Shanescape

Tag: Featured

  • Hilton Singapore approved for staycations

    Hilton Singapore approved for staycations

    The hotel joins a list of 200 over hotels that are allowed to accept leisure guests in Phase 2.

    Hilton Singapore has joined the list of hotels approved for staycation bookings in Singapore yesterday. The Orchard Road top-end hotel joins the green list of hotels allowed to take in leisure guests, which now covers more than half of all hotels in the city.

    Rates from $168++ available

    At the time of writing, the earliest bookable date for Hilton Singapore is 15 Sep, although all weekend dates in September are unavailable for some reason.

    If you look further into Oct 2020, you will be able to find rates starting from S$168++.

    Some services are unavailable

    For those who are interested in exploring a stay at this old-time favourite, note that some key services are modified.

    For those looking at a Club room, note that the Executive Lounge is closed until further notice.

    What this means for guests with Club benefits, including Hilton Diamond members, are that the following services are modified, according to our conversation with the hotel:

    • Afternoon tea will no longer be served
    • Evening cocktails will be served as takeaway bento sets to be retrieved at Opus Bar. Drinks wise, every guest will receive a bottle of wine every other night of your entire stay. All food and drinks are to be consumed within your room or suite.
    • Breakfast will be served to your room, according to the selection on the in-room dining menu offerings.
    Hilton Singapore Executive Lounge – probably no similar setups for a while
    No buffet breakfast for now as well

    Despite that, my understanding is that the hotel’s restaurants, including Opus Bar & Grill, il Cielo, and Verde Kitchen are operating as usual for lunch and dinner.

    The fitness centre and swimming pool are still open, but with limited capacity. For those who are looking for a massage, note that the hotel’s spa will remain closed for the time being.

    A quieter swimming pool experience

    Another point to note is that parking will be limited to self-parking only, as valet services is currently unavailable as well.

    Final thoughts

    The changes above are not deal-breakers, although it will certainly mark a very different staycation experience for those who frequent this hotel. For some of those who hate the breakfast crowd, this may be a better experience given that you can dine in peace in your own room.

    One upside of Hilton Singapore is the spacious fitness centre and swimming pool, so this will also mean that the hotel can surely accommodate more guests at any one point in time, so chances of snagging a slot is probably higher.

    Be sure to take advantage of the low prices for now, before they go up in the weeks ahead!

  • Singapore Airlines to start operating Boeing 737s from 2021

    Singapore Airlines to start operating Boeing 737s from 2021

    But the lie-flat business class seats will have to wait for now

    Singapore Airlines will begin operating Silkair’s Boeing 737-800 fleet from early 2021. The commencement is ‘slated to happen between January and March 2021’, Singapore Airlines reportedly told Executive Traveller in a report.

    On top of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, Singapore Airlines will also add 737-NG aircraft type to its fleet, providing the company with more flexibility to navigate through the recovery period.

    Lie-flat business class seats on hold for now

    According to Executive Traveller, the flag carrier is however not rolling out the lie-flat business class seats as yet.

    The airline was planning to upgrade the recliner seats on Silkair’s Boeing 737-800 to the lie-flat Vantage model made by Thompson Aero. This will bring the premium cabin experience in line with the wide-body fleet, providing a more consistent offering across the airline.

    The Vantage seat will be laid out in with either one or two seats on each side of the aisle, with the number of seats alternating between each row. Singapore Airlines is likely to keep the number of business class seats on each aircraft at 12, similar to what it currently offers.

    Likely layout for Singapore Airlines’ 737 business class cabin

    Singapore Airlines was also going to install seatback screens for all the narrow-body aircraft, which is also likely going to take a while now in view of Covid-19.

    Final thoughts

    This transition into Singapore Airlines has taken quite a long road, with the first announcement made some time back in late-2018. Over the past year and more, Singapore Airlines has made moves towards consolidating its operations, including integrating some backend functions. More notably, the website was earlier merged into Singapore Airlines’ website since April 2019.

    While we await the first Singapore Airlines painted Boeing 737-800 aircraft to formally join the family, here’s one of the Boeing 737 MAX that was previously painted, as it remains grounded until the approval is given for it to take to the skies again.

    Boeing 737 MAX in Singapore Airlines livery (credit: Joe G. Walker)
  • OCBC VOYAGE offers 2.5mpd on dining in August

    OCBC VOYAGE offers 2.5mpd on dining in August

    This is a 1.2 additional mpd on top of its usual 1.3mpd

    OCBC VOYAGE cardholders finally have something to shout about: the bank will offer 2.5 miles per dollar spent on dining spending in August 2020, capped at S$1,000.

    This enhanced earn rate applies to all versions of the VOYAGE card and the enhanced rate of 2.5mpd holds same, regardless of what’s your base earn rate (either 1.3 or 1.6 mpd).

