Premium Economy Dilemma...

[prozac]

I may need to do a quick trip SYD-AMS very soon. I don't want to waste points at this time and I am conscious of my spending. Surprisingly SQ appears to be quite competitive with Y fare prices (around AUD$2,000 for end August) but I am wary of booking in economy and arriving stuffed.
I was surprised then to see PE can be had for the same dates for AUD$3,084...quite a bit but doable at a stretch.

In terms of arriving not stuffed from the Y experience is PE that much different to Y to be worth the extra?

On the return PE is not as open and I think the SIN layover is 14hrs. This started me thinking about returning in Y with the 14hr layover flight and booking into the Changi Airport motel for 10 or so hours. This drops the fare to AUD$2500. Anyone care to comment on cost and wisdom of this last choice?

Do SQ charge more for a telephone booking?

 

[Fiches Mouser]

I may need to do a quick trip SYD-AMS very soon. I don't want to waste points at this time and I am conscious of my spending. Surprisingly SQ appears to be quite competitive with Y fare prices (around AUD$2,000 for end August) but I am wary of booking in economy and arriving stuffed.
I was surprised then to see PE can be had for the same dates for AUD$3,084...quite a bit but doable at a stretch.

In terms of arriving not stuffed from the Y experience is PE that much different to Y to be worth the extra?

On the return PE is not as open and I think the SIN layover is 14hrs. This started me thinking about returning in Y with the 14hr layover flight and booking into the Changi Airport motel for 10 or so hours. This drops the fare to AUD$2500. Anyone care to comment on cost and wisdom of this last choice?

Do SQ charge more for a telephone booking?

I'd probably go with the PE route the whole way if cost permitted. If you do it prozac, please do a TR! I want to read all about it.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I may need to do a quick trip SYD-AMS very soon. I don't want to waste points at this time and I am conscious of my spending. Surprisingly SQ appears to be quite competitive with Y fare prices (around AUD$2,000 for end August) but I am wary of booking in economy and arriving stuffed.
I was surprised then to see PE can be had for the same dates for AUD$3,084...quite a bit but doable at a stretch.

In terms of arriving not stuffed from the Y experience is PE that much different to Y to be worth the extra?

On the return PE is not as open and I think the SIN layover is 14hrs. This started me thinking about returning in Y with the 14hr layover flight and booking into the Changi Airport motel for 10 or so hours. This drops the fare to AUD$2500. Anyone care to comment on cost and wisdom of this last choice?

Do SQ charge more for a telephone booking?

To be brutally honest, PE is going to be the same as sitting in QF domestic business class, or a US carrier's domestic First class. You won't be fighting your neighbour for shoulder space. You won't be fighting your neighbour for an armrest. And you'll get a bit more legroom.

But seat recline is a potential issue... unless you can score a bulkhead, the additional seat recline (unless SQ is different) will mean the seat in front gets pretty close. If you're sitting in a window, it may not be possible to get out without disturbing the passenger in the aisle seat.

There's certainly less stress in PE... the whole experience will be more relaxed. But it's up to you whether a domestic business class seat is gonna cut the mustard for such a long flight.

From SIN, China Southern offers full business class (I'm not sure if it's full flat or angled-flat beds to/from CAN) to AMS for AUD2669. This is a 1750 departure. You might want to consider buying an SQ connecting ticket in economy SYD-SIN to connect. Connection times in CAN are about 2 hours.

 

[prozac]

PM'd you Cruiser.

 

[prozac]

On rechecking prices I discovered I was mistaken on the SQ PE fares which came in at about $4,800 if you flew via FRA as SIN-AMS does not have PE.
Thank you MEL_Traveller your suggestion for CSZ. After checking it too had flaws in terms of layover times needed in SIN to make sure the flights connected, in CAN for CSZ scheduling, and again on the return. This made the journey fairly lengthy added to which the poor reports I read online and poor time-keeping.

I ended up being a whimp and going the easy option one carrier all the way. Lufthansa have Mixed Class fares on sale atm. SYD-SIN-FRA-AMS return is $2848.
SIN-FRA-SIN is the new LH PE product on A380 on which I selected seats 52D and 52G which have no seat in front of them and just a partial bulkhead where the stairs descend. The other sectors are in Y.
SIN-SYD is an SQ A380.

I did not have alot of choices to book as I am going at short notice, August 31 and whilst I think this is not ideal seating (partial recline and footrest only), it is a good compromise for the money.

 

[prozac]

I was considering posting miles to SQ Krisflyer instead of LH. I am more likely to fly again on SQ...perhaps I will rebuild my SQ status which is currently base level.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[Mattg]

I was considering posting miles to SQ Krisflyer instead of LH. I am more likely to fly again on SQ...perhaps I will rebuild my SQ status which is currently base level.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I believe SQ miles are considered more valuable than LH miles, and as you say you're more likely to fly SQ in future. Don't forget that SQ miles can also be transferred to (or used on) VA if you can't find a use for them.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

PM'd you Cruiser.

Never recd any pm prozac.

 

[prozac]

Never recd any pm prozac.

Apologies Cruiser, must have been a seniors moment. I pm'd MEL_Traveller instead and he informed me he wasn't Cruiser. Now I really don't want to live until I am old if this is what is in store for me.

This morning I managed to change my booking slightly. I phoned LH who kindly informed me I could do this by without charge by simply cancelling my original booking and rebooking, something you can apparently do on LH within 24hrs of making your booking. Not wanting to miss out on the price of this fare I went through the process in reverse order, making the new booking first before cancelling the old. I even managed to reclaim my original seats in the process.

Whilst I was waiting for the agent and listening to the LH recorded messages LH stated that from 20 October they would be new flights connecting to Europe from BKK. Onward carriers to Australia from BKK are TG, QF, and JQ.

 

[timster]

I was considering posting miles to SQ Krisflyer instead of LH. I am more likely to fly again on SQ...perhaps I will rebuild my SQ status which is currently base level.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Depends what your aims are. I am not an expert on the relative value of points for flight awards with different *A carriers, or their expiry policies. But if your main aim is access to any *A lounge when flying Y/Y+ on any *A carrier (plus baggage allowance, premium checkin etc) then I believe crediting to TK or A3 may be the fastest route to *G, and the easiest to maintain (although A3 just got harder). But your booking classes may not credit at 100% mileage (or even anything at all in some cases).

 

[Scout]

Flew PE Cathay Pacific A330 MEL to LHR- and will do so again, for all the reasons above. Flew Jetstar on a 787 MEL to BKK, Business Class- also OK- I reckon the seats are the same as those in PE on Cathay Pacific.