| This guide is now out of date. Please refer to the latest Stopover guide here. |
One little-known feature of Krisflyer awards is stopovers. I’ll bet you the average Krisflyer member has never booked one before. But for power users like us, stopovers can be a great way of saving thousands of miles each year.
A stopover refers to a break in a journey of at least 24 hours. You can add a stopover to a one-way Krisflyer saver award for US$100, or have a free stopover with a one-way standard award.
Here’s the deal- whenever you’re planning a vacation, book two one way awards instead of a round trip (one way awards cost half of a round trip). Then, think about your return flight like this-
Ending City of Previous Vacation (X)–> SIN Stopover (Y)–> Starting City of Next Vacation (Z)*
*For shorthand, we’ll refer to the ending city of previous vacation as X, Singapore as Y and starting city of next vacation as Z
When you do this, you end up saving miles because redeeming (X–>Y–>Z) costs fewer miles than redeeming (X–>Y) + (Y–>Z) separately.
An example to make things more clear: I’m heading to Tokyo in September to finish off the leftover SIN-HND JAL J segment from my RTW trip (I chose to start and end the trip in Tokyo because it represented a significant cost saving over starting and ending in Singapore, even after positioning to HND).
When planning my flight back to Singapore, my initial thought was to book HND-SIN in SQ F.
Then I remembered- I’m heading to SYD in December in F to hopefully get a chance to try SQ’s new Suites product (although with every day that passes with no announcement I’m starting to have doubts whether we’ll see it deployed by then)
Instead of buying two award tickets like this:
- HND-SIN: 65,000 Miles + $33 taxes (X–>Y)
- SIN-SYD: 80,000 Miles + $67 taxes (Y–>Z)
Why couldn’t I do this instead?
- HND-SIN (stopover)-SYD: 105,000 Miles + $100 taxes + US$100 stopover fee ($136) (X–>Y–>Z)
I’ll do my HND-SIN in September, have a stopover of a few months in SIN, then proceed with SIN-SYD in December. All in all, I’ll save 40,000 miles for an incremental cost of $136. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s a good deal*
(*if you want to be technical about it my actual miles savings were a bit different because I booked SIN-SYD before the Krisflyer devaluation at 63,750 miles + $260. The figures I’ve shown above are post-devaluation figures. In other words I saved less miles and more money. But you get my point)
The maximum stopover duration is 1 year from the date of your first flight on the same ticket. That’s to say, if X–>Y is on September 1st 2017, I must fly Y–>Z by September 1st 2018.
(EDIT: There is some confusion about this so I have reached out to Krisflyer for clarification. Here’s the rule. Suppose on 1 Jan 2017 I book X–>Y–>Z with X–>Y on 1 September 2017 and Y–>Z on 1 Dec 2017. If the ticket is completely unused (i.e. I haven’t flown X–>Y yet), the maximum I can change my Y–>Z is until 1 Jan 2018. However, once i have flown X–>Y, I can then move my Y–>Z subsequently up to 1 year, that is 1 September 2018. Confusing? You bet. But it seems to work in your favour)
Remember that date changes are free of charge with Krisflyer award tickets, so it doesn’t matter if your Y–>Z dates are a bit fuzzy. You can move it as often as you want (subject to there being saver award space) within the constraints of the 1 year period.
