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Singapore Airlines has announced it will increase the price of most Star Alliance award tickets booked with KrisFlyer miles. The KrisFlyer devaluation affects bookings made from 7 December, 2017. There is some good news, though. Partner airline KrisFlyer bookings will finally become bookable online from the same date.
The upcoming devaluation affects all Star Alliance award bookings. These cover any KrisFlyer award booking that includes travel on a Star Alliance partner airline other than Singapore Airlines, or any combination of Singapore Airlines and partner airlines. So, KrisFlyer bookings on Star Alliance carriers including Thai Airways, United, Air Canada, Turkish Airlines, Asiana and Air New Zealand will all become more expensive.
There are no changes to Star Alliance Round The World Awards, which cost between 180,000 KrisFlyer miles (for Economy) and 360,000 miles (for First class).
Singapore Airlines most recently increased the cost of award bookings for travel on Singapore Airlines flights in March 2017. Following that price hike, there became a loophole in the program whereby many Star Alliance award bookings were cheaper than flights on Singapore Airlines itself. The upcoming changes largely correct this imbalance.
Does remove the quirk where a Star Alliance redemption could be cheaper than an SQ redemption. I was planning to use this for Europe at only 95,000 each way in business class (128,250 Virgin points). But this will now go up to 105,000 each way (141,750 Virgin points). Again, bugger!
Some of the price increases are relatively significant. Here are a few examples of old vs new pricing for round-trip Star Alliance awards:
- Australia to New Zealand: Increase from 35,000 to 56,000 KrisFlyer miles in Business class
- Australia to South-east Asia: Increase from 110,000 to 132,000 KrisFlyer miles in Business class
- Australia to North America: Increase from 110,000 to 120,000 KrisFlyer miles in Economy; 195,000 to 234,000 KrisFlyer miles in Business; 255,000 to 305,000 KrisFlyer miles in First class
- Australia to Europe: Increase from 190,000 to 210,000 KrisFlyer miles in Business; 265,000 to 296,000 KrisFlyer miles in First class
- Australia to India: Increase from 75,000 to 90,000 KrisFlyer miles in Economy.
On 7 December, Singapore Airlines will also introduce a USD25 fee for bookings, changes and upgrades made over the phone. The airline promises to waive this fee for bookings that cannot be made online.
If you’ve been thinking of using your KrisFlyer miles, there is still time to book at the current rates! Just make sure you book before the KrisFlyer devaluation on 7 December 2017. You can book flights up to almost a year in advance.
Looks like I will be making a few more Star Alliance redemptions between now and 7 December!
The ability to book partner airline KrisFlyer awards on the Singapore Airlines website will be a welcome change. Currently, it is only possible to book award flights on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir online. All other bookings must be made via the KrisFlyer call centre.
Not having to call them for partner bookings is a huge win for me. Hopefully all partners are included in the new search.
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