Cheapest ways to fly between Singapore and Japan, South Korea using Miles

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

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

• Economy Class: 15.5k (Japan Airlines)
• Premium Economy: 20k miles (EVA Air)
• Business Class: 25k miles (EVA Air)
• First Class: 53k miles (Japan Airlines)

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

• Cheapest ways to fly to Europe using Miles
• Cheapest ways to fly to US/Canada using Miles
• Best ways to redeem KrisFlyer miles

Singapore Credit Card Transfer Partners

Miles and 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 miles 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 don’t 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 7 Frequent Flyer Programs (FFPs) that Singapore credit cardholders should consider, when booking award flights between Singapore and Japan/South Korea.

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
EVA Air Infinity MileageLands	Star Alliance	EVA Air Star Alliance
KLM/Air France Flying Blue	SkyTeam	All airlines
Finnair Plus	oneworld	Website or Call/Chat
British Airways Club	oneworld	All airlines
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles	Star Alliance	Star Alliance

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

For example, miles in EVA Air MileageLands can be redeemed for flights on its Star Alliance partners like Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and All Nippon Airways.

Star Alliance

Here are some Star Alliance airlines that you can fly in, between Singapore and Japan/South Korea:

• Singapore Airlines
• EVA Air
• Thai Airways
• All Nippon Airways
• Asiana

oneworld

Here are some oneworld airlines that you can fly in, between Singapore and Japan/South Korea:

• Cathay Pacific
• Malaysia Airlines
• Japan Airlines

SkyTeam

Here are some SkyTeam airlines that you can fly in, between Singapore and Japan/South Korea:

• China Airlines
• Korean Air
• Vietnam Airlines

Cheapest ways to fly between Singapore and Japan/South Korea using Miles

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

Economy Class flights to Japan/South Korea

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 Japan/South Korea cost as much as 400% more in cash (vs Economy), but only require as little as 43% 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 get 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 Japan/South Korea, in Economy Class, with miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, Economy)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
				Finnair Plus	Japan Airlines	15.5k (Japan only)	~S$220
Infinity Mileage- Lands	EVA Air	17.5k	~S$160
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Singapore Airlines	25k	~S$65
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Star Alliance	25k	~S$190 – S$250
Asia Miles	Cathay Pacific	20k	~S$140
Asia Miles	oneworld	27k	~S$100 – S$280
BA Club	Japan Airlines	20.75k	~S$160
Flying Blue	Malaysia Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Garuda, Korean Air	23k – 26k	~S$95 – S$230
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	27k	~S$65
KrisFlyer	Star Alliance	27k	~S$190 – S$250
Miles& Smiles	Singapore Airlines	35k	~S$65
Miles& Smiles	Star Alliance	35k	~S$190 – S$250

Premium Economy Class flights to Japan/South Korea

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 Japan/South Korea in Premium Economy Class, with miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, Premium Economy)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
				Infinity Mileage- Lands	EVA Air	20k	~S$160
Asia Miles	Cathay Pacific	38k	~S$150
BA Club	Japan Airlines	41.25k	~S$160
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	37.5k	~S$65

Business Class flights to Japan/South Korea

Here are the cheapest ways to travel between Singapore and Japan/South Korea in Business Class, with miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, Business)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
				Infinity Mileage- Lands	EVA Air	25k	~S$160
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Singapore Airlines	40k	~S$65
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Star Alliance	40k	~S$190 – S$250
Finnair Plus	Japan Airlines	41.5k (Japan only)	~S$190
Flying Blue	Malaysia Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Garuda, Korean Air	48k – 57.5k	~S$160 – S$230
Miles& Smiles	Star Alliance	50k	~S$190 – S$250
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	52k	~S$65
KrisFlyer	Star Alliance	52.5k	~S$190 – S$250
Asia Miles	Cathay Pacific	58k	~S$160
Asia Miles	oneworld	63k	~S$100 – S$280
BA Club	Japan Airlines	62k	~S$160

First Class flights to Japan/South Korea

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 Japan/South Korea in First Class, with miles/points from Singapore credit cards:

Frequent Flyer Program	Airline	Miles (one-way, First)	Taxes/ Fees (estimated)
				Finnair Plus	Japan Airlines	53k (Japan only)	~S$190
Infinity Mileage- Lands	Singapore Airlines	62.5k	~S$65
KrisFlyer	Singapore Airlines	77k	~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
2. Whether the airline carries fuel surcharges (e.g. Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines don’t)
3. Whether the FFP passes on fuel surcharges
4. The amount of fuel surcharges (e.g. EVA Air has fairly low fuel surcharges, but Thai Airways has much higher for a similar flight distance)
5. Other additional FFP/airline fees

So, should you only aim for redemptions with low taxes/fees? The short answer is no. In some cases, the FFP-airline combination that has low taxes/fees, also has a much higher award rate.

For example, to travel to Tokyo in Business Class, a traveller can redeem just 25k miles + ~S$150 in taxes/fees for EVA Air flights with Infinity MileageLands. With KrisFlyer, the traveller needs 52k miles + ~S$62. That’s S$88 less cash for 27k more miles (worth S$405)!

While Infinity MileageLands looks like a clear 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 Japan/South Korea.