If you’re a KrisFlyer member and think that Business Saver awards are hard to find, just wait till you try searching for First Saver.
No doubt there’s a ton of demand for it — who doesn’t want to fly First Class? — but the lack of supply is an equally big, if not bigger issue. Singapore Airlines only has two types of aircraft with First Class cabins:
- 12 Airbus A380-800s (two of which have been parked since September 2025)
- 22 Boeing 777-300ERs
This means that out of the 40,000+ seats it has across 144 aircraft, less than 0.5% are First Class!
| Type | First Class Seats | No. of Aircraft |
 Airbus A380-800 |
6 | 12 |
 Boeing 777-300ER |
4 | 22 |
Add the fact that Singapore Airlines typically releases only 1-2 First Class seats for redemption on each flight, and it becomes obvious why First Saver awards are so scarce.
That said, they’re not quite impossible to find– you just need to know where to look!
Which routes have First Class Saver awards?
It’s important to remember that the award space you see depends on your status with Singapore Airlines, and as far as I know, there are three tiers of availability:
- Tier 1 (Least Availability): KrisFlyer (Regular, Elite Silver, Elite Gold)
- Tier 2: PPS Club
- Tier 3 (Most Availability): Solitaire PPS Club
| ❓What about supplementary Solitaire PPS Club? |
|
With supplementary Solitaire PPS Club members, it’s slightly trickier. From what I’ve found so far, they enjoy the same access as PPS Club members for Business Saver awards, and the same access as Solitaire PPS Club members for First Saver awards. If your experience shows otherwise, however, do let me know. |
With that in mind, I searched for First Saver awards across all 19 routes with First Class cabins (18 current + Amsterdam in July 2026). I searched both to and from Singapore, and if I could see First Saver awards available on any day for immediate confirmation, or for waitlisting, I noted it down.
| Regular KF | PPS | Solitaire PPS | |
| 🇳🇱 Amsterdam (AMS) From 1 Jul 26 |
– | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
| 🇳🇿 Auckland (AKL) | – | – | – |
| 🇨🇳 Beijing Capital (PEK) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇮🇳 Delhi (DEL) | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ | ☑ |
| 🇦🇪 Dubai (DXB) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇩🇪 Frankfurt (FRA) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong (HKG) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇮🇩 Jakarta (CGK) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇬🇧 London (LHR) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇺🇸 Los Angeles (LAX) | – | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
| 🇦🇺 Melbourne (MEL) | – | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇮🇳 Mumbai (BOM) | – | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇺🇸 New York (JFK) | – | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
| 🇫🇷 Paris (CDG) | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
| 🇨🇳 Shanghai (PVG) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇦🇺 Sydney (SYD) | – | ☑ | ☑ |
| 🇯🇵 Tokyo Haneda (HND) | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
| 🇯🇵 Tokyo Narita (NRT) | – | ☑ Waitlist |
☑ Waitlist |
| 🇨🇭 Zurich (ZRH) | ☑ | ☑ | ☑ |
Here’s what I observed.
No difference between Solitaire PPS and PPS
While Solitaire PPS Club members definitely get more access to Business Saver awards than PPS Club members, there does not appear to be any difference when it comes to First Saver. In all the scenarios I looked at, a PPS Club member saw exactly the same First Saver availability as a Solitaire PPS Club member.
No love for Auckland
In the table above, you probably noticed one big, gaping hole for Auckland. For reasons unknown, Singapore Airlines no longer releases First Saver awards on this route. You can’t even waitlist for them, even if you’re a Solitaire PPS Club member!
This might just be a temporary anomaly, since I’ve heard that First Saver awards were available in the past. But for now, you’ll need to cough up for Advantage.
First Saver from Europe is possible – even for regular KrisFlyer members!
It’s often assumed that long-haul First Saver awards are all but impossible to redeem, unless you have status with Singapore Airlines.
But that’s simply not true. As a regular KrisFlyer member, I could find long-haul First Saver awards from London, Frankfurt and Zurich, provided I booked at 8 a.m (SGT) at T-355, when inventory is first loaded.
Suites Saver awards are another matter
I’ve been using the terms First and Suites interchangeably so far, but if you’re looking to fly on the Airbus A380-800 specifically, you have your work cut out for you.
Suites Savers are very, very hard to come by. If you’re a Solitaire PPS Club or PPS Club member, you can regularly find instantly-confirmable Suites Saver awards to Delhi and Mumbai. They also pop up on the Hong Kong and Shanghai routes, though far less frequently.
