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Singapore Krisflyer Redemption on Star Alliance Partners – Call First, Transfer Points Second!

ByDW
The image shows a vintage radio setup on a wooden surface. In the foreground, there is a classic silver microphone with a round mesh head on a stand. Behind the microphone, there is an old-fashioned radio receiver with dials and knobs. A pair of headphones is also visible, resting on the surface near the radio. The background includes a framed picture and part of a patterned wall. The overall scene has a nostalgic, retro feel.

Did you know that you can redeem Singapore Krisflyer miles for travel on Star Alliance partner carriers? Of course you did! (And if you didn’t, just pretend like you did for now and we will go into further details later…)

Did you also know that Singapore Airlines may have access to all partner award availability shown at United.com? If not, then read on for some advice on how to save yourself some future pain and suffering!

But first, let’s get a quick refresher on the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program and why people should look into this program as an alternative to United MileagePlus, which may be much more familiar to most US based flyers!

The image shows the wing of an airplane during flight, with a beautiful sunset or sunrise in the background. The sky is filled with warm hues of orange, yellow, and purple, creating a serene and picturesque scene.

Krisflyer Redemption Pros:

Transfer from most major flexible award currencies –

Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, and/or Citi ThankYou points – the trifecta! Plus, SPG starpoints! All transfer to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer!

Lower saver mileage requirement –

There are many routes within the Singapore Airlines Star Alliance partner award chart where Singapore charges less mileage than United for the same exact flights! For comparison, let’s take a one-way Business Class redemption from the US to South Africa (MIA-JNB). Here is the United Airlines Star Alliance partner award chart applicable to that routing:

The image is a screenshot of a "Star Alliance/partner Award chart." The chart lists the number of miles required for award flights in various travel classes (Economy, Business, and First) between different regions. The regions listed include "Between U.S. & Canada," "Hawaii," "Central America," "Caribbean," "South America," "Europe," "North Asia," "South Asia," "Central Asia/Middle East," and "Southwest Pacific." The chart is organized in a table format with rows and columns, and a specific section is highlighted with a red box, focusing on the "Between U.S. & Canada" region. The chart provides detailed information on the miles needed for different travel classes and destinations.
80k United MileagePlus miles will get you from the US to South Africa on non-United Star Alliance carriers! (160k RT)

While here is the Singapore Airlines Star Alliance partner award chart:

The image is a chart titled "Star Alliance Round trip awards" from KrisFlyer, detailing the number of miles required for round-trip award flights between various regions. The chart is divided into columns representing different regions of origin and rows representing different regions of destination. Each cell in the chart contains a number indicating the required miles for a round trip, with different values for Economy Class, Business Class, and First Class. The chart has highlighted columns and rows for "Australia, New Zealand" and "Central, South America" with red boxes, indicating a specific focus or example. The chart is color-coded, with different shades representing different classes of service.
72.5k Krisflyer miles will get you from the US to South Africa on Star Alliance carriers! (145k RT)

That’s only a difference of 7.5k miles, but when you consider how easy Krisflyer miles are to earn via transfer from 4 major flexible award currencies (versus United MileagePlus with just 1 flexible currency transfer partner in Ultimate rewards – SPG is a partner too, but the transfer ratio is atrocious), a Krisflyer redemption may make more sense than one with MileagePlus!

AYP Tip: Check out Award Hacker to find this same result without all the research into the specific airline award charts!

The image is a screenshot of a webpage from AwardHacker, a tool for finding award flights. The page shows search results for flights from SNA (John Wayne Airport) to Athens, Greece. The search parameters include one-way travel in business class, with a trip duration of up to 1 day. The results display two options: 1. The first option requires 72.5K KrisFlyer miles, with the ability to view details and book the flight. It also shows transfer options from various programs like AMEX, Chase, Citi, and Marriott. 2. The second option requires 85K ANA miles, with similar options to view details and book the flight, along with transfer options from AMEX, Citi, and Marriott. The webpage header includes the AwardHacker logo, navigation links for "About," "Feedback," and "Blog," and options to sign in or sign up.

Low award cancellation/change fees –

Singapore Airlines is one of the most generous airline carriers when it comes to award change/cancellations (second only to Alaska Airlines, in my opinion!), charging just $20-30 for a change or redeposit of miles!

