Back in 2016, Singapore Airlines launched a partnership with Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts called Infinite Journeys, which provides two-way points conversions and mutual elite recognition, including a fast track up to Shangri-La Circle Jade or KrisFlyer Elite Gold.
The regular conversion rate represents poor value, but Infinite Journeys is now running a 50% conversion bonus for transfers between Shangri-La Circle and KrisFlyer, which improves things somewhat. If nothing else, it could be useful for those with expiring miles and no upcoming travel plans.
Infinite Journeys 50% transfer bonus
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| Details |
The Infinite Journeys 50% transfer bonus runs from 12 p.m on 1 October 2023 to 12 p.m on 30 November 2023 (Singapore time).
KrisFlyer members will be able to transfer miles to Shangri-La Circle Points at a rate of 8 miles =1 point, with a minimum conversion of 20,000 miles.
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| KrisFlyer | Shangri-La Circle |
| 1 points | |
Shangri-La Circle members will be able to transfer points to KrisFlyer miles at a rate of 1 point= 1.88 miles, with a minimum conversion of 1,000 points.
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| Shangri-La Circle | KrisFlyer |
| 1 point | |
A maximum of 180,000 KrisFlyer miles can be converted to Shangri-La Circle Points per calendar year. Conversions in the opposite direction have no cap (probably because they represent such terrible value- see below!).
To transfer points between programmes, you’ll need to link your KrisFlyer account to your Shangri-La Circle account.
- Log in to your KrisFlyer account, click on โProfileโ, then โPartner Programmesโ
- Under โAdd partnerโ, select โNon-airline partnerโ for the category and โShangri-La Circleโ for the partner from the drop-down list
- Key in your Shangri-La Circle membership number and click โAddโ
- To link your accounts together, select ‘Link’
The upsized rate will be reflected on the KrisFlyer website when you make a conversion.
Is this good value?
Following a massive devaluation in April 2022, Shangri-La Circle Points now have a fixed value of 15 points per US$1 when spent on hotel stays, dining or spa experiences. This means that each point is worth about 9.1 SG cents.
In other words, transferring KrisFlyer miles to Shangri-La Circle Points with the ongoing promotion means a value of 1.14 cents per mile, instead of the usual 0.76 cents.
In the overall pantheon of options for spending KrisFlyer miles, that’s not terrible, though it certainly can’t beat an award flight redemption. Still, this offer is a far cry from what we saw back in 2018 when the bonus was 100%, and remember, Golden Circle points were worth almost 2X their current value back then!
| โ Options for Spending KrisFlyer Miles | ||
| Redemption Option | Value per mile | |
| โ๏ธ | Award flights | โค5 cents |
| ๐จ | Shangri-La Circle conversion | 1.14 cents |
| โ๏ธ | Cash + Miles | 0.95 cents |
| ๐ก | Pelago | 0.83 cents* |
| ๐ | KrisFlyer vRooms | โฅ 0.8 cents |
| ๐๏ธ | KrisShop | 0.8 cents |
| ๐ฌ | CapitaStar conversion | 0.7 cents |
| ๐ฑ | Kris+ | 0.67 cents |
| ๐ | LinkPoints conversion | 0.65 cents |
| ๐จ | Marriott Bonvoy conversion | 0.5 cents |
| โฝ | Esso Smiles conversion | 0.33-0.67 cents |
| *Temporarily upsized till 31 Dec 2023; normally 0.67 cents |
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If you have expiring KrisFlyer miles and no upcoming travel plans, then I suppose this would be one of the better things you could do with them.
On the other hand, I certainly wouldn’t consider transferring Shangri-La Circle Points to KrisFlyer miles, even with this promotion. To illustrate, 1,000 Circle Points are worth ~S$91 if spent at Shangri-La hotels, but if you convert them to 1,888 KrisFlyer miles, you’ll have at best S$28 of value (based on 1.5 cents per mile).
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs of this transfer bonus can be found here.
Infinite Journeys status match
In addition to two-way points conversions, the Infinite Journeys partnership provides elite members with a fast-track to elite status in either programme.
Shangri-La Circle Jade or Diamond members receive instant KrisFlyer Elite Silver membership upon registration, and will be upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold if they complete:
- Jade: Three eligible flights within four months of registration
- Diamond: One eligible flight within four months of registration
Eligible flights exclude award bookings, codeshares, or booking class code G (used for Group fares).
PPS Club or KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will enjoy an upgrade to Shangri-La Circle Jade membership when they stay at least one night (on a qualifying rate) at any Shangri-La Hotel and Resort, Kerry Hotel, JEN Hotel and Traders Hotel worldwide.
For more details on the status match, refer to this page.
Conclusion
From now till the end of November, KrisFlyer and Shangri-La Circle members can enjoy a 50% bonus when they transfer points or miles in either direction.
While it certainly doesn’t make sense to transfer Circle Points to KrisFlyer miles, it could make sense the other way, provided those miles are due to expire soon and you have no inclination to redeem an award flight.
