What to do with expiring KrisFlyer miles

Unlike frequent flyer programmes with activity-based expiry — where miles never expire so long as at least one mile is earned or redeemed within a specified period — Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles are subject to a hard expiry of three years.

While this policy was temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, regular miles expiry resumed from July 2023 for everyone except PPS Club members, who continue to enjoy evergreen miles as a status benefit.

If you have expiring miles, there are three main things you can do with them:

• ✈️ Redeem them for an award flight on Singapore Airlines, Scoot, or other partner airlines
• 💸 Spend them on Singapore Airlines or Scoot commercial tickets, or on the ground via Kris+, KrisShop and Pelago
• 🔄 Convert them to partner points with Accor, Esso, yuu Rewards Club and other programmes

An overall summary of each of the options is provided in the table below, ranked by value per mile. 

We’ll explore each of these in detail, but first, let’s go over some basics concerning KrisFlyer mile expiry.

When do KrisFlyer miles expire?

Here’s how Singapore Airlines describes its KrisFlyer miles expiry policy:

A member’s KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years (or one year for KrisFlyer miles received from contests) at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on the last day of the equivalent month in which they were earned.

For example, KrisFlyer miles credited to a member’s KrisFlyer account in July 2017 will expire at 23:59 hours Singapore time (GMT +08:00 hours) on 31 July 2020.

-KrisFlyer T&Cs

In short, any KrisFlyer miles will expire three years after they were earned, with the exception of miles won from contests, which expire after one year.

All expiry takes place at the end of the month, so for example, miles earned from 1-31 July 2017 will expire at the end of the day on 31 July 2020.

Exception: PPS Club members

The KrisFlyer miles expiry policy does not apply to miles belonging to Solitaire PPS Club or PPS Club members. Members’ miles will never expire, so long as they maintain their status. 

Should they subsequently fail to requalify, their KrisFlyer miles will expire three years from the last day of the month their account was downgraded. For example, if a member fails to requalify as a PPS Club member on 1 July 2017, their KrisFlyer miles will expire at the end of day on 31 July 2020.

Do note that the benefit of non-expiring miles does not apply to supplementary Solitaire PPS Club members.

Where can I check for expiring KrisFlyer miles?

You can see a summary of all miles due to expire in the next 12 months by logging in to your KrisFlyer account and clicking on Miles Validity.

When making a redemption, the KrisFlyer miles with the earliest expiry date are always used first.

Can KrisFlyer miles be extended?

KrisFlyer members have a one-time option of extending their miles by paying a fee of 1,200 miles or US$12 (~S$16) per 10,000 miles.

This grants a 6-month or 12-month extension, depending on tier. Miles can only be extended once; previously-extended miles cannot be further extended. 

Tier	Fee per 10,000 miles	Extension Period
KF Elite Gold	1,200 miles or US$12	12 mo.
KF Elite Silver		12 mo.
Regular KF		6 mo.

Should you pay the extension fee in cash or miles? It boils down to how much you value a mile:

• If your value per mile is below 1.28 cents, pay with miles
• If your value per mile is more than 1.28 cents, pay with cash

Perhaps a better question is whether you should pay to extend miles in the first place, and I lean towards no.

All extending miles does is to kick the can down the road and cause you to lose 12% of them in the process (assuming you pay with miles), and I think you’d be much better off taking one of the options listed below.

Options for spending expiring miles

(1) Redeem an award flight

Value Per Mile	2+ cents
Min. Required	1,500 miles
Pros	Better value than any on-ground redemption Book flights up to 355 days in advance
Cons	Fees may apply if you need to make changes to your booking No refund of miles if you cancel the ticket after the miles expiry date

The first-best use of miles is always to redeem them for flights, where you should be aiming to get at least 2 cents per mile (it’s debatable whether you should derive your valuation based on the cash price of the ticket, versus what you’d actually have been willing to pay, but that’s another topic for another time).

I’ve compiled the relevant award charts for Singapore Airlines and its partners below:

• Singapore Airlines awards
• Singapore Airlines upgrades
• Scoot awards
• Star Alliance awards
• Star Alliance upgrades
• Garuda Indonesia awards
• Juneyao Airlines awards
• Malaysia Airlines awards
• Virgin Australia awards

Award flights start from just 1,500 miles on Scoot, plus airport taxes and surcharges.

