If you’re a miles collector in Singapore, you’re likely well acquainted with SIA’s KrisFlyer miles – and probably Cathay’s Asia Miles as well. These two programmes dominate the frequent flyer landscape among our readers, both locally and across the region.

When it comes to transferring your credit card points into miles, most of those based in Singapore therefore gravitate to one of these two schemes, many even topping up their balance in both to widen their access to Oneworld and Star Alliance redemption options.

All nine of the Singapore banks and credit card issuers support KrisFlyer miles transfers, and this year the same finally applies to Asia Miles too, with Standard Chartered now including that programme in its lineup, but what other programmes can you transfer into, and from which cards?

HSBC and OCBC added a host of loyalty schemes as transfer partners in 2023, but in 2024 Standard Chartered culled nine options from its list, while adding Asia Miles, as mentioned above.

Here we take a fresh look at which points you can move into some of the less well-known frequent flyer programmes and hotel partners in 2025.

Credit card to loyalty programmes

Here’s the latest list of loyalty programmes you can transfer your Singapore credit card points into, as of 24th October 2025.

Singapore credit card to FFP & loyalty programmes

Note that at the time of writing (October 2025), American Express Membership Rewards points cannot be transferred to Emirates Skywards miles, due to system maintenance.

For American Express and UOB, we are referring to their general credit card products in the table above. If you have a Singapore Airlines co-brand card from either provider, your miles are automatically transferred into your KrisFlyer account with no alternative FFP transfer option available.

Recent changes

In May 2024, HSBC resolved the strange disparity we previously saw for its transfer partner arrangements, opening up all 21 of its conversion options to all cardholders, great news with pooling possible between card accounts and no conversion fees.

Unfortunately the bank later removed the option to transfer to the Club Vistara programme – probably not a showstopper – but then came the bigger crunch.

From January 2025, HSBC increased the number of reward points needed for its cardholders to transfer into KrisFlyer miles by 20%, a surprise move that has made it the only bank in Singapore offering an inferior points-to-miles exchange rate for SIA’s frequent flyer programme, compared to other options.

British Airways Avios = Qatar Airways Avios (and other flavours)

One important thing to note is that transfers to British Airways Executive Club can also be ‘de facto’ transfers to Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and vice-versa.

That’s because both FFPs use the Avios currency, and allow free unlimited 1:1 transfers between your accounts as and when you please. You just need a (free) account in both programmes, registered in the same name.

You can therefore effectively also transfer into Qatar Privilege Club from Amex and OCBC, via BA Avios.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club doesn’t apply fuel surcharges to award tickets on its own flights, and recently slashed award rates on Oneworld and partner carriers, opening up attractive awards like Singapore to Koh Samui on Bangkok Airways for only 6,000 Avios points.

That’s not all though – any transfer to British Airways Avios allows you to tap awards with a total of seven airline frequent flyer programmes – via instant, free, two-way transfers from the BA programme.

That opens up a range of additional options, including a wide selection of UK domestic flights on Loganair, often priced at GBP200+ (~S$350+) one-way, for only 6,500 Avios.

Which airlines can you redeem on?

When you convert your frequent flyer miles into a programme that is part of a major alliance, you can generally redeem for flights on any member airline within that alliance.

For example you can use Turkish miles to redeem on Lufthansa, as they are fellow Star Alliance members. Likewise KLM’s Flying Blue miles can be used to redeem on a Virgin Atlantic flight.

Here’s a quick reference table of which airlines are in each of the major alliance groupings.

		Star Alliance
	Aegean Airlines		Ethiopian Airlines
	Air Canada		EVA Air
	Air China		LOT Polish Airlines
	Air India		Lufthansa
	Air New Zealand		Shenzhen Airlines
	All Nippon Airways		Singapore Airlines
	Asiana Airlines		South African Airways
	Austrian Airlines		Swiss International Air Lines
	Avianca		TAP Air Portugal
	Brussels Airlines		Thai Airways
	Copa Airlines		Turkish Airlines
	Croatia Airlines		United Airlines
	EgyptAir

		Oneworld
	Alaska Airlines		Malaysia Airlines
	American Airlines		Oman Air
	British Airways		Qantas
	Cathay Pacific		Qatar Airways
	Fiji Airways		Royal Jordanian
	Finnair		SriLankan Airlines
	Iberia
	Japan Airlines

		SkyTeam
	Aeroflot		Kenya Airways
	Aerolíneas Argentinas		KLM
	Aeroméxico		Korean Air
	Air Europa		Middle East Airlines
	Air France		Saudia
	ITA Airways		Scandinavian Airlines
	China Airlines		TAROM
	China Eastern Airlines		Vietnam Airlines
	Czech Airlines		Virgin Atlantic
	Delta Air Lines		Xiamen Air
	Garuda Indonesia		Xiamen Air

Don’t forget partner redemptions

In the same way that you can redeem flights using KrisFlyer miles on SIA’s non-Star Alliance partner airlines like Alaska Airlines, Virgin Australia and Vistara, many of the airline programmes you can convert points into from your Singapore credit card also have their own non-alliance partner redemption agreements.

