KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes September 2018 offers include half price SilkAir redemptions

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The latest round of Singapore Airlines and SilkAir Spontaneous Escapes redemption ticket discounts has been announced, this time for flights during September 2018 (and October 2018 for SilkAir).

Big news this month is 50% off SilkAir saver award flights to an extensive list of destinations, meaning you can fly all the way to Japan (Hiroshima) in Economy Class on their new 737 MAX aircraft for 12,500 miles. For perspective, thats the usual saver rate from Singapore to Bangkok on Singapore Airlines!

Not since June 2017 have such a wide range of SilkAir awards been discounted by 50%. The SilkAir offer runs for 2 months, from 1st September 2018 to 31st October 2018.

Of course if Singapore Airlines flights are the ones which interest you most you’ll be pleased to know they haven’t been left out and a number of routes enjoy the more regular 30% discount offer for travel in September, including options to fly the new 2017 Business Class on the A380 and the 2018 regional Business Class on the 787-10.

The rules remain unchanged – find a saver award ticket for one of the destinations and flight numbers included on the offer and provided you book before 31st August 2018 it’s yours for the cheaper rate.

About Spontaneous Escapes

Far from someone in Airline House feeling generous on a Wednesday afternoon, Spontaneous Escapes is a way for Singapore Airlines to fill seats which would otherwise fly empty, even if offered at the usual saver award rates. Otherwise there would simply be no reason for the offer.

That means some popular routes never appear on the list, while for others seasonal demand variations give rise to an ever-changing variety of destinations in both Economy and Business Class.

Highlights for September 2018

The Spontaneous Escapes offer for September was released this afternoon. As mentioned, this month the biggest discounts are 50% for SilkAir flights, with selected Singapore Airlines routes listed at the 30% discount rate in both Economy and Business Class.

As usual the full list of offers is provided in the tables below. SilkAir highlights this month, for travel in either September 2018 or October 2018, are:

• Bali in Business for 8,750 miles and Hiroshima in Business for 21,500 miles. Or fly all the way to Japan for 12,500 miles in SilkAir Economy!
• Just 29,000 miles will get you to Cairns in Business with SilkAir (normally 58,000 miles), while if you don’t mind Economy on that route it’s a steal at 14,000 miles.
• The 4 hour 45 minute SilkAir flight to Darwin is just 10,000 miles in Economy during September, or 16,250 miles in Business.
• Closer SilkAir destinations can be very expensive, like Koh Samui and Siem Reap. Fly to both of those places for 6,750 miles in Economy during September. You probably don’t need Business Class on those short routes, however if a visit to one of the SilverKris lounges before your flight appeals it’s a nice option at 10,000 miles.

We checked a return trip to Koh Samui in September and you’re looking at about S$470 with Bangkok Airways or S$660 with SilkAir in Economy (a consequence of their duopoly on this route). In Business it’s S$1,190 or S$1,415 respectively, so there’s real value to be had here with a Spontaneous Escapes redemption.

For Siem Reap Jetstar is the cheapest option, however it’s still S$370 return in September which makes it worth using miles to fly with SilkAir in our view.

For Singapore Airlines, standout options for September 2018 are:

• 30% off Singapore Airlines in Business Class to Dubai at 31,500 miles means you can get all the way to Europe for 56,500 miles in Business by combining with the excellent Star Alliance 25,000 miles rate for a subsequent flight, for example on Swiss or Lufthansa. See our Star Alliance sweet spots article for details.
• 19,250 miles for 4 hours in the latest 2017 Business Class on the new A380 to or from Hong Kong.

No change to the standard terms – so you have two weeks left to search and book these flights at the discounted rate.

New Business Class cabins

Singapore Airlines has rolled out a couple of new Business Class cabin products over the last year:

• The 2017 J seat on the newest A380 aircraft now flying on five planes to five destinations daily (read our review here).
• The 2018 RJ product on the 787-10, with six of those planes flying on eight routes in September 2018 (read our review here).

Since these products are still very new that leads a lot of our readers to focus immediately on the monthly Spontaneous Escapes offer to check out any opportunities to book and experience these new products for a reduced miles rate. Here’s a summary table showing where you can secure the new Business Class products this month:

Spontaneous Escapes – September 2018 New SIA Business Class Products
2017 J	2018 RJ
19,250 Miles: Singapore – Hong Kong (SQ856) Hong Kong – Singapore (SQ861)	14,000 Miles: Singapore – Bangkok (SQ982) Singapore – Ho Chi Minh (SQ186) Singapore – Manila (SQ918) Manila – Singapore (SQ915) 30,100 Miles: Singapore – Osaka (SQ622) Osaka – Singapore (SQ619/623)

Unfortunately only one opportunity to fly the 2017 J Business Class seat this month – on the Singapore – Hong Kong route. It’s a decent deal at just 19,250 KrisFlyer miles. Remember you’ll need to book SQ856 / SQ833.

If you’re interested in where else you can try the newest Singapore Airlines A380 products, including the latest Suites cabin, check our tracker page for details.

For the 2018 RJ Business Class on the 787-10 you have some shorter flights to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh and Manila to choose from at 14,000 miles, and in both directions the Osaka service for 30,100 miles.

If you’re still interested in a normal price redemption to try out this brand new seat see our 2018 RJ Tracker page for all the route details.

Singapore Airlines September Economy Class Discounts

Here’s the full list of Singapore Airlines Economy Class routes on offer (30% off) for September 2018. Required miles are shown for a one-way redemption, with aircraft types operating the flights also indicated.