If you can’t travel before your miles expire, don’t sweat it. Just because your miles are expiring on date X doesn’t mean you need to travel by date X!

Miles can be used to book an award flight or upgrade up to 355 days in advance on Singapore Airlines or any of its Star Alliance/other airline partners.

For example:

• Today is 29 December 2025
• I have 30,000 miles expiring on 31 January 2026
• I can use these miles to book a flight departing up till 19 December 2026  (+355 days from 29 December 2025)

In other words, the expiry date refers to when miles need to be redeemed by, not necessarily when you need to travel by. To better understand the difference, refer to the article below:

KrisFlyer miles validity versus award ticket validity- what’s the difference?

Two caveats to take note of.

First, should you subsequently decide to cancel your award ticket, you may not get a refund of miles if the expiry date has passed. Going back to our example above:

• If I cancel this award ticket on or before 31 January 2026, I will get my 30,000 miles back, with the expiry date unchanged
• If I cancel this award ticket from 1 February 2026, I will not get anything back

In other words, your miles have a “memory”, and cancelling an award does not give them fresh validity (otherwise everyone would be gaming the system by making reservations and cancelling them, “renewing” their miles for a US$50/75 cancellation fee!).

Second, once the expiry date has passed, you will not be able to make any changes that require a ticket reissuance, such as:

• Destination (e.g. Melbourne to Sydney)
• Award type (e.g. Advantage to Saver)
• Cabin (e.g. Business to First)
• Carrier (e.g. Lufthansa to Brussels Airlines)

You can continue to make date changes up till the maximum validity limit of the ticket (one year from booking date), as these do not require a reissuance.

(2) Cash + Miles (SIA/Scoot)

Value Per Mile	1 cent
Min. Required	1,000 miles
Pros	Redeemable for any flight, in any cabin, on any date Can be used to pay for taxes and surcharges Earn KrisFlyer miles or status credits on portion paid in cash
Cons	Much lower value than award flight redemption

KrisFlyer miles can be used to offset the cost of a Singapore Airlines or Scoot commercial ticket at a fixed value of 1 cent per mile, with a minimum redemption of 1,000 miles. This was recently enhanced from 0.95 cents per mile in July 2025. 

A slider bar will appear during payment, allowing you to mix cash and miles. This means you can redeem just your expiring balance, and nothing beyond that. 

KrisFlyer miles can be used to pay for airfares, taxes and add-ons (excluding e-Visa, travel insurance, infants and credit card processing fees).

The table below summarises the differences between Cash + Miles and redeeming an award flight?

Cash + Miles allows you to spend miles on any seat available for sale, regardless of cabin, route or date. KrisFlyer award redemptions are dependent on award space availability (except for the pricey Access awards, which are another matter altogether)

Cash + Miles has a minimum redemption of 1,000 miles, whereas the cheapest KrisFlyer flight award starts from 1,500 miles.

Taxes and surcharges can be paid with miles when using Cash + Miles, but only with cash when redeeming KrisFlyer awards.

Cash + Miles tickets are conceptually similar to revenue tickets, and you’ll earn KrisFlyer miles, Elite miles and PPS Value in proportion to the amount paid with cash. No miles or status credits will be earned on KrisFlyer award tickets.

So it sounds like Cash + Miles is the superior option. What’s the catch?

The catch is that under Cash + Miles, each mile has a fixed value of 1 cent. When redeeming KrisFlyer awards, the value can be much, much higher. Suppose you wanted to travel to San Francisco:

• Redeeming KrisFlyer miles for a Business Saver award would cost 225,000 miles + S$96
• Paying with Miles + Cash would cost upwards of 620,000 miles (based on a fare of S$6,200)

Of course, the question is whether you’re able to find Business Saver awards in the first place but assuming you can, then a KrisFlyer redemption represents much better value.

(3) Spend on KrisShop

Value Per Mile	1 cent
Min. Required	1,000 miles
Pros	Stackable with discounts and KrisShop vouchers Low minimum redemption of just 1,000 miles
Cons	Prices may be inflated compared to other platforms, in which case your real value per mile is lower

KrisFlyer miles can be used to offset your KrisShop purchases at a rate of 1 cent per mile, with a minimum redemption of 1,000 miles.

