The general rule of credit card points is that they can only be transferred to your own frequent flyer account.
For example, if Jack has 100,000 Citi Miles on his Citi PremierMiles Card, he canโt transfer those points to Jillโs frequent flyer account (even if Jill is his supplementary cardholder). Jackโs credit card points are for Jackโs frequent flyer account only, and banks and airlines conduct regular audits to ensure this rule is adhered to. Transfer points to an account thatโs not in your name, and at best itโll bounce; at worst youโll be subject to an audit that could lead to the miles being confiscated and the account shut down.
But even if youโre the one whoโs doing all the flying and spending, itโs still possible to share your miles with family and friends. For Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, that comes in the form of the redemption nominee system.
How does KrisFlyerโs redemption nominee system work?
Unlike other frequent flyer programmes like Avianca LifeMiles or Alaska Mileage Plan where you can redeem a ticket for anyone you like, KrisFlyer uses a more specific redemption nominee system.
KrisFlyer allows members to nominate a maximum of five redemption nominees at any time.
- Adult and child (aged 2 and older) nominees are treated the same, i.e. they each take up one of your five available slots
- Infants (aged below 2) need not be named as one of your redemption nominees, because they do not occupy a seat. Instead, youโll pay 10% of the best available fare for their ticket, which Iโve outlined in the post below.
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There is no fee to add new redemption nominees, but there is a fee to replace or delete existing nominees. This may be waived depending on your status with Singapore Airlines.
Tier |
Change of Redemption Nominee | |
Online | Offline | |
US$30 or 3,000 miles | US$50 or 5,000 miles | |
US$15 or 1,500 miles | US$25 or 2,500 miles | |
Waived | Waived | |
Waived | Waived | |
Can only be done six months after a nominee is added |
Once a nominee is added, he/she can only be replaced or deleted after six months. This rule exists because Singapore Airlinesโ biggest concern is creating a resale market for award tickets. What they donโt want is people adding and deleting award nominees at will, then going on Carousell and offering discounted tickets for sale (though it still happens!).
How do I add a redemption nominee?
Adding a redemption nominee is a fairly straightforward process.
Login to your KrisFlyer account. Click on the circle with your initials at the top right > Profile
Youโll be prompted for an OTP, since this constitutes a high-risk transaction. On the next screen click on Redemption nominees.
Click Add nominee
Enter the details of the person youโd like to nominate.
Thereโs a field at the bottom labelled โAuthorised nomineeโ that prompts you to select yes or no. This is how the KrisFlyer T&Cs describes an authorised nominee:
To protect membership privileges, the nominees you have authorised will be able to make and change bookings for themselves and on your behalf after necessary verification. If they have been so verified, Singapore Airlines will not inform the principal member nor be held liable for issuing redemption tickets to the authorised nominees.
This needs some explaining. It doesnโt mean that your nominee gets a login of their own that allows them to access your KrisFlyer account. What it does mean is that if you book a ticket on behalf of someone else, that person can make changes at will on their own.
I must admit Iโm slightly confused about the ability of nominees to โmake bookingsโ โ in my experience, being added as a redemption nominee to someone elseโs account doesnโt in any way let me access their miles through my own KrisFlyer account. The only way would be for that person to give their login details to me.
Thereโs another field at the bottom which asks what your relationship to this nominee is. Thereโs no reason to be concerned; KrisFlyer clearly states you can redeem miles for friends and family, so you can nominate pretty much anyone. This field is probably as much for demographic information as anything else.
What can I redeem for redemption nominees?
KrisFlyer members can redeem the following award tickets and upgrades for their redemption nominees:
- Singapore Airlines awards
- Singapore Airlines upgrades
- Star Alliance awards
- Star Alliance upgrades
- Non-alliance awards (Alaska, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Vistara, Juneyao Airlines, Malaysia Airlines)
Krisflyer members can also use their miles to pay for the following bookings, where the redemption nominee is the named traveller or participant
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- Singapore Airlines tickets
- Scoot tickets
- Pelago bookings
Keep in mind, this is usually very poor value compared to an outright award redemption, so you should avoid this unless you have expiring miles and are really desperate.
How do I redeem a ticket for a redemption nominee?
Once a redemption nominee has been added, you will see the option to add his or her details when redeeming any sort of award ticket, be it with Singapore Airlines, Star Alliance, or any other KrisFlyer partner.
If youโre making a booking over the phone, simply inform the CSO which nominee you wish to redeem it for. The CSO will be able to view your full list of nominees and select one accordingly.
