Guide to the Singapore Airlines Round the World Award

Editors Note: All information about the American Express® Green Card has been collected independently by 10xTravel. The American Express Green Card is no longer available through 10xTravel.

UPDATE: Round The World Awards will not be available starting May 1, 2024. Award tickets issued before May 1, 2024 will remain valid. For other round-the-world programs, check out Aeromexico Round-the-World Pass and ANA Round-the-World Ticket.

If you live in North America, Singapore Airlines may not be the first frequent flyer program that comes to mind. However, if you aren’t a member of the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer program yet, you may want to consider signing up because this program’s Round the World (RTW) award booking is definitely worth paying attention to.

The Round the World award is exactly what it sounds like: it allows you to purchase a single ticket that allows you to travel on any Star Alliance airline to up to seven different cities in the same global direction (east or west) and then finish your trip with a flight to the same country that you started in. You’ll literally be flying around the entire Earth and then returning to your country of origin.

And, while you would think that the Singapore Round the World award would be extremely expensive, in some cases, you can book the Singapore Round the World award in Business Class for less than a single-destination return flight in Business Class. So, if you’re able to take some time off work to travel or you can work remotely from anywhere in the world, the Singapore Airlines Round the World award is one of the best redemptions in the world of frequent flyer miles.

Let’s take a look at the price of the Singapore Airlines RTW award, the options you have when booking this award, the steps you need to take to make the booking and the best ways to rack up KrisFlyer miles to book the RTW award with.

How Much Does the Singapore Round the World Award Cost?

Depending on how luxurious you want your adventure around the world to be, Singapore airlines allows you to book your round the world award in either Economy Class, Business Class or First Class. The award will cost you 200,000 KrisFlyer miles in Economy Class, 280,000 KrisFlyer miles in Business Class or 405,000 KrisFlyer miles in First Class.

If you compare these prices to normal single-destination flights in any of these three classes, you’ll quickly realize that the RTW award actually offers incredible value. For instance, if you were to book a round-trip flight from New York City to Sydney, Australia, in Business Class, it would cost you 291,000 KrisFlyer miles.

That means that you could actually book the round the world award and designate Sydney as one of your stops for 11,000 fewer KrisFlyer miles. Plus, you’d have the opportunity to stop at up to six other cities along the way.

In general, booking your Singapore Round the World award in Business Class is the best way to get the most value when you compare it to other award flights in the same class. However, if your primary objective is to travel around the world for the fewest KrisFlyer miles possible, you may want to go in Economy Class. Alternatively, if your priority is having the best flying experience possible, you may want to go with First Class.

Surcharges

Since 2017, Singapore Airlines has not been adding fuel charges to award bookings made with KrisFlyer miles. However, since some legs of your round the world award booking will probably be made with other Star Alliance airlines, you should look to see if those specific airlines add fuel surcharges or taxes.

Here are some examples of combined fuel surcharge and tax costs for certain flights with certain Star Alliance airlines:

• Frankfurt to New York City in Lufthansa Business Class: $272
• Tokyo to Los Angeles in ANA Business Class: $41.50
• Seoul to Chicago in Asiana Business Class: $7

As you can see, fuel surcharges and taxes will vary widely depending on the airline you’re flying from and what your origin and destination are. So, it’s best to take these into account when booking your RTW award.

Additionally, you’ll have to pay all of your combined fuel surcharges and taxes at once when you’re booking your RTW award.

Is the Star Alliance Round the World Award a Good Value?

To fully understand how much value the round the world award offers, consider what a similar trip might cost you if you were to pay cash. For a trip around the world with Star Alliance flights in Business Class booked through a travel agent, you could easily pay $16,000. If you want to do the same trip in First Class, you’ll probably pay at least $26,000.

As you can see, the Star Alliance RTW award can be one of the most valuable redemption options in the entire travel industry.

Singapore Star Alliance Round the World Award Rules

Of course, there are some rules that you must follow in order to book the Singapore Star Alliance Round the World award. Here are the basic rules that you need to know:

• Your journey must be in one continuous direction, east or west, and you may not backtrack. That means that you can’t fly from San Francisco to New York City and then from New York City to Denver. You must continue in one direction. This also means that you may cross the Atlantic Ocean only once and cross the Pacific Ocean only once.
• You must start and end your journey in the same country. However, you may leave and return at different airports. For example, you can start your journey in New York City and end in Los Angeles.
• Your total distance traveled for the entirety of your RTW award may not exceed 35,000 miles.
• Your trip may include up to 16 individual flight segments and up to 7 stopovers.
• You can’t purchase additional stopovers on your trip.
• Your trip must have at least 2 stopovers. Your trip also must cross both the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean to qualify.
• You can travel by land or sea but they will count as two stopovers. For instance, if you arrive in Lisbon and then take a train to Madrid to catch your next flight, this will count as two stopovers.
• All of your flights must be within a 12-month period.

