Your Guide To The Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Program

If you travel frequently in Asia, you’ve probably taken a flight aboard Singapore Airlines (SIA) or Scoot, its low-cost subsidiary airline. The company runs KrisFlyer, a free loyalty rewards program that earns you miles on qualifying flights.

Since SIA flies to over 57 destinations and is a member of the Star Alliance, you’ll have ample opportunity to rack up KrisFlyer miles to redeem on free flights, hotels, and more.

Key Takeaways

• KrisFlyer is the official frequent flyer program of Singapore Airlines and Scoot, but you can still earn miles on other airlines.
• KrisFlyer members can earn miles by booking flights, car rentals, and hotel stays, and redeem miles on free flights, gifts, and donations.
• KrisFlyer miles are worth approximately 5 cents CAD each.
• Unless you travel frequently in southeast Asia, Canadians have few opportunities to earn or redeem KrisFlyer miles.

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What is KrisFlyer?

KrisFlyer is the free loyalty program of Singapore Airlines. After you sign up, you’ll begin earning KrisFlyer miles and Elite miles for trips you take with Singapore Airlines and Scoot, its low-cost subsidiary.

The more KrisFlyer miles you collect, the more you can redeem on flights, flight upgrades, and donations. The more Elite miles you collect, the higher your membership status, and the better your travel experience.

Overview

Currency: KrisFlyer miles

Redemption options: Cars, Cash, Charity, Experiences, Flights, Flight Upgrades, Hotels, Miles + Cash, Partner Flights

Pros:

• 200+ destinations and 60 countries in the Singapore Airlines network
• 24 Star Alliance partners awarding KrisFlyer miles
• 9 ways to redeem miles
• 6 ways to earn miles
• 3 membership tiers with exclusive perks
• Miles worth up to 15+ cents CAD each

Cons:

• Miles expire after 36 months
• Miles worth as little as 0.25 cents CAD each
• 0 co-branded credit cards available in Canada
• Limited earning options for Canadians
• Miles can’t be gifted, pooled, or transferred (except from child to parent)

What are KrisFlyer miles worth?

Miles are only as valuable as the rewards you spend them on, and in the KrisFlyer program, your smartest option is flights. Award flights on Singapore Airlines yield an average value of 5 cents per mile (CPM).

Value of reward in CAD / cost of reward in miles x 100 = value in cents per mile (CPM)

On the other hand, off-setting your carbon emissions for a one-way flight can yield as little as 0.72 CPM. We’ve calculated the average value of every redemption option and put it in an easy-to-read chart below:

* 1 SGD = 1.08 CAD at time of writing

Do KrisFlyer miles expire?

KrisFlyer miles expire 36 months after the date they were earned. You can also lose your miles if your account goes 36 months without any activity, at which point it will be closed.

The easiest way to keep your miles and your account is to keep earning or redeeming miles. If your miles are in danger of expiring, you can pay 1,200 miles or $12 USD per 10,000 miles to extend their shelf-life by 6 – 12 months, depending on your membership status.

Log into your KrisFlyer account and click "Miles" then “Miles validity” to find out when your miles expire.

KrisFlyer membership tiers

Some airlines have complicated membership tiers but Singapore Airlines keeps its structure simple. Free members start as regular KrisFlyer members with the following privileges:

• Access to members-only promotions and deals
• Complimentary Wi-Fi aboard Singapore Airlines (excluding the Boeing 737-800NG)
• Discounts on flight add-ons (such as baggage)
• Personalized inflight entertainment on KrisWorld
• The ability to earn and redeem KrisFlyer miles
• The ability to pay in Cash + Miles

To advance to the next 2 membership tiers, you must collect a certain number of Elite miles within the current calendar year. Depending on your fare class, you’ll earn 0.5 – 2 Elite miles for every mile flown on Singapore and some partner airlines, while all fares on Scoot yield 2.5 Elite miles per KrisFlyer mile earned.

Here’s every perk you can anticipate, plus what it takes to reach elite membership status:

^{* Excluding Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses}

KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards

Elite miles also count towards exciting Milestone Rewards like bonus KrisFlyer miles, discounts, and free flight upgrades. Even if you don’t reach the next membership status, you can look forward to:

• 1,000 Elite miles: 1,000 bonus KrisFlyer miles on one Scoot flight
• 2,500 Elite miles: 20% off one Scoot booking
• 5,000 Elite miles: 1,500 KrisPay miles to use on Kris+
• 10,000 Elite miles: $20 off at the KrisShop (with a minimum purchase of $150 SGD)
• 20,000 Elite miles: 25% bonus KrisFlyer miles on one flight
• 30,000 Elite miles: 50% bonus KrisFlyer miles on one flight
• 40,000 Elite miles: 5,000 KrisFlyer miles off one reward flight or upgrade
• 75,000 Elite miles: Free cabin upgrade on one short-haul flight
• 100,000 Elite miles: Free upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy on one flight

How to earn KrisFlyer miles with Singapore Airlines

Flying is the fastest way to earn KrisFlyer miles, but you can maximize your rewards by using or combining these 6 methods:

• Booking flights on Singapore Airlines and Scoot
• Booking partner flights
• Booking other travel with partners
• Buying miles or converting points
• Shopping with partners
• Using a KrisFlyer credit card

Unfortunately, the majority of these methods don’t work in Canada, so we’ve ranked every earning opportunity below from best to worst.

