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Yes, Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles expire after 36 months from the month of their accrual. Per Singapore Airlines:
KrisFlyer accounts which have activity are valid for 36 months from the end of the month in which the last activity occurred, after which the membership accounts will expire.
However, Singapore KrisFlyer is extending the expiration on points expiring between April 2020 and June 2021 by six months. See this post for the airline and hotel programs that have paused the expiration of points and miles.
For example, miles earned in November 2020 will expire on November 30, 2023. This means that your miles have a finite lifespan, and unlike a lot of other programs cannot be extended indefinitely by having activity on your account. There are a few exceptions.
Dealing With KrisFlyer's Policy
One of the drawbacks of the KrisFlyer program is this finite lifespan of miles, and also that miles that have expired are dead and cannot be reinstated. According to the KrisFlyer terms and conditions, “KrisFlyer miles that have already expired cannot be extended.”
However, if your miles are about to expire you may be able to win a small limited reprieve. Miles about to expire may be extended once for a fee of $12 (or 1,200 miles) per 10,000 miles. The extension is valid for 5 months in addition to the current month for a total of 6 months.
The only exception to this extension is for KrisFlyer Elites; the following status holders can extend their miles for a year:
- KrisFlyer Elite Silver
- KrisFlyer Elite Gold
- PPS Club members
Backdoor Way to Extend Miles?
Frequent Miler shares a backdoor way to extend miles through the booking of an award ticket that you don't intend on taking and then changing it at a later date to the one you do plan on utilizing.
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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.