Singapore Airlines Award Rates Increasing in 2 Days
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There are just two days left to lock in Singapore Airlines award flights before many of them get more expensive. Beginning Jan. 24, 2019, it’s going to cost more miles to book many awards seats on Singapore Airlines using Singapore KrisFlyer miles.
While economy seats on Singapore-operated flights remain largely unchanged, expect to spend more miles to fly Singapore Airlines in Premium Economy, Business and First Class for award bookings starting on Thursday.
For example, right now it costs 65,000 miles each direction to book a saver award in Singapore’s Business Class from Houston to Manchester or JFK to Frankfurt, but that price is increasing to 72,000 miles each direction effective Jan. 24.
First class in Singapore Airlines Suites currently costs 76,000 miles for a saver award from JFK to Frankfurt, but that number is going up to 86,000 miles each direction.
Current East Coast and Houston to Europe saver prices: 22,500/45,000/65,000/76,000
Effective Jan. 24: 22,500/47,000/72,000/86,000
Current East Coast and Houston to Singapore saver prices: 40,000/72,000/92,000/120,000
Effective Jan. 24: 40,000/73,000/99,000/132,000
Current West Coast to Singapore saver prices: 38,000/65,000/88,000/118,000
Effective Jan. 24: 38,000/68,000/95,000/130,000
It currently costs 176,000 KrisFlyer miles to fly business class from the West Coast to Singapore, but that number is going up 190,000 miles. You can see the full current and future award chart prices linked below.
Current Singapore Airlines Award Chart
Singapore Airlines Award Chart Effective Jan. 24, 2019
If you want to book Star Alliance partners using KrisFlyer miles, there’s a separate chart for that. We haven’t seen announced changes on that chart just yet, as it was last changed in December 2017.
Transfer Points to Singapore KrisFlyer
Even if you’ve never set foot on a Singapore Airlines plane (or visited Singapore, for that matter), you probably still have access to plenty of the carrier’s KrisFlyer miles. That’s because Singapore is one of the only airlines that partners with all four of the major transferable point programs: American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Capital One (the newest addition as of Dec. 10, 2018). And since Singapore Airlines rarely releases premium-class award seats to partners, KrisFlyer miles can be extremely valuable to travel in some of the best products in the sky.
However, note the average transfer times below, as point transfers to KrisFlyer aren’t usually instant and you will be cutting it (very) close at this juncture. You certainly don’t want delay any further if you hope to transfer points and make a booking before Thursday.
- American Express Membership Rewards: Earn points on cards like the American Express® Gold Card or The Platinum Card® from American Express. Transfers from Membership Rewards to Singapore should be completed in less than 24 hours.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: Earn points on cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve, Chase Freedom Unlimited or Ink Business Preferred Credit Card, though you’ll need to combine your points into an account that allows transfers to partners rather than just cash-back rewards. Transfers from Ultimate Rewards to Singapore should process the same day but could take up to two business days to arrive.
- Citi ThankYou Rewards: Earn points on cards like the Citi Premier® Card or Citi Prestige Card. You can even share your points with any other ThankYou Rewards member, though shared points expire 90 days after receipt. Be aware that transfers from Citi to Singapore will generally take a day to process.
- Capital One: This issuer upped its game significantly in November 2018 with the addition of a dozen transfer partners, and Singapore KrisFlyer was added less than a month after the initial launch. This allows you to transfer miles from cards like the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card directly to the program, though unfortunately it’s at a less-than-stellar 2:1 ratio and doesn’t appear to process instantly. Nevertheless, additional options are always a good thing.
Bottom Line
The only way to use miles to fly on some of Singapore’s most plush products is with its own currency. Singapore’s increased award rates are a blow for sure, especially if you are booking for a whole family, as a 10,000-mile increase each direction is an 80,000-mile round-trip increase for a family of four. You may still have time to transfer points and make a booking at the current rates, but the minutes and hours are quickly ticking away.
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