For many frequent flyers, having a million Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles would be a dream come true. But, after the recent Amex changes, this is a reality for some. Many Australians recently transferred large quantities of Amex Membership Rewards points to the KrisFlyer program, in order to prevent their Amex points from losing value.
So, if you now find yourself with a large balance of KrisFlyer miles, how should you spend them? Of course, premium cabin redemptions are where the best value is. When you’re redeeming KrisFlyer miles for award travel on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir, there are also no fuel surcharges… and award availability is fairly good too. Plus, Singapore Airlines allows free stopovers on all round-trip KrisFlyer awards!
Despite recent program changes, KrisFlyer still has quite a few sweet spots. Here are some of the best value premium cabin redemptions with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles…
- Fly to Europe and back in First Class 3 times – Singapore Airlines charges 326,000 KrisFlyer miles for a round-trip Saver award from Australia or New Zealand to Europe in First Class. Do this three times and you’ll still have some change left for one million KrisFlyer miles.
- Fly around the world in Business Class 4 times – one of the best uses of KrisFlyer miles is the Star Alliance Round-the-World Award in Business class. This costs 240,000 miles per passengers and comes with up to 7 stopovers included. This is only marginally more expensive than a return trip to Europe in Business class… and is cheaper than flying to North America and back with KrisFlyer miles!
- Fly from Perth or Darwin to Istanbul, Dubai, Johannesburg or Cape Town and back in Business Class 7 times – It costs 141,000 KrisFlyer miles for a round-trip Business ticket on Singapore Airlines between Perth or Darwin and any of Singapore Airlines’ destinations across Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. From the east coast of Australia, this is a bit more expensive at 172,000 KrisFlyer miles round-trip.
- Fly from Perth or Darwin to Asia and back in Business class 13 times – it costs 73,000 KrisFlyer miles for a round-trip Business award from Perth or Darwin to anywhere in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand, flying with Singapore Airlines and/or SilkAir.
- Fly from Dubai to London and back in Business class 17 times – it costs just 29,000 KrisFlyer miles for a one-way Business class award from anywhere in the Middle East or northern Africa to Europe, flying with Star Alliance airlines. However, beware the fuel surcharges can be a little high on these routes when redeeming KrisFlyer miles to fly with Star Alliance partners like Turkish Airlines, Swiss or Lufthansa.
- Fly Virgin Australia Business Class within Australia’s eastern states 47 times – it costs 21,000 KrisFlyer miles for a one-way Business class award on Virgin Australia, as long as you’re flying within QLD, NSW, VIC, TAS, SA or TAS. Flying to/from WA or NT costs a little bit more. This can be particularly good value on longer journeys like Hobart-Cairns and Adelaide-Hamilton Island.
If you have a large quantity of KrisFlyer miles, here are a few more tips to help you make the most of them…
Keep an eye on KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes deals
In the second half of every month, KrisFlyer releases a list of routes that are available at a 30% discount on Saver award prices for travel during the following month. This is great for last-minute award bookings on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir. Australian destinations are regularly featured in this list. However, the discount applies only on point-to-point travel to/from Singapore. (Of course, you could always book another award to travel onwards from Singapore.)
You can always find information about the latest deals on Australian Frequent Flyer: The Latest KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes Deals
You can redeem KrisFlyer miles for other people
It is not possible to transfer KrisFlyer miles to another person’s account. However, you can redeem your miles to book award flights for up to five “redemption nominees”. These nominees do not necessarily have to be related to you.
You can only have up to 5 redemption nominees on your account at any one time. Once you add somebody to your list, you cannot change them for six months. In addition, there is a nominal fee (which varies according to your KrisFlyer status) to remove a redemption nominee from your account.
KrisFlyer miles expire after 3 years
KrisFlyer miles expire after 3 years. It is possible to extend the validity of KrisFlyer miles for 6-12 months (depending on your status) for a fee of USD12 per 1,200 miles. But this is as far as the validity can be extended, and this would also be quite expensive if you have a large quantity of KrisFlyer miles. So, you should plan to redeem all of your miles within 3 years. You can redeem KrisFlyer miles for award flights up to 355 days in advance, which means you have just under 4 years to complete all travel.
The only exception is if you’re a PPS Club member, in which case your KrisFlyer miles don’t expire. To join the PPS Club, you would need to spend at least SGD$25,000 per year on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir flights in Business or First Class.
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
Australian Frequent Flyer’s personalised service can take the hard work out of redeeming your frequent flyer points!
Our Australian Frequent Flyer Concierge team can help you to find the perfect reward flights using your points. Just let the team know how many points you have and where you would like to go. They’ll prepare a great itinerary for you.
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