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As the only way to book an award in the enviable Singapore Suites first class, Singapore KrisFlyer miles certainly have a key place if you enjoy flying premium cabins. But did you know that you can book a Singapore Airlines stopover on your award ticket? We'll show you how to do so and what rules apply if you want to book one. If you're unfamiliar with what a stopover is, don't worry; we'll cover that, too.
We should mention that the Singapore KrisFlyer program has a much broader application than First Class awards and stopovers. With multiple bank transfer partners to accrue miles and a host of Star Alliance airlines to spend them on, it's easy to rack up miles, and knowing the KrisFlyer award routing and stopover rules is key to getting the most out of your points.
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Overview of the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Program
If you're unfamiliar with Singapore KrisFlyer, you should take some time to familiarize yourself with the frequent flyer program of highly-rated Singapore Airlines. As a member of the Star Alliance, you can use KrisFlyer miles not only for Singapore Airlines flights but also for tickets on a large swath of partners.
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer award charts
Singapore Airlines has two awards charts — one for awards on its own flights and the other for partner awards. It's critical to keep in mind which chart applies to the award you wish to book. If you have any segments on a partner airline, the partner award chart applies. Note that the partner award chart shows prices for round-trip tickets, but you can book a one-way award for half the cost.
The award chart for Singapore Airlines flights features two award levels — Saver and Advantage. It goes without saying that saver awards are cheaper than Advantage awards.
One perk of the KrisFlyer program is that Singapore Airlines also allows you to waitlist for award flights. For partner flights, there is a single price, and you can only book if the award space is available to Singapore Airlines — no waitlisting allowed.
What Is a Stopover?
A stopover generally refers to a connecting stop in a city longer than what is normally allowed. Depending on your routing, you may be limited to connections of up to four hours when flying domestically. For most international itineraries, you're almost always limited to up to 24 hours.
Think of a stopover as a much longer connection, one that can stretch a few days or far more. But they're also still part of one airline ticket.
Stopovers are most commonly booked on international flights. For example, if you're flying from New York to Istanbul, you could book a flight from New York to Munich on Lufthansa and stay for a few days before continuing to Istanbul. With some airline loyalty programs, you can do this for the price of a direct itinerary from New York to Istanbul.
Related: What Is the Difference Between a Layover and a Stopover?
Singapore Airlines Stopover Rules
If you're considering redeeming KrisFlyer miles and adding a stopover, here are the rules you'll need to abide by:
- On Singapore Airlines, get one free stopover per one-way Advantage award or per round-trip Saver award. Stopovers aren't possible on one-way Saver awards. If booking a round-trip Advantage award, you can have an additional stopover, for a total of two.
- On Star Alliance tickets, get one free stopover per round-trip award. However, this cannot be applied on a wholly domestic itinerary or within the departure country. Stopovers are also not permitted if wholly within Europe or between the U.S. and Canada.
- Stopovers are complimentary for award tickets. You used to be able to book a paid stopover. This is no longer an option for award tickets. On cash tickets, you can book a multi-city itinerary with up to six flights, but that's a topic for another post. However, stopovers are complimentary for award tickets on Singapore Airlines.
- Stopovers are limited to a maximum of 30 days for award itineraries. Your stopover can be a maximum of 30 days. If you want a stopover of longer than 30 days, you'll need to book two separate awards.
KrisFlyer Award Routing Rules
Beyond the Singapore Airlines stopover rules, you should be aware of the other rules that apply to tickets booked using KrisFlyer miles.
- A maximum of six travel segments is allowed per itinerary. This appears to apply to both Singapore and Star Alliance awards.
- Star Alliance or other partner segments may not be waitlisted. However, Singapore Airlines segments can be waitlisted as part of a Star Alliance award.
- You cannot backtrack as part of an award. As an example, you can't fly from New York to Dubai, then from Dubai back to Europe, and then continue on to East Asia.
- One open jaw is allowed at the origin or destination. For example, you can fly between San Francisco and Singapore, then Singapore back to New York City on your return.
Related: How To Redeem Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles
How To Search and Book Singapore KrisFlyer Awards
To search for KrisFlyer awards, navigate to singaporeair.com. You'll see the search form where you can input your origin, destination, date(s), and class of service.
