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Get a good Australia and New Zealand business class flight deal on Singapore Airlines

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The best flight deals in Europe at the moment are out of Scandinavia.  I’m not sure who started it – potentially Qatar Airways – but other airlines have been forced to join in.

For example, Oslo to Cape Town on British Airways in Club World in May is the equivalent of £1,250 return.

If you look at IDENTICAL flights for just Heathrow to Cape Town, on the same dates, you will pay £701 in Economy ….

Anyway, back to Australia and New Zealand.  Whilst there are plenty of Australia deals out of Scandinavia, Singapore Airlines has an excellent reputation for food and service.  If you book by tomorrow night (23rd) there are some attractive fares available.  In May, for example, I found last night:

Stockholm to Sydney – SEK 23,372 return (£1,881)

Stockholm to Auckland – SEK 23,145 return (£1,863)

Stockholm to Perth – SEK 21,873 return (£1,760)

Stockholm to Brisbane – SEK 23,336 return (£1,877)

Stockholm to Canberra – SEK 22,396 return (£1,802)

Stockholm to Melbourne – SEK 23,201 return (£1,867)

Stockholm to Christchurch – SEK 23,122 return (£1,860)

There is a ‘7 day’ option for search results so you can easily find days with the best fares.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.  Our review of Amex Gold is here.

Singapore Airlines is in Star Alliance so you can’t earn Avios or BA tier points.  You can credit the flights to Singapore’s KrisFlyer scheme (learn more about KrisFlyer here) and top them up with American Express Membership Rewards points at 1:1, or to any other Star Alliance scheme such as Lufthansa Miles & More.

You can also credit Singapore Airlines flights to Virgin Flying Club – details are on the Virgin Atlantic site here.

You can book on the Singapore Airlines website here.

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How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (March 2025)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Category

General

Comments (198)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • AndyGWP says:
    22 Jan22 January 20:12

    In case it’s of use to anyone, the Hilton McLaren offer is there again (130k points)

    5 packages available

    This experience for two (2) includes:
    -A tour of the McLaren Technology Centre with a behind-the-scenes look at the McLaren racing facility on Thursday, March 19, 2020
    -Refreshments on arrival
    -Buffet after the tour

    • Spurs Debs says:
      22 Jan22 January 21:24

      Blimey that’s gone up 30k points. Think Same tour only cost 100k points last year and was for 4 people.

  • meta says:
    22 Jan22 January 20:44

    O/T Just got an email from Marriott Bonvoy clarifying the elite night credits. No more than 15 nights no matter how many credit cards you have.

    Here’s the bit from T&C:

    A maximum of 15 Elite Night credits will be awarded through this benefit per Marriott Bonvoy program member account even if the member has more than one Credit Card linked to their Marriott Bonvoy account.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Jan22 January 23:46

      As expected as that’s how it works in the USA.

      Even if they both show up on your account at the end of the year they can be removed with Bots/audits etc. So I would work to the assumption that only 15 will count.

  • Tim says:
    22 Jan22 January 21:59

    Presumably with all the Scandinavian fairs, one has to fly both legs to Scandinavia, rather than failing to fly the last section?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      22 Jan22 January 23:43

      You could drop the last leg with BA if you are HBO, they may come after you for a reprice but doubt they would.

      If you need to take luggage then try to time an overnight connection and should be able to collect at LHR without talking to anyone. If you didn’t then you could always make up some story why you need your bags back as you won’t be flying the next flight (emergency etc but it’s always more risky)

  • Jean Adamson says:
    22 Jan22 January 22:12

    Hi I am trying to book a Ba 2-4-1 flight 355 days in advance as that is when I understood tickets were released. However when I try to book it appears to be 353 days instead. E.g. when I went on today the seats were being released for 10th January. I am actually trying for Cape Town which I know is very difficult to get but when I go through the process I get the following message:
    “There was a problem with your request, please try again later.”
    Has anyone else had the same problems.

    • DaveL says:
      22 Jan22 January 22:52

      Remember it’s a leap year…so +1 day. 366 days in the next year.

    • GeoffGeoff says:
      23 Jan23 January 03:55

      354 days ahead. At any point in time, BA sell tickets for 355 days: the current day and 354 future days. At midnight GMT the day ends, the new day starts, and a new day dated today plus 354 days becomes open for booking. And yes don’t forget 2020 is a leap year.

    • Reeferman says:
      23 Jan23 January 15:41

      There is an IT problem with BA’s avios booking system (hard to believe, I know!) It’s been like it for quite a few days now – if your dates are urgent/critical, it’s probably best to call at midnight

  • Andrew M says:
    22 Jan22 January 23:03

    I’m not sure if the UK HSBC cards qualify for this offer. If you follow the instructions in the T&Cs and set your location to Europe on the Asia Miles site, the HSBC cards aren’t listed as participating in the promotion.

    “Asia Miles Finance Partners refer to Partners featured under “Other Partner Credit Cards” at Asia Miles website (Please visit Asiamiles.com > select your designated “Location” > select “Earn Miles” > select “Finance & Insurance” under “Ways to earn” > Click on “Other Partner Credit Cards”).”

    I hope I’m wrong and I’ve made a speculative transfer anyway.

  • damo76 says:
    23 Jan23 January 21:58

    O/T – I have just got my first IHG credit card free night voucher. is there an easy way to check for availability dates for redemptions at a particular hotel?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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