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Singapore Airlines announces a mild KrisFlyer devaluation

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Singapore Airlines announced a modest devaluation of its KrisFlyer loyalty scheme yesterday.

This is relevant because KrisFlyer is a transfer partner with American Express Membership Rewards, HSBC Premier and Heathrow Rewards.  Singapore Airlines also restricts access to its premium seats to its airline partners, so your best of trying something like the amazing new A380 First Class Suite is via KrisFlyer.

You can see our review of a tour of the new Singapore Airlines First Class Suite, including a video, in this HfP article.  The official website highlighting the new A380 is here.

Overall the news is not too bad from a UK perspective:

Star Alliance redemptions are unchanged.  This means, in particular, that the ‘sweet spot’ redemption of 25,000 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket from the UK to the Middle East remains.

Premium redemptions between the UK and Singapore increase modestly.  One-way Business Class redemptions increase from 85,000 miles to 92,000 miles.  One-way First Class redemptions increase from 115,000 miles to 125,000 miles.

Premium redemptions on the New York to Frankfurt route increase modestly.  One-way Business Class redemptions increase from 65,000 miles to 72,000 miles.  One-way First Class redemptions increase from 76,000 miles to 86,000 miles.

Premium redemptions on the Manchester to Houston route increase modestly.  One-way Business Class redemptions increase from 65,000 miles to 72,000 miles. 

Singapore Airlines First Class suite

KrisFlyer is introducing some new features too:

It will be possible to upgrade from Economy to Business Class again.  When Premium Economy was introduced, this functionality was removed as only ‘one category’ upgrades were possible.

The ‘last minute’ redemption deals which have been trialled recently have been made permanent, although those are of little use if you live in the UK unless European routes are included.

The website will be changed to show redemption availability +/- 3 days, instead of just for one day at a time

Waitlisting for redemptions will only be possible up to 14 days before departure.  Unsuccessful waitlist applications will now be cancelled at this point.  KrisFlyer is claiming that this is a positive change as it lets you have more certainty over your travel plans.

The KrisFlyer website is here although at the time of writing it has not been updated to include this new information.

The new redemption chart – which kicks in for bookings made from 24th January – is here.  The existing reward chart is here.  The chart for Star Alliance redemptions, which is not changing, is here.

How to earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards

How to earn Star Alliance miles from UK credit cards (October 2024)

None of the Star Alliance airlines currently have a UK credit card.

There is, however, still a way to earn Star Alliance miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy. Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to over 40 airlines at the rate of 3:1.

The best way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend. At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 airline miles per £1 spent on the card.

There is a preferential conversion rate to United Airlines – which is a Star Alliance member – of 2 : 1 if you convert 60,000 Bonvoy points at once.

The Star Alliance members which are Marriott Bonvoy transfer partners are: Aegean, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Avianca, Copa Airlines, Singapore Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

Category

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Comments (169)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • The streets says:
    4 Jan4 January 08:17

    O/T Hilton Honors AMEX MR promo. Has anyone who transferred MR to Hilton Honors points at the rate 3:1 received their bonus points? Did it go through at the same time or was it added later? If it was added later then how much later? Despite receiving the offer email from AMEX they have only posted at 2:1

    • Liz says:
      4 Jan4 January 08:40

      The T&Cs said 8 wks I think for the bonus – I didn’t get the offer but queried with Amex marketing if it was targeted or not.

    • Cormac says:
      4 Jan4 January 08:47

      No bonus points for me either yet

    • Clo says:
      4 Jan4 January 13:03

      Mine also transferred 2:1. I then called Amex twice: first time the said they agreed the issue in 3-4 days. After a week I called back and they added the missing points manually and they apperead in 2 days

  • Ant says:
    4 Jan4 January 08:32

    OT: thinking of going to Tallinn for 4 days over the May bank holiday weeekend. I know a few people have been there mainly for tier runs.

    We have 4 days do you think we have enough time to do both Tallinn and Helsinki? Thinking we could fly into one and out of the other.

    Advice appreciated.

    • Liz says:
      4 Jan4 January 08:43

      We just did 3 nights in Tallinn and 4 in Helsinki which was great at the beg of Dec. We had to move our stay from Sept to Dec so many things weren’t open in Helsinki in winter but it will be better in May.

