Singapore Airline Points Expiring Soon - Any other way they can be used?

[roomer]

G'day All,

Been a lurker as AFF call it and now am a newbie ! So...

My wife and I flew with SIA a couple of years ago and have each accrued 20,044 KrisFlyer miles of which apparently half are going to expire.

I recall not long after we got back that SIA were joining up with the Velocity points scheme but thought that we would not be eligible given points were earned before this announcement.

I was wondering if anyone knows if I can somehow get value from these points rather than let them expire (and obviously not redeem them on flights as we are more geared to Qantas , having a son who will be marrying a Texan gal in a few weeks, plus the fact we have lashed out on Qantas club membership, given there will be a few trips in store over the coming years)

I know Qantas and Velocity at least give you alternatives in using points but I havent been able to fathom out the SIA site.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

 

[dajop]

KrisFlyer can only be used for flights either as a redemption on SQ or its partners, or to provide a discount of a SQ or SilkAir fare. You could use this quantity of miles to get domestic flights on VA (you may have to purchase a small amount more), or almost enough for 1 way ADL-SIN in economy, but thats about it.

 

[nlagalle]

G'day All,

Been a lurker as AFF call it and now am a newbie ! So...

My wife and I flew with SIA a couple of years ago and have each accrued 20,044 KrisFlyer miles of which apparently half are going to expire.

I recall not long after we got back that SIA were joining up with the Velocity points scheme but thought that we would not be eligible given points were earned before this announcement.

I was wondering if anyone knows if I can somehow get value from these points rather than let them expire (and obviously not redeem them on flights as we are more geared to Qantas , having a son who will be marrying a Texan gal in a few weeks, plus the fact we have lashed out on Qantas club membership, given there will be a few trips in store over the coming years)

I know Qantas and Velocity at least give you alternatives in using points but I havent been able to fathom out the SIA site.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

Have you got an Amex or similar to transfer points from? you could transfer over then book flights from there.

 

[roomer]

Thanks vet much for that.

Could you please let me know how I would translate that to VA and get some domestic flights ?

 

[roomer]

Thanks for you help, but sadly no I dont

 

[JohnK]

Have you looked around on KrisFlyer website?

You can redeem for accommodation and I think car hire but I am not sure the miles required for each.

Another possibility is one of you can head off to somewhere like HKG for a few days. If you transfer miles from your wifes account to yours and then purchase 2,000 KrisFlyer miles you have an return economy award to HKG + ~$450 in fuel surcharges.

 

[roomer]

Wow thanks JohnK for that insight regarding the flights but thats probably not on our horizon, interesting thought though...

Regarding the SIA website, I had looked around the points section but couldnt find anything, perhaps I need to put my glasses on although dajop seemed to think you could only redeem for flights

 

[JohnK]

Wow thanks JohnK for that insight regarding the flights but thats probably not on our horizon, interesting thought though...

Do you have a friend or family member that may want to go? You can redeem an award for up to 5 nominated people on the account.

 

[nlagalle]

Have you looked around on KrisFlyer website?

You can redeem for accommodation and I think car hire but I am not sure the miles required for each.

Another possibility is one of you can head off to somewhere like HKG for a few days. If you transfer miles from your wifes account to yours and then purchase 2,000 KrisFlyer miles you have an return economy award to HKG + ~$450 in fuel surcharges.

JohnK I don't believe you can transfer between SQ accounts.

 

[JohnK]

Regarding the SIA website, I had looked around the points section but couldnt find anything, perhaps I need to put my glasses on although dajop seemed to think you could only redeem for flights

Hmmm. For some reason I thought you redeem for hotels and car hire.

Here is the Virgin Australia redemption chart.

If you purchase 2,000 KrisFlyer miles each (approx USD80 each) then you have enough miles for a return ADL-CNS flight.

There are plenty of other possbilities like one -way business class somewhere and you purchase the return airfare.

 

[roomer]

Do you have a friend or family member that may want to go? You can redeem an award for up to 5 nominated people on the account.

