How to access the reopened Qatar Singapore Lounge using miles or points

Last week saw a long-awaited reopening of what we already dubbed, not unfairly, Changi’s finest Business Class lounge. Qatar Airways reset the bar with its premium facility in Terminal 1 when it opened in early 2020, offering a boutique space boasting á la carte dining, spacious relaxation pods, a tended martini bar and no fewer than five private shower suites.

Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic forced a closure of the Qatar Singapore Premium Lounge only two short months after it began welcoming guests, but it was receiving rapturous reviews during its brief operation, and it made a welcome return to the Changi fold last week.

The downside

Qatar Airways applies fairly strict access policies for its own lounges, with the Singapore one being no exception.

One of the easiest ways to get in to a oneworld Business Class lounge for many of our readers is through the alliance’s Sapphire or Emerald status, such as:

• British Airways Executive Club Silver or above
• Cathay Pacific Marco Polo Gold or above
• Malaysia Airlines Enrich Gold or above
• Qantas Frequent Flyer Gold or above
• JAL Mileage Bank Sapphire or above

Those are no good to you at the Qatar Airways Singapore Premium Lounge, which restricts access only to those flying on Qatar Airways or a oneworld carrier in First or Business Class.

Lounge-eligible frequent flyers in lower cabins are instead directed to the SATS Premier Lounge, which we probably don’t need to tell you falls into the “fine, but nothing to rush to the airport early for” category!

Full access criteria

The Qatar Airways Singapore Premium Lounge lounge is available to passengers flying on a Qatar Airways or any oneworld member operated flight:

• in First Class or in Business Class*.
• in any class of travel provided they are connecting between oneworld marketed and operated flights on the same day of travel, or before 6am the following day, having arrived in First Class or Business Class with a scheduled flight time longer than 5 hours (e.g. Qantas Business Class SYD-SIN followed by SriLankan Economy Class SIN-CMB, access is permitted). You are required to retain your boarding card from the arriving long-haul flight for lounge access in this case.

* Except for Qatar Airways’ Business Class Lite Fare (Booking Class ‘P’), which does not benefit from lounge access

Note that Qatar Airways does not include lounge access to those upgrading their Economy tickets to Business Class using Avios. The policy also applies to this lounge in Singapore.

However, full redemptions in Business Class using Avios, or via other frequent flyer programmes like Asia Miles, are eligible.

Lounge opening hours

First of all, here are the opening hours for the Qatar Singapore Premium Lounge, which include a morning operating window on selected days of the week from 1st July 2022.

Qatar Airways Singapore Premium Lounge 2022 Opening Hours
	Morning	Evening
15 Jun – 30 Jun	—	17:55 – 02:40 (Daily)
From 1 Jul	07:25 – 10:25 (Tue, Thu, Sat)

While the added morning opening three days per week is designed to primarily cater to Qatar Airways’ flight departures, it does provide some extra options for those in premium cabins on oneworld flights too.

What are your award options?

We’ve analysed the latest redemption options in Business Class, from the shortest 1-hour hops to Kuala Lumpur, up to flights heading all the way to the likes of Sydney and London.

We’ve also listed the specific flights you’ll need to redeem on to give yourself some quality time in this lounge, based on the northern summer 2022 schedules (applicable until 29th October 2022).

Where possible, Changi’s Early Check-in facility at Jewel allows some additional time in the lounge, though this is currently only available for Malaysia Airlines and Qantas passengers, with other oneworld airlines opening their regular check-in desks between 2 and 3 hours prior to departure time.

Malaysia Airlines

Malaysia Airlines was flying 68 times per week on the busy Singapore – Kuala Lumpur route pre-COVID, but schedules have been trimmed down to 28 weekly flights, based on July 2022 schedules.

There is also a three times weekly Malaysia Airlines flight from Singapore to Kuching and a four times weekly flight from Singapore to Penang.

A Malaysia Airlines award flight in Business is exactly how we originally reviewed this lounge. I flew on a lunchtime flight to experience the lounge’s breakfast opening, while Eddie opted for an evening flight to check out the cocktail and dinner options.

Award rates

Malaysia Airlines Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – KUL / KCH / PEN
	12,500
	16,000
	18,000
	20,000
	20,000
	22,500
	24,000
	25,000

BA Avios is your cheapest redemption option here, with 12,500 points (+S$66.20) enough to secure you a seat in Business Class.

Remember you can also transfer Qatar Airways Avios 1:1 into BA Avios, halving the miles requirement for a redemption on this route from 25,000 to 12,500!

Award availability is generally very good between Singapore and KL, so if you want to experience the lounge as a couple, family or group of friends this may be the best way to do it.