Booking flights on Singapore Airlines and Scoot

KrisFlyer makes it easy to see how many miles you can earn by flying with Singapore Airlines and Scoot with a simple accrual chart:

^{* Excluding taxes, fees, discounts, and award flights or upgrades}

If you’re an Elite Silver or Gold status member, you can add a 25% bonus to the base miles accrued. Or you can use the online calculator to see exactly how miles will be added to your account after your next flight.

Booking partner flights

Because Singapore Airlines is a Star Alliance member, you can earn KrisFlyer and Elite miles on most partner airlines, including Air Canada, Lufthansa, and United. Star Alliance airlines have the additional advantage of providing perks like priority services and extra baggage allowances.

To earn KF miles, provide your membership number whenever you book a flight on:

^{* Selected routes are excluded from accruing KrisFlyer miles}

As of April 24, 2025, KrisFlyer members can no longer collect KrisFlyer miles aboard Virgin Atlantic flights.

Booking other travel with partners

KrisFlyer partners with over 50 companies in the hotel and car rental industry so members can earn miles on more than just flights. For example, members can earn 2 miles per $1 USD spent on over 40 top cruise lines with destinations around the world through KrisFlyer Cruise.

The biggest partners give Canadian members the means to earn miles on activities, car rentals, and stays worldwide. However, there are many more KrisFlyer hotels awarding 500 – 700 miles per stay in Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Oceania.

Shopping with partners

There are a handful of retail partners where KrisFlyer members can earn miles directly, including Singapore Airlines’ KrisShop.com. The KrisShop offers 1.5 miles per $1 SGD spent and ships worldwide without the need for an airline ticket or reservation.

Canadian members can earn miles using the following services and avoid extra fees using a no foreign exchange fee credit card. For more earning opportunities in Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the UK, check the list of other KrisFlyer partners.

Buying miles or converting points

If you’re missing 50% or less of the miles required for a reward, you can purchase the remainder during checkout for 4 cents USD per mile. No matter which redemption option you choose, you’re unlikely to get more than 5 CPM, so we don’t recommend buying miles.

KrisFlyer doesn’t allow members to pool rewards and only allows transfers from child to parent accounts, but there’s another way to top up your balance: converting points from other rewards programs.

Point conversions are free, but there are very few options available to Canadians. We’ve listed the biggest names below; for all other conversion partners – including banks and shops in Asia, Europe, and Oceania – see the KrisFlyer partners page.

Using a KrisFlyer credit card

Using a co-branded travel credit card can accelerate your rewards in any program, but KrisFlyer’s credit cards are restricted to Asian, Australian, and Oceanic customers. You must be a resident of Singapore, Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, or the Philippines to apply.

How to redeem KrisFlyer miles

Now for the fun part – using all the miles you’ve accumulated. There are 9 ways to redeem KrisFlyer miles:

• Cars
• Cash
• Charity
• Experiences
• Flights
• Flight Upgrades
• Hotels
• Miles + Cash
• Partner Flights

You already know which redemption option is the most valuable, so let’s dive into how to maximize your miles on each reward.

KrisFlyer members can name up to 5 people as their redemption nominees. Choose wisely – redemption nominees can redeem your miles for flights and flight upgrades, and while you can add a nominee for free, you must pay 1,500 – 3,000 miles or $15 – $30 USD to change or remove one.

Flight upgrades

Average value: 5 CPM

Categories: Singapore Airlines, Star Alliance airlines

Best option: An upgrade from Economy Standard to Business Class on a Saver Award flight from Singapore (SIN) to Los Angeles (LAX) for 90,000 miles (15.34 CPM)

If you’ve already booked a Singapore Airlines or Star Alliance flight, you can put KrisFlyer miles towards flight upgrades between Economy, Economy Premium, Business, or First Class. One-way upgrades on SIA flights start at 9,000 miles, while upgrades on eligible Star Alliance flights start at 20,500 miles.

The higher the starting fare and upgraded class, the better the value. For example, upgrades from Economy to Premium Economy yield an average of 4.07 CPM, while upgrades from Business to First Class average a jaw-dropping 10 CPM.

To check if your ticket is eligible and to make an upgrade, log into the official Singapore Air website or contact Singapore Airlines customer service.