Points to note
- You cannot book stopovers on a one-way saver award online. You will need to call Krisflyer membership services to get it done. Give them the date of your first leg and second leg, tell them you know there’ll be a US$100 fee and everything should run smoothly. Remember to call it a STOPOVER, not a layover (layover is 24 hours or less)
- If you’re booking First Class from X–>Y but only Business Class is available from Y–>Z, you’ll pay the First Class price from X–>Z as shown on the award chart, regardless of the fact that you flew J from Y–>Z. This is often the case when your first vacation is to a long haul stop where F is available, but your second is to a regional destination where J is the highest cabin class available
Although date changes do not attract additional fees, route changes do. So, if having flown X–>Y you later decide to change Y–>Z to Y–>A, you’ll need to pay a feeSome people now report that partially consumed tickets cannot be reissued. This wasn’t the case when I tried it some time back, but the policy may have changed so please check with the CSO on your particular case- You may encounter a scenario where X–>Y is available and immediately confirmable but Y–>Z is waitlist only. If this happens, X–>Y–>Z cannot be ticketed immediately and you’ll have to waitlist. I’d recommend you be very flexible about the dates on Y–>Z and pick whichever one has saver space, even if it’s a random date, knowing that you can change the date later for free. It’s much better to lock in X–>Y first, and can worry about negotiating the Y–>Z dates later
- EDIT: An additional point came to mind- if you want to do this you have to be like a pendulum, swinging in one direction through Singapore and continuing to head the other way. In other words, I can’t do SYD-SIN-CHC because that’s a backtracking award. Nor could I do HKG-SIN-TPE, for example, or SFO-SIN-LHR Your next holiday has to be in a place where the East–>West / North–> South direction generally continues. It’s not a big deal for me per se, but if you’re the sort who likes to go to the same place all the time then this might not work for you. The Krisflyer award chart will tell you if it’s possible to fly between two regions.
Ideas and potential sweet spots
Some close study of the Krisflyer award chart will reap dividends, but if you need ideas for potential routings, here are some sweet spots I think are good deals.
(the + in the brackets refers to the incremental cost over ending your journey in Singapore)
- Zone 9 to Zone 1-4 (Same Cost) or Zone 8 (+25K in F/J)
- Zone 5 to Zone 8 (+15K in F/J)
- Zone 11 to Zone 7 (+23/15K in F/J- this is incredible value to me, 15K more miles +US$100 for a second trip to Tokyo!) or Zone 9 (+33/20K in F/J- this is also great, 33K more miles + US$100 for First Class to Sydney, anyone?)
- Zone 7 to Zone 8 (+10K in J)- build in a trip to Perth in Business Class?
- Anywhere to Zones 1-3 (Same Cost)*
*I’ve touched on this topic before when I wrote about the $100 Bangkok Trip, but needless to say regardless of wherever you’re flying back from it almost always costs the same to end your journey in Singapore vs Zone 2 and 3, so if you feel $100 is worth it you can always tag on another flight later on in the year
This is obviously not a complete list so feel free to chime in.
What I love about this opportunity is that it’s a good way for those of us based in Singapore to really stretch our miles. We may not earn them as easily as folks in the USA, but they won’t be able to take advantage of this unless their home base is Singapore.
So, always think one step ahead, and you’ll be saving a lot more miles.
Question: Between your HND-SIN and SIN-SYD, will you still be able to book a SQ flight between these two, i.e. last minute business trip etc.?
You mean a separate ticket? Yes, sq doesnt “track” where you are. The system looks at things on a ticket basis. So I’m perfectly free to redeem whatever other kf tickets I want while I’m on my stopover
Cool thanks! Awesome tip!
Can you elaborate on what you’re going to do (or did) with the SIN-SYD you already booked? Are you able to keep it, while adding HND-SIN to it? Or you decided to cancel it and rebook for a different date?
i couldn’t add HND-SIN to it as it would count as a whole new ticket. fortunately suite saver was still available. so i booked HND-SIN-SYD first, then cancelled SIN-SYD (and they waived the fee for me!)
Cool, thanks. I suspect the next thing you’re going to book is SYD-SIN-(LAX/SFO/JFK)!
that’s something on my mind…basically you have to be a pendulum with this, always with singapore as the pivot point. i realised another implication (and i’ll add this in the article above) is that you have to alternate your vacations so that there’s no backtracking. in other words, I can’t book SYD-SIN-CHC, or TPE-SIN-HKG. if I go to australia, my next holiday has to be somewhere north of australia. if I go to the US, my next holiday can’t be in Europe.
I have an idea. Why not run a contest in your blog – see who is able to cover all zones on the KF chart without overlapping and with the least number of miles.
It would be worth to note that if you cannot use the remaining leg of the itinerary for any reason, no refunds for both miles and taxes. (But you have 1 year to use the ticket.)
I just tried this on the SW app and it says stop over must be between 1 and 30 days…this only works for phone booking?
call in to book it. i’m 100% sure it can be max 1 year.
