Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot have extended their travel waiver policy today in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, permitting customers who booked on or before 15th March 2020 for travel up to 31st August 2020 to obtain a full cash refund with no fees.
This comes as SIA and SilkAir recently announced an expanded flight schedule for June and July 2020, though still only totalling around 6% of normal capacity. Scoot is also increasing flights slightly in July, with eight destinations.
Both SIA and SilkAir are continuing to encourage affected customers to retain the value of their tickets towards a future booking, by offering a bonus flight credit towards your next trip worth up to S$500 on top of the fare already paid.
Singapore Airlines / SilkAir
Singapore Airlines and SilkAir have extended their global travel waiver policy, now offering customers who purchased a ticket on or before 15th March 2020, for travel up to 31st August 2020, the option to retain the full value of the unused portion of their tickets as flight credits.
These flight credits can be used to book new travel up to 31st December 2021 (note that this date was extended last month).
This is designed to give you flexibility to plan, book and travel between now and well into next year, with no-show and rebooking fees waived.
Bonus Flight Credits
SIA and SilkAir are continuing to award bonus flight credits to all those who choose to retain their tickets as flight credits.
“This is our way of thanking [customers] for their support during this challenging period.”
Singapore Airlines
Based on the original cabin class of travel, you will receive the following bonus flight credits when making a new booking with Singapore Airlines or SilkAir:
| Bonus Flight Credits | |
| Travel Class |
Additional Credit* |
 Economy |
S$75 |
 Premium Economy |
S$100 |
 Business |
S$200 |
 First / Suites |
S$500 |
* If your eligible ticket contains a combination of cabin classes, the bonus flight credits will be based on the higher cabin class. If you have a partially flown ticket, you’ll only have the remaining value of your ticket retained as flight credits, but it will not be eligible for these bonus flight credits.
If you previously opted to keep your tickets open due to the COVID-19 outbreak, prior to Bonus Flight Credits being offered, you’ll also retain the value of the unused portion of your ticket as flight credits in addition to automatically qualifying for these bonus flight credits.
Similarly, if your flights were cancelled by Singapore Airlines or SilkAir, you will retain the full value of the unused portion of your tickets as flight credits plus you’ll also be awarded these bonus flight credits when rebooking your travel.
If you booked directly with Singapore Airlines, you should use the COVID-19 online assistance request form to cancel your booking and retain its value as flight credits.
Provided your request is submitted before your original travel date, all no-show fees will be waived.
Bear in mind that the bonus flight credit is a fixed amount and you will still be subject to any fare difference when rebooking in future. For example in the same class on the same route, the fare may have increased by more than Singapore Airlines is providing in additional credit when you come to rebook.
Once you have firmed up your new travel plans, you can submit your preferred rebooking options and travel dates using the same COVID-19 assistance request form. Customer service will then follow up on your request.
If you intend to travel in the next 72 hours, contact your local Singapore Airlines reservation and ticketing office rather than using the online form. Remember that the ION Orchard service centre is currently closed until at least 30th June 2020.
How Bonus Flight Credits work
- You can use the flight credits from an eligible ticket for up to two new flight itineraries with SIA or SilkAir for yourself, with the last flight sector of each flight itinerary being on or before 31st December 2021.
- At the point of rebooking of the new flight itinerary, the bonus flight credit will first be applied to the total cost of the new flight itinerary.
- If your flight credit is sufficient to cover the cost of your new itinerary, the entire cost of the new itinerary will be deducted against the flight credits. Any remaining flight credits may then be used to offset the cost of a second flight itinerary for the same passenger.
- Where your flight credit is insufficient to cover the entire cost of your new flight itinerary, you will have to pay for any top-ups for the new flight itinerary.
- You will be issued a new ticket when the flight credits are used to rebook a new flight itinerary. All fare conditions of the new ticket, including any applicable rebooking fees, refund conditions and/or cancellation fees, will be applicable to that new ticket.
- You will not be allowed to transfer and/or combine your flight credits in any manner whatsoever.
- Any unused flight credits will expire on 31st December 2021, and will be non-refundable thereafter. Any residual value in your partially used flight credits are also non-refundable.
Bonus Flight Credits for foreign currency bookings
The bonus flight credits in the table above relate to the additional amount you will receive over and above your originally ticketed fare when you rebook a flight denominated in Singapore Dollars.
If you rebook a flight with the fare in a currency other than Singapore Dollars, the Bonus Flight Credits will be awarded in local currency, based on an exchange rate determined by SIA and published in this table.
It is subject to change in line with the latest foreign exchange rates.
Full refunds
If you purchased a Singapore Airlines or SilkAir ticket on or before 15th March 2020, for travel up to 31st August 2020, but you do not wish to keep the value of your flight or take advantage of these new bonus flight credits, you can instead apply for a full refund.
Cancellation fees and no-show fees will be fully waived. There will be a wait involved, with Singapore Airlines stating:
“Our team will be prioritising the processing of refunds based on earliest scheduled departure dates. For example, departures scheduled for March 2020 will be processed first, followed by departures in April 2020.”
Singapore Airlines
If you booked directly with Singapore Airlines, you should use the COVID-19 online assistance request form to cancel your existing booking and request for a refund.