The interface helpfully shows how many miles you have expiring in the next six months, so you know exactly how many to burn (though it didn’t display accurate information for me, because I definitely have miles expiring soon).

The main problem is that KrisShop prices may be inflated, so 1 cent per mile represents a ceiling. If you’re able to purchase the same item elsewhere for less, your real value per mile is actually lower!

For example, a pair of Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones costs S$507.76 on Amazon, compared to S$559 on KrisShop. If you paid for this item on KrisShop with 55,900 miles, your “real” value per mile is 0.91 cents per mile, not 1 cent. 

Because of this, if you intend to use miles on KrisShop, you should be buying price-controlled items like Apple products. 

When comparing prices, also note that KrisShop does not display GST-inclusive pricing, so a further 9% will be added at check-out for home delivery. 

(4) Spend on Kris+

Value Per Mile	1 cent
Min. Required	1 mile*
Pros	Spend like cash at participating merchants across Singapore and Australia Miles-back promos can further increase the value per mile Minimum burn of just 1 mile
Cons	All miles transferred into Kris+ cannot be transferred back 6-month validity for Kris+ miles
*A minimum conversion of 1 mile (S$0.01) is required (from KrisFlyer to Kris+), but a minimum of 10 miles  (S$0.10) are required for a Kris+ transaction

Kris+ allows you to spend your miles like cash at dining, lifestyle and wellness merchants across Singapore and Australia.

KrisFlyer miles are worth 1 cent each when spent through Kris+ (recently enhanced from 0.67 cents), and the value could be boosted even further by periodic miles-back offers.

KrisFlyer miles can be converted to KrisPay miles instantly at a 1:1 ratio, with a minimum conversion of just 1 KrisFlyer mile. That said, be careful of how many KrisFlyer miles you transfer to Kris+, because any miles transferred cannot be transferred back!

Once transferred to Kris+, KrisPay miles must be used within six months. 

(5) Spend on Pelago

Value Per Mile	1 cent
Min. Required	1,000 miles
Pros	Book attraction tickets, tours, ground transport, eSIMs, spa treatments, and other experiences globally Occasional promos can boost value
Cons	Limited choice of activities Partial offsets not allowed; KrisFlyer miles must be used to pay for entire purchase

Pelago is Singapore Airlines’ activities booking platform, offering thousands of attractions, activities, tours, eSIMs and transportation options worldwide.

KrisFlyer members can use miles to pay for Pelago bookings, at a rate of 1 cent per mile. However, there is a catch: Pelago takes an all or nothing approach to redemption. You must pay the entire amount with KrisFlyer miles; you cannot mix cash and miles!

For example, suppose I want to buy an attraction ticket that costs S$361.78. At check-out, I can select KrisFlyer miles as my payment method, but the system forces me to pay the entire S$361.78 with 35,819 miles (not quite 1 cent per mile, probably owing to exchange rates).

Therefore, unless your expiring miles are more than or equal to the cost of the transaction, you’ll be forced to use some of your non-expiring miles too, at relatively poor value.

(6) Convert to Velocity points

Value Per Mile	0.95 cents
Min. Required	5,000 miles
Pros	Velocity points don’t expire so long as you earn or redeem at least one point every 24 months Redeem Velocity points for travel on Etihad, Hawaiian, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic and more
Cons	Velocity is only open to residents of selected countries Limited appeal, unless you’re already invested in the Velocity programme

This probably won’t be very useful to someone based in Singapore, but if you’re a member of Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer programme (open only to residents of Australia, NZ and Pacific Islands), you can convert KrisFlyer miles into Velocity points. 

1.55 KrisFlyer miles can be transferred to 1 Velocity point, with a minimum transfer of 5,000 miles.

KrisFlyer Miles	Velocity
5,000	3,225

According to Points Hacks, a Velocity point is valued at 1.7 Aussie cents (1.47 SG cents). Based on this value, you get 0.95 cents per KrisFlyer mile.

