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How To Book Singapore Airlines With Velocity Points

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Immanuel Debeer | 31/07/2023

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In this quick guide, we’re going to show you step by step how you can redeem your Velocity Frequent Flyer Points to book Singapore Airlines flights in economy, premium and business class.
Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia are close partners and allow members of KrisFlyer and Velocity Frequent Flyer to redeem points for award flights on either airline.
The partnership goes even further by offering a unique benefit which allows members of both frequent flyer programs to transfer points from Velocity to KrisFlyer and vice versa, albeit at a cost.
Don’t be confused though, you don’t NEED to transfer points as it’s possible to book Singapore Airlines directly via Velocity. That said, there are a couple of instances where it might play out in your favour to transfer your Velocity Points to KrisFlyer. These are:

  • If you want to redeem points for a Singapore Airlines first-class flight, you will need to book directly via KrisFlyer as award seats are not offered to Velocity members although it’s technically possible to book via Velocity as well.
  • Additional award seats are often made available to KrisFlyer members, therefore if you can’t find a seat via Velocity but you can find it via KrisFlyer, it could be beneficial to transfer points in order to book those seats.

For every 1.55 Velocity Points transferred, you’ll receive 1 KrisFlyer Mile, and similarly, for every 1.55 KrisFlyer Miles transferred, you’ll receive 1 Velocity Point.

Tip: Looking for a great Velocity Points credit card? Check out the latest sign-up bonus of the Amex Velocity Platinum which also comes with a complimentary domestic Virgin Australia return flight!

How To Transfer Velocity Points Into KrisFlyer Miles

  • Log in to your Velocity account.
  • Select the profile window in the top right and then click “My Velocity”.
  • Click “Link & Transfer” in the menu bar, then “Airline Points Transfer”.
  • Select to link your KrisFlyer account and enter your details
  • Now your accounts are linked you can select “Transfer Now”.
  • Enter the number of points you wish to convert and confirm to complete your transaction.

How to Redeem Velocity Points For Singapore Airlines Flights

Velocity members can redeem their points for partner airlines such as Singapore Airlines based on a distance award chart. The distance is calculated in air miles so if you want to work out how much a flight will cost, you can use a tool like Great Circle Mapper to work out the actual air mile distance and compare it to the Velocity partner award chart.

Booking Singapore Airlines flights with your Velocity Points is very easy and can be done online or over the phone. We recommend doing it online as there are no fees in this case.

Booking Fees:

  • Velocity Website – No fee
  • Membership Contact Centre – $70 or 8,800 Points per person per booking

To start you will need to visit the Velocity Frequent Flyer website, make sure you’re logged into your Velocity account then follow these steps:

  • Click “Book”
  • Click “Flights”
  • Click “Book Using Points”
  • Ensure the “Use Velocity Points” checkmark is toggled red.

From there you can input your origin, destination and number of passengers.

Once you start the search, you will get redirected to the search results screen. Here you will need to look out for some minor details, for starters if there’s a “Reward Seat”, there will be a purple badge which reads “Reward Seats available”.

If you’re confused about what a reward seat is and why some flights show up much more expensive than what you expected, you’re simply not familiar yet with the concept of a Reward Seat vs a Points+Pay seat. Both are vastly different and you can read all about it in our guide here.

Once you find a Reward Seat, proceed with your booking as you would with any other online booking. You will get the option to pay the surcharges using points, however, we recommend you pay cash because paying the surcharge/tax part of the booking using points will result in a value of $0.0059 per point. Ideally aim to redeem our points for at least, 1.5c or more.

Once you pay for the ticket, you will get issued your PNR at which stage you can head over to the Singapore Airlines website, click on manage my booking and select your preferred seats as well as “book the cook” which allows you to pre-order off the menu items for your business class flights.

Velocity Award Cancellation & Refunds Rules

  • Changes to each flight sector must be requested at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure of that sector, and are subject to a change fee.
  • Cancellations must be requested at least 24 hours prior to first scheduled departure and refunds are subject to a fee of 4,500 Points or a $35 charge per guest per booking.

When does Singapore Airlines first open award seats for booking?

Singapore Airlines starts opening award seats at T355, this means seats start becoming available 355 days in advance. Flights are added at 00:00 GMT which works out to 8AM Singapore time which is 2-3h behind Sydney.