      • Liz says:
        4 Jan4 January 08:46

        Didn’t really answer your question. Yes 2 days in each would be enough to let you see the main things.

        • antoinette calleja says:
          4 Jan4 January 09:53

          Thanks LIz.
          May I ask where you stayed? looks like the HIlton is full for our days.

        • roberto says:
          4 Jan4 January 11:13

          @antoinette -we stayed at the Hotel Palace in Tallin , central (much more so than the Hilton) , clean and inexpensive.

          Check out the Sea Plane museum before you go , we had a great 3 hours or so there..

        • Judge says:
          4 Jan4 January 15:24

          Recommend fly to Tallinn, stay two nights, take ferry to Helsinki and stay another two nights there. The ferry is a bit of a booze cruise for locals. You can have a huge all you can eat and drink buffet, and you can even get a cabin for a snooze, all at a very reasonable price. Have a look at Eckero Line.

          Stayed twice at Hotel Telegraaf in Tallinn – excellent hotel in brilliant location in the old town. Now affiliated to Marriott. In Helsinki, recommend Hotel Kamp. Can stay there with FHR benefits if you have Amex Platinum.

    • bsuije says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:12

      Did exactly this a couple of year ago. Out of LHR on the morning of the Friday, straight to Tallinn via Helsinki, arrived around midday. Spent Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday in Tallinn and then took a very early (6am?) flight back to Helsinki and spent the day there, catching a 6 or 7pm flight back to London.

      That split worked OK for me, though the 6am flight to Helsinki was a waste – we ended up sitting in a café for an hour or so while we waited for everything to open…

      A 2:2 split might have been better, but I think my aim was to maximise the stay at the Hilton in Tallinn… hehe

    • Alan says:
      4 Jan4 January 11:52

      Yep, definitely do-able in that time – we flew LHR-HEL-TLL then got ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki and back from there. Hilton really nice in Tallinn, Hotel Indigo was good in Helsinki. Agree re maritime museum, also recommend the bastion tunnels. In Helsinki make sure to visit Suomenlinna.

      • Stu N says:
        4 Jan4 January 15:27

        2+2 would be ideal I think. Both are great cities, but fairly small. We stayed at the Hilton in Tallinn and GLO Art Hotel in Helsinki.

        Just be aware that LHR-TLL is 40TPs while LHR-HEL is 80TPs. If you’re on a business ticket HEL-TLL will be 20TPs, if you book it separately will be 5/10/20 depending on fare bucket.

      • Liz says:
        4 Jan4 January 15:33

        We stayed at the Hilton as recommended by everyone on here. It’s a 10 min walk to the old town along a straight road so very easy. We got access to the club lounge with Gold – nice lounge and lovely staff. We ate at the Xmas market the first night then ate in the lounge the next 2 nights – 3 hot dishes on offer, plus desserts – enjoyed the lovely coffee shops and cakes during the day. Caught the ferry across the Baltic Sea – fortunately quite calm the day we travelled. In Helsinki we moved our stay from HI city centre to Crowne Plaza at Hesperia as it was on points break. We got upgraded to a Junior Suite and access to club lounge although not much food on offer – only nibbles and jars of sweets. This hotel was good but in need of some upgraded decor but was fine for us. It’s on the main tram line but we walked everywhere anyway – only about 15 mins down into the main shopping area. Also this hotel is great for the airport bus as it stops about 100 yards down the road – much cheaper than a taxi.

  • TripRep says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:15

    As this is bits, any current recommendations for LHR-LGW exec car / minivan transfer? ie a good value & reliable version of Addison Lee?

    • roberto says:
      4 Jan4 January 11:18

      I looked at this a couple of days ago. Checked out BlackLane and others and in the end went for the return Coach option as I had a LHR to LGW in Feb and the reverse in April. Worked out about a third of the cost of two one way car transfers even including the catch any coach option.

    • BLT says:
      4 Jan4 January 13:07

      Batransfers worked well for us. Mixed reviews but were priced competitively and were on time.

    • TripRep says:
      4 Jan4 January 13:38

      apreciate the responses, there’s just hte 2 of us, thinking £50-60 better spent on a comfortable peronsalised transfer.

