Generous ‘sweet spots’ if you move American Express points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

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You might think that the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer programme, which is part of Star Alliance and so accesses a different group of airlines to Avios, is irrelevant to you.

And yet …. if you are willing to do a bit of jiggling, there are decent deals – and a couple of exceptional deals – you can nab.

This article was originally put together with help from Andrew, a UK expat and long-term HfP reader who moved to Singapore a couple of years ago and started Mainly Miles to cover KrisFlyer.

How can you earn KrisFlyer miles?

The obvious route is transferring American Express Membership Rewards points. As you can see here, it is a 1:1 airline partner from the UK scheme.

Here are the key Membership Rewards earning cards we cover:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

American Express Rewards

The only ‘free for life’ Amex card which earns Membership Rewards Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

Other options include Heathrow Rewards and moving points from hotel schemes, in particular Marriott Bonvoy where the rate is 3:1 (3:1.25 if you move chunks of 60,000 points at a time).

Marriott Bonvoy points can be earned via the Bonvoy Amex:

American Express Marriott Bonvoy credit card

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits Read our full review

It is also a HSBC Premier credit card partner if you want a Visa / Mastercard option:

HSBC Premier Mastercard

Highest earning Visa or Mastercard for Avios, but hard to get Read our full review

HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard

A huge bonus, but only available to HSBC Premier clients Read our full review

And there is a ‘secret’ permanent 31% Amex transfer bonus

There is a permanent transfer bonus from Amex to Singapore Airlines which is currently 31%. Last time I used this method it was 58%. It is complex, I admit, but if you are transferring a lot of Amex points it may be worth it.

The process is explained here and I strongly recommend reading that HfP article if this sounds interesting. Basically:

you get the Amex International Dollar Card, which is run out of Brighton and only available to non-US residents like you

you transfer your Amex Membership Rewards balance to your International Dollar Card’s Membership Rewards account

under Amex rules, your Membership Rewards balance is grossed up by the current $ exchange rate, currently $1.31 per £1, when transferred, so 100,000 points becomes 131,000 points

Most airline and hotel partners have worse transfer rates out of IDC so you are worse off despite the 31% bonus. The exceptions are Alitalia, Asia Miles, Finnair, Malaysia Airlines and KrisFlyer which are 1:1. Here is the IDC Membership Rewards catalogue. You effectively get a 31% transfer bonus, based on the £/$ FX rate today, when moving to these five airlines.

As an extra perk, IDC Amex cards can transfer into the Jumeirah One hotel programme at 4:1 and Qatar Privilege Club at 3:2. These options are not available to holders of UK £ Amex cards.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer best rewards

What are the KrisFlyer sweet spots?

We finally get to the point of this article (!). Why might you want to redeem KrisFlyer miles if you live in the UK?

Here is the Singapore Airlines reward chart for partner airlines.

The best deal is travel from the UK to the Middle East

The slam dunk best deal is ‘Europe to Middle East’ for 58,000 KrisFlyer miles RETURN in Business Class.

Remember that British Airways wants up to 120,000 Avios on a peak day for a return Club World flight to Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc. You can use just 58,000 KrisFlyer miles, most likely routed on Lufthansa via Frankfurt or SWISS via Zurich, instead. (Other fun routings include Turkish via Istanbul and Egyptair via Cairo!)

Here are some other good options

Andrew also recommends the following sweet spots for UK residents:

Europe to South East Asia, at 92,000 miles one-way in Business. You can fly direct to Singapore on Singapore Airlines for 90,000 miles, but if you can’t find seats on your dates (not unlikely) then you should get something on Thai, Lufthansa, SWISS, Turkish etc for just 2,000 additional miles

Europe to South Africa for 52,000 miles one-way in Business. Your primary choices would be South African, Lufthansa, SWISS, Ethiopian and Turkish.

Europe to the Maldives is 54,500 miles one-way in Business. Turkish is your likely airline. Sri Lanka and India are in the same pricing zone.

Domestic USA / Canada flights. Whilst not as cheap as Avios for short hops, 12,500 miles one-way in Economy or 23,000 miles one-way in Business (domestic First in the USA is priced as Business) can work out well.

And if you are prepared to start your trip in Turkey ….

Istanbul to Singapore is astonishingly cheap at 49,000 miles one-way in Business. Taxes are also exceptionally low – just US$55 last time I checked.

This is based on flying with Singapore Airlines itself, not a partner airlines, priced off the Singapore Airlines reward chart for Singapore Airlines flights. You want Page 2 which covers ‘Saver Awards’ – look at Zone 1 to Zone 10 travel. OK, you need to position yourself in Istanbul first – but for a discount like this I think you could live with it.