You’ll then receive a confirmation email and it will be too late to retain the value of your ticket as flight credits or be eligible for the new bonus credits.
If your ticket was issued after 15th March 2020 and your SIA or SilkAir flight was subsequently cancelled, you are entitled to a refund with cancellation fees waived.
Redemption bookings
If you used miles to redeem your flight tickets, you will have both your miles and taxes refunded. No cancellation fees are payable, including any fees payable for redepositing of KrisFlyer miles.
If you purchased your tickets using a combination of miles and cash, you will also receive a refund. This is now applicable for award bookings through 31st August 2020. You will not be eligible for any flight credits.
If the miles you used for your redemption booking were imminently expiring, their expiry dates will be extended as follows:
| Miles Expiry Month | Miles redeposited extended until: |
| On or before March 2020 | 30th June 2021* |
| Between April 2020 and May 2021 | 30th June 2021 |
| On or after June 2021 | Original miles expiry date |
* Miles cannot be further extended, even for a fee
Remember if you’re a PPS Club member, this does not apply as your miles never expire.
Unfortunately if you refunded your redemption tickets before this policy was first implemented (i.e. before 9th April 2020) and your expired miles were forfeited, they will not be retroactively refunded.
Similarly if you opted for a refund on your award ticket before 9th April 2020, any redeposit of miles fee paid will also not be retroactively refunded.
Bookings made through a travel agent
If you booked through a travel agent, you should contact them for assistance to either retain the value of their tickets in the form of flight credits or to request for a refund. Singapore Airlines has issued guidance to agents allowing them to take advantage of these new options in relation to your booking:
“Travel agents will be able to help customers get the bonus flight credits, as well as utilise their flight credits to book a new itinerary. Any rebooking fees will be waived.
“If you are a travel agent and require assistance, please contact your local SIA sales office.”
Singapore Airlines
Tickets for travel after 31st August 2020
If your SIA or SilkAir ticket is for travel after 31st August 2020 and was issued on or before 4th March 2020:
- Any changes or cancellations will be subject to your ticket’s fare conditions, and you are not eligible for flight or bonus flight credits (our advice: wait to see if the travel waiver is extended again).
If your SIA or SilkAir ticket is for travel after 31st August 2020 and was issued after 4th March 2020:
- You can make a complimentary one-time change to your travel dates online, however you are not eligible for flight and bonus flight credits.
Further details are available here.
Full details
You can refer to full details of the revised travel waiver policy here, in addition SIA has provided a list of FAQs and a Terms and Conditions document.
Scoot
If you made a Scoot booking on or before 15th March 2020 travelling on flights scheduled to depart between 23rd January 2020 and 31st August 2020, which was later cancelled, there continue to be two options to claim a refund.
- A 100% refund via the original method of payment, or
- A 120% refund in Scoot vouchers, valid for 12 months.
For a 100% refund to your original payment method, Scoot is advising of a wait of up to 14 weeks for processing.
“In view of the volume of requests to process, we will be doing so in batches. We ask for your understanding and patience whilst we get to your file.”
Scoot
If you previously applied for a refund and opted for the voucher, this will be voided on processing of the cash refund should you now opt for that method.
If you would rather receive the 120% refund in Scoot vouchers, note the following:
- You have 12 months to use these vouchers to make a new booking, for any travel period available on the Scoot website at the time of booking. You may use up to two vouchers per transaction.
- If you have previously received a 100% refund in the form of Scoot travel vouchers, you will receive an additional voucher worth 20% of your original itinerary value.
Scoot’s Manage My Booking portal now supports customers wishing to select these options online.
If you booked your Scoot flights through third-party booking channels or a travel agent, you should contact the relevant channel or agents for assistance.
As with Singapore Airlines, remember this Scoot voucher has a fixed value, dependent on the total price of your original itinerary, and there will be no point in complaining if your ticket is 50% more expensive when you come to rebook in future, even on the same route.
Full details of the current Scoot COVID-19 travel waiver policy can be found here.
Summary
It was inevitable that the group would be extending the travel waiver policy again given the continued 96% capacity cuts, and this has now taken effect for valid bookings through the end of August 2020.
There will likely be further extensions while so many services continue to be cancelled over the coming months.
Group airlines continue to offer full refunds with no fee, though of course they would prefer to entice you with their bonus flight credits or enhanced voucher value, which you can use against subsequent bookings through the end of 2021 in the case of SIA or SilkAir, and well into 2021 for Scoot vouchers.
Do remember though, no one can say what the price of your future preferred flight option will be – you are not protected for fare differences. Even including the bonus credit, you may fall short of the amount you need if the fare has risen.
Those making redemption bookings with miles that would now have expired, or were due to expire before May 2021, will continue to have those miles extended until 30th June 2021. Additionally, miles redeposit fees will be waived.
There has been no change to the KrisFlyer miles extension policy announced in April, meaning if you have any KrisFlyer miles expiring between April 2020 and August 2020, they will be extended by six months.
Singapore Airlines has said that miles expiry will be reviewed as “the situation remains fluid”, so expect some further extensions to come.
(Cover Photo: Russell Lee)