Singapore is reopening: Here’s how to get there using points and miles

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information. That said, some of the routes mentioned here are currently suspended.

The tiny island nation of Singapore is known for its comfort inns, need of crime and( in the travel world) the city-state’s eponymous airline offering incredible premium-class sits and busines. It’s also residence to the best airfield in the world, according to Skytrax.

While entry has mainly been limited to citizens and permanent residents since the start of the pandemic, Singapore will reopen to citizens inhabitants of adopt countries — including the U.S. — on Oct. 19, 2021. There will be strict vaccination requirements to enter, but granted you meet them, you can enter Singapore and experience all the country has to offer without quarantine.

That said, see Singapore isn’t cheap. It has a strong neighbourhood currency and most goods is essential to imported, leading to high prices on daily expenses for travelers. On top of that, a very limited number of flights in and out of the country mean airline tickets aren’t cheap. But you don’t have to break the bank to see Singapore — instead, use your points and miles to offset the cost of flights, and you’ll have more funds to spend elsewhere. Here’s how to do it.

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In This Post

Overview

Let’s start with some nuts and bolts. This analysis will focus entirely on flights starting the U.S ., organized by airline program and assistance class. I’ll likewise foreground how to accrue levels or miles beyond passage, including our best credit cards for airlines and/ or transferable top monies. Finally, all awarding proportions below are at the saver statu and apply to round-trip tickets, though I’ve indicated which planneds allow for one-way accolades and which don’t.

As always, award accessibility can vary significantly, especially when it comes to premium cabins. This is where a subscription assistance like ExpertFlyer( owned by TPG’s parent company, Red Ventures) comes into play, as it allows you to set alertings for your desired flights on your standard appointments. This intends no more endless manual inquiries as you book your trip.

Singapore Airline KrisFlyer Singapore’s incredible A380 Suites class is only available through the KrisFlyer program.( Photo by The Points Guy)

The first option for getting to Singapore is on Singapore Airline. The KrisFlyer platform has separate apportion charts for flights on Singapore Airline versus its Star Alliance spouses. Rates from the East Coast are slightly larger than from the Western coast, so it’s important to make sure you’re looking at the compensate emancipation table.

Here are the round-trip rates for saver awards from the U.S. to Singapore 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 76,000 miles (8 0,000 miles from Houston( IAH) or the East Coast) Premium Economy: 136,000 miles( 146,000 miles) Business: 190,000 miles( 198,000 miles) First: 260,000 miles( 264,000 miles)

Generally speaking, Singapore’s premium cabins are only made available to KrisFlyer and Alaska Airline Mileage Plan representatives. So even though the awarding charges may seem steep, it’s one of your only alternatives. You also have the ability to waitlist for these saver accolades if they aren’t first accessible, which is a nice feature that few other airlines offer.

The round-trip rates for partner gives are higher and frequently descend above those available through other platforms 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 110,000 miles Business: 211,000 miles First: 297,000 miles

The majority of these flights will carry minimum taxes and costs — generally less than $100 per person. In addition, you can book one-way flights for half the miles listed below on both Singapore Airline and its Star Alliance partners.

Earning KrisFlyer miles

Even though Singapore’s partner award chart isn’t as rewarding as some other Star Alliance carriers, it does have one major request characteristic. The KrisFlyer program marriages with all of the major transferable monies: American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. As a cause, you can transfer sites from cards like The Platinum Card( r) from American Express, the Chase Sapphire Reserve and the Citi Premier( r) Card immediately to Singapore to enable these redemptions.

Unify Airline MileagePlus United flies its 787 -9 Dreamliner to Singapore from San Francisco( SFO ).( Photo by The Points Guy)

Low carrier surcharges on marriage award tickets compile United’s MileagePlus program a good alternative for flying to Singapore within the Star Alliance category. Unfortunately, the programme has pulled its Star Alliance spouse give map and now employs reasonably dynamic pricing for award tickets. Nevertheless, if you’re lucky, you may still be able to find bestows at rates lower than those charged through the KrisFlyer program.

Here’s the minimum number of miles you should expect to redeem for round-trip award tickets from the U.S. to Singapore based on the now-extinct award charts 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 80,000 miles (8 8,000 miles for partner flights) Business: 180,000 miles( 198,000 miles for spouse flights)

Unfortunately, fee economy gives are pricing out at exorbitant levels of 140,000 miles each channel right now, and first-class bestows on spouses are non-existent through the end of schedule. While you can find partner business-class availability, apportioned tickets in Polaris on United’s own flights are not seeming for the moment, either.

United offerings nonstop flights to Singapore from San Francisco( SFO) — resuming in January 2022 according to the current schedule — and saver-level award availability on these flights is pretty decent. Besides Singapore Airline, you can also fly collaborators like EVA through Taipei( TPE) or ANA through Tokyo( NRT/ HND ).

