Instant and quick ways to top-up a KrisFlyer miles balance

Picture this: after months of fruitless searching, the award space you’ve been hunting for suddenly appears. None of this waitlist nonsense; those seats are staring you right in the face, available for immediate confirmation.

Only one problem — you don’t have enough miles. Or rather, you do, but they’re not in your KrisFlyer account. You need those miles, and you need them now.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways of topping up a KrisFlyer account either instantly, or within 24 hours.

In this post, we’ll analyse the various avenues available, and the costs of each option, whether explicit or otherwise.

Singapore Airlines

Buy from Singapore Airlines

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	None
Cost Involved	US$40 per 1,000 miles

Whoever said “for the best prices, go to the source” obviously never bought KrisFlyer miles before (legitimately, at least!).

KrisFlyer members who have at least 50% of the miles required for an award ticket may purchase the remaining balance from Singapore Airlines. The offer will be made automatically during the online redemption booking process, and miles are awarded instantly. 

The cost will be added to the booking summary, and paid along with the usual taxes and fees. 

While this is extremely low-effort, you’ll pay for the convenience. How much? A whopping US$0.04 per mile (S$0.051).

Because of the high price, this should only be used as an absolute last resort, such as when you need to confirm the seats immediately. Even so, you could just as easily buy a voucher from Kris+ and get miles instantly without leaving the house!

HighFlyer Points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free

HighFlyer Points can be instantly converted into KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio, in blocks of 1,000 points, with no conversion fees.

HighFlyer Points	KrisFlyer Miles
1,000	1,000

There is no limit to the number of KrisFlyer miles you can convert from a HighFlyer account per calendar year, and no limit to the number of nominee accounts that can be paired with a HighFlyer account (although if you want to link more than 15, you’ll need to write in to customer service).

However, each KrisFlyer account can receive a maximum of 100,000 miles from HighFlyer Points per calendar year (or 150,000 miles, if the HighFlyer account is linked to an AMEX HighFlyer Card).

While HighFlyer Points can also be redeemed for Scoot and KrisShop vouchers, lounge passes and KrisFlyer Elite Gold memberships, KrisFlyer miles conversions remain the best value option by far. 

To convert HighFlyer Points to KrisFlyer miles, log in to your Corporate Travel Manager account, click on Travellers > Add New Traveller. 

Once you’ve added the details, click on Use Points > Convert into KrisFlyer miles. You’ll be able to see how many more points each corporate traveller is eligible to receive for the rest of the year. 

Select a traveller and click Convert points. You’ll be able to select the number to be converted on the next screen.

Kris+

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free

While you shouldn’t be spending miles via Kris+ (the default rate of 100 miles = S$1 offers poor value), there’s absolutely nothing wrong with earning them this way.

Kris+ now has more than 500 partners across Australia and Singapore, which offer up to 9 mpd from the Kris+ app, stackable with up to 4 mpd from the right credit card.

Miles earned from the Kris+ app can be transferred instantly to KrisFlyer at a 1:1 ratio, with no fees or minimum conversion blocks.

This makes Kris+ a very simple way of topping off your account — just find a participating merchant near you and spend the requisite amount. Popular options include Bottles & Bottles, Challenger, Harvey Norman, and Paradise Group.

You don’t even need to leave home to do it. Kris+ sells vouchers for selected merchants which can be redeemed later on, letting you enjoy the miles upfront. You’ll earn at the same earn rate as if you were physically at the outlet itself. 

Alternatively, you can shop on KrisShop via Kris+, which earns instant miles that can be transferred to your KrisFlyer account.

Do note that unlike shopping on the KrisShop.com website, purchases made on KrisShop via Kris+ can only be delivered to Singapore.

KrisShop

Speed	⏰ <24 hours
Transfer Cost	Free

KrisShop is Singapore Airlines’ online retail store, offering fragrances, cosmetics, electronics, clothing, travel accessories, wines and more.

KrisShop normally awards 1.5 mpd on all purchases, but members of the free-to-join KrisShopper programme can earn an additional 0.5-2.5 mpd, depending on tier. 

KrisShopper Tier	Earn Rate
Non-KrisShopper	1.5 mpd
Member	2 mpd
Insider	2.5 mpd
Icon	3 mpd
Ambassador	4 mpd

While the official stance is that miles earned through KrisShop take up to five business days to credit, in practice they reliably come within 24 hours.

The main drawback with KrisShop is that items may be priced higher than competing sites. You should do some comparison shopping and make sure you’re not paying over the odds.

If you’re based in Singapore, consider using KrisShop on Kris+ (mentioned above) for instant miles accrual.