Economy Class

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

South West Pacific

Singapore Airlines September Business Class Discounts

Listed below are all the routes with 30% off in Business Class with Singapore Airlines in September 2018. The required miles are shown for one-way redemption. We also indicate not only the aircraft types operating these flights, but the all-important seat types too. See these links for further details about the seat types:

2006 J – 2009 RJ – 2013 J – 2017 J – 2018 RJ

Business Class

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

South West Pacific

See the following links for further details about the Business Class seats:

2006 J – 2009 RJ – 2013 J – 2017 J – 2018 RJ

SilkAir September & October Economy Class Discounts

This month SilkAir are offering a range of routes in Economy Class with 50% miles discounts for flights during September and October 2018. Practically the whole SilkAir network is on sale! Required miles in the tables are shown for one-way redemptions.

Note that we don’t include aircraft type details for SilkAir flights as it varies day by day and with the possible exception of the 737-MAX 8 is less relevant than for SIA.

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

South West Pacific

SilkAir September & October Business Class Discounts

Business Class

Here’s the list of Business Class 50% discounts for SilkAir flights in September and October 2018. Practically the whole SilkAir network is on sale! Again, required miles in the tables are shown for one-way redemptions.

Note that we don’t include aircraft type details for SilkAir flights as it varies day by day and with the possible exception of the 737-MAX 8 is less relevant than for SIA.

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

South West Pacific

Think one-way

The terms and conditions for Singapore Airlines’ Spontaneous Escapes offers are a funny old beast. Because they are significantly more restrictive than a typical saver redemption (in terms of flexibility) you have to think one-way with these deals. If they are combined with a normal saver redemption the normal terms and conditions apply, so the discounted rate on the Spontaneous Escapes sector, does not.

Let’s say you’re heading to Bangkok in September and you’ll take the new regional Business Class on the 787-10 both ways for a good experience of this exciting new product. Bad news is that only the outbound 787-10 flight on this route (SQ982) is included in the offer this month. SQ983, the evening return sector on the same plane, is still offered at the normal rates.

If you price up a return flight on SQ982 (SIN-BKK) and SQ983 (BKK-SIN) you’ll be quoted the full saver award rate for the roundtrip, even though your outbound flight qualifies for a 30% discount under Spontaneous Escapes.

Notice how the Spontaneous Escapes offer, valid on the first sector of this booking, is not reflected when an invalid flight under the same offer is added to the same itinerary.

Here’s how it looks if you book the exact same sectors individually:

You’ll save 6,000 KrisFlyer miles by booking this itinerary as two separate tickets.

Notice also how Singapore Airlines still can’t identify the newest plane in their fleet on their search page, over 4 months after it entered service. “Boeing 787-10” guys, not complicated!

You won’t know till you click

As the Spontaneous Escapes deals are now loaded into the award system with the applicable discounts attached, you’d expect it would show you the specific flight at the discounted rate on the search results page.

Singapore Airlines does not do this. When you search for an award seat on a qualifying flight on a qualifying route it (see the list above) and it is available for saver redemption the normal saver award rate is shown.

Although it’s not at all clear until the flight selection is made, trust the system, proceed to select the flight(s) you’re interested in and the discounted redemption rate will then magically appear.

Terms and conditions

The Singapore Airlines Spontaneous Escapes deal is now a regular fixture on the monthly offers calendar. If you’re used to it you’ll know the rules, however if it’s a new concept here’s a reminder of those all-important T&Cs:

• Book by 31st August 2018.
• Valid for flights from 1st – 30th September 2018 (for SilkAir 1st September 2018 – 31st October 2018).
• Valid for ‘Saver’ award tickets on selected routes.
• Blackout dates apply on certain routes (e.g. Singapore to Bangkok in Economy and Business Class blocked 1st-9th September).
• Once booked, these promotional redemption rates are non-changeable and cancellable.
• All flights in the chosen itinerary must be included in the offer, otherwise the miles rate reverts to standard ‘Saver’ rates for the whole itinerary with no discount. We recommend booking one-way legs so you can still save, for example on one direction of a return trip.
• Stopovers are not allowed (again, think one-way redemptions with this offer).
• Waitlist Saver redemptions are included in the discount, however the waitlist must clear on or before 31st August otherwise the regular ‘Saver’ rate will apply.

Summary

We only saw a 50% off deal once in the last 12 months of Spontaneous Escapes, on selected flights to Bali in March 2018.

To have so many SilkAir routes in both Economy and Business Class on offer at half price is a significant deal, last seen in June 2017. It’s also valid for flights over 2 months rather than the usual 1 month, though you’ll still need to book by 31st August. There could well be many useful options there if you have regional travel plans to make (or amend!) for next month.

For Singapore Airlines flights again there are no Europe options this month and the Australia / New Zealand selection has dried up significantly with only Wellington on offer (older 2009 RJ seats).

More 787-10 aircraft in service means more opportunity to try the new regional Business Class seat and a selection of shorter and longer flights on that product are yours for the picking this month.

Remember if you’re unable to secure a return flight at the discounted rates, book two one-way tickets instead. You’ll pay the usual ‘Saver’ rate for the non-discounted sector but at least the whole itinerary will not be at the standard rate.

One last ‘golden rule’ to always bear in mind with this offer is that you will want to have pretty firm plans before taking advantage, because you can’t modify or cancel these bookings once made.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)