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What’s the fastest way to transfer to Singapore Airlines Krisflyer?

a bed and chairs in a plane

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Singapore Airlines Krisflyer is a transfer partner of all the major flexible point currencies: Chase, Amex, Citi, and SPG ( soon to be Marriott ) which makes it one of the easiest points to earn and best to use. I’ve personally used Singapore Airlines Krisflyer to fly Lufthansa First Class, Singapore Suites, Singapore First Class, EVA Business Class, I booked Untied’s new Polaris with it, multiple domestic US flights, the list goes on and on. It’s one of my favorite go to transfer partners. They not only rep some of the most competitive rates, but their change/cancellation fees are some of the best as well. So what’s the problem?

The only problem I face when using SQ to book my own flights, as well as recommending it as a currency for award clients, is transfer time. It’s not instant.  There’s nothing quite like seeing avail on the flight you want, but then watching the seconds pass as you wait for the points to transfer over to your account. So which transfer partner will get points into your Singapore Account the fastest?

Consistently, I’ve found the fastest way of populating my Singapore Airlines Krisflyer account is with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

I’ve done multiple transfers this year and 4 hours seems to be the average time Chase to SQ. *I will note…if it’s your first time transferring, it’s taken longer, so take this into account. Also remember that SQ miles expire after 3 years, regardless of use.

ProgramTime
Chase Ultimate Rewards4 hours
Citi Thank You12-48 hours
American Express Membership Rewards10 - 18 hours
SPG StarPoints7+days (according to Frugal Travel Guy - transfer done on Monday Mornings)

*link to Frugal Travel Guy



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Don’t forget that Singapore Airlines allows waitlisting on their flights.

This is how I got my entire family into Suites last year. That link gives a very in depth account of how we went about it, but the long/short – if you have sufficient miles in your account to book, you can waitlist your ideal flight, and then book your back up flight. When the waitlist clears, you can then switch into your preferred cabin/flight.

a stuffed animal on a bed

They also have very competitive change/cancellations fees

Singapore Airlines Change Fee



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Singapore removed fuel surcharges from flights on their metal. This makes flights TO the UK on their A350 from Houston a great way of accessing Europe. Just 65k miles.

Watch coming back…you’ll get hit with high surcharges tho.

a seat in a plane
Singapore Airlines Business Class A350-900

As I’d mentioned before…we’ve used SQ to fly Lufthansa First Class and EVA Royal Laurel. Two of the best ways to sip champagne and forget about your life down below.

If you’re trying to book those flights quick, and your SQ account is low, Chase will be the fastest way to shore up your account.

Usually I like to shore up my accounts with various programs. Each program has a unique set of partners that may have increased applicability depending on the redemption. I’d hate to only use Chase or Amex because I may deplete my account below a threshold I’d need for a future redemption inaccessible. I’d rather spend more points if I can use 3 flexible currencies than less points using one ( if it’s within reason.) If you don’t understand this, ask me questions in the comments and I’ll do my best to explain.

Here’s how I generally approach transfer. As an example, on a redemption requiring 60k points, I would evenly divide it between Chase, Amex, and Citi. However, if I’m in a pinch, and need to snag a seat quickly, I’ll transfer the entire amount from Chase to get it done quickly.



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*feature image of the new Singapore Business Class courtesy of Singaporeairlines.com

Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

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Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card


4.8
4.8/5
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott.

Welcome Offer

60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months

Annual Fee

$95

Points Earned

Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards

  • 3x on dining
    •  including eligible delivery services for takeout
  • 3x on select streaming services
  • 3x on online grocery purchases
    • (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
  • 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel Portal
  • 2x on all other travel
  • $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Chase Travel
    • The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
  • 10% Anniversary Bonus
    • Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
  • Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
  • Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
  • Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
    • Primary rental car coverage is my favorite

We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.

Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.

Main Cast: 

Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.

Supporting Cast:

Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on. 

The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.

If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners

Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.

The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

8 Comments

  • […] However, one thing to keep in mind is that miles do not transfer instantly. We’ve written posts on how long it takes to transfer with each program and an overall. You can read it here. […]

  • Jay July 26, 2018

    You can hold to SQ award seats without the Krisflyer miles? ??
    Whenever I go online they won’t let me do it unless I have enough Krisflyer miles.

  • mileshusband July 26, 2018

    Up until Q4 2017, SQ holds for insufficient miles were limited to Standard awards. Great news that this hold now extends to Savers

  • Hugh Mann July 26, 2018

    I put two SQ awards on hold the other day for suites and the phone rep was kind enough to give me 10 months to transfer the points. I didn’t believe it but I got an email confirming exactly what was said.

  • MH July 26, 2018

    I just transferred points from both Chase and Amex. Amex took about 10 hours while chase took about 24. I did call in however and was able to put the award seat I wanted on hold and then called back once the miles were deposited to complete the booking. I justs had to give them the confirmation number from the points transfer.

    • Miles July 26, 2018

      MH – good to know…maybe mine are transferring faster because I’ve done the process so often. Was this your first transfer chase to sq?

      • MH July 26, 2018

        Yes, first time I’ve transferred points to them from either program.

        • Miles July 26, 2018

          MH – good to know…I’ll add to the post, the first time I established transfer Chase took me a bit longer as well. Thanks for the DP

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