How to Book a Singapore Airlines Flight with Points and Miles

Redeeming Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles for flights is a savvy strategy for travelers seeking luxury and value. Singapore Airlines offers numerous opportunities to maximize your miles, from booking award-winning premium cabins to enjoying seamless connections across a vast network.

More than that, it's a member of Star Alliance, so when you're flying Singapore Airlines, you can redeem all kinds of frequent flyer miles for the flight, whether it's in economy or business class.

About Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

The Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer loyalty program launched in 1999 and is renowned for its flexibility, value, and exceptional service. KrisFlyer members can earn miles on flights with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Star Alliance partners, and other airline partners.  

How to earn Singapore Airlines miles

There are several ways to earn Singapore Airlines miles, from flying to shopping to booking other travel services. 

Flying

The simplest way to earn KrisFlyer miles is by flying on Singapore Airlines aircraft, or on flights operated by its partner airlines: 

• Aegean

• Air France

• Air Canada

• Air China

• Air India

• Air New Zealand

• All Nippon Airways (ANA)

• Asiana Airlines

• Austrian

• Avianca

• Bangkok Airways

• Brussels Airlines

• Copa Airlines

• Croatia Airlines

• Egyptair

• Ethiopian Airlines

• Eurowings Airlines

• EVA Air

• Fiji Airways

• Garuda Indonesia

• JetBlue Airways

• Juneyao Air

• LOT Polish Airlines

• Lufthansa

• Philippine Airlines

• Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)

• Scoot

• Shenzhen Airlines

• South African Airways

• SWISS International Air Lines

• TAP Air Portugal

• Thai Airways

• Turkish Airlines

• United Airlines

• Virgin Australia

• Virgin Atlantic

• Vistara

There’s a calculator on the website that shows how many miles a specific flight will earn based on the route and fare class. Flights in business and first class earn more miles than those in premium economy or economy. 

Transfer partners

Not to worry if you don't fly Singapore Airlines that often — there are other ways to pad your KrisFlyer account. That's due mainly to the fact that Singapore has some solid transfer partners, including:

• American Express Membership Rewards

• Chase Ultimate Rewards

• Citi ThankYou points

• Capital One Miles

You can transfer points from each of these partners at a 1:1 ratio, which means one point becomes one Krisflyer mile. This makes it incredibly simple to earn KrisFlyer miles.

Shopping

Online and on the ground, Singapore has partnerships with select retailers — including the Bicester Collection, MASSHIRO&Co, and the airline's own KrisShop — that allow you to accumulate miles on your purchases.

Hotels and rental cars

Like many other airlines, Singapore partners with hotels and rental-car companies — from Banyan Tree, Hyatt, and Marriott Bonvoy to Avis, Budget, and Hertz — that let you earn KrisFlyer miles during the booking process. Be aware, however, that if you book your hotels or rental cars this way, you won't be able to earn elite-status credit or benefits.

The fare types available on Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines operates several types of fare class on their aircraft, including:

• Economy: Your standard economy-class seat, usually in rows of three, with food and drinks included.

• Premium economy: Seats offering more legroom and a leg rest, similar to those you'll find on domestic first-class flights.

• Business: Lie-flat seats, gourmet meal options, and high-end service.

• First: Wide, private suites that may have doors and the ability to convert two suites into a double bed, depending on the aircraft.

How to book Singapore Airlines flights using rewards points

Unlike some other airlines, Singapore tends to exclude partner awards and release premium award space only to its own program. This means the best way to book award tickets is to redeem KrisFlyer miles for the flight.

Singapore has two categories of award flights: Saver and Advantage. Round-trip award tickets are available for both, costing twice as many KrisFlyer miles as one-way fares.

Saver awards are less expensive and, therefore, more popular and harder to nab, but if you like planning well in advance or have some flexibility around your travel dates, this is probably the one for you. 

Redemption rates for Saver fares run the gamut, from 25,000 KrisFlyer miles for an economy seat on a nonstop flight between the eastern U.S. and Europe to 188,000 miles for a suite or first-class seat from the East or West Coast to Japan, South Korea, Australia, or New Zealand.

