Singapore Airline is by far my favourite airline, and their frequent flyer miles are some of the most valuable out there. The team behind Kris Flyer clearly know this, so they decided to quietly announce a devaluation in the award chart. The last time we saw an increase in price was March 2017; in which case they also slashed “fuel taxes” so in my opinion that was a good trade-off.
This time around the increase isn’t as significant, BUT any increase isn’t great for points collectors. Let’s have a look at the bad news.
The new award chart comes into effect on January 24, 2019, and will increase award prices in both Saver and Advantage across all classes, except economy.
At this stage, the Star Alliance award chart isn’t affected and remains the same.
Let’s have a look at the changes which will affect Australian travellers on Saver Awards (I’m not highlighting Advantage Awards since those aren’t exactly great value to start with).
You can find the old chart here and the new chart here.
In this post:
From Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra & Adelaide
To:
SINGAPORE, MALAYSI, INDONESIA, BRUNEI, PHILIPINES, THAILAND, VIETNAM, MYANMAR, CAMBODIA, LAOS.
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 85K OLD PRICE 80K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 62K OLD PRICE 58K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 47K OLD PRICE 45K
TO: SOUTH CHINA, HONG KONG & TAIWAN
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 88K OLD PRICE 80K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 65K OLD PRICE 58K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 49K OLD PRICE 45K
TO:
NORTH CHINA (BEIJING & SHANGHAI)
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 106K OLD PRICE 98K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 84K OLD PRICE 76K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 69K OLD PRICE 65K
TO:
INDIA, SRI LANKA, MALDIVES, BANGLADESH
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 116K OLD PRICE 108K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 84K OLD PRICE 76K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 69K OLD PRICE 63.5
TO:
JAPAN, & SOUTH KOREA
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 115K OLD PRICE 105K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 91K OLD PRICE 83K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 71.5K OLD PRICE 67.5
TO:
AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 122K OLD PRICE 112K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 86K OLD PRICE 78K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 64K OLD PRICE 60K
TO:
EUROPE
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 163K OLD PRICE 148K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 116K OLD PRICE 105K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 91.5K OLD PRICE 87.5K
TO:
UNITED STATES (WEST COAST)
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 167K OLD PRICE 154K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 121K OLD PRICE 110K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 95K OLD PRICE 90K
TO:
UNITED STATES (EAST COAST & HOUSTON)
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 167K OLD PRICE 152K
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 129K OLD PRICE 118K
- PREMIUM ECONOMY NEW PRICE 99K OLD PRICE 95K
From Perth & Darwin
To:
SINGAPORE, MALAYSI, INDONESIA, BRUNEI, PHILIPINES, THAILAND, VIETNAM, MYANMAR, CAMBODIA, LAOS, HONG KONG, TAIWAN
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 52k OLD PRICE 47.5k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 36.5k OLD PRICE 32.5k
TO:
NORTH CHINA (BEIJING & SHANGHAI)
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 72.5k OLD PRICE 65k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 57k OLD PRICE 76K
TO:
INDIA, SRI LANKA, MALDIVES, BANGLADESH
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 95k OLD PRICE 87.5k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 63k OLD PRICE 55k
TO:
JAPAN, & SOUTH KOREA
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 84.5k OLD PRICE 75k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 66k OLD PRICE 58k
TO:
AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST, TURKEY
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 109.5k OLD PRICE 100k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 70.5k OLD PRICE 62.5k
TO:
EUROPE
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 142k OLD PRICE 128k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 106k OLD PRICE 95k
TO:
UNITED STATES (WEST COAST)
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 160k OLD PRICE 148k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 113k OLD PRICE 102k
TO:
UNITED STATES (EAST COAST & HOUSTON)
- FIRST CLASS NEW PRICE 160k OLD PRICE 145k
- BUSINESS CLASS NEW PRICE 121k OLD PRICE 110k
Conclusion
While any devaluation is generally bad news, this time around the damage ins’t as significant as it could be. However, combined with the resent Virgin Australia Velocity to Kris Flyer transfer devaluation + the Amex devaluation coming into affect in April, it will only get harder for Australian frequent flyers to earn those valuable Kris Flyer miles.
It’s a great idea to lock in some flights now before the price increase on January 24; even if you don’t have a set date, a speculative booking could make sense since there’s only a US$25 fee to change the dates later on.
Other Changes
Along with the devaluation, Singapore Airlines announced a few other “enhancements”.
- Waitlist clearing: Waitlists for award flights will now be cleared 14 days prior to departure. This is both positive and negative; you will now have more certainty BUT it’s bad news for those who like to make last minute redemptions .
- Economy passengers can now upgrade to business where there is premium economy available. At the moment passengers can only upgrade 1 class. Now Singapore Airlines will allow Y passengers to upgrade to J and also use the waitlist feature to do so right up until departure. To me this indicates Singapore Airlines is prioritising people with a paid ticket over those looking to redeem miles. It’s bad new for long haul award redemptions as now we will have to compete with an entire Economy cabin.
- Greater convenience to redemption availability. From the end of the month you will be able to see a 7 day window of award seats, this will make it easier to search BUT you can only search up to 3 days prior to departure. At this stage I’m unsure if this means they will block last minute redemptions altogether.
For the full list of enhancements see: https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/au/ppsclub-krisflyer/latestnews/kfchangesjan19
