KrisFlyer has announced an increase in the cost of award flights and upgrades. These changes mean you will need more points to redeem an award flight on Singapore Airlines.
In addition, KrisFlyer has also announced changes to the stopover benefit on award bookings.
The changes to Award pricing are slated to come into effect next month, on 5 July 2022. Changes to stopover rules will come later in August.
Changes to Award Pricing
There will be an across-the-board increase in the number of points required to make an award booking. According to KrisFlyer, the average increase is 10%. Having said that, some routes will be increasing by more than 10%.
The old and new charts are available on the Singapore Airlines Krisflyer site:
Here are the links to the old and the new award charts:
- Current Singapore Airlines award chart (bookings until 4 July 2022)
- New Singapore Airlines award chart (bookings from 5 July 2022)
When booking awards from Australia, there are two zones of interest. Flights departing (or arriving) in Perth or Darwin fall into Zone 8, while other cities in Australia fall into Zone 9. In addition to most of Australia, Zone 9 also included flights to or from New Zealand.
Example Changes
The following table outlines some of the increases that can be expected.
| Route | Pricing until 4 July |
New Pricing from 5 July |
| Perth / Darwin to Singapore or South East Asia |
20,000 miles in Economy 36,500 miles in Business |
21,500 miles in Economy 40,500 miles in Business |
| Australia (excl Perth / Darwin) and New Zealand to Singapore or South East Asia |
28,000 miles in Economy 47,000 miles in Premium Economy 62,000 miles in Business 85,000 miles in First/Suites |
30,500 miles in Economy 51,000 miles in Premium Economy 68,500 miles in Business 93,500 miles in First/Suites |
| Perth / Darwin to South Asia (e.g. India, Maldives) |
30,000 miles in Economy 63,000 miles in Business |
32,500 miles in Economy 69,500 miles in Business |
| Australia (excl Perth / Darwin) and New Zealand to South Asia (e.g. India, Maldives) |
40,000 miles in Economy 67,500 miles in Premium Economy 84,000 miles in Business 116,000 miles in First/Suites |
43,000 miles in Economy 73,000 miles in Premium Economy 92,500 miles in Business 128,000 miles in First/Suites |
| Perth / Darwin to UK and Europe |
43,000 miles in Economy 106,000 miles in Business |
47,500 miles in Economy 119,500 miles in Business |
| Australia (excl Perth / Darwin) and New Zealand to UK and Europe |
53,000 miles in Economy 91,500 miles in Premium Economy 116,000 miles in Business 163,000 miles in First/Suites |
58,500 miles in Economy 101,000 miles in Premium Economy 130,500 miles in Business 183,500 miles in First/Suites |
Upgrades
It’s not just Award flights that are increasing in price. If you are looking at an upgrade, then you will also be shelling out additional points. Again, the points required have increased by around 10%.
The new upgrade chart can be found at the following link
Star Alliance Partner Awards
If you are looking at an Award or Upgrade on an alliance partner, then you will also be up for an increase. The following links give the new points requirements
- Singapore Airlines Star Alliance upgrades from July 5
- Singapore Airlines Star Alliance awards from July 5
New Stopover Restrictions
Krisflyer redemptions have traditionally had some pretty generous stopover rules. Under the current policy, you can build stopovers into an itinerary while keeping the basic one-way award rate.
From 1 August 2022, the policy is changing. Under the new policy, the following will apply:
- Complimentary stopovers will be limited to a maximum of 30 days
- You’ll no longer be able to pay US$100 to make additional stopovers
Thoughts
In the current environment of rising prices, an increase in the number of points required for award flights is not unexpected. Fortunately, in many cases, they can still represent good value. Just not as good value as they have been.