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

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To be frank, 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.

Here, for example, is Oslo to Cape Town on British Airways in Club World in May.  The fare is the equivalent of £1,250 return:

BA Oslo Cape Town deal

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.

Category

General

Comments (202)

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

  • oliver says:
    22 Jan22 January 10:34

    OT: virgin atlantic have started charging me cash advance fees on revolut top ups, just to warn others. No charges until 20th Jan, then they started.

    • Secret Squirrel says:
      22 Jan22 January 10:37

      Sporadically happening to others also. Use other mile cards to load R for the present & stay away from VA.

      • Nick_C says:
        22 Jan22 January 13:20

        If the problem is being caused by the MCC code and transaction type that is being passed through, then the problem may not be limited to Virgin.

        Has anyone topped up Revolut this week from a different rewards card and not been charged a cash advance fee?

        • EwanG says:
          22 Jan22 January 14:20

          I topped up on my IHG card on Monday, transaction has cleared today and no sign of any fees.

          • Pangolin says:
            22 Jan22 January 16:16

            Same here. Topped up with the IHG White card on MON and no fees appeared so far.
            I’m going to stay away from the VS card for topups for now.

          • Isolde says:
            22 Jan22 January 17:50

            I think that Creation show the charges at billing time and not online through the month. Somebody with more experience may be able to confirm.

          • Chas says:
            22 Jan22 January 18:23

            @Isolde – that’s a concern for me then, as have been monitoring my IHG top-ups and given that they haven’t shown any cash advance fee have been proceeding with them as normal. Can anyone confirm please?

    • Boi says:
      22 Jan22 January 13:43

      Charged on HH Barclaycard. I am afraid it’s not just Virgin.
      Chat say they are aware of issue and are working hard to fix. Apologised but didn’t offer anything for charge. Can we ask them for refund of fee? Or what else?

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
      22 Jan22 January 13:56

      Revolut have now updated the page:

      ‘Please note, credit card deposits might be recognised as a cash advance transaction.’

      • Secret Squirrel says:
        22 Jan22 January 14:17

        Oh, so terms are open to charges on any top ups now to attract cash advance fees.
        Not looking good!

        • Boi says:
          22 Jan22 January 14:55

          Who could we complain to- those of us who were affected prior to them changing their terms? I just got an apology and said she hopes I will continue using it

        • Shoestring says:
          22 Jan22 January 15:10

          Financial Ombudsman? but I think it would be better to threaten going to the Ombudsman first and see if you can get a gesture/ compo first – as they’ll know the FO referral will cost them plenty

        • EwanG says:
          22 Jan22 January 16:41

          re Financial Ombudsman.
          They will only take a case on if you have complained to the org first and it has reached a final decision, or timed out if they have not resolved it in time.

      • Grant says:
        22 Jan22 January 15:08

        They have changed the page since this morning. I have a screenshot of the old version.

        • TGLoyalty says:
          22 Jan22 January 23:50

          Can they just change the T&C’s for existing customers on a financial product with no warning ? I didn’t think so

        • Grant says:
          23 Jan23 January 14:04

          My guess is they will say that it is a ‘help’ section of the website and doesn’t form part of the T&Cs

      • Lady London says:
        23 Jan23 January 13:57

        Should a change in the wording like that become effective only when the appropriate number of days notice has been given? Would normally require 30/60 days

    • Craig says:
      22 Jan22 January 17:19

      does anyone know if Revolut top ups are being treated as cash advances for the HSBC Premier credit card?

  • Secret Squirrel says:
    22 Jan22 January 10:36

    Always best to call up as well as cancel DD. I’ve been stung in the past.

  • Rui N. says:
    22 Jan22 January 11:01

    To be safe, send an email saying that you want to cancel effectively immediately, and that you’ll also cancel the direct debit. With this, if they come back to you about “missed payments” you can direct them to the email.

  • Heathrow Flyer says:
    22 Jan22 January 11:23

    OT: Much Better updating their T&Cs to add a 1% fee for card top-ups? Am I right in thinking this is illegal?

