Yesterday, Singapore Airlines pulled a surprise switcheroo by replacing November’s Spontaneous Escapes with a KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale.
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| KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale |
This offers 25% off Economy Saver awards on all SIA flights, and 25% off Premium Economy Saver awards on selected non-stop SIA flights between Singapore and the USA. More intriguingly, unlike Spontaneous Escapes and its “travel next month” rule, this covers travel from January to July 2024.
The sale runs for just one week, so you’ve got a decision on your hands. Lock in travel plans for 2024, or sit this one out?
But it’s Economy Class…
I get it. No one gets into the miles game because they dream of flying 14 hours in a middle seat at the back of the bus.
In fact, I generally don’t recommend redeeming miles for Economy Class for the simple reason that most travellers could afford Economy Class if they really had to (I mean, how else would they get there?).
On the other hand, few would be willing or able to buy First or Business Class tickets, and in that sense, the big draw of miles is their ability to give access (to the First/Business Class cabin) rather than value.
That said, I don’t want to be dogmatic about it. If you have a lot of mouths butts to redeem for, and if this promotion allows you to bring the whole family on a well-deserved trip, then by all means!
Ultimately, the best redemption is the one that makes you happy.
Details: KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale
In case you missed the excitement, here’s the ground rules of the KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale:
- Awards must be booked between 16 October 2023 (0000 hrs, GMT+8) and 22 October 2023 (2359 hrs, GMT+8)
- Travel must be from 1 January 2024 (0000 hrs, GMT+8) to 31 July 2024 (2359 hrs, GMT+8)
- Awards cannot be changed or cancelled
- Awards cannot be waitlisted- it’s either available or it isn’t!
- Must be booked via SingaporeAir.com website or SingaporeAir mobile app
- Discounts apply to both one-way and round-trip travel
- No blackout dates, but inventory is limited. If you don’t see awards on a particular date, they’ve probably been fully redeemed
To book these awards, be sure to select the Promo category when making a reservation.
Here’s a reminder of how Promo awards differ from Saver or Advantage:
| โ๏ธ KrisFlyer Award Comparison |
|||
| Promo | Saver | Advantage | |
| Price | โ | โโ | โโโ |
| Availability | โ | โโ | โโโ |
| Date change | N/A | US$25 | Free |
| Change route, cabin, award type | N/A | US$25 | US$25 |
| Refund | N/A | US$75 | US$50 |
| Stopovers | 0 | RT: 1 OW: 0 |
RT: 2 OW: 0 |
| Travel period | 1 Jan-31 Jul 24* | Up to 355 days in advance | |
| Waitlist | N/A | Possible | |
| โ ๏ธ For Economy Class awards only | |||
| There’s one more difference that applies to Economy Class awards only. Economy Promo and Saver awards receive complimentary standard seat selection. Economy Advantage awards receive complimentary forward zone and standard seat selection. | |||
| *For KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale only; normally travel must be in the next calendar month | |||
With the exception of the travel period, it’s pretty much Spontaneous Escapes rules. And since that means no changes or cancellations, you need to make sure your travel plans are locked in, or buy travel insurance that covers miles and points bookings.
Here’s how much one-way Economy and Premium Economy awards will cost under the KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale. Remember: all of Singapore Airlines’ global destinations are on sale in Economy, while only selected destinations are on sale in Premium Economy.
| โ๏ธ KF Global Redemption Sale (Economy Class) |
|
| From Singapore to… | Miles |
| Zone 2 Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei |
|
| Zone 3 Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos |
10,125 |
| Zone 4 South China, Hong Kong, Taiwan |
12,375 |
| Zone 5 Beijing, Shanghai |
16,125 |
| Zone 6 India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh |
15,000 |
| Zone 7 Japan & South Korea |
20,250 |
| Zone 8 Perth & Darwin |
16,125 |
| Zone 9 Australia (ex-Perth & Darwin) & NZ |
22,875 |
| Zone 10 Africa, Middle East, Turkey |
21,750 |
| Zone 11 Europe |
31,500 |
| Zone 12 USA (West Coast) |
31,500 |
| Zone 13 USA (East Coast & Houston) |
33,000 |
| โ๏ธ KF Global Redemption Sale (Premium Economy Class) |
|
| From Singapore to… | Miles |
| San Francisco | |
| New York JFK | 60,375 |
| Newark | 60,375 |
What awards are worth booking?
Earlier this year, I wrote a fun little article on the best value KrisFlyer redemptions, based on real-world miles flown per KrisFlyer mile redeemed.
It’s a simple heuristic for sure (you can stop sending letters to the editor), but put it this way: if something was good value at regular Saver prices, it’s even better value at 25% off Saver prices.
