A question from Colin, a fellow doctor I met on my recent conference to Kuala Lumpur.
“Is it more worthwhile to do Business or First redemption?”
There is no right or wrong in this but let’s examine it using some parameters. I have did some random search for return travel to 4 different regions on a random date in November:
Region 1 (Shanghai)
Business Revenue Fare – $3248
Business Saver Award Fare – 78,000 miles
Value – 4.16 miles per dollar
First/Suites Revenue Fare – $4738
First/Suites Saver Award Fare – 106,000 miles
Value – 4.47 cents per mile
WINNER – First/Suites (by a slight margin)
Region 2 (Auckland)
Business Revenue Fare – $5613
Business Saver Award Fare – 124,000 miles
Value – 4.53 cents per mile
First/Suites Revenue Fare – $8113
First/Suites Saver Award Fare – 170,000 miles
Value – 4.77 cents per mile
WINNER – First/Suites (by a slight margin)
Region 3 (London)
Business Revenue Fare – $6212
Business Saver Award Fare – 184,000 miles
Value – 3.38 cents per mile
First/Suites Revenue Fare – $10502
First/Suites Saver Award Fare – 250,000 miles
Value – 4.2 cents per mile
WINNER – First/Suites (Clear cut)
Region 4 (New York)
Business Revenue Fare – $7052
Business Saver Award Fare – 198,000 miles
Value – 3.56 cents per mile
First/Suites Revenue Fare – $13427
First/Suites Saver Award Fare – 264,000 miles
Value – 5.09 cents per mile
WINNER – First/Suites (Clear cut)
Using 4 examples, First/Suites Class came out the winner! However, things are not as straightforward as other factors need to be considered too:
- Ease of earning miles
- Award availability
- Flexibility of travel
The next question would be – what are the perks of First/Suites Class over Business Class? Here are the few:
- First Class check in terminal (only in Singapore) with expedited immigration clearance (that brings you straight to the escalator to Silverkris Lounge)
- Access in to The Private Room – which was a big thing back in 2013 when I first tried it but it is badly in need of an overhaul now
- Priority security screening in some airports (specifically Japan where it is only open to those flying on First Class and not Business Class)
- More private cabin (only 4, 6 or 12 seats) with more personalized attention from the crew
- Bigger seats
- More comfortable bed
- Better liquor selections
- Better food selections (with Caviar course – but only for Lunch and Dinner service)
- First to disembark
- Ability to use The Private Room on arrival (as an arrival lounge)
Although Singapore Airlines’ First Class ranks highly for its air service (with very strong competition and narrowing gap from competitors), the ground service is sorely lacking.
- Compared to First Class Terminal in Frankfurt, La Premiere service in Paris and Emirates ground service in Dubai, The Private Room looks mediocre.
- The lack of ground transfer to the plane (read Porsche and BMW transfer from lounge to plane with Lufthansa and Air France) – even a buggy service from the lounge would be good!
- Absence of chauffeur service (read Etihad and Emirates’ limo service)
At 264,000 miles per person (528,000 miles per couple), Suites to JFK remains prohibitive for average miles earner (compared to 396,000 miles for Business Class). Don’t forget that availability of Suites to JFK is extremely hard to come by for 2 persons (task is made slightly easier with Singapore Airlines’ new 7 day award availability search function). London with 4 flights a day will be slightly easier and regional travel (North Asia and Pacific) is probably the best bet for starters.
Compare this with 187,000 miles per person (374,000 miles per couple) back in 2015 and 2017 when I did the SQ26 flight (but I had to pay for fuel surcharge back then) and you can see how much devaluation Krisflyer miles went through.
First Class remains an aspirational travel which is not easily attainable. It is fun to do it at least once (especially in Suites). Otherwise, Business Class remains the best balance in terms of availability, ease of reaching the goal and giving you a good rest during your journey (despite a slightly lower dollar per mile value than First Class). Try to aim for the Suites instead of First as I personally find the new First Class with 4 seats makes the cabin rather claustrophobic. The new Suites with only 6 seats gives a much better personal space but the cabin space remains small (it has 2 very huge toilets though). The old Suites though dated can be redeemed much more easily and gives you the best cabin space.
Hope this will help Colin better with his redemption choices!