles.

On the redemption front, Alaska Airlines is also incredibly generous now. For 25,000 miles, you can redeem a one-way business class ticket on Japan Airlines within Asia, while a Oneworld member (e.g. Cathay Pacific) can charge up to 45,000 miles for a similar trip.

So with Alaska Airlines joining the Oneworld ‘family’, they will almost definitely be forced to keep in line. This could go a few ways:

1. Earn rates will definitely go down, while burn rates will definitely go up.

On a reciprocal basis, Alaska Airlines will be more than definitely be forced to ‘align’ their earn and award charts to what other member airlines are offering. So if you have been hoarding Alaska Airlines miles, time to use them, quickly.

2. Changes to partnerships with non-Oneworld airlines

While being a Oneworld member does not mean they have to cut off ties with non-Oneworld aligned carriers, you can almost imagine that these partnerships may just widening in time to come. Some partnerships may fall through, while others may be diminished.

Final thoughts

As the saying goes, good things don’t last. In this case, the benefits of being an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan member – especially in this part of the world – is slowly eroding.

While you still can and is looking to burn your miles, credit your premium cabin revenue tickets to Alaska to bump up your mileage balance, but be sure to use them quickly before summer next year.

Time for another Tokyo run, perhaps?

Cathay Pacific to close three Hong Kong lounges temporarily

Published by Shane

Customers will still have access to two business class and one first class lounge at Hong Kong International Airport.

Cathay Pacific has taken yet another measure in the face of Covid-19: lounge closure of half its lounges at Hong Kong International Airport.

This came not too long after it announced that it will be reducing flights worldwide.

The lounges that will be closed until further notice are:

The Deck (near Gate 6)
The Bridge (near Gate 35)
The Pier First Class Lounge (near Gate 63)

Customers, Marco Polo Silver members and above, as well as oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members can still access the remaining three lounges:

The Wing business and first class lounges (near Gate 2)
The Pier business class lounge (near Gate 65)

First Class passengers now have only one lounge – The Wing, located near Gate 2. This is directly accessible right after immigration, on the left side.

*Map of Cathay Pacific lounges at Hong Kong International Airport*

Cathay Pacific is one of the few airlines that offer an excellent lounge experience in their home port. For First Class passengers and Oneworld Emerald members, they had the option of two lounges, one nearer to the immigration counters (The Wing) and one that’s at the other end of the terminal (The Pier).

With the closure of The Pier first class lounge, these top tier passengers can only use The Wing, which means a very long trek to the other end of the terminal if their flight departs from there.

Changes to lounge operations

Along with the closure of the three lounges, there will also be slight changes to the operations at the other three lounges, as well as lounges in Shanghai and Beijing.

While the noodle bar will continue to serve cooked-to-order meals, the buffet spread will now be replaced with disposable food packs. This is obviously not the most environmentally friendly option, but given the current climate this is probably the best way forward.

Final thoughts

Well, given the increasing number of countries that does not even want to admit passengers who transit through Hong Kong, it’s no wonder their passenger numbers are plummeting, so closing some of the lounges is definitely a right move.

I’m just wondering what does this mean for the number of staff employed at these lounges, given that the lounge operations is outsourced to SATS.

This is definitely a bummer for elite Oneworld members and premium cabin customers, but even with the reduced number of options, I would certainly expect significantly less people in the remaining lounges.

Buy LifeMiles and get up to 140% bonus

Published by Shane

Your targeted bonus will only get you 125%, so use the link below.

Avianca’s LifeMiles is running a buy-miles-get-free-miles promotion right now, offering up to 140% bonus on miles bought.

If you are an existing LifeMiles member, you probably got the emailer offering 125% bonus, but Avianca is also running a similar promotion for readers of One Mile At A Time with a bigger bonus.

The promotion

LifeMiles will give anything between 105% to a whopping 140% bonus on the miles you buy. To achieve the 140% bonus, you will need to buy at least 101,000 miles, which is currently valued at USD3,333. At 140%, it will work out to USD 1.375 cent per mile.

