Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Introduces Milestone Rewards

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When I opened up my inbox this morning and saw an email from KrisFlyer with the subject line “Enhancements to the KrisFlyer programme in 2021” my heart sank a little. Anyone who has been around the miles & points game for more than a couple of minutes knows that “enhancements” is usually a code word used by loyalty programs to try to put a positive spin on a negative change and we could all really do without any more negativity right now.

Still, I opened the email and was pleasantly surprised to see that I need not have worried – KrisFlyer has introduced an actual enhancement to its program and it’s effective right away.

Singapore Airlines Milestone Rewards

The Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program has launched a milestone rewards program that sees members earning bonuses as they earn more and more Elite Miles in a calendar year. At the lower levels the bonuses aren’t particularly exciting, but once you earn 20,000 Elite Miles things start to look a lot more interesting and the bonuses start to have some actual value.

• 5,000 Elite Miles – 1,500 KrisPay miles (equivalent to SGD 10)
• 10,000 Elite Miles – $20 KrisShop Promo Code
• 20,000 Elite Miles – 25% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles on a single flight segment
• 30,000 Elite Miles – 50% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles on a single flight segment
• 40,000 Elite Miles – 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles redemption discount
• 60,000 Elite Miles – Double KrisFlyer Miles on a single flight segment
• 75,000 Elite Miles – Short-Haul Advance Upgrade
• 100,000 Elite Miles – Premium Economy Class Advance Upgrade

Note: KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards are awarded based on the Elite miles earned on flights operated by Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, or Scoot. Elite miles earned on flights on other airlines are not eligible for the rewards.

Key Things To Know

• KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards are awarded based on Elite miles earned from flights on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and/or Scoot in a single calendar year.
• The rewards are valid for 12 months from the date of issue, unless otherwise stated.
• The rewards can only be used for eligible flights operated by Singapore Airlines or SilkAir, and applications must be submitted before flight departure.
• The rewards are applicable only to ticketed bookings and cannot be used on partially flown tickets.
• The short-haul Advance Upgrade awarded at 75,000 Elite miles can only be used for a one-cabin class upgrade for one flight segment flying between Zone 1 and Zone 2 or between Zone 1 and Zone 3 (in either direction) and only if the original booking is in one of the following classes:
  • Economy Class – Y, B, E, M, H, W
  • Premium Economy Class – S, T, P, L
  • Business Class – Z, C, J, U
• The Premium Economy Advance Upgrade awarded at 100,000 Elite miles can only be used for an upgrade in one flight segment from Economy to Premium Economy Class and only if the original booking is in one of the following Economy Class fares: Y, B, E, M, H, W.

Full terms and conditions can be found on the KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards webpage.

Thoughts

I can’t say that there’s anything groundbreaking or amazing here but there’s also nothing negative to worry about and the bonuses are genuine bonuses (even if some come with a few too many restrictions) so that’s definitely good news.

The first two milestone rewards will almost certainly be inconsequential to most flyers but the 25% and 50% bonus KrisFlyer Miles earned at 20,000 and 30,000 Elite Miles could amount to a significant bonus if applied to a long-haul booking (especially one that’s for a premium cabin).

The 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount awarded at 40,000 miles looks a little weak when you consider that the milestone reward one level down will probably earn that many miles on a lot of long-haul fares, but if you’re predominantly flying short-haul trips I can see how this may look ok.

The ‘double miles’ reward at 60,000 Elite Miles will, again, be most useful to anyone with a long-haul booking and if they can manage to combine it with a long-haul premium cabin booking, they could be looking at a very nice haul of bonus points.

Unsurprisingly, the best two milestone rewards are the last two to be awarded but they’re not quite as fantastic as they may first appear to be.

The short-haul upgrade and the Premium Economy upgrade both require a passenger booked into Economy Class to have booked a Y, B, E, M, H, or W fare code, and if you take a look at the KrisFlyer fare code table…

…you’ll see that this excluded the more discounted Economy Class fares. You can only upgrade out of Economy Class with these rewards if you don’t purchase the cheapest Economy fares on offer.

In addition, the short-haul upgrade excludes Premium Economy “R” fares and Business Class “D” fares which I have to assume (I’m not 100% sure) are the most discounted fares available in those cabins.

Effectively, the Milestone Reward upgrades require a traveler to pay a little more for the original fare if they want to be able to use the reward. That doesn’t make these rewards bad, but it does make them a little less good.

Bottom Line

The Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program has introduced Milestone rewards which reward flyers for earning Elite Miles during a calendar year. These rewards are in addition to the elite privileges that flyers will enjoy as they accumulate more Elite Miles so this appears to be a genuine enhancement to the program.

What do you think of the new KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards?