With only one week to go, the cost for award redemption on Singapore Airlines is going up for both First and Business Class redemption (I shall only talk about Saver Award – lets be realistic, I doubt many of us can afford the Advantage Award ticket). The cost for Economy Class redemption remains the same and the margin between Premium Economy and Business is so small that Premium Economy is not worth considering (barring special circumstances).
Business Class
The additional miles required ranges from 1,500 all the way upwards to 12,000 miles! Here is a comparison of the miles needed for different zones:
| Before Jan 24 | After Jan 24 | Difference | % Diff | |
| Zone 2 (South East Asia 1) | 17,500 | 19,000 | 1,500 | +8.6 |
| Zone 3 (South East Asia 2) | 20,000 | 21,500 | 1,500 | +7.5 |
| Zone 4 (East Asia 1) | 27,500 | 30,500 | 3,000 | +10.9 |
| Zone 5 (East Asia 2) | 35,000 | 39,000 | 4,000 | +11.4 |
| Zone 6 (South Asia) | 35,000 | 39,000 | 4,000 | +11.4 |
| Zone 7 (North Asia) | 43,000 | 47,000 | 4,000 | +9.3 |
| Zone 8 (Australia) | 32,500 | 35,500 | 3,000 | +9.2 |
| Zone 9 (Oceania) | 58,000 | 62,000 | 4,000 | +6.9 |
| Zone 10 (Middle East/Africa) | 45,000 | 49,000 | 4,000 | +8.9 |
| Zone 11 (Europe) | 85,000 | 92,000 | 7,000 | +8.2 |
| Zone 12 (USA West Coast) | 88,000 | 95,000 | 7,000 | +8.0 |
| Zone 13 (USA East Coast) | 92,000 | 99,000 | 7,000 | +7.6 |
Although the additional miles ranges from 1,000 to 7,000 – the percentage increase varies across different zones (with Zones 5 and 6 having the biggest increase in percentage point).
First Class
| Before Jan 24 | After Jan 24 | Difference | % Diff | |
| Zone 2 (South East Asia 1) | 25,000 | 27,500 | 2,500 | +10 |
| Zone 3 (South East Asia 2) | 30,000 | 32,500 | 2,500 | +8.3 |
| Zone 4 (East Asia 1) | 37,500 | 40,500 | 3,500 | +9.3 |
| Zone 5 (East Asia 2) | 50,000 | 53,000 | 3,000 | +6 |
| Zone 6 (South Asia) | 50,000 | 53,000 | 3,000 | +6 |
| Zone 7 (North Asia) | 65,000 | 70,000 | 5,000 | +7.7 |
| Zone 8 (Australia) | 47,500 | 52,000 | 4,500 | +9.5 |
| Zone 9 (Oceania) | 80,000 | 85,000 | 5,000 | +6.3 |
| Zone 10 (Middle East/Africa) | 70,000 | 75,000 | 5,000 | +7.1 |
| Zone 11 (Europe) | 115,000 | 125,000 | 10,000 | +8.7 |
| Zone 12 (USA West Coast) | 118,000 | 130,000 | 12,000 | +10.2 |
| Zone 13 (USA East Coast) | 120,000 | 132,000 | 12,000 | +10 |
One would expect an increase in percentage similar to that of the table for Business Class but it seem like not the case. For instance, Zone 5 Business Class sees a big increase of 11.4% while First Class only see a modest increase of 6%! In First Class, Zone 12 suffers the biggest jump (at 10.2%) while correspondingly, Business Class in Zone 12 only sees an increase of 8%.
For those who has miles to burn, you have only 7 days left before the new numbers kick in.
All is not lost however. Firstly, Spontaneous Escapes (where we see a steep discount of 30% to at times 50%) will be a regular feature w.e.f February 2019! How this will eventually work out, no one knows for now. This feature unfortunately will only benefit those who can readily take time off (in 2 to 4 weeks notice). For the rest, we just have to get use to the new rates (just as how we did back in March 2017).
Secondly, Star Alliance Awards remain the same (no announcement yet on changes on Star Alliance award) although we do know eventually it will be adjusted. There are some sweet spots still found on the Star Alliance award.
I have just burnt 172,000 miles on a pair of return tickets to Osaka as I don’t have much miles left after all my redemption in 2018 (while I managed to do a last minute Europe redemption before 2017’s devaluation). The devaluation will certainly hit me going forward. Given my plan to concentrate more on regional flights the next 2-3 years, at least the total miles needed is still within affordable range. Let’s hope we don’t see another round of devaluation in 2020 or 2021.
That Time Of The Year! 
2 thoughts on “Upcoming Krisflyer devaluation”
CJ
Good reviews !
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TTOTY
Thanks CJ!
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