  • pointsarb says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:38

    O/T Currently planning our first family holiday to Bali over Easter and looking for best hotel suggestions on points please. Was thinking either Hilton Bali, Conrad Bali, or Intercontinental Bali as I have IHG & Hilton points to burn.

    Does anybody have any useful data points on these 3 properties please?

    Also, any recommendations from HFP readers on worthwhile things to do for our 2 kids ages 7 and 5 would be greatly appreciated.

    Many thanks in advance!

    • Genghis says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:47

      Wife and I stayed at Conrad Bali in 2017 for 7 nights, paid cash, from memory $140 / night (so v expensive on points). As diamond, good upgrade to suite and the area around the Conrad Suites pool is very pleasant. Good breakfast in the Conrad Suites lounge (main restaurant hectic) and OK afternoon tea. Evening cocktails pleasant in the bar near the reception before we headed for dinner. Staff were excellent. The beach area isn’t the best, but normal for Bali. Good restaurants in the area a short taxi journey (some will collect for free) / walk.

      We also spent one night at the RC. It had recently opened. Hard product was absolutely fantastic but soft product was severely lacking. It’d be interesting to see if it’s changed.

    • Axel says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:51

      Can’t go wrong with a full day at the waterbom waterpark at their age and probably your age.

      • RTS says:
        4 Jan4 January 10:04

        Agreed. I was in Bali for 3 weeks in October. Waterbom waterpark was sick. I recommend you get the VIP package. 🙂

    • Leo says:
      4 Jan4 January 15:30

      I stayed in the IC Bali last year. It was very good – especially in the Club bit. Lots of cocktails and canapés available during the happy hour. Breakfast was very good. The club pool area also nice as were all the staff. We stayed in a duplex suite which will now have been refurbished. It’s an easy ride to the airport and Seminyak if you want to go there. I’d go back to the hotel if I wanted to go back to Bail. If you like seafood/fish then there are plenty of restaurants actually on Jimbaran beach of an evening. I wasn’t knocked out by Bali on the whole to be honest. It’s a long way to go for a start and the beaches are a bit sub par. I also thought it was relatively expensive particularly in comparison to the rest of SE Asia. Weather at Easter (when we went) was also hit and miss but ok.

    • Cat says:
      4 Jan4 January 16:49

      The Bali bird park is great and there are some wonderful temples around Ubud (watch your belongings – the monkeys like to steal). Hire a driver to take you to see some of the rice paddies – they are just stunning.
      The beaches are prettier around Dreamland, but if you want to see truly beautiful beaches, you’re better off on the Gili islands, just off Lombok.
      Enjoy!

      • pointsarb says:
        4 Jan4 January 17:41

        Thanks Leo, Cat

        Cat, any recommendations for hotels in Gili or Lombok that might suit HFP’ers?!

        • Cat says:
          6 Jan6 January 00:47

          Hey Pointsarb, sorry, I forgot to check back for replies!

          The last time I went to Indonesia was a decade ago (it has been far, far too long…), and I was travelling on my own (on Gili Trewangan – the backpacker island). Any attempt to recommend a hotel would not be much use, but I suspect Gili Air is still your best bet with a family. I had a quick search, and Gili Air Escape, Gili Air Sanctuary Villa and Resort and Anahata all look lovely, but I haven’t stayed at any of them! Have a read around.

          I hope you have as fantastic a time there as I did!

  • Keith Taylor says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:38

    OT but I tried 3 times yesterday to reply without success.

    Re Amex Gold; is it not better churning it every 6 months rather than hanging on for the annual bonus? 20,000 MR points twice a year (+ 9000 referral bonus) is 58000 in say 16 months and only requires a £4000 spend. Keeping one for a year is only 39000 (20000+9000+10000) which requires a £15000 spend and around 14 months.

    • Neil says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:43

      Depends on your monthly spend keith. Some folks here put 7 figures through their Amex cards every year. You are also forgetting about the double points on offer for overseas spend and also on airline purchases. In addition to this, I believe the “offers” are better targeted when you hold the card long term but that’s IMO. A lot of new card holders may not have received the Amex travel offer for example of spending £600 and getting £200 back.

      • Keith Taylor says:
        4 Jan4 January 09:57

        If I could afford to spend 7 figures a year on an Amex card, I’m not sure I’d be too fussed about saving a couple of hundred quid here and there Neil. Churning gets us one or two 241 CW flights a year which we really enjoy, having never been business before.