Velocity points don’t expire so long as you earn or redeem at least one point within a 24-month period, but the bigger question is whether you’re invested in the programme in the first place. 

(7) Spend on KrisFlyer vRooms

Value Per Mile	0.80+ cents
Min. Required	1,200 miles
Pros	Spend miles at thousands of hotels and various rental car agencies worldwide Smaller redemption amounts yield higher value
Cons	Stays booked through vRooms do not earn hotel points or elite status credits vRooms may not offer the lowest rates, reducing your actual value

KrisFlyer vRooms, launched in 2018, allows members to use their miles to book rental cars and hotels. The minimum number of miles required depends on hotel or rental car agency, as the screenshot below illustrates. However, the lowest I’ve seen starts from 1,200 miles.

After you’ve chosen the hotel you like, a slider bar will allow you to change the mix of miles and cash in 11 system-determined increments. 

The marginal value of a mile on KrisFlyer vRooms is 0.8 cents, but here’s a little trick: pay with the absolute minimum number of miles the system permits. 

For example, a Grand Deluxe Room at The Peninsula Bangkok costs S$731.74 on the official website. On KrisFlyer vRooms, the starting option is S$450.11+ 16,600 miles, which gives you an average value of 1.7 cents per mile.

However, if you choose to pay with more miles and less cash, e.g. S$225.05 + 44,800 miles, your average value per mile drops to 1.13 cents per mile. That’s because each additional mile you use to pay has a value of 0.8 cents, which drags down the average value.

Therefore, you should always opt for more cash, less miles when using vRooms. This makes it an ideal platform for burning a small number of expiring KrisFlyer miles, which I imagine is why we’re here in the first place.

However, do note that vRooms may not always present the cheapest options for car rentals or hotels. If that’s the case, and you could book the same car or room elsewhere for less, all your savings are illusionary. 

Also note that bookings via vRooms are not eligible to earn hotel loyalty points or enjoy elite status benefits such as room upgrades or free breakfast. Assuming this is important to you, then vRooms is best used for non-chain hotels. 

(8) Convert to Shangri-La Circle

Value Per Mile	0.71 cents
Min. Required	20,000 miles
Pros	As good as cash for Shangri-La hotel stays or dining Circle points are valid for 3 years
Cons	High minimum conversion amount

Thanks to the Infinite Journeys partnership, KrisFlyer miles can be transferred to Shangri-La Circle Points and vice versa. 

A minimum of 20,000 KrisFlyer miles can be exchanged for Circle Points at a 12:1 ratio, capped at 180,000 KrisFlyer miles per calendar year. 

KrisFlyer Miles	Circle Points
20,000	1,666

Circle Points can be used to offset the cost of hotel stays or F&B (even when not an in-house guest). Unfortunately, this option was nerfed in April 2022. 10 points used to be worth up to US$1.25 of F&B credit; following the devaluation, this became 15 points= US$1. 

Given the conversion ratio of 12 KrisFlyer miles to 1 Circle Point, you’re basically getting 0.71 cents per mile.

(9) Convert to CapitaStars

Value Per Mile	0.70 cents
Min. Required	3,000 miles
Pros	Redeem eCapitaVouchers for use at 18 CapitaLand malls across Singapore
Cons	May end up with orphan STAR$ Poorer value than Kris+

Singapore Airlines added CapitaStar as a transfer partner in April 2021, which allows for two-way transfers between KrisFlyer miles and STAR$. 

A minimum of 3,000 KrisFlyer miles can be exchanged for STAR$ at a 1:7 ratio, capped at 30,000 KrisFlyer miles per calendar year. 

KrisFlyer Miles	STAR$
3,000	21,000

STAR$ can be redeemed for eCapitaVouchers for use at 18 participating CapitaLand malls island-wide at a rate of 5,000 STAR$= S$5, which means 1 STAR$ is worth 0.1 cents. Therefore, you’re trading 3,000 miles for S$21, which works out to 0.7 cents per mile.

STAR$ can also be used for direct payment at CapitaLand malls merchants at the same rate, though some merchants will only accept payment in denominations of S$5. CapitaLand says it’s working to get all merchants to accept denominations down to the cents, so hopefully that will solve the orphan points problem.