  • BJ says:
    22 Jan22 January 11:40

    That was supposed to be a reply to @Crafty re. Aviva

  • Adrian says:
    22 Jan22 January 11:47

    I took advantage of the OSL-CPT deal. I’ve never been to SA so this seemed a good time to give it a try.
    OSL-LHR-JNB-CPT and return. 440 tier points, 36k Avios and good metal. 2hr connections in SA both ways, 5hrs in LHR. Took the JNB service for the A380 and used a GUF2 to upgrade to F so that also means the 5hrs at LHR will be in the Concorde room. All for under £1300.
    Any hotel recommendations that I should try?

    • Keith says:
      22 Jan22 January 12:34

      I really liked the Hippo Boutique Hotel when I was there, it felt a bit more ‘in’ Cape Town. Many people prefer to be at The Waterfront though. The Silo Hotel is very nice, with a beautiful rooftop pool / bar. However, when ever I am in South Africa I always do Bonvoy redemptions with Marriott as South Africa is a bit of a sweet spot for them. Really nice hotels in Cape Town start at 10,000 Bonvoy Points (7,000 ish Membership Reward Points)

      • Keith says:
        22 Jan22 January 12:41

        Also, if you like wine, be sure to do the Francheok wine tram.

      • Aston100 says:
        22 Jan22 January 12:44

        Seems to be a lack of decent IHG options in Cape Town.
        Or am I doing it wrong?

        • Keith says:
          22 Jan22 January 12:47

          Think there are just a couple of Holiday Inn’s – but both pretty well located. Get your reservation in at La Colombe now!

          • Genghis says:
            22 Jan22 January 14:54

            La Colombe is excellent. In my top 5 of places globally and for the standard of food an absolute bargain. Shame we can’t go this time, no kids.

          • Kat says:
            22 Jan22 January 15:39

            2nd and 3rd La Colombe. We went 5 years ago and the meal was still one of the best and most memorable meals I’ve ever had in my life.

    • Radiata says:
      22 Jan22 January 14:49

      At the high end and at the Waterfront, Cape Grace usually raved about. For colonial era chic, if that desired, the Mount Nelson.

      The formerly SPG hotel attached to the International Convention Centre treated me well as an SPG Gold a couple of years ago. Lounge lovely and staff attentive. Breakfast food and views worthwhile.

      On the value but good end, beside the value found in the Protea chain (Marriott Bonvoy) redemptions, have a look at the Doubletree Hilton in Observatory. Close to the city, excellent value, free breakfast as Hilton Gold and parking for ZAR60 (just over £3) a day. The former SPG was ZAR100 so nil to complain about either.

      Cape Town well worth a car rental. Much to do in the region. I was there a couple of weeks ago and even as a non drinker found the so called wine country beautiful. Took a hike in the Jonkershoek nature reserve in Stellenbosch. If more adventurous, sky diving in the Citrusdal valley breathtaking.

      Not sure when visiting but remember a Mediterranean climate so winter (i.e. mid year as Southern Hemisphere) cold, windy and rainy. The tourist board calls it the “Secret Season”..

  • Shoestring says:
    22 Jan22 January 12:28

    Moneycorp still going strong; HIFX now part of XE – both still offer very safe easy transfer with excellent rates.

    But compare the rates to Transferwise and WorldRemit, which have been shaking up the market with low fees and even sharper rates.

    The money transfer bit of your question is easy…you just need a US bank a/c set up – not sure which ones offer best deal but google it.

    • Simon says:
      22 Jan22 January 21:55

      Many thanks for this, Shoestring 😉

    • Lady London says:
      23 Jan23 January 14:31

      Chase card is it Sapphire? has been getting some coverage recently as apparently it has retained some benefits no longer provided by other cards. I think Priority Pass dining credit is an example (no longer provided by Amex PP’s except for one that happens to be in the UK).

  • BJ says:
    22 Jan22 January 12:50

    OT: Speculation a week or two ago regarding the closure of Tesco Bank seems to be wrong. Just heard they are recruiting loads of new posts in Edinburgh.

    • Rob says:
      22 Jan22 January 13:22

      Probably to cover people who are quitting because they see no future in the business!

      • BJ says:
        22 Jan22 January 20:01

        The story was hundreds though. Not my area at all but if the story was true that sounds too much to be replacement to me.

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