        • Neil says:
          4 Jan4 January 10:26

          If you can spend 7 figures a year on an Amex why would you need a 241!? I appreciate you have never flown business before but a 241 is only valuable on BA. I much prefer CX for redemption’s.

        • David says:
          4 Jan4 January 10:41

          Presumably anyone putting £1 million through an Amex annually would be running a business? Or has found an incredibly lucrative manufactured spend secret…

          But yes – if anyone is spending upwards of £1m for their personal use, they definitely shouldn’t bother reading HfP for tips on how to grab £5-worth of points here and there!

          • Rob says:
            4 Jan4 January 10:56

            There are numerous people I know who spend £1m+ personally and read HFP, some of them my ex-City colleagues.

            The key point, as I stress again and again, is that if you can afford to pay for 4 Business Class tickets to California for a family holiday, then Avios are MORE valuable to you because it is a real saving. And anyone who made that sort of money through their own hard work won’t turn their back on such a saving.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:59

      Personally I think its better to hold the Plat for a few months either side of December.

      35k for joining plus 180k if you can make 10 referrals for £450 plus all the other benefits.

      • Neil says:
        4 Jan4 January 10:28

        This is a fantastic idea! I just wish I had 10 friends…It’s a shame my 2 dogs don’t have a credit rating despite having several Heathrow reward cards

        • TGLoyalty says:
          4 Jan4 January 12:17

          they have mor than 5 cards you can refer yourself for 🙂 might take more than 6 months and cost more than £225 but its still possible.

          Personally friends and family referrals has been possible lately

    • Steve says:
      4 Jan4 January 11:46

      I assume your example involves referrals from friends/partner as you couldnt self refer when churning since your MR account would be closed. Also I’d say it would take most people 8-12 months to get those points rather than 16, im including the time it takes to get the card and spend 2k either side of the 6 month wait. What is missing is an additional 2k points for being referred. So 44k pts (20k+2k)x2 for you and 18k pts for partner = 62k pts between you. Not including the actual points you get for spending ofcourse.

      • Steve says:
        4 Jan4 January 14:18

        Yes thats right but I am going by Keiths example above about churning gold

  • Lewis says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:42

    Flying Club Europe today for the first time to Berlin. Previously flew F to Mumbai so got to experience The Concorde Room, which was incredible, but have to say the Galleries South Lounge this morning is calm, clean, quiet. Not nearly as bad as I’d been made out to be believe it would be!

    • Genghis says:
      4 Jan4 January 09:49

      The CCR is “incredible”? Wowsers.

      • Lewis says:
        4 Jan4 January 10:00

        Well, only ever flying economy before that, I would say yes. Everything is relative and subjective though right, Genghis?

      • Nick_C says:
        4 Jan4 January 10:06

        I thought the CCR was excellent when I was there last month.
        Very good drinks. Good restaurant. Spacious. Quiet. Comfortable.

        Why don’t people like it? What are you expecting?

      • Alan says:
        4 Jan4 January 12:00

        Must say I was disappointed with it when I visited for the first time a few months ago – OK service, very crowded (hardly a seat to be found!). Back for a few more visits later in the month, will see how it is then.

    • AndyW says:
      4 Jan4 January 10:40

      CCR is a pleasant place to spend a couple of hours. Food is good but not amazing, decent drinks selection, though sometimes table service can be a bit slow. For a lounge before you fly it is nice, but for me, nothing that really makes it special.

    • Alan says:
      4 Jan4 January 11:59

      Not sure if first time to Berlin too or just first time in CE, but enjoy if so! Great city. I did one of the free walking tours last time I was over – guide had a history degree and gave an amazing tour! Lots of great stuff to see and do. Worth prebooking for Bundestag too (free) to save queuing.

      • Matt says:
        4 Jan4 January 16:18

        CCR is great overall (I just wish the loos and nap rooms were refurbed).

      • Lewis says:
        4 Jan4 January 19:07

        Firs time in Berlin too. Just got a tattoo and now in a brewery. Loving it so far!

