ImmanuelSingapore Airlines today announced an “enhancement” to it’s KrisFlyer program. In other words, it means that they are devaluing something but try to give a positive spin to the situation. This time around the redemption rates on Singapore Airlines operated flights escape unscathed, but it turns out the Star Alliance award chart is on the chopping block!
Let’s Look At The Positives
From December 7, KrisFlyer members will be able to redeem their points online for Start Alliance and other partners. This can be done through the KrisFlyer website or the (pretty useful) app for Android and Apple.
Previously one had to call up to book redemptions on partner airlines, from December 7, such calls will incur a booking fee of USD 25 or 2500 KrisFlyer miles. The same fees will apply for:
- Redemption ticket bookings
- Redemption ticket changes
- Redemption upgrades
- KrisFlyer membership services, including updating of passport details, adding or changing redemption group nominees.
As per previous rules, the service fee will be waived for transactions that can’t be done online (such as mixed class bookings).
The Negatives
With these changes, Singapore Airlines snuck in a devaluation across the whole Star Alliance redemption chart; other partnerships remain unchanged at this stage (such as Virgin Australia).
The “loophole” which previously allowed smart travel hackers to ad on a free flight on top of their Singapore Airlines redemption thanks to their Star Alliance award chart rules will be closed as of December 7th. An example of this would be when you fly from Australia to a European city, have a stopover and continue on to your final destination on a Star Alliance partner.
This is a great way to get a free flight to your final destination when either Singapore Airlines doesn’t fly there, or there are no award redemptions. Of course, it’s also a great way to see more places for fewer miles! I used this method to book myself a mixed business and first class award from Perth to Iceland with a stopover in Singapore and Copenhagen. Our friends at Point Hacks have an excellent and in-depth guide with more examples here.
KrisFlyer Devaluation In Conclusion.
We’ve made a side by side comparison table of the before and after so you can see clearly what the changes will be at a glance. You can view the PDF of our custom Singapore/Star Alliance Chart here.
In most cases the change in points required are minor, but some zones appear to have gone up drastically, especially when you’re looking at the premium cabins (business and first).
If you plan to take advantage of the current KrisFlyer award chart you can do so before 07/12/2017
