Sweet spot in KrisFlyer redemptions
I am taking advantage of what I think is a very nice sweet spot using KrisFlyer (KF) points. I’ve already posted that I’m flying on SQ in J HAN-SIN-KUL for 17,000 points and A$174 in taxes etc.
I want to expand on this a little in the hope it will be of use to readers of this thread. Almost everything I’m doing on this trip is possible due to my AFF learnings and I like to give a bit back if I can.
The 17,000 points includes the 15% discount for on-line bookings, so when you do a search it will show up as 20,000 points. When you select an available flight the points cost will reduce by 15%. This point cost is for Business Saver Awards and the routes I’m discussing have surprisingly good availability.
This morning I checked availability for the flights I will be doing on Monday and they are still available. Interestingly, if I try to book just the SIN-KUL leg (currently on the A350-900) it is not available, but it is as a connecting flight from HAN.
As an example of why I consider this such a sweet spot, the route I am flying has a 3.5 hour leg (HAN-SIN) followed by a one hour leg (SIN-KUL). If you were to redeem KF points for just the SIN-KUL leg the cost will be 14,875 points plus ~A$100. So the extra HAN-SIN leg is only an extra 2,125 points plus A$74.
There are even better options available for 17,000 points and roughly the same taxes that will get you a longer second leg. You can travel to or from anywhere that SQ services, between Malaysia, Indonesia or Brunei, and the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar or Cambodia. There are back-tracking restrictions so BKK-SIN-KUL or DPS-SIN-BKK are allowed, but BKK-SIN-HAN is not for example.
DPS-SIN-HAN can get you a 2 hour 40 minute flight in an A330-300 then 3 hours 20 minutes in a B777-200, all in J. You need to pick your flights carefully though as SQ also fly the A320 DPS-SIN which will not be quite the same experience. Note that this combination will require an overnight transit at SIN but HAN-SIN-DPS can be done in a day (or with an overnight transit if you prefer). Changi Crowne Plaza is a pretty good use of usually worthless IHG points in my opinion. As you can see, there are lots of options.
If you don’t have KF points, as you probably know, you can transfer Virgin Velocity points to KrisFlyer at a rate of 1.35:1. So 22,950 VFF points will get you the required 17,000 KF points. That still seems like a pretty good deal to me.
I realise this may well be as clear as mud so I’m happy to try to answer any relevant questions you may have.
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