Cheapest ways to fly between Singapore and Europe using Miles

Have you been accumulating a lot of miles/points by using the best miles cards in Singapore for your spending? In this article, I’ll be ranking the cheapest award flights to/from Europe that you can redeem your hard-earned miles/points for.

Here’s a quick summary of the lowest one-way award rate for each cabin class:

• Economy Class: 30k miles (KLM, Air France)
• Premium Economy: 43.5k miles (Finnair)
• Business Class: 62.5k miles (Finnair)
• First Class: 107.5k miles (Singapore Airlines)

Looking to make more high-value redemptions? Have a look at our other articles covering award sweet spots:

• Cheapest ways to fly to Japan & South Korea using Miles
• Cheapest ways to fly to US/Canada using Miles
• Best ways to redeem KrisFlyer miles

Singapore Credit Card Transfer Partners

Miles/Points from most credit cards can be transferred to KrisFlyer and Asia Miles. However, as shown in the table below, Citibank and HSBC cards have many more transfer partners than others, giving cardholders fantastic flexibility when redeeming for an award flight.

Flexibility is very important in the miles game. When deciding which card to transact with (between cards with similar earn rates), I recommend picking Citi and HSBC cards over the others.

Related: My Miles & Credit Card Strategy for 2025, as a Singapore-based traveller

P.S. Although AMEX has many transfer partners, they do not have any good cards for earning miles/points.

Frequent Flyer Program	Citibank	HSBC	OCBC	DBS	UOB	Maybank	American Express	Standard Chartered
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
Qatar Airways Privilege Club		(via BA Club only)					(via BA Club only)
British Airways Club
Finnair Plus	(via BA Club only)	(via BA Club only)					(via BA Club only)
KLM/Air France Flying Blue
Qantas Frequent Flyer
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Thai Airways Royal Orchid Plus
Etihad Guest
Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles
Air Canada Aeroplan
United Airlines MileagePlus
Hainan Airlines Fortune Wings Club
Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
Emirates Skywards
China Airlines Dynasty Flyer
Marriott Bonvoy
Hilton Honors
Accor Live Limitless
IHG One Rewards
Wyndham Rewards
= Poor transfer ratio

Frequent Flyer Programs and Partner Airlines

These are the top 9 Frequent Flyer Programs (FFPs) that Singapore credit cardholders should consider, when booking award flights between Singapore and Europe.

Follow the booking links below to check for award availability and redeem your miles:

Frequent Flyer Program	Alliance	Booking Link
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	Star Alliance	All airlines
Cathay Pacific Asia Miles	oneworld	All airlines
Qatar Airways Privilege Club	oneworld	Qatar Airways
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands	Star Alliance	EVA Air Star Alliance
British Airways Club	oneworld	All airlines
Finnair Plus	oneworld	All airlines
KLM/Air France Flying Blue	SkyTeam	All airlines
Qantas Frequent Flyer	oneworld	All airlines
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	Star Alliance	Turkish Airlines Star Alliance

Miles/Points from every airline’s FFP can also be redeemed for flights on partner airlines.

For example, miles in Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles can be redeemed for flights on its Star Alliance partners like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Lufthansa.

Star Alliance

Here are some Star Alliance airlines that you can fly in, between Singapore and Europe:

• Singapore Airlines
• Turkish Airlines
• Thai Airways
• EVA Air
• SWISS
• Lufthansa
• Air India
• All Nippon Airways

oneworld

Here are some oneworld airlines that you can fly in, between Singapore and Europe:

• Cathay Pacific
• Qatar Airways
• Finnair
• British Airways
• Sri Lankan Airlines

SkyTeam

Here are some SkyTeam airlines that you can fly in, between Singapore and Europe:

• KLM
• Air France
• Garuda

Cheapest ways to fly between Singapore and Europe using Miles

The award rates shown below are only for the lowest rates available on each FFP, ignoring low-value “Advantage”, “Flexi” or “non-promotional” rates that some FFPs offer.

Economy Class flights to Europe

Travellers are usually advised against redeeming miles/points for Economy Class flights as they can often get far better value on Premium classes. For example, Business Class flights from Singapore to Europe cost as much as 5 times more in cash (vs Economy), but only 2 times more in miles.

However, travellers who can only travel during peak holiday seasons (when Business Class availability is bad), or have a large family to redeem for can still receive good value by redeeming their miles/points for Economy Class flights on some airlines/FFPs, especially when the cash fares are very high.

Here are the cheapest ways to travel between Singapore and Europe, in Economy Class, using miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, Economy)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
Flying Blue	KLM, Air France	From 30k	~S$140
Asia Miles	oneworld	27k – 40k	~S$260 – S$350
Asia Miles	Finnair	40k	~S$90
BA Club	Finnair	30k	~S$85
BA Club	oneworld	45k – 55k	~S$200 – S$350
Finnair Plus	Finnair	30k – 43k	~S$130
Privilege Club	Qatar Airways	37.5k – 45k	~S$230
Qantas Frequent Flyer	Finnair	37.8k – 45k	~S$85 – S$105
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	42k	~S$65
KrisFlyer	Air India	49.5k	~S$65
KrisFlyer	Star Alliance	49.5k	~S$150 – S$350
Miles& Smiles	Singapore Airlines, Air India	50k	~S$65
Miles& Smiles	Star Alliance	50k	~S$180 – S$350
Infinity Mileage- Lands	EVA Air	50k	~S$180
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Singapore Airlines, Air India	52.5k	~S$65
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Star Alliance	52.5k	~S$180 – S$350

Premium Economy Class flights to Europe

This is a smaller list, as not all airlines offer Premium Economy seats on flights to/from Singapore. On top of that, not all FFPs have the Premium Economy class listed in their award charts.

