KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes January 2020 offers

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Ever since Singapore Airlines committed to making its Spontaneous Escapes deal a regular monthly offer, we’ve been curious about what would happen over Chinese New Year. Traditionally a very busy time for the airline, they have always skipped the offer in the past on any month this festival fell.

In 2020 Chinese New Year falls in late January, and that means a big month for Singapore Airlines with the post Christmas / New Year rush, the major Australian school summer break coming to an end plus CNY itself in the fourth weekend.

We therefore predicted the Spontaneous Escapes list would be very thin this time round, but it’s not as bad as it could have been. There are 26 Singapore Airlines routes on offer. In addition there are 15 SilkAir routes, though 7 of those overlap with the Singapore Airlines ones for a net total of 34 routes to choose from in January 2020.

The ‘regular’ Beijing and Shanghai routes are nowhere to be seen this month, not surprisingly with peak demand, but there are still some good offers including Europe (Dusseldorf) both ways for 64,400 miles in each direction in Business Class.

Japan is also extensively discounted, and there are some relatively good value Premium Economy options including Istanbul for 25,900 miles, close to the usual Economy redemption rate on that route.

The rules remain unchanged – you’ll have to book by the end of this month, 31st December 2019, and fly in January 2020. Offers are subject to saver award availability.

Spontaneous Escapes

Our regular readers know the Spontaneous Escapes deal only too well, but for newcomers or those who need a refresher, here’s a summary of how the deal works.

Best in Business

The most important aspect of this monthly deal is where its best value usually lies – the latest long-haul and flat-bed regional Business Class seats in the airline’s fleet for 30% fewer miles in January 2020.

Before we get into the full route list, here’s a summary of these ‘Best in Business’ deals.

Spontaneous Escapes – January 2020 SIA’s latest Business Class products
	2017 J (full seat details)
47,000 32,900 Miles: Singapore – Tokyo Narita (SQ638) 39,000 27,300 Miles: Singapore – Mumbai (SQ424) 30,500 21,350 Miles: Singapore – Hong Kong (SQ856)* Hong Kong – Singapore (SQ861)* * See important note below
	2013 J (full seat details)
92,000 64,400 Miles: Singapore – Dusseldorf (SQ338) Dusseldorf – Singapore (SQ337) 47,000 32,900 Miles: Singapore – Seoul (SQ612) Seoul – Singapore (SQ611) Singapore – Tokyo Haneda (SQ634) 30,500 21,350 Miles: Singapore – Hong Kong (SQ860, SQ866) Hong Kong – Singapore (SQ863, SQ865)
	2018 RJ (full seat details)
62,900 43,400 Miles: Adelaide – Singapore (SQ276, SQ278) 47,000 32,900 Miles: Singapore – Fukuoka (SQ656) Fukuoka – Singapore (SQ655) Nagoya – Singapore (SQ671) Singapore – Osaka (SQ618, SQ620, SQ622) Osaka – Singapore (SQ619, SQ621, SQ623) Singapore – Seoul (SQ602, SQ608) Seoul – Singapore (SQ603, SQ607) 39,000 27,300 Miles: Bengaluru – Singapore (SQ504) Singapore – Kolkata (SQ516) Kolkata – Singapore (SQ517) 30,500 21,350 Miles: Singapore – Hong Kong (SQ872) Hong Kong – Singapore (SQ871) 19,000 13,300 Miles: Singapore – Bali (SQ942, SQ946) Bali – Singapore (SQ943, SQ947)

Important note about Hong Kong

There remain many short-term equipment changes on SIA’s Hong Kong route due to demand, and this potentially affects aircraft types allocated to this route.

If you’re looking at the new 2017 Business Class on the new and refitted A380s, at the time of writing 20 of the 31 SQ856/861 services in January are planned to be operated by this aircraft, with the other 11 flights flying on the Boeing 777-300ER. Further changes are highly likely as the operating dates approach.

Since you can’t cancel and refund your Spontaneous Escapes redemption once booked, this may not be the best choice for trying out the new 2017 Business Class cabin in January, unless you’re happy to take the risk of an older product being used.