Note: Only Standard and Flexi tickets aboard Singapore Airlines are eligible for upgrades. The only upgrades available for Star Alliance flights are Economy to Business and Business to First Class.

Flights

Average value: 3.47 CPM

Categories: Advantage Awards, Promo Awards, Saver Awards

Best option: A one-way, non-stop Saver Award in Business Class from Singapore (SIN) to Los Angeles (LAX) for $13,337 SGD or 107,000 miles + $106.50 SGD (13.35 CPM)

Singapore Airlines’ flight award chart divides the airlines’ destinations into 13 zones, with Singapore in Zone 1 and the eastern United States in Zone 13. KrisFlyer members have 3 options for getting from zone to zone: Saver, Promo, and Advantage Awards.

All 3 awards have fixed prices. On the one hand, choosing off-peak travel dates won’t make your award flight any cheaper. On the other, you know exactly how many miles to save for a trip, and the higher the demand for your flight, the more valuable your miles.

Saver Awards start at 8,500 miles + $24 USD in taxes, charges, and fees, averaging a respectable 4 CPM. If you’re lucky enough to find a Promo Award, you can take 20% off your fare in miles, but these rewards sell out fast. More often than not, you’ll have to redeem your miles for an Advantage Award, which start at 15,000 miles + $24 USD and average 2.8 CPM.

Pro Tip: Advantage Awards provide 2 free stopovers per round trip and 1 stopover per one-way trip, while Saver Awards only provide 1 free stopover per round trip.

Our data clearly shows the value of a KrisFlyer mile increases the higher up the fare ladder you go. We recommend saving your miles for Saver Business, Saver Suites/First Class, and Advantage Suites/First Class awards, all of which provide 5+ CPM. Advantage and Saver Economy fares provide the worst value, averaging 0.92 and 1.64 CPM, respectively.

A quick note on methodology: To find the best use of your miles, we compared the values of 16 Saver and Advantage award flights from SIA’s main hub in Singapore (SIN) to at least one destination in each zone. We incorporated only the lowest fares in each class in the next 6 months, so every figure above represents the minimum value you can expect from a KrisFlyer mile.

Partner flights

Average value: 1.94 CPM

Categories: Partner airlines, Star Alliance airlines

Best option: A one-way, non-stop flight in Business Class from Singapore (SIN) to Tokyo (HND) aboard ANA for $2,736 SGD or 48,000 miles + $40+ USD (5.58 CPM)

KrisFlyer award flights on Star Alliance airlines start at 17,000 miles + $40 USD in taxes, fees, and surcharges. In theory, you can redeem your miles for a flight on any Star Alliance member in Economy, Business, or First Class. In practice, there are so many seat and date blackouts that it’s hard to find anything on the Singapore Airlines website.

If you manage to find an award, opt for the highest fare you can afford. On average, Economy tickets yield a pitiful 1.1 CPM, Business an unimpressive 2.64 CPM, and First Class only 2.73 CPM.

Non-Star Alliance partner airlines such as Alaska Airlines and Virgin Australia use their own flight award schemes, starting at 8,500 miles for a one-way flight.

Experiences

Average value: 1.59 CPM

Categories: Mastercard Priceless Experiences

Best option: A 3 – 4-hour gin masterclass at the Brass Lion Distillery for $237.60 CAD or 8,000 miles per person (2.97 CPM)

Although KrisFlyer Experiences are powered by Mastercard Priceless Experiences, they aren’t limited to Mastercard credit cardholders. Members around the globe can redeem miles for tours, dining experiences, event tickets, and exclusive stays – just don’t expect to find any offerings outside of Singapore.

Miles + Cash

Average value: 1.03 CPM

Categories: Cars, Hotels, Scoot, Singapore Airlines

Best option: Cash + miles payments on Scoot or Singapore Airlines (1.03 CPM)

KrisFlyer members can pay for 4 rewards with a combination of cash and miles: rental cars, hotels, Scoot flights, and flights on Singapore Airlines.

Flights on Scoot and SIA require at least 1,050 miles for a discount. You can offset part or all of your fare (including taxes, fees, and surcharges) for a fixed value of roughly 1.03 CPM – less than a third of the average value of an award flight.

You’ll get even less value from your miles if you do the same for car rentals and hotels. We’ll dive more into each option later; just know Miles + Cash payments for hotels yield an average of 0.77 CPM, while car rentals average -4.84 CPM.

You read that right: it almost always costs more money to pay for a rental car with a mix of KrisFlyer miles and cash than to book directly on the rental agency’s website. We found a listing for a luxury car rental in Bogotá Colombia, for 1,500 miles + $685 USD per day on the KrisFlyer website, compared to only $155.14 CAD per day on the official website!

