All Spontaneous Escape awards must be booked and ticketed by 31 August 2019 and are for travel between 1-30 September 2019 (both dates inclusive, blackout dates apply). This gives you 16 days to book, slightly more generous than the historical 14 day average we’ve seen.
Discounts may apply in one direction only e.g. SIN-BKK may be on discount but BKK-SIN may not. Be sure to read the offers carefully
You must ticket your award during the promotion period. If your waitlist clears after the promotion period ends, you’ll pay the regular price
Blackout dates apply. If you’re not seeing discounts, this may be why
Your travel must be completed within the Spontaneous Escapes promotion period to qualify. For example, if you fly on the last day of the month but land on the first day of the following month, no discount applies
Remember that the discount will only appear once you’ve clicked on the selected award
47 destinations on offer for September 2019
September 2019 features 47 destinations in total (I count Tokyo Haneda and Tokyo Narita as two separate destinations), which is more than compared to previous months.
Data nerd? Check out 21 months of historical Spontaneous Escapes pricing here!
Here’s the summary of what’s available for SIA and SilkAir in September 2019:
What’s good this month?
After August’s relatively slim pickings, it’s good to see a relatively larger selection of destinations for September 2019. Here’s what caught my eye:
Get the latest A380 Business Class seats to Mumbai
The new A380 cabin products will be serving Mumbai on a daily basis for September, and you’ll be able to experience them on SQ424, the outbound flight from Singapore. You can continue to enjoy these seats on Shanghai on SQ830/833. I’m a big fan of the new A380 Business Class seat, and if although these flights are on the short side, it’s still a chance to do a double bed in the sky.
Explore all of Japan in Business Class
In August, Hiroshima was only available in Economy Class but for September it’s available in Business as well. This means that all of SIA and SilkAir’s Japan destinations are available in Business Class for September 2019. Don’t expect great things of SilkAir’s Business Class, but on a 6.5 hour flight, every little bit of comfort helps.
Oh, Canberra
Canberra has a reputation for being boring, and I can’t imagine it features on too many bucket lists (you know how Canberra became the capital of Australia right? They couldn’t decide between Melbourne or Sydney, so they decided to plonk it somewhere in between).
However, given that Brisbane is the only other Australian destination available in Business Class, those who want to fly to Sydney may be thinking of gaming the system by booking SQ288 to Canberra on Spontaneous Escapes.
That’s because SQ288 flies SIN-SYD-CBR, and all passengers need to disembark in SYD and clear security again before reboarding for SYD-CBR. What’s to stop you from leaving the airport and not continuing?
Luggage, for one. If you’re checking a bag, you won’t be able to tell the ground staff in Singapore “just check it to Sydney please!” Then there’s also the fact that this contravenes the contract of carriage of your ticket, and SIA has the right to terminate your account if they find out. I just don’t think it’s worth the risk, frankly.
If you want to cover the bulk of your journey in Business Class comfort, fly to Brisbane and then buy a cheap flight to your final Australian destination.
Premium Economy doesn’t represent good value
There’s an extensive list of Premium Economy destinations this month wtih Dubai, Jo’burg, Delhi, Mumbai, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Tokyo, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Los Angeles all available for redemption. It’s generally not a good idea to redeem miles for Premium Economy Class, and I personally feel that Spontaneous Escapes don’t do anything to change that.
However, some would argue that paying a 7K/9K miles premium over Economy Class to fly in Premium Economy to Europe/USA isn’t a bad deal. I suppose if you’re starting from the position that you’d redeem Economy Class, then yes- it’s correct to say that this is a small premium for a small incremental comfort. These long haul flights are no joke, and every little bit helps.
Conclusion
Spontaneous Escapes are a great way of stretching your miles, especially if you’re traveling with your family. Remember to ticket your awards before 31 August!
Here’s the full list of destinations available (best viewed on desktop):
Canberra’s is a slow city but it is not that bad for a few short days especially for those “doing nothing” kind of holidays. I visited it as a stopover destination when SQ started the SIN-SYD-CBR thing and I do like its chillax vibe which can be a nice change from the much busier cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It also has a lot of museums and art if you are into that and there are a lot of nice restaurants, especially those fancy ones along Kingston Foreshore. My main complaint would be the lack of big chain hotels so… Read more »
Canberra: a big plus NOW for artlovers who can act fast: the MONET exhibition, National Gallery of Australia. A OW Spontaneous Escape could get you BACK from that, as it closes Sep 1. Also interesting/helpful about Canberra, apart from the politics vibe, is in Aussie terms, it’s just ‘down the track’ from our two great, biggest cities Sydney & Melbourne. See some of the country, even: it’s about 4 hours by train from the former, about 8 by coach/train on to Melbourne. As well, getting around in Canberra is on a town planning layout that was literally from the ground… Read more »
Toy
5 years ago
Aaron, if i take SQ288 without check in any luggage, i can leave to SYD without any problem right?
From reports I read online, all passengers will disembark the plane in syd, and based on their boarding passes they will be ushered into immigration at syd or put through security again for the onward leg to cbr. So good luck telling them you want to get off in syd if your boarding pass says cbr!
Canberra’s is a slow city but it is not that bad for a few short days especially for those “doing nothing” kind of holidays. I visited it as a stopover destination when SQ started the SIN-SYD-CBR thing and I do like its chillax vibe which can be a nice change from the much busier cities of Sydney and Melbourne. It also has a lot of museums and art if you are into that and there are a lot of nice restaurants, especially those fancy ones along Kingston Foreshore. My main complaint would be the lack of big chain hotels so… Read more »
Canberra: a big plus NOW for artlovers who can act fast: the MONET exhibition, National Gallery of Australia. A OW Spontaneous Escape could get you BACK from that, as it closes Sep 1. Also interesting/helpful about Canberra, apart from the politics vibe, is in Aussie terms, it’s just ‘down the track’ from our two great, biggest cities Sydney & Melbourne. See some of the country, even: it’s about 4 hours by train from the former, about 8 by coach/train on to Melbourne. As well, getting around in Canberra is on a town planning layout that was literally from the ground… Read more »
Aaron, if i take SQ288 without check in any luggage, i can leave to SYD without any problem right?
From reports I read online, all passengers will disembark the plane in syd, and based on their boarding passes they will be ushered into immigration at syd or put through security again for the onward leg to cbr. So good luck telling them you want to get off in syd if your boarding pass says cbr!