All posts filed under: Fly

FLIGHT REVIEW: Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class, Singapore – Bangkok

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Many people associate Cathay Pacific with its home base of Hong Kong, which isn’t surprising given that there are over 50 flights a week from Singapore to Hong Kong. While Cathay Pacific is one of the preferred choice when travelling to Hong Kong, what some people may not know is that Cathay Pacific also offers a daily service to Bangkok from Singapore. The Cathay Pacific Singapore-Bangkok daily service is one of Cathay’s unique fifth freedom flights around the world, and the only one operating between the two Southeast Asian cities. I decided to take a slight detour to Bangkok today while on my way to Hong Kong, to check out if this option is indeed a much better choice than other full service carriers. The schedule Cathay Pacific runs a return flight between Singapore and Bangkok daily, in addition to its eight daily services to Hong Kong. At the time of writing, the daily schedule is as follow: Flight Route DepartureTime ArrivalTime Day Aircraft* CX712 SIN-BKK 1320 1500 Daily A330-300 / A350-900 CX717 BKK-SIN 1155 …

Singapore Airlines to upgrade all of its Changi Airport Terminal 3 lounges by 2021

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Singapore Airlines announced earlier this week that it will finally be refreshing all of its lounges at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3. The suite of lounges – including the Private Room, the SilverKris lounge, and the Krisflyer Gold lounge – will progressively undergo refurbishment from August 2019 and will be completed by mid-2021. The new lounges, to be designed by international hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates, is touted by SIA to “inject a fresh look and feel to each lounge that is modern yet homely, while inspiring a sense of timeless elegance”. SilverKris Business Class Lounge The Changi Airport Terminal 3 SilverKris Lounge will be the first to be renovated, commencing August 2019. The lounge will be expanded finally, making way for more customers and easing off the late evening crowds. The new Business Lounge will be styled into four zones: A relaxed cafe zone for short transits A dining hall featuring a full selection of Asian and international cuisine A full service bar (which is previously only available in the first class section), …

Singapore Airlines to pursue deeper ties with Malaysia Airlines

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Closer ties will see both airlines expand codeshare arrangements, enhancements on frequent flyer programmes as well as maintenance, repairs and overhaul (MRO) services. Singapore Airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Malaysia Airlines earlier this week (27 June 2019) to ‘significantly step up cooperative ties’. While the media release did not specify anything concrete (as with most MOUs), it broadly mentioned three areas of collaboration: Expanding codeshare arrangements beyond the current Singapore-Malaysia services; Enhancing both airlines’ frequent flyer programmes Cargo MRO services All of the above are subject to government and regulatory approvals, and more details will be announced down the road when a proper agreement is signed. Coming full circle? If you are somewhat an avid fan of Singapore Airlines, you will know that the carrier has its roots in Malaysia-Singapore Airlines, or MSA. The joint airline was formed in 1966 as a collaboration between both Singapore and Malaysia governments after the independence of Singapore. Regretfully (or perhaps fortunately to some), the partnership didn’t last very long before they went separate ways in 1972 …

Qantas Frequent Flyer changes: 4 things you need to know

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Qantas Frequent Flyer made a major announcement yesterday, unveiling some of the key changes in its programmes. Here are some of the things we thought you might want to know: 1. Redemption rates for premium classes are going up by up to 15% From 18 September 2019, Qantas will be increasing the number of points required for award tickets and upgrades on premium economy, business and first class seats, while reducing the fees required for these seats internationally. On average, the number of points required are going up between 12.9% and 15%, depending on class and the distance traveled. The tables below are only for redemptions on Qantas, Emirates, American Airlines, Fiji and Airnorth services: Zone One-way distance Premium Economy Old (‘000 pts) New (‘000 pts) Increase % 1 0 – 600 12 13.8 1.8 15.0 2 601 – 1,200 18 20.6 2.6 14.4 3 1,201 – 2,400 27 31.0 4.0 14.8 4 2,401 – 3,600 37 42.2 5.2 14.1 5 3,601 – 4,800 45 51.3 6.3 14.0 6 4,801 – 5,800 54 61.5 7.5 …

Qantas running mid-year sale from now until 26 June 2019, return fares from S$424

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Qantas is currently running a special mid-year sale with a twist. For the first time, it is also offering its email subscribers an additional discount on top of the sale prices. The sale will end 26 June 2019, 11.59 pm. All fare classes are on sale, and sale fares start as below: Destination Return fare from (S$) Economy PremiumEconomy Business First Sydney 557 1431 2952 8123 Melbourne 555 1432 2952 6481 Brisbane 529 1685* 2952 8410* Perth 424 N.A. 2001 N.A. London 1070 2954 5537 11584 *Via Melbourne or Sydney; domestic class of service will be in Economy (for Premium Economy fares) or Business (for First class fares) On top of Australia and London, there are also sale fares available to New Zealand. Of which, what’s notably attractive are fares to Wellington with return fares starting from $664. Note that Qantas do add on surcharges for travel on weekends (typically Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) so fares may vary a little, depending on when you intend to fly. If you are looking at ExpertFlyer.com for fare …