Here are the cheapest ways to travel between Singapore and Europe in Premium Economy Class, using miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, Premium Economy)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
Finnair Plus	Finnair	43.5k	~S$160
Flying Blue	KLM, Air France	From 50k	~S$240
Asia Miles	Cathay Pacific	50k	~S$260
Infinity Mileage- Lands	EVA Air	55k	~S$180
BA Club	British Airways	65k – 89k	~S$400 – S$500
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	71k	~S$65

Business Class flights to Europe

Here are the cheapest ways to travel between Singapore and Europe in Business Class, using miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, Business)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
BA Club	Finnair	62.5k – 82.5k	~S$85
BA Club	oneworld	75k – 135k	~S$350
Finnair Plus	Finnair	62.5k – 82.5k	~S$240
Privilege Club	Qatar Airways	75k – 90k	~S$350
Infinity Mileage- Lands	EVA Air	75k	~S$180
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Singapore Airlines, Air India	80k	~S$65
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Star Alliance	80k	~S$180 – S$350
Flying Blue	KLM, Air France	From 85k	~S$280
Asia Miles	Cathay Pacific	88k – 115k	~S$260 – S$330
Asia Miles	oneworld	89k – 115k	~S$260 – S$750
Asia Miles	Finnair	89k	~S$90
Qantas Frequent Flyer	Finnair	90k – 104.5k	~S$85 – S$105
Miles& Smiles	Air India	90k	~S$65
Miles& Smiles	Star Alliance	90k	~S$180 – ~S$550
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines, Air India	103.5k	~S$65
KrisFlyer	Star Alliance	103.5k	~S$150 – S$350

First Class flights to Europe

This is also a small list as not all airlines offer First Class seats on flights to/from Singapore, and not all FFPs allow booking of First Class awards for partner airlines.

Here are the cheapest ways to travel between Singapore and Europe in First Class, using miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, First)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Star Alliance	107.5k	~S$65 – S$400
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	141k	~S$65

Why are some taxes/fees so high?

The taxes and fees on award flights depend on a number of factors:

1. Airport taxes/fees (United Kingdom airports charge over S$300 in “Air Passenger Duty” for long haul flights in a Premium cabin)
2. Whether the airline carries fuel surcharges (e.g. Singapore Airlines, Finnair and Air India don’t)
3. Whether the FFP passes on fuel surcharges (e.g. Privilege Club don’t, but only on Qatar Airways flights)
4. The amount of fuel surcharges (e.g. EVA Air has fairly low fuel surcharges, but Qatar Airways has much more, for a similar flight distance)
5. Other additional FFP/airline fees (e.g. Privilege Club charges additional fee per award segment on Qatar Airways flights, Finnair Plus has surcharges)

Should you only aim for redemptions with low taxes/fees? The short answer is no.

In some cases, the FFP-airline combination that has lower taxes/fees, also has a much higher award rate.

For example, a traveller can redeem 75k miles + ~S$350 in taxes/fees for Qatar Airways Business Class flights on Privilege Club. With KrisFlyer, the traveller would need 103.5k miles + ~S$62. In short, that’s S$238 less cash for 28.5k more miles (worth S$428).

While Privilege Club may look like a winner here, there are other factors that can influence your decision, as every traveller has different needs and priorities:

1. Is there award availability on your preferred route/date/airline/class?
2. Do you only want to fly direct?
3. Does the airline fly to your preferred destination?
4. Do you care about the values of miles?
5. Are you earning miles much faster than you have time to redeem them?
6. Do you have miles that are expiring very soon?
7. Do you enjoy trying out different airlines and lounges?
8. Are there any special transfer bonus or award discount offers?
9. Do you prefer the seat/food/service on some airlines?
10. Do you feel the need to “make good use” of your airline status by sticking to a particular airline/alliance?

How to search for award space

To check if there is award availability, travellers can visit the respective FFPs’ website. However, most of them are really slow, as they only allow users to search date-by-date or week-by-week.

Search faster with calendar views

For oneworld flights, travellers can search for partner award availability much faster through the calendar view on American Airlines’ website.

Related: Best ways to search for Oneworld award availability

For Star Alliance, this can be done on United or Lifemiles websites.

Note: Use these websites only as a guide and ignore the award rates listed. Once you see availability, simply repeat the search on the website of your preferred FFP and complete your booking there.

Also note that some airlines like Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and EVA Air tend to release more award seats on their own FFPs. This means that members will not be able to see the additional award availability on partner websites like AAdvantage or Lifemiles.

Independent award search engines

Travellers can also find near-term award availability across different FFPs, airlines or alliances through independent search engines like seats.aero.

Again, use these websites only as a guide and repeat the search on the website of your preferred FFPs.

Get alerted when there is award space

Travellers can also receive alerts when there is award availability on their preferred date and route, with paid services from websites like seats.aero.

Bottom line

The “best” award redemption depends almost entirely on your preferences. There is no right answer. Travellers who earn flexible miles/points through their credit cards will always have the upper hand in finding award availability across multiple FFPs.

I hope that this guide gave you the required knowledge to make the best decisions to suit your travel needs, when redeeming miles/points for flights between Singapore and Europe.