Singapore Airlines is the flagship carrier of the Republic of Singapore with its main (and only) hub located at Changi Airport (SIN). With flights to over 130 destinations around the world, Singapore Airlines can take you pretty much anywhere you want to go provided you are willing to route through Singapore.
KrisFlyer is the loyalty program of Singapore Airlines and a favorite among frequent fliers. Not only is it simple to earn miles with but it has some of the most rewarding redemptions available. Add in the fact that Singapore Airlines has some of the best service and premium products on the market and the program is a no-brainer for many.
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History
In 1947, a small airline known as Malayan Airways Limited (MAL) was formed. Initially, MAL flew just three routes but quickly expanded over the next several years. MAL would go through several name changes including Malaysian Airways in 1963 and Malaysia-Singapore Airlines in 1969.
Finally, in 1972, Malaysian and Singapore separated and created two entities—Malaysian Airline System and Singapore Air, the same Singapore Air of today.
In 1999, the KrisFlyer loyalty program was launched. This reciprocal relationship between frequent flyer and airline continues to reward loyal customers with exclusive perks and accelerated opportunities to earn KrisFlyer miles.
KrisFlyer isn’t just for those who fly Singapore Airlines, though. You can utilize the incredibly valuable KrisFlyer program and never even set foot on a Singapore Air flight.
Singapore Airlines has a subsidiary called Scoot which offers over 30 destinations outside of Singapore Airlines’ networks. In 2021, Silk Air merged into the Singapore Airlines’ ecosystem, further expanding the airline’s reach. It is also a member of the Star Alliance and has several non-alliance partners including:
- Alaska Airlines
- JetBlue
- Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Australia
- Vistara
How To Earn KrisFlyer Miles
To start earning KrisFlyer miles, you’ll need to have a KrisFlyer account. Some basic information is required, but make sure it matches your passport exactly to avoid problems. Once enrolled, you’re ready to start earning KrisFlyer miles.
Flying Singapore Airlines
Earning KrisFlyer miles when flying Singapore Airlines is one of the many ways to earn them. Your earning rate will depend on a few factors, specifically the distance flown and fare class. Elite status will also impact your mileage accrual.
Distance flown is the number of miles from origin to destination and the first factor in determining how many KrisFlyer miles you earn. However many miles you fly is how many miles your KrisFlyer earnings will be based on.
Fare class is the second factor in the mileage earning equation. The following chart shows each of Singapore’s cabins, fare classes and respective earning rates.
Accrual Chart
Here’s an example of how to calculate how many miles you will earn: If you fly a route from Singapore to Taipei (TPE), the distance is 2,002 miles. If you were to book it in Business Class, on a C fare ticket, you would be eligible to earn 150% miles of the distance flown. The result would be 3,003 KrisFlyer miles earned.
Rather than doing all the math yourself, Singapore makes it extra easy to know how many miles you should earn when flying thanks to its calculator. You can access the calculator here.
You can also earn KrisFlyer miles when flying with Singapore’s subsidiary airline, Scoot. You can earn 1 KrisFlyer mile per Singapore dollar spent on eligible Scoot fares and select extras for itineraries which involve only Scoot operated flights.
Status Miles
Having elite status with Singapore Airlines is another way to load up on KrisFlyer miles. Singapore Airlines has two kinds of elite status—KrisFlyer elite status and PPS Club status, and each has its own two levels.
KrisFlyer Elite Status
With KrisFlyer, each status level earns a bonus on miles earned from flying. KrisFlyer offers two levels:
- Elite Silver: 25% bonus on miles
- Elite Gold: 25% bonus on miles.
While both status levels accumulate the same number of miles, Elite Gold has several Milestone Rewards that allow you to earn even more when you hit the threshold:
- 20,000 elite miles: Get 25% more KrisFlyer miles in addition to the miles earned for a single flight segment.
- 30,000 elite miles: Receive 50% more KrisFlyer miles on top of the miles earned for one flight segment.
- 60,000 elite miles: Receive a reward to earn twice the number of KrisFlyer miles in a single flight segment.
PPS Club Elite Status
- PPS Club: 25% bonus on miles
- Solitaire PPS Club: 25% bonus on miles
Earning Status
KrisFlyer elite status is earned via flying. There are no spending requirements to reach either of these statuses, just mileage flown requirements. On the other hand, PPS Club status is earned through the amount spent on premium cabins—suites, first and business class.
