Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Frequent Flyer Program guide

If you’re flying with Singapore Airlines, you could earn rewards for your travel through the KrisFlyer loyalty program. Even when you’re not in the air, you can pick up KrisFlyer Miles when you use a credit card, book a hotel, hire a car and when you shop. You can also earn KrisFlyer Miles when you fly with its airline partners, including Virgin Australia.

Once you’ve racked up enough miles, you can redeem them for award tickets and flight upgrades with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and other airline partners.

Whether you want to know how to maximise your points, climb the KrisFlyer membership tiers or discover some of the best ways to spend your miles, this guide to Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program has got you covered.

How can I earn KrisFlyer Miles?

Flights

You can earn KrisFlyer Miles when you fly with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Scoot and its partner airlines. This includes members of the Star Alliance (Air New Zealand, Thai Airways, United Airlines, Air Canada and more) as well as Virgin Australia, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, Alaska Airlines, jetBlue and Vistara.

The number of points you’ll earn will vary depending on which cabin class you’re flying in. For example, let’s look at the difference in points you’d earn depending on whether you’re flying in Economy or Business from Sydney to Singapore.

You can use the Singapore Airlines miles calculator to discover how many miles you could earn on your next flight.

Credit cards

Although there aren’t any credit cards that directly earn KrisFlyer Miles in Australia, there are plenty of cards with rewards that can be exchanged for frequent flyer miles with Singapore Airlines. You can compare some of these cards and the exchange rates you can expect when you transfer your credit card rewards to KrisFlyer Miles below.

Compare frequent flyer credit cards that can earn KrisFlyer Miles

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Name	Product	Purchase rate	Annual fee	Minimum income
St.George Amplify Signature Finder Award		19.74% p.a.	$139 annual fee for the first year ($279 p.a. thereafter)		Up to 200,000 bonus points (130k in the first year & 70k in the second year) when you spend $12k/year for the first 2 years.	Go to site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...
American Express Platinum Edge Credit Card		20.74% p.a.	$195	$50,000	Receive 50,000 bonus points when you spend at least $1,500 within the first 3 months. Plus, receive $200 travel credit each year. Ends 27 Jan 2021.	Go to site More Info	Compare	loading Fetching your data...

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Which Australian banks can transfer card reward points to KrisFlyer Miles?

Hotels

You can also earn KrisFlyer Miles when booking accommodation with hotel partners. This includes bookings made through:

If you belong to the AccorHotels Le Club program, you can also convert your Le Club points to KrisFlyer Miles. Visit the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer website for a full list of hotel partners.

Car rentals

Whether you’re going on a road trip or your car’s in the shop, you can earn up to 500 KrisFlyer Miles when you rent a vehicle with Avis, Europcar and Hertz.

Retail partners

You can earn miles with 2,000+ brands on everything from fashion and beauty products to homewares, gift cards and electronics with KrisFlyer Spree. For example, you could earn 15 KrisFlyer Miles per US$10 spent with Apple Australia via the KrisFlyer Spree store.

KrisFlyer membership tiers

As well as earning KrisFlyer Miles when you fly with Singapore Airlines and other KrisFlyer airline partners, you’ll collect Elite miles. Elite miles are based on the actual miles flown and help you move up the frequent flyer program’s Elite status tiers. The perks vary between the tiers, but you can usually expect more competitive reward earn rates, discounted fees and seating privileges. Here’s a look at how you can reach KrisFlyer Elite Silver and Gold status:

KrisFlyer Elite Silver

You need 25,000 Elite miles to reach Elite Silver status. Your membership will last for 12 months. If you’re an Elite Silver member, you can earn 25% more KrisFlyer Miles on flights with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir. You’ll also receive priority if you’re ever waitlisted on a Singapore Airlines, SilkAir or Star Alliance airline. If you need to fly last minute, you can also take advantage of priority standby with those airlines. You’ll also save on paying fees with a bunch of KrisFlyer services, including a 50% discount when you change your redemption nominees.

You’ll also automatically receive Star Alliance Silver status, which means you can take advantage of extra perks when flying with partnered airlines within that network.

KrisFlyer Elite Gold

You need 50,000 Elite miles to get to KrisFlyer Elite Gold status, which will last for 12 months. Once you’ve reached gold status, you can relax before your next flight with access to more than 1,000 airport lounges (even if you’re flying in Economy with Singapore Airlines and other partnered airlines). You can also enjoy a smoother travel experience with priority airport check-in, extra baggage allowance, priority boarding and baggage handling. Similar to silver, if you miss out on tickets for a flight, you’ll be placed on a priority reservations waitlist.

And also similar to Elite Silver, you’ll earn 25% more KrisFlyer Miles on flights with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir when you’re a Gold flyer.

Elite Gold Rewards

KrisFlyer Elite Gold members can enjoy exclusive perks with Elite Gold Rewards. You can look forward to the following rewards when you accumulate the set Elite Miles when you travel with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir.

What rewards can I redeem with my KrisFlyer Miles?

Flights

You can redeem your KrisFlyer Miles for award flights with Singapore Airlines and SilkAir. The number of miles you’ll need in order to redeem a flight reward will depend on your destination and cabin class – you can use the calculator on the Singapore Airlines website to see how many points you’ll need to redeem your reward flight. For example, you'll need 45,000 miles for a Premium Economy Saver Award Ticket from Sydney to Singapore but 58,000 miles to redeem a Business Saver Award Ticket for the same flight.

