KrisFlyer AirMiles Redemption Guide | Credit Cards in Singapore

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by Priyadarshini 30 December 2021

So you’ve finally decided to become a full-fledged travel hacker. To begin collecting miles in order to achieve your lifelong dream of travelling the world. In this blog, we tell you all about collecting air miles and a KrisFlyer Airmiles redemption guide. 

KrisFlyer AirMiles Redemption Guide

Become a KrisFlyer Member

First and foremost, if you aren’t already a member, you must join up for KrisFlyer membership. You only need to complete out an online registration form. KrisFlyer membership is completely free. You could want to check the Singapore Airlines website for a sign-up promotion, which is uncommon but does occur on occasion. KrisFlyer handed away 1,000 miles to new signups earlier this year, but the promotion expired in March 2018. KrisFlyer is a loyalty program that rewards users for spending money on the following airlines:

Star Alliance airlines (e.g., ANA, Thai Airways, Lufthansa, SWISS, United Airlines) SQ partner airlines (Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Virgin, Vistara). For the majority of these, you’d earn 50% to 100% of the actual miles travelled as KrisFlyer miles. A round-trip flight from Singapore to Bangkok, for example, is 1,760 miles. If you fly Economy, you can earn 50% (880 miles), 75% (1,320 miles), or 100% (1,760 miles) in KrisFlyer miles, depending on whatever fare class you purchase your tickets under. 

If you fly Premium Economy, Business, or First class, you can earn 125 to 200 percent more KrisFlyer miles. It also implies that if you’re serious about accumulating miles, you might not want to fly on a tight budget.

Earn KrisFlyer Miles by Spending Regularly

Obviously, purchasing airline tickets allows you to earn KrisFlyer miles. But that’s kind of backward, isn’t it? The whole goal of accumulating miles is to not have to pay for your flights! What you truly want is to earn KrisFlyer miles on your everyday purchases. That way, you’d get your flights “for free.”

Ideally, you would allocate every single dollar of spending to accumulating KrisFlyer miles. This requires dedication. It entails far more than simply selecting one credit card and hoping for the best. To play the miles game properly, you must be a total nerd and conduct a lot of research on the following ways to gain miles.

Rewards programs: Look through the KrisFlyer partner website to see which rewards programs you can join. This includes not only travel and hospitality, but also things like gas stations, supermarkets, and telecommunications companies.

KrisFlyer Shopping Spree: Are you about to check out your shopping cart? STOP RIGHT THERE. Before you buy anything online, use KrisFlyer Spree to earn miles on popular sites like iHerb, ASOS, and BookDepository.

Credit cards for air miles: A decent miles credit card is a must-have for any points chaser, especially if you travel frequently and/or have significant local spending. Consider obtaining a card that offers a welcome miles incentive to jumpstart your KrisFlyer account balance.

Credit cards with rewards: Combine your miles credit card with a rewards card to maximize your shopping and day-to-day transactions. The right one will allow you to earn up to four miles for every dollar spent.

Convert your KrisFlyer Miles to Rewards Points

While you’re optimizing your life for KrisFlyer miles, keep in mind that you’ll be earning a lot of these miles indirectly, in the form of rewards points or bank points.

Validity term or expiry date: Each rewards program has a separate validity period or expiry date. You must be aware of these and create a reminder for yourself to redeem them before they go. Don’t throw away your hard-earned points!

Denominations: Become acquainted with the rewards catalogs of all the reward programs in which you are enrolled. You don’t need to compare the “exchange rates” because KrisFlyer is meant to be neutral toward all of its partners. The denominations, on the other hand, are crucial. Check if you can acquire enough points for the denominations available within the time limit.

Conversion charge: When converting bank points like Citi Miles or DBS Points to KrisFlyer miles, you must normally pay a $25 conversion fee each time. This will increase your costs, so obviously you should collect as many points as possible and convert them all at once.

Determine how many KrisFlyer miles you will require for your journey

As you get into the habit of accruing miles or points, it’s useful to know how many KrisFlyer miles you’ll need to book your dream flight. This assists you in identifying a clear goal toward which you can strive.

Zone: The number of miles required is determined by zones rather than the actual distance. For example, all of Europe is in Zone 11, so flying to Greece or Sweden costs the same.

Cabin class: Flying Premium Economy will cost you more, Business will cost you much more, and First Class or the coveted Singapore Airlines Suites will cost you the most. However, many miles chasers would rather save their miles for Business or Suites, which are so expensive that you’d never pay for them in cash.

Complete the actual KrisFlyer AirMiles Redemption Guide

Here’s a list of things you can do with those KrisFlyer miles you spent so long accumulating, along with quick links to the applicable pages:

Free flights on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir can be redeemed.
Star Alliance members can use their free flights to go throughout the world.
Free flights on SQ partner airlines can be redeemed.
Upgrade paid Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights.
Upgrade paid flights on Star Alliance and Singapore Carriers partner airlines.
Scoot flights can be paid for with KrisFlyer miles.
Use your KrisFlyer miles to pay for non-flight expenses.

How to get free flights: Through singaporeair.com, you can redeem free flights, known as “reward flights,” on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir. Star Alliance and SQ member airlines, on the other hand, are only partially connected with KrisFlyer miles. If you are unable to redeem your flight online, you can book by filling out a reservation form or calling KrisFlyer.

Upgrade paid flights: If you don’t have enough KrisFlyer miles to book the ticket you want, you can use your miles to upgrade your (paid) flight to the next cabin class, such as Premium Economy or Business.

Use KrisFlyer miles to pay for Scoot flights: Singapore Airlines no longer offers vouchers for Scoot tickets, but you may still use your KrisFlyer miles as “currency” to pay for your Scoot flight. (You will undoubtedly be condemned by other travel hackers, but hey, it’s your life.)

Use KrisFlyer miles to pay for other things: It goes without saying, but you can use KrisFlyer miles as money to pay for things like KrisShop purchases or KrisPay businesses. I suppose it’s a good method to utilize up random leftover miles that are about to expire.

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