Here’s a brief rundown of the airlines you can redeem on that you might not expect to be able to using frequent flyer points or miles for some popular programmes.

FFP	Partner Airlines
	Air Mauritius, Bamboo Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, flydubai, Gulf Air, Olympic Air, PAL Airlines, Virgin Australia, Vistara
	HK Express, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, Austrian, Bangkok Airways, Gulf Air, Lufthansa, Shenzen, Swiss
	Aer Lingus, Air Nostrum, Fiji Airways, QantasLink / Jetconnect, SUN-AIR of Scandinavia
	Air New Zealand, Air Serbia, Air Seychelles, Alitalia, American Airlines, Asiana, All Nippon Airways, Bangkok Airways, Brussels Airlines, Czech Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, GOL, Hainan Airlines, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Philippine Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, Scandinavian Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, Virgin Australia
	Air Mauritius, Alaska Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Copa Airlines, easyJet, flydubai, GOL, Japan Airlines, Jetstar, Korean Air, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, S7 Airlines, South African Airways, TAP Air Portugal, United
	Air France, Etihad, Emirates, Firefly, KLM
	Air Corsica, Air Mauritius, Aircalin, Bangkok Airways, Chalair, Copa Airlines, GOL, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Transavia, Twin Jet, WestJet
	Jetstar, Air Niugini, Airnorth, Fiji Airways, Air Vanuatu, Emirates, El Al, WestJet
	Bangkok Airways, GOL, LATAM, Middle East Airlines, Oman Air, Royal Air Maroc, Rwandair, Virgin Australia
	Aer Lingus, AeroMar, Air Dolomiti, Azul, Boutique Air, Cape Air, Edelweiss, Eurowings, Hawaiian Airlines, Olympic Air, Silver Airways, Vistara
	ANA, China Southern, Pacific Airlines, Mandarin Airlines, Shanghai Airlines

Some partner awards are only applicable on selected routes

For example if you want to use Asia Miles to redeem on Star Alliance member Air Canada, that’s only applicable on selected domestic routes (e.g. Vancouver to Toronto). Similarly you can redeem Asia Miles on Swiss only between Zurich and Hong Kong, plus selected European destinations from Zurich.

Other examples include using Lufthansa Miles & More on Cathay Pacific. That only works on services between Hong Kong and Auckland, Cairns, Melbourne or Sydney.

Some partner awards don’t allow online redemption

For example, using British Airways Avios on QantasLink or Jetconnect flights can only be done over the phone (use the American Airlines or Qantas sites to search availability, then call to book).

Similarly using Qatar Airways Avios to redeem Bangkok Airways flights, which can be a very good deal when availability exists and cash fares are high, can only be done over the phone or via an online form.

Transfer ratios aren’t always the same

While most credit cards in Singapore will give you the same transfer ratio of loyalty points to frequent flyer miles for all of their partner airlines, some unfortunately do not.

Back in July 2019, Standard Chartered came up with a bunch of different transfer ratios for its 11 new partners (initially for the X card, which became the Journey card, but then for all the bank’s Visa Infinite cards).

Those options have now largely been removed, but in recent years other banks have added partner lists with variable transfer ratios too.

OCBC’s long-awaited addition of eight new transfer partners in July 2023, from its single option before that, is another case where the transfer ratios have taken a haircut for several FFPs compared to KrisFlyer, including Asia Miles.

For example, if you want to transfer 100,000 OCBC Voyage miles to Asia Miles, you’ll get 75,000 miles in that scheme, but you’d get 100,000 KrisFlyer miles with the same transfer.

HSBC is the most recently egregious example.

The bank has hiked the number of reward points needed for its cardholders to transfer into KrisFlyer miles by 20%, making it the only bank in Singapore offering an inferior points-to-miles exchange rate for SIA’s frequent flyer programme, compared to other options.