Virgin Atlantic redemptions look like a great deal but ….

In theory, the biggest value for KrisFlyer miles from London comes from the Virgin Atlantic partner award chart. You would pay 50,000 miles one-way Upper Class to any US destination.

There’s a big drawback though – Virgin Atlantic limits its award inventory to KrisFlyer so tightly it’s almost useless. You cannot book online and the call centre finds it virtually impossible to find seats. This may be some sort of retaliation by Virgin for the rules that Singapore Airlines imposes on Virgin Flying Club members who want to redeem with them.

I hope this article has given you a few ideas for potential uses for the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer programme, especially if you are sitting on a large pot of American Express Membership Rewards points.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Category

American Express Membership Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

G says:

9 Nov9 November 06:42

Is UK to Middle East 50k or 58k? Article gives both figures
- Sam G says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 07:14
  
  58(IIRC used to be 50k)
- Rob says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 09:21
  
  Typo, sorry. Was 50k, now 58k. Fixed.
  
  Luckily Rhys is back today so I no longer have to do everything myself and we might get some more proofreading time ….
Sam says:

9 Nov9 November 07:37

I’ve recently moved back from Singapore and used the Istanbul option multiple times.

The outbound you have to overnight in Istanbul – I tried all the options – short overnight at the airport, the overnight Turkish Airlines flight from London with a few hours at the Hilton (5k points!) when the old airport was open – at the new airport you can use the landside YOTEL for a short stop.

I’ve also done a couple of nights in the city which I’d recommend, 5* hotels are great value.

BA usually has some off season rock bottom economy fares which you can upgrade with Avios to Club Europe. In the summer fares are expensive and a straight redemption is a better option. There aren’t any good miles options on TK that I’ve found and cash fares for business are eye wateringly high. Their economy service is decent enough though (free hot meal, wine, PTV etc)

On the return you can transit to the UK same day, in the winter schedule I’ve done HBO to BA a couple of times but it’s tight (had to run through the whole new airport the last time!) so the TK afternoon flights are more comfortable. In the summer BA leaves too early to be an option.

There used to be a good option with AtlasGlobal but seems like they have died which is a shame!

Bags wise note that neither BA or TK will check through to SQ from London (TK potentially may be YMMV). On the return either would be fine with SQ though I haven’t personally done BA

Lastly (but importantly!) SQ has a zone based chart, not legs like Avios. So your continuing flight to Bali or Thailand etc will be included (one 24hr+ stop is free on a return ticket, stops on a one way or extra stops are US$100 each)

Routes like Bali or Bangkok are served by wide body with flat bed seats and are a very nice way to travel

This is also a good way to get to Aus/NZ, although check out cash fares ex Oslo as they can be competitive vs miles at times

Of course all of the above is pre-Covid, routes, schedules, seat availabilities, service etc may be very different once we are travelling again….
- Michael C says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 09:19
  
  That’s a really useful post, Sam!
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 10:24
  
  @Sam thanks for this. Are you the lucky @Sam that’s off to BCN now as well? Grrr jealous.
- Jtz says:
  
  10 Nov10 November 19:21
  
  Thanks for this, used krisflyer for a return flight from maldives to Istanbul and then to london.
  Defo will be using it again for bali!
memesweeper says:

9 Nov9 November 07:56

I’ve been looking for a new ‘second’ home for my Amex MR and HSBC transfers, and was considering Asia Miles or Kris Flyer. Asia Miles is has nice low taxes but unsurprisingly a very similar rota of partners as BA/Avios. What’s put me off Kris was the expiry of points (3 years) whereas Asia Miles never expire. What’s made me interested is Kris looks like the only way to get a Singapore Airlines premium redemption.
- Cam says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 08:57
  
  I use KrisFlyer for AmexMR transfers, and concur with the above. I’ve had good success redeeming on TK.
  
  BTW, I think the Amex International Currency Card products may no longer be open to UK residents – i have seen some wording to that effect on the Web page when accessing my account. ROB – might be worth double checking.
  - Lady London says:
    
    9 Nov9 November 10:26
    
    If that is the case about the intl card it would be nice to know why.
- Sam G says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 10:11
  
  Asia miles is very reasonable from Europe and no fuel surcharges – under 7,500 miles is 65k OW in business class – so for Singapore for example ex-Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt etc are options but for other parts of Asia e.g. Bangkok you can start in London (though you’ll have to pay the luxury tax. An itinerary say AMS-HKG-SIN//BKK-HKG-LHR might be interesting!)
  
