Frequent flyer programme Krisflyer has a long way to go

I would like to relate my experiences with Singapore Airline's frequent flyer programme, Krisflyer, and British Airway's equivalent, Executive Club.

Having lived in London for a few years and travelling to Singapore at least once a year to visit family and friends, I was naturally biased towards flying with Singapore Airlines and becoming a Krisflyer member.

My experience over the years with Krisflyer has been disappointing. Being a Krisflyer member, I try to stick to flying with Star Alliance members whenever I am unable to fly with Singapore Airlines. Without fail, I will need to submit a 'Retroactive Mileage Claim' every time I have flown with a partner airline, despite the fact that my Krisflyer membership number is included in the booking.

When I have accumulated sufficient miles to qualify for an upgrade, trying to do so has also proven to be a nightmare. Despite calling up six months in advance, I am invariably told that the flight I want to upgrade to is fully booked.

I can understand that for popular flights, the airline wants to keep as many seats as possible for fare-paying passengers, but there seems to be a certain amount of rigidity in the way Krisflyer handles upgrade requests.

On one occasion, I booked a Business Class Virgin Atlantic ticket from London to Singapore. This is a code share deal with Singapore Airlines and I flew on a Singapore Airlines plane. Again, my Krisflyer membership number was clearly stated in the booking.

However, when I completed my flights, not only were my miles not automatically credited, but I was also told via the website that my ticket did not qualify for miles. I had to call Krisflyer several times and, on each occasion, I was given different answers with regards to the accrual of miles.

One told me that I should get the miles and she wasn't sure why I haven't. Another told me that it was under investigation. Even checking my account online regularly showed different comments against my claim.

In the end, I had my miles credited to my account, but it took a long while and a lot of intervention on my part. This proved to be the final straw and I switched to British Airways afterwards.

I have been an Executive Club member for about six months and the experience cannot be more different.

While the miles for my British Airways flights were credited within 24 hours of my flight, miles for my Cathay Pacific flights were also credited within a week - and I didn't have to submit a claim.

What was more impressive was my submission for miles that were missing after a stay at a hotel. The whole process was very simple and my miles were credited to my account 48 hours after I had sent the required invoice off to British Airways.

While I agree that the British Airways product is not as good as the Singapore Airline product, but the two things that work in their favour are a frequent flyer programme that works seamlessly and a Business Class seat that reclines to a fully flat bed that allows a good night's sleep.

While I am encouraged to see Singapore Airlines upgrade its Business Class product on its Boeing 777-300 fleet, I hope that when the Airbus 380 is rolled out, it will take a leaf out of British Airway's book and provide a fully flat bed in Business Class.

More importantly, Krisflyer needs to be a lot more efficient and not have passengers spend more energy chasing for missing miles than is normal.

Alvin Sim Khim Woon

London, United Kingdom