KrisFlyer ‘secret’ China Spontaneous Escapes rates for September 2023

Earlier today, Singapore Airlines launched its regular monthly list of routes eligible for a 30% discount on saver KrisFlyer awards booked using miles between now and the end of August 2023, for travel in September 2023.

One aspect we remarked on was the lack of discounted options for travel to or from mainland China, something that didn’t surprise us much following the country’s recent reinstatement of visa-free travel for Singapore Citizens, which kicked in from 26th July this year.

Surprise: China is included

As pointed out by a couple of our readers, there is actually quite a lot of Spontaneous Award redemption availability loaded for SIA’s four current China destinations; Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

For whatever reason, these haven’t made it to SIA’s “full” list of flights included in the offer, but the discounted rates are definitely loaded up, with successful redemption reported by at least one of our readers.

While we can’t confirm blackout dates, here’s a list of the flights we have seen available for Spontaneous Escapes redemption between Singapore and mainland China for 30% less KrisFlyer miles, for travel during September 2023.

Spontaneous Escapes
Business Class
(September 2023)

Spontaneous Escapes
Premium Economy Class
(September 2023)

Spontaneous Escapes
Economy Class
(September 2023)

There are some great options here for visa-free China travel, starting from 11,050 miles each way.

Perhaps the better value deal is the 30,100 miles one-way rate in Business Class to or from both Beijing and Shanghai.

Remember you can see the full September 2023 Spontaneous Escapes route list, now including the additional ‘secret’ options listed above, in our dedicated article that includes aircraft and seat types.

SIA’s China destinations are scaled back

If you were hoping for an even longer list of China options for a Spontaneous Escapes redemption, unfortunately there’s bad news. Singapore Airlines suspended its services to Chongqing, Shenzhen and Xiamen at the start of the northern summer 2023 season.

Singapore Airlines suspends flights to 3 Chinese cities READ THE ARTICLE

Singapore Airlines suspends flights to 3 Chinese cities READ THE ARTICLE

That means only Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shanghai are currently on the carrier’s route list in mainland China.

Regarding the three route suspensions, Singapore Airlines told Mainly Miles in March this year it was “in discussions with the relevant authorities to resume operations to these points as soon as possible”.

Let’s hope for good news on that front soon, but for the time being there is no sign of a return for these cities on the SIA network.

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Now that Singaporeans can enjoy hassle-free China trips once again, thanks to the reinstatement of 15-day visa-free entry approval, we weren’t too surprised to see mainland China destinations scrubbed from the Spontaneous Escapes list for September 2023.

The goods news is they are there after all, but for whatever reason SIA has not publicised the fact by including them in its “full” list of options this month.

That means you can actually redeem for 30% less miles on all four of these routes next month, including the only Airbus A380 Business Class option on the September Spontaneous Escapes list (Singapore to Shanghai) for 30,100 miles.

We’ve updated our full Spontaneous Escapes tables for next month, which as always are the only ones that include aircraft types and seat types in Business Class, to help you choose smarter and travel better for less miles in September.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)