Ok will do. This is an awesome tip, many thanks!
Hi, just wondering since Sydney is in Zone 9: “Zone 11 to Zone 7 (+23/15K in F/J- this is incredible value to me, 15K more miles +US$100 for a second trip to Tokyo!) or Zone 8 (+23/20K in F/J- this is also great, 23K more miles + US$100 for First Class to Sydney, anyone?)” should read “Zone 11 to Zone 7 (+23/15K in F/J- this is incredible value to me, 15K more miles +US$100 for a second trip to Tokyo!) or Zone 9 (+33/20K in F/J- this is also great, 33K more miles + US$100 for First Class to Sydney,… Read more »
right you are! thank you, have fixed it. i love it when people pay attention
you’re welcome. remember to change the miles required for F/J to +33/20K too. if i read the chart correctly that is.
This is awesome. Bravo you are smart
The schema only works from south-to-Singapore-to-north setup or other way around with requirement to have Singapore in the middle.
I for example am planning to book award ticket from Europe to South Africa and from Europe to Singapore later. Above schema is not going to work in this case
Wished you came up with this article earlier, didn’t know we could save miles this way.
I’ve currently got a return suites ticket to Auckland this Dec and a return business class ticket to TPE in Jun 2018. Would it still be possible to “split” up the return tickets into one ways and make use of this trick?
Also, would it make a difference if one of the legs is on a partner flight and not on SQ? My departure leg to TPE is on EVA.
Looking at the chart, it seems I could save 27500 (SIN-TPE) miles in my trip since Auckland – TPE is the same number of miles as Auckland – SIN. But not sure how to split my return tickets….
no, you can’t split up a round trip ticket. you have to cancel and rebook.
also you cannot do this on an outbound ticket. it will only work for a one way back to singapore. it does not work for star alliance partner tickets which have no stopover provisions
I wonder if you already have, say, AKL-SIN booked, can you add e.g. SIN-HND? Or they may have more sympathy with SIN-BKK coz it’s the same number of miles?
You need to book a new ticket AKL-HND or AKL-BKK and then request for a stopover.
But if I’m already sitting on the AKL-SIN award, and there are no more award space, then it’s GG?
So perhaps another point to note is that this “trick” can only be applied for those awards that are usually easily available. For those unicorns, we usually have to book when schedule opens, leaving no gap for even a dummy stopover.
Yes, practically you need to make up your mind on the next vacation before you book the ‘unicorn’ and preferably the second vacation has to be in a place that has good availability.
What does unicorn here mean?
A very difficult to redeem route, eg sin-jfk in j
I was originally thinking I could split up my return SIN-AKL return ticket into 2 one ways so the AKL-SIN would count as the “one way” back to Singapore. Then split my return SIN-TPE so the outbound SIN-TPE counts as the 2nd leg after stopover to SIN. But now seeing your comment at Star Alliance doesn’t count – does that apply if my particular flight SIN-TPE under BR226 is actually bookable (as revenue) on SQ website itself and is contained in the same ticket…does this count as “code share” or something such that it still qualifies? or once its not… Read more »
Hi,
Just managed to do this on an outbound ticket. Original itinerary SIN-CHC-SIN. Added a CAN-SIN sector before that. Final itinerary CAN-SIN-CHC-SIN. No additional miles required since Zones 1/2/3/4 to 9 only requires 58000 miles.
Spoke to SQ and what is most important is NO BACKTRACKING ALLOWED. So, CHC-SIN-LAX with stopover will be computed as 58000+88000=146000 (no saving). However, CHC-SIN-JFK will be computed as 118000 (instead of 58000+92000), a saving of 32000 miles if you use the stopover feature.
*all classes of travel above in Business
Hope this helps!
Not sure I understand what you’ve done. So you’ve basically added a stopover in singapore so can-sin (stopover) chc? If you booked can-sin(stopover)-chc-sin it means you need to start your next trip over again and will end up paying more. Why not just book can-sin-chc, then chc-sin- next vacation?
Yep, and not sure if the CAN-SIN addon was allowed because SIN-CHC-SIN still has award space.
