PSA: KrisFlyer miles expire once more from July 2023

When COVID-19 hit, Singapore Airlines announced that it would extend expiring KrisFlyer miles by a further six months, the first time such an extension had been granted- even during SARS, there was no similar concession! 

What started off as a one-off extension ended up becoming a recurring feature, as borders remained shut for the better part of two years. And just when it looked like the airline would sunset the policy and expire miles again from 31 January 2023, a last-minute reprieve was granted, meaning no miles would expire before 31 July 2023.

But July is now here, and it’s clear that Singapore Airlines meant it when they said the previous extension was “final”. With COVID now in the rear-view mirror, KrisFlyer miles have reverted to their pre-COVID expiry window of three years.

The first batch of miles will expire on 31 July 2023, so take note! 

KrisFlyer miles revert to three-year expiry window

Singapore Airlines’ mileage expiry policy can be found below:

“A member’s KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years (or one year for KrisFlyer miles received from contests) at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on the last day of the equivalent month in which they were earned. For example, KrisFlyer miles credited to a member’s KrisFlyer account in July 2017 will expire at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on 31 July 2020.” -KrisFlyer T&Cs

In short:

• KrisFlyer miles will expire three years after they were earned
• KrisFlyer miles won from contests will expire one year after they were earned

All expiry takes place at the end of the month, e.g. miles earned from 1-31 July 2017 all expire on 31 July 2020. 

When making a redemption, the KrisFlyer miles with the earliest expiry date are always used first.

Where can I find my expiring miles?

You can see a summary of all miles due to expire in the next 12 months by logging in to your KrisFlyer account and clicking on the Miles Validity tab, under the Miles header. 

Note the “Miles eligible for extension” column. KrisFlyer members have a one-time option of extending their miles by paying a fee of 1,200 miles or US$12 (~S$16) per 10,000 miles. This grants a 6-month or 12-month extension, depending on tier.

Should you pay the extension fee in cash or miles? It boils down to how much you value a mile:

• If your value per mile is below 1.34 cents, pay with miles
• If your value per mile is more than 1.34 cents, pay with cash

Perhaps a better question is whether you should pay to extend miles in the first place, and I lean towards no. This merely kicks the can down the road, and even if you can’t fly in the near future, there’s still ways of getting some value out of them. 

What to do with expiring KrisFlyer miles?

The table below summarises the options for redeeming KrisFlyer miles.

In addition to this, you can also consider redeeming miles for KrisFlyer Experiences (the F1 packages should be going live soon), or donating them to Make-A-Wish Singapore.

If you intend to redeem your miles for a future award flight, you can book up to 355 days in advance on Singapore Airlines (fresh award availability is loaded at 8 a.m SGT each morning), or any of its Star Alliance/other airline partners.

In other words, the expiry date refers to when miles need to be redeemed by, not necessarily when you need to travel by.

However, I want to emphasise that miles have a memory. Cancelling an award does not give miles fresh validity (otherwise everyone would be gaming the system by making reservations and cancelling them, “renewing” their miles for a US$50/75 cancellation fee).

For example:

• I have miles expiring on 31 July 2023
• On 15 July 2023, I book an SIA award ticket to fly on 15 December 2023
• If I cancel this award ticket after 31 July 2023, I will not get any of my miles back (because they’ve expired)

Also note that once the expiry date has passed, you will not be able to make any changes that require a ticket reissuance, such as:

• Destination
• Cabin
• Carrier

You can continue to make date changes up to the validity of the ticket (one year from booking date), as these do not require a reissuance.

In any case, I’ve analysed all the ways you can spend your expiring miles in the article below.

What to do with expiring KrisFlyer miles

Conclusion

After a stay of execution lasting more than three years, Singapore Airlines will resume expiring miles at the end of July 2023. I’d urge everyone to check their accounts and do whatever housekeeping they need to do- there’s no downer quite like seeing your hard-earned miles vanish before your eyes!

The first best solution is to use your miles for a flight redemption, which can be up to 355 days away. However, if that’s not feasible then getting suboptimal value through on-the-ground redemptions is still better than getting no value at all.

Now, if only Singapore Airlines would shift to an activity-based expiry policy…