Since you can’t cancel and refund your Spontaneous Escapes redemption once booked, this may not be the best choice for trying out the new 2017 Business Class cabin in January, unless you’re happy to take the risk of an older product being used.

Singapore Airlines Business Class deals

There’s nothing worse than getting on board to find that your great deal was in an average seat, so we show all the aircraft types and seat types in the Business Class list, to help you choose better on your preferred routes.

The full list of SIA Business Class routes on offer this month is shown below. Here are the seat type abbreviations for reference:

Singapore Airlines Business Class seat types
Long-haul
2006 J	2013 J	2017 J
Regional
2009 RJ	2018 RJ

Some of our readers even choose their preferred route based on the aircraft or seat type, especially those looking to try one of the newer products for the first time.

You’ll pay 30% fewer miles than usual for a saver redemption if you can book by the end of December and travel during January.

Business Class

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

Australia

Europe

Singapore Airlines Premium Economy Class deals

Singapore Airlines is offering 30% off several routes in Premium Economy Class for January 2020.

Required miles are shown for a one-way redemption, with aircraft types on the flights also indicated.

Premium Economy Class

North Asia

South Asia

Turkey

Europe

USA

Singapore Airlines Economy Class deals

Here are the Singapore Airlines Economy Class routes with 30% off in January 2020.

Required miles are shown for a one-way redemption, with aircraft types operating the flights also indicated.

Economy Class

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

Turkey

Europe

SilkAir Business Class deals

Here are the Business Class offers for SilkAir flights this month, with a 30% discount in January 2020.

We don’t include aircraft type details for SilkAir flights, as these can vary day to day.

Business Class

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

Australia

SilkAir Economy Class deals

Here are the Economy Class offers for SilkAir flights this month, with a 30% discount in January 2020.

We don’t include aircraft type details for SilkAir flights, as these can vary day to day.

Economy Class

South East Asia

North Asia

South Asia

Australia

Important booking tip

The Singapore Airlines website and app don’t make it obvious that the discounted miles rate is being applied. Don’t despair, just click the ‘Saver’ rate and then check the drop-down box, where the discounted rate will then be shown, provided your flight is applicable for the discount.

Here’s how it looks:

In the event the miles rate doesn’t show a discount, check that you are searching a valid route, outside a blackout date, and that the flight lands before the promo is finished.

Summary

A slightly limited Spontaneous Escapes list for January 2020, as expected with the peak holiday season in several markets plus Chinese New Year falling towards the end of the month.

Unsurprisingly, Hong Kong flights are still widely available for a discount. It’s also good to see Bali back on the list, with two flights per day operated by the Boeing 787-10 sporting the latest Regional Business Class seats. Do bear in mind though that it’s very much rainy season there in January (the wettest month of the year!).

Regular Spontaneous Escapes destinations like Beijing, Shanghai and Bangkok are all excluded this month. Offers on Australia flights are all in a northbound direction, not surprising as these will be full heading southbound until the end of January as the Aussie school summer holidays come to an end.

Remember you can still benefit from one-way deals though, from Adelaide and Darwin, after redeeming one-way for your outbound portion.

It’s great to see the 2013 Business Class seat still available to Europe and back with the Dusseldorf route included during this busy time of year.

Tokyo Narita is the next A380 Version 3 route from 1st January 2020, and provides a good option if you’ve yet to experience the new 2017 Business Class seat (read our review here). This 7-hour flight is coming in at a competitive 32,900 miles in Business Class, though it’s only available in a northbound direction in January.

There are also a few opportunities to secure the latest Regional Business Class seat, now used widely on the SIA network, with 30% off in January. This includes almost all Osaka and Seoul flights, in addition to the “rainy Bali” option.

SilkAir is offering a relatively small selection of discounted routes this month in both Business Class and Economy Class.

Note that many routes have blackout dates around the New Year and Chinese New Year periods, so not every destination is likely to work for you. That said, it’s a surprisingly generous list for a month in which SIA historically offered no discounts at all.

What takes your fancy in the list of Spontaneous Escapes offers for January 2020? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Cover Photo: Jonathan Palombo)