Hi,
Yes the final itinerary is CAN-SIN (stopover)-CHC, and CHC-SIN. Essentially, the original itinerary was SIN-CHC and CHC-SIN (booked under the same reference), and I managed to add the CAN-SIN sector prior to the SIN-CHC for no extra miles. So it’s like adding a holiday prior to a planned one. The only thing I’ve gotta do is to position myself to CAN to fly back to SIN that’s all. Hope this clarifies!
Did you being charged a ticket reissuing fee for doing so?
And yes, I still have not decided on where my next vacation is after CHC-SIN. But I will definitely use the stopover feature for that.
Has anyone done this to the USA? LAX or San Fran. Where would be a good place to do a stopover?
The only ‘stopover’ place is SIN. In the above examples, only SIN can be the ‘Y’. Of course FRA and HKG can technically be stopover places, but unless you actually live in those cities, it makes no sense.
there are direct flights SIN-SFO now correct? would we be able to add stopovers for such a route then?
I think a lot of people are misunderstanding this article. This is talking about stopovers in singapore, inbetween trip 1 and 2. If you are flying to sfo via hkg you can stopover in HK if you want. But that’s a completely separate topic and has nothing to do with saving miles on your next vacation. This only works on your return leg to singapore, not your outbound. The other poster who wrote about can-sin-chc was already overseas, hence his can-sin is his return leg, sin is his stopover and chc is 2nd vacation But if he flies chc-sin then… Read more »
No, Aaron (NOT the milelion) successfully added CAN-SIN to SIN-CHC. Aaron (THE milelion) wanted to add HND-SIN to SIN-SYD but couldn’t. This is the mystery.
not so much a mystery. i think what happened is they just agreed to waive the change fees involved. see, HND-SIN-SYD is considered a different routing from HND-SIN. So for me to add SIN-SYD to that is like requesting a routing change, which can be done for US$20. Rather than do that I just asked them to cancel HND-SIN and SIN-SYD and rebook HND-SIN-SYD, which they did and waived the usual US$15*2 cancellation fee I’d have otherwise incurred. so they can definitely do this for you, but it’s considered an exception and not a routine thing.
On the date change issue, i was told that after the first sector is flown, u cannot change the 2nd sector (dates included).
so if u have flown HND-SIN, u cannot chamge the date of SIN-SYD.
unless i understand wrongly…
that can’t be right, because this is conceptually similar to a regular date change. i can understand no refunds, but definitely not no date changes. i’ll find out soon enough I’m sure, but based on my conversation with the CSO i’m very certain dates can be subsequently changed.
I can confirm based on my own conversation with the CSO that the 2nd sector dates can still be changed (up to 1 year from 1st sector flight)
Hi Aaron
So are these the correct steps to do this:
1. Book HND-SYD with any date
2. Call the call centre and tell them to add SIN step over for $100.
3. Fly HND-SIN
4. Change the SIN-SYD date to the date you want to actually fly (as long under 1 year from HND-SYD)
is this correct ?
Not sure if this can be done. The first step, as Aaron mentioned, is to call the call centre to book it. Cannot be done online.
Hmm… so step 1 and 2 need to be done at the same time?
As in you need to call the call centre to book a HND-SIN-SYD, then you can resechedule the SIN-SYD to another date?
Hi Aaron, Awesome tips on award bookings. Do you know if any such stopover is allowed on Revenue tickets.
Cancellation fees – I suppose if you cancel the booking, you do not get back this $100 (on top of cancellation fees to be paid)?
