Singapore Airlines offering 50% bonus for transfers to and from Shangri-La points

Singapore Airlines and Shangri-La Infinite Journeys have had a longstanding partnership for many years allowing reciprocal miles and points transfers between the two programmes, while KrisFlyer Elite Gold, PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club members get accelerated Jade status in Shangri-La Circle after a one-night stay.

On the flip side, Shangri-La Jade or Diamond members get automatic KrisFlyer Elite Silver status (which frankly doesn’t get you much), with an accelerated upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold status by taking one eligible SIA flight (for Diamond members) or three eligible SIA flights (for Jade members).

While these perks certainly are useful, transferring miles into points and vice-versa between the two programmes has always been pretty dreadful value.

50% transfer bonus

Between now and 12pm Singapore Time on 30th November 2023, Shangri-La members transferring their Circle Points to KrisFlyer miles and KrisFlyer members transferring their KrisFlyer miles to Circle Points can do so with a 50% bonus in either direction.

  Shangri-La x KrisFlyer 50% Transfer Bonus

Here’s how the transfer ratios look during this promotion.

Transfers from KrisFlyer to Shangri-La Circle (SLC) points are subject to a very high minimum transfer quantity of 20,000 miles, so this will likely only be of interest if you have a large stash of expiring miles in your account.

A maximum of 180,000 KrisFlyer miles can be converted to Shangri-La Circle Points per calendar year, inclusive of this promotion.

A minimum of 1,000 Shangri-La Circle Points is required for each conversion to KrisFlyer miles.

Full terms and conditions for this promotion are available here.

Is it good value?

Generally not, even with this transfer bonus in play.

15 SLC points gives you US$1 off your hotel bill or dining bill (even when not staying overnight), subject to a minimum redemption of 500 points. That makes each SLC worth 6.66 US cents, which is 9.16 Singapore cents.

That means a transfer of 20,000 KrisFlyer miles into 1,666 SLC points at the regular conversion rate will net you a saving of S$152.61, giving you a value per KrisFlyer mile of just 0.76 cents.

It gets little better during this 50% bonus promotion, with 20,000 KrisFlyer miles converting to 2,500 SLC points, worth S$229, a value per KrisFlyer mile of 1.15 cents.

While this is still below the 1.9 cents per mile we plan to achieve when redeeming KrisFlyer miles, remember that the KrisFlyer miles expiry issue is back in play.

While a transfer from KrisFlyer miles to SLC points is usually only the 9th best value thing you can do with them, during this promotion it becomes the third best option, after a flight redemption or paid miles extension.

Here’s how it stacks up against other ways to get value from your expiring miles.

Redemption value for KrisFlyer miles

* Can be better value in some cases.
** Or the miles quantity you have expiring in a single calendar month, if greater
Where necessary in this table, a miles redemption value for a Singapore Airlines flight is assumed at 1.9 cents. You may have to adjust the value per mile for some of these options, if your own valuation is different.

In the other direction, transferring Shangri-La points to KrisFlyer miles is poor value.

For example 1,000 SLC points are worth S$91.60 in the programme, but even during this 50% bonus promotion these will only convert to 1,888 KrisFlyer miles, worth no more than around S$35!

Unless you have no use for your Shangri-La points, you should not be considering a transfer in the SLC > KrisFlyer direction.

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Generally there’s no reason to transfer your KrisFlyer miles to Shangri-La points or vice-versa, even though the longstanding option has been available for many years, due to the poor transfer ratios on offer.

However, if you have a sizeable chunk of expiring KrisFlyer miles (ideally 20,000 or more), and have no plans to use these for a flight redemption on SIA or a Star Alliance / partner carrier, this 50% promotional bonus for transfers in the KrisFlyer > SLC direction is actually pretty decent value, compared to the alternatives when cashing out your miles.

It probably still makes no sense to transfer in the SLC > KrisFlyer direction, even during this bonus, unless you literally have no use for these points any more.

As always though, do try to lock in a flight redemption with your expiring miles if you can – it’s almost always the best value you’ll get, compared to ‘cash-out’ options like this.

(Cover Photo: Shangri-La)

Hat-tip to Loyalty Lobby