It’s been a few years since KrisFlyer adjusted its redemption charts. So, it probably not that much of a surprise that it’s time for another adjustment. As such, from 1 November, KrisFlyer will be moving to a new redemption chart. This will see an increase of up to 20% in the number of points required for an award.
KrisFlyer Redemption Tables
Before getting into it,a quick look at how the redemption tables work.
As with many programs, KrsiFlyer uses a zone based system. In reading the tables, you need to look at the number of Miles to get from your origin Zone, to your destination Zone. To put that into some perspective, the following is the list of ZonesL
Zone Destination Countries
- Zone 1: Singapore
- Zone 2: Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei
- Zone 3: Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos
- Zone 4: China (South), Hong Kong SAR, Taiwan
- Zone 5: China (Beijing, Shanghai)
- Zone 6: India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bangladesh
- Zone 7: Japan, South Korea
- Zone 8: Australia (Perth, Darwin)
- Zone 9: Australia (except Perth, Darwin), New Zealand
- Zone 10: Africa, Middle East, Turkey
- Zone 11: Europe
- Zone 12: USA West Coast, Canada
- Zone 13: USA East Coast, Houston
To calculate the number of Miles required for, say, Perth – Bangkok, you look up the number of miles to get from Zone 8 (Perth) to Bangkok (Zone 3).
Changes to Tables
According to Singapore Airlines, there will be a reduction of 5% in Economy Saver award redemption rates for flights within Asia and South West Pacific (Zones 1 to 9).
Saver Awards
The following table gives some examples of the changes that will occur for those of us in Australia.
| Example Routes (Saver Awards) | Current Rate (before 31 Oct 25) |
New Rate (from 1 Nov 25) |
|---|---|---|
| Perth(9)-Bangkok(3) | Economy: 21,500 miles Business: 40,500 miles |
Economy: 21,500 miles (0%) Business: 44,500 miles (+9.8%) |
| Adelaide/Brisbane/Melbourne/Sydney(9)-Hong Kong(4) | Economy: 30,500 miles Business: 71,500 miles |
Economy: 30,000 miles (-1.7%) Business: 77,000 miles (+7.7%) |
| Adelaide/Brisbane/Melbourne/Sydney(9)-Sri Lanka (6) | Economy: 43,000 miles Premium: 73,000 miles Business: 92,500 miles |
Economy: 42,000 miles (-2.3%) Premium: 79,000 miles (+8.3%) Business: 100,000 miles (+8.1%) |
| Adelaide/Brisbane/Melbourne/Sydney (9)-Istanbul (10) | Economy: 54,500 miles Premium: 73,000 miles Business: 99,000 miles |
Economy: 62,500 miles (+14.7%) Premium: 92,500 miles (+23.3%) Business: 124,000 miles (+25.3%) |
| Adelaide/Brisbane/Melbourne/Sydney (9)-London (11) | Economy: 58,500 miles Premium: 101,000 miles Business: 130,500 miles First/Suites: 183,500 miles |
Economy: 63,000 miles (+7.7%) Premium: 109,000 miles (+7.9%) Business: 141,000 miles (+8.0%) First/Suites: 198,000 miles (+7.9%) |
| Adelaide/Brisbane/Melbourne/Sydney(9)-New York(13) | Economy: 66,000 miles Business: 145,500 miles |
Economy: 71,500 miles (+8.3%) Business: 157,000 miles (+7.9%) |
It’s interesting that in some cases there are small reductions in the number of miles required. On the other hand, some have taken a particular hit, For example, flights to Zone 10 (which included flights to Africa, Turkey and the Middle East), sees some significant increases. These Saver Awards see increases of up to 25%.
Advantage Awards
A similar story unfolds when looking at the changes for Advantage Awards. That said, the specific percentages are a bit different. Generally, Economy Advantage awards are going up around 10-13%, although Zone 10 is seeing a more modest increase.
Business Advantage awards are going up generally around 15%.
Access Awards
KrisFlyer will also be introducing what it calls ‘Access’. These will offer additional inventory over and above the current Advantage or Saver awards.
It appears that the price of these will be dynamically determined, and may change over the year. That said, they have not given away much about how this will work. Perhaps, it will work something along the lined of Qantas Classic Plus awards where the number of points required is tied to the cash price of a ticket. But who knows, we will have to wait and see.
Should you book now?
The good news is that these changes are not coming into effect until November. Therefore, you have more than two months to sort out any redemptions at the current pricing. Keep in mind, that you only need to have finalised the booking by then- you can travel afterwards.
It is worth noting, that the KrisFlyer booking window is 355 days. So, you can make a booking up to 355 days into the future (assuming you can find a seat). That said, if you change flights and a ticket reissue is required after 31 October, you will find the new pricing will applying.
Final Words
Adjustments such as these are an unavoidable fact of loyalty programs. Fortunately, there is a couple of months notice of this change. The Access award needs more detail than we have now to properly assess.
You can find the new reward charts on the Singapore Airlines website.
