Unlimited changes no more: SIA updates its ticket rebooking policy

It's the time of the year when many start planning for their end-of-year vacation.

If you're considering flying with Singapore Airlines (SIA), this update from the airline carrier is something you should take into consideration when finalising your trip.

SIA's complimentary rebooking policy will no longer apply for tickets booked after July 31, according to its website. 

The airline introduced complimentary rebooking in March 2020 to give passengers greater flexibility to postpone or amend their travel plans in a Covid-19 world, without incurring any change fees.

This policy has progressively been extended as the pandemic wore on, with the most recent being the extension to July 31.

However, SIA is apparently not extending the complimentary rebooking policy any further, travel blog Milelion recently highlighted. 

Back to how it used to be

Under the complimentary rebooking policy, ticket holders could rebook their flights as many times as they liked without paying any fees. However, those who are currently holding SIA cash or award tickets issued on or before July 31 are now only entitled to one complimentary change.

For tickets issued on or after Aug 1, it's back to the old rules. Here's a quick refresher course.

For SIA's range of Economy tickets, only those with Economy Flexi would be entitled to complimentary changes.

Changes are chargeable on the Economy Value and Economy Standard while Economy Lite tickets are not allowed any changes.

As for award tickets, SIA has two types — Saver and Advantage.

Date changes on Saver tickets will set you back US$25 (S$34) while it is free on the Advantage.

A more comprehensive rundown of the fare and award types can be found on the SIA website.

How to make changes to your tickets

Any booking changes must be made before the original travel date (at least two hours before departure), or within a year of the ticket's date of issuance, whichever is earlier.

If you're changing your destination, contacting Singapore Airlines is a must. 

If your booking was made via a travel agency or partner airline, contact them directly.

For those who've redeemed a ticket using KrisFlyer miles on or before July 5, you will enjoy one free change and not be required to top-up miles.

This is provided that you're only changing the date and flight number. Other changes such as destination, cabin and award type will require a top-up of miles.

Singapore Airlines' complimentary changes policy has finally come to an end.

While passengers may scoff at this latest update, they can take solace in the fact that this could potentially be a sign of air travel returning to some sort of normalcy.

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amierul@asiaone.com