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Singapore Airlines announced that it is enhancing KrisFlyer Silver benefits — which grants Star Alliance Silver status. Effective immediately, members will receive improved boarding privileges, dedicated check-in counters when available, and an enhanced baggage allowance when flying Singapore Airlines.
Here's a breakdown of these changes plus what it signals about Star Alliance airlines finally adding benefits to the Silver-level tier.
New KrisFlyer Silver Benefits
Additional baggage allowance
KrisFlyer Silver members will now get an additional checked baggage allowance when flying Singapore Airlines to and from the U.S. The additional baggage allowance also applies to flights that include a connection on Scoot. Silver members will now receive an additional 22lbs/10kg luggage allowance.
KrisFlyer Silver elites will now receive the following enhanced checked baggage allowances:
- Suites, First, and Business Class passengers can check in three bags of up to 32kg/70lbs.
- Premium Economy and Economy passengers can check in three bags of up to 23kg/50lbs.
Priority airport check-in
A dedicated Star Alliance Silver check-in counter will now be at select locations. This will allow you to skip the queues and get done with the check-in process quicker than the standard economy line. Check-in counters are indicated with the Star Alliance Silver Logo.
Priority boarding
KrisFlyer Elite Silver members will also receive priority boarding when flying with Singapore Airlines. Members can board before economy groups four through seven.
Still No Alliance-Wide Benefits
It's good to see Singapore improving the benefits of its Silver tier membership. This seems to be a trend, with Air Canada also recently upgrading benefits for its 25K and 35K elites. Air Canada even forged agreements with United and the whole Lufthansa Group of airlines (which includes Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, and SWISS) to let Aeroplan 25K and 35K elites get perks when flying on those airlines.
While these one-off improvements are nice for affected elites, we'd still like to see Star Alliance improve the guaranteed benefits of Silver elite status across the entire alliance. Right now, the only alliance-wide benefits of Star Alliance Silver are Priority Reservations Waitlist and Priority Airport Standby.
Our Take
The enhanced benefits from Singapore are a welcome addition. The guaranteed benefits associated with Star Alliance Silver are less than stellar. When it comes to the additional benefits, by far, the stand-out new feature is the additional checked baggage allowance. This can save you some money and is very handy if you regularly fly to Singapore and like to pack well for your travels.
That said, hopefully, more and more Star Alliance carriers will improve the benefits of the Silver tier, and we are still crossing our fingers for some additional alliance-wide guaranteed benefits.
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