  • Kipto says:
    4 Jan4 January 09:58

    O/T Amex points complaint.
    My wife had the SPG Amex card in August, after the SPG/Marriott conversion had taken place but Amex didn’t send over to SPG three times the base amount of points as they should have. I had numerous conversations with them who promised they would send the correct amount over. Still nothing happened and we put a formal complaint in. After five weeks of receiving an acknowledgement letter we had still not heard anything. Yesterday I spoke with a representative in their executive relations department who said that my wife wouldn’t get anymore points and accused my wife of “gaming” because she only had the card for 58 days before cancelling the card and that Amex wouldn’t make any money if all customers were like her ! The rep said that it was in the terms and conditions that Amex reserved the right to not pay the bonus. My view is that they did pay the bonus but did not multiply it by three. In short my wife received 15999 points and not 38000 points. I

    • RTS says:
      4 Jan4 January 10:11

      I’d say be a bit careful here. Amex are aware of people gaming the system and iirc from their T&Cs they have the right to pull/ban/blacklist you if they suspect you are gaming the system. You may want to take the view of short term pain for long term gain. We don’t win them all.

      Recently, we had a self referral not post (18k MR from plat). We rung up CS and explained this. Amex CS turned around and said self referrals are not permitted even though we know that they work as they have done for most of this year. Do we want to kick up a big fuss and risk being blacklisted for gaming? No.

      • Andrew M says:
        4 Jan4 January 11:19

        I can’t believe that you called up to query not getting self-referral points in the first place. But there we go.

      • Alan says:
        4 Jan4 January 12:04

        Yeah self-referrals definitely can’t be expected and personally I wouldn’t have phone them to discuss! I’d say this is a bit of a different situation though – clear programming error with the change to Marriott points value after SPG merger.

      • Richard says:
        4 Jan4 January 13:08

        That’s asking for a blacklisting !

    • S says:
      4 Jan4 January 10:26

      Amex have been pretty harsh in dealing with their SPG/Marriott screw up. It took a couple of months and a formal complaint threat, but I eventually got mine tripled and also a 30k Marriott points (i.e. 10k SPG) goodwill gesture.

    • pablo says:
      4 Jan4 January 11:54

      I was in the same boat but I gave up chasing the missing points. I kept the card as I wanted it for the shop small promo and voila the bonus points appeared automatically sometime in December.

    • Alan says:
      4 Jan4 January 12:03

      Pretty shocking reply – are you taking the matter to the ombudsman?

    • TGLoyalty says:
      4 Jan4 January 12:24

      Anything in the T&C’s about minimum term for holding the card?

      Honestly I never cancel a card for points i haven’t got yet and if i do close it I expect the points are now lost.

      Complaining about not getting a self-referral – AMEX reviews can have your accounts closed and close off a route to some of the best cards on the UK market. I really wouldn’t have dreamt about picked up the phone.

    • rams1981 says:
      4 Jan4 January 21:41

      Why did you cancel before sorting out the points. That’s your own fault I’d say. My points were all sorted out and got monetary compensation on top.

  • RTS says:
    4 Jan4 January 10:15

    OT – Virgin CC companion voucher… how quickly does this normally post? I just hit my 20k target. Does it post on the next issue of my statement? or is it a few days after hitting the spend target?

    Also, is it actually visible on my VA account or is it one those “invisible but on account” vouchers that can only be seen internally when you ring up?

    • Genghis says:
      4 Jan4 January 10:20

      Mine posted once hit target. Comes as a line item on VFC statement, “Reward Qualification”. That’s it.

      • RTS says:
        4 Jan4 January 10:28

        Ok. Thanks. Wonder why mine hasn’t posted yet.

      • Alan says:
        4 Jan4 January 15:29

        Thanks for posting this Genghis. After reading I thought I’d check my VFC statement and mine appeared on Christmas Eve. Of course, I’ve no idea if I’ll actually be able to use it as I’ve already booked our summer flights.

    • Alan says:
      4 Jan4 January 12:07

      IIRC posted with next statement. Shows as a line in your VS account activity statement – although take a note of the date as you can only go back a few months on this! I’ve still got 4x E to PE upgrade vouchers from previous card plus a new one from this, can’t see me using any of them given they’re pretty poor value vs cash whenever I’ve looked at them – didn’t factor them into benefits of the card though and these extra bonus miles on the Rewards+ card have been far more valuable, paying for half the cost of my ANA F redemption!

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