You might have been targeted with an email offer giving up to 125%, but using this OMAAT link you can boost that bonus up to 140%.

Note that there is a maximum of 200,000 miles you can buy from LifeMiles each year, so the theoretical maximum of miles you can get is 480,000 miles for a cool USD6,600.

These are the bonuses depending on the number of miles you buy:

1,000 to 10,000 miles: 105% bonus
11,000 to 50,000 miles: 115% bonus
51,000 to 100,000 mile: 130% bonus
101,000 to 200,000 miles: 140% bonus

What is LifeMiles?

For the uninitiated, Avianca belongs to Star Alliance, so the miles are good for redemptions on the likes of Singapore Airlines, ANA, Lufthansa (why bother) and Air New Zealand.

While not as exciting as Alaska Air’s Mileage Plan, LifeMiles has also been offering pretty aggressive miles-buying promotions, lowering its usual 3.3 US cents per mile rate to below 2 US cents most times.

What is LifeMiles good for?

As mentioned above, LifeMiles can be used for Star Alliance redemptions. One good thing about LifeMiles is that they don’t charge fuel surcharge, so you pay a nominal cash fee for redemptions.

Some examples of redemptions out of Singapore:

Route	Miles required for one-way redemption
Route	Economy	Business	First
Singapore – Tokyo	20,000	36,000	50,000
Singapore – Hong Kong	20,000	36,000	50,000
Singapore – Sydney	22,500	40,000	60,000
Singapore – London	55,000	78,000	102,000

Final thoughts

According to some sources, this is definitely not the lowest price LifeMiles have ever gone – last year’s Black Friday sale saw LifeMiles selling for 1.32 cents apiece.

The usual recommendations apply, including buying miles only if you have a firm plan to fly. The LifeMiles search engine can be pretty challenging to use, so be very sure to find the inventory before buying the miles to use them.

If you have made your award booking through LifeMiles’ website, note that all changes and cancellations can only be done through their call centre, and the changes/cancellations will come with a fee. Also another thing to note is that LifeMiles will expire after 12 months of inactivity.

Aeroflot launches services betwen Moscow- Sheremetyevo and Singapore

Published by Shane

Singapore’s newest SkyTeam connection to Russia, and the first service to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport.

Singapore Changi Airport has announced a new airline operating into Singapore – Aeroflot. The service commences 25 October 2020.

Aeroflot, a SkyTeam alliance member, will operate between Singapore and Moscow-Sheremetyevo (SVO) five times a week, using an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, the latest addition to its long-haul fleet.

The schedule

Aeroflot will operate this service daily from Singapore, except Fridays and Sundays. The flight will depart from Singapore at mid day, arriving into Moscow in the evening local time.

Full schedule below:

Route	Flight no.	Departure	Arrival	Duration	Day of ops	Aircraft
Singapore – Moscow SVO	SU281	1230	1830	11h	Daily except Fri & Sun	A350-900
Moscow SVO – Singapore	SU280	1940	1055(+1)	10h 15m	Daily except Thu & Sat	A350-900

The aircraft

Aeroflot will operate one of its newest fleet type, the A350-900 to Singapore. The aircraft offers 316 seats in a three-class configuration, featuring 28 business class seats, , 24 premium economy class seats and 264 economy class seats.

Aeroflot’s business class features its newest, fresh-from-the-factory flat bed ‘suites’, laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration. Each suite will have a door, enhancing privacy for each of the 28 business class seats.

The seats are designed by Collins Aerospace, and Aeroflot is apparently the launch customer for these seats.

In premium economy which Aeroflot calls ‘Comfort Class’, there are 24 seats across three rows, in a 2-4-2 configuration.

And finally, 264 seats in economy in a 3-3-3 configuration.

Aeroflot has 15 of these aircraft on order, and at the time of writing they have said that they will be using the A350s on the following routes:

New York (JFK) starts March 29th 2020
Beijing (PEK) starts May 1st 2020
Seoul (ICN) starts June 1st 2020
Miami (MIA) starts June 2nd 2020