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Tag: Featured

Buy LifeMiles and get up to 140% bonus

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.

13 February 20

Aeroflot launches services betwen Moscow- Sheremetyevo and Singapore

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

11 February 20

Singapore Airlines & Silkair announce further cuts to Mainland China flights

The novel coronavirus is slowly killing airlines, one route at a time.

Singapore Airlines have put out another statement late 10 February 2020 announcing further cuts to Mainland China, following a drastic reduction in service since beginning to the month.

As Singapore’s national carrier, the airline was probably obliged to keep air routes open, probably in part due to diplomatic relations.

However, given the drop in business, it only makes sense to further cut services and maintain a minimum connectivity during this time when anyone who steps in from China have to face a 14-day quarantine.

SIA’s statement:

As a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak, demand for air travel between Singapore and China has declined significantly.
Singapore Airlines and SilkAir will be further rationalising our flights to China temporarily. Services to some destinations will be temporarily suspended until the situation improves. Details of the affected flights can be found here.
The Singapore Airlines Group has had a long history of operating to China. There are still many Singaporeans working and living in China now, many of whom will still require connectivity between Singapore and China. As the national carrier, we will continue to maintain minimum connectivity to the key cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing for now despite the reduced demand.
Singapore Airlines, 10 Feb 2020

SIA’s current schedule to Mainland China

As of 10 Feb 2020, Singapore Airlines & Silkair will be cancelling all flights to China until 28 Mar, except for the following bare minimum services:

Route	Flight No.	Dep	Arr	Days of Ops	Aircraft Type
Singapore – Beijing	SQ802	0845	1450	Daily	B777-300ER / A350-900
Beijing – Singapore	SQ807	1640	2320	Daily	B777-300ER / A350-900
Singapore – Shanghai	SQ830	0920	1435	Daily	A380-800
Shanghai – Singapore	SQ831	1625	2215	Daily	A380-800
Singapore – Guangzhou	SQ850	0805	1210	Select days	B787-10
Guangzhou – Singapore	SQ851	1325	1730	Select days	B787-10
Singapore – Chongqing	MI972	0700	1120	14 Feb & Mondays	B737-800
Chongqing – Singapore	MI971	1220	1715	14 Feb & Mondays	B737-800

For the full list of cancellations, please see SIA’s list here.

For a full list of other China-bound services cancelled, visit my previous article here.

10 February 20

Cathay Pacific reducing flights worldwide by 30%, including flights to Singapore

About 3 flights cancelled daily between Singapore and Hong Kong, out of eight

With the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (or some call it the Wuhan Virus) all the rage right now, my original plan of visiting China is now bust, so I was looking at alternative destinations, including Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

This is when I found that it seems like Cathay Pacific is looking at cancelling some flights.

Cathay Pacific has since come out to say that it will be slashing 90% of flights to Mainland China, and dropping 30% of its services worldwide given the sluggish demand due to the virus.

Cathay Pacific stops selling some flights

While Cathay Pacific has not published the cancellations, I was looking through Expertflyer and notice something rather interesting: Cathay Pacific has zerorised some of the inventory to and from Singapore.

*Seems like Cathay Pacific has stopped selling seats on CX710, CX690 and CX636 for 12 Feb 2020*

Cathay Pacific runs up to eight flights between Singapore and Hong Kong most days, including one CX712 that operates via Bangkok.

While the airline has not officially reduced capacity between Hong Kong and Singapore, a quick look on Expertflyer seems to suggest that the airline has canceled some flights right up to end of March.

For instance, in the weeks beginning 17 February and 9 March 2020 respectively:

Date	Dep Time	17 Feb (Mon)	18 Feb (Tue)	19 Feb (Wed)	20 Feb (Thu)	21 Feb (Fri)	22 Feb (Sat)	23 Feb (Sun)
CX714	0125	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX692	0640			C		C	C	C
CX710	0800	C	C	C	C	C	C
CX658	1000	C	C	C	C	C	C	C
CX690	1255	Y	Y	Y	Y		Y
CX712	1405	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	C
CX734	1640	Y		Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX716	1800	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX636	2015	C	C		C	C	C	C

Date	Dep Time	9 Mar (Mon)	10 Mar (Tue)	11 Mar (Wed)	12 Mar (Thu)	13 Mar (Fri)	14 Mar (Sat)	15 Mar (Sun)
CX714	0125	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX692	0640	C			C	C
CX710	0800		C	C	C		C	C
CX658	1000	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX690	1255	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX712	1405	C	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX734	1640	Y	Y	C	C	C	C	C
CX716	1800	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
CX636	2015		C	C	C	C	C	C

Note: Y – operating; C – zeroed inventory (likely to be cancelled); blank – not scheduled to operate

Taiwan is now imposing mandatory quarantine for passing through Hong Kong

Taiwan has announced 7 Feb that it will be requiring all passengers passing through Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China – even in transit – to be quarantined for 14 days.

This makes a trip on Cathay Pacific to Taiwan now impossible, given that you will need to change planes in Hong Kong.

Final thoughts

This is certainly only the beginning, as we continue to see more cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus being reported globally.

I expect to see more airlines cancelling more services as people are slapped with travel restrictions, or are simply afraid to travel for the fear of getting the virus.

If you are intending to travel anytime soon, as usual, it’s best to check the status of your flight before you go.

8 February 20

IHG runs 4X bonus points promotion for stays

Earn up to 301,000 bonus IHG points on stays between 15 February and 15 May 2020

IHG has launched another bonus points promotion, offering up to 4 times the base points you normally earn.

The mechanism

Upon registration, you will start earning bonus points on your stays during the promotion period between 15 Feb and 15 May 2020. The first stay will see you net an additional 1,000 points, while subsequent stays will depend on the number of nights you clocked, as well as the base rates.

The table of points earned is as below:

Nights	Base points earned	Bonus points earned
1st night	10 points per USD on base rate	1000 points
2nd to 5th night	10 points per USD on base rate	100% bonus*
6th to 14th night	10 points per USD on base rate	200% bonus*
15th night onwards	10 points per USD on base rate	300% bonus*

*You can only earn up to 100,000 bonus points under each category, for a total of 301,000 bonus points for the entire promotion period.

While the headline number is 4X bonus points, note that it is probably more accurate to say that it is the usual number of points, plus up to three times (or 300%) of that base number of points, to make the ‘4X’.

How much are IHG reward points worth?

This is the existential question of all miles & points collector, and as the saying goes, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

I value IHG Reward Club points at about 0.7 Singapore cents (US$0.05) per point, so as a base member you get essentially a $7 bonus on your first stay, and then a 5% rebate on your 2nd to 5th night, 10% for 6th to 14th night and 15% thereafter. This is a rather good value, given that other hotel chains almost don’t offer as much a point.

For the purpose of illustrations, these are the number of points you will need for an award booking in some of the Singapore IHG properties:

Six Senses Duxton, Superior Shophouse – 55,000 points
InterContinental Singapore, Deluxe Room – 50,000 points
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Deluxe Room – 40,000 points
Hotel Indigo Katong, Deluxe Room – 35,000 points

The fine print

Note that you will need to register for the promotion here first before you can earn the bonus points. Needless to say, this promotion cannot be applied retrospectively. All stays must be booked by 15th April and consumed by 15th May.

If the booking is more than one night, the average nightly rate will be used in calculating the bonus points. This is a crucial point if your stay cuts across the tresholds (e.g. from 2x bonus to 3x bonus).

The full terms and conditions of the offer can be found here.

5 February 20