Credit card points

AMEX Membership Rewards points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free

American Express Membership Rewards points have a quoted transfer time of one business day, but they reliably show up in KrisFlyer almost instantly.

There is no conversion fee, and transfers are in blocks of just 250 miles.

KrisFlyer shares the same conversion ratio as all of AMEX’s other airline partners.

Programme	Conversion Ratio (AMEX: Partner)
	Plat Charge Centurion	Others
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	500 : 250	550 : 250
	1,000 : 1,000	1,000 : 1,000
	1,000 : 1,250	1,000 : 1,250

HSBC Points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free

HSBC offers instant conversions to KrisFlyer and most of its airline and hotel loyalty partners.

There is no conversion fee, and while the minimum conversion block is 10,000 miles, the increment after that is just 2 miles (for example, you could transfer 10,960 miles, or 40,326 miles).

✈️ HSBC Airline Partners
Programme	Conversion Ratio (HSBC : Partner)
	50,000 : 10,000
	35,000 : 10,000
	35,000 : 10,000
	35,000 : 10,000
	35,000 : 10,000
	35,000 : 10,000
	30,000 : 10,000
	30,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	12,500 : 10,000

🏨 HSBC Hotel Partners
Programme	Conversion Ratio (HSBC : Partner)
	30,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 5,000
	25,000 : 10,000
	25,000 : 10,000

The catch is that on 16 January 2025, HSBC devalued its conversions to KrisFlyer, hiking the price to 30,000 points per 10,000 miles.

This is 20% higher than the best available rate of 25,000 points per 10,000 miles, offered to other partners like Asia Miles, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands or Flying Blue. Therefore, earning KrisFlyer miles with HSBC cards means a lower effective earn rate than those other programmes. 

Transfer Ratio (Points : Miles)	HSBC T1 (Local)*	HSBC T1 (FCY)^	HSBC Revo (Bonus)#
25,000 : 10,000	1.2 mpd	2.4 mpd	4 mpd
30,000 : 10,000	1 mpd	2 mpd	3.3 mpd
35,000 : 10,000	0.86 mpd	1.71 mpd	2.86 mpd
50,000 : 10,000	0.6 mpd	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
*3 points per S$1 on local spend ^6 points per S$1 on FCY spend #10 points per S$1 on bonus categories

So I’d generally advise people against converting HSBC Rewards Points to KrisFlyer miles. Save them for other programmes instead!

OCBC points

Speed	⏰ <24 hours
Transfer Cost	S$25

While OCBC quotes “approximately 21 working days” for miles conversions, in practice, transfers of 90°N Miles, OCBC$ or VOYAGE Miles to KrisFlyer are consistently processed within 24 hours.

In the cases where I’ve transferred both OCBC$ and 90°N Miles, miles were credited later that day.

All transfers are subject to a S$25 fee, and the minimum conversion block is 1 mile (VOYAGE Miles), 1,000 miles (90°N Miles) and 10,000 miles (OCBC$).

OCBC uses several different transfer ratios, depending on programme, but KrisFlyer enjoys its best possible ratio of 1:1 (VOYAGE & 90°N Miles) or 2.5:1 (OCBC$).

	90°N Miles & VOYAGE Miles	OCBC$
	1:1 (VOYAGE)	25,000 : 10,000
	1,000 : 1,000 (90°N)
	1,000 : 1,000	10,000 : 4,000
	1,000 : 1,000	10,000 : 4,000
	1,000 : 1,000	10,000 : 4,000
	1,000 : 900	10,000 : 3,600
	1,000 : 900	10,000 : 3,600
	1,000 : 750	10,000 : 2,900
	1,000 : 700	10,000 : 2,800
	1,000 : 500	10,000 : 2,000
All ratios expressed as OCBC points : partner miles/points

Trust Miles

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	S$27.25

When the Trust Freedom Card launched its miles rewards mode, it also introduced a new rewards currency called Trust Miles.

Trust Miles can be instantly converted to KrisFlyer miles at a 1:1 ratio, with a S$27.25 conversion fee. The minimum transfer is just 1 mile.

Frequent Flyer Programme	Conversion Ratio (Trust Miles: Miles)
	1:1
	1:1

Kris+ Points Transfers

In addition to earning miles at selected merchants, Kris+ also offers instant conversions of points from the following rewards programmes. 