Creating an itinerary that fits all of these criteria is not an easy task. And, of course, you’ll need to find award flight availability for each leg of your journey before you can book the round the world award. However, since you can include flights from any of the 26 Star Alliance member airlines in your Singapore Round the World award booking, you should be able to find flights that will get you where you want to go.

Which Airlines Can I Fly On?

The Star Alliance RTW award allows you to book flights with any of the 26 Star Alliance member airlines. Some of the most popular Star Alliance airlines include Air Canada, United Airlines, Thai Airways, Air China, Copa Airlines, SAS, ANA, Avianca and, of course, Singapore Airlines.

While every Star Alliance member airline offers Economy Class and Business Class, it should be noted you will only be able to book flights with six Star Alliance airlines if you choose to purchase a First Class RTW award. These airlines include Air China, Air India, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways.

While SWISS and Lufthansa also have First Class seats, Lufthansa typically only releases First Class award seats to their partners 14 days before departure and Swiss typically doesn’t release first class award seats. In order to book a Singapore round the world award, you’ll need to book more than 14 days in advance.

This limited availability of First Class seats is just another reason why purchasing your award in Business Class is probably a better option than going with First Class.

How to Book Star Alliance Round the World Award With KrisFlyer Miles

In order to book the Star Alliance Round the World award, you’ll need to do all of the research in advance and then either call Singapore Airlines’s customer service line and tell them your itinerary or fill in their Partner Reservation Request Form and email or fax it to them. I would recommend calling them so that you can ensure your request doesn’t get lost in a filing cabinet, so to speak.

Here are the steps you’ll need to take in order to book your Star Alliance Round the World award with KrisFlyer miles:

• Make sure that you have enough KrisFlyer miles in your account to book a round the world award. More on how to boost your KrisFlyer mile balance will be included later.
• Search for award flight availability. If you have a specific airline that you want to fly on, you can search for flights on their website. However, if you want to see results for all Star Alliance flights, the United Airlines website is the best place to search.
• Write down the date, departure and arrival times, flight number, operating airline and cabin class for every award flight that you wish to include in your journey. You’ll need these to relay your itinerary to the Singapore Airlines agent that you speak to on the phone.
• Call the Singapore Airlines customer service line at and tell them your itinerary. The agent on the phone will then verify that your itinerary fits within their rules. If it does, you should be able to successfully book your RTW award.

When researching award flight availability, be aware that the availability must be classified as a Saver Award to be eligible for the round the world award. If a seat isn’t classified as a Saver Award, they cannot be included in your round the world itinerary.

If you want to book your round the world award over the phone, you’ll want to have all of the information for each leg of the journey handy when you call the Singapore Airlines agent. Many of the customer service agents aren’t very knowledgeable about how the round the world award works, so you’ll have to hold their hand through the process.

As previously mentioned, you can also fill out the Partner Reservation Request Form; however, this form only has room for six legs, so it isn’t very helpful for those who want to book the round the world award. Plus, since you have to email or fax the form to Singapore Airlines, there’s a chance that some of your desired flights might fill up by the time they respond.

In general, it’s best to carefully research every leg of your round the world journey and then call a Singapore Airlines agent to book your round the world award instantly.

Fly With Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines awards miles to its KrisFlyer members based on the distance flown and the cabin class. Here is the most recent miles earning chart for Singapore Airlines flights:

To calculate how many miles you’ll be awarded for a particular flight, you can search for the distance of the flight online and then find the fare class on the e-ticket that was sent to you after booking. Then, you can multiply the miles you’ll be traveling by the percentage listed next to your fare class.

Fly With Partner Airlines

Singapore Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, so you can earn KrisFlyer miles by flying with 25 other Star Alliance partner airlines. Additionally, Singapore Airlines has partnerships with other airlines such as Alaska Airlines, JetBlue and Virgin Atlantic.

Each of these partner airlines has a different KrisFlyer earnings chart. You can find the full partner-earnings chart for Singapore Airlines’s partners on their website.

Just like with Singapore Airlines flights, you can calculate how many KrisFlyer miles you’ll earn by multiplying the flight distance in miles by the percentage bonus next to the fare class.

Transfer Credit Card Points/Miles

Unlike many airlines, Singapore Airlines doesn’t offer any co-branded credit cards that allow you to directly earn KrisFlyer miles by spending. However, they do partner with many of the top credit card rewards programs, including Capital One Rewards, Citi ThankYou, American Express Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards. That means that you can earn points or miles through one of these credit card rewards programs and then transfer them into the KrisFlyer program.

