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Yes, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles do expire after 36 months from the month of their accrual. Per Singapore Airlines terms and conditions page:
A member's KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years at the end of the equivalent month in which they were earned. For example, miles credited to a member's KrisFlyer account in July 2006 will expire on 31 July 2009.
The above policy only applies to regular KrisFlyer members. If you are a PPS Club Member or a Solitaire PPS Club member, your miles will never expire. If you fail to renew your PPS Club status, your miles will revert to the 36-month expiration policy!
COVID-19 Mileage Extension
It will come as no surprise to hear that — like so many other airlines — Singapore announced an extension to members expiring miles. However, instead of a simple policy, Singapore has come up with a complex system of extending expiring miles by 6 months at a time.
On January 13, 2022, Singapore KristFlyer confirmed that it would continue this policy through the end of 2022:
KrisFlyer miles that expire in 2022 will be automatically extended by six months at a time, at the end of each month.
To give you an idea of how complicated this situation is, here's the extension chart for miles expiring through March 2022:
Now, here's the extension chart for KrisFlyer miles expiring in 2022:
So, if had miles due to expire in March 2021, their validity has been/will be extended 4 times: first to September 2021, then to March 2022, September 2022, and finally to March 2023!
Extending Your Singapore Miles Validity
If your miles are on their last legs and are about to expire, you can pay to extend their validity. KrisFlyer members can pay $12 or 1,200 miles to have their mileage expiration extended for 6 months.
The following KrisFlyer elites receive a 12-month extension for the same $12 or 1,200 miles.
- KrisFlyer Elite Silver
- KrisFlyer Elite Gold
Historically, you used to book an award with your miles, change the date, and then cancel and redeposit your miles for a fee to reset the clock on those miles. This avenue is no longer available! Any miles that would have expired will be lost and would not be redeposited!
Earning Singapore KrisFlyer Miles
Earning Singapore KrisFlyer miles is relatively straightforward; you can earn miles in any of the following ways:
- Earn miles when you fly with Singapore, any of its Star Alliance members, including Lufthansa and Avianca. You can also earn miles when flying Scoot, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, and more.
- Earn miles for hotel stays, including IHG, Accor, and Hilton.
- Earn miles for your next car rental from Avis, Budget, and more.
- Earn miles for shopping around the world, including at the Bicester Village Shopping Collection.
If you are based in Asia, there is a much more comprehensive range of options for you to earn KrisFlyer miles, including multiple co-branded credit cards in various countries.
Boosting Your KrisFlyer Miles Account
If you are a few points shy of a redemption you have plenty of options. Fortunately, Singapore is one of the few airlines that partners with every major credit card point currency out there. You can transfer the following currencies to KrisFlyer.
- American Express Membership Rewards transfer at a ratio of 1:1
- Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer at a ratio of 1:1
- Citi ThankYou points transfer at a ratio of 1:1
- Capital One miles transfer at a ratio of 2:1
- Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a ratio of 3:1
This means you can pool points earned from a wide variety of cards — including the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, the American Express® Gold Card, and more — to get to your next Singapore award.
Our Take
A fixed expiration policy is a big downside to the Singapore program, although 36 months is relatively generous. On the bright side, there are many point transfer partners, and you can pay to extend the validity of your KrisFlyer miles. It should be a breeze with proper planning to stay on top of your balance and always ensure that you use your miles before they expire.
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Has anyone visited the New Silver Krisflyer lounge in SIngapore? Opened 23 November, and was reputed to have a “rest” area with recliners? I’ve a 7 hour transit 31 Dec and tossing up whether to book a transit hotel.
I was just wondering if transfer points from credit cards will extend the life of Krisflyer miles
Thank you
That “brick wall” mileage expiration just means that one should be highly transactional with Singapore KF by transferring points for a specific redemption, and nothing more. The program caters to people who frequently earn and burn, and that’s fine as long as you understand the rules of the game.
I have 75000 expiring krisflyer miles last yr so I booked for a trip to Asia but then had to cancel d/t HK demonstrations plus the Covid lockdowns. Doesn’t seem like Asia travel will be possible before it expires again based on the charts. What are my options other than paying to extend for another 6 months? Think I can use it for domestic flights with United.
Unfortunately, Krisflyer is more stingy than most airlines in terms of options to extned miles. Beyond the pay option highlighted here, you’re really only left with trying to get some value out of them, by either tranfering them out to another program or redeeming them one of several ways. But, with 75000 miles you should be able to find some options. For example, at one point you could transfer them to Virgin Australia’s Velocity program.
3 years is still better than many programs that’s only 2 years and I think Hawaiian Air is only 1.5 years.
A very good reason not to earn miles in this programme.
For this reason I only transfer credit card points into KF when I know there is an award I want and see availability. Otherwise I just accumulate on it when flying SilkAir as they aren’t a *A partner.
Unfortunate that they expire but it’s good there are transfer partners.
Didn’t know about the extension. Thanks!
Would be awesome to see a credit card option added for US consumers, a-la Lufthansa, that would keep points alive past the 36 month window.
its a pity they have a hard cap of 3 years on the miles for non-elite members
A total deal breaker for me. I simply don’t accept programs with hard (non-extendable) mileage expiry. You end up getting pushed into booking things you don’t need/want, just to use up the miles.
Hate being forced to use miles before an expiration date so never signed up for a program that forces usage. The extra discount you get on some routes is not worth the risk of miles expiring IMHO.
A big downside to the program.
Thanks for the heads up!
Wow, that’s quite hefty price for extention! Better come up with something else, if miles are expiring.
Thank you the information and the backdoor flexible travel rewards method.
What is a PPS member?
A level of elite status within the program
I currently have frequent flyer accounts with AA, DL, and UA. I am wondering if I should expand to foreign carriers too? I usually only fly internationally once a year.
Ed, an important thing to keep in mind is that foreign carriers may charge less than the domestic carrier for the same seat on the domestic carrier.
For example, it’ll cost you less to use Singapore miles to fly to Hawaii on United versus using United miles to fly to Hawaii. I’d recommend you ensure you’re collecting flexible travel rewards (SPG, Amex MR, Chase UR, Citi TYP) and then of course have all of the foreign carriers loyalty accounts as well.
They definitely do and no extension on the miles unless you pay.
It’s almost always safe to assume miles expire. I will say, for those that don’t, such as Delta, it’s a nice touch. We can all find plenty to say about Delta, but at least that is a perk.
Thank you for the reminder.