KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes January 2019 offers

The first list of Spontaneous Escapes offers for those looking for an early 2019 getaway has been released, with 30% off Singapore Airlines and SilkAir saver redemptions for the month of January 2019.

Again there’s an additional deal for non-stop USA flights for the following month, February 2019, this time including a limited Business Class offer in addition to the usual raft of Premium Economy seats.

Spontaneous Escapes

Almost every month there are routes on which Singapore Airlines can’t realise ideal loads and revenues, due to the seasonal nature of demand. It’s not feasible for them to switch aircraft types and frequencies around on routes much more often than twice per year, so fare adjustments and special offers come into play to keep the load factors as healthy as possible year-round.

Sometimes though even that’s not enough, and ‘Spontaneous Escapes’ has now become a longstanding monthly offer for KrisFlyer members to enjoy a discount, typically 30%, off saver award tickets for travel on selected routes during the following month.

There are some terms and conditions of course, not least that these award tickets are non-changeable and non-refundable once booked, unlike a normal saver award. You’ll need pretty firm travel plans, so for the full list of restrictions see the T&C summary at the end of this article.

January offers – SIA Business products

We always start off with the answer to the most important question – “Which Singapore Airlines long-haul Business Class or new regional Business Class seats are included this month?”

Here’s how it looks for January 2019 in the premium SIA cabins:

Spontaneous Escapes – January 2019 SIA New Business Class products on offer
	2017 J (full seat details)
35,000 24,500 Miles: Singapore – Shanghai (SQ830) Shanghai – Singapore (SQ833) 27,500 19,250 Miles: Singapore – Hong Kong (SQ856) Hong Kong – Singapore (SQ861)
	2013 J (full seat details)
88,000 61,600 Miles: Singapore – Los Angeles (SQ36, Feb only) Los Angeles – Singapore (SQ35, Feb only) 43,000 30,100 Miles: Singapore – Seoul (SQ612) Seoul – Singapore (SQ611) 35,000 24,500 Miles: Singapore – Beijing (SQ802) Singapore – Beijing (SQ806) Beijing – Singapore (SQ801) Beijing – Singapore (SQ807) Singapore – Shanghai (SQ828) Shanghai – Singapore (SQ831) 27,500 19,250 Miles: Singapore – Hong Kong (SQ860) Hong Kong – Singapore (SQ863) 17,500 12,250 Miles: Singapore – Jakarta (SQ962) Jakarta – Singapore (SQ957)
	2018 RJ (full seat details)
27,500 19,250 Miles: Singapore – Taipei (SQ876) Taipei – Singapore (SQ877)

The 2018 Regional Business Class has never been so prolific on the network as it is in January 2019, with 15 destinations on offer. We flew the new seats on the day they entered service in April 2018, and rated the product very highly.

You would expect perhaps that there might therefore be several options to try out this new product with a discount this month.

Click here to read our full review of SIA’s 2018 Regional Business Class

Unfortunately it is very limited. For those wanting to try the new 2018 Regional Business Class, Singapore to Taipei (SQ876) and Taipei to Singapore (SQ877) are your only options in January with 30% off, for a rate of 19,250 miles each way in this cabin.

Ok that’s not 100% true – the SQ186 Singapore to Ho Chi Minh flight does sometimes feature the 787-10 with this new product installed, however it is only used on a few dates in January 2019 on that service.

These flights take around 4 hours so we think that’s actually a good rate for Business Class, especially since the new cabin is a great experience if you haven’t tried it yet.

Non-stop USA discounts: February 2019

Discounted awards for Business Class seats on the non-stop A350ULR are back this month, for travel in February 2019, but its not great news. Firstly only one route is included, Los Angeles. Secondly only one flight is eligible, the newer SQ35/36 which only runs three days per week, on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Discounts are for February 2019, but must still be booked by 31st December 2018 to be eligible.

A350ULR – Business Class

There are only 12 flights in each direction included in the offer for February 2019. We checked award availability and found that only half of those flights between Singapore and Los Angeles have immediate redemptions available.

WL – Waitlist

For the Los Angeles to Singapore route it’s even worse, with only four flights currently featuring availability.

WL – Waitlist

Down the back though, once again, Singapore Airlines is offering a 30% discount for all Premium Economy saver awards on the new non-stop A350ULR flights to and from Newark, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

A350ULR – Premium Economy Class

Booked loads are still painfully low in this cabin on some of these routes. Between Singapore and Los Angeles, for example, ExpertFlyer data shows that only 22.6% of Premium Economy seats are currently booked on the 40 A350ULR flights operating that month (849 out of 3,760 seats).

On some flights only three or four passengers are booked into the 94-seat cabin. That will improve of course as the departure dates approach, but it’s hard to see the airline reaching anywhere close to a level it is comfortable with on most of these flights, particularly in view of the heavy discounting still ongoing for cash tickets.

This month the Spontaneous Escapes offer is for February 2019, but must still be booked by 31st December 2018 to be eligible.

