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Update: The new Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer award chart pricing went into effect on August 1, 2022.
Singapore Airlines is in the midst of making major changes to its award charts. Several KrisFlyer devaluations have already gone into effect — including higher rates on Singapore Airlines and other Star Alliance flights. And unfortunately, more devaluations are set to kick in soon.
The latest round of devaluations targets redemptions on Alaska Airlines and other Singapore Airlines non-alliance partners:
- Virgin Atlantic
- Virgin Australia
- Vistara
- Juneyao Airlines
The new award pricing takes effect on August 1, 2022. So, now is your last chance to book Alaska partner awards with Singapore KrisFlyer and lock in the old pricing before the devaluation comes in next month.
Devaluations to KrisFlyer Award Pricing on Alaska Airlines
Changes to Economy Awards
Economy awards are increasing across the board. Let's compare the new award chart…
… with the with the older one:
All economy award rates on Alaska Airlines are rising between 1,000 to 1,500 miles. The cheapest awards are increasing from 7,500 miles to 8,500 miles. Meanwhile, KrisFlyer is increasing the most expensive Alaska economy awards from 12,500 miles to 14,000 miles.
Changes to First Class Awards
First-class award pricing increases are much more variable than the economy increases:
- Cheaper awards have increased by around 2,500 miles.
- The most expensive awards have increased by around 6,000 miles.
No Changes to U.S. Award Zones
Singapore KrisFlyer splits the U.S. into 5 zones to account for the country’s size. For example, Zone 1 covers the West Coast — such as California, Oregon, and Washington. Meanwhile, Zone 5 covers Alaska and Hawaii. Fortunately, Singapore Airlines has not changed its U.S. zoning — which can be a sneaky way to increase the cost of awards.
Devaluations To Other Non-Alliance Partner Award Pricing
Singapore is also devaluing its pricing for Virgin Atlantic awards and Virgin Australia awards. Both will come into effect alongside the Alaska Airlines award chart changes on August 1, 2022.
Changes to Virgin Atlantic Award Pricing
Again comparing the new Virgin Atlantic award chart to the old one and a substantial devaluation is clear. Some KrisFlyer awards are increasing by a whopping 18%.
The most popular Virgin route is between North America and Europe, which are taking a substantial hit. KrisFlyer is increasing Virgin Atlantic awards as follows:
- Economy awards have increased from 25,000 miles to 29,500 miles each way. That's an increase of 18%.
- Premium economy awards have gone up from 32,000 miles to 38,500 miles each way — representing a huge 18.4% increase.
- Upper Class awards have increased from 50,000 miles to 58,500 miles each way, an increase of 17%.
Changes to Virgin Australia Award Pricing
Singapore awards on Virgin Australia metal have also increased, although the increases do not seem to be as sharp as with other partners. Which perhaps reflects the fact that the awards were already expensive. Comparing the new award chart, which comes into force from August 1, 2022, to the old chart, some modest increases exist.
Singapore KrisFlyer already charged steep rates for Virgin Australia flights between the U.S. and Australia. But these are about to go even higher. Much of this is a moot point as Virgin Australia contracted to a regional airline during the pandemic.
However, if Virgin Australia resumes flights to the U.S., you'll have to pay even more miles to fly between the U.S. and the Australia 1 region — which includes most major Australian cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra:
- Economy award has increased from 59,000 miles to 65,000 miles each way, an increase of 10.1%.
- Premium economy awards have gone up from 96,000 miles to 107,000 miles — which represents an increase of 11.4%.
- Business class awards have increased from 132,000 miles to 148,500 miles — which is the largest increase of 12.5%.
The Previous Singapore KrisFlyer Devaluations
In late June 2022, Singapore announced a devaluation to awards on its own metal and those on Star Alliance partners. The new pricing came into effect on July 5, 2022. While the devaluation was not too bad, it still represented an increase of around 10% across the board.
Singapore KrisFlyer Devaluation
Singapore introduced a new award chart that took effect on July 5, 2022. Across the board, most awards saw increases in the region of 10%, although some were a little more, especially in premium cabins.
Comparing the new chart to the older award chart and the latest pricing for some of Singapore's most popular routes are as follows:
Awards from the U.S. East Coast to Singapore (Zone 1 to Zone 13)
- Economy saver awards went from 40,000 miles to 44,000 miles, an increase of 10%.
- Premium economy saver awards jumped from 73,000 miles to 83,500 miles, an increase of ~10%.
- Business saver awards climbed from 96,000 miles to 111,500 miles, an increase of 12.6%.
- First class awards increased from 132,000 miles to 148,500 miles, an increase of 12.5%.
Awards From Europe to Singapore (Zone 1 to Zone 11)
- Economy saver awards went from 38,000 miles to 42,000 miles, an increase of 10.5%.
- Premium economy saver awards jumped from 64,500 miles to 71,000 miles, an increase of 10%.
- Business saver awards climbed from 92,000 miles to 103,500 miles, an increase of 12.5%.
- First class awards increased from 125,000 miles to 141,000 miles, an increase of 12.8%.
Star Alliance partner award chart devaluation
The KrisFlyer Star Alliance partner award chart also took a hit. Comparatively, the new chart represents a relatively small devaluation when compared to the old Star Alliance chart.
While all the awards have increased in price, some of the Singapore KrisFlyer sweet spots have remained relatively intact. Historically one of the best uses for KrisFlyer miles was for an award from the contiguous 48 states to Hawaii aboard partners United. Awards from North America to Hawaii have changed as follows:
- Economy saver awards went from 17,500 miles to 19,000 miles each way, an increase of 11.4%.
- Business saver awards increased from 34,500 miles to 39,000 miles each way, an increase of 13%.
Stopover Policy Changes
Not surprisingly, Singapore looked at its stopover policy and thought it was too generous… so it devalued it too!
Historically you could have long stopovers (over 30 days), and you could pay a $100 fee to have a long stopover without incurring any additional cost in miles. For instance, booking a flight from London to Sydney via Singapore with a 4-month stopover in Singapore.
Sadly, this is no longer the case. Starting August 1, 2022, stopovers over 30 days will no longer be allowed. You will have to book two separate awards if you want a more extended stopover.
Upgrades Rates are Also Increasing
If you want to use your miles to upgrade your ticket, these costs are also increasing. Using miles to upgrade already provided poor value. You are better off booking a straight cash ticket or straight miles award.
When you compare the new upgrade cost to the older upgrade chart, you see how expensive the costs are in the first place, and you are better off not wasting miles on upgrades.
Our Take
Award devaluations are a normal occurrence. Generally, not a year goes by without an airline deciding to strip some value from its program and squeeze its customers a little more. So, this move by Singapore Airlines comes as no surprise. This is especially true when you factor in that this is the third year in a row where the airline lost money, including a record loss of $3.2 billion from 2020 to 2021.
Devaluing your award chart is a great way for airlines to improve their profit and loss by charging more. At the end of the day, customers are trapped as they can't take their miles to another airline. So, customers have to pay higher rates or, worse, wait and watch their miles expire.
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