What’s the best (and worst) value KrisFlyer redemption?

Which KrisFlyer redemption offers the best value for miles?

I’m sure many of you have thought about this question, and understandably so. It took a lot of time and effort to earn those miles. The last thing you want to do is burn them on a sub-optimal redemption!

The good news is that if you’ve decided to redeem your miles for a flight — and not on the ground for Kris+, KrisShop or Pelago — then half the battle’s won already. But where exactly should you go?

Well, a lot has changed since I last addressed this topic in May 2023. Singapore Airlines’ route network has evolved: Houston and Vancouver are gone, Brussels, Gatwick and Daxing have been added. And of course, there was the little matter of the 2025 KrisFlyer devaluation, which upended the entire award chart.

So I figured it was time to revisit this analysis, and see which destinations give you the most bang for your buck– and which you might want to avoid. 

Methodology: How is best value defined?

This is the sort of question that can go down the rabbit hole very quickly if we don’t scope it properly, because KrisFlyer miles aren’t just for travel with Singapore Airlines– you can also redeem them on its Star Alliance partners, Garuda Indonesia, Malaysia Airlines, Scoot, and Virgin Australia.

But for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume we’re talking about travel with Singapore Airlines only, and value is defined according to this rule: 

KrisFlyer miles ÷ Real-world miles  

In other words, for every mile I fly in real life, how many KrisFlyer miles do I pay?

Then there’s just two pieces of data required:

1. The mileage requirement for a one-way Saver award in Economy, Premium Economy, Business, and First Class between Singapore and each Singapore Airlines destination
2. The real-world distance between Singapore and each Singapore Airlines destination (plotted using GCmap, taking into account stopovers where necessary (e.g. Singapore to Cape Town is flown via Johannesburg)

Divide (1) by (2), and you have your answer. The lower the figure, the better the value. 

Of course, this says nothing about monetary value. The lack of competition on certain routes can make the price per mile flown disproportionately expensive, and make award tickets better value than they’d appear based on distance alone.

However, cash fares can fluctuate based on many factors— and I’m not about to dig for them on every Singapore Airlines route. So the focus here isn’t on how much money each KrisFlyer mile saves you, but rather how many miles Singapore Airlines will fly you in the real world for each KrisFlyer mile redeemed.

Here’s the summary.

✈️ Best & Worst KrisFlyer Redemptions (based on KrisFlyer miles to real-world miles)
Cabin	👍 Best Value	👎 Worst Value
Economy (Avg: 9.4:1)	New York JFK (via FRA) Los Angeles (via NRT) Los Angeles (non-stop)	Kuala Lumpur Penang Phuket
Premium Economy (Avg: 11.4:1)	New York JFK (via FRA) Cape Town (via JNB) New York JFK (non-stop)	Hong Kong Shanghai Mumbai
Business (Avg: 21.8:1)	Cape Town (via JNB) New York JFK (via FRA) New York JFK (non-stop)	Kuala Lumpur Penang Medan
First/Suites (Avg: 25.1:1)	New York (via FRA) Los Angeles (via NRT) Auckland	Jakarta Hong Kong Melbourne

Economy Class

For Economy Class redemptions, you’ll pay on average 9.4 KrisFlyer miles per 1 real-world mile flown.

This is slightly better than 2023’s ratio of 9.9, reflecting the general decrease in Economy Saver award prices we saw during the 2025 devaluation.

The three best value redemptions are, unsurprisingly, some of Singapore Airlines’ longest routes (the 10% hike to Zone 10 awards during 2025’s devaluation was enough to kick Cape Town out of the top three):

• New York JFK (stopover in Frankfurt): 4.49 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Los Angeles (stopover in Tokyo Narita): 5.01 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Los Angeles (non-stop): 5.02 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile

Singapore to New York JFK via Frankfurt is a whopping 10,245-mile odyssey, and while that’s a soul-crushing distance to be sitting in an Economy Class seat, at least you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that you’re paying a mere ~4 KrisFlyer miles for every real-world mile flown– the best value in the whole programme!

On the other extreme, short-haul destinations represent the worst value:

• Kuala Lumpur: 43.48 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Penang: 21.45 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile 
• Phuket: 21.42 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile

Kuala Lumpur is particularly poor value, with members paying 46 KrisFlyer miles for every 1 real-world mile flown. That’s more than you’d pay for First Class to every destination except Jakarta!

Truth be told, there’s very little reason to redeem miles for short-haul Economy anyway, unless it’s a peak period where cash prices have gone crazy (and you might not even be able to get Saver awards in that case). You’d be much better off buying a cheap budget ticket, or perhaps redeeming miles for Scoot, which gives you more choices of dates and timings. 

Premium Economy Class

For Premium Economy Class redemptions, you’ll pay on average 11.4 KrisFlyer miles per 1 real-world mile flown.

This is roughly a 5% increase from 2023’s figure of 10.8, and in line with the increase we saw during the 2025 devaluation. 

The three best value redemptions here are:

• New York JFK (stopover in Frankfurt): 8.25 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Cape Town (stopover in Johannesburg): 8.35 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• New York JFK (non-stop): 8.86 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile (it’s a dead heat with Newark)

Again, it’s the longest routes like New York (both JFK and Newark) that offer the best value. But what’s remarkable here is that Cape Town still keeps its position in the top three, despite the fact that Zone 10 was hit especially hard during the 2025 devaluation (a 20% increase, versus ~5% for all other zones).

