Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer is undoubtedly the most popular Frequent Flyer Program (FFP) for Singapore-based travellers, but not all routes offer good value for your miles. Let’s have a look at the best ways to redeem KrisFlyer miles for maximum value.
Reminder: KrisFlyer award devaluation kicked in from 1 Nov 2025 with award rates increased by as much as 20%.
At a Glance: Best ways to redeem KrisFlyer miles in 2026
KrisFlyer beats many other Frequent Flyer Programs with great award rates to these regions. For even bigger savings, look out for these routes in the latest KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes promo.
- Europe Gateway Sweet Spot:
Fly to Istanbul in Business Class with just 68,000 miles; 37% cheaper than other European cities. - Down-Under Sweet Spot:
Fly to New Zealand and Australian cities like Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne in Business Class with just 72,000 miles. - North China Sweet Spot:
Fly to Shanghai and Beijing in Business Class for 45,000 miles and First Class for 61,500 miles. - South Asia Sweet Spot:
Fly to India, Nepal, the Maldives and Sri Lanka in Business Class for 45,000 miles and First Class for 61,500 miles.
How to earn lots of KrisFlyer miles?
Let’s start by looking at the best ways to accumulate KrisFlyer miles.
1) Credit card spending
Spend with the best miles credit cards in Singapore to earn 4 miles per dollar. These credit cards have KrisFlyer as a transfer partner making KrisFlyer miles easy to earn in Singapore.
Note: While HSBC has KrisFlyer as a transfer partner, it comes with a poor transfer ratio. In other words, HSBC Revolution cardholders can earn 4 miles per dollar on online shopping only if the points are transferred to FFPs like EVA Infinity MileageLands or BA Club. If transferred to KrisFlyer, the earn rate would effectively drop to 3.3 mpd.
2) Credit paid flights to KrisFlyer
Members can credit their paid flights on Singapore Airlines or partner airlines to KrisFlyer at these accrual rates, depending on their fare class.
Every KrisFlyer elite member (Silver, Gold, PPS, Solitaire PPS) receive a flat 25% bonus miles on paid flights.
3) Kris+
Members can make purchases at selected merchants through Kris+ to earn additional KrisFlyer miles, on top of credit card miles.
New to Kris+? Sign up using referral code A394501 to receive 500 KrisPay miles (worth S$5) after your first transaction.
4) Buy KrisFlyer miles through UOB Payment Facility
UOB cardholders can buy an unlimited amount of KrisFlyer miles through UOB Payment Facility. No actual bill is required to use this service and cardholders can even pay themselves.
Check the latest promo for UOB Payment Facility here.
KrisFlyer Award Redemption Charts
There are 4 main award redemption charts to look at, when redeeming KrisFlyer miles:
- Saver
- Advantage
- Star Alliance
- Access (hidden)
In this article, we’ll only look at the Saver and Star Alliance award charts as this is a travel-hacking website, and there is nothing travel-hacky about booking “Advantage” and “Access” rates. 🙃
Note: View the award charts for non-alliance partner airlines here (e.g. Malaysia Airlines, Garuda, Alaska etc.).
Saver Award Chart
The Saver award chart states the number of miles required for one-way redemptions on Singapore Airlines-operated flights only.
Here’s the combined KrisFlyer award chart, including Saver, Advantage and Access rates:
Star Alliance Award Chart
The Star Alliance award chart states the number of miles required for roundtrip redemptions on Star Alliance airlines-operated flights only (not for non-alliance partners).
Singapore Airlines Star Alliance award chart (pinch to zoom)
Best ways to redeem KrisFlyer miles
These sweet spots are chosen based on the following factors:
- How KrisFlyer award rates compare to other FFPs, in the same cabin class
- Typical cash fare for each route (including on other reputable full-service airlines)
- Flight duration
Related: Singapore Airlines & KrisFlyer Tips, Tricks & Secrets
1) Zone 10: Istanbul, Dubai, South Africa
Flight duration: 7.5 to 11.5 hours
Miles required for one-way travel between Southeast Asia and Zone 10 cities:
| Zone 10 | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istanbul, Dubai, Johannesburg, Cape Town | 32k | 51.5k | 68k | 95k (N/A) |
| Spontaneous Escapes 30% off (if any) | 22.4k | 36.06k | 47.6k | – |
My favourite KrisFlyer sweet spot is Zone 10. Specifically, Istanbul.
This is because, Istanbul is located right at the “front door” of Europe and requires about 37% fewer miles in Business Class! That’s 68k vs 108.5k. From Istanbul, travellers can easily find cheap flights into a European city of choice.
Related: Cheapest ways to fly to Europe using Miles
However, because of how popular the Istanbul route has gotten, travellers may need to book them 355 days in advance.