Cool tip 🙂 Can you book X-Y-Z with Y as a transit online first and call to add the stopover after? Reason being some of the saver awards can sometimes disappear while calling in and waiting to speak to an agent. Also in your post it’s mentioned that it is possible to change Y-Z even after flying X-Y. The added flexibility is great but are there any restrictions on changing Z after flying the first sector? I suppose you will have to pay USD 20 fee for the routing change and top up miles if the award will require more… Read more »
to answer the 2nd part of your question- what you described is correct. You can change the date of Y–>Z for free. Changing from Y–>Z to Y–>A would incur a rerouting fee + whatever the incremental mileage is. X–>Y is conceptually different from X–>Y–>Z. Note that the only possible places for Y are those where SQ has stops (eg FRA, HKG) or Singapore itself. I’m not sure what you mean by the first part of your question, but if you mean can I book X–>Y first then add on Y–>Z, the answer is yes, sort of, but you’ll conceptually be… Read more »
Ah I realized the intention in the first part of my question wasn’t clear. I was wondering if it’s possible to book the intended routing first online example HKG-SIN-SYD so that I locked in the saver availability for the HKG-SIN sector and then just call in to add the stopover to move the SIN-SYD sector to the actual date I want to fly. Thinking that booking just HKG-SIN first and calling them could be interpreted as a routing change with the additional USD 20 fee whereas booking the exact routing from the start I could explain that I would need… Read more »
ok i got it. yes, you can absolutely do that, assuming you can find a date with available sin-syd space as well. i’ve often found it simpler to just call up the hotline where they can lock you in on hkg-sin and waitlist you on sin-syd concurrently. simpler for me.
Thanks! Any chance you know the answer to my second question on whether it s possible to redeem an open jaw award as a round trip that allows a free stopover? 🙂
sorry, I didn’t quite understand what you were asking. could you rephrase that possibly
I try to do as what Mechu suggested in the first part, but was told that will need to pay the $100 stopover fee + Tax difference (as the tax for X-Y-Z is different from X-Y, Y-Z) + $20 ticket re-issuance fee. I haven’t proceed yet because I not quite agree with the ticket re-issuance fee.
Have another question regarding a stopover but not entirely related to adding an additional one way trip from SIN.
A round trip saver award actually comes with a free stopover. Does anyone know if you can book an open jaw itinerary as a round trip? Example SIN-LHR (open jaw) / LAX-NRT (use free stopover) -SIN. Are there restrictions on the open jaw like it has to be cities within the same country to count as a round trip redemption? This would save the USD 100 fee to add the stopover if you book it as 2 one way trips.
Hi Aaron, does this work if we upgrade our flights using miles? E.g. I have a premium economy flight booked SIN-HKD-SIN and I want to upgrade to business class. How and where can I do a stopover and when must I utilise this by?
SQ does not fly to HKD. I think you may not have understood the article properly- upgrading a flight is conceptually a totally different thing from what we’re talking about here.
hey aaron nice tips
question tho, the booking is it strictly by call? or I can also go ION there to book?
thanks!
Yes, go Ion..i prefer to go Ion as its much easier communicating what I want for my itinerary.
i guess you could go to ion, but why would you want to?
Hi Aaron,
Thanks for the nice tips! You reckon this works for RTW trips too?
Assuming I start in Tokyo, circle around in Asia pacific, pitstop in Singapore. Few months down the road I continue from Singapore Westwards and complete the RTW trip to end in Tokyo.
if I book NRT-SIN-MEL and subsequently change MEL to new Zealand before I fly the NRT-SIN leg, will there be a fee for the change in the final destination? given that the miles requirement is the same
by the letter of the law, yes. this counts as a routing change. however, you can always try asking for a “one time exception”. depends on your status with SQ.
Is there a typo in this statement:
“If the ticket is completely unused (i.e. I haven’t flown X–>Y yet), the maximum I can change my Y–>Z is until 1 Jan 2017.”
Do you mean 1 Jan 2018?
aye. fixed, thanks!
I was trying to book one way F saver SUB – SIN – MEL
with 1 month stopover in SIN
is this an invalid stopover?
CS say cannot pay US$100 for stopover and must do separate booking leh
my bad not SUB-SIN-MEL
it’s CGK-SIN-MEL
Sounds very valid to me. A lot of Indonesians do this route so they can fly with SQ. Hang up try again
thanks dude. called again and got it 😀
excellent, glad it worked out this time. HUCA (hang up call again) is one of the golden rules of what we do…sometimes you just get an inflexible agent or someone who really doesn’t like his/her job
abit offtopic. is there any 4mpd card to use for payment at SIA office? thanks!
Hi Aaron.
So I’ll be redeeming a one way flight to CPT next year, and would like to add on a flight before that from BKK to SIN. I have my dates for CPT, but I’m unsure when I’ll be making my BKK trip.