The image is a table titled "Redemption ticket-related charges." The table lists various services and their associated charges for different membership tiers: KrisFlyer, Elite Silver, and Elite Gold, PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club. The services and charges are as follows: 1. No show/late change fees: - KrisFlyer: USD 75 - Elite Silver: USD 75 - Elite Gold, PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club: USD 75 2. Change of date on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights: - KrisFlyer: No charge - Elite Silver: No charge - Elite Gold, PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club: No charge 3. Change of route, cabin class, or award type for tickets issued for flights on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir: - KrisFlyer: USD 20 - Elite Silver: USD 20 - Elite Gold, PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club: USD 20 4. Change of flight, date, route, or carrier for tickets issued for flights on partner airlines: - KrisFlyer: USD 20 - Elite Silver: USD 20 - Elite Gold, PPS Club, Solitaire PPS Club: USD 20 5. Redeem miles of completely unused tickets (subject to validity of ticket and/or miles): - KrisFlyer: USD 30 - Elite Silver: USD 15 - Elite Gold,
Change your mind? Just $20!

Leveraging this generous cancellation/change policy is a great way to get into a Lufthansa First Class award flight, considering Lufthansa does not open First Class award availability until 2 weeks or less prior to the flight. If you are able to book a economy or business class partner award using Krisflyer miles, you can very cheaply change into a Lufthansa First redemption just a couple weeks prior to your flight! And if the award availability does not open up, you could stick with your original routing or redeposit the miles for a tiny fee.

Compare that $20-30 to United’s cancellation/change policy:

The image is a table detailing the award service fees for United Airlines. The table is divided into two main sections: "Fee to book travel" and "Fee to change award travel." The columns represent different membership levels: General member, Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum, and Premier 1K. - For booking a MileagePlus award ticket by phone, through a ticketing office, or airport ticket counter, the fees are $25 for General members, $25 for Premier Silver, $25 for Premier Gold, and no fee for Premier Platinum and Premier 1K. - For booking a MileagePlus award ticket through any channel, less than 21 days before departure, the fees are $75 for General members, $50 for Premier Silver, $25 for Premier Gold, and no fee for Premier Platinum and Premier 1K. - For making a change or canceling with redeposit 61 or more days before departure, there is no fee for all membership levels. - For making a change or canceling with redeposit 60 or fewer days before departure, the fees are $75 for General members, $50 for Premier Silver, $25 for Premier Gold, and no fee for Premier Platinum and Premier 1K. The table is effective for tickets issued on or after October 6, 2016.
Ouch, United… $175 for close in changes!?

Stopovers on round-trip awards –

Singapore Airlines does allow 1 stopover on a round-trip saver award redemption. For example, if my redemption above was a full round-trip (MIA-ZRH-JNB-ZRH-JNB), I would be able to “stopover” in Zurich, Switzerland for as long as I wanted – provided I completed the full itinerary within 12 months! This is a great way to experience two completely different/distinct destinations within a single award redemption!

Of course, United now has the Excursionist Perk available on round-trip awards and if you can understand it, there are some pretty creative route combinations to be had… but that is a post for another day…

Krisflyer Redemption Cons:

Moderate to high fuel surcharges –

While you will you may be able to redeem fewer miles, you will pay for it in the form of fuel surcharges, which may sometimes exceed $200 per one-way! Singapore Airlines policy is to add fuel surcharges to your award booking if the operating carrier imposes them – Travel is free has a pretty great fuel surcharges chart where you can get a better idea on which of the Star Alliance carriers impose the highest fuel charges.

Just recently I was considering the routing mentioned above (MIA-JNB) and found award availability on Star Alliance partner Swiss – routing through Zurich (ZRH). The fuel surcharge on the one-way fare was over $500! This is especially steep when considering the fees on the redemption with United MileagePlus were ~$23…

Note: This was an extreme example as SWISS fuel surcharges a one of the highest of any Star Alliance carrier. 

An additional ~$475 for only 7.5k fewer Ultimate Rewards… probably should stick with United MileagePlan for this one!

Ok, so now that you are up to date on a few Krisflyer basics and pros/cons, let me get to the real inspiration for this post…

PSA – Singapore Airlines DOES NOT have access to all partner award availability shown at United.com

The image shows a vintage radio setup, including an old-fashioned microphone on a stand, a pair of headphones, and a radio receiver with dials and knobs. The equipment is placed on a wooden surface, and there is a framed picture partially visible in the background. The overall color tone of the image is muted and sepia-like, giving it a nostalgic feel.

