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We tend to get excited whenever an airline announces a record-breaking flight. But when the former champion makes a much-anticipated return? That’s cause for celebration, and a race to book seats on the inaugural flight. That’s exactly what’ll happen on October 11, when Singapore Airlines re-launches SQ22 from Singapore (SIN) to Newark (EWR) — clocking in at nearly 19 hours from gate to gate.
The airline announced the launch date for its returning world’s longest flight on Wednesday, and today tickets went on sale. There are both paid seats and awards available in both cabins — business class and premium economy — and fares are even more reasonable than I would have expected.
It seems that SQ has just loaded these flights, though, so you might run into some issues while searching, as I did above. If you’re unable to enter EWR as your origin on Singapore’s site, just refresh the page and try again. SQ22 and SQ21, the return from Newark, do not yet appear on third-party platforms, such as Google Flights.
Paid Business Class
Of course, as The Points Guy, we always try to redeem points and miles for flights. Given the demand and low capacity on this particular route — just 67 business-class seats and 94 in premium economy — a paid ticket may be your only option on some dates. Fortunately, business fares are fairly reasonable, starting at about $2,500 each way when you book a round-trip:
Booking a one-way flight will land you a much higher fare, with tickets starting at about $4,400 for the single 19-hour journey.
Flights originating in Singapore are comparably priced, at about $5,170 US round-trip.
Note that this could be a good opportunity to take advantage of the 35% Pay With Points rebate offered by The Business Platinum Card from American Express OPEN.
Business-Class Awards
Biz-class award flights are priced at either 92,000 miles (Saver) or 135,000 miles (Advantage) each way. Business-class awards can’t be booked using some partner miles, such as Aeroplan or United MileagePlus, making KrisFlyer your best option there.
I haven’t come across any Saver award space just yet, but there’s plenty of availability at the slightly higher Advantage level. The flight below has at least six business-class award seats open, for example.
You could also opt to confirm an Advantage award and waitlist for Saver — booking a round-trip at the higher level will run you 270,000 miles.
KrisFlyer partners with all four transferrable currencies — Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou and Starwood Preferred Guest. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio from all four programs, though you’ll need 3 Marriott points for every KrisFlyer mile once the program combines with SPG this summer.
Paid Premium Economy
This aircraft, the A350-900ULR, also offers a large premium economy section, with a total of 94 seats. I’m seeing premium-economy fares available on most dates starting at less than $1,500 round-trip, which is outstanding.
Note that that fare will land you a ticket in the “R” fare class, which is not upgradeable.
Jumping up to a ticket you can upgrade to business class will only cost about $250 more round-trip, so that’s a reasonable option if you’re looking for an affordable avenue for landing a seat in the business-class cabin.
Premium Economy Awards
You can also book premium-economy award seats for 70,000 miles each way, with excellent availability. Given the low round-trip fares, it may make more sense to pay cash, however.
Bottom Line
Overall, these fares are lower than I would have expected — especially in the premium-economy cabin. Paying $5,000 for a round-trip business-class ticket on this ultra-premium route isn’t half-bad, either. And it’s great to see so many award seats open at launch, even though you’ll need to redeem for the Advantage level if you’re hoping to book biz.
Source: thepointsguy.com