HeyMax boosts FlyAnywhere value to 2 cents per mile

Earlier this year, Heymax launched a new feature called FlyAnywhere, which allows users to redeem their Max Miles for any available commercial flight.

This is particularly useful for those just concerned with getting from point A to point B, who would normally buy budget airfares or redeem their miles for Economy Class tickets — redemptions for which traditional frequent flyer programmes usually offer very poor value.

FlyAnywhere usually offers a fixed rate of 1.8 cents per Max Mile, but Heymax is now upsizing the value to 2 cents per Max Mile for a limited time. 

Heymax upsizes FlyAnywhere value to 2 cents per Max Mile

From 24-31 December 2024, Heymax customers can redeem Max Miles via FlyAnywhere at a  value of S$0.02 per Max Mile, 11% higher than the usual S$0.018.

How FlyAnywhere works is very simple. You book your preferred flight via whatever channel you wish: official website, OTA, or even a brick-and-mortar travel agency. After that, you upload the receipt and get reimbursed by Heymax via PayNow.

It’s so straightforward, the sum total of FlyAnywhere’s UX is a form for uploading receipts!

Here’s an example: suppose you buy a ticket from Singapore to Bangkok for S$300. You submit the receipt, and Heymax will reimburse you the S$300 via PayNow by deducting 15,000 Max Miles (S$300/S$0.02) from your account.

A few points to note:

• Requests can be submitted for any flight booked within the past one month (whether or not it’s been flown)
• You can only redeem the full amount shown on the receipt (including taxes and surcharges). Partial redemptions are currently not supported. In other words, if you don’t have enough Max Miles to cover the cash price of the ticket, you can’t use FlyAnywhere
• FlyAnywhere only supports redemptions for commercial tickets; if you book an award ticket, you cannot submit a request to redeem Max Miles for the cash component
• If your purchase is made in foreign currency, it will be converted into SGD at the current spot rate with Max Miles deducted accordingly
• FlyAnywhere can be used for both budget and full service carriers. There are no airline restrictions— if you can book it, you can redeem it
• If you use a non-cash instrument to pay for part of your commercial ticket, e.g. United TravelBank or some other airline credits, Max Miles can only be redeemed for the remaining component paid in cash

Since you have the freedom to book your own flight, you can use whatever tricks you like to bring the cost down, such as booking through a cashback portal, with a special promo code, or with a special discount (e.g. the British Airways AARP discount).

Moreover, since you’re basically buying a commercial ticket, you’ll also be eligible to earn frequent flyer miles and elite status credits such as PPS Value or Elite miles, where applicable.

FlyAnywhere does not require you to be the named traveller on the booking, so you could even redeem Max Miles for flights for friends and family, if you so wish.

What’s the catch?

The catch with FlyAnywhere, if you want to call it that, is the fixed valuation per Max Mile. Even at the enhanced rate of 2 cents, you could certainly get more value by converting your Max Miles into airline miles, and then redeeming a First or Business Class flight.

However, FlyAnywhere was not created with aspirational redemptions in mind. In fact, you shouldn’t be using this for First or Business Class tickets, because the number of Max Miles required would be cost prohibitive. 

For example, if you wanted to fly Business Class from Singapore to Helsinki on Finnair, a commercial ticket that costs S$5,698 would require 284,900 Max Miles to redeem. In contrast, you could transfer Max Miles to British Airways Executive Club and redeem the same ticket for 125,000 Max Miles plus taxes.

Of course, some might argue that this isn’t a fair comparison, because FlyAnywhere lets you book any available commercial seat, while traditional redemptions are limited to award seats only. That’s certainly true, but to the extent that both are available, the traditional route is much better value.

Instead, FlyAnywhere targets the sort of traveller looking for the cheapest possible flight, regardless of airline. Let’s say you want to travel to Bangkok. You can find Jetstar fares from as little as S$142 round-trip, which works out to 7,100 Max Miles.

Even if you wanted the comfort of a full-service carrier, Singapore Airlines tickets start from S$276 or 13,800 Max Miles via FlyAnywhere, significantly less than the 27,000 KrisFlyer miles you’d need for a regular KrisFlyer redemption (not to mention the ticket redeemed via FlyAnywhere is eligible to accrue miles).

At the end of the day, FlyAnywhere simply offers another option for using Max Miles. If you want the full fat experience with champagne and caviar, convert your Max Miles into frequent flyer miles and book traditional awards. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles, use FlyAnywhere.

What else can you do with Max Miles?

Max Miles can be transferred to 27 airline and hotel loyalty programmes at a 1:1 ratio, without any fees. 

This opens up a wide range of sweet spots which would normally not be available through credit card points transfers. I’ve written about some of my favourites in the post below, so be sure to have a read of that.

Max-imum Fun: The best sweet spots for Max Miles redemptions

Conclusion

From 24-31 December 2024, Heymax is offering an enhanced value of 2 cents per Max Mile for FlyAnywhere redemptions.

While it may not be as lucrative as converting your Max Miles into airline or hotel loyalty points, there will be a segment of users who value the ability to cash out their miles at 2 cents apiece.

Remember: all that’s required for a FlyAnywhere redemption is a booking made within the past one month. The travel date can be any time in the future, or even in the past for that matter.