Programme	Transfer Ratio	Min. Transfer
Read More	1 Citi Mile: 0.85 miles 1 ThankYou Point: 0.34 miles	4,000 Citi Miles 10,000 ThankYou Points
Read More	1 DBS Point: 1.7 miles	100 DBS Points
Read More	1 UNI$: 1.7 miles	1,000 UNI$
	25 STAR$: 1 mile	5,000 STAR$

If you’re transferring Citi, DBS or UOB points, do note that the Kris+ transfer rate involves a 15% haircut compared to the number of miles you’d receive if you used the bank’s transfer portal.

For example, 100 DBS Points is normally worth 200 miles via the DBS Rewards portal, but only 170 miles via Kris+.

On the plus side, there are no conversion fees via the Kris+ route, minimum conversion blocks are smaller, and your miles are credited instantly. 

So if you’re looking to do a small top-up, this could still be a viable option. How small? Well, a S$27.25 transfer fee at 1.5 cents per mile is 1,817 miles. Based on a 15% haircut, anything less than 12,000 miles could make sense.

Other loyalty programmes

Atome+ Points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	3.6 cents per mile

Atome became a KrisFlyer transfer partner in August 2022, allowing users to convert Atome+ Points into KrisFlyer miles. The transfer ratio originally started at 2:1, but has since been devalued to 3.6:1.

Transfers are instant, with no conversion fees. Two fixed denominations are available, with a minimum conversion of 900 Atome+ Points (250 miles). 

Atome+ Points	KrisFlyer Miles
1,800	500
900	250

However, since May 2026, each denomination is capped at one redemption per month, which severely limits the number of miles you can redeem. So unless your account just needs a small top-up, this is unlikely to be a viable option. 

What’s the cost involved?

When redeemed for Atome vouchers, 100 Atome+ Points are equivalent to S$1 off. Therefore, the cost per mile is around 3.6 cents.

That is much too high in my opinion, so it’s better to save your points for Max Miles or other rewards instead.

How to do it?

Conversions can be made via the Atome app, under the rewards catalogue.

Remember: once you’ve redeemed a particular KrisFlyer reward, you cannot redeem the same denomination again until the following month.

CapitaStar STAR$

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	2.5 cents per mile

CapitaStar became a KrisFlyer transfer partner in April 2021, allowing members to convert STAR$ into KrisFlyer miles. The conversion ratio was originally 26:1, but has now been slightly improved to 25:1. 

Transfers are instant, with no conversion fees. The minimum conversion starts at 5,000 STAR$ (200 miles), with subsequent increments of 25 STAR$ (1 mile). 

STAR$	KrisFlyer Miles
5,000	200

A maximum of 350,000 STAR$ can be converted each calendar year.

What’s the cost involved?

STAR$ can be used to offset purchases at CapitaLand Malls merchants or redeemed for eCapitaVouchers at 1,000 STAR$ = S$1, so converting STAR$ to KrisFlyer miles is equivalent to buying KrisFlyer miles at 2.5 cents each.

Again, it’s probably a better idea to save your STAR$ for shopping instead.

How to do it?

To convert STAR$ to KrisFlyer miles, open the CapitaStar app, tap on your STAR$ balance > Convert STAR$ to Partner Points > KrisFlyer miles > Enter your KrisFlyer membership number.  You’ll then be asked how many STAR$ you want to convert.

Alternatively, you can also transfer STAR$ via the Kris+ app at the same ratio, as mentioned previously. The transfer ratios and minimum transfer amount are the same. 

GrabCoins 

Speed	⏰ <24 hours
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	2.6 cents per mile

Grab became a KrisFlyer transfer partner in October 2017, allowing users to convert GrabRewards Points into KrisFlyer miles. The partnership continued even after GrabRewards transitioned into GrabCoins, though the conversion rate has been steadily devalued over the years. 

GrabCoins can be converted into KrisFlyer miles at a 13:1 ratio, with no conversion fees., and are usually processed by 12 p.m the following day. Conversions can be made in the following fixed denominations, with a minimum conversion of 50 miles.

GrabCoins	KrisFlyer miles
26,000	2,000
13,000	1,000
6,500	500
1,300	100
650	50

What’s the cost involved?

Given the baseline value of 500 GrabCoins = S$1, the effective rate is 2.6 cents per mile.

My advice is to save your GrabCoins for Grab vouchers instead, preferably during the monthly flash sales where outsized value is available. 

How to do it?

To convert GrabCoins into KrisFlyer miles, open the Grab app and look for the KrisFlyer miles redemption options under the GrabCoins catalogue.

HoteLux Points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	2.3 to 3.9 cents per mile

HoteLux became a KrisFlyer transfer partner in October 2023, allowing customers to convert HoteLux points into KrisFlyer miles.

