KrisFlyer points expiring May 2016

[Pug1]

Hi everyone,
I have about 15500 KrisFlyer points that will expire next May. We have no plans to use them beforehand as they will not buy any flights out of Australia. Most of my points are on QF and I am not a member of Velocity but my wife is. It seems the best option is for me to join Velocity and transfer the Kris points to it, even though I will lose some points in the transfer rate. I will be flying Virgin to Darwin next May but have paid for that flight already and given them my KrisFlyer number (which I would change once joined to Velocity). Any suggestions as to whether this is the best option or other ideas? To complete the picture we will be flying SIA to Myanmar next September but could obviously use the Velocity memberships for those flights since it is unlikely we will be doing a lot of SIA flights down the track. Thanks

 

[Mattg]

I agree that the best option in this case is to join Velocity and transfer the points over. It's better than letting the SQ miles expire, if you don't plan to use them.

The VA points will not expire, as long as you keep your account active at least once every 18 months. As you're flying VA next year that will keep your points alive (and add to them..).

 

[Caversham04]

I agree that the best option in this case is to join Velocity and transfer the points over. It's better than letting the SQ miles expire, if you don't plan to use them.

On a related note, I have got batches of 1000 - 2000 KF Miles expiring every month for the first few months of 2016, but the majority of my KF Miles don't expire for a while. If I make a partial points transfer to Velocity, do SQ preferentially transfer the miles that are about to expire, in the same way as the oldest miles are used first when redeeming KF Miles for a flight on SQ? I am saving the KF Miles for a UK trip on SQ so am ONLY interested in making the transfer to Velocity to stop them from expiring.

 

[Mattg]

On a related note, I have got batches of 1000 - 2000 KF Miles expiring every month for the first few months of 2016, but the majority of my KF Miles don't expire for a while. If I make a partial points transfer to Velocity, do SQ preferentially transfer the miles that are about to expire, in the same way as the oldest miles are used first when redeeming KF Miles for a flight on SQ? I am saving the KF Miles for a UK trip on SQ so am ONLY interested in making the transfer to Velocity to stop them from expiring.

I would imagine that this would be the case, but you may want to clarify this with KrisFlyer directly. I wouldn't risk it.

 

[albatross710]

Those 15500 miles are pretty close to getting you from SIN-RGN in J. An online saver is 17,000 miles so just need to find an extra 1,500 KF miles.

Alternatively, the 15,500 easily covers one economy leg at 10,000 miles

If you wanted to go somewhere else in Asia the intra-SE asia redemptions are pretty good value ie RGN to MNL 10,625 miles plus USD 95 taxes.

Also, consider that you could buy your RGN tix now and use the miles (before they expire) to upgrade to biz from SIN-RGN.

A few other ideas.

Alby

 

[Pug1]

Those 15500 miles are pretty close to getting you from SIN-RGN in J. An online saver is 17,000 miles so just need to find an extra 1,500 KF miles.

Alternatively, the 15,500 easily covers one economy leg at 10,000 miles

If you wanted to go somewhere else in Asia the intra-SE asia redemptions are pretty good value ie RGN to MNL 10,625 miles plus USD 95 taxes.

Also, consider that you could buy your RGN tix now and use the miles (before they expire) to upgrade to biz from SIN-RGN.

A few other ideas.

Alby

thanks for the suggestions Alby and to Mattg as well. I've now joined Velocity and will most likely transfer the KF points to it. Our Myanmar trip is with a tour group and they are organising the flights so it's unlikely we could take up the suggestion of buying the RGN tickets now. (We fly into Mandalay and out of RGN). Really appreciate all of your replies. Good luck with your transfer Caversham04.

 

[burmans]

thanks for the suggestions Alby and to Mattg as well. I've now joined Velocity and will most likely transfer the KF points to it. Our Myanmar trip is with a tour group and they are organising the flights so it's unlikely we could take up the suggestion of buying the RGN tickets now. (We fly into Mandalay and out of RGN). Really appreciate all of your replies. Good luck with your transfer Caversham04.

Hope you enjoy Myanmar, I certainly did. Yangon not really top of my favourites (though the crumbling and decrepit buildings have a certain charm) but loved the rest of the country, particularly Bagan.

 

[Pug1]

Hope you enjoy Myanmar, I certainly did. Yangon not really top of my favourites (though the crumbling and decrepit buildings have a certain charm) but loved the rest of the country, particularly Bagan.

thank you burmans - looking forward t o it.

 

[Caversham04]

Hi everyone,
I have about 15500 KrisFlyer points that will expire next May. We have no plans to use them beforehand as they will not buy any flights out of Australia. Most of my points are on QF and I am not a member of Velocity but my wife is. It seems the best option is for me to join Velocity and transfer the Kris points to it, even though I will lose some points in the transfer rate. I will be flying Virgin to Darwin next May but have paid for that flight already and given them my KrisFlyer number (which I would change once joined to Velocity). Any suggestions as to whether this is the best option or other ideas? To complete the picture we will be flying SIA to Myanmar next September but could obviously use the Velocity memberships for those flights since it is unlikely we will be doing a lot of SIA flights down the track. Thanks

I was looking into the answer to my related question in this thread, and spotted on the SQ website that it's possible (for a small cash or points fee) to extend the validity of KF Miles by 6 months (via the Miles Expiry tab in your KF account). From memory, the charge was US$20 or 1500 points per 10,000 points extended. If you can use the KF Miles later in the year, it might be a better option than the 1.35:1 loss (or thereabouts) that will apply if transferring them to Velocity?