The bank also offers different conversion ratios for other programmes too, which you can see outlined here.

Redemption rates can differ significantly

Even once you’ve accounted for the different credit card points to airlines miles transfer ratios of the frequent flyer programme you’re interested in, don’t be ‘fooled’ purely by the number of miles you’ll clock up.

Many of these schemes are far less generous than others for the same routing, with the same airline.

Take Bangkok Airways for example. You can’t transfer miles directly into the airline’s FlyerBonus scheme from any Singapore credit cards, but you can redeem on the airline’s (typically expensive) flights from Singapore to Koh Samui using:

• Asia Miles
• Emirates
• Etihad Guest
• Flying Blue
• Qantas Frequent Flyer
• Qatar Privilege Club

Pro Tip: Round-trip flights on this route can be upwards of S$500, even in Economy Class, so using miles or points for a Koh Samui trip potentially offers you some rare value in this cabin.

Let’s say you’re flush with both Citi and AMEX points.

As you can see from the table above, you have the option to transfer miles into all five of these programmes. How many miles will you need in each one to get a return Economy Class ticket from Singapore to Koh Samui?

• Qatar Privilege Club: 12,000
• Asia Miles: 20,000
• Etihad Guest: 22,000
• AF/KLM Flying Blue: 22,000
• Qantas Frequent Flyer: 28,000
• Emirates: 28,000

Looking at the two extremes, you’ll need to transfer only 12,000 points to fly this return route using Qatar Privilege Club Avios (or BA Avios, then transferred to Qatar), but more than double that – 28,000 points – to achieve the same redemption using the Qantas Frequent Flyer or Emirates Skywards programmes.

Even if you already have a small balance in Emirates Skywards, for example, don’t make the mistake of simply ‘topping up’ to achieve the award ticket – do the maths first.

Look out for bonus transfer promotions

From time to time, frequent flyer programmes or banks run bonus transfer offers, giving you extra miles when you convert credit card points. These can range from modest 10% boosts to far more generous ones – examples include the recent Asia Miles 10% bonus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club’s excellent 40% Avios bonus.

If you’re already planning a redemption with one of these programmes, these promotions are a great time to transfer, effectively improving your points-to-miles rate without any extra cost. Just be sure to check the fine print – some bonuses require pre-registration or have minimum transfer thresholds to achieve the ‘advertised’ bump.

While it’s rarely worth transferring points speculatively, timing your move during a bonus window can be a good way to stretch your balance further, especially for programmes offering valuable redemptions that fit your travel plans in the not too distant future.

Don’t forget fuel surcharges

Another key difference between KrisFlyer redemptions on Singapore Airlines flights and most other redemptions on partners or through other FFPs is that you may be stung by a fuel surcharge when you redeem miles for an award ticket.

Generally speaking, outside KrisFlyer only United MileagePlus (UA and partners) and Qatar Privilege Club (QR flights only) don’t add a fuel surcharge to award bookings, though the latter does levy an award segment fee.

All other programmes will pass on any fuel surcharges and add them to the mandatory taxes payable when you redeem, which can significantly shift the equation on value, so do consider this before committing to a points transfer.

For example, a one-way Turkish Airlines redemption from Singapore to Frankfurt in Business Class will cost you 90,000 miles through the carrier’s Miles&Smiles programme, but also set you back a whopping S$416 in taxes, fees and fuel surcharges.

A non-stop KrisFlyer Saver Business Class redemption on the same route will cost you 103,500 miles, but only S$65 in taxes.

For us, the miles saving here for the Turkish Airlines itinerary definitely isn’t worth it – saving only 13,500 miles for an additional cost of S$351.

KrisFlyer and Asia Miles are both very useful frequent flyer programmes, but don’t get stuck into thinking you can only transfer into those schemes, especially if you have a Citi, HSBC or OCBC credit card in Singapore, with a host of other options opening up some great potential redemption opportunities.

In addition to the obvious ‘big three’ alliance options, it’s also worth considering alternative airline award possibilities through partner airline redemptions opening up the likes of Bangkok Airways, Oman Air and Aer Lingus through some of these mileage currencies.

The key thing to consider before you commit is making sure the FFP gives you good value through the transfer ratio, and a competitive redemption through its award chart for your preferred flights – but don’t forget to factor in any fuel surcharges.

You should also consider that in the unlucky event that a potential redemption disappears by the time your miles are credited, that you can still make good alternative use of miles in that programme.

(Cover Photo: Markus Mainka / Shutterstock)