  No stopovers allowed IIRC but you can schedule a sub-24hr connection and have a night in HK.
  
  I personally prefer SQ J to Cathay J but the HK lounges are top notch and worth scheduling a longer layover to enjoy!
  
  (again all prior to COVID. Cathay Pacific has been hit hard and the route network slashed, Cathay Dragon being shut down etc. This is probably going to see a lot of the leisure routes transferred to their recently acquired low cost HK Express arm, which will greatly reduce miles/business class connection options into tourist destinations like Vietnam, Cambodia etc)
  
  You are right about Krisflyer being required to secure J seats on SQ metal + in my experience you more often than not need to use the KF waitlist function to secure seats
- Harry T says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 11:11
  
  Can always transfer to Bonvoy and hedge your bets. Hopefully we get another transfer bonus soon.
- BuildTheWall says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 11:21
  
  Having lived in SG for a long time and travelled in both SQ and CX, i’d say SQ is better on soft product and airport / transfers. I like SQ hard product as well, but some prefer the layout of CX J seats.
  The biggest draw for Asiamiles used to be their free stopover, but thats been removed now. They still have the multi carrier reward chart that can produce some incredible value.
  SQ lets you get value through stopovers too.
  - Track says:
    
    9 Nov9 November 18:43
    
    AsiaMiles had CX business class availability, which BA Avios did not have.
    
    Especially so on regional, inter-Asia flights.
    
    CX became bad at releasing J class availability to partners. Started with Alaska Airlines but now they treat entire OW partners the same.
Journeying John says:

9 Nov9 November 08:49

IF you do this, don’t forget on redemption, you won’t have to pay for seat reservations with Singapore and SQ rarely if ever run out of catering or suffer repeated, serious IT issues
Ali says:

9 Nov9 November 09:03

Is Ethiopian an option to middle East with 24hr in Addis?
- Rob says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 09:15
  
  If the schedules work out, then it should be bookable, yes. I have seen Ethiopian come up before.
Paul says:

9 Nov9 November 09:27

I cannot recommend the Istanbul option highly enough and spend a few nights in this wonderful city. The IC Istanbul is fabulous but ensure you have breakfast included as it is eye wateringly expensive otherwise. There are many places to eat around the hotel and the “The Kitchen” is great for breakfast a short walk away.
The Hilton and Conrad are exceptional too.
The airport is about 40 minutes from town but pre-book a taxi which I thought were good value.
Above all do not use BA to get to or from IST. Turkish have outstanding service in J and tend to use long haul aircraft with flat beds and (pre-covid) fabulous catering. Even their shorthaul has an excellent J product with free Wi Fi and IFE.
If pushed fr time and a first timer in town use Amex travel to arrange a private tour.
- Sam G says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 10:13
  
  BA to Istanbul is MUCH cheaper than Turkish in J though IME, either by cash or miles. so that factors into the decision. Absolutely agree though that product is night and day but for a sub-4hr flight only so much use you can get out of a lie flat bed 🙂
  - BuildTheWall says:
    
    9 Nov9 November 11:15
    
    Turkish is cheaper if you can use Bonvoy to transfer to Turkish Miles&Smiles. Award availability is also obviously better on Turkish’s own program.
Jonathan says:

9 Nov9 November 09:48

Don’t forget that the Amex International Dollar card comes with a minimum annual fee of $100 in order to earn MR points
- Jonathan says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 10:02
  
  And also enforces a minimum annual income of $35,000.
  
  A bit weird that the minimal income requirement is quoted in USD, since most people who would earn USD from their employment would be ineligible
  - meta says:
    
    9 Nov9 November 10:19
    
    First year is free after which it’a $60.
  - Charlieface says:
    
    9 Nov9 November 14:18
    
    Probably just a factor of the whole card being in USD. The EUR card is minimum income in EUR.
    You also need to pay the bill through their USA accounts
- Rob says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 10:25
  
  Yes it does, plus the fee for MR. Obviously if you’re moving 100,000 points and gaining 31,000 points it is still a great deal. Not really worth it for small balances though.
Rob says:

9 Nov9 November 10:25

IST – SIN was even cheaper before at 40k VS miles one way. It was also one of the few SIngapore Airlines routes you could book because it was on an older 777-2. Now it’s moved to a350 so SQ miles are really the only option at 49K.
- Lady London says:
  
  9 Nov9 November 10:34
  
  I reallt dislike the SQ 777-2 aircraft. Landed on them several times before I switched my Eastwards trips to QR J.
  
  I am even sadder to see the A380 be stepped down than I was when they shelved Concorde.