Again we checked the latest round-trip cash fares available on these ULR routes in Premium Economy during February, and found them to still be heavily discounted.

• SIN-EWR-SIN S$1,695
• EWR-SIN-EWR S$2,055
• SIN-LAX-SIN S$1,495
• LAX-SIN-LAX S$1,918
• SIN-SFO-SIN S$1,495
• SFO-SIN-SFO S$1,987

You’re getting 1.6 cents per mile to 2.1 cents per mile using KrisFlyer miles in this case. That doesn’t account for the miles you would earn on a round-trip with a cash fare on these routings – at least 16,800 for a San Francisco return, making the true value even less.

Our advice is therefore the same as last month – don’t bother using miles on these A350 ULR non-stop USA Premium Economy routes, even at 30% off. Provided you can get one of the fares above, which are widely available in February, it’s a poor deal and you should save your miles for a better value redemption.

Singapore Airlines January Business Class discounts

Here is the full list of Singapore Airlines Business Class routes on offer for January 2019. For the second month only 10 routes are included, though it’s a slightly different selection this time round. You’ll get 30% off if you can book by the end of this month and travel during January.

As always, we include those all-important Business Class seat types as well as the aircraft types, helping you choose better on your preferred route (or who knows, choose your route based on your preferred seat type!).

If you’re unfamiliar, here are the details for each of the Business Class seat types for your reference:

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

Business Class

South East Asia

North Asia

Singapore Airlines January Economy Class discounts

Only seven routes are included in the Economy Class Spontaneous Escapes offer this month, again with 30% off for travel in January 2019.

Required miles are shown for a one-way redemption, with aircraft types operating the flights also indicated.

Economy Class

South East Asia

North Asia

SilkAir January Economy Class Discounts

There are no Business Class offers on SilkAir flights in January, but here are the Economy Class routes with 30% miles discounts. Required miles in the tables are shown for one-way redemptions.

11 routes are offered, with the biggest discount on non-stop flights to and from Hiroshima.

Note that we don’t include aircraft type details for SilkAir flights, as these can vary day to day.

Economy Class

South East Asia

North Asia

Booking tip

When you scan through the route lists above you might well find the perfect option for your trip in January 2019 (or February for USA flights), then do a search on the Singapore Airlines website and suffer some disappointment that the miles rate hasn’t been discounted after all.

It’s not made obvious on the Singapore Airlines website or app that the discounted miles rate is being applied – have faith! Click the ‘Saver’ rate and then check the drop-down box, where the discounted rate will then be shown, provided your flight is applicable for the discount:

Terms and conditions

The usual terms and conditions apply for this regular offer, and you can see the full list here. The key considerations for KrisFlyer members are:

• Book by 31st December 2018.
• Valid for flights from 1st – 31st January 2019 (most SIA and all SilkAir routes)
• Valid for flights from 1st – 28th February 2019 (SIA A350ULR routes to/from USA)
• Valid for ‘Saver’ award tickets on selected routes.
• Blackout dates apply on certain routes (e.g. Singapore to Nagoya in Economy Class blocked 2nd-7th January).
• Once booked, these promotional redemption rates are non-changeable and non-cancellable. Use it or lose it!
• 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 December otherwise the regular ‘Saver’ rate will apply.

Summary

This is the fourth consecutive month for Singapore Airlines offering Premium Economy on its A350 ultra long-haul flights to and from the USA for a discount, not surprising given the low fares also on offer and the apparent low booked loads for this cabin on these new flights.

Again due to the competitive discounts still on offer for cash tickets on these flights, using miles doesn’t make sense even under this 30% discount promotion.

This month some Business Class awards are offered non-stop to and from Los Angeles, which are certainly good value at 61,600 miles each way, however the selection of flights and available dates are very limited.

Elsewhere on the network it’s no surprise to see the Australia routes disappearing this month as the main school holidays down under draw to a close in the last week of January. Booked loads are usually very high on these flights during the early part of the year and they even sell out weeks in advance sometimes.

It’s good to see Hong Kong back with the 2017 J product, which we reviewed in January, on the latest A380 aircraft, a great opportunity to try out the latest long-haul Business Class seat for 19,250 miles. The same rate will also allow you to try the new 2018 RJ seat to or from Taipei, which enjoys daily 787-10 service from 1st January next year.

You can also pick up the 2017 Business Class seat on the Shanghai route again this month – available throughout January for 24,500 miles.

As always our tables above will help you to pick the right flight on these routes to ensure you get the new cabin products.

Once again there’s a limited range of SilkAir routes on offer this month, though only in Economy Class. Check out Hiroshima to or from Singapore for 17,500 miles if you’re looking for the biggest saving.

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.

Remember that Spontaneous Escapes is a great discount but you must have pretty firm travel plans before taking advantage, because you can’t modify or cancel these bookings once made.

(Cover Photo: Victor via Flickr)