Transfers are instant, with no conversion fees. The minimum conversion is 4,000 HoteLux points, but how many KrisFlyer miles you get ranges from 12,000 to 20,000 miles, depending on your HoteLux tier.

Each HoteLux member is capped at redeeming KrisFlyer miles once per 12 months “among the three given options accordingly”. This limits the usefulness, since you won’t be able to make multiple conversions over a short span of time.

What’s the cost involved?

HoteLux points are worth around US$0.09 (~S$0.11) when redeemed for hotel vouchers.

The relatively high minimum conversion block means that miles aren’t a great option, because if you can accumulate that many HoteLux points, you’d be better off redeeming a hotel voucher instead.

Should you choose to convert them to KrisFlyer miles, the opportunity cost is:

• Elite: 3.9 cents per mile
• Elite Plus: 2.9 cents per mile
• 1A Club: 2.3 cents per mile

How to do it?

Conversions can be made through the HoteLux app. Tap on your profile name at the top left corner, then select Redeem KrisFlyer miles. 

InstaPoints

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	Up to 3.75 cents per mile

The Instarem Amaze Card added KrisFlyer conversions in March 2025, allowing cardholders to convert InstaPoints into KrisFlyer miles at a 3:1 ratio.

Transfers are instant, with no conversion fees. There is only one fixed denomination available of 1,200 InstaPoints (400 miles).

InstaPoints	KrisFlyer miles
1,200	400

It’s no longer possible to earn InstaPoints on card-linked Amaze transactions. Instead, InstaPoints can only be earned on wallet-linked Amaze transactions, which means sacrificing credit card rewards. Most miles chasers will avoid the Amaze wallet, so it’s unlikely you’ll have a lot of InstaPoints handy.

What’s the cost involved?

InstaPoints can also be converted into cashback at the following rates:

• 1,000 InstaPoints = S$5
• 2,000 InstaPoints = S$25 (capped at one redemption per month)

If we use the 2,000 InstaPoints denomination as our benchmark, then the cost per mile is 3.75 cents — way too high to be appealing.

However, if we use the 1,000 InstaPoints denomination, then the cost per mile is a more reasonable 1.5 cents. That said, I don’t believe it’s the right denomination to be redeeming in the first place. 

How to do it?

You can convert InstaPoints to KrisFlyer miles through the Instarem app.

LinkPoints

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	2 cents per mile

NTUC Link Rewards became a KrisFlyer transfer partner in April 2022, allowing members to convert LinkPoints into KrisFlyer miles. The conversion ratio was originally as good as 1.87:1, but was later standardised to 2:1 for all denominations. 

Transfers are instant, with no conversion fees. Five fixed denominations are available, with a minimum conversion of 50 miles.

LinkPoints	KrisFlyer Miles
100	50
200	100
1,000	500
5,000	2,500
10,000	5,000

What’s the cost involved?

100 LinkPoints can be redeemed for a S$1 rebate, so converting LinkPoints to KrisFlyer miles is essentially buying KrisFlyer miles at 2 cents each.

While 2 cents is on the high side, this is one of the lower opportunity costs for a partner loyalty programme. There may also be occasional transfer bonuses that slightly improve the number of miles you receive, reducing the cost to 1.6 cents.

How to do it?

To convert LinkPoints to KrisFlyer miles, visit the KrisFlyer transfers page. You’ll see the option to link the two accounts (names on both accounts must match), after which you can make transfers. 

Virgin Australia Velocity Points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	2.3 cents per mile

Most readers probably won’t have a Virgin Australia Velocity Frequent Flyer account, since membership is only available to those with a mailing address in selected markets like Australia and New Zealand.

But on the off chance you have one, you can transfer Virgin Australia Velocity Points instantly to KrisFlyer miles at a rate of 1.55 Velocity Points = 1 KrisFlyer mile, with no conversion fees. A minimum transfer of 5,000 Velocity Points is required. 

Velocity Points	KrisFlyer miles
1.55 points	1 mile

What’s the cost involved?

Unfortunately, such transfers will almost certainly be value negative; Points Hacks Australia values Velocity Points at A$0.017 (S$0.015), so you’re paying nearly 2.3 SG cents per KrisFlyer mile.

How to do it?

You will need to link your Velocity and KrisFlyer accounts, which can be done by logging into Velocity > Link & Transfer > Airline Points Transfer. Your name and date of birth must match between Velocity and KrisFlyer.

Once accounts are linked, you can proceed with the transfer. 

yuu Points

Speed	⚡Instant
Transfer Cost	Free
Cost Involved	1.53 cents per mile

yuu Rewards Club became a KrisFlyer transfer partner in October 2024, allowing members to convert yuu Points into KrisFlyer miles at a 3.6:1 ratio.

