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Redeeming KrisFlyer Flights + Stopover : A Step-By-Step Guide To Your US$100 Business Class Flight

June 17, 2018 by Kevin L. 23 Comments Category : Travel

Introduction

The basics? After registering for a KrisFlyer account and religiously using credit cards to earn those precious points, remember to transfer them to your KrisFlyer account before they expire. Some actually don’t expire, which is great. While I haven’t redeemed my Suites Class flights yet, a pair of Business Class would be a nice appetizer.

After accumulating miles and deciding on where to spend them, the rest should be easy, right?

Maximizing miles? That’s the tough part, but I’m going to make it easy for you with an example. I’ll illustrate what I know as the stopover travel hack, which is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. First of all, let’s understand the difference between a layover and a stopover.

Layover

Let’s say I’m taking a Scoot flight from Singapore to Narita via Taipei. Therefore, we have a layover in Taipei – basically a stop that is less than 24 hours in duration.

SIN – TPE (Layover) – NRT

Stopover

What if I’m on a business trip from Singapore to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur? Further assume I’m going to be staying in Kuala Lumpur and working for a week (more than 24-hours) before resuming the second leg of my trip.

SIN – KUL (Stopover) – BKK

How Does The Stopover Trick Work?

To make best use of our miles, we need to look closer at the KrisFlyer redemption chart. Below is a section of the KrisFlyer Saver awards redemption chart.

Say I want to fly from Taipei (Zone 4) to Singapore (Zone 1). A Business Saver award would require 27,500 miles per pax. Looking closer, we can see that flying from Zone 4 to Zone 2 costs the same number of miles too. Isn’t that odd? Can we use it to our advantage?

This means that both the routes below (assuming Saver Business Award) costs the same number of miles, despite one being much further than the other –

  • TPE > SIN = 27,500 miles
  • TPE > DPS = 27,500 miles

If we make two separate redemptions, it would look like this –

  • [TPE > SIN] + [SIN > DPS]  =  27,500 + 17,500 miles

But wait, something is off. I want to go home (Singapore) from Taipei, not end up in Bali. What gives? Well, we can insert stopovers! At a rate of US$100 per stopover.

  • TPE > SIN = 27,500 miles
  • TPE > SIN (Stopover) > DPS = 27,500 miles + US$100

And the best thing is that a stopover can last as long as one full year.

If it isn’t clicking for you yet, it basically means this : US$100 will buy me a business ticket with up to one year validity in the future from the time of booking, and this is best used in conjunction with knowledge of a planned/known subsequent trip. In my case, a vacation to pool-villa paradise in Bali.

What’s The Catch?

  • As a basic criteria, the route cannot be back-tracking. What does that mean?
    TPE > SIN > DPS = Good
    TPE > SIN > BKK = No Go (‘V’ shape route)
  • Obviously, such a redemption would work best with at least some form of knowledge as to where we would be travelling to next. We have to indicate the final destination, after all.
  • Also, you gotta set the date of the second flight from the date of calling in the booking. Sure, the date can be changed later on, but it’ll cost US$25 per ticket change.
  • You have to call in the reservation. It is not possible to make the Saver redemption online with a stopover inserted.

Unlike conventional thinking, we are actually free to make other flights while technically still on a stopover.

Step-By-Step Guide

Not sure what to expect when calling in to make your first redemption? Let me help 🙂

  1. Log in to KrisFlyer account and add a nominee if you will be redeeming ticket for someone other than yourself. This is important, and they can’t issue the ticket (for your girlfriend etc) if you don’t do this step.
  2. Have a valid credit card and computer/laptop with internet access handy.
  3. Call KrisFlyer Membership Services number 6789 8188.
  4. Once patched through, tell the customer service officer what you want e.g.
    • What – Redemption of Business Saver Award flight using KrisFlyer miles
    • Where – Taipei to Bali (Denpasar) via Singapore (Stopover)
    • When – First Leg = 1st Jan 2018, Second Leg = 1st Jan 2019. This also means that you have do prior homework on which flight number and timing you want, especially important if you want to snag a particular aircraft type such as A380 for Suites Class.
    • Who – Names (prevent mistakes using NATO phonetic alphabet). In any case, can simply inform the CSO that the passenger names are as per your KrisFlyer account and nominees.
  5. Usually I’ll ask for a breakdown to know exactly how much I’ll be paying.
  6. The customer service officer will then email you the itinerary (no payment yet) for you to check the details while still on the line. So, no worries for any mistakes here and slowly double-check the details.
  7. Once happy with the itinerary, inform the customer service officer that you would like to make payment via credit card.
  8. He or she will divert the line to an automated payment system – just enter the credit card details as instructed.
  9. Once payment has cleared, the customer service officer will once again email the confirmed itinerary as well as the tickets. Your KrisFlyer miles will be immediately deducted.

Pro-Tip : If there is certain flight availability that you die-die want to lock in, but can’t confirm yet, the CSO can hold the tickets for you temporarily. A couple of days should not be a problem.

There you have it. The infamous US$100 business class flight. By letting your imagination run wild, multiple stopovers can be inserted. Also, by chaining up redemptions with stopovers, one can really stretch the miles by paying budget-flight/economy-class prices for business-class flights!

Now go out there and try flying in luxury! It’s actually possible given a little bit of effort and patience. Well, unless you’re in the cash-back camp – this game is not for you then 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kenneth says

    June 17, 2018 at 12:00 pm

    Wow thanks so much turtle for discovering another hack! Will be following your post to start my miles project!

