Singapore Airlines extends KrisFlyer miles validity by 6 months

Finally we have some clarity on one of the most common questions we’ve been asked by readers recently – what does Singapore Airlines intend to do with KrisFlyer miles validity under the current COVID-19 pandemic?

Clearly this is a situation that has caused an almost complete inability to travel or even plan trips over the coming months for almost all members of the scheme, so to have your miles expire without a good chance to use them certainly seemed an unfair scenario.

KrisFlyer miles expiry

As most of our readers know, KrisFlyer miles don’t remain valid in your account forever, even if you interact with the programme by earning or redeeming on a regular basis.

That’s unlike some other frequent flyer programmes, like British Airways Avios which never expire provided you earn or redeem at least one point every 36 months (3 years).

Late last year Cathay Pacific Asia Miles also moved to a similar policy, for miles earned from 1st January 2020 the former 3-year validity window was replaced by a better rule that all of your miles would remain intact provided you earn or redeem at least one mile every 18 months.

Unfortunately over the years Singapore Airlines has retained its fixed validity period for KrisFlyer miles.

KrisFlyer Miles Expiry A member’s KrisFlyer miles will expire after three years at the end of the equivalent month in which they were earned. For example, miles credited to a member’s KrisFlyer account in July 2019 will expire on 31st July 2022.

Note that PPS Club members have no KrisFlyer miles expiry concerns, since their miles never expire.

Miles validity extension

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, Singapore Airlines is extending any KrisFlyer miles in your account due to expire between April 2020 and August 2020 by six months.

“In view of the Covid-19 outbreak, we will be extending the validity period of your KrisFlyer miles by six months, and they will expire between October 2020 and February 2021 respectively.” Email sent to affected KrisFlyer members

These miles will now be valid until at least October 2020, right up to February 2021 depending on their original expiry month as outlined below.

If you had any miles that expired in March 2020 or before, those cannot be re-credited retroactively nor will they be extended.

If you had previously paid to extend your KrisFlyer miles by six months and their new expiry falls within the April 2020 to August 2020 window, the airline will still extend them for another six months in line with the table above.

Do note that any extension to your miles validity will only reflect in your KrisFlyer account at the end of their original expiry month. For example, if you have miles expiring on 30th April 2020, you will be able to see that the miles have been extended and are valid until 31st October 2020 in May 2020.

Presumably due to some systems limitations, the miles extension will reflect as a debit of the originally expiring miles plus a subsequent credit of the same number of miles.

“At the end of each month, you will be able to see 2 transactions in your account statement. The first transaction will show expiring miles being debited from your account with the description “Service debit for 6 months mileage extension”. The second transaction will show the same number of expiring miles being credited back into your account with the description “Service credit for 6 months mileage extension”.” Singapore Airlines

You can see your expiring miles via the Singapore Airlines website when logged on to your account, or via the mobile app, by clicking Miles > Miles Validity.

Your monthly email statement should also show you how many of your miles are expiring in the next six months.

For more information about KrisFlyer miles validity extension, including FAQs, see the Singapore Airlines website here.

Miles extension for existing bookings

As we reported yesterday, as part of a range of enhancements to its COVID-19 travel waiver policy, Singapore Airlines clarified that if you made a redemption booking on or before 15th March 2020, for travel up to 31st May 2020, and any of the miles you used for your redemption booking were imminently expiring, their expiry dates will be extended as follows:

* Miles cannot be further extended, even for a fee

Unfortunately if you refunded your redemption tickets before this policy was updated (i.e. before 9th April 2020) and your expired miles were forfeited, they will not be retroactively refunded.

Similarly if you opted for a refund on your award ticket before 9th April 2020, any redeposit of miles fee paid will also not be retroactively refunded.

Further extensions

At this stage Singapore Airlines is only extending miles expiring between April 2020 and August 2020, however the airline has stated that “the situation remains fluid”, and that the policy will be monitored and reviewed.

Don’t be too surprised to see extensions for miles expiring from September 2020 onwards if the COVID-19 travel restrictions remain in force over the coming months, which seems likely.

KrisFlyer and PPS Club status extensions

In addition to the recent enhanced travel waiver policy, this news comes after Singapore Airlines extended KrisFlyer and PPS Club status tiers for a year, including extending Elite Gold Rewards and PPS Rewards that will be expiring between July 2020 and December 2020 for six months.

(Cover Photo: Tim Dennerman)