All of the previously mentioned credit card rewards programs offer a 1:1 transfer ratio except Capital One Rewards, which transfer at a 2:1 ratio. So, if your ultimate goal is to purchase the Singapore Round the World award with KrisFlyer miles, then you’re better off going with one of the three rewards programs that offers a 1:1 transfer ratio.

For instance, Chase Ultimate Rewards is one of the best credit card rewards programs out there and a great way to earn points that can be transferred to the KrisFlyer program at a 1:1 ratio. To transfer your Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners, you’ll need to get one of Chase’s premium credit cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

Here are some more details about some of the best Chase Ultimate Rewards credit cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: Offers 5X points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 2X points on other travel purchases, 3X points on dining, 3X points on online grocery purchases, 3X points on select streaming services and 1X points on all other purchases.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve®: Offers 10X points on hotels and car rentals through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 5X points on travel purchases through Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 3X points on other travel purchases, 10X points on Chase Dining purchases, 3X points on other dining and 1X points on all other purchases.
• Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card: Offers 3X points on shipping, 3X points on advertising through social media sites and online search engines, 3X points on internet, cable and phone services, 3X points on travel and 1X points on all other purchases.

Also, if you have one of the two previously mentioned premium personal cards, you can also convert cashback earned with the Chase Freedom Unlimited® card or the Chase Freedom Flex℠ into Chase Ultimate Rewards points by combining them with either the Sapphire Preferred, Sapphire Reserve or Ink Preferred.

American Express Membership Rewards is another fantastic way to earn points that can be transferred into the KrisFlyer program at a 1:1 ratio.

Here are some more details about some of the best American Express Membership Rewards credit cards:

• American Express® Gold Card: Offers 4X points at restaurants worldwide, 4X points on groceries from U.S. supermarkets, 3X points on flights booked through American Express Travel and 1X on all other purchases.
• American Express Green Card: Offers 3X points at restaurants in the U.S., 3X points on transit (including trains, buses ferries, subways and more), 3X on travel and 1X points on all other purchases.
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Offers 5X points on flights through American Express Travel, 5X points on prepaid hotels through American Express Travel and 1X points on all other purchases.

One of the best ways to rack up KrisFlyer miles is to book flights with Singapore Airlines or one of their partner airlines using one of these points-earning credit cards. You’ll essentially be earning KrisFlyer miles for the flight and, on top of that, credit card points that can later be converted to KrisFlyer miles.

I would also recommend waiting until you’ve found the award flights that you want to book before converting any credit card rewards currency into KrisFlyer miles. If you convert your points and then decide that you no longer want to purchase an award flight or an RTW award, then you’ll be stuck with unused KrisFlyer miles, which are far less flexible than credit card rewards currencies.

Stay at Partner Hotels

Singapore Airlines has partnerships with most of the major hotel loyalty programs, including Marriott Bonvoy, World of Hyatt, Hilton Honors, IHG Rewards. The airline also has partnerships with some smaller hotel groups, including Mulia Hotels, Kempinski Hotels, YTL Hotels and many more. You can find the full list of hotel parters on the Singapore Airlines website.

The opportunities for earning points depend on the specific hotel that you stay with, so it’s best to look into the specific agreement that the hotel group has with Singapore Airlines. Some of these hotel groups will allow you to earn KrisFlyer miles for staying with them in lieu of hotel points while others will allow you to convert their reward currency into KrisFlyer miles.

For instance, Kempinski Hotels gives you the option to earn 500 KrisFlyer miles for every qualifying stay at one of their properties.

On the other hand, Marriott Bonvoy allows you to transfer their points into the KrisFlyer program at a 3:1 ratio. That means that 30,000 Marriott Bonvoy points can be converted into 10,000 KrisFlyer miles. They’ll also award a bonus of 5,000 KrisFlyer miles for every 60,000 points transferred.

The Bottom Line

The Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Star Alliance Round the World award is undoubtedly one of the best redemptions in the entire travel industry when you compare it to cash costs and single-destination award flights. In some cases, a round the world award will allow you to stop at 7 different cities around the world for less than the cost of a single round-trip ticket from New York City to Sydney.

The biggest catch here, though, is the amount of work that you’ll need to put in to successfully book the round the world award. You need to search for award flight availability for each leg of the flight, copy down all of the information for each flight and call the KrisFlyer customer service line to book the award. If you need help, you can utilize our award booking service to assist you in finding the flights.

However, if you’re able to take all of the steps and you have some time to travel the world, this is absolutely an award worth booking. You’ll get the opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime at an amazing price point.