With 2024 drawing to a close, Singapore Airlines sent out its “wrapped” emails yesterday, summarising KrisFlyer members’ earning and burning activity for the year.
There’s some interesting tidbits in here, such as 80 billion KrisFlyer miles redeemed worldwide, but only 24% of active KrisFlyer members earning with at least two partners in the SIA Group (some executive’s going to be sending an angry email about cross-selling!).ย
Of course, more interesting are the personalised stats, and here’s what 2024 looked like for me.
Where did I go in 2024?
2024 was a relatively subdued year for me on the travel front, because of the MileCub’s arrival. Still, I clocked 66,249 miles across 30 different flights.
We were able to bring the MileCub on five trips, twice to Bali, twice to Kuala Lumpur, and once to Perth. Each time we flew on Singapore Airlines, simply for the convenience factor (in particular the ground services in Singapore, like the First Class check-in and lounge).
Come to think of it, it wasn’t a very adventurous year for airlines. Even when we didn’t travel with the MileCub, Singapore Airlines was usually the carrier of choice.
| โ๏ธ Non-SIA carriers flown in 2024 |
|
The only long-haul flight I did with another carrier was Etihad Airways from Singapore to Madrid, via Abu Dhabi (an excellent experience, by the way).
Earned: 44,272 KrisFlyer miles
Given how frequently I flew with Singapore Airlines,ย it might surprise you to know that this year I earned only 44,272 KrisFlyer milesโ not even enough for a round-trip Economy Class flight to Tokyo.ย
Why so few? Because I wasn’t actively seeking to earn more KrisFlyer miles in 2024. Instead, I was trying my best to burn through my existing stash (explained in the next section), with many miles from the COVID period nearing their expiry date.
Instead of KrisFlyer, the frequent flyer accounts which saw the largest increases were:
- Alaska Mileage Plan: I took advantage of the Hawaiian Airlines sale to buy miles at 1.27 US cents each and transfer them over at a 1:1 ratio
- British Airways Executive Club: The MileLioness didn’t renew her AMEX Platinum Charge, so we had to cash out all her pointsโ they’re in her name, but I can manage these through the household account feature
- Flying Blue: To redeem my Etihad Airways flight, and take advantage of that little bit of Christmas chaos
But the interesting thing is thatย this paltry haul was still enough to put me in the top 20% of miles earners in Singapore, which makes you wonder what the other 80% were doing!
The MileLion Community, of course, is busy flexing sharing their figures for 2024, which allowed me to compile the following. Hopefully, this gives you an idea of where the percentile breaks are.
| ๐ซ 2024 KrisFlyer Year In Review | |
| Earned | Top |
| 4,938,817 | 1% |
| 3,327,370 | 1% |
| 1,706,177 | 1% |
| 1,202,173 | 1% |
| 822,937 | 1% |
| 661,801 | 1% |
| 557,283 | 1% |
| 532,482 | 1% |
| 514,720 | 1% |
| 491,794 | 1% |
| 468,749 | 5% |
| 440,293 | 5% |
| 377,358 | 5% |
| 357,004 | 5% |
| 348,654 | 5% |
| 305,089 | 5% |
| 281,439 | 5% |
| 222,478 | 5% |
| 206,069 | 5% |
| 195,655 | 5% |
| 175,190 | 5% |
| 171,448 | 5% |
| 155,309 | 10% |
| 131,938 | 10% |
| 94,457 | 10% |
| 72,850 | 20% |
| 44,272 | 20% |
| 37,890 | 20% |
| 33,921 | 20% |
| 29,076 | N/A |
| 17,697 | N/A |
| 16,721 | N/A |
In terms of earnings, my three biggest sources were:
- HSBC Singapore
- KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card
- Kris+
No real surprises for the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card (which I use for an uncapped 3 mpd once all my 4 mpd options are exhausted) or Kris+, but I was surprised to see that HSBC made the list. I checked my records, and couldn’t find a single instance of a points transfer from HSBC to KrisFlyerโ so perhaps it’s a bug?