The three worst redemptions are: 

• Hong Kong: 17.64 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Shanghai: 15.27 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Mumbai: 14.78 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile

These are the shortest routes where Premium Economy is offered, and if you really need that extra bit of comfort, you might be better off buying Economy and hoping the opportunity to buy an instant upgrade comes along.

Business Class

For Business Class redemptions, you’ll pay on average 21.8 KrisFlyer miles per 1 real-world mile flown. This is up from 20.9 in 2023. 

The three best value redemptions here are:

• Cape Town (stopover in Johannesburg): 11.02 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• New York JFK (stopover in Frankfurt): 11.42 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• New York JFK (non-stop): 12.27 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile (again, a dead heat with Newark)

I think it speaks volumes about how good KrisFlyer’s Zone 10 sweet spot used to be that even after a 20% increase in the 2025 devaluation, Cape Town is still the leader for value (Istanbul and Johannesburg also make it to the top 10). You pay just 11 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile flown, which is even less than almost a dozen Economy Class destinations!

The three worst redemptions are:

• Kuala Lumpur: 119.57 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Penang: 58.98 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Medan: 56.99 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile

Again, this ties into the idea that you shouldn’t redeem your miles for short-haul Business Class. I mean, what’s the point? It costs an arm and a leg, and the flight is over before you know it. And at 120 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile, this is the highest-cost KrisFlyer redemption across the entire network.

By the way, Singapore Airlines doesn’t stock champagne on its Medan, Penang or Kuala Lumpur routes. If that’s not reason enough to avoid Business Class, I don’t know what is!

First Class

For First Class redemptions, you’ll pay on average of 25.1 KrisFlyer miles per 1 real-world mile flown, up from 24.6 in 2023.

The three best value redemptions here are:

• New York (stopover in Frankfurt): 15.23 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Los Angeles (stopover in Tokyo Narita): 17.55 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Auckland: 18.76 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile

Auckland is somewhat of a problematic inclusion, given that it’s not actually possible to redeem First Saver awards to this destination at the moment. Even if you’re a Solitaire PPS Club member, the best you can find are Advantage awards!

So if we ignore that, then London Heathrow (where First Saver awards are actually possible, even if you’re a regular KrisFlyer member) becomes the third-best value First Class redemption. That said, if you’re flying to Singapore, you might want to reconsider because London has infamously high airport taxes thanks to its Air Passenger Duty, which costs £224 (~S$387) per First Class passenger.

The three worst value redemptions are:

• Jakarta: 58.61 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Hong Kong: 29.93 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile
• Melbourne: 26.18 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile

But when it comes to First Class, the flight is just part of the overall experience– for many people, the real value comes in the “pre-game” segment, with access to The Private Room on departure or arrival (more on that below). So even a “high cost” redemption like Jakarta might make sense in some cases!

Limitations

The problem with looking at ratios is that they may disguise the quality of an experience. What I mean by this is that the quality of a real-world mile can differ tremendously depending on cabin product. For example, Singapore to Paris in First Class has a ratio of 22.20, which appears better than Singapore to Mumbai at 25.26.

But Paris is operated by a B777-300ER, and Mumbai by the A380-800. The former has a regular First Class seat, the latter has Suites, and the difference in cabin experience between the two will be night and day (Suite Saver awards can be found for Mumbai and Delhi if you’re a PPS Club member).

Another consideration is daytime vs nighttime flights. For example, on paper a Business Class redemption to Tokyo Haneda might look better value (16.58) than a similar redemption to Melbourne (19.28).

But suppose you’re choosing between SQ636, which departs from Singapore at 10.45 p.m for a 6h 35m flight to Tokyo Haneda, or SQ238, which departs from Melbourne at 10.35 a.m for a 7h 40m flight to Singapore. If this were your first-ever Business Class experience, it could be argued that the daytime flight would be a better opportunity to enjoy it, as not only will you be more awake, you’ll also get a full meal service instead of the truncated sleeper service offered on red-eye flights. 

Ratios also say nothing about the pre-flight experience, especially in First Class. Take Jakarta, for instance. At 59 KrisFlyer miles per real-world mile, it sounds like a terrible deal. And it would be, if all you did was take the flight. 

But a First Class flight to Jakarta, or any destination for that matter, gets you a golden ticket (quite literally) to The Private Room at Changi Terminal 3.

This exclusive lounge for Singapore Airlines First Class passengers offers a fine-dining experience, serving up restaurant-quality food and fine wines including Taittinger Comtes de Champagne.

There are also four day rooms with beds and work desks, useful for extended stays.

So even though the flight itself may be short, those who make time to enjoy the lounge beforehand can still come out on top.

Conclusion

I’ll be the first to admit that this might not be the best way of determining value. I mean, when I’m deciding whether or not to redeem my miles, I’d sooner look at the cents per mile value than the distance I’m being flown!

But if nothing else, it’s a fun little thought experiment that draws a link between KrisFlyer miles and real-world miles, and does illustrate the general rule that long-haul redemptions are usually better than short-haul (unless you really want to visit The Private Room, in which case Jakarta is the answer!).