Act fast! 80 saver awards in SIA’s NEW A380 Suites to and from London next year

For the third consecutive year, Singapore Airlines is boosting capacity on its London Heathrow route during the peak European holiday season in July and August. In 2020 there’s even better news for travellers on this route – those two months will see an Airbus A380 Version 3 with the latest 2017 Suites and Business Class products replacing a Boeing 777-300ER, meaning two daily options to and from London with these new seats.

Better still, we found 80 immediately confirmable saver Suites awards on this route during this two month period, including 26 flights with two awards available for that coveted ‘double bed’ experience.

The schedule

Here’s how the summer schedule for Singapore Airlines’ flights to and from London, both prior to and after the two-month A380 capacity boost.

This is the regular schedule on the route with two A380s operating per day, alongside two 777-300ERs. The seat types in First and Business Class are also shown.

Summer schedule (Until 30th June 2020 and from 1st September 2020)

All flights operate daily
* Arrives next day

From 1st July 2020 until 31st August 2020 the SQ306/305 flight, usually operated by the Boeing 777-300ER Version 2, is substituted with an Airbus A380 Version 3. This change is highlighted in yellow in the timetable below.

Peak summer schedule (1st July 2020 to 31st August 2020)

All flights operate daily
* Arrives next day

New Suites

This announcement is fantastic news for those already booked in the small four-seat 2013 First Class cabin on SQ306/305 during July and August next year. The seat map will now look like this, reflecting the very latest 2017 Suites cabin:

Better still, Singapore Airlines is no longer blocking bassinet positions in Suites, First or Business Class for advance selection, so all passengers have access to both double bed options in an empty cabin from the outset.

If you’re booked on one of these flights you should log on to your booking now to choose the best option, especially if you’re flying as a couple as you’ll no doubt want to secure the double bed arrangement in that case. Only two such options exist in this cabin – 1A/2A and 1F/2F.

If you’re travelling alone, while it seems a shame to block the double bed options for others, do note that Suites 1A/1F and 2A/2F are bigger. Suites 3A and 3F have the smallest footprint and are also close to the galley, potentially leading to some light and noise disturbance.

KrisFlyer Suites awards

Getting a saver award in Singapore Airlines’ brand new Suites cabin is no easy feat, but on these longer routes like London it’s been nearly impossible, especially for a couple.

The strategy has largely been to waitlist and chance your luck, or shell out for an advantage award to secure this experience. In fact the existing daily SQ322/317 Heathrow flight with new Suites is notoriously difficult to secure a Suites award on, even at advantage rates.

These are the KrisFlyer award ticket rates for the Singapore – London route.

When this SQ306/305 flight pair used the A380 Version 2 during July and August 2019, there were over 160 saver award tickets made available in the (older, 2006) Suites cabin.

We weren’t expecting to see anything like that with the latest 2017 Suites product introduced in 2020, given that there are only six Suites in total installed on the newer aircraft.

What we found is astounding – even given the much smaller cabin capacity a large swathe of availability has been replicated again this year. There are 80 immediately confirmable new Suites awards on SQ306/305 flights during July and August 2020, for 125,000 KrisFlyer miles each way.

Remember too that London is the longest A380 route on the Singapore Airlines network, clocking in at over 13 hours each way, so you’re enjoying a fantastic experience in this luxurious cabin despite the high mileage rate.

Here’s how the availability looks on the route. Do note that the majority of options are available from London to Singapore, where you’ll be hit with the UK’s steep Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Singapore to London (SQ306 – New Suites)

Correct at 9th December 2019. WL – Waitlist

Correct at 9th December 2019. WL – Waitlist

For the London to Singapore sector, if you can also stomach the hefty £232 (S$415) taxes and fees per person, there are 62 saver award seats across the two-month period as shown below.

London to Singapore (SQ305 – New Suites)

Correct at 9th December 2019. WL – Waitlist

Correct at 9th December 2019. WL – Waitlist

This is a significant volume of brand new Suites saver award space on a long-haul premium route, so we definitely advise acting fast if you wish to lock in some dates.

Remember you can always cancel and redeposit your miles for a S$75 fee per ticket if it turns out you can’t take the trip. That’s not something we normally recommend, but in this case it’s probably worth it!

Short of miles?

You can top up your KrisFlyer miles stash from some credit cards, and through other means, within 24 hours or even instantly in some cases.

Read our guide to find out how, plus don’t forget you can call Singapore Airlines and ask for an award ticket to be put on hold for you, while you wait for the miles to credit.

More Business Class seats

The news also means that SQ306/305 flights will get a big hike in Business Class capacity during July and August 2020, from 48 of the 2013 version to 78 of the new 2017 style.

While the 2013 Business Class seat is a fine product, we flew this latest 2017 version in January 2018 shortly after it was first launched and loved it – in fact it’s probably our favourite SIA Business Class option.

We haven’t done a full run down of award availability in the Business Class cabin, but some brief searches we made turned up plenty of seats, as you would expect.

Reviews

In case you missed them, we have comprehensive reviews from our firsthand experience of both the 2017 Business Class and 2017 Suites Class on the new Airbus A380 right here on the site.

Those will help you learn what to expect from these new products if you haven’t flown them before. For the most part, you’re in for a treat!

Paris gets the new products on the same day

As we reported last month, Paris becomes the third European route to receive the airline’s latest A380 cabin fits, also from 1st July 2020 but on a permanent basis in that case rather than a seasonal upgrade.

That means year-round A380 Version 3 flights on the Paris route even in the northern winter season from late October 2020, instead of the usual shift to 10 weekly Boeing 777-300ERs on this route.

Zurich loses out

The aircraft used to upgauge this London service for two months isn’t magicked from nowhere, or the result of another completed refit, but instead is achieved with the airline’s daily SQ346/345 Zurich service reverting from A380 Version 3 to Version 1 operation for the period.

That’s bad news if you have a Suites or Business Class booking locked in on that route in July or August 2020, as you’ll now find the seat map confirms the old 2006 cabins.

It will be the first time the Zurich route (a.k.a. “The Merchant Banker Express”) has not been scheduled to receive the new Suites and Business Class since it switched across to those products in August 2018.

Thankfully normal operation is restored to Switzerland with the A380 Version 3 from 1st September 2020.

Summary

An excellent swathe of brand new Suites saver award availability has been added at a peak time of year on a popular route with this regular capacity upgrade.

We strongly recommend snapping up these award seats soon, as they aren’t likely to remain available for long during this busy season, and certainly this time round with the 2017 cabin products offered.

Do bear in mind the high taxes and fees associated with the London to Singapore direction, even for award tickets, though for a saver redemption in the very latest Suites it might just be worth it.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)