Singapore Airlines Segment Surcharges

Velocity redemptions on Singapore Airlines now incur a segment surcharge, this means that each leg of the flight is up for an additional cash payment. This can range from $90 to $150 in business class depending on the air mile distance.

Pro Tips – Finding Award Space Fast

It can sometimes be a struggle to quickly scan multiple dates in order to find seats. At Flight Hacks were big fans of a search tool called “Seats Aero” which allows you to scan for Velocity award seats within seconds. While it’s free to use, Pro users of the tool can scan all availability much further ahead.

A common mistake we see beginners make is not understanding airline routing and schedules. It’s always a good idea to research your routes and airline availability using either Google Flights or Flight Connections, this gives you a good overview. For example, you can’t simply input Melbourne to Athens expecting to get a result, for starters, Singapore Airlines doesn’t fly there and second, it’s not a major airline hub in Europe so even other airlines will have limited availability. It’s often easier to find award seats to bigger hubs such as Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and London; but don’t limit yourself! Sometimes the opposite is true and it can be easier to find seats out of smaller airports such as Copenhagen, Munich, Zurich or Istanbul.

With that in mind, the last tip is to split up your search. Don’t just put Sydney to London and expect the best results. Often either one of the flights might not be available, therefore it’s smart to break up your search in segments first to see what your options are. For example, first start researching the Sydney to Singapore flight and note down which dates are available, then proceed with your end destination searching Singapore to London to see which dates are available. If the Singapore to London flight is harder to get, you might then consider searching other destinations in Europe where Singapore Airlines flies as it’s easy enough to transfer on a short-haul flight once you’re there. The same goes for your departure points, if you’re starting in Sydney, also consider hopping over to Melbourne, Brisbane or Adelaide to expand your options.

Last but not least, search often! Most beginners will run one search and conclude it’s impossible to find flights. This hobby requires patience and time! Award seats can open up at any time so it pays to search often or use tools like Seats Aero or Expert Flyer to alert you when a seat opens up.

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Immanuel Debeer

Chief points nerd and travel hacker at Flight Hacks

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  1. Thanks Immanuel this is so useful reference material.

    Now that ANA has opened up seats for velocity members, would be great if you could write an article about ‘how-to’ thanks 🙏

    • Thanks Monica! As far as I’m aware ANA hasn’t yet opened seats to Velocity (they are only codesharing flights at the moment) but this should be possible soon, when it happens we will definitely create a guide.

  2. How do I use my points to upgrade, I have bought premium economy flights flying Singapore and want to try to use my points to get business.

  3. Thanks Immanuel, this is really insightful.

    I am trying to book 3 business class seats but understand that velocity only has 2 allocations per flight whereas Singapore Airlines allows me to book all 3 at once (albeit at a higher point requirement). Do you think it would be a good strategy to book the 2 seats via Velocity and then the last seat via Krisflyer?

    • Hi Kelvin, yes Singapore Airlines often reserves more award space for its own members, albeit at the Advantage level and not saver. The allocation isn’t fixed at 2 seats though, it might just be the case on your flight/dates. Your strategy sounds good to me, I’d book the Velocity redemptions followed by KrisFlyer, maybe line them all up and press book at the same time just in case award space disappears

    • Not with points, you may however ask for a cash upgrade at the airport but it would be on par with paying for business outright.

  4. Hi
    Just wondering once you have secured a Singapore airlines international reward seat through velocity is it possible to arrange seat allocation?

    • Yes of course! Just copy the PNR number you got on the ticket and head to Singapore Airlines – manage booking section on the website to select your seats as well as “book the cook” in business and first.

  5. if i can’t find reward seat in the velocity ,but it show in the krisflyer, do I need to transfer to krisflyer? Or if I call velocity, is there any chance ,they can find the seat? For business ,I will lost nearly50% point.

    • Hey Leon. Not every Singapore Airlines flight that has a KrisFlyer Reward will be available with Velocity. As with all partner airlines, the reward seat inventory is less with partners than booking directly with the frequent flyer program of the operating carrier. You can transfer Velocity Points to KrisFlyer for your booking, but be sure to check how much extra this will cost. Blue Skies, Tom.

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