To earn Krisflyer elite status, you’ll have to meet the following requirements:
- Elite Silver: 25,000 elite miles
- Elite Gold: 50,000 elite miles
The number of elite miles you can earn on a flight will depend on the class flown. The following chart shows the earning rate of each class and fare code.
When flying Scoot, you will earn 1 Elite mile for each KrisFlyer mile earned on a Scoot flight.
PPS status requires you to earn PPS points. You earn PPS points for each Singapore dollar you spend on premium cabins for Singapore Airlines flights.
- PPS Club: Earn 25,000 in PPS value
- PPS Club Solitaire: Earn 50,000 in PPS value
Flights on Partners
As one of the more than two dozen members of the Star Alliance, the world’s biggest airline partnership, Singapore Airlines allows you to earn KrisFlyer miles and elite qualifying miles on partners.
To calculate the miles you can earn when flying with partners, first take the distance flown and then multiply by the percentage of the respective partner’s award chart.
Each partner has a unique award chart with Singapore Airlines.
This chart shows you what Singapore’s non-Star Alliance partners earn.
Credit Card Spending
Singapore Airlines does not currently offer any co-branded credit cards to U.S. citizens. However, it does offer various co-branded credit cards and debit cards for citizens of other countries. Residents of the following countries may be eligible for a co-branded card:
- Singapore
- Australia
- Japan
- Indonesia
- Malaysia
- The Philippines
- Thailand
- South Korea
Read more: Best Travel Credit Cards
Transfer Partners
Although Singapore Airlines does not have any co-branded U.S.-based credit cards, you can transfer points from several bank programs to KrisFlyer. In fact, KrisFlyer is one of only a handful of loyalty programs that allows you to convert credit card points into KrisFlyer miles.
The following list shows which banks you can transfer your points to KrisFlyer and the respective rate of conversion.
- American Express Membership Rewards: 3-to-2
- Brex: 1-to-1
- Capital One: 1-to-1
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: 1-to-1
- Citi ThankYou Points: 1-to-1
- Marriott Bonvoy: 3-to-1
Hotel Transfer Partners
Several hotels allow you to convert your points to KrisFlyer miles. This isn’t always the best use of them, but if you find yourself with excess hotel points you can’t use this could be an option.
- Accor: 2 ALL points to 1 KrisFlyer mile
- Hilton: 4,000 Hilton Honors points to 500 KrisFlyer miles
- Hyatt: 5,000 World of Hyatt points to 2,000 KrisFlyer miles
- IHG: 10,000 IHG One Rewards points to 2,000 KrisFlyer miles
There are also several smaller hotel programs that allow converting points to KrisFlyer.
Car Rentals
There are currently no transfer options from car rental companies but you can still earn KrisFlyer miles when booking with them.
Shopping Portals
You can earn KrisFlyer miles when you shop through KrisShop, which offers 1.5 KrisFlyer miles per 1 Singapore dollar. You can also earn miles at a higher rate of up to 4 KrisFlyer miles per 1 Singapore dollar by linking your KrisFlyer account to KrisShopper.
Read more: How To Stack Credit Card and Portal Offers to Save on Online Purchases
Buying Miles
Singapore Airlines does not offer a dedicated buy miles option.
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How To Redeem KrisFlyer Miles
On Singapore Flights
Singapore’s award chart is based on 13 zones and each requires a different number of miles.
To use your KrisFlyer miles for award flights, you’ll need to first head over to the website and login to your KrisFlyer account. Once logged in, head to the PPS Club/KrisFlyer tab, select Redeem Miles and then look for the Book Now button.
Once the search is populated, your results will include either one or both of the KrisFlyer award types available: Saver and Advantage awards.
Select the Redeem flights option to search for award flights. Once the search is populated, your results will include either one or both of the KrisFlyer award types available: Saver and Advantage awards.
This flight shows both Saver and Advantage fares available.
Saver awards cost fewer miles, but unsurprisingly, these are harder to come by. Advantage flights, on the other hand, are easier to find but cost more KrisFlyer miles. In addition to more availability with Advantage awards, you can change the date of your flight with no additional charge. The fee to redeposit your miles is less than Saver awards.
On Flights With Partners
When redeeming your KrisFlyer miles for partner flights you have tons of options. Note that Singapore Airlines does pass on its partner’s carrier-imposed fees, sometimes called fuel surcharges. These can be negligible with airlines like United, but much higher with other partners.
