Velocity Points Transfers to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

[AFF Editor]

The ability to transfer Virgin Australia Velocity Points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles is back!

This article explains how and why to do it:

How (And Why!) to Transfer Velocity Points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

A unique feature of Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer program is the ability to transfer points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. Our guide explains when you should do it.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

This thread is dedicated to discussion about transfers between Velocity & KrisFlyer, and how to maximise the value, in 2022 and beyond. Share your experience, tips & tricks here!

 

[Masonic Phantom]

The ability to transfer Virgin Australia Velocity Points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles is back!

This article explains how and why to do it:

How (And Why!) to Transfer Velocity Points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

A unique feature of Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer program is the ability to transfer points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. Our guide explains when you should do it.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

This thread is dedicated to discussion about transfers between Velocity & KrisFlyer, and how to maximise the value, in 2022 and beyond. Share your experience, tips & tricks here!

I will watch this site with interest.

 

[Mattg]

I did a transfer this afternoon and it came through to my KrisFlyer account instantly. Seems to be working exactly as it did in 2019!

 

[AIRwin]

I did a transfer this afternoon and it came through to my KrisFlyer account instantly. Seems to be working exactly as it did in 2019!

Thanks @Mattguinea pig!

 

[Mr H]

I am a big fan of transfers and used them pre-Covid. For me, the main advantages were:

• access to KF inventory of premium cabin seats on SQ metal - way more availability than they give to partners
• access to Star Alliance - which has far more comprehensive world coverage than OneWorld - e.g. no blind spots in South America - and just generally more options
• being able to use multiple airlines on one route
• being able to combine flights only available through KF with *A flights (although recent experience says they don't currently allow this)
• some redemption sweet spots - I have just redeemed for some internal flights in Africa that would have been eyewaterinw as revenue flights - and have gove to/from Central Asia in F-J mixed class
• you can hold Velocity points that don't expire and transfer them only when required, avoiding pressure to spend or creating orphan points that need substantial additional points to turn into anything useful

Most of all, though, Velocity points are far easier to accumulate than KrisFlyer points, so using being able to transfer makes KF seem less like a precious commodity that cannot be squandered.

 

[levelnine]

Now that SQ has devalued their redemptions, I find it hard to see the attraction of trying to earn SQ miles (directly or indirectly through VA) over QF miles in Australia in situations where you can't earn both.

To take a simple, popular example: SYD-LHR in J

QF: 144K points one way on QF metal
SQ: 130K points one way on SQ metal

Now take the decision to determine which credit card sign up bonus to pursue. (One of the benefits of the ANZ program is you can earn both types of miles — QF and SQ/VA through Rewards — because the programs are mutually exclusive, but that's an exception.)

With Westpac, you can only get one sign up bonus every ~12 months.

Westpac Altitude Velocity Black ($300AF): 120K VA sign up bonus (over two years), which converts to 77K SQ miles.
Westpac Altitude Qantas Black ($300AF): 120K QF sign up bonus (over two years).
Westpac Altitude Rewards Black ($250AF): 140K sign up bonus, which convert to 46K SQ miles.

Yes, it costs 14K less to redeem on SQ, but you attain, at best, 43K less through Westpac.

With Amex, you can get one sign up bonus every ~18 months.

Qantas Ultimate ($450AF with $450 credit): 75K QF sign up bonus.
Velocity Platinum ($375AF with return flight): 75K VA sign up bonus, which converts to 48K SQ miles.
Explorer ($395AF with $400 travel credit): 70K MR sign up bonus, which converts to 35K SQ miles.

Similarly, it costs 14K less to redeem on SQ, but you attain, at best, 23K less through Amex.

Now SQ have better taxes and possibly better availability. I wonder how much that is worth. Interested to hear alternative takes or if my maths is wrong.

 

[vmile]

Now SQ have better taxes and possibly better availability. I wonder how much that is worth. Interested to hear alternative takes or if my maths is wrong.

Very good 'points' made.

However if you do not have the capacity to churn and earn new CCs....?

Also please consider, for the non risk takers among us,

VA backed/owned by venture capitalists.
Things could be good while they prepare (strip, slash and burn) the package to offload.

OR

SQ, backed /owned by the Singapore Government.

I suppose fortune favors the brave, but in the end, they are only points.

And availibility on QF if you are not Plat, is just so good...

 

[Mattg]

Now that SQ has devalued their redemptions, I find it hard to see the attraction of trying to earn SQ miles (directly or indirectly through VA) over QF miles in Australia in situations where you can't earn both.

