Pandemic pauses were thought to be over, but Singapore Airlines’ frequent flyers now have another six months to redeem their miles.
Attention KrisFlyer members! KrisFlyer miles expiring between January and June 2023 have been granted one final extension.
In case you missed it, Singapore Airlines recently called it on miles expiries, which meant many miles were going to being begin expiring from next month.
In a surprising turn of events, Singapore Airlines has confirmed yet another extension, gifting another six months validity on miles that were set to expire from the beginning of 2023.
Plus, this time, KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards and PPS Rewards are also being extended until the end of next year.
Understandably, those who have already rushed to redeem their expiring miles may be somewhat peeved at the backtrack.
Confused about when your KrisFlyer miles are actually expiring? Not to worry, we’ve got you covered. Read on to get up to speed with when your miles expire and how to redeem them for the best value.
So what is happening here?
One of the keys to any frequent flyer membership is to know when your points or miles expire.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is unfortunately amongst the frequent flyer programs with a ‘hard’ expiry in place, which means that miles automatically expire 36 months after they were earned.
During the early phases of the pandemic, Singapore Airlines and most other carriers extended the validity of miles and eased status requirements. In the case of Singapore Airlines, miles validity has been extended multiple times, in blocks of six months.
As such, miles that were previously extended as part of the Singapore Airlines COVID-19 membership support measures were supposed to begin expiring from January 2023.
However, Singapore Airlines has introduced what they say is one last expiring, meaning miles that were going to expire from January through to June 2023 will now be extended by a further six months.
When are my miles actually expiring?
To check when your miles will expire, log into your KrisFlyer account and navigate to ‘Miles’ and then ‘Miles Validity’.
To give you some idea, KrisFlyer Miles that were earned in January 2019 (and were initially set to expire in January 2022) were first extended to July 2022, and subsequently through to January 2023. The recent extension means those miles will now expire in July 2023.
Similarly, those pre-pandemic miles that would have expired in June 2022 were extended to December 202, and then June 2023 will now expire in December 2023.
As such, the latest extension policy will automatically apply to these miles, regardless of whether they have been extended before.
The table below sets out when expiring miles during the January 2023 to June 2034 period will now actually expire:
| Miles expiry | Extended to |
| January 2023 | July 2023 |
| February 2023 | August 2023 |
| March 2023 | September 2023 |
| April 2023 | October 2023 |
| May 2023 | November 2023 |
| June 2023 | December 2023 |
With travel slowly returning to normal, we’re not expecting any more validity extensions after this. At this stage, it doesn’t appear that Singapore Airlines plans to move from its hard points expiry policy either, so the only solution is to redeem your miles before they expire.
The good news is that you now have another half a year to do so.
Milestone Rewards and PPS Rewards also extended
This time, Singapore Airlines has also extended some KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards and PPS Rewards.
The following Milestone Rewards set to expire in 2022 or 2023 are now eligible for an extension until 31 December 2023:
- 1,500 KrisPay Miles
- 25% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles
- 50% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles
- 5,000 KrisFLyer Miles Redemption Discount
- Double KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount
- Double KrisFlyer Miles
- Short-haul Advance Upgrade
- Premium Economy Advance Upgrade
Note that this extension will apply automatically.
Similarly, the following PPS Rewards expiring in 2022 or 2023 will also be extended until 31 December 2023:
- Double KrisFlyer Miles Rewards
- 50,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount
- Advance Upgrade
These extensions will also be processed automatically.
How do I use my expiring points?
Unlike keeping Qantas points valid with account activity, KrisFlyer members will lose miles if they don’t use them before they expire.
The best way to extract maximum value from your miles is to redeem them for a flight award.
Flight reward redemptions on Singapore Airlines metal typically offer the most valuable and appealing redemption opportunities – particularly when booked for premium cabins (premium economy, business and first class).
Alternatively, if you’re not yet ready to lock in a flight, Singapore Airlines’ unique partnership with Virgin Australia makes it possible to transfer KrisFlyer miles to Velocity Points at a 1.55 to 1 ratio.
While it usually wouldn’t make sense to use KrisFlyer miles in this way, this initiative provides a far more appealing option than letting miles go to waste.
Then, once your miles are transferred over to Velocity you can at least keep them active by earning or redeeming just one point every 24 months.
Of course, there’s always the option to redeem miles on the ground via the KrisShop portal. However, redeeming points via KrisShop isn’t usually a good idea, as it typically offers a much poorer value proposition when compared with flights and upgrades.
How can I stop my points from expiring?
Extensions aside, it’s frustrating to see a hard miles expiry policy remain in place here, with most other frequent flyer programs having moved away from this during the pandemic.
Nowadays, most other airline programs, including Qantas and Virgin Australia, allow members to keep points valid by earning or redeeming just once in a membership year or other set period – you can even earn points in your sleep to stop Qantas Points from expiring.
There is, however, a less-than-ideal way to keep KrisFlyer miles from expiring post-pandemic extensions. Members can pay to extend their miles, which costs either 1,200 miles or US$12 per 10,000 miles extended.
Silver and Gold frequent flyers will see their miles extended for one year, while all other members will only hold onto their points for another six months.
In most cases, the hefty fee to stop KrisFlyer miles from expiring likely won’t be worth it. However, if you almost have enough miles for an aspirational award that you intend to redeem within the next six months, then this option may make sense.
Summary: You’ve got time
There you have it – Singapore Airlines has introduced yet another miles extension, which means you could have another six months to use your expiring KrisFlyer miles. We would suggest marking the new expiry date in your calendar!
Despite insisting back in October that extensions were a thing of the past, Singapore Airlines has introduced yet another reprieve for KrisFlyer members. Nevertheless, the carrier insists this will be the last in a series of pandemic extensions.
Under the latest extension, KrisFlyer miles won’t start expiring until July 2023. Generally this is good news (unless you already redeemed your miles assuming they would begin expiring from early next year!)
Hopefully, KrisFlyer will one day move to an activity-based miles expiry policy, but for now, members should take advantage of the recent extension.
Want to learn more about Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer? Check out our ultimate program guide.
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