Even so, the relatively poor value means you’d be better off spending miles through Kris+ retail partners instead.

(10) Convert to Accor Live Limitless

Value Per Mile	0.67 cents
Min. Required	4,500 miles
Pros	Accor points can be spent like cash on stays, dining and spa treatments
Cons	Relatively poor value Points expire after 12 months without earn or burn activity

Ever since September 2024, KrisFlyer miles can be converted into Accor Live Limitless (ALL) points at a 9:2 ratio, with a minimum conversion of 4,500 miles and capped at 180,000 miles per year.

KrisFlyer miles	ALL points
9 miles	2 points

ALL points have a fixed value of 2,000 points = €40 (~S$60), or 3 cents per point. Given the conversion ratio, you’re basically getting 0.67 cents per mile, which is relatively poor value. 

(11) Convert to Esso Smiles

Value Per Mile	0.56 to 0.67 cents
Min. Required	3,000 miles
Pros	Petrol make car go vroom
Cons	Kris+ offers a superior rate of 1 cent per mile for spending at Esso

Singapore Airlines added Esso Smiles as a two-way transfer partner in February 2021. KrisFlyer miles can be converted into Esso Smiles points at a 6:1 ratio, with a minimum conversion of 3,000 miles and a cap of 80,000 miles per calendar year.

KrisFlyer Miles	Esso Smiles
3,000	500

Esso Smiles points can be redeemed for both merchandise and petrol, but petrol is the better choice. Even so, you’re looking at the following conversion ratios:

• 150 Smiles: S$5 (3.3 cents/Smiles)
• 300 Smiles: S$10 (3.3 cents/Smiles)
• 750 Smiles: S$30 (4 cents/Smiles)

Depending on which denomination you redeem, your value per mile is between 0.56 to 0.67 cents each.

There’s absolutely no reason to take this option. Even if you wanted to spend your miles on petrol, you’d be better off going via Kris+:

• Kris+ allows you to spend miles at Esso stations with a minimum of 1 mile, instead of the 3,000 miles minimum for Smiles conversions
• Kris+ offers 1 cent per mile for petrol

That makes the Esso Smiles conversion option basically worthless!

(12) Convert to yuu Rewards Club

Value Per Mile	0.66 cents
Min. Required	2,000 miles
Pros	Spend at Cold Storage, Giant, gojek, Foodpanda, Singtel or other yuu merchants
Cons	Just 0.66 cents per mile, even worse than Kris+

Ever since April 2025, KrisFlyer miles can be converted into yuu Points at a ratio of 1 mile = 1.325 yuu Points, with a minimum conversion of 2,000 KrisFlyer miles. Conversions are free of charge, and processed instantly. 

KrisFlyer miles	yuu Points
1 mile	1.325 points

1 yuu Point is worth 0.5 cents (though you can occasionally get slightly better value with one of the programme’s “Super Duper” redemptions), so converting KrisFlyer miles into yuu Points is equivalent to accepting a value of 0.66 cents per mile. I hope I don’t need to tell you that this is absolutely dismal value!

Even if you really want to spend your miles on groceries, I’d much sooner convert KrisFlyer miles to Kris+, which lets you spend miles at 1 cent each at FairPrice or FairPrice Online!

Members can convert a maximum of 80,000 KrisFlyer miles to yuu Points per calendar year, but given the poor value, anyone who exchanges that many needs serious help.

(13) Convert to LinkPoints

Value Per Mile	0.59 cents
Min. Required	3,000 miles
Pros	Might be good content for a YouTube video: How I WASTED my KrisFlyer miles!!!
Cons	Kris+ offers a superior rate of 1 cent per mile for spending at NTUC

Singapore Airlines and Link Rewards launched a two-way conversion partnership in April 2022. A minimum of 3,000 KrisFlyer miles can be exchanged for LinkPoints at the following ratio, capped at 80,000 KrisFlyer miles per calendar year. 

KrisFlyer Miles	LinkPoints
3,000	1,770

Since 100 LinkPoints can be redeemed for a S$1 rebate, this is the same as accepting a value of 0.59 cents per mile. 