There’s also the ability to part pay with Avios and cash when flying Malaysia Airlines, if you’re short of points for example, with the following options available:

• 12,500 Avios + S$66.20 (full miles rate)
• 11,250 Avios + S$88.20 (buy Avios at 1.8 cents each)
• 10,000 Avios + S$110.20 (buy Avios at 1.8 cents each)
• 9,050 Avios + S$125.20 (buy Avios at 1.7 cents each)
• 7,800 Avios + S$148.20 (buy Avios at 1.8 cents each)
• 6,950 Avios + S$171.20 (buy Avios at 1.9 cents each)

This effectively allows you to ‘buy’ Avios (either by keeping them in your account, rather than using them, or topping up because your balance is insufficient) for 1.7 to 1.9 cents each – a reasonable proposition.

How easy is it?

Malaysia Airlines flights currently depart from Terminal 1, which is ideal in this case. Just clear immigration then follow the signs to the Qatar lounge.

The airline is also one of only two participating in the early check-in scheme, allowing you to drop your bags and print your boarding pass up to 12 hours before departure at the Jewel Early Check-in lounge, between 13:00 and 17:00 each day.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	MH610 KUL	MH614 KUL
Departure Time	00:05	11:30
Check-in from	13:00 to 17:00*	09:30
QR lounge usage	17:55-23:25 Daily (5h 30m)	09:30-10:25 Tue, Thu, Sat (55m)

* Previous day, compared to flight departure date

Unfortunately the list of options with Malaysia Airlines isn’t too extensive, given their current lack of evening departure timings. Departures to Kuching and Penang also don’t coincide with the opening of the Qatar lounge.

While the late morning MH614 works for a short visit on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, based on the standard Malaysia Airlines check-in opening time of 2 hours before departure, it’s the midnight MH610 that works best here.

Use the Jewel Early Check-in option between 1pm and 5pm to enjoy a whole evening in the Qatar lounge, or just turn up to the regular check-in desk two hours before departure at 10.05pm and still get a decent visit of over an hour before you need to head to the gate.

Cathay Pacific

Once a oneworld stalwart at Changi with 63 weekly departures, Cathay Pacific is still a shadow of its former self with a measly three flights per week to quarantine-imposing Hong Kong.

However, in the unlikely event you’re flying with the airline in Business Class on the CX714 service in the early hours of Friday morning, you will be able to use the Qatar lounge.

Award rates

Cathay Pacific Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – HKG
	22,000
	22,500
	22,500
	25,000
	30,000
	40,000
	43,800
	55,000

Again BA Avios is your cheapest option on these shorter routes (transfer points within a day from Citi cards, or via Qatar Privilege Club).

Unfortunately Cathay Pacific is not currently offering much (or any) award space on its limited services from Singapore, so this isn’t a simple way to access the Qatar lounge for the time being.

How easy is it?

Cathay Pacific flights currently depart from Terminal 1, so it’s simple to access the Qatar lounge.

However, do note that the airline will move to Terminal 4 in September 2022 (exact date TBC), significantly complicating use of the Qatar lounge before a Business Class flight with the airline.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	CX714 HKG
Departure Time	01:45
Check-in from	22:45*
QR lounge usage	22:45-01:05 Fri (1h 20m)

* Previous day, compared to flight departure date

SriLankan Airlines

SriLankan is flying six times weekly from Singapore to Colombo using Airbus A330 aircraft, with some evening departure timings allowing you use of the Qatar Premium Lounge when flying in Business Class.

Award rates

SriLankan Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – CMB
	22,000
	30,000
	30,000
	40,000
	43,800
	50,000
	55,000

It’s BA Avios again at the top of the list, though the more accessible Asia Miles scheme starts to come into play on this route.

Part pay with Avios and cash is an option when flying SriLankan, with some fairly attractive rates at which to ‘top up’ your balance:

• 22,000 Avios + S$167.30 (full miles rate)
• 20,000 Avios + S$201.30 (buy Avios at 1.7 cents each)
• 18,050 Avios + S$233.30 (buy Avios at 1.7 cents each)
• 16,050 Avios + S$260.30 (buy Avios at 1.6 cents each)
• 14,100 Avios + S$279.30 (buy Avios at 1.4 cents each)
• 12,100 Avios + S$307.30 (buy Avios at 1.4 cents each)

How easy is it?

SriLankan Airlines flights depart from Terminal 3. You’ll have to check-in at the T3 Row 2 check-in desks, from a maximum of 3 hours prior to scheduled departure time.

Thankfully the Qatar Premium Lounge sits right at the end of the T3 > T1 airside SkyTrain, so once you’ve cleared immigration in T3 it’s just a 10 minute transfer between the terminals.

