Last Chance for Top Value KrisFlyer Star Alliance Awards

Business class on Turkish Airlines, one of 27 Star Alliance carriers

On 7 December 2017, Singapore Airlines will increase the cost of most KrisFlyer Star Alliance awards. So, take advantage of the lower prices and redeem your KrisFlyer miles now!

On 7 December 2017, KrisFlyer will devalue its Star Alliance award chart. This means that most Star Alliance awards will soon cost a higher number of KrisFlyer miles. In some cases, the price increases are significant.

With KrisFlyer, Star Alliance awards are redemption bookings that include at least one Star Alliance airline other than Singapore Airlines. The itinerary could include a mixture of Singapore Airlines and another Star Alliance carrier/s, or purely partner airlines.

These 27 Star Alliance airlines can be used as part of a Star Alliance KrisFlyer award:

Star Alliance airlines

The change takes effect from 7 December. So there’s still time to book Star Alliance awards at the lower rate! If you’re sitting on a pile of KrisFlyer miles, here are some of our favourite Star Alliance redemptions:

Australia to Europe in Business or First class

The Star Alliance award from Australia to Europe is one of the most common types of bookings that we help Award Flight Assist customers with. At just 190,000 KrisFlyer miles return in Business, or 265,000 miles return in First class, this redemption is great value! You can also fly one-way for half the number of miles, but return bookings come with a free stopover.

You can use any Star Alliance airline, but we most commonly find award availability with Thai Airways via Bangkok. Another oft-available route is with Singapore Airlines from Australia to Singapore, connecting onwards to almost anywhere in Europe with Turkish Airlines (via Istanbul).

Australia to New Zealand in Business class

This little-known award oozes value. You can fly any route between Australia and New Zealand (even Perth-Auckland, if you can find award availability) for just 17,500 miles one-way in Business. Return bookings cost 35,000 miles and can include a free stopover. Sadly, the price will increase on 7 December to 56,000 miles.

To access this price, you would need to include at least one Air New Zealand flight in the booking. If you can get a trans-Tasman Air New Zealand flight, this is easy enough. However, Air NZ award availability can be rather limited. Singapore Airlines has tons of Business award availability on its Canberra-Wellington route; simply add on a connecting flight with Air New Zealand to/from Wellington to access the lower rate. All of Air NZ’s domestic flights are Economy-only, but mixed-class KrisFlyer award bookings are allowed. Click here to find out more about this award.

Australia to North America in Business or First class

KrisFlyer’s pricing on the Australia-North America route is not quite as competitive, but it’s not bad. The key advantage with using KrisFlyer, though, is the access to Business class award space that you can’t get using Qantas or Virgin Velocity points. KrisFlyer miles give you access to award seats on Air Canada and United. You can also route via Asia (e.g. with ANA or Asiana) or even via Europe, at no extra cost.

Cheap “Mini Round-the-World” Bookings

The KrisFlyer award routing rules are so flexible that you can even turn a round-trip booking to North America into a round-the-world trip! Based on the current pricing, this works out to cost 195,000 KrisFlyer miles in Business or just 255,000 miles in First class!

How to Book

It is not currently possible to book KrisFlyer Star Alliance awards online. This will only become possible from 7 December… the day after all of the prices go up! In the meantime, the only way to book Star Alliance awards is by calling KrisFlyer on 02 8228 1188 (from within Australia).

Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?

Would you like help with a KrisFlyer award booking? Our Frequent Flyer Concierge team are reward flight experts and can help you make the most of your points before the upcoming devaluation!

Not sure yet where you’d like to go with your points? Stay tuned for more Points Inspiration articles!

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 70 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
________________________

Related Articles