You can also use your miles (or a mixture of miles and cash) to redeem flights with Scoot. Until 25 May 2018, you can also redeem your miles for Scoot vouchers, which are valid for 180 days once you get them. You can compare how many points you’ll need to redeem different priced vouchers below:

Flight upgrades

If you’ve already booked a flight with Singapore Airlines or SilkAir, you can also use your KrisFlyer Miles to upgrade your ticket. Let’s say you’d booked that flight from Sydney to Singapore in Economy class. If you wanted to upgrade that flight to Business class, it would cost you 45,000 miles to upgrade from an Economy Flexi ticket to a Business class ticket. You can use Singapore Airlines miles upgrade calculator to see how many miles you’ll need to upgrade your flight.

Velocity Frequent Flyer Points

If you’re also a Velocity Frequent Flyer, you can exchange your KrisFlyer Miles for Velocity Points. You’ll receive 1 Velocity Point for every 1.35 KrisFlyer Mile you convert, with a minimum of 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles required for each transaction.

Hotels and car rental with KrisFlyer vRooms

You can save on your next hotel booking or car rental by covering the cost with a combination of cash and KrisFlyer Miles. You can use your miles to book stays at over 300,000 hotels around the world, including hotel chains including Rydges, Sofitel, Adina, Hyatt and more.

You can also redeem your KrisFlyer Miles for car rentals with partners including Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Sixt holiday cars and Europcar.

You have to use a minimum of 1,500 miles to redeem a hotel stay or car rental via KrisFlyer vRooms.

Shangri-La Golden Circle hotel rewards

Whether you want to redeem spa and dining vouchers, free accommodation or upgrades for an existing booking at the Shangri-La, you can exchange your KrisFlyer Miles for Shangri-La Golden Circle points. You can redeem 12 KrisFlyer Miles for 1 GC Award Point and you need to convert a minimum of 20,000 KrisFlyer Miles per transaction.

Donate your miles

If you’re feeling philanthropic, you can donate your miles to Make-A-Wish Singapore. When you donate your miles, they’ll be used to redeem flights for the beneficiaries of Make-A-Wish Singapore in the fulfilment of wishes that require travel. Although you can donate your miles regardless of where you live, they can only be debited to Make-A-Wish Singapore (rather than, say, your own local Make-A-Wish foundation).

KrisShop

Every 125 KrisFlyer Miles gives you approximately S$1 in spend on krisshop.com. You have to use a minimum of 1,000 KrisFlyer Miles per transaction (or S$8) and if you choose to use a mix of cash and miles, you’ll earn 1.5 KrisFlyer Miles for every dollar you pay with your credit or debit card. You can redeem your points for anything from tech and fragrances to luggage, and wine and spirits via the KrisShop.

However, keep in mind that redeeming your frequent flyer miles for products doesn’t usually offer the best value.

For example, you could redeem an Apple Watch Series 3 for 64,018 miles worth (SGD$512.15). Meanwhile, you could book a Business Saver Award ticket from Melbourne to Hong Kong for 58,000 miles (which can be worth between approximately $2,929 and $3,700). This is just one example of how you can get more value from your miles, so make sure to compare your options before you cash them in.

How can I join the KrisFlyer program?

You can join the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program online for free. You’ll just need to provide information such as your name, date of birth, contact information and country of residence. You’ll also be required to create a 6-digit PIN and fill out a security question for login purposes. Once you’ve joined, you’ll receive your KrisFlyer membership number which you’ll need to have whenever you want to earn points on flights or other transactions.

How does Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer compare to other programs?

Now that you know the ins and outs of the KrisFlyer program, how does it compare to others on the market? To give you an idea, we’ve compared some of KrisFlyer’s features with Qantas Frequent Flyer and Virgin Australia’s Velocity program.

Points expiry

KrisFlyer Miles have a life of three years, which you can extend if you pay a fee. Meanwhile, Qantas and Velocity Points only expire if your account has been inactive for 18 months and 36 months respectively. This means you can easily extend the life of your frequent flyer points just by earning or redeeming points.

So if you plan to hold onto your points for years at a time to redeem your ideal reward, the KrisFlyer expiry conditions could be a disadvantage for you.

Status comparison

KrisFlyer, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Velocity all allow members to climb status tiers as they earn points. To give you an example of how they compare, let’s look at the perks of Silver status and the status credits earned on a one-way Economy class flight from Sydney to Los Angeles with these programs:

Status benefits

Now let’s compare some of the perks you can expect in silver status with the respective programs.

So although it may be easier to climb the status levels with KrisFlyer, the Qantas and Velocity equivalents offer members more perks.

Frequently asked questions about the KrisFlyer program

• Will I earn KrisFlyer Miles for award tickets?

  No, flights paid for using KrisFlyer Miles will not earn miles. However, if you use a mix of cash and miles, you’ll earn miles on the part you paid with cash.

• Does a child’s tickets earn as many miles as an adult ticket?

  Yes.

• Do all Singapore Airlines flights earn miles?

  All Singapore Airlines and SilkAir fares designated with a “G” class are ineligible.

• Do I have to pay to become a KrisFlyer member?

  No, it’s free to join.

• Do I have to live in Asia to become a KrisFlyer member?

  No. You can join regardless of where you live.

Pictures: Singapore Airlines