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Happy Sunday, kinfolk 👋🏾
I’m still on cloud nine from perhaps the best flight of my life: Singapore Suites, which I flew from Frankfurt to New York.
How to book Singapore Suites
With enough points in my bank, it was time to book the flight. To do this, I went to Singapore’s website to look for award availability.
If you want to book this flight yourself, pay close attention to the dates without the word “waitlist.” Waitlisted flights have a good chance of not going through, so try to avoid those. If you see a date without the waitlist option, I suggest booking ASAP.
To find a date that works, you may need to look a few months out (in the gif below, I found availability on Christmas Eve).
Once you’ve settled on a date and have enough points, you can pick your seat. If you’re traveling with a partner, try booking seats 1A and 2A or 1F and 2F – these are double suites that can be combined together.
After picking your seats, make sure to select your meals (or be surprised like I was), and then check out.
Your booking isn’t confirmed until you get a confirmation email, so if you don’t get one within a few hours, make sure to call Singapore at +1 (833) 727-0118.
And that’s it!
Accumulating points
This Singapore Suites flight costs as much as $6,000, and I ain’t rich. So, how did I pay just $120 and 143,500 miles?
I transferred 143,500 miles from American Express and Capital One to Singapore’s KrisFlyer program. Here’s how I earned that many miles:
💳 Capital One (Venture X) — I used all the points I earned from my 100k sign-up bonus, which I earned after spending $5k on the card within 3 months. I then used another 20k points I earned from a referral bonus when someone signed up for the card using my personal referral link.
💳 Amex (Amex Platinum) — To cover the remaining balance, I used about 20k points I earned from using my Platinum as my primary travel card, earning 5 points for every dollar I spend on flights.
I also avoided using points on things like Amazon purchases or using them to wipe charges on my credit card.
Overall, it took about 8 months from sign-up bonuses and daily spending (think: rent, bills, 🍔🌮🥗, etc.) to earn enough points to book this flight — but it was worth the wait!
“But wait, I don’t have any points? Where do I start?”
First, it’s essential to know that getting started in the points and miles game is a lot of fun. It’s how I’ve gotten to see the world at a fraction of the price! But a lot of responsibility and budgeting goes into playing this game. Don’t go into debt trying to chase points.
With that disclaimer out of the way, you’ll want to consider how you spend money.
Do you eat out a lot? Then you’ll want to get a credit card that rewards you (in points) for food purchases, like the Amex Gold card, which earns 4 points per dollar spent on dining and supermarket purchases.
If you travel often, you’ll want a card that rewards you for flights, hotels, and rental car purchases, like the Amex Platinum, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or Capital One.
Amex, Chase, Capital One, and Citi are transferrable points currency, meaning you can transfer these points to various airline and hotel programs, like Marriott, Delta, United, etc. People who play this game typically encourage you to earn transferrable points, so you can pick and choose how you best want to use your points.
But if you want to be well-rounded, consider opening an airline card (the airline you most often fly), a hotel card (at a chain you tend to stay at often, such as Hilton), and a travel rewards card. You’ll typically get a few perks (free checked bags, hotel status, etc.) by having a co-branded credit card. Whatever option you decide, make sure it fits your travel habits and lifestyle!
Like what you see? I’d be honored if you shared this newsletter with your contacts! And, as always, if you see any interesting travel news and deals, feel free to send them my way — I’ll be sure to hat-tip you!
VIDEO: Singapore Suites Seat 1A Tour + How To Book ✈️