Team Article: How We’d Use 100K Singapore KrisFlyer Miles

While Singapore KrisFlyer miles have been devalued in the last few years, it still has one thing going for it: It’s super easy to earn miles thanks to several partnerships with transferable points programs.

How easy, you ask?

Well, you can transfer points from Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points at a 1:1 ratio. Additionally, you can transfer Capital One miles (2:1 ratio) and Marriott Bonvoy (3:1 ratio) in a pinch.

With so many options, you won’t have any trouble earning 100,000 KrisFlyer miles.

The trick is knowing how to use them. Let’s take a look at how some of the 10xTravel team would use 100,000 KrisFlyer miles to give you some ideas.

Anya Kartashova

If I had 100,000 Singapore KrisFlyer miles, I’d make sure to utilize one of the program’s sweet spots and use them toward a flight to Hawaii on Star Alliance carrier United Airlines.

Singapore KrisFlyer is one of the best ways to fly to Hawaii with points—a one-way flight in United’s economy class will set you back just 17,500 miles.

As you might or might not know, I live in Salt Lake City, but originating from any U.S. city will result in the same redemption rate of 17,500 miles one way or 35,000 miles round-trip, even if you have to connect.

So, this means that I can fly two people to the Aloha State and back and still have 30,000 miles left. I could easily top up my KrisFlyer account by transferring either Chase Ultimate Rewards points or American Express Membership Rewards points (I don’t have any Citi ThankYou points at the moment) and book the same trip for a third person.

Booking is simple on the Singapore Airlines website—all I have to do is log in and search for my desired dates. If United offers award seats to partners, they’ll be showing online. I don’t have to call anybody to lock down these seats, which used to be the case.

Anna Zaks

I’ve flown in Singapore’s old business class from Hong Kong (HKG) to Singapore (SIN) with an angled-flat seat but I’d love to experience their newer business class and the amazing onboard service on a longer flight. So if I had 100,000 Kris Flyer miles, I’d book a business class award on one of Singapore’s fifth freedom routes New York (JFK) to Frankfurt (FRA).

Europe is my favorite travel destination, so I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of going there. I am tired though of long flights in an uncomfortable economy seat, so I am always looking for better ways to get there.

The taxes and fees are just $5.60.

Frankfurt is a huge central hub in Europe and it’s so easy to get anywhere from there. I’d probably hop on a train (I love fast European trains) and go down to the south of Germany to explore the Romantic Road or Romantische Straße (doesn’t it sound much better in German?).

It’s been on my list for a while now, so this would be the perfect opportunity.

I’d probably use the remainder of my miles on a trip to Hawaii, as Anya explained above because Hawaii is always a good idea!

Travis Cormier

I’ve been fortunate to fly Singapore’s newest business class on the A380 on a short-haul flight from Hong Kong (HKG) to Singapore (SIN). With an amazing crew and a comfortable seat, I can only imagine how great it would be on a longer trip.

I’m based in Houston and love all the airlines that serve this city. Singapore offers a fifth-freedom flight between Houston (IAH) and Manchester (MAN) in the UK. This flight takes a little under 9 hours but is a great way to get from my home base to Europe without a connection. Even better, flying Singapore Airlines will be much more comfortable than what United offers out of Houston.

On this route, Singapore Airlines flies an A350-900 with a spacious and comfortable business class cabin, but the flight crew is what I’ve found sets it apart from many airlines.

To fly in business class to Manchester, I’d use 72,000 KrisFlyer miles. This is a slight premium over other carriers, but the experience between a U.S. carrier and Singapore Air is significant. Also, you typically can’t book business (or first) class on Singapore Airlines with partner programs.

If you would rather stretch your points further, economy tickets cost only 22,500 miles. A couple could get round-trip tickets in economy to Europe and still have 10,000 KrisFlyer miles leftover at the end. That’s a pretty tempting proposition.

Even better, Singapore doesn’t pass on surcharges on its own flights. So, you won’t see any of the $400+ taxes and fees like you would on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Instead, you’ll only pay $5.60 taxes and fees when on the outbound flight from the U.S. and about $140 on the return.

Sporting a superior business class product and low taxes and fees, flying Singapore Airlines between Houston and Manchester would be an easy choice for me with 100,000 KrisFlyer miles.

Carly Helfand

I’m based in Portland, Oregon, so Alaska Airlines services a lot of great destinations from my home airport. The problem is, Alaska miles are hard to earn—particularly since I’m loyal to United (and, thanks to a 2019 status match, Delta).

That’s one reason I tend to use British Airways Avios to book Alaska flights instead of Alaska miles themselves (the other being that BA’s distance-based award chart serves up great value to destinations such as Hawaii).

But Singapore Airlines also has a partnership with Alaska, along with its own great rates to top destinations. One-way flights up and down the West Coast are just 7,500 miles, and one-way flights from the West Coast to Costa Rica, Cuba and Mexico are just 12,000 miles.

With 100,000 KrisFlyer miles at my disposal, I’d make two trips to Mexico with my fiancé for a total of 96,000 miles. We go every year over the holidays, but since we’ll be sitting this year out because of the pandemic, the miles would help make up for lost time.

Specifically, Alaska flies nonstop from Portland to Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta, and as it happens, those are two of my favorite destinations in Mexico. The Caribbean side of the country is beautiful, but in my opinion, you can’t top the mountainous landscapes Cabo and Vallarta have to offer.

Besides the convenience of the nonstops, there’s another reason for wanting to go back to these locations in particular, and that’s hotel options.

I’m a Hilton fanatic.

Since my last visit to those destinations, they’ve each picked up a luxury option in the Hilton portfolio that I can’t wait to book on points: the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal in Cabo, and the Conrad Punta de Mita near Vallarta.

Final Thoughts

If nothing else, these fun trip options should serve as a reminder that, even with devaluations, there are often some fun sweet spots to be found. I don’t know about you but trips to Hawaii, Germany, Mexico, and the U.K. sound great to me!

The fact that earning Singapore KrisFlyer miles is so easy is just gravy.

How would you use 100,000 KrisFlyer miles to book a fun adventure?