We recommend leaving the Qatar lounge no later than 50 minutes before your SriLankan flight departure, to allow for the transfer to T3 including the short SkyTrain ride.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	UL309 CMB	UL309 CMB
Departure Time	20:10	20:35
Check-in from	17:10	17:35
QR lounge usage	17:55-19:20 Tue, Thu, Fri, Sun (1h 25m)	17:55-19:45 Sat (1h 50m)

While just over an hour in the lounge seems on the tight side for both of these flights, we were served in the Brasserie within 20 minutes of ordering on our visits, so it should actually be ample time to sample some food from the á la carte menu and enjoy a drink or two.

Japan Airlines

Award rates

JAL Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – TYO
	25,000
	30,000
	40,000
	61,000
	61,200
	62,000
	64,000
	70,000
	82,000

How easy is it?

JAL uses Terminal 1 at Changi, so just check-in and clear immigration as normal then follow the signs to the Qatar lounge.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	JL36 HND
Departure Time	21:50
Check-in from	19:20
QR lounge usage	19:20-21:10 Tue – Sat (1h 50m)

Unfortunately JAL’s morning flight to Tokyo departs too early for Business Class passengers to make use of the Qatar lounge on its opening days, so this only really works for the evening JL36, which currently operates five days a week (Tue-Sat).

Qantas

Award rates

Qantas Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – BNE / MEL / SYD	SIN – LHR
	40,000	75,000
	42,000	80,000
	61,000	70,000
	62,000	108,250
	64,000	104,000
	68,400	94,900
	82,000	131,000
	100,000	150,000

How easy is it?

Qantas uses Terminal 1 at Changi and participates in the early check-in scheme, allowing you to drop your bags and print your boarding pass up to 12 hours before departure at the Jewel Early Check-in lounge, between 13:00 and 16:30 each day.

Since you’re already in Terminal 1, just clear immigration then follow the signs to the Qatar lounge.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	QF2 SYD	QF52 BNE
Departure Time	19:30	20:30
Check-in from	13:00	13:00
QR lounge usage	17:55-18:50 Daily (55m)	17:55-19:50 Mon, Thu, Sat (1h 55m)

Flight	QF36 MEL	QF82 SYD
Departure Time	20:45	21:00
Check-in from	13:00	13:00
QR lounge usage	17:55-20:05 Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun (2h 10m)	17:55-20:20 Daily (2h 25m)

Flight	QF1 LHR	QF38 MEL
Departure Time	23:45	00:20
Check-in from	13:00	13:00*
QR lounge usage	17:55-23:05 Daily (5h 10m)	17:55-23:40 Sat (5h 45m)

* Previous day, compared to flight departure date

Only the five times weekly QF72 departures to Perth at 6.40pm fall outside the operating hours of the Qatar lounge, so you’ll need to ‘slum it’ in the Qantas Business Lounge or the BA Lounge in that case, otherwise head to this lounge if you’re in First or Business Class.

British Airways

British Airways has its own lounge at Changi T1, which the airline will direct you to after check-in if you are flying in First or Business Class, but the Qatar Airways option is a much nicer proposition.

Award rates

British Airways Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – SYD	SIN – LHR
	40,000	75,000
	42,000	80,000
	50,000	87,500
	61,000	70,000
	75,000	104,500
	82,000	131,000
	100,000	150,000

How easy is it?

British Airways uses Terminal 1 at Changi, allowing you to check-in up to 3 hours before departure.

Once you’ve cleared immigration, simply follow the signs to the Qatar lounge.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	BA15 SYD	BA16 LHR
Departure Time	19:25	22:35
Check-in from	16:25	19:35
QR lounge usage	17:55-18:45 Daily (50m)	19:35-21:55 Daily (2h 20m)

It’s a painfully short lounge visit if you’re taking BA15 to Sydney, with just under 1 hour’s full usage from lounge opening before having to head to the gate. That’s still time to enjoy the BA or Qantas alternatives first, then head here for a Martini, Champagne or a bite to eat before boarding.

On the other hand, those heading to London on BA16 should get a full experience here, with over 2 hours of lounge use.

Finnair

Finnair is operating daily departures each evening from Singapore to its Helsinki hub, which depart a couple of hours earlier than pre-COVID due to the need to avoid Russian airspace.

Award rates

Finnair Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – HEL
	60,000
	60,000
	70,000
	75,000
	90,000
	92,750
	120,000
	138,000

Finnair is exclusively using its new ‘AirLounge’ Business Class on Singapore – Helsinki flights this summer. Here’s our recent summary of the new product.

That should be a nice new experience to pair with a Qatar lounge visit before boarding, and remember Finnair does not add fuel surcharges to its award tickets.

How easy is it?