Transfers are instant, with no conversion fees. A minimum conversion block of 200 yuu Points (56 miles) applies, after which conversions are in blocks of 1 mile. 

yuu Points	KrisFlyer miles
3.6 points	1 mile
Min conversion block: 200 yuu Points

There is no annual cap on conversions from yuu Points to KrisFlyer miles.

What’s the cost involved?

In terms of opportunity cost, the DBS yuu Card either earns 18% rebates or 10 mpd. On the surface, this appears to be simple maths: the cost per mile is 1.8 cents (18/10).

That’s not quite correct. It would be correct if you were dealing with a cashback card, where the rebate is offset against your monthly bill. But the yuu Card is not a cashback card. It’s a rewards card, where the points need to be offset against future spending.

Here’s a simple illustration. Suppose you spend S$600 on your yuu Card and earn 21,600 points. You now have a choice between:

1. Using those points to offset S$108 of spend at a yuu merchant
2. Converting those points to 6,000 KrisFlyer miles

Choosing option 1 implicitly means you forgo the opportunity to earn 1,080 miles on your next transaction at a yuu merchant (because your bill is reduced by S$108, at 10 mpd). Therefore, by choosing the S$108 offset, you’re giving up not 6,000 miles, but 7,080 miles. Based on this, the opportunity cost is 1.53 cents per mile.

How to do it?

To convert yuu Points to KrisFlyer miles, open the yuu app, tap on Me > Transfer to KrisFlyer > Transfer Points > Enter KrisFlyer membership > Select points to transfer

Not that it makes that much of a difference, but transfers are rounded up to the nearest KrisFlyer mile, e.g. 209 yuu Points = 59 KrisFlyer miles (rounded up from 58.06).

What isn’t instant?

Before we wrap up, here are a couple of options that people tend to think are instant — but really aren’t.

Cobrand cards

You might think that cobrand cards would offer instant transfers, given their association with the airline. Well, not quite.

With cobrand cards, the miles earned are batched and credited to your KrisFlyer account once a month:

• AMEX KrisFlyer cards: Miles are credited around the end of your statement period
• KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card: Miles are credited between the 3rd and 5th of the following month

Therefore, it’s not as if you can spend on something today and expect the miles to show up tomorrow.

Pelago

Pelago used to offer instant miles crediting for bookings made through Kris+. This was fantastic, because it allowed you to get an “advance” on miles that you would earn later through completing the activity.

Unfortunately, instant crediting was ripe for abuse, with people booking refundable activities, getting the miles upfront, redeeming them and then cancelling their bookings. While Kris+ would of course attempt to claw back the miles in such cases, there’s only so much it can do if people create single-use burner accounts with nothing else inside. 

Therefore, since 1 August 2025, miles are credited one day after the activity is completed. In practice it’s sometimes faster — I’ve received miles on the same day the activity finished. But in any case, this is no longer a viable option if you need miles quickly.

Can I place an award on hold?

If you’re short of miles and don’t have access to any instant transfer option, you might be able to get an award hold by calling up KrisFlyer membership services.

What this means is that the award seats are held for you, pending the arrival of miles in your account. Once those miles are credited, you proceed to pay for and confirm those seats. The duration of the hold can vary widely, from as little as 24 hours to as long as a few months. It’s not clear how this is determined.

The exact phrase to use is to ask the agent whether they can “extend the ticketing deadline”. If this is granted, you’ll see the itinerary appear in your KrisFlyer account with a “Reserved” label on it (as opposed to “Confirmed”, which means the seat has been paid for and is yours). It will also show when you must ticket the booking by. 

Award holds are not an official policy, and YMMV. All things equal, you are more likely to get one if you’re a Solitaire PPS Club or PPS Club member. 

Conclusion

If you need an instant recharge of your KrisFlyer balance, the most realistic options would be spending on Kris+, or converting AMEX points, HSBC points, Trust Miles or yuu Points. If all that’s needed is a smaller amount, then it might make sense to transfer bank rewards points via Kris+, as the 15% haircut could be offset by the lack of an admin fee. 

Those who are truly desperate could also buy the balance from Singapore Airlines, but given the exorbitant price, this only makes sense if you’re just shy of the number required (and don’t want to buy a Kris+ voucher, for whatever reason).

If you’re able to wait a little while longer, or have been granted a few extra days via an award hold, then transfers of OCBC credit card points and spending on KrisShop can also be alternatives, with miles usually credited within a day.

Any other ways to top up KrisFlyer miles quickly?