How to add stopovers to Singapore Airlines awards for just $100

Adding a stopover to an airline award can be a great way to include a second (or third) destination on your trip without driving up the price too much.

By booking a stopover, you can spend a couple of days in a city en route to your final destination, or on your way back home from a trip.

New to The Points Guy? Want to learn more about credit card points and miles? Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Many airline frequent-flyer programs allow you to add stopovers for a nominal number of miles – such as just 5,000 points with Air Canada Aeroplan – or a small fee. Still others, such as Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan, allow you to add a stopover for free in certain circumstances.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is one of the most generous airline frequent-flyer programs when it comes to adding stopovers onto your trip. That’s especially good news right now, as Singapore is preparing to open back up to vaccinated travelers from the U.S. without requiring them to quarantine.

So, if you want to stop through Singapore on your way to other destinations, including Thailand, which is also planning to open without quarantine requirements to vaccinated travelers from the U.S. among other countries, now might be a great opportunity to book an award on Singapore Airlines with a stopover built-in.

Here’s everything you need to know to take full advantage of Singapore Airlines’ stopover policy and make the most of your next trip.

Singapore Airlines stopover rules

Singapore Airlines awards price at either the Saver or more expensive Advantage levels. For example, a Saver business-class award from New York-JFK to Singapore (SIN) costs 99,000 KrisFlyer miles each way, while an Advantage award on the same route costs 140,000 miles.

According to the KrisFlyer terms and conditions, travelers can add one complimentary stopover to a one-way Advantage award or a round-trip Saver award, and two complimentary stopovers to a round-trip Advantage award.

Given the sometimes dramatic price differences between Saver and Advantage awards, you’ll probably want to restrict your bookings to Saver ones whenever possible.

In that case, you can already add a complimentary stopover to a round-trip Saver award. But what if you book a one-way Saver ticket?

What you might not realize is that you can actually add a stopover to a one-way Saver award itinerary for a flat fee of $100. You can also pile on additional stopovers to itineraries that are already eligible for complimentary ones for $100 apiece.

One last thing: you cannot add stopovers on partner tickets, so all flights must be operated by Singapore Airlines.

Related: Ultimate guide to Singapore KrisFlyer

Reasons to add a stopover to Singapore Airlines awards

Although having to pay just $100 to add another destination to your itinerary is probably reason in and of itself to book a stopover on a Singapore Airlines award, it can also save you tens of thousands of miles.

For example, let’s say you wanted to go from New York-JFK to Bangkok (BKK) via Singapore (SIN) in business class. That award would cost 99,000 KrisFlyer miles.

If you wanted to stop in Singapore for a night or two on the way, you could certainly book both award flights as separate segments, starting with the same 99,000 miles from New York to Singapore.

But then adding another 21,500 miles for the Bangkok leg (in business class as well).

Instead, why not just add a stopover for $100 and save all those miles, which TPG would value at around $279.50?

Related: Singapore is reopening: Here’s how to get there using points and miles

How to add stopovers to Singapore Airlines awards

Depending on the type of ticket you’re booking, it’s fairly simple to add stopovers to your itinerary.

If you are booking either a one-way or round-trip Advantage-level award, or a round-trip Saver-level award, you should be able to add it online during the booking process where you see a tab labeled “Add stopovers.”

KrisFlyer will tell you which cities you are eligible for complimentary stopovers in. When you click on it, the site will ask the dates you would like to do so and will then pull up the various options.

Once you make your selection, you should see the entire itinerary scheduled and priced out.

Adding a $100 stopover on Saver awards

Where it might get a little tricky is if you want to book a one-way Saver award that is not eligible for a complimentary stopover.

In that case, look up the individual flight segments you wish to book, and then you will have to call Singapore Airlines’ customer service line at (833) 727-0118 and speak to an agent.

Plug in the flight dates and numbers you found and ask them to include the stopover in your itinerary. They should be able to piece the whole thing together for you and will ask for the $100 stopover payment by credit card over the phone.

You should receive an email with your itinerary shortly after that.

Related: Booking a first class celebration in the Maldives and Singapore

Stocking up on Singapore KrisFlyer miles

Although you might not currently have a hoard of Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, it’s easy to stock up on them rather quickly thanks to the fact that the program is a transfer partner of:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Capital One Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy

So if you have credit cards that earn these types of points, you should be able to transfer them to your KrisFlyer account easily. Among the cards you might want to consider opening now for their welcome bonuses are…

• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles when you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
• Citi Premier® Card: Earn 60,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.

Related: TPG’s recommendations for earning transferable points

Bottom line

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer makes it easy and cost-effective to add stopovers to award itineraries.

If you’re booking a more expensive Advantage award, you could score one free stopover on one-way tickets and two on round-trips. As for Saver-level awards, you can book one free stopover on round-trips, but will have to pay a mere $100 for a stopover on a one-way itinerary.

In the case of adding a $100 stopover, you will have to call the airline to price out the itinerary and pay for the stopover while you’re on the line. But doing so is well worth the effort since it can save you both miles and money, and provide you with another exciting destination on your trip.