    These versions of VOYAGE card will also earn 2.5 mpd on dining in Aug 2020

    Registration for this promotion is not required and all cardholders are automatically included in the promotion.

    For any reason you are dining overseas (perhaps you are just based in UK and decides to use your Singapore credit card anyway), you will still earn only 2.5 mpd on dining spend.

    Bonus miles will be awarded by October

    According to OCBC’s terms and conditions, the bonus miles will be awarded two months after the end of the promotional period, i.e. by 31 Oct.

    Note that OCBC has moved to a S$5 block for the award of miles, so that means that you will earn a total of 25 miles per S$5 spent effectively.

    What qualifies as dining spend?

    Based on the terms and conditions, dining spend refer to any of the following MCCs:

    Dining transactions are defined as those with the following MCCs, whether online or offline:

    • MCC 5811: Caterers
    • MCC 5812: Eating Places, Restaurants
    • MCC 5814: Fast Food Restaurants

    Note that there are some eating places such as food kiosks, cafes (including coffee places such as Starbucks), restaurants in hotels that may not fall under the above categories, so you ought to be careful if you frequently spend in those places.

    Final thoughts

    Given that travel credit cards are pretty much useless while Covid-19 effectively grounds all travel, it’s good to see banks offering bonus earn rates on other categories.

    OCBC has earned killed its 1.6 mpd earn rate on dining, so this promotion is definitely very welcomed, even if it’s only for a month and with a spending cap. That said, S$1,000 is still a fair amount to get through, so be sure to charge your OCBC VOYAGE cards for your meals.

    Even after you run out the cap, there are plenty of other cards that you can still use to clock up at least 4 mpd, such as the UOB Lady’s Card, UOB Preferred Platinum and more.

  • Qantas offers free status credits towards keeping status for another year

    Qantas offers free status credits towards keeping status for another year

    50% upfront status credit boost for the next year, more if your status is expiring in early to mid-2021.

    Qantas has extended a second lifeline to its frequent flyer members, after providing a one-year extension on all statuses earlier this year.

    This time round, Qantas will be giving members at least 50% of the status credits needed to retain their tier for another year. The precise number of status credits you’ll receive depends on the expiry date of your current status.

    Here are the details:

    Free 50% status credits

    Qantas Frequent Flyer Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One cardholders with membership expiry dates between March 2021 and February 2022 (after the one-year extension given earlier) will be given 50% of the status credits needed to retain their tier.

    So that means you will receive the following status credits:

    • Silver members – 125 status credits
    • Gold members – 300 status credits
    • Platinum members – 600 status credits
    • Platinum One members – 1,800 status credits

    The free status credits will count towards reaching and keeping Silver, Gold, Platinum and Platinum One. On top of that, the status credits will also contribute towards reaching Lifetime statuses.

    However, the Status Credit Boost will not contribute towards any other bonuses including the Loyalty Bonus, Platinum Bonus Reward and Platinum One Bonus Reward.

    Members whose statuses are expiring between Mar and Jun 2021 would have already seen these status credits in their accounts, while those with an expiry between Jul 2021 and Feb 2022 will instead get their bonus in the first month of their new membership year (e.g. if your status expires Dec 2021, you will receive your 50% status credits in Jan 2021).

    When the Status Credit Boost will be credited into your account

    Note that to keep your status, you will still need to meet the four Qantas/Jetstar flight rule within the last twelve months of your status.

    Status Credit Support for some members

    When Qantas first extended all its elite members’ status in Feb 2020, no one saw that Covid-19 will persist for pretty much the rest of 2020. Some members are well into their free year of status, with no end of the travel drought in sight.

    To provide further support for some elite members who has less than a year left in their extended status membership year, Qantas will be providing a month-by-month status credit support of between 5 and 150 status credits for members whose status expire between Mar and Aug 2021. The number of months of support you will receive will also depend on when your status is expiring; needless to say, those with status expiring in March 2021 will receive way more help than those expiring in Aug 2021.

    The exact number of status credits provided each month will depend on your status:

    • Silver – 5 status credits
    • Gold – 15 status credits
    • Platinum – 50 status credits
    • Platinum One – 150 status credits

    The number of months of support provided will depend on your status expiry:

    • Mar 2021 – 6 months’ support
    • Apr 2021 – 5 months’ support
    • May 2021 – 4 months’ support
    • Jun 2021 – 3 months’ support
    • Jul 2021 – 2 months’ support
    • Aug 2021 – 1 month’s support
    Qantas Status Credit Support – eligible members by expiry dates and amount of support

    The first ‘payout’ for the support credits would have already been in your account earlier in July, and the last two tranches will be given in Aug and Sep.

    Final thoughts

    With no end in sight for Covid-19, updated support such as these are always a good gesture even as they struggle with their bottomline and managing a bleak future. Despite this, it’s a good sign that Qantas is thinking ahead to provide some level of certainty for its frequent flyer members.