Cash

Value: 0.72 CPM – 0.86 CPM

Categories: KrisShop, Pelago

Best option: Redeem 125 miles for $1 SGD at the KrisShop (0.86 CPM)

As a reminder, the KrisShop ships merchandise worldwide without the need for an airline ticket or travel in Singapore. You can easily redeem your miles for a partial or complete payment at the checkout by providing your KrisFlyer membership number, but that’s where the benefits end.

The KrisShop conversion rate is fixed at 125 miles = $1 SGD, or roughly 0.86 CPM. The exchange rate is even worse at Pelago, Singapore Airlines’ online shop for activities, tickets, tours, eSIMs, and more: 150 miles = $1 SGD, or about 0.72 CPM.

To use either, you’ll need a minimum of 1,000 miles per transaction.

Hotels

Average value: 0.84 CPM

Categories: Accor, Best Western, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, Shangri-La, Wyndham Hotels, and more…

Best option: A 2-night promotional stay for two in Atlanta for $208 CAD or 20,235 miles per night (1.03 CPM)

Members can redeem miles at 29,000 car rental agencies and 350,000 hotels worldwide by logging into KrisFlyer vRooms with at least 1,500 miles in their account. Covering your hotel fees with a mix of Miles + Cash yields an average of 0.77 CPM, but paying entirely in miles provides up to 1.03 CPM – if you find the right promotion, that is.

Unless you really love to spend hours bargain-hunting with a spreadsheet, we don’t recommend either option. A 1,500-mile discount on KF vRooms can be worth over $300 USD or as little as $40 USD, and it’s not clear why.

Cars

Average value: 0.81 CPM

Categories: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National, Routes Car Rental, and more…

Best option: Renting a car in Cancun for $52.61 CAD or 1,500 miles per day (3.51 CPM)

Paying for rental cars on KrisFlyer vRooms with a mix of Miles + Cash means losing an average of 4.84 CPM, but if you pay for your rental entirely in miles, you can get about 0.81 CPM. On average, cheaper cars – such as minis, compacts, economies, and specials – yield 30% more value than expensive coupes, luxury cars, and passenger vans.

Charity

Value: 0.72 – 3.47 CPM

Categories: Carbon offsetting, KidSTART, Make-A-Wish Singapore

Best option: KidSTART or Make-A-Wish Singapore for an average of 3.47 CPM

You can do some good by donating KrisFlyer miles to KidSTART, which supports young children and pregnant mothers from low-income families in Singapore, or Make-A-Wish Singapore.

Every non-tax-deductible donation of 1,000 – 100,000 miles is used to provide travel, activities, and necessary items, giving it the same maximum value as a flight. You may also choose to offset the carbon emissions of a Singapore Airlines flight using either cash or miles at a fixed rate of 150 miles = $1 SGD, or about 0.72 CPM.

Carbon offset contributions are verified, tracked, and audited by independent and accredited organizations such as Tasman Environmental Markets (TEM). Whether they support the preservation of rainforests in Indonesia, the installation of solar panels in India, or the distribution of clean-burning cookstoves in Nepal, your miles will make a tangible impact.

How to get the most out of your KrisFlyer miles

KrisFlyer offers more redemption options and more value than most frequent flyer programs. Navigating your earning and redemption opportunities can be a complex task, so here’s a short list of tips for maximizing the program:

• Aim for KrisFlyer Elite Silver status to get 25% bonus miles on every flight
• Don’t wait long to grab Saver and Promo Awards
• Enrol your children in KrisFlyer and transfer their miles to your account
• Fly Singapore Airlines whenever possible
• Look for blue dates on the Singapore Airlines booking calendar to find the cheapest days to fly
• Provide your KrisFlyer membership number whenever you book a flight on a Star Alliance or other partner airline
• Redeem miles on Saver or Promo Awards in the highest fare class you can afford for maximum value
• Redeem miles on the largest flight upgrade you can afford for maximum value
• Travel with KrisFlyer partners whenever possible

• Avoid buying miles
• Avoid paying with Miles + Cash – especially for rental cars
• Don’t count on redeeming miles for Star Alliance flights – especially in First Class

FAQ

Is KrisFlyer part of Star Alliance?

Singapore Airlines is part of Star Alliance so you can earn KrisFlyer miles aboard Star Alliance flights, or other rewards points aboard SIA flights.

Can I transfer Aeroplan points to KrisFlyer?

While you can’t convert Aeroplan points to KrisFlyer miles, you can use the Air Canada website to book a flight on Singapore Airlines with points. Redeeming your Aeroplan points in this way will yield less value than if you had spent them on an Air Canada flight.

Can you buy KrisFlyer miles?

As long as you already have at least 50% of the miles required for an award flight, you can buy KrisFlyer miles for $0.04 USD each online. You can also pay for regular flights with a combination of cash and miles, with each mile worth an average of 1.03 cents CAD.