Redemption nominee FAQs
What if I subsequently remove a redemption nominee from my list?
Removing a redemption nominee from your list has no impact whatsoever on already issued tickets.
Thatโs to say, when the six-month timeout period has ended, you can remove nominee A and replace him/her with nominee B, notwithstanding the fact that nominee A has an outstanding unflown ticket issued in their name.
What if my redemption nominee is <12 years old?
You can redeem KrisFlyer miles online for a redemption nominee <12 years old so long as he or she is accompanied.
If the nominee is unaccompanied, youโll need to contact KrisFlyer Membership Services for assistance.
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What if the KrisFlyer member is <12 years old?
It may surprise you to know that the minimum age to open a KrisFlyer account is 2 years.
However, a KrisFlyer member aged <12 cannot redeem KrisFlyer miles for award tickets online, unless a redemption nominee 18 years old or above is travelling with him/her on the same flight.
A KrisFlyer member aged 12-17 can redeem their KrisFlyer miles for award tickets online for themselves or redemption nominees 18 years old or above. However, they cannot do so for redemption nominees below 18 years of age.
You might also be interested in the KrisFlyer for Families feature, which allows you to transfer your childโs miles to you (but not the other way round) for a nominal fee.
Conclusion
KrisFlyerโs redemption nominee system is fairly straightforward, and while it limits you to five nominees, itโs unlikely youโll bust the limit unless you travel with a large entourage.
Since there is a six-month window before you can remove or change a nominee, donโt add them willy-nilly. Make sure itโs someone you could see yourself redeeming miles for (is this the new โletโs get BTOโ question?).
Can I call up SQ to use the childโs miles to redeem his own ticket? And concurrently use my miles to redeem my own ticket (tag the reservations or something) so it wont be consideeed as an unaccompanied minor
Otherwise itโs hard to amass sufficient miles under childโs account redeem something for both him and me
Have you thought about actually calling and asking SQ the question? Or if youโre not so keen on talking to a human being (Iโm not judging cos as a millennial, Iโm not too), have you tried this new thing called Google? Iโve heard theyโve been around since (at least) 2004, and it will only take a second (rather than 10 hours (and counting)).
I did call krisflyer to redeem a ticket for my kid only and attach it to adult tickets booked separately. I made a mistake by redeeming the adult tickets 1st.
I guess that you can redeem a ticket for the child with the childโs krisflyer account. The only question is how to accumulate enough miles in childโs account. The child only gets miles by flying.
A strict reading of the t and c suggests no, but what youโre proposing sounds perfectly logical and Iโm sure theyโd accommodate this if you called in
Can I upgrade someone who is my redemption nominee to a business class ticket if I have miles available or is that not advisable? Also if they purchased the ticket themselves I do not see this on my awards pageโฆ?
You can. Whether or not thatโs a good use of miles, howeverโฆ
Not sure if I understand this correctly but from the first part of the article, does it mean the miles can be credited to supp cardholderโs KF account as well? Or really everything can only credited to main cardholderโs KF? For Citi Primiermiles card.
[โฆ] so that your loved ones can use your miles even after youโre gone. KrisFlyer allows you to nominate up to 5 individuals who can fly on tickets redeemed with miles from your account. Asia Miles has a very similar system, [โฆ]
If I book award flights on waitlist for me and my wife with her miles as a nominee, will that booking benefit from my PPS status? Ie. will the booking get priority in the waitlist? She is not PPS but I am.
Phone up PPS..
only if youโre traveling with her. If she is traveling alone your status means nothing.
Would I be able to make an amendment on a booking for a nominee that I have subsequently deleted?
If the ticket has been issued, I donโt see any issues in making a change.
The T & Cs only mention transfer of KF miles from child to parent account. I would assume Elite miles cannot be transferred from child to parent acct?
Hi, I have been trying to cancel 3 nominees from my existing list, via phone calls to your hotline and online, but nothing have been done. How can I go about doing that. Please assist on it. Thank you.
Hi, do there is no way to transfer KrisFlyer miles from a family member other than a child to my own account correct ?
Thanks, Barbara
No pooling of miles across adults is not allowed.
I accidentally deleted a nominee (added in Aug 2023 which was more than 6 months ago) but he still have an active confirmed redemmed booking to his name.
Will the booking still be valid?
No issues with already issued tix
the service fees for nominee changes have changed. u may want to update ur table.
thanks! seriously though- who uses fax to update their details????