 

[Mattg]

I was looking into the answer to my related question in this thread, and spotted on the SQ website that it's possible (for a small cash or points fee) to extend the validity of KF Miles by 6 months (via the Miles Expiry tab in your KF account). From memory, the charge was US$20 or 1500 points per 10,000 points extended. If you can use the KF Miles later in the year, it might be a better option than the 1.35:1 loss (or thereabouts) that will apply if transferring them to Velocity?

If the fee is only $20, and you think you'll be able to fully utilize them within that 6 months, then I'd say go for it. If you don't think you would use them within that time, then obviously there is little point.

 

[Pug1]

If the fee is only $20, and you think you'll be able to fully utilize them within that 6 months, then I'd say go for it. If you don't think you would use them within that time, then obviously there is little point.

thanks guys, I will check that out.

 

[cgichard]

Off topic, but how does one find out precisely when KF miles are due to expire? All I can find is "You do not have any miles expiring within this month and the next eleven". That's fine, but I have already booked my annual trip for 2016 but would like to use the existing points plus those earned on the 2016 trip for an "enhanced" trip in 2017. I have some accumulated in my ANZ account but these days my CC spending isn't enough to accrue them very fast, so I'm quite likely not to have enough before my travel to upgrade my 2016 flights. So I need the miles in the KF account to last until I book for 2017.

 

[Pug1]

Off topic, but how does one find out precisely when KF miles are due to expire? All I can find is "You do not have any miles expiring within this month and the next eleven". That's fine, but I have already booked my annual trip for 2016 but would like to use the existing points plus those earned on the 2016 trip for an "enhanced" trip in 2017. I have some accumulated in my ANZ account but these days my CC spending isn't enough to accrue them very fast, so I'm quite likely not to have enough before my travel to upgrade my 2016 flights. So I need the miles in the KF account to last until I book for 2017.

Kris points are valid for 36 months from the end of the month in which the last activity occurred,

 

[Mattg]

Kris points are valid for 36 months from the end of the month in which the last activity occurred,

This is not quite correct. The KrisFlyer T&Cs state that:

11. KrisFlyer accounts which have activity are valid for 36 months from the end of the month in which the last activity occurred, after which the membership accounts will expire. KrisFlyer accounts which do not have any activity for a period of 18 months since enrolment will expire after that period of 18 months.

But also that...

17. A member's KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years at the end of the equivalent month in which they were earned. For example, miles credited to a member's KrisFlyer account in July 2006 will expire on 31 July 2009.
18. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire for the first time may be extended for a fee. For KrisFlyer members, miles may be extended once for a period of six months only. KrisFlyer Elite Silver, KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club members may extend their miles for a period of one year only.
19. KrisFlyer miles that are due to expire may be extended for a fee, up to five months ahead and inclusive of the current month, in blocks of up to three consecutive months.
20. KrisFlyer miles that have already expired cannot be extended.

My understanding is that they will actually terminate your account after 36 months of inactivity. That is not related to the expiry of miles.

 

[cgichard]

Many thanks for the immediate responses, Pug1 and Mattg. I have been flying with SQ once a year for many years so the 'activity' requirement should be OK. But because of T&C 17. I'd better delve into my KF account and discover precisely how long ago the points there were earned.

Edited to add: could only bring up the last 12 months' activity, which accounts for about 2/3rds of the total. Couldn't find out how far back the remainder were earned.

 

[cove]

Mrscove has miles up for expiry in February so we really need to do some bookings on her account. She has been grounded by her parents ill health. We have to book a business trip to a trade show in the US in late 2016 and I am counting down the days to when I can book that one for her.
I didn't think the $20 per 10,000 to be too bad actually as that is $2000 for extending a million miles.

 

[burmans]

One of the things I discovered this year beyond the ability to extend by 6 months, is the fact that if you book a ticket at the 3.5 year mark (assuming you have extended) is that it itself is valid for a year. My wife wanted to cancel a flight redemption but because she would have lost some points on refund, they didn't actually cancel but put it in a hold state.

She was able to book another flight (some months later), another 7 months out, new time. new destination, new booking class even, and it only cost either $12 or $20.

 

[dajop]

One of the things I discovered this year beyond the ability to extend by 6 months, is the fact that if you book a ticket at the 3.5 year mark (assuming you have extended) is that it itself is valid for a year. My wife wanted to cancel a flight redemption but because she would have lost some points on refund, they didn't actually cancel but put it in a hold state.

She was able to book another flight (some months later), another 7 months out, new time. new destination, new booking class even, and it only cost either $12 or $20.

Good point. Another important thing about that ticket. It is valid for a year from the first ticketed flight not from the date of ticketing. So if miles are expiring at end of July 2016, for example you can book flights for June 2017. Come June 2017 you canine flights as late as June 2018.

 

[burmans]

Good point. Another important thing about that ticket. It is valid for a year from the first ticketed flight not from the date of ticketing. So if miles are expiring at end of July 2016, for example you can book flights for June 2017. Come June 2017 you canine flights as late as June 2018.

Yes, correct - my wife booked in March for a flight in December but was able to rebook to July the following year. So a viable strategy would be at the end of 3.5 years book a ticket as far out as you can even if you don't have a clue where you really want to go, this gives you maximum flexibility and extends the period out to nearly 5.5 years?

 

[gphamor]

I did something similar, I had points in an Etihad a/c expiring in Dec 2015, bought a reward ticket for March 2016 the date of which I will change when I know the exact date I need to fly