A routing I never knew for cheap Business Class air miles redemptions with KrisFlyer to Singapore

I did an article last April on sweet spots in the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer frequent flyer scheme.  This was based on discussions I had with reader Andrew, a UK expat and long-term HfP reader who moved to Singapore a couple of years ago and decided to start Mainly Miles to cover KrisFlyer.

You might think that the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer programme, which is part of Star Alliance and so accesses a different group of airlines to Avios, is irrelevant to you.

And yet …. if you were willing to do a bit of jiggling, there are decent deals – and one exceptional deal – you can nab.

How can you earn KrisFlyer miles?

The obvious route is transferring American Express Membership Rewards points.  As you can see here, it is a 1:1 airline partner from the UK scheme.

Other options include Heathrow Rewards and moving points from hotel schemes, in particular Marriott Bonvoy where the rate is 3:1 (3:1.25 if you move chunks of 60,000 points at a time).  It is also a HSBC Premier credit card partner if you want a Visa / Mastercard option.

And there is a ‘secret’ permanent 30% Amex transfer bonus

There is a permanent transfer bonus from Amex to Singapore Airlines which is currently 31%.  Last time I used this method it was 58%.  It is complex, I admit, but if you are transferring a lot of Amex points it may be worth it.

The process is explained here and I strongly recommend reading that HfP article if this sounds interesting.  Basically:

you get the Amex International Dollar Card, which is run out of Brighton and only available to non-US residents like you

you transfer your Amex Membership Rewards balance to your International Dollar Card’s MR account

under Amex rules, your MR balance is grossed up by the current $ exchange rate, currently $1.31 per £1, when transferred, so 100,000 points becomes 131,000 points

Most airline and hotel partners have worse transfer rates out of IDC so this is not a benefit.  The exceptions are Alitalia, Asia Miles, Finnair, Malaysia Airlines and KrisFlyer which are 1:1.  Here is the IDC Membership Rewards catalogue.  You effectively get a 31% transfer bonus, based on the FX rate today, when moving to these five airlines.

As an extra perk, IDC cards can transfer into the Jumeirah Sirius hotel programme, an option no longer available to holders of UK £ Amex cards.

What is this new Singapore Airlines sweet spot?

We are finally getting to the point of this article (!).   But let’s first remind ourselves of the main KrisFlyer sweet spot for UK residents.

Here is the Singapore Airlines reward chart for partner airlines.

There is one deal which I have mentioned a few times on HfP, because I have booked it myself.  The slam dunk best deal is ‘Europe to Middle East’ for 50,000 miles RETURN in Business Class.

Remember that British Airways wants up to 120,000 Avios on a peak day for a return Club World flight to Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc.  You can use just 50,000 KrisFlyer miles, most likely routed on Lufthansa via Frankfurt or SWISS via Zurich, instead.  (Other fun routings include Turkish via Istanbul and Egyptair via Cairo!)

Here is my new ‘find’

I spotted another interesting opportunity on Mainly Miles over the weekend.

If you book London to Singapore in Business Class, using Singapore Airlines miles, it will cost you 184,000 miles return plus £235 in taxes and charges.

Avios charges 175,000 Avios off-peak and 210,000 Avios on peak dates to Singapore, return, with higher taxes and charges.

However …. take a look at the Singapore Airlines reward chart for Singapore Airlines flights.  You want Page 2 which covers ‘Saver Awards’.

The top row confirms that Zone 1 to Zone 11 (Singapore to Europe, including the UK) is 92,000 miles each way, so 184,000 miles return as expected.

Look more closely though.  If you look at the definition of Zone 10, which is Africa / Middle East, it actually says “Africa, Middle East and Turkey“.  Those flights are just 49,000 miles each way in Business Class.  Even better, there are virtually no taxes out of Turkey.

A return flight from Istanbul to Singapore in Singapore Airlines Business Class is just 98,000 KrisFlyer miles plus $55 in taxes!

Here is a dummy booking to confirm (click to enlarge):

The slight downside is that you are getting the old 2006 Singapore Airlines business class seat from Istanbul.  It isn’t a bad one apart from the colour scheme – see here – just not the latest.

Obviously this isn’t a deal for everyone as it requires positioning yourself in Istanbul. Flights to Turkey are not hugely expensive, however.  You can also redeem Avios (17,000 Avios + £35 off-peak return).

If paying cash or using Star Alliance miles, Turkish Airlines runs a Boeing 777 on some services which will get you a flat bed in Business Class.  Spending a day in Istanbul on the way is also well worth doing.