BEFORE you make any irreversible points transfers into Singapore Airlines Krisflyer, please please please call Singapore Airlines directly and confirm access to award availability you saw on the United site!

Here is my full detailed process I recommend for anyone and everyone thinking about transferring Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou points, and/or Starpoints to travel partner Singapore Airlines for redemption on Star Alliance Partners:

Step 1:

Create a Singapore Airlines Krisflyer Account – (its free!) & study the Singapore Airlines Star Alliance partner award chart for redeeming Krisflyer miles on Star Alliance Partners.

Step 2:

Search United.com for Award Availability of Star Alliance:

The image is a screenshot of an award availability calendar for flights from Miami, FL, US to Johannesburg, ZA. The calendar displays available dates for June 2018 and July 2018. The dates are marked with different symbols indicating Saver Award Economy, Saver Award premium cabin, and Standard Awards availability. The search month is set to June 2018, and there are options to change the search criteria. The calendar shows a mix of available and unavailable dates for award travel.
United.com is still one of the best places to find Star Alliance award availability!

Step 3:

Call Singapore Airlines at 1-800-742-3333 to ensure the flights are available. Follow the prompts to book an award flight on a Star Alliance Partner Airline. Once you have the agent on the phone, tell him/her you would like to confirm the award availability.

The image shows three vintage rotary dial payphones mounted on a wall. Each phone has a handset attached by a coiled cord and a coin slot for payment. The wall behind the phones has a light-colored, textured pattern.
Who ya gonna call!? Singapore Airlines!

THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP! Just because the availability is showing on United, it does not guarantee that Singapore Krisflyer will have access to those same partner awards! There have been multiple instances (once related to the partner redemption on Swiss – as mentioned above – and another instance related to a Lufthansa redemption for my in-laws) where United was showing award availability that was NOT seen by a Singapore Airlines agent. If I would have transferred points prior to calling Singapore Airlines, I would have ended up stuck with Krisflyer miles in my account and without the flight redemption I wanted.

Not the end of the world right? I am sure I could find a use for those Krisflyer miles at some point in my life?

NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND! Remember, Krisflyer miles expire after just 3 years… so if you don’t use em, you lose em… meaning you DO NOT want to make irreversible point transfers into this program!

Ok, so now that we are all on the same page as far as the importance of calling Singapore Airlines BEFORE transferring points…

Step 4:

If seats are available from Step 3, request a points transfer online from Chase, Amex, Citi or SPG to Singapore Airlines (will have to provide your Singapore Airlines Krisflyer# created in Step 1).

It normally takes about 24-48 hours for these points to transfer (despite the “up to 7 days disclaimer”), so you will have to take a little leap of faith here and pray your availability is still there once the transferred points finally appear as Krisflyer miles in your account!

Step 5:

When the points post to your Singapore Airlines Krisflyer account (after 24-48 hours), repeat Step 3 and this time tell the agent that you would like to book the award! Pay the fuel surcharges and such with a rewards credit card (I recommend the Chase Sapphire Reserve for its 3x UR points earning and travel protections), jot down your record locator, and you are good to go!

A hand is holding a Chase Sapphire Reserve Visa credit card. The card is black with a chip on the left side and the cardholder's name, "DEREK S WINTER," printed at the bottom. The background is a wooden surface.
Ain’t she beautiful!?

Final Thought

Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program is worth a look as an alternative to United MileagePlus for award redemptions on Star Alliance partners! With so many positive features and just one little small drawback (unless you are trying to redeem for flights on a partner like Swiss with sky-high surcharges, then it is a huge drawback!), it just may become your new favorite mileage program!

But for goodness sake, whatever you do, please do not start transferring points into your Krisflyer account all willy-nilly without first calling Singapore Airlines ahead of time to confirm your desired award availability!

What has been your experience with Singapore Airlines Krisflyer program? Have you ever redeemed Krisflyer miles for flights on other Star Alliance carriers?

Happy Travels!

DW

The image shows a simple white line drawing of a paper airplane inside a blue circle.

4 Comments

  2. Your cases of seats not being available with SQ could have been phantom availability at UA. I’d check availability at ANA – it’s more reliable than UA!

    Reply

    1. Great tip and agreed! That is exactly what I ended up doing. I’ll add in a note to provide additional details on that.

      Another great tool to check is expertflyer if you have a membership or have a friend who does 😉

      Thanks!

      DW

      Reply

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