Is it possible to book the later flight from BKK to CPT, then move the first flight earlier?
so you’re saying BKK-SIN-CPT? If so yes, you have flexibility to move BKK-SIN as and when you please without fee (assuming saver availability- which for BKK should be every day)
Hi Aaron, coming back from SFO next year and i’m trying to make this happen. The bigger question for me is which cities I would be eligible to do the onward leg on. Based on what you’ve mentioned: Zone 11 to Zone 7 (+23/15K in F/J- this is incredible value to me, 15K more miles +US$100 for a second trip to Tokyo!) or Zone 9 (+33/20K in F/J- this is also great, 33K more miles + US$100 for First Class to Sydney, anyone?) I’ve tried calling the call centre and they’re not allowing this to be booked. Even booking online… Read more »
I was talking about zone 11, europe. You’re talking about zone 12, west coast USA. you will not be able to book SFO-Japan with SIN as a stopover because the flight flies over the pacific, past japan, to Singapore. So that is backtracking and not allowed.
zone 11 to zone 7 (europe to japan) via a singapore stopover is legal, as is zone 11 to zone 9 (europe to aussie) via a singapore stopover.
No wonder! Must be cockeyed 😀
On a separate note, if you used krisflyer spree to connect to kaligo, do you get double points? From both KF Spree and kaligo? And must I select KF at kaligo or go with credit cards. The T&Cs aren’t clear.
Hi Aaron,
Love your tips.
I want to ask, if the scenario is ZRH-SIN-CGK but I want to try ZRH-SIN-SYD. Let’s say ZRH-SIN on 2 September’18, because of time constraint SIN-SYD on 10 September’18.
And actually I’d like to book SIN-SYD maybe on Jan’19, you said that the validity of the stopover ticket is 1 year from the 1st trip date right?
Can I do that so I can save my SIN-SYD ticket for my next trip (didn’t the date yet)?
don’t really understand what you’re asking, try to rephrase?
Hi Aaron, hope you see this comment even though this thread is rather old by now. I recently read about One World’s Multi Carrier Award ticket, which apparently allows 5 stopovers, 2 transits and 2 open jaws or something. You can even backtrack and stop in the same country again and again. I am trying to figure out how that works, but seeing that you are already a pro at this, would you be able to do an easy-to-understand article on this award and how we can use it to do multiple holidays on the same ticket? I travel fairly… Read more »
Hi Aaron,
Just booked FRA-SIN-NRT first class, first leg on 30th Oct’18. Will be having stopover in SIN and then SIN-NRT on 2nd Nov’18.
It means I can only change the date of the 2nd leg after I flew my 1st leg and I can change it up to 1 year after it? Am I correct?
My plan is having the SIN-NRT on 2019. Thanks
that’s what the CSO told me, but it sounds weird to me.
But have you or your reader tried it? (change for another date and valid for another 1 year from 1st leg date)
Can i do two stopovers on BKK-SIN-FRA-JFK one way saver?
yes, you’ll need to pay US$100 per stopover though.
Question: Can I check if during the stopover period, I get an untimely business trip to attend in Malaysia, the y>z leg will automatically be forfeited once I get out of Singapore right? are there anyway I can remediate this situation or get a refund? (Sounds impossible but just asking)
don’t understand. How would y to z be forfeited? It’s not as if SQ tracks your passport info and movements
Oh great! I have this misconception that if I make use of this stopover trick for assuming London (X) to SG (Y) to Tokyo (Z), after my first leg London to SG, I will be considered a transit passenger and will not be allowed to go Malaysia without forfeiting my Japan leg. So you are saying that within the one year stopover, I can travel as many time as I want?
Yup, no such travel restrictions exist for stopovers.
wife n I needed a pair of return tix from BKK to SIN in Jan; and we’re heading out to Seoul in Mar from SIN. I say, let’s just get a pair of scoot tix n be done with it. Wife says, hold my beer, and goes on to check out the tips from Aaron. After a few online checks and 2 calls to SQ (HUCA!) and we got a SQ981 biz from BKK to SIN, and a SQ8 biz from SIN to ICN (thanks again to the great advice on choosing the right aircraft with the right seats) At… Read more »
glad it worked out for you!