If you’re feeling adventurous, you were able to even try to build in a free one-way flight applying United’s Excursionist Perk. But again, given the dynamic pricing scheme, be sure to compare the award frequencies with other partner programs to make sure you’re not exchanging more miles for the same flights.

Earning United miles

The MileagePlus program spouses with Chase Ultimate Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy, so those transferable extent currencies represent one method to boost your United miles equilibrium. You could also open a cobranded credit card like the United Explorer Card, which currently offers 40,000 bonus miles after you devote $2,000 on acquires in the first three months of detail opening.

Alternatively, there’s the United Quest Card, which is offering 80,000 bonus miles after you waste $5,000 on purchases in the first three months your history is open. These posters can also unlock enhanced economy award availability on United-operated flights, expanding your possible options for getting to Singapore even further.

ANA Mileage Club

Another option for Star Alliance flights to Singapore is to redeem miles through ANA’s Mileage Club program. Unfortunately, this is also the most complicated since the carrier not only calls different gift charts for flights on its own metal versus spouses, it also introduces seasonality into the mix for its own flights. You can get the full scoop on ANA’s international flight allotments page.

Here are the award paces for round-trip AN-Aoperated flights from the U.S. to Singapore, expressed as a wander from Low to High season 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 55,000 -7 0,000 miles Premium economy: 84,000 -9 9,000 miles Business: 100,000 -1 15,000 miles First: 195,000 -2 10,000 miles

For partner honors, there’s no seasonality but there is a separate honor chart 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 80,000 miles Business: 136,000 miles First: 240,000 miles

As noted above, ANA and the other Star Alliance carriers that fly to Singapore all enforce minimum taxes and rewards. You won’t need to spend a ton of extra cash for these awardings. Nonetheless, the biggest issue with ANA is that you can’t book one-way gifts. As a make, you’ll need to find availability on both the outbound and the return to finalize your reserve. Otherwise, you have to redeem through another program.

Earning ANA miles

ANA collaborators with both Amex Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy, so you’re readily able to transfer points to Mileage Club. ANA also has a cobranded credit card in the U.S ., the ANA Card U.S.A ., but it isn’t particularly useful and has a very low welcome bonus.

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan

A terrific way to book bestow flights to Singapore outside of the Star Alliance is through Alaska’s Mileage Plan program. This currency is always near the top of TPG’s monthly valuations, primarily due to its diverse spouses and low bestow frequencies. Plus, you get a free stopover on one-way accolades, which can help you stretch your miles further.

The program is a bit confusing, given the separate honor charts for these partners, but there are two in particular that render forcing cost propositions: Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. Further , not all Singapore award space is bookable with Alaska miles.

Here are the award proportions for round-trip flights from the U.S. to Singapore on Cathay Pacific 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 60,000 miles Premium Economy: 70,000 miles Business: 100,000 miles First: 140,000 miles

Unfortunately, Cathay Pacific is one of the only carriers that doesn’t display allotment opening on Alaska’s website. I’d recommend exercising either the American Airline or Qantas search engines to find award space firstly and then calling Alaska to book.

Meanwhile, you can book Japan Airline awardings online. The proportions for flights to Singapore on JAL are higher than on Cathay Pacific 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 80,000 miles Business: 130,000 miles First: 150,000 miles

Although Alaska is now a part of the Oneworld alliance, you still have the ability to redeem miles on Star Alliance member Singapore Airlines flights. The atonement charges are much higher than with Cathay Pacific and JAL, though.

Economy: 95,000 miles Business: 200,000 miles First: 260,000 miles

What starts most of these proportions more attractive is that Alaska gives a layover on one-way, international allotment tickets, so you could spend some time in Hong Kong or Tokyo en route to and from Singapore. Just bear in mind that you can’t combine partners on a single accolade ticket — you can only tag on connecting Alaska flights within the U.S.

( Screenshot generosity of alaskaair.com)

Earning Alaska miles

The Mileage Plan program only spouses with Marriott Bonvoy for carries, which restraints your alternatives. Nonetheless, you could open the Alaska Airline Visa Signature( r) credit cards, which is currently offering 50,000 bonus miles plus Alaska’s Famous Companion Fare from $ 121 ($ 99 fare plus taxation and costs from just $22) after spending $2,000 in purchases within the first 90 periods of detail opening. The carrier also is known for frequent bonuses on purchased miles, allowing you to top up your history or even straight-up “purchase” the above atonements for very reasonable rates.

American Airline AAdvantage

Another way to book Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines awards to Singapore is through the American Airline AAdvantage program. Flights for both airlines is likely to be booked online and come with low-spirited taxes and fees.

Here are the award charges for round-trip awards operates in Cathay Pacific and Japan Airline 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 75,000 miles Premium economy: 100,000 miles Business: 140,000 miles First: 220,000 miles

Making American miles

Like Alaska, American only spouses with Marriott Bonvoy. However, American Airlines offers lots of cobranded cards, which make it easy to boost your offset quickly.