    What I’ll like to see from Qantas is actually a policy update on the expiry of points. While it’s easy for Australians to keep on earning points through everyday spending within Australia, this policy will be very helpful for offshore members to retain their points.

  • Singapore Airlines and Silkair add four destinations in September

    Singapore Airlines and Silkair add four destinations in September

    Despite more services and new destinations, Singapore Airlines and Silkair still operating at 7% of previous year’s capacity.

    Update 8 August: Singapore Airlines will commence flights to Perth from 18 August, as well as to Istanbul from 26 Aug. The new additions have been reflected below.

    Singapore Airlines and Silkair has published their schedules for September, operating to a total of 35 cities across 23 countries/territories.

    There are 4 new destinations for the month (Cebu, Phnom Penh, Milan and Taipei), along with increased frequencies on some routes,including Hong Kong and Seoul. In addition, SIA will also recommence services to Perth and Istanbul from mid-August.

    Between Singapore Airlines and Silkair, the two carriers will operate about 700 flights in September.

    Key changes

    Some of the key changes include:

    Southeast Asia

    • SilkAir will commence services to Cebu and Phnom Penh from September.
    • Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi remains one way services to Singapore in September.

    North Asia

    • Singapore Airlines will serve Taipei with three flights a week.
    • Hong Kong services will increase to a daily service.
    • Seoul will be served three times a week, up from two.

    Southwest Pacific

    • Auckland services increases to four times a week, up from three.
    • Note that Melbourne is currently under a strict curfew, flights schedules are subject to change.
    • [Update 8 August] Singapore Airlines will commence three times weekly services to Perth from 18 Aug.

    Europe

    • Milan is added to the list of destinations from mid-August, and will be served twice a week.
    • With the addition of Milan, Barcelona will be served as a one-stop service via Milan instead of a non-stop service.
    • [Update 8 August] Istanbul will also be served with a weekly service from 26 Aug.

    Singapore Airlines schedule

    The full schedules for Singapore Airlines for September are as follow:

    Southeast Asia

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – Kuala LumpurSQ104Mon, Wed, Fri083009301hA350-900
    Kuala Lumpur – SingaporeSQ105Mon, Wed, Fri102511351h 10mA350-900
    Bangkok – SingaporeSQ979Tue, Sat, Sun183021552h 25mB787-10
    Singapore – JakartaSQ966Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun183019201h 50mA350-900
    Jakarta – SingaporeSQ967Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat, Sun201523051h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – ManilaSQ910Tue, Sun093013053h 35mA350-900
    Manila – SingaporeSQ917Tue, Sun141517553h 40mA350-900
    Hanoi – SingaporeSQ175Fri123517053h 30mA350-900
    Ho Chi Minh City – SingaporeSQ177Thu, Sun123015302hB787-10

    North Asia

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – SeoulSQ600Wed, Sat, Sun080015356h 35mA350-900
    Seoul – SingaporeSQ609Wed, Sat, Sun164522006h 15mA350-900
    Singapore – Tokyo NaritaSQ638Mon, Wed, Sun002508307h 5mB787-10
    Tokyo Narita – SingaporeSQ637Mon, Wed, Sun101016207h 10mB787-10
    Singapore – Osaka KansaiSQ622Wed, Fri143022106h 40mA350-900
    Osaka Kansai – SingaporeSQ623Wed, Fri23250440(+1)6h 15mA350-900
    Singapore – ShanghaiSQ830Mon093015055h 35mB787-10
    Shanghai – SingaporeSQ833Mon165022205h 30mB787-10
    Singapore – Hong KongSQ890Daily072511203h 55mB787-10
    Hong Kong – SingaporeSQ891Daily122516203h 55mB787-10
    Singapore – TaipeiSQ878Wed, Fri114516404h 55mB787-10
    SQ876Sat082013104h 50mB787-10
    Taipei – SingaporeSQ879Wed, Fri174522154h 30mB787-10
    SQ877Sat142018554h 35mB787-10