To take a simple, popular example: SYD-LHR in J

QF: 144K points one way on QF metal
SQ: 130K points one way on SQ metal

Now take the decision to determine which credit card sign up bonus to pursue. (One of the benefits of the ANZ program is you can earn both types of miles — QF and SQ/VA through Rewards — because the programs are mutually exclusive, but that's an exception.)

With Westpac, you can only get one sign up bonus every ~12 months.

Westpac Altitude Velocity Black ($300AF): 120K VA sign up bonus (over two years), which converts to 77K SQ miles.
Westpac Altitude Qantas Black ($300AF): 120K QF sign up bonus (over two years).
Westpac Altitude Rewards Black ($250AF): 140K sign up bonus, which convert to 46K SQ miles.

Yes, it costs 14K less to redeem on SQ, but you attain, at best, 43K less through Westpac.

With Amex, you can get one sign up bonus every ~18 months.

Qantas Ultimate ($450AF with $450 credit): 75K QF sign up bonus.
Velocity Platinum ($375AF with return flight): 75K VA sign up bonus, which converts to 48K SQ miles.
Explorer ($395AF with $400 travel credit): 70K MR sign up bonus, which converts to 35K SQ miles.

Similarly, it costs 14K less to redeem on SQ, but you attain, at best, 23K less through Amex.

Now SQ have better taxes and possibly better availability. I wonder how much that is worth. Interested to hear alternative takes or if my maths is wrong.

I don't think your maths is wrong, but finding J availability on SYD-LHR using Qantas points has become extremely difficult - especially if you want more than one seat. The taxes can also be astronomical.

Yes, it's harder to earn KrisFlyer miles but for 130,000 miles per person you could get up to 4 J seats on a choice of flights from Sydney to London, with taxes around $100 one-way.

There's not much point in having millions of Qantas points if you can't use them!

 

[Mr H]

Now SQ have better taxes and possibly better availability. I wonder how much that is worth. Interested to hear alternative takes or if my maths is wrong.

Obviously a lower price is only attractive if there is product on the shelves.

Apart from availability, there is a big issue for me that Star Alliance airlines cover places that OneWorld doesn't reach. So my pre-Covid flight MEL-SIN-DEL-IST-ASB, for example. Or my recent booking HGA-ADD-ASM.

I like having options in both alliances. Plus, I accumulate Velocity points anyway through Flybuys (I value flights more than tins of soup, but we've already done that one to death) and some cards (e.g. Virgin Money) only offer Velocity. This transfer offers me a way to use those Velocity points more effectively than just through VA.

 

[levelnine]

Thanks all. Really good points. The oneworld coverage doesn't bother me too much, as it covers where I need to go on points.

But the availability issue is one that weighs on my mind a lot when choosing where to allocate earn. As a QF WP, I have found availability okay, but only because of the ability to request release of seats. If/when I drop back to Gold, the availability factor seems like a clear SQ trump card.

Ironically, as I have moved a lot of my spend to US cards of late, the choice becomes a lot easier because most US cards transfer at a 1:1 rate to both QF & SQ. In that case, SQ is a clear winner.

I really wish SQ points were a bit easier to earn on Australian based cards, but alas — can't have it all.

 

[Mr H]

Ironically, as I have moved a lot of my spend to US cards of late, the choice becomes a lot easier because most US cards transfer at a 1:1 rate to both QF & SQ. In that case, SQ is a clear winner.

You might want to look at UA options then - their awards often require significantly fewer points but I don't know what the earn rates look like.

 

[http_x92]

Pretty new to the Krisflyer space.

In terms of transferring points from non Qantas-credit cards its a toss up between Velocity and Krisflyer (especially for some Citi-issued credit cards). Transferring CC points straight to Krisflyer would better if its available for that rewards program (even if its a brutal 3:1 rate on some cards). For Velocity its usually 2:1.

There is also another factor: Velocity means only one points transaction needs to be made to keep the points alive for 24 months. While Krisflyer would have a hard expiry of 3 years. I guess if you know you would be redeeming KF points with a *A carrier during that time Krisflyer would be a better option. Hmm... decisions... decisions...

 

[RAM]

Now that SQ has devalued their redemptions, I find it hard to see the attraction of trying to earn SQ miles (directly or indirectly through VA) over QF miles in Australia in situations where you can't earn both.

