Surprise: Singapore Airlines extends KrisFlyer miles until July 2023

You’ll probably recall that two months ago, back in October 2022, Singapore Airlines called time on its complimentary extensions to members’ KrisFlyer miles validity from January 2023, given the reinstatement of quarantine-free travel across almost all the airline’s markets.

Well there’s some surprise news today, with the airline confirming another reprieve for those with miles expiring between January 2023 and June 2023, who will see their affected balances automatically extended by a further six months.

This welcome about-turn from SIA means that there will now be no expiry worries for members until July 2023 at the earliest, though members who rushed to redeem less ideal awards over the last two months, or even cashed out their expiring miles, may be rightly irked that there was actually no rush at all!

Miles expiring up to June 2023 will be extended

In a strange and somewhat last-minute policy shift, Singapore Airlines is now going back on what it said in October and extending any KrisFlyer miles in your account due to expire between January 2023 and June 2023 by six months.

If you have KrisFlyer miles in your account expiring between January to June 2023, they are eligible for a final 6-month extension.

This extension will be processed automatically, and no action is required on your part.

This means that miles in your account will only begin expiring from July 2023.

Singapore Airlines

Here’s when any expiring KrisFlyer miles during the January 2023 to June 2023 period will now expire, under the latest extension to the policy, even if they have been extended before.

For example, miles expiring on 31st December 2022 were already extended to 30th June 2023, and now as part of this latest extension they will therefore be valid until 31st December 2023.

KrisFlyer is calling this a “final” extension (wasn’t the last one supposed to be?), so it seems as though they mean it this time – “double confirm” this is it folks!

As you probably know by now, if you had any miles that expired in March 2020 or earlier, those cannot be re-credited retroactively nor will they be extended.

Do note that any extension to your miles validity will only reflect in your KrisFlyer account at the end of their original (or previously extended) expiry month. For example, if you have miles expiring on 30th April 2023, you will be able to see that the miles have been extended and are valid until 31st October 2023 in May 2023.

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.

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 a list of FAQs, see the Singapore Airlines website here.

Why is it necessary?

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 Qantas Frequent Flyer where points never expire provided you earn or redeem at least one point every 18 months.

In late 2019 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles announced 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 December 2022 will expire on 31st December 2025.

Note that PPS Club members don’t need to worry about KrisFlyer miles expiry, since their miles never expire as long as they retain PPS Club status.

Milestone Rewards and PPS Rewards extended

As part of this extension, Singapore Airlines has also announced an extension for the following expiring KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards:

If you have the following Rewards that are expiring in 2022 or 2023, they are eligible for extension:

• 1,500 KrisPay miles
• 25% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles
• 50% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles
• 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount
• Double KrisFlyer Miles
• Short-haul Advance Upgrade
• Premium Economy Advance Upgrade

These Rewards will now expire on 31st December 2023. This extension will be processed automatically, with no action required on your part.

For PPS Club members, the following PPS Rewards expiring in 2022 or 2023 will also be extended:

• Double KrisFlyer Miles Rewards
• 50,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount
• Advance Upgrade

Similarly, these will now be valid until 31st December 2023, with no action required on your part.

No blanket status extensions for KrisFlyer or PPS Club members have been announced, so it seems as though such support may now have ended, following three consecutive years of extension.

After telling us in October that there would be no more extensions to the validity of KrisFlyer miles expiring from January 2023 onwards, Singapore Airlines has now decided that another reprieve is needed for those who would have been affected in the first six months of next year.

This latest measure means that no miles will expire until July 2023 at the earliest.

That’s good news, unless you already redeemed or cashed out these miles in anticipation of expiry, in which case you may now be frustrated that there was actually no rush to do so!

KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards and PPS Rewards expiring in 2022 or 2023 are also being extended until the end of next year, but there’s no sign of any status extension support at this stage.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)