Singapore Airlines is beefing up its non-stop San Francisco flights this summer, with the carrier loading twice daily Airbus A350 flights on the route from June to October 2022, all of which will operate as Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) services on the leg back to Singapore.
This represents an increase from the originally planned 10 times weekly service, and will give San Francisco – Singapore the highest number of quarantine-free flights from any city in the USA, with SIA partner United Airlines also offering a daily non-stop VTL option, including its latest Polaris Business Class product.
Singapore Airlines will operate one of its daily non-stop flights with its 161-seat two-class Airbus A350 ULR and the other with its 243-seat three-class Airbus A350 Long Haul variant.
Singapore Airlines current schedule
Singapore Airlines is currently flying 10 flights per week on its non-stop San Francisco route, with the following schedule comprising a daily Airbus A350 ULR and three times weekly Airbus A350 Long Haul operation.
Singapore San Francisco
Now – 26th March 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
 |
SQ32 A350 Long Haul |
||||||||
| SIN 09:20 |
SFO 07:50 |
||||||||
|
SQ34 A350 ULR |
||||||||
| SIN 18:40 |
SFO 17:20 |
||||||||
San Francisco Singapore
Now – 26th March 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ31 A350 Long Haul VTL |
||||||||
| SFO 09:30 |
SIN 19:05* |
||||||||
|
SQ33 A350 ULR VTL |
||||||||
| SFO 20:50 |
SIN 06:25** |
||||||||
* Next day
** Two days later
From 27th March to the end of May 2022, these same 10 flights per week continue to operate, with a slight timing adjustment.
Singapore San Francisco
27th March – 31st May 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ32 A350 Long Haul |
||||||||
| SIN 09:25 |
SFO 09:40 |
||||||||
|
SQ34 A350 ULR |
||||||||
| SIN 18:40 |
SFO 19:05 |
||||||||
San Francisco Singapore
27th March – 31st May 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ31 A350 Long Haul VTL |
||||||||
| SFO 11:30 |
SIN 19:10* |
||||||||
|
SQ33 A350 ULR VTL |
||||||||
| SFO 22:05 |
SIN 05:45** |
||||||||
* Next day
** Two days later
Singapore Airlines increased schedule
From 1st June 2022 Singapore Airlines is ramping up its San Francisco schedule by “filling in the gaps” on its three times weekly SQ32/31 service, upgrading the three-class A350 flight to daily with four additional services, as shown in the schedule below.
Singapore San Francisco
1st June – 29th October 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ32 A350 Long Haul |
||||||||
| SIN 09:25 |
SFO 09:40 |
||||||||
|
SQ34 A350 ULR |
||||||||
| SIN 18:40 |
SFO 19:05 |
||||||||
All 14 of these flights each week return to Singapore as designated VTL services, offering twice daily (late morning and late evening) departure options from San Francisco.
San Francisco Singapore
1st June – 29th October 2022
| Days | |||||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |||
|
SQ31 A350 Long Haul VTL |
||||||||
| SFO 11:30 |
SIN 19:10* |
||||||||
|
SQ33 A350 ULR VTL |
||||||||
| SFO 22:05 |
SIN 05:45** |
||||||||
* Next day
** Two days later
This adds significant VTL capacity on the route, with four additional 253-seat three-class Airbus A350s adding over 1,000 seats a week to the quarantine-free lane between the two cities next summer, over and above what was already loaded.
This will be the first time Singapore Airlines has operated to and from San Francisco twice daily with non-stop services.
Prior to COVID-19, the San Francisco route had 10 weekly non-stop A350 flights (seven A350 Long Haul plus three A350 ULR), supplemented by seven weekly Boeing 777-300ER services via Hong Kong.
For obvious reasons, Singapore Airlines has suspended its San Francisco via Hong Kong link, leaving non-stop services as the only option for the time being.
KrisFlyer redemptions
These are the KrisFlyer award rates for the Singapore – San Francisco route.
| KrisFlyer Redemption (one-way) Singapore ⇄ San Francisco |
||
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Economy* | 38,000 | 70,000 |
| Premium Economy | 68,000 | n/a |
| Business | 95,000 | 125,000 |
* SQ32/31 only
If you’re looking to book a firm ticket in an eligible booking class, here’s how many miles it will then cost you to upgrade, assuming saver upgrade award availability in your proposed cabin class.
| Upgrade using KrisFlyer miles Singapore ⇄ San Francisco |
||
| Upgrading to → |  Premium |
 Business |
| Existing booking ↓ | ||
| Economy Standard* (Class: M, H, W) |
49,000 | 85,500 |
| Economy Flexi* (Class: Y, B, E) |
32,500 | 68,000 |
| Premium Economy Standard (Class: P) |
→ | 61,000 |
| Premium Economy Flexi (Class: S, T) |
→ | 48,000 |
* SQ32/31 only
This option isn’t the best value, but it can prove useful if your company is paying for your ticket and you wish to use your personal KrisFlyer miles to upgrade.
Award availability on these VTL flights is relatively open during the summer season, on the dates we checked, so this could be a good time to lock in a redemption.
Premium Economy ‘Solo seats’
The option to take SIA’s Airbus A350 Long Haul or ULR aircraft on the San Francisco route also gives you the option of two slightly different Premium Economy Class products.
On the A350 Long Haul flights (SQ32/31) there are 24 Premium Economy Class seats in a 2-4-2 configuration.
On the A350 ULR flights (SQ34/33) a much larger Premium Economy cabin has 94 seats, also predominantly in 2-4-2 layout.
These aircraft include six ‘solo’ seats at the back of the cabin, offering the rare privacy of an individual seat plus a large personal storage bin that doubles up as a useful table surface when closed.