Finnair operates out of Terminal 1 at Changi Airport, so simply clear immigration then follow the signs to the Qatar lounge.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	AY132 HEL
Departure Time	21:50
Check-in from	18:50
QR lounge usage	18:50-21:10 Daily (2h 20m)

You’ll get over 2 hours of solid Qatar Airways lounge usage when flying Business Class on Finnair, a far better option than the Marhaba lounge the airline will direct you to after check-in.

Qatar Airways

Last but not least there’s Qatar’s own 10 times weekly departures from Changi, and as you’d probably expect all of these allow you to use the Qatar Premium Lounge if you’re travelling in Business Class on an eligible fare, since lounge opening is largely predicted on the carrier’s own services.

Qatar levies some pretty eye-watering fuel surcharges to its redemption tickets when booked via partners, so this might be one to look at as part of a longer itinerary.

For example Singapore – Doha – London using Asia Miles is 70,000 miles in Business Class, only 9,000 miles more than the standalone Singapore – Doha leg.

Award rates

Qatar Business Class Awards from Singapore
FFP	SIN – DOH
	40,000
	42,000
	50,000
	61,000
	62,000
	70,000
	75,000
	82,000

How easy is it?

Another simple one here – Qatar Airways uses Terminal 1 so just clear immigration then follow the signs to the Qatar lounge.

Which flights can you take?

Flight	QR945 DOH	QR947 DOH
Departure Time	02:40	10:25
Check-in from	23:40*	07:25
QR lounge usage	23:40-02:00 Daily (2h 20m)	07:25-09:45 Tue, Thu, Sat (2h 20m)

* Previous day, compared to flight departure date

Our review

Despite the brief operation of this lounge in early 2020 before COVID-19 hit, we managed to thoroughly review the facility in its first week of opening, experiencing both the morning breakfast service and an evening visit on the same day.

This elegant lounge only seats 85 customers across a 700 square metre space, which compares extremely favourably to other oneworld options at Changi Airport, as outlined below.

Oneworld Lounges at Changi Airport
Capacity and Floorspace

Lounge	Size (sq m)	Capacity (pax)
Qatar Airways	~ 700	85
Cathay Pacific	849	~ 200
British Airways	1,005	226
Qantas First	~ 1,000	240
Qantas Business	~ 2,200	570

Even at full capacity, the Qatar Premium Lounge offers an insane amount of space per guest.

It’s also interesting to note that the Qantas First Lounge (see our December 2019 review) squeezes almost three times as many people in, despite only being around 40% bigger than the Qatar lounge, because most of the seating in the Qantas facility is dedicated to dining – much more densely arranged than lounge seating provisioned for relaxation or work.

Overall our thoughts on the Qatar Singapore Premium Lounge were:

• An elegant, luxury finish
• Professional and personable service
• Fantastic à la carte dining and a tended martini bar
• Private shower suites with high-end Diptyque toiletries

Which credit card points convert?

We outlined a few of the more popular miles currencies in the examples above for redeeming oneworld flights.

While Asia Miles is the one you can most widely transfer into from credit card loyalty points in Singapore (only OCBC and Standard Chartered don’t include this option), the others can be credited as follows:

• British Airways Avios: American Express, Citi
• Qatar Privilege Club: Citi, Standard Chartered
• Qantas Frequent Flyer: Citi, DBS, Standard Chartered
• Malaysia Enrich: American Express
• Emirates Skywards: American Express, Standard Chartered

Unfortunately if you’re looking to use Alaska, American AAdvantage or JAL Mileage Bank, you’ll have to accrue miles by other means.

Options include buying miles in promotional sales (Alaska and American), Rocketmiles bookings (Alaska and American) or Kaligo bookings (Alaska and JAL Mileage Bank).

Don’t forget you can now transfer Avios between your British Airways and Qatar Airways accounts for free at a 1:1 ratio in both directions, as often as you like.

Combined with a 40% bonus for bank to Qatar Avios transfers running until the end of June 2022, that opens up a variety of cheap Business Class redemption options, many of which will get you into this lounge.

Qatar Airways doesn’t make it easy to access its lounges, with high-grade frequent flyers in Economy and Premium Economy Class ineligible. Even the airline’s own Platinum members don’t get a look in here, slightly ridiculous when you consider they can visit the nearby Qantas First Lounge instead.

If you’re looking to experience this newly reopened ’boutique’ lounge, with capacity for only 85 guests and excellent facilities, you’ll simply have to be flying Business Class or First Class with a oneworld airline.

Still wondering what all the fuss is about? Don’t forget to check out our full review of this exciting reopened oneworld lounge at Changi Airport.

Hopefully the redemption options we’ve outlined above give you some good ideas about how to achieve a useful visit with your miles and experience Changi’s best Business Class lounge for yourself in the coming weeks and months.

(Cover Photo: Qatar Airways)