Based on that, I’d recommend the following Economy Class awards:
| Destination | Price |
| Houston Newark New York JFK |
33,000 |
| Los Angeles San Francisco Seattle |
31,500 |
| Amsterdam Barcelona Copenhagen Frankfurt London Manchester Milan Munich Paris Rome Zurich |
31,500 |
| Cape Town Istanbul Johannesburg |
21,750 |
| Auckland Christchurch |
22,875 |
Of course, this might be a little too simplistic- if you want maximum value for your miles, you should look at what the cash prices are for Economy Class tickets on the particular dates you’re planning to travel.
What about Premium Economy? Well, the main reason why I hesitate to recommend this is because even though Premium Economy is a comfort upgrade compared to Economy, it’s still more Economy+ than Business-.
Moreover, even with the discount, we’re still talking ~80% more miles compared to Economy. I welcome opinions on this, but in my book Premium Economy isn’t 80% better than Economy.
| Economy Promo (w 25% off) |
Premium Economy Promo (w 25% off) |
|
| San Francisco | 31,500 | 56,250 (+79%) |
| New York (JFK/EWR) | 33,000 | 60,375 (+83%) |
Alternatives
If you’re planning to redeem Singapore Airlines flights, KrisFlyer might not necessarily be the cheapest way of doing so- even with this sale!
For example, Turkish Miles&Smiles (a transfer partner of Citi) charges 30,000 miles for one-way Economy Class awards between Singapore and Europe. This is marginally cheaper than the 31,500 miles with KrisFlyer (with the same cash payment), but more importantly, Miles&Smiles tickets can be changed or fully refunded for a US$70 fee.
Likewise, Miles&Smiles charges 20,000 miles for one-way Economy Class awards between Singapore and Japan/South Korea. That’s again marginally cheaper than the 20,250 miles with KrisFlyer, with the added benefit of flexibility.
This does assume you have Citi points to transfer to Miles&Smiles, however. If you don’t, then this is a merely academic exercise.
Conclusion
When I saw that the KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale didn’t cover Business Class awards, my first instinct was to tune it out. But the more I think about it, the more I can see potential use cases, especially for families and those lucky enough to be able to sleep upright for 80%+ of the flight and wake just before landing.
If that describes you, then there’s certainly some attractive deals to be grabbed. Just make sure your travel plans are firmed up!
Will you be pulling the trigger on any KrisFlyer Global Redemption Sale awards?
great article, so the bottom line for those people like me who typically use miles for Business class redemptions is not to consider this as the miles-to-dollar value is not worth it? did i understand that correctly?
more or less. i don’t think this campaign is targeting the miles fanatic community. it’s more aimed at the casual KF users who are looking for good value deals- and there’s nothing wrong with that, mind.
Iโd say the redemption for Bali is extremely useful. 38k miles for 3 pax return flight, with lots of dates available, hard to beat !
The thing about short haul though is that there’s budget options which may make redeeming miles less compelling. Though on some dates even budget flights can be very expensive!
Yap! Budget could be. I would say Bali flights are pretty vfm in my mind to redeem for. I often spot Bali economy flights to cost more than Bangkok flights on SQ normally. Yet, the miles to redeem Bali flights are less than Bangkok. So, I would go for redemption of Bali flights where possible.
Ironically Bali is also the best use of the Zone 1 redemption for business class. I see myself
Picking up whatever scraps there is on J.
This promo was perfect for my use case. I almost always redeem economy because 1) Iโm quite comfortable to fly 16 hours in economy, and 2) I value more frequent travel/bringing my partner along for free vs. the added comfort of business. In an ideal world I could do both but I only have so many miles! I will say however that one of the main benefits of award tickets being flexible is not the case here but I just got the Singlife travel insurance that covers miles and lets you cancel for any reason, for a 50% refund. Was… Read more »
Thanks for writing this article. With the Covid-era bonuses and multipliers disappearing, it is increasingly difficult to strive for premium class redemptions, especially for folks who do not travel for work or charge business expense to their cards. Your sharing on Economy redemptions is practical advice where readers wanting to take their families on an annual holiday can defray the cost of air travel, which is undoubtedly becoming more expensive. โ Ultimately, the best redemption is the one that makes you happy.โ This is excellent advice. Not many miles websites will keep it real like you. And I believe many… Read more »
Actually, not everyone gets into the mile game to aim for business/first class tickets. I find that this is one of the blind spots and underserved segment for your articles and perspective. Iโm sure you are aware that thereโs also Andrew, your competitor, and this can actually be one of your differentiation. Why do people like me get into the mile game? To get to as many countries in the world as possible. For the mile spent on business class tickets, I would rather spend it on another destination. SIA is part of the star alliance so itโs really a… Read more »
is there any website that we type the destination, and it will show the points needed for every airline?