| โ ๏ธ Update |
| Singapore Airlines has extended this policy to 31 March 2022 |
Singapore Airlines has just updated its complimentary rebooking policy to cover all commercial and award bookings made up till 31 December 2021. This marks yet another extension to a policy first introduced back in March 2020, amidst the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s different this time round is that there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel. After 17 months grounded, Singaporeans will finally be able to look forward to SHN-free travel from mid-September onwards.
The specific countries have yet to be announced, but some hints have been dropped in recent weeks. That, together with the extended complimentary rebooking policy, is enough for me to start making a few speculative bookings. I’m drafting a separate post on that, so look out for it shortly.
In the meantime, let’s go through the latest iteration of Singapore Airlines’ complimentary rebooking policy.
Singapore Airlines’ complimentary rebooking policy
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| Complimentary Rebooking Policy |
Singapore Airlines passengers can make unlimited, complimentary changes to their bookings as per the table below:
| Date of Change | Remarks |
| On/before 31 December 2021 | Unlimited free changes |
| From 1 January 2022 | One free change |
Any booking changes must be made before the original travel date, or within a year of the ticket’s date of issuance, whichever is earlier. Both dates and destinations can be changed:
- Travel dates can be changed via the Manage Booking function on the Singapore Airlines website
- Destination changes will require contacting Singapore Airlines
If your booking was made through a travel agency or partner airline, you will need to contact them directly for assistance.
Passengers who have paid for add-ons such as additional baggage or seats have the following options:
| Change of travel dates only |
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| Change of destination |
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Book now, postpone later
Singapore Airlines has provided an example of how one could book now and travel as late as 2023, if their ticket is reissued:
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1. Book ticket You purchased a Singapore Airlines ticket in September 2021, for travel in December 2021. 2. Postpone trip In October 2021, you decide to postpone your trip to March 2022. This change falls within the period for unlimited complimentary rebooking. 3. Postpone trip (again) In November 2021, you decide to postpone your trip to August 2022. This change falls within the period for unlimited complimentary rebooking. 4. Postpone trip (yet again) In July 2022, you decide to change your destination and travel on a later date. Even though the complimentary rebooking period has ended, you are still entitled to one complimentary change after 31 December 2021. You may need to pay a fare difference, depending on the new destination chosen. Your ticket will be reissued based on your updated itinerary with a new 12-month validity. This extended ticket validity means you have the further flexibility to postpone your travel up to July 2023. However, please note that fees will apply for any further changes made to the booking. |
While change fees are waived, you will still be required to pay any fare differences. To illustrate, suppose I originally booked a SIN-LAX itinerary for travel in March 2022.
Subsequently, I wish to travel in July 2022 instead. While I won’t pay any change fee, I’ll need to top up S$812 in fare and S$13.30 in taxes (taxes normally won’t change, but in this particular case the USA International Arrival Tax is based on a percentage of the fare).
In some cases, fare differences can be substantially more than change fees, so take note.
Free changes apply to award tickets too
If you redeemed a Singapore Airlines ticket using your KrisFlyer miles, you’ll also enjoy free unlimited changes just as if you bought a commercial ticket.
| Date of Change | Remarks |
| On/before 31 December 2021 | Unlimited free changes |
| From 1 January 2022 | One free change |
This overrides the regular change fees for Saver and Advantage awards, as highlighted below.
| Saver | Advantage | |
| Change of date/time on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights | Waived |
No fee |
| Change of route, cabin class, award type or add a stopover on Singapore Airlines | Waived |
Waived |
The waiver does not apply to partner airline bookings (e.g. with Lufthansa, SWISS) made with KrisFlyer miles.
It also does not apply to no-show fees. For example, if you forgot to reschedule your award flight and fail to show up for it, you’ll have to pay a no-show fee (US$300 for Business Class) before you’re allowed to reschedule (free).
Be sure to make the changes before your travel date comes round!
Can I get a refund?
The complimentary rebooking benefit outlined here is not the same as the travel waiver policy that Singapore Airlines has in place.
Singapore Airlines’ travel waiver policy states that passengers who booked a Singapore Airlines ticket on or before 15 March 2020 with travel up till 31 March 2021 are entitled to a full refund or bonus travel credits.
| โ Why 15 March 2020? |
|
MOH issued its blanket advisory against overseas travel on 15 March 2020, so the argument goes that anyone who made a booking from 16 March 2020 would have been aware of this. Since tickets can be booked at most a year in advance, it’s impossible that someone booked a ticket on/before 15 March 2020 with travel from 1 April 2021 onwards- hence the travel waiver policy only covers travel till 31 March 2021. |
Therefore, the complimentary rebooking benefit is intended for those who made bookings from 16 March 2020 onwards.
You can refer to the chart below for the full decision tree- the yellow boxes refer to the complimentary rebooking benefit; the green boxes refer to the travel waiver policy for refunds or bonus travel credits.
If your ticket is not currently eligible for a free refund under Singapore Airlines’ COVID-19 travel waiver policy, don’t rush to cancel it just yet. You’ll still get a full refund without fees if:
- Singapore Airlines cancels your flight
- International border closures make travel impossible
- You test positive for COVID-19 and cannot travel
If you proactively cancel a flight, you will not get a refund of your fees even, if Singapore Airlines subsequently cancels that flight anyway!
Conclusion
Singapore Airlines has extended its complimentary rebooking policy to cover all tickets issued up till 31 December 2021, and that’s good news for anyone planning to take a punt on leisure travel in Q4.
You could make a speculative award booking now, and subsequently change the dates and destinations depending on the prevailing situation closer to travel. While you won’t be able to get a penalty-free refund (unless the flight is cancelled), you’ll at most be on the hook for a US$75 cancellation fee.
I’ll share some thoughts on my plans for speculative bookings in an upcoming post.
Can book but as industry insider, miles devalue liao
If you book with miles and make a free date change, any idea how would the fare difference apply? Would it be charged in miles, and subject to redemption seats released for that date?
if you book an award ticket to X, and then change to Y (where Y costs more than X), you pay the difference in miles. it’s subject to award space availability. do note that if Y costs less than X, you don’t get a refund. hence, you’ll need to cancel X and book Y.
Are you still optimistic with leisure travel happening in 4Q? Seems like only business travel may happen this year. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-17/singapore-looks-to-visitor-pilot-programs-as-border-inches-open
I saw this article and am confused since it seems to contradict what mtf said a few weeks ago. My optimistic guess is they may be referring to countries with higher covid rates that don’t qualify for shn waiver.
If i redeem the flight using my expiring miles, does that mean i get a free/indefinite extension of the expiring miles?
If I book a return trip from Singapore to say Germany, can I rebook the return leg even after I have used the outgoing leg?
I changed destination on an award ticket and was charged additional fees. I then tried changing the date to November 2021 and wasn’t able to. I was directed to phone SIA (and wait for ever on the phone) so I just redeemed another ticket for my November flight. Seems like the SIA website doesn’t know about unlimited complimentary rebooking of award tickets.