KrisFlyer credit cards

Yes, unless you are in one of the top two KrisFlyer elite member tiers. For everyone else, KrisFlyer miles expire on the last day of the month, 36 months after the month in which they were credited to your miles account. The oldest miles are used first when you redeem them, so you just need to ensure that you redeem miles – for flights, seat upgrades or merchandise – at least once every three years. Your KrisFlyer account page at the Singapore Airlines website, or on your mobile app, will show how many of your miles are due to expire each month for the next six months.

An alternative option is to pay a fee (currently $US12 per 10,000 expiring miles) to extend their validity for six months (12 months for higher status members), or sacrifice 1,200 miles per 10,000 expiring miles to receive the same extension. You could also consider transferring the points to another air miles membership (such as Virgin Australia’s Velocity) if you have one that accepts KrisFlyer miles as a conversion option.

Firstly, you’ll need to be a KrisFlyer member, so that the KrisFlyer miles you earn with your credit card can be deposited into your miles account. Then you can redeem them for award tickets and seat upgrades with Singapore Airlines and its Star Alliance and other partners. At singaporeair.com you can also pay the balance in cash if you don’t have quite enough miles for your chosen flight. You can also choose to pay with miles, or with a mix of miles and cash, for over 2,000 products (fashion, electronics, homewares, etc) at KrisShop.com.

It depends on how much you spend and on the card’s earning rate per dollar (e.g.. 1.1 KrisFlyer miles per dollar spent on eligible purchases). Some cards also award welcome bonus miles to new cardmembers who spend a target amount within a specified period (e.g. 7,500 bonus miles for spending $5,000 in the first three months after card approval). You may also be able to earn bonus miles for referring a friend who is successfully approved for a KrisFlyer credit card account.

Again, this varies depending on the card, but the range is roughly $175-$350 p.a. Cards with a larger annual fee tend to have a higher miles earning rate per dollar and more attractive complimentary benefits. Some cards waive or discount the annual fee during the first year. The value of the KrisFlyer miles you can earn, plus the complimentary benefits, will usually be well in excess of the cost of the annual fee. So you should come out ahead each year if you use your card at every opportunity, and make full use of the attached benefits.

There are lots of benefits, including:

• You earn KrisFlyer miles on all your eligible credit card purchases (basically everything except cash equivalents like balance transfers, cash withdrawals and purchases of foreign currency).
• You earn KrisFlyer miles directly, avoiding the hassle of having to convert other types of rewards points into KrisFlyer miles.
• KrisFlyer cardholders can take advantage of other benefits attached to the card, such as free or discounted travel insurance, savings at selected restaurants and airport lounge access (benefits vary depending on which card you choose).

Eligibility requirements vary from card to card, but as a general rule you need to be at least 21 years old with an annual income of at least $30,000 for Singaporeans (or a fixed deposit collateral of $10,000), or at least $40,000 p.a. for foreigners (or a fixed deposit collateral of ($10,000).