To book a KrisFlyer award, you'll need to click the “Redeem flights” button. You do need to have a KrisFlyer account, and the Singapore Airlines website will ask you to log in if you've not already. Once logged in, you can easily search flight awards. If you don't have an account, you'll then need to create one.
Unlike other programs, you can only search for one cabin class at a time with Singapore Airlines. The airline defaults to showing a week of availability at a time, and you can toggle among Singapore Airlines flights, Star Alliance airlines, and other partners.
Below are search results for flights between San Francisco and Singapore. Since these are Singapore Airlines flights, note that both Saver and Advantage prices are listed, and that you would be waitlisted for either of these options.
Now that you know how to search for Singapore Airlines award flights, let's tackle how to book a Singapore Airlines stopover.
How To Add Singapore Airlines Stopover on Award Itineraries
You take a slightly different route to search for a Singapore KrisFlyer award with a stopover. You'll need to ensure you key in an award search where a stopover is permitted.
In this search, I'm looking for business class flights between San Francisco and Sydney. Unlike the original search from San Francisco to Singapore, there is a box asking if I want to add a stopover in Singapore to the ticket.
If you wish to add a stopover, click the “Add Stopovers” button. This will open a form that allows you to add the stopover city and when you want the second leg to depart.
Once you select your stopover, the search will return selections for both flights. If you have some flexibility on the departure dates, you can work with each flight leg separately. The week view will show up for each leg.
For example, here's the first leg:
And here's the second leg:
In my case, I found dates for both flights where I would not have to waitlist. Once you've selected both legs, you'll be presented with a summary of your itinerary. After this, you just continue to book as you normally would — like with any other Singapore Airlines award ticket.
How To Earn Singapore KrisFlyer Miles
One of the key features of the Singapore KrisFlyer program is that it is a transfer partner of multiple points currencies. From flexible rewards to hotel points, it's easy to grow your balance of KrisFlyer miles.
Singapore KrisFlyer transfer partners
In the table below, you'll find the complete list of Singapore Airlines transfer partners. With rare exceptions, KrisFlyer's credit card transfer partners are more lucrative than its hotel transfer partners — based on transfer ratios alone.
Best credit cards for earning KrisFlyer miles
The best way to earn a lot of Singapore KrisFlyer miles is via credit cards. Several rewards programs offer 1:1 transfers to Singapore KrisFlyer. Chase, Capital One, and Citi are three of our favorite options.
Here's a quick look at some of our favorite travel rewards cards that offer point transfers to Singapore Airlines:
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
- Welcome Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Earning Rates: Earn 5X on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠ (2X on all other travel purchases); 3X on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; and 1X on all other purchases.
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Welcome Bonus: Earn 75,000 Miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening.
- Earning Rates: Earn 2 Miles per dollar on every purchase, every day. 5 Miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
- Welcome Bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months of account opening, redeemable for $600 in gift cards or travel rewards at thankyou.com.
- Earning Rates: Earn 10X points per $1 on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com; 3X points per $1 spent on airfare and other hotels; and 3X points at gas stations, EV charging stations, restaurants, and supermarkets.
- 5X points on Lyft rides through September 2027
- 5X points on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3X points on dining at restaurants worldwide
- 3X points on eligible streaming services
- 3X points on online grocery purchases (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs)
- 2X points on all other travel
- 1X point per dollar spent on all other purchases
- 5X miles per dollar on purchases through Capital One Entertainment (through 12/31/2025)
- 5X miles per dollar on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- 2X miles per dollar on all other purchases
- 10X points per $1 on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked through CitiTravel.com
- 3X points per $1 spent on airfare, and other hotel purchases
- 3X points per $1 spent at gas and EV charging stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on dining at restaurants, including cafes, bars and lounges
- 3X points per $1 spent at supermarkets
- 1X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
Final Thoughts
The ability to book a stopover on Singapore Airlines is an aspect of the KrisFlyer program that flies under the radar. Besides adding a stopover in Singapore itself, you can also add one in places where Singapore Airlines operates fifth freedom flights (e.g., Tokyo or Frankfurt). While limited to only a handful of cities, you could use a stopover to break up your trip and discover somewhere new.
A final note — given how often you have to waitlist Singapore Airlines awards, it may take some searching to find an itinerary you can confirm out of the gate. But sometimes the ability to book a Singapore Airlines stopover will allow you greater flexibility to confirm a ticket.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (Rates & Fees)
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