You may have heard about the upcoming price increase affecting Star Alliance awards booked using Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles. From 16 April 2019, some KrisFlyer awards on other partner airlines including Virgin Australia and Virgin Atlantic will also become more expensive. In addition, a small price increase is coming to Star Alliance upgrade awards.
As with the Star Alliance award chart changes, only KrisFlyer partner awards in Business and First Class are becoming more expensive. Economy awards are not impacted by the upcoming devaluation.
Changes to KrisFlyer’s Virgin Australia Award Chart
Luckily, KrisFlyer members redeeming Singapore Airlines miles for Virgin Australia flights are let off relatively lightly by the upcoming changes. The only change is to Virgin Australia Business class redemptions between Australia (except Northern Territory) and Asia. From 16 April, a Virgin Australia Business seat from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to Hong Kong or Bali will increase in price from 54,000 to 64,000 KrisFlyer miles.
For those booking Business class awards from Perth to Bali or Hong Kong with Virgin Australia (which is generally via the Australian east coast) the price will increase from 46,000 to 55,000 KrisFlyer miles. And no, that’s not a typo – it really is cheaper to start your journey in Perth than in Sydney or Melbourne.
KrisFlyer members have the option of redeeming their miles for Virgin Australia flights directly through the KrisFlyer program, or by transferring miles to Velocity Frequent Flyer and redeeming via Velocity. Since the start of this year, points can be transferred between the two frequent flyer programs at a rate of 1.55:1.
Changes to KrisFlyer’s Virgin Atlantic Award Chart
There are also price increases coming to KrisFlyer awards for travel on Virgin Atlantic. The changes affect Premium Economy and “Upper Class” awards on flights between the UK and Shanghai, Hong Kong, Lagos, Johannesburg and all Caribbean destinations. Flights between the UK and the United States or India are not affected, and Israel is not yet included on the Virgin Atlantic award chart. (Virgin Atlantic will launch London-Tel Aviv flights later this year.)
As some examples of the changes, Premium Economy awards from Hong Kong or Shanghai to London are increasing from 55,000 to 65,000 KrisFlyer miles. Business seats on the same routes go up from 75,000 to 85,000 KrisFlyer miles.
In addition, KrisFlyer round-trip companion awards for travel on Virgin Atlantic are being discontinued from 16 April 2019.
Other Changes to KrisFlyer Award Pricing
There are also slight increases to Business and First Class award pricing on all Juneyao Airlines routes. These changes closely resemble the “upward revisions” (as Singapore Airlines is calling them) being made to the Star Alliance award chart. Juneyao Airlines is a Star Alliance connecting partner.
And there are marginal increases to all Premium Economy and Business redemption rates for KrisFlyer awards on Vistara Airlines. KrisFlyer miles can be redeemed for Vistara flights within India (only).
Star Alliance upgrade award pricing is too changing, with marginal increases across the board. Star Alliance upgrade awards allow you to upgrade flights on any other Star Alliance airline using KrisFlyer miles. However, these upgrades are only possible if you’ve booked a fully-flexible (in other words, expensive) Economy fare on the Star Alliance partner airline and there is premium cabin award availability on your flight.
There are no changes to KrisFlyer redemptions on Alaska Airlines.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Award tickets on Star Alliance change in 16 APR ?