Hi, anyone know if its possible to hnd- stop over sg and continue to London on a single ticket? Thanks
look at the SQ award chart. it will tell you which zones can be travelled between. the one you have proposed is possible.
Brilliant article Aaron! Do you think it’s possible to do a one-way between US and Aus/NZ? That would be quite a deal for 110k in J!
how are you getting 110k? what zone to what zone?
Can anyone please advise does the actual travel date for the Y-Z reflect on the itinerary and e-ticket?
How to change the date of Y-Z, must call in to request?
Yes, call in and request change once you’ve flown the first leg to maximise your 1 year.
Hi Aaron, just read this thread, and it was very enlightening. Thanks for this!
I have a separate question, how should I handle redeeming of only a 1-way flight? If I redeem 1-way, and pay the return, I cannot justify the cost given that 1 way ticket is usually more pricey when comparing to a return flight.
In this case, your example was redeeming from HND-SIN-SYD. How then would you fund your trip for the initial leg from SIN to HND?
Miles redemption on another carrier/also with SQ.
Hmm but if I am redeeming for a one-way SQ flight, and paying the other one, the paid flight is usually just slightly cheaper than a return flight.
So would it be right to say that miles redemption only makes sense for a return flight? If that’s the case, how do we justify the value in what Aaron is writing, since he has to incur additional cost from SIN to HND, and eventually from SYD back to SIN?
When it comes to miles redemption, a 2 way flight is 2x of a 1 way flight, so I guess the assumption is that your way up would be another miles redemption, be it through SQ or any other carrier. I wouldn’t say that you’re incurring additional cost because as a whole, it’d be cheaper than buying on revenue fare, no? E.g. I’m doing a trip to US later this year, so I’ve redeemed SIN-JFK on EVA, then SFO-SIN-JNB (using the 1 year stopover at SIN), which then means I can either do a JNB-SIN-somewhere else thereby continuing the cycle… Read more »
Thanks Louis and rlee for your inputs! I am much clearer now.
Buying one-way economy on a full svc airline is usually just slightly cheaper than a return flight, which is why I didn’t see the point of redeeming one leg, and buying the other one… I guess what Louis said makes sense, either (1) accumulate enough for a full redemption, or (2) fly budget for the other leg.
I believe rlee has already suggested redeeming the other 1-way ticket. In Aaron’s example, he had already secured SIN-HND using a previous redemption. But yes, a one-way revenue ticket on a full-service carrier will almost definitely be a bad buy – this video illustrates why pretty well. If you’re not able to redeem the first leg of your flight, you can consider flying by budget for that leg (e.g. AirAsia, Scoot for SIN-NRT), or simply waiting until you have accumulated enough miles to redeem your desired itinerary. Some people would consider the first option (fly budget one way, fly business… Read more »
yes, i’d redeem the other 1 way ticket. but (and I know this is depends on a whole lot of factors) i’ve found that with the noticeable exception of SQ ex-SIN, one-way revenue tickets on other airlines aren’t that crazy. SQ does gouge you on one way fares ex sin (usually only available in full fare Y), but if you’re willing to do a 1 stop via say MH or TG it can be downright reasonable. again, depends where you’re heading
Question – CPT/JHB-SIN-IST can be done using this schema?
Hi Aaron, I know this article was written quite a while ago, but I just wanted to give you a special shout out on this.. and in a word, AWESOME!
“I’ll bet you the average Krisflyer member has never booked one before..”
Understatement.. and I wished I had knowned about this earlier.. but still.. thanks to you, in just 3-4 trips and 3 people, I’ve already saved over 100,000 miles and still countless more in the coming future!
?? Many thanks!
I have a real situation that I hope someone (Aaron?) can help with… I have a one-way SIN>HND redemption on J and a separate one-way HND>SIN on F… If I manage to couple the two separate one-ways into a single booking (so that I get 1 free Stopover), would the ‘free’ additional leg be on J or F? or would it be depending on which route (outbound J or inbound F) the Stopover occurs on..? The answer to the above will determine whether I should couple the two into one separate for a free Stopover or pay the US$100 for… Read more »
You can’t combine into a single because SIN HND SIN is not a valid route since its backtracking.