2) Zone 9: New Zealand, South/East Australia
Flight duration: 7 to 10 hours
Miles required for one-way travel between Southeast Asia and Zone 9 cities:
| Zone 9 | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and more… | 29k | 53.5k | 72k | 98k (if any) |
| Spontaneous Escapes 30% off (if any) | 20.3k | 37.45k | 50.4k | – |
3) Zone 8: Perth, Darwin
Flight duration: 4.5 to 5 hours
Miles required for one-way travel between Southeast Asia and Zone 8 cities:
| Zone 8 | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perth, Darwin | 20.5k | 42.5k | 60.5k (N/A) |
| Spontaneous Escapes 30% off (if any) | 14.35k | 29.75k | – |
4) Zone 5: North China
Flight duration: 4 to 6 hours
Miles required for one-way travel between Southeast Asia and Zone 5 cities:
| Zone 8 | Economy | Premium Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing, Shanghai | 20.5k | 36k | 45k | 61.5k |
| Spontaneous Escapes 30% off (if any) | 14.35k | 25.2k | 31.5k | – |
Singapore Airlines fly its Airbus A380 aircraft to/from Beijing and Shanghai occasionally.
Flights to this region are also regularly included in Spontaneous Escapes deals, making them even better redemptions.
5) Zone 6: South Asia
Flight duration: 4 to 6 hours
Miles required for one-way travel between Southeast Asia and Zone 6 cities:
| Zone 6 | Economy | Premium Economy |
Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai, New Delhi |
19k | 36k | 45k | 61.5k |
| Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kochi, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Colombo, Male and more… |
N/A | N/A | ||
| Spontaneous Escapes 30% off (if any) |
13.3k | 25.2k | 31.5k | – |
Singapore Airlines flies its Airbus A380 to/from New Delhi and Mumbai regularly (not all the time) and it is easier to find Suites Class availability on these routes.
Flights to this region are also regularly included in Spontaneous Escapes deals, making them even better redemptions.
6) Star Alliance: South West Pacific
Flight duration: 1 to 12 hours
Miles required for one-way travel between South West Pacific cities:
| South West Pacific | Economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tahiti, Nadi, Rarotonga, Niue, Nouméa, Auckland, Sydney, Perth and more… | 13.5k | 38k | 47k (N/A) |
The South West Pacific region in Singapore Airlines’ Star Alliance award chart stretches across 7 time zones. This gives you the opportunity of redeeming just 13.5k KrisFlyer miles for a total flying time of up to 12 hours (Perth to Tahiti).
There’s a catch, though. Air New Zealand is quite an uncooperative alliance member, when it comes to releasing award seats to partner FFPs, even in Economy Class! Thus, the opportunity to book Air NZ Business Class with KrisFlyer miles is rare.
Bottom line
As a Singapore-based traveller, these sweet spots keep me interested in KrisFlyer, in addition to other FFPs.
Japan, South Korea and Europe remain as poor-value regions to redeem KrisFlyer miles for, especially when other FFPs require 30% to 40% fewer miles for the same routes, in the same cabin class. Additionally, KrisFlyer award availability to these regions are often very low with members facing difficulties booking as early as one year ahead.
This is so good post.
I am really trying to find any availability to the pacific islands and find nothing. One year ago was able to find Manila-Pohnpei flight which was best value for money (as it is crazy expensive flight in cash). Now cannot find that or actually anything to the Pacific…
At 52k for the fifth freedom flight from JFK to FRA in Premium Economy, is this really a sweet spot?
Hi, I’ve never redeemed krisflyer miles before. May I know what are the chances of securing a saver flight tickets?
You can check the Saver availability on singaporeair.com.
Thank you so much for these tips! Really learnt alot from these zones in terms of value!
Your summary table for South Asia is wrong, Fai 🙂
Thanks! I’ve made the correction. 🙂
Probably time to revisit the Krisflyer miles redemption sweet spots after July 2022 devaluation!
I’m working on an update to this page! 🙂
Is the Perth to Papeete sweet spot still available on Singapore Air? Can’t seem to find it. I can find Perth to Papeete on Air NZ website though.
Hi Najib, yes it is! As of today, I am seeing availability on 7 and 11 August for 12,500 Krisflyer miles.
AKL to IST was great at 76,000 miles before the devaluation a year to two ago. now its 83,000?. still good but not great.
Hi, will you have a post for sweet spots under Etihad Guest as well? Thanks
Hey, I have plans for it! 🙂
Can you clarify how you define ‘earning miles at an extremely slow rate’? Would be beneficial for newbies to the miles game. Thanks!
Hi Fahmi, I was referring to very low spending (under $200 a month). Hope that helped!