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I recently wrote a reminder that the current 35% SPG Starpoints sale is finishing today (29th December 2017), and mentioned that I’d be sharing some of my ‘greatest hits’ redemptions to show why you might want to take advantage of the sale.

As I demonstrated in that post, through the Starpoint sale,  you can effectively purchase a vast range of different frequent flyer miles for 1.4p each. For some types of miles (like BA Avios) that’s far too expensive, but for more ‘exotic’ miles, it can make a lot of sense. Have a read here for the details.

My original intention was to run a series of posts highlighting some of my favourite redemptions, but then Christmas snuck up on me and now it’s already the 29th of December! Therefore, I’ve put together a less detailed list instead – feel free to ask any questions in the comments if something is unclear.

I’ve already written about how 50,000 Alaska Miles (40,000 SPG Starpoints) could get you to Hawaii one way in Business Class, with a free stopover in the continental US en route. It really is a tremendous redemption though, so if you haven’t had chance to read that post yet, I would recommend giving it a quick look.

Here are some of my other favourites, starting with a few more utilising Alaska Miles:

Business Class to Hong Kong

You only need 42,500 Alaska Mileage Plan Miles to fly (one-way) in Business Class on Cathay Pacific between Europe and Hong Kong. At 1.4p per Mile, that works out at just under £600. To book the same flight with Avios, BA would charge 90,000 Avios!

Intra-Asia using Alaska Miles

Business Class on JAL from India to Tokyo (stopover as long as you like), then to pretty much wherever you like in Asia is just 25,000 Miles one-way – roughly £350.

Cathay Business Class USA to South Africa via Hong Kong (or vice versa)

62,500 Miles (one way) for Cathay Pacific Business Class with a stopover for as long as you want in Hong Kong =£875. For an extra 7,500 Miles (~£105) you could upgrade the USA-Hong Kong leg to First Class too!

Unfortunately, Cathay doesn’t offer a First Class cabin on the Hong Kong – Johannesburg leg, or that would be included too.

As part of a ’round the world’ trip, a redemption like this could be incredible!

JAL Business Class USA to India via Japan (or vice versa)

60,000 Miles (one way) for JAL Business Class with a stopover for as long as you like in Tokyo = ~£840.

Similar to the example above, you could fly in First Class on the USA – Tokyo leg for an additional ~£140 (10,000 Miles).

AA Miles for Etihad First Class

Moving away from Alaska Mileage Plan (although there’s plenty more to discuss there!), let’s briefly switch our attention to American AAdvantage. AA Miles aren’t as valuable as they used to be, but you can still use them to book Etihad’s incredible new Business Class for 42,500 Miles, or the outrageous First Class ‘Apartments’ for 62,500 Miles. At 1.4p per Mile, that’s ~£600 for Business Class one way, or ~£875 for First Class. There aren’t any surcharges when redeeming AA Miles for Etihad flights.

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Miles have lots of great uses and are certainly worth considering buying at an effective 1.4p each – although I would advise transferring American Express Membership Rewards Points across at a 1:1 rate, rather than buying, ideally.

For example:

45,000 KrisFlyer Miles for SIA Business Class between Istanbul and Singapore (and the rest of Zones 1, 2 and 3, really is a fantastic price. The fact you can connect to pretty much anywhere in South East Asia for free just sweetens the deal even further. Positioning to Istanbul is relatively cheap and easy (8,500-10,000 Avios in Economy if you can’t find a cheap flight).

Even better (though less practical) is that flights between Zones 1-3 and Cape Town/Johannesburg are also just 45,000 Miles in Business. That’s a ~12 hour flight! If you could work it into a big ’round the world’ style trip, that’s a truly amazing deal! At 1.4p per Mile, you’re looking at about £630. Remember there are no surcharges when redeeming KrisFlyer Miles on Singapore Airlines these days.

Business Class between Europe and the Middle East for 25,000 Miles (~£350) one way on Star Alliance partners.

Fly a quarter of the way around the world for 12,500 Miles (~£175). Note that the Business Class price is now 28,000 Miles rather than 17,500, in the new award chart.

30%+ off KrisFlyer redemptions with ‘Spontaneous

Bottom line

This is all just the tip of the iceberg – I’ve not even mentioned United MileagePlus (via SPG transfer to Marriott and then Marriott Travel Package) JAL, ANA or Asiana Miles for example.

The beauty of buying SPG Starpoints though is that you can transfer them wherever you want them, when you need to. Buying a specific type of Miles carries substantial risk (availability, devaluation, change of plans, etc), but opting for Starpoints instead helps mitigate that. Suffice to say that having a stash of SPG Starpoints can be very, very useful.