Thanks, @peterlo33, but there’s no backtracking here..
SIN>HND then HND>SIN and I can change SIN on HND>SIN as Stopover and make CGK as destination..
Okay I didn’t read what you said correctly. So you are trying to combine two one way tickets into a return ticket so that you can have a free stopover. I’m not sure that you can combine without a ticket reissuance and I don’t think you can have different classes within a single return ticket. Therefore I don’t think you can do what you propose (ie have a J leg to HND and a F leg back to SIN) since return tickets are calculated based on the highest class. You might end up paying F both ways if your departure… Read more »
Thanks, @Peter, got it!
Hello MileLion / Aaron
Would like to check, if i want to redeem SIN-KIX, and NRT-SIN, if I call the call center, do they count this as 2 way with 1 free stop over? Because if I do this online, i have to do 2x one-way separately.
Also, for NRT-SIN, there is an option for NRT-PVG-SIN. can i use my stopover to stop at PVG?
Seek your kind advise please?
Thank You
Rgds
Called the CSO to check with them already.
You can book SIN-KIX. NRT-SIN as open jaw, and they will let you have one free stopover.
And there is no restriction on the stopover being inbound or outbound.
ie. SIN-PVG-KIX, NRT-SIN is possible.
when you talk about SIN-PVG-KIX/ NRT-SIN you are talking about a star alliance award, in which case they do allow an open jaw and a stopover on a round trip itinerary. this article is only talking about flights on SQ metal.
after scrolling through all the comments again… has anyone successfully changed the second half of the ticket after travelling the first half of the ticket for a rerouting fee? i.e. tried to change an A-SIN-B ticket to a A-SIN-C ticket after A-SIN has been flown?
Hi,
Any suggestion for which city to visit in Europe? Will like to use Singapore as the stopover for a trip from Europe to Sydney.
this would be a rerouting of a partially used ticket. my understanding is it’s not allowed
Where can I find what is meant by Zone 1, etc ?
“Zone 9 to Zone 1-4 (Same Cost) or Zone 8 (+25K in F/J)”
Hi Aaron was studying the award chart & Zone 9 to Zone 8 (e.g Sydney to Perth) is not allowed. Which zone are you referring to?
You can’t go from zone 8 to 9 (or vice versa).. SQ doesn’t fly from 8>9.. the “+25K” is in miles, from J to F..
Hi. I need expert advice from the experts here. In May, I had booked DXB-SIN-AKL (DXB-SIN in Mar 2019, SIN-AKL in Aug 2019) using the US$100 trick. Due to a change in plan, I called KF two weeks ago and asked them to change my ex-SIN flight to HKG. And because DXB-SIN-HKG would require fewer mioles than DXB-SIN-AKL (15,500 mile per person), I assumed that the excess miles iwll be refunded to me account. I went ahead with the change (with additional payments for changes) but during the call, I was not informed by the CSO that the excess miles… Read more »
I afraid they’re correct.. any change that results in fewer miles needed, will be lost.. Super sucky.. big diff in miles needed SIN>AKL vs SIN>HKG..
Don’t know where or if it’s anywhere to be found.. I’d gamble to say I’m quite sure it’s somewhere in their Ts &Cs..
You could well try to appeal.. that you weren’t aware.. but you’ll still need a destination that requires either same or more miles than SIN>AKL..
Good luck..
I did a re-routing last year before the change in the KF policy this year. I had to cancel my initial booking and book a new award flight. Not sure if it can apply for you.
That’s possible.. but now this will come with USD75 Redeposit Fees for each booking.. if done 2x One-way then that USD150..
I. Singapore Airlines and SilkAir redemption and upgrade awards 11. An award ticket may be reissued, but only for travel by the same person and provided no part of the award ticket has been used. Additional KrisFlyer miles may be applicable. If the new journey requires fewer KrisFlyer miles, the excess cannot be refunded. The award ticket at the point of reissue must still be valid. There will be a reissue fee for each ticket. The reissued ticket must have the same expiry date as the original ticket and it must be for the same airline. However, if the date… Read more »