There’s great news for those redeeming Avios points via the Qatar Airways Privilege Club (QRPC) – Bangkok Airways redemptions are now fully bookable online, and better still, Qatar is no longer passing on Bangkok Airways’ fuel surcharges on these awards.

That means one of the best short-haul Avios sweet spots from Singapore – Bangkok Airways flights to Koh Samui – has just become easy to lock in, and even better value than before.

6,000 Avios + S$67 to Koh Samui

Using the Qatar Airways Privilege Club, Economy Class redemptions on Bangkok Airways between Singapore and Koh Samui now price at 6,000 Avios each way, plus only S$67 outbound and S$30 inbound in taxes and fees, for a total of 12,000 Avios + S$97 round-trip.

That’s identical to what Scoot collects in government and airport taxes on the same route, but with a major saving in miles – Scoot’s new fixed-price KrisFlyer redemptions cost at least 10,500 miles each way on this route, 75% more miles than Qatar’s Avios rate.

Not only is this cheaper in miles than Scoot’s 10,500-mile KrisFlyer redemptions, but Bangkok Airways includes 20kg checked baggage, meals, and even complimentary beer and wine on board – making it a superior choice in comfort and value.

Previously, round-trip taxes including the fuel surcharge on this route meant it was setting you back 12,000 Avios + S$214 round-trip using Qatar Privilege Club, more than double the S$97 round-trip cash outlay you’ll now face.

Online booking

Previously, searching and booking a Bangkok Airways award using Qatar Airways Avios points was not only more expensive, but a bit of a hassle.

That’s because you had to:

• Search award space on a different portal that allowed online award booking with Bangkok Airways, like Qantas or Air France
• Select the preferred flight on the Qatar site and make an offline award ticket request
• Wait 24 – 48 hours for Qatar Airways to check the space, then ticket the itinerary
• Make payment via a link within 48 hours of the ticket being placed on hold for you.

It was quite a lengthy process, and of course the fuel surcharge was always added to the cost.

Now you can see Bangkok Airways flight availability, and book it online, just through a standard award search via the Qatar Airways website, when logged on to your account (be sure to tick the ‘Book with Avios’ button before searching).

Availability for 2026 is also good, with up to three daily flights in each direction showing multiple award seats across many dates next year.

No fuel surcharge is added, just mandatory government / airport taxes and fees, and the flights are instantly confirmable.

You may recall that when Cathay Pacific awards became available online via the Qatar Airways site, those too went fuel-surcharge-free, making the programme by far the best option for Business Class redemptions like Singapore to Hong Kong, as we outlined in our article.

Why this is a standout redemption

With cash fares on the Singapore – Koh Samui route typically upwards of S$400 return including a checked bag, even when booked well in advance on Scoot, Avios redemptions with Bangkok Airways deliver over 2.5 cents per mile in value – often 3 cents or more on certain dates – comfortably one of the best returns you’ll find for a short-haul Economy Class flight in the region.

Here’s how the miles redemption options stack up for flights on this route.

Frequent Flyer Programme	Miles or Points	Taxes & Fees
		SIN-USM	USM-SIN
Qatar Airways Privilege Club	6,000	S$67.20	S$29.80
Bangkok Airways FlyerBonus	9,000	S$125.70	S$88.30
Asia Miles	10,000	S$125.70	S$88.30
JAL Mileage Bank	12,000	S$125.70	S$90.20
Qantas Frequent Flyer	16,100	S$67.20	S$29.80
Emirates Skywards	12,000	S$125.70	S$88.30
Air France-KLM Flying Blue	17,500	S$67.20	S$29.80

Frequent Flyer Programme	Miles or Points	Taxes & Fees
		SIN-USM	USM-SIN
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer	10,500	S$67.20	S$29.80

As you can see it’s only Qatar Avios (PG) and KrisFlyer (TR) that offer decent miles rates and don’t pass on any fuel surcharges on Singapore – Koh Samui redemptions.

Qantas Frequent Flyer and Air France-KLM Flying Blue are fuel-surcharge-free, but their award rates are too high to be attractive options.

Asia Miles is a decent option, when fares are high, at 10,000 miles each way in Economy Class on Bangkok Airways, but you’ll be hit with the fuel surcharge and awards must be booked over the phone or via the chat function – no online booking functionality at the moment sadly.

Redemption example

Scoot’s entry into the Singapore – Koh Samui market has increased flight options, but not necessarily provided cheaper fares. As we predicted when the route was first mooted, Scoot pricing has largely matched Bangkok Airways – sometimes even exceeding it once baggage and other extras are added.

Let’s look at a four-night long weekend Koh Samui trip in March 2026, heading to the island on Thursday 12th March and returning on Monday 16th March, for two passengers each needing a 20kg checked bag.

The following flights suit our required timings, and they also have two award seats available (Saver in the case of Scoot), so it’s a good comparison:

• Scoot at 10am from Singapore, 6.05pm from Koh Samui; or
• Bangkok Airways at 12.10pm from Singapore, 4.25pm from Koh Samui

As always, flights on this route are far from cheap if you’re paying cash, even booking over four months in advance.

• Scoot: S$554.26 (S$481.26 + S$73 each for a 20kg bag)
• Bangkok Airways: S$510, including 20kg baggage

Obviously we would pick the Bangkok Airways flight if using cash at S$510 each – or S$1,020 total.

Since we can redeem miles on these flights, here’s how the value looks based on the cash saving.