An Advantage award costs more KrisFlyer miles, but you'll likely have better luck scoring award space — and you'll get two free stopovers for each round-trip ticket, helping you stretch the value of your miles even further. 

For U.S. travelers, Advantage awards start from 40,000 miles one-way for an economy seat to Europe and go all the way up to 302,500 miles for a suite or first-class seat to Japan, South Korea, Australia, or New Zealand.

To find award availability using KrisFlyer miles, you can search directly on Singapore's website or use point.me, which searches all available airlines to reveal the ultimate way to redeem your rewards, whether it's via Singapore KrisFlyer or another loyalty program entirely — and as you can see, there can be a ton of variation depending on the frequent flyer miles you’re looking to use. 

Then, once you've found the flight you want, you can head over to Singapore's website to book or choose point.me’s “book with an expert” option, and a points pro will join you on a screen-share call to walk you through the transferring and booking process live.

How to redeem Singapore Airlines miles to get the best deal

There's no denying that Singapore Airlines award flights are expensive. This tracks — it's widely regarded as one of the best airlines out there. But that doesn't mean that there isn't good value to be found, particularly if you're looking for an award seat in first or business class.

Airlines aren't usually allowed to fly from one country to another unless at least one of them is their home country. The only exception to this is a fifth-freedom route, in which the airline lands in a different country on its way back home.

For Singapore KrisFlyer members, that means a great deal on an elite-class seat: the fifth-freedom route from New York to Frankfurt. If you're hoping to experience Singapore Airlines’ first or business class without spending a ton of miles, this route is the way to do it.

You’ll need as few as 81,000 miles for a one-way business-class Saver fare and only 6,500 more for an Advantage fare — significantly less than you’d pay to get all the way to Singapore.

Booking a Singapore Airlines partner flight with miles

Because Singapore Airlines is a member of Star Alliance, you can also use your KrisFlyer miles to book Star Alliance awards with United Airlines, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and more. To do this, you’ll just need to log into your frequent flyer account on Singapore Airlines and search for flights as usual. Where there are relevant flights on partner airlines, they’ll show up in the search results. Similarly, Singapore Airlines’ flights can be found on these partner airlines’ websites. 

For one-way flights within Europe, North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, you'll find economy seats from 35,000 miles. Business-class seats start at 50,000 miles for flights within Europe and 60,000 within North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, while premium economy is available between North America and Europe from 87,000 miles.

Singapore Airlines also keeps a handful of non-alliance partners, including Alaska Airlines. Again, point.me's search system comes into play here, showing you the best pricing for your Singapore Airlines award ticket when booking with a partner.

More ways to redeem Singapore Airlines miles

When it comes to redeeming your KrisFlyer miles, the sky's the limit — in addition to booking award flights, you can use them to offset your travel expenses, from covering hotels and rental cars to paying for tours and experiences to bumping yourself up to business class. That said, some redemptions are definitely more valuable than others.

The worst ways to redeem Singapore Airlines miles

You'll get the best value when you redeem KrisFlyer miles for award tickets (particularly in business class), but you can also use them for:

• Flight upgrades

• Shopping

• Points-and-cash bookings

• Experiences

• Hotel stays

• Car rentals

• Carbon offsetting

• CapitaSTAR

• Gas 

• Tour bookings

• Shangri-La stays and experiences

Tips for finding Singapore Airlines award seats

While it's possible to find award tickets for Singapore Airlines, it can be difficult if you want to fly business class, because Singapore restricts partner-award availability to encourage you to redeem KrisFlyer miles for its own flights. This is true for Star Alliance partners and non-alliance partners alike. 

To find a Singapore Airlines award flight, your best bet is to search directly on Singapore's website or via point.me. Singapore's website allows you to look at potential travel dates one at a time, and also gives you the ability to sign up for the waitlist in case any award space opens up.

On the other hand, point.me helps you search for the flights you want, revealing not only the cost for flights operated by Singapore Airlines and other loyalty programs but also the best way to redeem your KrisFlyer miles overall.