SIA replies

We are referring to the letter written by Michael Sheehy in The Jakarta Post on Sept. 25, 2002.

We are sorry to hear that Michael Sheehy was unable to redeem his Global Reward points for free travel on SIA, and we regret we are unable to issue the tickets on Ansett's behalf. We would like to explain the matter as follows.

Each airline's frequent flyer program is operated as a separate business entity. Airlines cross-participate in each other's frequent flyer programs for commercial reasons. Cross- participation enables customers to travel on a participating airline to earn points on his account in a frequent flyer program not operated by the airline he is flying on.

Moreover, he can redeem his points for travel on the participating airlines. However, the frequent flyer program with which he has an account must issue the tickets. His used points are deducted accordingly.

When Sheehy flew on SIA and earned points on his Global Rewards account, SIA already paid Ansett for the points credited to his account. Hence, SIA has already discharged its obligations. When a customer uses the redemption ticket to fly on SIA, the ticket coupons retrieved by SIA are used to bill the airline that issued the tickets for the services rendered. If SIA were to issue the tickets on behalf of Ansett, it effectively means that SIA is assuming the obligations of Ansett.

In fact, most airlines do not even honor the tickets of a failed airline because its ticket coupons do not have any value. SIA accepted Ansett tickets issued prior to Sept. 14, 2001, for travel on SIA as a gesture of goodwill to customers. These Ansett tickets had no value for us. We ask for Sheehy's understanding that it would not be reasonable to expect SIA to assume the obligations of Ansett.

As for Sheehy's Kris Flyer status, we notice that Sheehy has been a member with us since Jan. 15, 2002. As mentioned on the Kris Flyer program guide, the qualification and renewal for elite status is between April 1 and March 31 of each year. Before March 31, 2002, Sheehy had accumulated 21,840 miles, which is still below the Kris Flyer's silver elite status requirement.

We seek his understanding that we need to exercise the same criteria for all Kris Flyer members. We would also like to have the opportunity to explain this to Sheehy personally.

GLORY HENRIETTE, Executive Assistant, Public Relations, Singapore Airlines, Jakarta