No I dont, but I also noticed that US Airways are a partner airline ( or at least somehow affliated) so perhaps I can convert them to US Airways points, because for future trips, we will have to fly from LAX to Texas. Think Ill ring SIA to find out unless anyone can put the kybosh on that here.

 

[JohnK]

JohnK I don't believe you can transfer between SQ accounts.

You are right. For some reason I thought it was possible but I may have been thinking of nominees.

 

[dajop]

No I dont, but I also noticed that US Airways are a partner airline ( or at least somehow affliated) so perhaps I can convert them to US Airways points, because for future trips, we will have to fly from LAX to Texas. Think Ill ring SIA to find out unless anyone can put the kybosh on that here.

You can't "convert" Krisflyer miles into any other points/miles. You can only book specific flights on partner airlines. Within the US, SQ (currently) have 3 partners - United, US Airways & Virgin America. (I say currently, as if American & US Airways merge then US Airways may cease being a partner). US Airways and United follow the star alliance chart, whilst Virgin America has its own chart.

For the star alliance chart, half the amounts for one way flights - so basically for 12,500 pts you can get one way award anywhere in US on UA or US (and for 20,000 you can get a one way business class award but not sure specifically what is the rules in the USA as mostly the premium part of the aircraft is called "first", so you may have to go via Canada or Mexico to get a business award) , or for 16,000 on Virgin America you can get to Dallas or Austin.

Not sure about the star alliance awards, but generally SQ tickets are valid for 12 months from first date of travel. So you could by one now for travel in October 2014, and if you didn't want to take the trip, come next October, you could move (subject to availability and a $20 service fee) your flights later, up to October 2015.

 

[auriga]

12500 can get you a one way ticket within south west Pacific, eg from Australia to NZ/ Pacific Islands/ Tahiti. Business class (if available) is 17500.

 

[doctau]

This thread has reminded me I have 13k SQ miles to use by the end of the month. Given I'd have to buy the return flight, time to find out whether it is worth doing or not.

 

[roomer]

Thanks vey much for all of that dajop. This is all new to me and I havent a clue about how it all works. I actually rang SIA this morning to see how I could use the points for a domestic VA flight, and was told I had to go to the VA site, and hunt up the relevant section on there, and once I select the flight I am after, I need to fill out on a form on the SIA site and submit that.

So all in all seems to be very convoluted process and not user friendly in that, I was told some flights chosen arent always available. It appears you would have to go back and forth, back and forth and goodness knows what SIA response time would be ! Dont think they are really keen to have you use points other than with SIA!

After spending some time to coax that information response ( have to say it was hard to understand her English) I chose not to bother about the US alternatives - that would make it just too difficult if a similar process were to be followed.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, regular trips to the USA to visit our son will be on the card, so I think it'll be Qantas as at least their points allow you greater flexibility when it comes to redeeming. (and we'd favour them to use for a trip to Europe over SIA for the same reason)

 

[singh]

I am in a similar situation, I had 60,000 Krisflyer miles from a RTW trip in 2009, which I foolishly let expire and now I only have 22,917 left which I would like to burn before expiry next month.... Might have a look into VA now...

 

[singh]

Make that 12,917 now

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Thanks vey much for all of that dajop. This is all new to me and I havent a clue about how it all works. I actually rang SIA this morning to see how I could use the points for a domestic VA flight, and was told I had to go to the VA site, and hunt up the relevant section on there, and once I select the flight I am after, I need to fill out on a form on the SIA site and submit that.

You were given a bum steer
Look here:
http://www.singaporeair.com/pdf/ppsclub_krisflyer/charts/virgin-aust-award-jan13.pdf

To book, yes you can use the form but I always just call the Sydney number 2 9350 0203 and book direct which is quick and painless.

If you look at the chart flying on Virgin you can go from Adelaide to anywhere on the eastern seaboard for 11K one way. (just buy the extra points you need).

I did Melbourne Cairns earlier for 20 K return (would be 22k now) and NO taxes or fuel fines.

 

[MH_fan]

I have a little over 67000 SQ miles, the majority of which will expire at the end of this month, but I don't really have any plans to use them until 2015. I like the idea of booking something with them for 2014 and then extending by a further 12 months for a fee.