Each non-alliance partner airline has its own award chart with Singapore Airlines. However, Singapore Airlines’s Star Alliance partner award chart is priced by regions, of which there are 12.
To book an award flight with a partner airline, follow the same steps as you would to book a flight on Singapore Airlines.
Fees
The fees for award tickets with Singapore Airlines are as follows:
Sweet Spots
KrisFlyer miles are some of the best frequent flyer miles thanks to the incredible ways you can redeem them. Premium cabin bookings are where KrisFlyer miles shine.
A flight on Singapore Airlines in its world-class Suites normally costs thousands of dollars. Using KrisFlyer miles, you can find these flights for much more reasonable rates. Flying from New York to Singapore in the Suites costs 243,000 KrisFlyer miles one way.
Another amazing option is redeeming KrisFlyer miles for flights within South America. Most airlines break up South America (because it’s huge) into two regions––Northern South America and Southern South America. Singapore uses just one region for the entirety of the continent and flights from a country like Colombia to Argentina are just 28,000 KrisFlyer miles.
What makes it even better is that Singapore Airlines allows stopovers on award flights.
| Flight Type | Saver Award | Advantage Award |
|---|---|---|
|
Round Trip
|
One Stopover
|
Two Stopovers
|
|
One Way
|
No Stopover
|
One Stopover
|
Stopovers are only permitted for up to 30 days.
Expiration
PPS Club KrisFlyer miles don’t expire as long as you remain in the PPS Club. If you can’t remain a PPS Club member, the miles will expire three years from the date of your new tier. If there is no qualifying activity, your KrisFlyer account expire after 18 months. You can extend the life of your miles once for a fee but it only extends them for six months. However, if you are an Elite Silver or Elite Gold member, you can pay a fee to extend miles for 12 months.
A good rule of thumb is to avoid speculatively transferring your points to KrisFlyer. Make sure you have a trip you are ready to book so you don’t end up with orphaned points you either have to pay to keep or let disappear.
Infant Fees
Singapore Airlines considers children 7 days old up to 2 years old as infants. Kids 2 years old to 12 years old are considered children.
For domestic flights, you will need to contact the airline directly for information about applicable fees when flying with a lap infant. International flights also require you to contact Singapore Airlines directly as the price will depend on the specific route. You can expect to pay a percentage of your fare when flying with a lap infant on international routes.
Family Pooling
KrisFlyer recently added the ability to pool miles among family members, specifically a parent or guardian with their children.
KrisFlyer miles can be pooled from the children accounts to the parent, however it comes with a fee of $5 per 5,000 KrisFlyer miles transferred.
Additionally, there is a limit on the number of KrisFlyer miles that can be combined. Each child can transfer up to 50,000 KrisFlyer miles to the linked parent per year. However, miles from a parent account cannot be transferred into the child’s account.
Other Ways To Earn KrisFlyer Miles
Car Rentals
You can earn KrisFlyer miles when you rent a car through the following agencies:
Avis:
- Earn 500 KrisFlyer miles per rental on non-contracted retail rates at participating locations.
- Earn 250 KrisFlyer miles per rental on corporate rates at participating locations.
- Earn 1,000 bonus miles on your first rental with Avis.
Budget Car Rentals:
- Earn 500 KrisFlyer miles per rental on non-contracted retail rates at participating locations.
Europcar:
- 500 KrisFlyer miles for standard qualifying rentals
- 300 KrisFlyer miles for corporate rentals
Hertz:
- 500 KrisFlyer miles per qualifying rate rental outside Asia
- 250 KrisFlyer miles per qualifying rate rental within Asia
- 250 KrisFlyer miles per qualifying commercial/government contract rate rental worldwide
Sixt:
- Earn 500 KrisFlyer miles with every car rental worldwide.
Hotel Bookings
Rocketmiles:
- Earn 500 to 5,000 KrisFlyer miles per night for hotel stays booked through Rocketmiles.
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Bottom Line
Whether you fly on Singapore Airlines or one of its many partners, make sure you enroll in KrisFlyer so you are not leaving valuable miles on the table. KrisFlyer miles are jam-packed with value and include some amazing sweet spots. If you want to experience luxury or get a stellar deal on partner flights, this is a program all serious award travelers should consider.
