Actual Worth of Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Mile

It’s a question that I get a lot how much is a KrisFlyer mile actually worth?  It’s also a very difficult question to answer because it depends how you value them.  Is it for upgrades?  Is it for economy flights? Or is it for Business Flights?

In this post I’ll look at the straight value for booking Economy and Business Class redemptions on Singapore Airlines flights only.  But before we get started there are four points that everyone should be aware of when redeeming miles on Singapore Airlines flights with KrisFlyer:

(1) Award Flight Types

There are three different award types of Economy, Business and First/Suites Class redemptions.  These are Saver, Standard and Full award which increase in the amount of KrisFlyer Miles required respectively.  For more details and the award chart please check out the 

(2) Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Discount

Singapore Airlines does offer a discount for those redeeming on their flights online.  They offer a 15% discount, which of course makes your KrisFlyer Miles more valuable!  You can find more about the Discount 

(3) Availability isn’t Always There

Singapore Airlines along with every frequent flyer program will only release a certain number of award seats available to book, so even if you have the KrisFlyer Miles you may not be able to use them.

(4) Devaluations

Whatever you value a KrisFlyer Mile at always remember that this is a frequent flyer scheme and so is subject to change at any time.  2013 saw quite a few programs, notably Hilton HHonors reduce the value of their scheme.

How to work out what your KrisFlyer Redemption is worth:

I tend to use the same method for calculating what I’m getting for my Frequent Flyer miles or Hotel points.  You take the cash cost of the booking, i.e. a flight and then subtract the taxes and fees you would be charged for an award booking.  The remaining figure you divide by the number of points that it costs to book.

(Cash Booking Cost – Taxes and Fees on Award Booking) / Points Used = Point Value

So let’s see what a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Mile is actually worth.

Economy Redemptions

Long Haul – Example Booking Singapore to London – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($2,301.60-$801.60)/59,500 = $S0.0252 so 2.5 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Short Haul– Example Booking Singapore to Bangkok – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($297.30-$169.30)/21,250 = $S0.006 so 0.6 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

So according to this example long-haul economy redemptions are of better value than short-haul.  However there are a few things to consider.  For example was the long haul ticket a sale fare? Was the short-haul ticket a peak season fare?  Always check before you redeem whether it is worthwhile!

You may also notice the very specific KrisFlyer Miles costs – this is due to the 15% award discount that has been applied to my dummy booking.

Business Class Redemptions

Long Haul – Example Booking Singapore to London – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($7471.30-$1071.30)/136,000 = $S0.047 so 4.7 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Short Haul– Example Booking Singapore to Bangkok – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($1,311.10-$211.10)/34,000 = $S0.032 so 3.2 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Note here that both the long haul and short-haul redemptions offered better KrisFlyer value than that of the economy redemptions.  Obviously you need far more KrisFlyer Miles for a business class redemption so it may not be suitable for some especially if you don’t fly frequently enough to save up before expiry dates.

First Class/Suites Redemptions:

Now the last look is at a Class redemption and specifically a Suites redemption on the A380 Singapore to London route, here’s how it looked!

Long Haul – Example Booking Singapore to London – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

 

So using the formula it’s ($13,905.30-$1,105.30)/182,750 = $S0.07 so 7 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Short Haul– Example Booking Singapore to Hong Kong – Dates 16th-23rd July

Cash Cost:

Points Cost:

So using the formula it’s ($13,905.30-$1,105.30)/182,750 = $S0.0658 so 6.6 cents per KrisFlyer Mile.

Conclusions

So this is what a KrisFlyer Mile was worth on Singapore to London Redemption (cents per KrisFlyer Mile)

• Economy – 2.5
• Business – 4.7
• Suites – 7

As you can see the value increase as the class of travel increases.  This is a logical link as the taxes and fees which you have to pay on all award tickets becomes a smaller proportion of the total cost of a ticket for a higher class.

For short-haul I used the example of Singapore to Bangkok (although not available for First so Hong Kong was used):

• Economy – 0.6
• Business – 3.2
• First – 6.6

As you can see the value of a KrisFlyer Mile drops if you use them to travel short-haul, especially for economy class tickets – but note business class short-haul is still better value than long haul economy.  Suites and First redemptions across the board represent great value for your KrisFlyer Miles – but of course they require a much higher amount of KrisFlyer Miles.

In general as I’ve researched this piece the minimum that KrisFlyer members seem to value a KrisFlyer Mile is at 2 cents/Mile.  This is the benchmark that you should be using for your redemptions.

Things you should remember – redeeming for a short-haul ticket may actually be worthwhile if the cash cost is too high, again remember to check the value.  Also business and first class redemptions are always in high demand and limited supply so that trip of the lifetime on points may not be possible.  Finally, I’ve only looked at 6 examples here, and the value of a point is always subject to variation!