    Southwest Pacific

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – AdelaideSQ279Mon23400755(+1)6h 45mA350-900
    Adelaide – SingaporeSQ278Tue091015107h 30mA350-900
    Singapore – Brisbane (via Sydney)SQ288Fri, Sun0935215510h 20m
    (incl. 1 stop)    		A350-900
    Brisbane – SingaporeSQ288Fri, Sun23000500+(1)8hA350-900
    Singapore – MelbourneSQ217Fri111020357h 25mA350-900
    SQ237Sun23550920(+1)7h 25mA350-900
    Melbourne – SingaporeSQ238Sat093515257h 50mA350-900
    SQ218Mon23500545(+1)7h 55mA350-900
    Singapore – PerthSQ223(from 18 Aug)
    Tue, Sat, Sun    		100515155h 10mB787-10
    Perth – SingaporeSQ214(from 18 Aug) Tue, Sat, Sun163522005h 25mB787-10
    Singapore – SydneySQ231Mon, Tue, Sat004510257h 40mA350-900
    SQ288Fri, Sun093519157h 40mA350-900
    Sydney -SingaporeSQ232Mon, Tue, Sat121018408h 30mA350-900
    Sydney – Singapore (via Brisbane)SQ288Fri, Sun20250500(+1)10h 35m (incl. 1 stop)A350- 900
    Singapore – AucklandSQ285Mon*23551330(+1)9h 35mA350-900
    SQ281Wed, Fri*084522209h 35mA350-900
    SQ285Sun*18400815(+1)9h 35mA350-900
    Auckland – SingaporeSQ282Wed23200610(+1)10h 50mA350-900
    SQ286Tue, Thu, Sat#1410210010h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – ChristchurchSQ297Sun*23001240(+1)9h 40mA350-900
    Christchurch – SingaporeSQ298Tue#0900155010h 50mA350-900

    *Daylight savings start 27 Sep in New Zealand, flights will depart Singapore at the same time, but arrive one hour later in New Zealand local time.

    #Daylight savings start 27 Sep in New Zealand, flights will depart New Zealand one hour later but arrive in Singapore at the same time local time.

    Europe

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – LondonSQ322Daily23300555(+1)13h 25mA350-900
    London – SingaporeSQ317Daily11250730(+1)13h 5mA350-900
    Singapore – FrankfurtSQ26Tue, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun23550645(+1)12h 50mA350-900
    Frankfurt – SingaporeSQ25Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun12300650(+1)12h 20mA350-900
    Singapore – ZurichSQ346Wed, Fri, Sun0125081512h 50mA350-900
    Zurich – SingaporeSQ345Mon, Thu, Sat11450555(+1)12h 10mA350-900
    Singapore – AmsterdamSQ324Tue, Thu, Sat23550715(+1)13h 20mA350-900
    Amsterdam – SingaporeSQ323Mon, Thu, Sat11150555(+1)12h 40mA350-900
    Singapore – Milan -BarcelonaSQ378Thu22300745(+1)15h 15mA350-900
    Barcelona – Milan – SingaporeSQ377Sat10400730(+1)14h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – CopenhagenSQ352Thu23500625(+1)12h 50mA350-900
    Cophenhagen – SingaporeSQ351Sat12200620(+1)12hA350-900
    Singapore – ParisSQ336Wed, Fri, Sun0015073513h 20mA350-900
    Paris – SingaporeSQ335Mon, Thu, Sat12000650(+1)12h 50mA350-900
    Singapore – MilanSQ378Thu22300510(+1)12h 40mA350-900
    Milan – SingaporeSQ377Sat13300730(+1)12hA350-900
    Singapore – IstanbulSQ392(from 26 Aug) Wed23300630(+1)12hA350-900
    Istanbul – SingaporeSQ391(from 28 Aug) Fri00051705(+1)12hA350-900

    USA

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – Los AngelesSQ38Wed, Fri, Sun1700175515h 55mA350-900
    Los Angeles – SingaporeSQ37Mon, Wed, Sat00050815(+1)17h 10mA350-900

    Silkair schedule

    Silkair will be adding new destinations: Phnom Penh and Cebu (finally) in September, on top of its existing services to Chongqing, Kuala Lumpur and Medan.

    SectorFlight no.Days operatingDepArrDurationAircraft
    Singapore – ChongqingMI972Mon070011354h 35mB737-800
    Chongqing – SingaporeMI971Mon123517304h 55mB737-800
    Singapore – Kuala LumpurMI324Sat, Sun083009301hB737-800
    MI324Tue, Thu092010201hB737-800
    Kuala Lumpur – SingaporeMI323Sat, Sun102511251hB737-800
    MI324Tue, Thu111012101hB737-800
    Singapore – MedanMI234Tue, Sun074008001h 20mB737-800
    Medan – SingaporeMI233Tue, Sun084511051h 20mB737-800
    Singapore – CebuMI560Tue, Sun103014003h 30mB737-800
    Cebu – SingaporeMI559Tue, Sun145018353h 45mB737-800
    Singapore – Phnom PenhMI608Tue, Sun163517301h 55mB737-800
    Phnom Penh – SingaporeMI607Tue, Sun182521252hB737-800

    Final thoughts

    We are now into the sixth month – or half a year – of drastically reduced services, with many cities around the world still embattled with Covid-19.

    If anything, anecdotal evidence points to flights being at best 30% filled – that means that even with a 7% of pre-Covid-19 schedule, the actual passenger movement is significantly lesser.

    With many parts of the world seeing a second or even third wave, I won’t be surprised if these schedules go down at some point in time again, rather than up.