What’s the best KrisFlyer redemption per minute of flight time?

Back in early 2018 we analysed how many KrisFlyer miles per minute you were spending on Singapore Airlines routes to and from Singapore by cabin class. While the analysis was really a bit of fun (‘value’ is based more closely on money saved than time spent), the article turned out to be a lot more popular than we expected.

Following the devaluation of the KrisFlyer scheme in 2019 we repeated the analysis, and with another unfortunate hike in award rates taking effect back in July, here’s the updated version for 2022.

The analysis

It’s pretty simple – how many KrisFlyer miles does it take to redeem a round-trip ‘Saver’ award flight from Singapore per minute of scheduled flight time, by cabin class?

Head for Points in the UK ran a very similar article in February 2017 relating to the British Airways Avios frequent flyer scheme, and we effectively replicated the analysis for the KrisFlyer program.

Methodology

Where flight times differ slightly between Singapore Airlines services on the same route, we’ve assumed the shortest flight is chosen in both directions for fairness, based on flight schedules for the northern winter 2022/23 schedule.

For example on Bali the shortest flight is scheduled at 02:40 on the SIN-DPS sector (even though most are 02:45), and 02:35 is the shortest scheduled time on DPS-SIN (even though most are 02:40 or 02:50). We’ve therefore used 05:15 as the shortest round-trip timings you can get for that route.

It becomes more important on long-haul east-west routes where flight times can differ significantly, such as Singapore to Amsterdam which is 13:50, while Amsterdam to Singapore is 12:30, so using a total of 26:20 takes account of the difference on a round-trip redemption.

For routes with a stopover, such as Singapore to Cape Town where the aircraft stops in Johannesburg for an hour, the time spent on the ground in both directions has been deducted from the total – since you usually have to get off the plane anyway during these stops, and even if you can stay on board there is little or no service offered.

Flight schedules were sourced from the GDS timetables, but can also be found on the Singapore Airlines website. KrisFlyer saver award miles requirements were sourced from the latest 2022 redemption chart at the Singapore Airlines website.

Of course average or cheapest fare is the true determining factor of the ‘value’ you are getting from your miles – this article does not attempt to do this and simply analyses the time-based redemption costs. If you’re interested in our analysis of the cash value of your miles see our guide here.

Economy Class

Economy Class redemption rates increased by around 8 – 16% in the 2022 KrisFlyer devaluation.

Here’s how the miles per minute calculation works out for Economy Class saver round-trip redemptions from Singapore, the average across all routes being 66 miles per minute.

The longest routes come out best for economy saver redemptions at around 30 to 35 KrisFlyer miles per minute – Houston and New York, while the shortest flight to Kuala Lumpur is by far the worst at 142 miles per minute. That’s close to the average Business Class miles per minute rate.

Close-by destinations like Penang, Phuket, Medan and Ho Chi Minh also come out particularly poorly at around 100 – 125 miles per minute, owing to their proximity to Singapore and high redemption rate.

It’s not all bad news for closer destinations though, Bali is a very respectable 54 miles per minute, 20% below the network-wide average by this metric.

Premium Economy Class

The average Premium Economy redemption cost came out at 88 miles per minute (formerly 82 miles per minute, before the 2022 devaluation).

Cape Town is the obvious standout on value once you move into the premium cabins – 57 miles per minute in Premium Economy on that route is less than most Economy Class rates!

Hong Kong, Adelaide and Melbourne come out worst in this cabin, at over 110 miles per minute – that’s around the rate than payable for a suites redemption to New York.

Mumbai, Shanghai and Sydney also fare poorly in this cabin.

It’s not all bad news in the Australia and New Zealand zone for premium economy though, as you’d expect for the same miles rate Auckland and Christchurch come in at a much more reasonable 83 miles per minute.

Business Class

The KrisFlyer miles rate for saver business class redemptions worked out as 139 miles per minute on average (122 miles per minute prior to the 2022 devaluation).

For the Business Class table we’ve also added colour coding to represent the seat types you can book on each route. It’s designed to help you easily see where you can get the best value redemptions on the latest products, like the MAX RJ, 2017 J and 2018 RJ seats.

It also exposes the routes on which you’re paying through the nose for an older seat, like the 738 RJ recliners.

Key to Business Class Seat Types
▮	738 RJ
▮	MAX RJ
▮	2018 RJ
▮	2013 J
▮	2017 J

For a more specific guide to which Singapore Airline Business Class seats are flying by route and individual flight number, see our regularly updated list here.