cardioflyer

HI All,

I'm going to Singapore and found good business class tickets in Singapore Airlines. I'm thinking of singing up for the Krisflyer program. I am also a MileagePlus Silver member however with 0 miles.
My question is should I book my flight using my Krisflyer membership or my MileagePlus membership? Not sure if my Sliver status in MileagePlus will give me much of an advantage.

Use to be a frequent flyer but has been out of the game for about 6 years or so. Any recommendation will be appreciated.

Also, does anybody have a Krisflyer registration promotion I can use?

All the Best,
John

Armchair Flyer

If you’re intending to redeem your miles with United then it might be better to use your Mileage Plus. That said, I’ll always join an airline’s FF program if I’m using them so as to hopefully avoid being bottom of the pile if things go wrong. That’s my thinking anyways.

If you do join KF, I don’t think that you will obtain any particular additional perks or benefits to add to your travel in J (I may be wrong in which case I’m sure I’ll be corrected ). And in my experience the KF mileage redemption rates are disgraceful (e.g. 2 return trips in J EU-Asia gets you IRO of 46,000 KF miles when 50,000 gets you Gold tier, redeeming 50,000 miles get you a $280 reduction on a $2,650 return ticket on the same route. Not worth it.

You mention that you have found a good deal or words to that effect. Before booking, you might just want to check the fare terms and conditions. There is not the same level of consumer protection with Asian airlines if your plans unavoidably change. Rescheduling your travel with Singapore Airlines is a chastening experience as I have found out to my cost. Don’t rely on the “Manage Booking” online, in my experience changing dates cannot be done online and you will spend hours on hold on the phone only to be connected and told “Computer says no” to any future dates you want to travel without parting with huge amounts of additional money in “Fare Difference” (in my case, double the original fare).

Bonne chance.

AF

carrotjuice

The only perk is whether you'd be planning to redeem for SQ F or Suites in the future, because these are only available to KF members, and generally unavailable to *A partners' FFPs - except when exposed through occasional systems glitches in the past.

lokijuh

If you're only getting $280 (SGD?) value out of 50,000 miles, then probably not even worth bothering with the program.

To the OP, there will be no benefit, particularly travelling in business class, of being a Krisflyer member, vs being a United member vs being a member of no FF program. So it then comes down to the value of the miles you earn (a "good business class ticket" probably is in the cheapest fare class, so probably earns 125% of the miles travelled in Krisflyer and 100% in Mileage Plus). If you have access to credit cards that earn Krisflyer miles it might be worth it, but a one off trip is probably not going to be worthwhile, particularly considering Krisflyer miles expire every 3 years after you earn them (hard expiry, nothing will keep them alive much longer than that other than paying a % of the miles to extend for 6 months).

Krisflyer is predominantly a useful program for those based in Singapore and SE Asia (particularly Indonesia) and perhaps to a lesser extent those based in Australia and India. And of course those based in the US that generate lots of miles through either large spending or credit card churn/promotions, to use on Suites bookings.

So it depends on where you are based, and what the length of the journey will be. But, for example a simple return from Europe to Singapore would barely be worthwhile.

Mwenenzi

cardioflyer Welcome to FT

One trip is not a good basis to join a new ffp.
Generally better to be a member of the airline ffp you fly most or an airline ffp of your home country, due to more opportunities to earn ff miles from non flying actives. Non flying ff miles is a big earner for many frequent spenders (infrequent flyers) now.

endet

You could also collect with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. That gives you opportunity to collect miles with a OneWorld airline. Might be helpful if you want to consolidate on a few programs as possible.

Mwenenzi

A guide, but check the details-->https://www.wheretocredit.com/singapore-airlines/j

dbuckho

Not relevant for just one trip, but if you fly paid Singapore J a few times per year can be worth signing up for PPS Club which also gives you a Krisflyer membership, even if crediting the flights elsewhere (I.e. to UA or AS).

whughes3

You do not "sign up" for PPS...if you are a KF member and you qualify then you are transferred automatically.

hdogan

"Qualify" -> Spend 25000 Singapore Dollars on airfare in Business and First on SQ-operated flights in a year
Just to make sure nobody thinks it's achievable from one return flight

lokijuh

The way prices are at the moment, not too far off!

But yes still doesn’t get PPS. And for people travelling on “good fares” it would lucky to get 1/4 of the way there.

This is for business short notice:

cardioflyer

Thanks folks. You guys really helped me with my decision. I decided to join and use Krisflyer and booked my business class seats. This way I can qualify for Silver Status in Krisflyer. I am already Silver with Mileage plus and I don't think I can earn any MileagePlus PQP flying Singapore Air. I may be wrong though. Appreciate the help.

hdogan

Yes, you can. It will be Award Mileage divided by 6: https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...ng-credit.html

I'd think twice about crediting to KF, especially if you don't plan to fly SQ or credit further to it...

angetenar

Also keep in mind that KF miles expire, while MP miles don't

dbuckho

Signup was probably the wrong term. Just wanted to point out that even if you credit your flight to another carrier, afterwards you can still submit for PPS credit (but that requires having a KF membership). I almost earned PPS club in 2019 even though I was crediting the flights to UA. And obviously you need several flights to get there.