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Earlier today, the news was released that from the 23rd of March 2017 there will be some big changes to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer loyalty programme.

I will publish a more detailed post soon looking at what redemption sweetspots are disappearing and if any new ones might be opening up, but in the meantime here are the top lines – one negative, one positive:

Negative:

• Award Prices are increasing in two ways: 1) Saver Award prices are going up in many cases. 2) The 15% Miles discount for redeeming online is being removed, which means that all award prices are effectively going up by at least that much.

Positive:

• Fuel and insurance surcharges are being removed from all redemption award tickets on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir operated flights.

You can compare the old (current) award chart with the new (post 23rd March) award chart here.

Generally speaking, the increases look to be relatively modest in themselves, but remember that online redemptions using the old award chart actually require 15% fewer Miles than the amount listed.

Here are a couple of examples provided by Singapore Airlines:

One interesting thing to note is that the separate award chart for redemptions on Star Alliance partners (which can include flights on Singapore) is staying the same as it is now, which raises some interesting possibilities…

Bottom line

There haven’t been any changes to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer loyalty programme award prices since 2012, so this was definitely due.

Any devaluation (and this is a devaluation) is unpleasant, but at first glance it really doesn’t seem terrible and the removal of surcharges is a substantial (and unexpected) silver lining. If Singapore Airline stick with this for another 5 years, I’ll be pretty happy.

I also appreciate that they have given a reasonable period of notice (certainly enough time to transfer American Express Membership Rewards Points and book under the current pricing) and that they haven’t tried to dress the changes up as being an ‘enhancement’. Loyalty programme PR and communication is often dreadful and treats members like idiots, so hats off to Krisflyer for getting it right.

Remember that you can still get 500 free Singapore KrisFlyer Miles just for signing up!