There’s absolutely no reason to do this, when Kris+ lets you spend miles at FairPrice Xtra, Finest and Online at 1 cent per mile!

(14) Convert to Marriott Bonvoy

Value Per Mile	0.45 cents
Min. Required	3,000 miles
Pros	One of a very limited number of ways to earn hotel points in Singapore
Cons	You could buy Marriott Bonvoy points for less during sales If you want to redeem hotel rooms, even KrisFlyer vRooms would be better value

In 2023, it became possible to convert KrisFlyer miles into Marriott Bonvoy points at a 2:1 ratio, with a minimum conversion of 3,000 miles.

KrisFlyer Miles	Marriott Bonvoy Points
3,000	1,500

A maximum of 180,000 KrisFlyer miles can be converted each calendar year.

As hard as it is to earn hotel points in Singapore, I don’t think this is something worth considering. I value a KrisFlyer mile at 1.5 SG cents apiece, while a Marriott Bonvoy point is worth about 0.70 US cents apiece (0.90 SG cents). By converting KrisFlyer miles to Marriott Bonvoy points, you’re taking a significant haircut.

Could you get more than 0.70 US cents per Marriott point during a redemption? You certainly could, but in any case, Marriott Bonvoy points periodically go on sale at around 0.89 US cents apiece (1.14 SG cents). That’s a lower price than “paying” 3 SG cents by converting 2 KrisFlyer miles for 1 point. 

If you really want to spend your miles on hotel rooms, why not just use KrisFlyer vRooms? At least you’d get 0.8 cents apiece!

KrisFlyer Experiences

I didn’t mention this in the table because it’s hard to assign a value, but another option you can consider is redeeming your expiring miles for KrisFlyer Experiences. 

KrisFlyer Experiences allows members to redeem their miles for things like F1 Sky Suites, a chartered Points Plane to Langkawi, and a KrisFlyer cruise-to-nowhere. Of course, not every KrisFlyer Experience is worth redeeming. Some are truly money-can’t-buy experiences, others are just another way of spending miles like cash, at very poor rates. 

If you’re considering going down this route, be sure to get a KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, because cardholders occasionally receive a 10% rebate on the number of miles required for selected KrisFlyer Experiences.

Pro-tip: Keep points on credit card side as long as possible

Ultimately, the best way to avoid having to deal with expiring miles is to keep your points on the credit card side as long as possible.

Remember, your points have “two validities”: one on the bank side, and one on the airline side. For example, UOB UNI$ are valid for two years, and the three-year KrisFlyer expiry countdown only starts on conversion. 

The table below summarises the validity period for various credit card points in Singapore.

💸 Points Expiry Policy
Bank	Currency	Expiry
	Membership Rewards	No expiry
	Rewards Points	12-24 months
	Citi Miles	No expiry
	ThankYou Points	Up to 5 years1
	DBS Points	1 year2
	Rewards Points	37 months
	TREATS	1 year3
	OCBC$	2 years
	90°N Miles	No expiry
	VOYAGE Miles	No expiry
	360° Rewards Points	Up to 3 years4
	UNI$	2 years
1. ThankYou Points earned on the Citi Prestige Card and Citi ULTIMA Card do not expire 2. DBS Points earned on the DBS Altitude Card, DBS Insignia Card and DBS Treasures AMEX  do not expire; DBS Points earned on the DBS Vantage Card are valid for three years 3. TREATS Points earned by Rewards Infinite members do not expire 4. 360° Rewards Points earned by StanChart Beyond Card, StanChart Journey Card, StanChart Visa Infinite and StanChart Priority Visa Infinite do not expire

To learn more about points expiry, refer to my detailed guide below.

Which credit cards earn non-expiring points?

Conclusion

If you have soon-to-expire miles in your KrisFlyer account, my advice would always be to make an award flight booking, because the value per mile is so much higher than any of the on-ground options. You can book travel almost a year in advance, and subsequently make date changes for a small fee if necessary.

But even if you don’t have plans to travel, there are ways to liquidate your expiring KrisFlyer miles for dining or merchandise, albeit at lower valuations. I wouldn’t accept anything less than 1 cent per mile as liquidation value, given the “cash-like” nature offered by Kris+.

What do you typically do with your expiring miles?