Singapore Airlines offering 50% conversion bonus to and from Shangri-La Circle Points

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.

Guide: KrisFlyer x Shangri-La Infinite Journeys status match and points conversions

The regular conversion rate represents poor value, but Infinite Journeys is now offering a 50% conversion bonus for transfers between Shangri-La Circle and KrisFlyer, which though not exactly a must-grab deal, does improve things somewhat.

Infinite Journeys offering 50% transfer bonus

Details

The Infinite Journeys 50% transfer bonus runs from 12 p.m on 15 October 2024 to 12 p.m on 14 December 2024 (Singapore time).

Celebrate 8 incredible years of Infinite Journeys with KrisFlyer and Shangri-La Circle. From now (sic)14 December 2024, enjoy 50% bonus miles when you convert your KrisFlyer miles to Shangri-La Points and stretch your miles further.

-Singapore Airlines

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. 

KrisFlyer	Shangri-La Circle
12 8 miles	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. 

Shangri-La Circle	KrisFlyer
1 point	1.25 1.88 miles

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 ‘Profile’, then ‘Partner Programmes’
• Under ‘Add partner’, select ‘Non-airline partner’ for the category and ‘Shangri-La Circle’ for the partner from the drop-down list
• Key in your Shangri-La Circle membership number and click ‘Add’
• 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 8.73 SG cents.

In other words, transferring KrisFlyer miles to Shangri-La Circle Points with the ongoing promotion gives a value of 1.09 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!

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 mid-December 2024, 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.