HeyMax FlyAnywhere guide: Redeem Max Miles for any seat, any airline, anywhere

HeyMax offers one of the most versatile rewards currencies in Singapore, with more than 20 airline and hotel partners to choose from. But there’s another option that tends to fly under the radar: FlyAnywhere. 

At first glance, FlyAnywhere commits one of the cardinal sins of the miles game — converting miles into cashback. However, there’s far more nuance to it. FlyAnywhere redemptions can be ideal for Economy or discounted Business Class fares, and more importantly, it provides an anchor value for Max Miles.

Even if you’d never dream of redeeming anything other than First Class, it’s still something you should be familiar with.

Get 200 Max Miles when you open an account and complete your first transaction

Get a HeyMax Account

How does FlyAnywhere work?

With FlyAnywhere, you can use Max Miles to offset the cost of any air ticket —domestic or international, any airline, any cabin class —to anywhere in the world.

Here’s how it works:

1. Book your air tickets through any channel you like
2. Submit a FlyAnywhere redemption request via the HeyMax app and upload the receipt
3. Get reimbursed for your flight in cash, via PayNow, at a rate of S$0.018 per Max Mile

To start a FlyAnywhere redemption request, open the HeyMax app > Redeem > FlyAnywhere. You’ll be asked to enter your name, PayNow phone number, and upload your flight receipt.

Minimum redemption

FlyAnywhere redemptions require a minimum of 1,000 Max Miles (S$18).

No partial redemptions

To make a FlyAnywhere redemption request, you must have sufficient Max Miles to cover the entire cost of the ticket. Partial redemptions are currently not allowed.

For example, if the ticket costs S$180, you can only submit a redemption request if you have at least 10,000 Max Miles.

HeyMax has allowed partial redemptions during certain periods in the past, though it remains to be seen whether this option will return. If you’re travelling on a group booking but only have enough Max Miles for one person, consider splitting the booking up.

Redeem for anyone

FlyAnywhere redemptions can be made for yourself, your family, your friends, anyone.

Booking must be within the past 31 days

FlyAnywhere redemptions are only allowed for flights booked within the past 31 calendar days.

You can make a redemption request regardless of whether or not the flight has already been flown.

Supports commercial and award tickets 

Both commercial and award tickets are eligible for FlyAnywhere.

If you book an award ticket, FlyAnywhere will reimburse you for the cash component, i.e. taxes and surcharges.

FCY tickets converted at spot rate

Tickets in foreign currency will be converted into SGD at the current spot rate to calculate the Max Miles deduction.

Cash component only

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.

What I like about FlyAnywhere

Book your tickets however you want

FlyAnywhere gives you the freedom to book your air tickets wherever you like, which allows you to hunt down the absolute lowest fare.

• You can book via the official website and use a promo code for extra savings (e.g. DBS, HSBC and Citi Prestige discounts for Singapore Airlines)
• You can book via an OTA, which sometimes undercut the official website
• You can book via the AMEX International Airline Programme portal
• You can book via a cashback portal like ShopBack, or even the HeyMax portal itself (which offers milesback on AirAsia, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways, to name a few)
• You can book via a traditional brick-and-mortar travel agency, if that floats your boat

It’s really up to you.

Earn miles and elite status credits

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

In contrast, award tickets are usually ineligible to earn frequent flyer miles or status credits (with very limited exceptions).

Earn credit card miles

FlyAnywhere reimburses you in cash, so you basically get to earn credit card miles for free on your purchase.

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This can be useful when you need to meet the minimum spend for a welcome offer, or if you’re trying to spend the AMEX Platinum Charge’s airline credits.

Fair conversion rates

If your ticket is purchased in foreign currency, HeyMax uses the day’s spot rate to convert the amount into SGD. No markups or FX shenanigans here.

Fast processing time

I’ve been very impressed with the speed at which HeyMax processes FlyAnywhere submissions. 

While the official processing time is three business days, in my experience, requests have been processed within the same day.

Redemptions can be made for anyone

FlyAnywhere redemptions can be made for anyone you like. There’s no requirement that the HeyMax accountholder be part of the travelling party.

So if you feel like cashing in your Max Miles for 1.8 cents each, just ask a friend or family member to forward you their recent flight booking.

When to use FlyAnywhere

Budget & Economy Class flights

FlyAnywhere is particularly useful for those who just want to get from Point A to Point B, and 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.

For example, suppose I want to fly to Koh Samui. If I were to redeem a Scoot flight via KrisFlyer, I’d need to pay 21,000 miles + S$96.63.

But with FlyAnywhere, I could get the same ticket for 19,444 Max Miles (S$350) and no additional cash. I would also be able to earn KrisFlyer miles on the FlyAnywhere ticket, since it’s a commercial booking.

Alternatively, if I need all the comforts of a full-service airline, I could redeem 31,000 KrisFlyer miles + S$122.60 for an Economy Saver award on Singapore Airlines…

…or I could use FlyAnywhere and buy the same commercial ticket for 17,611 Max Miles (S$317) and no additional cash. That’s way better value, not to mention you can earn miles on the ticket. 

So FlyAnywhere helps to address those situations where all you need is Economy, but find it poor value to redeem miles via traditional frequent flyer programmes.

Discounted Business Class fares

In general, it’s not good value to use FlyAnywhere for First or Business Class tickets, because the number of Max Miles required would usually 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 316,556 Max Miles for redemption. 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.

However, if you’re able to find a Business Class fare deal, then FlyAnywhere might still be a good option. For example, Saudia often has good value Business Class fares out of Singapore, like this S$1,426 fare between Singapore and Munich. 

If redeemed via FlyAnywhere, this would cost just 79,222 Max Miles, versus 80,000 EVA Infinity MileageLands miles or 108,500 KrisFlyer miles.

Let’s not forget that the award tickets will have further fuel surcharges (in the case of EVA Air) and airport taxes, which must be paid in cash, as well as inventory restrictions that may prevent you from getting exactly the date you want.

Moreover, you’ll be able to earn miles on the Saudia ticket, which you can credit to the SkyTeam programme of your choice. 

FlyAnywhere provides the anchor value

Max Miles can be converted to more than 20 airline and hotel loyalty programmes, mostly at a 1:1 ratio, without any fees.

How FlyAnywhere fits into the picture is that it sets the baseline value. Because FlyAnywhere exists, you should not convert Max Miles to any programme that yields less than 1.8 cents per mile.

This immediately excludes hotel options like IHG One Rewards, where you can buy points at 0.5 US cents (0.63 SG cents) during sales, or dynamically-priced programmes like Vietjet Air SkyJoy.

Conclusion

Get 200 Max Miles when you open an account and complete your first transaction

Get a HeyMax Account

HeyMax’s FlyAnywhere feature isn’t meant for aspirational redemptions, but who says every redemption has to be aspirational? If you have a more utilitarian approach towards miles, then FlyAnywhere enables you to get good value for budget or Economy Class awards.

If nothing else, it sets a floor value of 1.8 cents per Max Mile, which then affects which airline or hotel loyalty programmes you choose to convert Max Miles to.