All posts filed under: Fly

SilkAir offers flights from Singapore-Busan from May 2019

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SilkAir has announced yet another exciting new destination on its network, this time to Seoul’s second largest city: Busan. This is SilkAir’s first destination in South Korea, less than two years after it launched its service to Hiroshima. As with the Hiroshima service, the Singapore-Busan service will be operated using the Boeing 737 MAX 8. The service will commence from 1 May 2019, offering four flights a week to Busan from Singapore. SilkAir will also be the only airline offering non-stop services between the two cities. The schedule  The outbound flight from Singapore operates overnight and arrives into Busan in the morning, while the return flight departs Busan in the morning. Route Flight Departure Arrival Flight time Days Aircraft SIN-PUS MI876 2315 0700(+1) 6h 45m Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat Boeing 737 MAX 8 PUS-SIN MI875 0800 1415 7h 15m Tue Boeing 737 MAX 8 0830 1415 6h 45m Thu, Sat, Sun Boeing 737 MAX 8 The aircraft The service between Singapore and Busan will be operated with SilkAir’s newest Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft in …

Citibank PayAll now available to all customers; buy miles starting from 0.94 cents each

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Back in November 2018, Citibank trialled a targeted promotion for its new PayAll service, essentially a cash advance service that earns you miles. The offer was very compelling, and almost the best in town, when you can effectively get a cash advance and buy miles for as low as 0.8 cents apiece. So what has changed since? 1.5% or 2.0% processing fee During the initial launch phase, the processing fee was three tiered fees depending on the amount you requested for, but this has now been changed to either a simple 1.5% or 2.0% fee, personalised for each customer. Based on Mainly Miles’ report, it seems that customers targeted at the trial are now offered 1.5%, while those who weren’t are now offered 2.0%. It’s unclear why Citibank chose to offer different rates for different customers. How to use? At present, the facility is only available through the Citibank mobile app under the payment facility in the menu. The steps to setting up a payment is pretty intuitive. You key in the recipient’s bank account details and …

Qantas reveals more details of its Singapore First Lounge

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The Qantas First Lounge in Singapore will use a neutral colour palette, luxurious materials and leafy green highlights as it offers the airline’s top customers with a restaurant-style a la carte dining experience, a cocktail bar and showers. Following the announcement of a new Qantas First Lounge in Singapore last year, Qantas has released more details and images on what travellers can expect from the luxe lounge when it opens later this year at Changi Airport Terminal 1. Qantas is working with David Caon in collaboration with Akin Atelier, to build a First Lounge for 240 customers, offering a luxurious design and premium dining inspired by Singapore’s vibrant culture. David Caon has also worked with Qantas most recently in the redesign of the crockery and cutlery used on its flights. The Qantas First Lounge in Singapore is expected to open in ‘late 2019’, with no definitive date set at the moment.

A deeper look into UK airport fees: why does this matter?

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If you are a frequent traveller to UK, you will notice that airfares are always inherently expensive when you fly out of airports within the UK. UK airports have infamously high airport taxes, probably one of the highest in the world. Those who have redeemed miles on those flights before will know that there is a usually a hefty fee added on top of the miles used for the flight and you wonder why. Let us break it down. Typically, UK airports levy two fees, a UK air passenger duty (APD) levied by the UK authorities, and a passenger service charge by the airport. Both of these are included in your fare at the time of booking. UK air passenger duty This is relatively straightforward and also the one that is insane. There are essentially three rates – reduced, standard and higher – applied across two distance bands. Reduced rates apply to the lowest class of travel on the plane with seat pitch (distance between your seat back and the seat in front of you) …

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club

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Singapore-based members who are very familiar with Krisflyer (Mainly Miles have an incredibly resourceful guide) may fumble at the first glance of Asia Miles. Asia Miles is travel rewards programme, a fully-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific Group. Members of Asia Miles can earn miles through everyday activities such as dining, hotel stays and flights, and use the miles for flights, hotel stays, and even lifestyle goods. Marco Polo Club (MPC) is Cathay Pacific’s loyalty programme, rewarding frequent flyers with perks as they move through the tiers by accumulating club points. When you accumulate enough club points, you will get to a certain tier which will give you extra benefits from extra checked baggage allowances to lounge access. While Asia Miles is free to join and use, there is a first-time joining fee of USD100 for MPC, payable every year unless you earn a minimum of 20 club points, which can be earned rather easily with any return flight from Singapore to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Note that club points cannot really be used to redeem for anything; …