To take a simple, popular example: SYD-LHR in J

QF: 144K points one way on QF metal
SQ: 130K points one way on SQ metal

Now take the decision to determine which credit card sign up bonus to pursue. (One of the benefits of the ANZ program is you can earn both types of miles — QF and SQ/VA through Rewards — because the programs are mutually exclusive, but that's an exception.)

With Westpac, you can only get one sign up bonus every ~12 months.

Westpac Altitude Velocity Black ($300AF): 120K VA sign up bonus (over two years), which converts to 77K SQ miles.
Westpac Altitude Qantas Black ($300AF): 120K QF sign up bonus (over two years).
Westpac Altitude Rewards Black ($250AF): 140K sign up bonus, which convert to 46K SQ miles.

Yes, it costs 14K less to redeem on SQ, but you attain, at best, 43K less through Westpac.

With Amex, you can get one sign up bonus every ~18 months.

Qantas Ultimate ($450AF with $450 credit): 75K QF sign up bonus.
Velocity Platinum ($375AF with return flight): 75K VA sign up bonus, which converts to 48K SQ miles.
Explorer ($395AF with $400 travel credit): 70K MR sign up bonus, which converts to 35K SQ miles.

Similarly, it costs 14K less to redeem on SQ, but you attain, at best, 23K less through Amex.

Now SQ have better taxes and possibly better availability. I wonder how much that is worth. Interested to hear alternative takes or if my maths is wrong.

The Q additional 'fees & taxes' make the relative value via Kris much more attractive as does the real availability of business seats.

For example, late in the afternoon of the last day before the cheapest Kris reward seats went up - there were hundreds of business seats available for SYD/Europe return for both May & June 2023 vs virtually zero for Q.

Then add in the value of having multiple European destinations via SIA vs the paucity via Q (when available) makes the relative value more appealing.

 

[levelnine]

a hard expiry of 3 years

I do find that a major limitation of the SQ program, and one that sways majorly against the greater availability that people are pointing to in this thread.

A principal reason to make use of SQ's greater availability is to fly a family in J. But that is going to cost ~1M SQ miles for a family of 4 return to Europe. It is going to take some very careful management of points and transfers to earn and redeem that before the first miles start expiring.

Qantas/Velocity are so much easier — just keep banking until you have the miles.

 

[Mr H]

I do find that a major limitation of the SQ program, and one that sways majorly against the greater availability that people are pointing to in this thread.

This thread is specifically about transfers to KF from Velocity. Normally you would only do that when you have an award booking ready to go, so the 3 year expiry would not be an issue.

 

[levelnine]

This thread is specifically about transfers to KF from Velocity. Normally you would only do that when you have an award booking ready to go, so the 3 year expiry would not be an issue.

My point is that, unless you're going to exclusively use the VA to SQ option (in which case you need ~1.8M VFF for a family of 4 to Europe), you're going to need to combine VA to SQ transfers with methods that directly earn SQ miles. In which case, it becomes a delicate juggling act of expiry dates to make the most of SQ's superior availability.

 

[Mr H]

My point is that, unless you're going to exclusively use the VA to SQ option (in which case you need ~1.8M VFF for a family of 4 to Europe), you're going to need to combine VA to SQ transfers with methods that directly earn SQ miles. In which case, it becomes a delicate juggling act of expiry dates to make the most of SQ's superior availability.

Fair enough. I would never use points to fly a family, but everyone is different.

Just by the bye, since Covid began, I have accumulated about 950k QF points, 515k (soon to be 590k) Velocity points and 460k Krisflyer points. I have only really been trying for the past 18 months.

 

[RAM]

Fair enough. I would never use points to fly a family, but everyone is different.

Just by the bye, since Covid began, I have accumulated about 950k QF points, 515k (soon to be 590k) Velocity points and 460k Krisflyer points. I have only really been trying for the past 18 months.

What methods have you used to accumulate your KF points?

 

[Mr H]

What methods have you used to accumulate your KF points?

Amex sign up, four other credit cards getting about 60k each, spend on Amex and ANZ Rewards and some of those were redeemed at 15% bonus. I’m not quite sure, tbh, I just looked at my current balance, added what I have just redeemed, and subtracted the transfer from VA at the beginning of Covid. It adds up.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

As of now, SQ KF is extending the life of their miles, not sure how long this will go on for.
But, with that current benefit, it gives a bit of time more to earn VFF points, esp with FB and its partners, Coles and stores/Catch etc.
Hopefully the KF miles extension can go for maybe 3/6 more months.
My haul of VFF is about 30k, not a lot, only because I haven't flown a lot, but the most of the points comes from Coles/Catch shopping.