Using KrisFlyer miles to book two flights with a single stopover

Many business travellers don't simply fly from A to B: they often need to add a second leg to a journey in order to visit a regional office, attend a company event or conference, or even call on new clients to expand their business.

If one of those cities for you is Singapore, and the other city sits within Singapore Airlines' extensive network, then the smart way to book your travel is as a stopover journey using KrisFlyer miles.

That's because Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles lets you add lengthy stopovers throughout your trip without substantially increasing the number of miles needed.

Here’s what you need to know about adding stopovers to KrisFlyer redemptions.

KrisFlyer stopovers: the rules

Airlines officially recognise a 'stopover' as taking a break in your itinerary of more than 24 hours in an intermediate city before continuing on the same journey.

The advantage of booking a stopover is that your miles redemption will be charged at the usual rate from A to C, rather two separate journeys A to B and B to C, which usually requires more miles.

For example, if from Sydney you had a few days of meetings in Singapore and then Shanghai, you might book Sydney to Singapore business class (62,000 KrisFlyer miles) and Singapore to Shanghai (39,000 KrisFlyer miles) separately.

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But if you booked the trip as Sydney to Shanghai with a few days stopover in Singapore, you’d only need to use 84,000 KrisFlyer miles all-up (168,000 miles return), pocketing 17,000 KrisFlyer miles towards your next trip ot upgrade.

Stopovers are usually charged at US$100 (AU$145) per person each stop, with a maximum of three stopovers allowed per booking.

KrisFlyer redemptions at the lower ‘Saver’ rate get one free stopover on a return booking, while redemptions at the higher ‘Advantage’ rate get a free stopover each way (i.e. two free stopovers on a return booking).

Here’s a summary of the stopover allowances based on your redemption ticket type:

Your stopovers can last anywhere from days to months – the main restriction is all flights have to be within 12 months of your booking date.

Of course, you’ll need reward seat availability on all your desired flight dates to book a KrisFlyer redemption stopover correctly.

You can also organise stopovers on partner airline redemptions, but be mindful that they may have significantly more restrictive policies for stopovers, and you generally can’t have a stopover in the same country you started in, or when travelling between two European cities.

KrisFlyer stopovers: making that booking

If your booking qualifies for a complimentary stopover as noted in the table above, you should be able to proceed online.

If not, you’ll have to call KrisFlyer Member Services – that’s (02) 8228 1188 from Australia – to make the booking and ensure they charge the US$100 per stop in exchange for pricing the redemption at the lower rate.

To make that eligible booking online, start on the Singapore Airlines homepage, click on ‘Redeem flights’ and enter your flight details without the stopover first (e.g. a straight Sydney-Shanghai return).

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Ignore everything on the next screen, scroll all the way to the bottom, and look for this box with a link to add stopovers.

Now choose which leg of the journey you wish to add the stopover, and click ‘+ Add a stopover’ in the top-right. A new box will appear which you give you eligible stopover cities (only Singapore in this case) and which date you’d like to depart Singapore now.

Now you’ll return to the booking screen, where the Sydney to Singapore and Singapore to Shanghai sectors have been broken up into individual flights. The mileage amount displayed (168,000 miles) is for the whole trip, so don’t be alarmed.

Go ahead and make each individual selection based on your schedule and seat availability…

… and since you haven’t opted for a stopover on the return journey, you’ll choose an option from Shanghai straight back to Sydney with a minimal transit in Singapore.

The final price will display once all flights are selected. In this case, 168,000 miles for a return Saver redemption from Sydney to Shanghai including one free stopover, and just under $204 worth of taxes to pay.

Remember, only complimentary stopovers can be booked online. In the example above, if you tried to book two stopovers on the journey where only one is included, you’ll get this error instead.

That’s your cue to ring up the KrisFlyer call centre to book your itinerary over the phone, where you’ll still redeem 168,000 miles for the itinerary, but just pay an extra US$100 on top of the taxes to get a stopover in both directions.

Also read: Singapore Airline’s KrisFlyer scheme for Aussie travellers

Brandon Loo

Based in Perth, Brandon enjoys tucking into local delicacies, discovering new cocktails, and making aeroplane food look good on camera.