Otherwise…well, I’m not going to say it’s impossible. There have been times in the past when multiple Suite Saver awards unexpectedly appeared and were bookable by anyone. I remember that in October 2021, a ton of Suite Saver space suddenly appeared on the notoriously difficult-to-redeem SQ26 route from Singapore to New York JFK via Frankfurt. I seized the opportunity to snap up a pair of Suite Saver tickets, as did many folks who had nothing more than regular KrisFlyer status.
But it’s not a regular pattern by any means, and you’re going to need a lot of luck to redeem a Suite Saver award as a non-PPS. Multiple awards? Rarer than the lottery, I’d reckon.
Singapore Airlines will increase First Class capacity
If you feel bummed out about the scarcity of First Class awards, chin up. It will get better in the future.
Singapore Airlines has ordered 31 Boeing 777-9s, which are rumoured to have 6-seat First Class cabins, 50% larger than the ones on the 22 Boeing 777-300ERs they’re replacing. Likewise, it’s planning to add a four-seater First Class cabin on its 7 Airbus A350-900ULRs.
Yes, that’s still some time away. The first refitted A350-900ULR is only scheduled for Q1 2027, and it’s an open question as to when the B777-9 actually arrives (the aircraft is now seven years behind schedule, and Singapore Airlines isn’t even the launch customer).
But at some point this additional capacity will come online, and — assuming Singapore Airlines releases the same proportion of First Class seats as it does today —mathematically the situation will improve.
Conclusion
Singapore Airlines First Saver awards are infamously difficult to come by, especially if you don’t have PPS status to bolster your chances. However, they do exist, and booking well in advance is key.
The relative scarcity of First Class seats doesn’t help (I remember someone telling me that this is the lowest number of First Class seats that Singapore Airlines has had in its history), but hopefully that will be alleviated with the A350-900ULR refit and the arrival of the B777-9…whenever that happens.
Any patterns you’ve observed regarding First Saver space?
If you were to restrict it to outgoing flights from SG, which ones are redeemable? Honestly just wanna experience TPR once
you can visit TPR on arrival in SIN, so actually it’d be better to fly into singapore so you get to experience two lounges!
As A380 slowly phasing out, so as suite I guess.
Been 3x on a suite to LHR, never once able to get a saver redemption.
Regardless, miles are for burn…
I managed to book suites saver on SQ222 SYD-SIN for this coming February few weeks ago before the November devaluation. Call it an impulsive book lol
“It’s often assumed that long-haul First Saver awards are all but impossible to redeem, unless you have status with Singapore Airlines.” Who assumes this? The general populace? This is sort of a weird preface as it sets the expectation that we should happy that we can redeem F at all. My assumption and expectation is that F Saver seats are redeemable across the entire F route network to all members if you are fast enough on T-355 — of course with varying availability based on KF status. It is disappointing that AKL is not available *at all*, and that nearly… Read more »
Are you new to the miles game? This is the same across pretty much all airlines and anyone who has had to deal with the system would assume this is the case…. Weird comment
Agree, which airline would readily release redemption spaces when cash fares have good demand.
AKL used to be ridiculously easy to redeem F saver on… sigh. I wonder if the zero availability now reflects some back end issue caused by F only being available seasonally (it runs with a 3 class A350 over Northern Summer).
The least capacity of 1st class of any long haul airline. #PremiumAirline #WorldClass #AClassAboveTheRest #AGreatWayToFly
That’s why it’s so highly sought after…
“Rarer than winning the Lottery”
I managed to secure 2 x Saver First class SIN – FRA on the A380 for Aug 2026 before the devaluation . Was so surprised to see it and just book without thinking. Just hope that they don’t swap the plane closer the date.
amazing. you should buy some 4D while you’re at it- you’re the luckiest person i know!
Did you use both a solitaire PPS supp and PPS account to compare? I am a solitaire supp (and elite silver) and when I looked for business class saver for IST from Nov this year till next year May-ish there was only advantage. It was the same when I used an elite silver only account search. So i am wondering could it be that the supp solitaire doesn’t matter at all when it comes to redemption and they look only at your basic status since the stuff I see from my account looks the same as another elite silver account?… Read more »
solitaire pps supp definitely gets enhanced award space compared to regular KF members. but the space they see isn’t as good as the principal member. trust me i know- i’m a supp!
I wonder if it’s a recent change because I rmb last year or something my supp account could see better space compared to a regular elite silver only (but I have to add that previously I was a qualified PPS + supp solitaire, then downgraded to elite silver while still being a supp). And only in recent months I noticed what I see looks the same as a regular Elite Silver account when I compared side by side. Was thinking either they changed it across the board or maybe all along the better space I’ve been seeing was due to… Read more »