Burned: 1,466,400 KrisFlyer miles
To understand why I burned so many KrisFlyer miles this year, we have to go back even further to the COVID period.
With air travel all but impossible, Singapore Airlines needed cash, and it needed it urgently. A quick solution? Provide an incentive for members to convert credit card points to miles. The airline ended up offering two transfer bonuses during this period:
- November 2020 to January 2021: Uncapped 15% bonus
- October to November 2021: Uncapped 15% bonus
I took advantage of the latter promotion to transfer a significant number of credit card points, and three years later, have yet to finish burning them. But KrisFlyer miles expire at the end of the 36th month, so I had to make some large-sized redemptions in October and November 2024.
Thankfully, you can redeem KrisFlyer miles for a trip up to one year in advance, so I used this to settle my 2025 travels, which will take me toย Perth, London, Melbourne, San Francisco and Seattle.ย
Therefore, it’s probably no surprise that Singapore Airlines ranks as my number one, and indeed only use of KrisFlyer miles. I’m glad I didn’t have to burn any miles for on-ground redemptions like Kris+ or Pelago!
Burning close to 1.5 million KrisFlyer miles put me in the top 1% of KrisFlyer members, probably unsurprisingly. Here’s the data points from The MileLion community:
| ๐ซ 2024 KrisFlyer Year In Review | |
| Burned | Top |
| 1,809,500 | 1% |
| 1,669,200 | 1% |
| 1,466,400 | 1% |
| 911,000 | 1% |
| 827,600 | 5% |
| 791,000 | 5% |
| 646,500 | 5% |
| 621,000 | 5% |
| 557,500 | 5% |
| 485,000 | 5% |
| 446,000 | 5% |
| 441,500 | 5% |
| 414,000 | 5% |
| 383,100 | 10% |
| 352,500 | 10% |
| 341,900 | 10% |
| 306,050 | 10% |
| 291,191 | 10% |
| 267,000 | 10% |
| 208,000 | 20% |
| 203,900 | 20% |
| 172,200 | 20% |
| 140,600 | 20% |
| 81,500 | N/A |
| 52,000 | N/A |
Conclusion
2024 was the year where I focused on drawing down my KrisFlyer balance, rather than adding to it. The COVID-era bonus miles have finally worked their way through the system, and with KrisFlyer still refusing to switch to activity-based expiry,ย it’s use it or lose it.
What will happen in 2025? Well, KrisFlyer will continue to be my primary frequent flyer programme for the foreseeable future, but with alternative programmes like EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, Flying Blue, and Qatar Privilege Club offering compelling value for certain routes, and more opportunities to earn “exotic” miles through platforms like Heymax,ย diversification would be the smarter approach.ย
How did your KrisFlyer 2024 year in review look? Share your data points!
1,421,381 earned, 1,506,500 burned apparently
Hi Aaron, separate topic but would you be writing reports on your travels with the MileCub? As a parent of a 2 year old I am very keen to hear from your experience!
there are a few here and there, and probably more to come!
https://milelion.com/2024/07/13/baby-on-board-learnings-from-one-year-of-travel-with-the-milecub/
https://milelion.com/2024/01/10/survived-the-milecubs-first-flight/
Thanks! Hoping to have a chance to read about your itinerary in Perth if the trip report is coming!
not really a trip report, but here’s a list of things you might be interested in
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Lr_-SEq5EAa_xYh2A1msyZ5_3mNgE_w6rO0sfIhsV8A/edit?usp=sharing
I have a 2.5 year old boy and I’d say just do it man! I’ve taken him along for >10 trips, >50% on J and it has been rewarding!
Honestly just do it. They grow up pretty fast.
Just a small point, actually you count percentile from the bottom. Thus, think you meant 99% percentile or say top 1%. Thanks
right you are! have edited.