    Cheers,
    Cupcake

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      June 17, 2018 at 12:09 pm

      Hi Kenneth,

      Sharing is caring, right? Besides, this hack is pretty much an open secret amongst miles seekers. Google will reveal everything else you need to know on this little trick 🙂

      Reply
  2. Brian says

    June 18, 2018 at 12:35 pm

    Hi Kevin

    Wow that’s another good hack.

    There’s some questions that I am still unsure and don’t know if this is a good time to pick your brain.

    If our home is Singapore, technically it means Singapore will always have to be the “stopover” right in order to do your this hack. Since the V-shape route will not work, does that mean the possible route is most likely be within Indonesia and/or Australia?

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      June 18, 2018 at 1:09 pm

      Hi Brian,

      You are right.

      It is probably easiest to think of Singapore as the stopover. When flying from northern countries, we would likely end up with the common options like Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand etc as our ‘final’ destination.

      On the other hand, when flying from southern countries, our choices are infinitely expanded.

      Of course, Singapore doesn’t always have to be the stopover. Let your imagination run while, and we begin to see how fun this can be. Imagine flying out of holiday destination #1 Narita, stopover at destination #2 Taipei or Hong Kong for a few days, and ending up at home in Singapore. Some combi will be less optimal though, and end up using a bit more miles.

      Reply
  3. DAn says

    June 21, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    Hi Kevin,

    Is this applicable for One Way trips on Saver type redemptions? I called SQ and they told me that for Saver One way, this is not applicable. Only for Saver Return trips. Is that correct?

    Thanks!
    Dan

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      June 21, 2018 at 6:30 pm

      Hi Dan,

      Saver return trip is entitled to one FREE stopover.

      Saver one-way trip is entitled to zero FREE stopover.

      Yes, it can be done for Saver one-way redemptions. I did it for mine. That’s why I have to pay US$100 to insert a stopover.

      The CSO might have interpreted your request wrongly. Call and try again?

      Reply
  4. SY Ong says

    June 23, 2018 at 12:20 pm

    Hi Kevin, using your example, does that mean one buys one way tickets? Ie buy a one way ticket SIN > TPE, then redeem miles for TPE > SIN (stopover) > DPS, then buy a one way ticket DPS > SIN?

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      June 23, 2018 at 2:17 pm

      Hi SY,

      Yes, you can. It is really up to your own imagination to buy and/or redeem.

      For this particular trip, I bought one-way tickets from SIN > TPE.

      For my (future) return trip from DPS > SIN, I haven’t quite decided yet.

      I could buy/redeem one-way from DPS > SIN.

      Or I could redeem DPS > SIN (Stopover) > KUL/BKK/HKG etc.

      Reply
  5. Jas says

    October 13, 2018 at 2:26 am

    Hi Kevin,

    Can this stopover be redeem for economy or just business class?
    If economy stopover, is it also 100usd?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      October 20, 2018 at 12:51 pm

      Hi Jas,

      Sorry, late reply. Yes, it applies for economy/business/first/suites class. That’s what the customer service officer told me 🙂 Just ask again when you call, to be sure!

      Reply
  6. Liew Pei Geng says

    May 13, 2019 at 6:39 am

    hi…when can we get business saver from singapore to Taiwan for 27500?is that a special promotion or something?

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      May 13, 2019 at 8:03 am

      Hi Pei Geng, this was written in 2018 before the KrisFlyer devaluation. If I’m not wrong, it will cost 30,500 for the same redemption now.

      Reply
  7. QL says

    June 15, 2019 at 9:16 am

    Hi Kevin,

    I understand that Singapore doesn’t necessary have to be the stopover and I’m planning to do a Korea-Taiwan-Singapore trip but somehow on SQ website, it says no flights available for the itinerary. This route should be possible as there is no back tracking. Do you have any idea why?

    Many thanks.

    Cheers
    QL

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      June 15, 2019 at 12:13 pm

      Hi QL,

      Not too sure. Is there direct SQ flights from Korea to Taiwan?

      Reply
      • QL says

        June 15, 2019 at 8:43 pm

        Hi Kevin,

        There isn’t I believe since Taiwan nor Korea is SQ hub. So stopover in this case only works for SQ flights and not codeshare, Star Alliance partners flight right?

        Thanks.

        Reply
        • Kevin L. says

          June 16, 2019 at 9:03 pm

          Hi QL,

          I’m not super familiar with what you’re attempting to do, but a quick check revealed that:

          “Once you include a star alliance flight in your itinerary, the entire award becomes a star alliance award and stopover can only be done on rt (round-trip)” via here (MileLion).

          Maybe you can do further searches in this direction.

          Reply
  8. Sherlyn says

    November 23, 2019 at 8:09 pm

    Hihi! What do you think of a Dubai to Bali (stopover SG)?

    Reply
    • Kevin L. says

      November 23, 2019 at 10:29 pm

      Hi Sherlyn,

      Not too sure what you’re asking, but all redemptions are awesome because we’re flying with miles! Miles enable us to enjoy the lifestyle we wouldn’t otherwise pay for with cash 🙂

      Reply
      • Sherlyn says

        November 29, 2019 at 8:39 pm

        wow I just called the Krisflyer centre and the CSO mentioned that they charged a USD 50 for booking through the call centre.

        Reply
        • Sherlyn says

          November 29, 2019 at 8:57 pm

          Oops sorry! They waived it! ◡̈

          The booking is so simple. Thank you Kevin!

          Reply
          • Kevin L. says

            November 29, 2019 at 9:17 pm

            Hi Sherlyn,

            Good to know that!

            The USD$50 is the standard call centre booking fee.

            The US$50 charge doesn’t make sense, because it it NOT POSSIBLE to do this SAVER stopover online by ourselves. Trust me, I would *love* to do it online rather than talk to a CSO.

            Unless that whether that has changed – ask them to confirm it can be done online 🙂

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