Value calculation with bags (2 pax, 2 x 20kg)
FFP	Qatar Airways Privilege Club	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Award cost	24,000 Avios + S$194	42,000 KrisFlyer miles + S$347
Best cash option	S$1,020 (PG)	S$1,020 (PG)
Cash saving	S$826	S$673
Value per mile	3.4¢	1.6¢

What if we don’t need checked bags though? Scoot offers 10kg cabin baggage allowance each – which may be enough.

Well, the Bangkok Airways fare and award cost doesn’t change – you get 20kg baggage each whether you use it or not – but the Scoot fare now becomes the cheapest cash option at S$481 each (S$962 total), and therefore becomes baseline for value comparison, while the KrisFlyer redemption on Scoot becomes cheaper, without checked bags to pay for.

Value calculation no bags (2 pax)
FFP	Qatar Airways Privilege Club	Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
Award cost	24,000 Avios + S$194	42,000 KrisFlyer miles + S$194
Best cash option	S$962 (TR)	S$962 (TR)
Cash saving	S$768	S$768
Value per mile	3.2¢	1.8¢

This still doesn’t really move the needle much though – value for your KrisFlyer miles is only 1.8 cents each, which isn’t really worth it for most – but Qatar Avios are netting you 3.2 cents each in value – over 70% more and definitely worth doing in our book.

Now that Bangkok Airways Avios awards come without surcharges, the comparison simply tilts firmly in favour of redeeming through Qatar Airways Privilege Club in almost all examples.

Non-Qatar Avios points can also be used

To benefit from this 6,000 Avios award rate on Bangkok Airways, you’ll need to redeem using Avios points in the Qatar Airways Privilege Club (QRPC), because it is a Qatar Airways partner airline (but not a Oneworld carrier).

However, if you have Avios in another currency, like Finnair Plus or British Airways, you can still redeem these tickets – but you must have a QRPC account (to make the redemption), and a British Airways Club account (to transfer the points).

Why? Because The British Airways Club (BAC) is the ‘hub’ Avios partner.

You can transfer your Avios points from BAC to all other partner programmes at a 1:1 ratio, whenever you like, however often you like, for free.

Think of it as a ‘hub-and-spoke’ system – in most cases, you’ll need to pass through the hub to reach your final destination.

For example, if you currently only have a Finnair Plus Avios account and you wish to redeem these Bangkok Airways flights using those Avios with QRPC, you’ll need to open both a British Airways (BAC) account and a QRPC account.

You’d then transfer from Finnair Plus to BAC, and then from BAC to QRPC.

Changed your mind? No problem – transfers are fully reversible.

How to earn Avios points in Singapore

You can transfer credit card points into two Avios frequent flyer programmes from the following banks in Singapore.

Singapore Bank to Avios transfer partners

= Good transfer ratio
= Lousy transfer ratio

Do note that HSBC transfers to Qatar Privilege Club at a poorer rate than it does to the KrisFlyer programme. Avoid this option.

Since you can transfer your Avios from British Airways Avios to all other Avios partner programmes, whenever you like, however often you like, for free – just transfer from HSBC to British Airways in the first place at the better transfer ratio, then transfer across to Qatar with no loss.

OCBC also transfers at a poor ratio to British Airways Avios compared to other programmes – to be avoided unless a transfer bonus is in play (sometimes, the ‘damage’ is repaired during promotions).

Transferring credit card points to British Airways also allows you to generate large volumes of additional Avios through BA’s ‘Avios Balance Boost’ scheme at 1.53 cents each if you wish – netting you up to four times your original transfer.

On the other hand, Qatar Airways offers regular transfer bonuses when you shift your credit card points across to the scheme, including a recent 20-40% bonus offer from Citi credit cards in Singapore.

Finally, Avios points can also be accrued through regular purchase sales run by British Airways, Qatar Airways and Finnair throughout the year – the best deal recently allowed you to buy for 1.5 Singapore cents each – definitely worth it for a redemption like this Bangkok Airways one to Koh Samui.

Koh Samui flight schedules

One thing that is good about Scoot’s arrival on the Singapore – Koh Samui scene is the wide range of flight choices now available.

The SIA low-cost carrier is currently operating 25 times per week on the route, up to four times daily, with a full four times daily schedule (28 per week) in place from 1st December 2025, while Bangkok Airways has also recently ramped up its flights to 17 times weekly.

All flights are outlined below (click to expand).

With 45 flights per week in each direction between the two carriers, all of which carry the opportunity to have some kind of award redemption option, there are more ways than ever to save on those expensive fares and redeem miles for your trip instead.

Round-trip Singapore – Koh Samui flights for 12,000 Avios + S$97 are a guaranteed award “sweet spot”, thanks to stubbornly high cash fares on this ever-popular route that hardly ever drop below S$400, and often come in even higher than that.

With Bangkok Airways now bookable fully online through Qatar Airways Privilege Club, minus those fuel surcharges that used to get added in at the end, this redemption has never been easier to secure or better value.

Compared to alternatives like Scoot’s KrisFlyer awards (21,000 miles + taxes, with extras like baggage adding up), Bangkok Airways delivers superior value: including 20kg checked luggage, complimentary meals, and drinks (including alcohol) for a more comfortable journey.

Even without bags, our example saw Avios yield up to 3.2 cents per point – far outpacing KrisFlyer’s 1.8 cents.

Whether you’re transferring Avios from British Airways or earning directly in QRPC, this opens up a rare great-value short-haul Economy Class redemption opportunity.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)