For example, the mid-tier Citi( r)/ AAdvantage( r) Platinum Select( r) World Elite Mastercard( r ) is currently offering a welcome bonus of 50, 000 miles after you waste $2,500 on acquisitions the first three months of detail opening. There are also lots of opportunities to buy miles for cheap.

The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this sheet have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

If you just wanted to record Cathay Pacific exploiting your Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One or Citi ThankYou qualities, you could do so immediately through the airline’s own Asia Miles program. The platform rates gives based on distance and whether you’re flying only on Cathay Pacific, one collaborator or multiple partner airlines.

Here’s an estimate of how much a round-trip award simply on Cathay Pacific could provided free of charge from New York-JFK 😛 TAGEND

Economy: 84,000 miles Premium economy: 120,000 miles Business: 170,000 miles First: 250,000 miles

( Photo by Wallace Cotton/ The Points Guy) Earning Cathay Pacific miles

As mentioned above, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles is a transfer spouse of American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou and Marriott Bonvoy. As a develop, you can transfer objects from many different travel credit cards to unlock these redemptions.

Delta SkyMiles

For SkyTeam flyers, the easiest option would be to fly Korean Air booked through Delta SkyMiles. While Delta’s award rates varies considerably for its own flights, collaborator emancipations have a relatively fixed exchange rate and tend to cost little. As you’re going to see, it’s also easy to accumulate Delta SkyMiles. The only downside is that Delta significantly increased partner award charges in early 2021.

Here are the award rates for round-trip partner gives to Singapore. Unfortunately, it is not feasible to to redeem SkyMiles for Korean Air first-class. Now are charges we’ve been seeing lately.

Economy: 135,000 miles Business: 330,000 miles

Also, bearing in mind that Delta began upcharging partner awards booked closer to departure. On some dates, you may find cheaper schedules when the transpacific segment is operated by Delta, or you could find higher ones depending on the availability of connecting domestic accolades on Delta.

( Screenshot generosity of delta.com)

( Photo by Nick Ellis/ The Points Guy) Earning Delta miles

There are a variety of ways to earn Delta miles. You could pick up an American Express Membership Rewards-earning placard like The Platinum Card( r) from American Express or the American Express( r) Gold Card and displace points to Delta instantaneously at a 1:1 ratio.

Delta also offers several cobranded credit cards that make it easy to boost your SkyMiles balance, such as the Delta SkyMiles( r) Gold American Express Card and the Delta SkyMiles( r) Reserve American Express Card.

The best currencies to use

Here’s a speedy summing-up table of the most wonderful monies for booking bestow flights to Singapore, keeping in mind the aforementioned round-trip restriction of booking through ANA. Of trend, this chart only applies to the actual award rates. For example, if you’re swimming in Ultimate Rewards sites but have zero cards that accrue Membership Rewards moments and few Marriott Bonvoy places, you’re likely restricted to booking through United or Singapore Airline, even though they are the ANA Mileage Club program bills a lower rate for the give ticket.

Airline Economy Premium Economy Business First

Singapore Airline Book through Singapore KrisFlyer from Western coast; book through Singapore KrisFlyer, United or ANA from other U.S. gateways Book through Singapore KrisFlyer Book through Singapore KrisFlyer Book through Singapore KrisFlyer

United Airline Book through United or ANA Book through United Book through ANA N/A ANA Book through ANA Book through ANA Book through ANA Book through ANA

All other Star Alliance carriers Book through United or ANA N/A Book through ANA Book through ANA

Cathay Pacific Book through Alaska Mileage Plan Book through Alaska Mileage Plan Book through Alaska Mileage Plan Book through Alaska Mileage Plan

Japan Airline Book through Alaska Mileage Plan Book through Alaska Mileage Plan Book through Alaska Mileage Plan Book through Alaska Mileage Plan

All other Oneworld carriers Book through American AAdvantage Book through American AAdvantage Book through American AAdvantage Book through American AAdvantage

All Skyteam carriers Book through Delta SkyMiles Book through Delta SkyMiles Book through Delta SkyMiles Book through Delta SkyMiles

Maximize your purchase

When paying the taxes and costs on your bestow ticket, be sure to use a credit card that earns bonus items on airfare obtains and offers travel defences if anything goes wrong. Some good alternatives include the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which both pay bonus Chase Ultimate Rewards qualities on all trip expenses.

Bottom argument

The Singapore-based movie Crazy Rich Asians improved worldwide interest in Singapore, though the city-state was already a fantastic destination to visit. As “youre seeing”, you have a variety of options for redeeming your hard-earned degrees and miles to got to get for( virtually) free. There existed lots of points-friendly hotels you could stay at for little to nothing out of pocket, such as the Andaz Singapore and the St. Regis Singapore.

While this isn’t an extensive schedule, I hope this analysis has highlighted some prospects if you’re planning a outing to the island once it reopens.

Additional reporting by Nick Ewen and Andrew Kunesh.

Featured image by Agent Wolf/ Shutterstock.com.

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