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Category: Loyalty

Singapore Airlines Spontaneous Escapes March 2020 offer now on

Singapore Airlines have unveiled its offerings for the March edition of Spontaneous Escapes, with 55 destinations on sale.

Surprisingly for a school holiday month, there seems to be a bumper crop of destinations on offer, although there are also plenty of restrictions. One possible reason for the extraordinary availability could be Covid-19, although China is (obviously) not on offer at all.

The promotional mileage is 30% off the usual redemption rates, down from the one-off 51% discount last month.

As usual, bookings must be made by 29 February 2020, for travel between 1 to 31 March 2020, barring blackout dates.

What is good this month?

If you still dare to travel in the month of March, you can consider the following:

Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Rome and Zurich are all available in Business Class available at 64,400 miles plus taxes.
San Francisco on SQ1/2, going at 66,500 miles each way. Note that SQ1/2 will be operating non-stop to/from SFO between 17 Feb and 28 Mar to avoid Hong Kong.

Full list of destinations and details below:

Singapore Airlines

Southeast Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur	5,250	SQ104, SQ106, SQ112, SQ116, SQ118	–	13,300	SQ104, SQ106, SQ112, SQ116, SQ118	–
Kuala Lumpur to Singapore	5,250	SQ105, SQ107, SQ113, SQ117, SQ119	–	13,300	SQ105, SQ107, SQ113, SQ117, SQ119	–
Singapore to Jakarta	5,250	SQ950, SQ958, SQ960	–	13,300	SQ950, SQ958, SQ960	–
Jakarta to Singapore	5,250	SQ953, SQ967	–	13,300	SQ953, SQ967	–
Singapore to Surabaya	5,250	SQ930, SQ932	–	13,300	SQ930, SQ932	–
Surabaya to Singapore	5,250	SQ931, SQ933	–	13,300	SQ931, SQ933	–
Singapore to Bali	–	–	–	13,300	SQ938, SQ940, SQ942, SQ946, SQ948	–
Bali to Singapore	–	–	–	13,300	SQ939, SQ941, SQ943, SQ947, SQ949	–
Singapore to Bandar Seri Begawan	–	–	–	13,300	SQ148	–
Bandar Seri Begawan to Singapore	–	–	–	13,300	SQ147	–
Singapore to Yangon	8,750	SQ998	–	15,050	SQ998	–
Yangon to Singapore	8,750	SQ997	–	15,050	SQ997	–
Hanoi to Singapore	8,750	SQ175, SQ187	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City	8,750	SQ184, SQ186	–	–	–	–
Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore	8,750	SQ183, SQ185	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Bangkok	8,750	SQ970, SQ976, SQ978, SQ982	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ970, SQ976, SQ978, SQ982	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020
Bangkok to Singapore	8,750	SQ973, SQ981	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ973, SQ981, SQ983	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020
Singapore to Manila	8,750	SQ912, SQ916, SQ918	–	15,050	SQ912, SQ916, SQ918	–
Manila to Singapore	8,750	SQ915, SQ919, SQ921	–	15,050	SQ915, SQ919, SQ921	–
Singapore to Phuket	8,750	SQ992	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ992	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020
Phuket to Singapore	8,750	SQ993	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020	15,050	SQ993	13-15 March, 20-22 March 2020

North Asia – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Seoul	17,500	SQ602	13-16, 21-23 Mar	32,900	SQ602, SQ608	–
Seoul to Singapore	17,500	SQ603, SQ609, SQ607	–	32,900	SQ603, SQ607, SQ609	–
Singapore to Fukuoka	–	–	–	32,900	SQ656	18-30 Mar
Fukuoka to Singapore	–	–	–	32,900	SQ655	–
Tokyo to Singapore	17,500	SQ631, SQ635, SQ637, SQ639	19-22, 25-29 Mar	32,900	SQ11	–
Nagoya to Singapore	17,500	SQ671	4-14 Mar	32,900	SQ671	25-29 Mar
Osaka to Singapore	17,500	SQ621	18-22 Mar	–	–	–

North Asia – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Tokyo to Singapore	24,150	SQ11	–

South Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Ahmedabad	12,950	SQ530	–	27,300	SQ530	–
Singapore to Kolkata	–	–	–	27,300	SQ517	–
Kolkata to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	SQ516	–
Dhaka to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	SQ447	–
Singapore to Malé	12,950	SQ452	–	–	–	–
Malé to Singapore	12,950	SQ451	–	–	–	–

Australia & New Zealand – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Adelaide	19,600	SQ279	1-10 Mar	43,400	SQ279	–
Adelaide to Singapore	19,600	SQ278	26-31 Mar	43,400	SQ278	–
Singapore to Brisbane	19,600	SQ255	–	43,400	SQ255, SQ265	–
Brisbane to Singapore	19,600	SQ236	–	43,400	SQ236, SQ266	–
Singapore to Canberra	19,600	SQ288	–	43,400	SQ288	–
Canberra to Singapore	–	–	–	43,400	SQ288	–
Singapore to Melbourne	19,600	SQ207, SQ227, SQ237	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Sydney	19,600	SQ211, SQ221, SQ231	–	43,400	SQ231, SQ241	–
Sydney to Singapore	19,600	SQ222, SQ232, SQ288	–	43,400	SQ288	–
Singapore to Wellington	19,600	SQ247	–	–	–	–
Wellington to Singapore	19,600	SQ248	–	–	–	–

Australia – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Canberra	32,900	SQ288	–
Canberra to Singapore	32,900	SQ288	–
Singapore to Melbourne	32,900	SQ217, SQ227, SQ237	–
Melbourne to Singapore	32,900	SQ218	–
Singapore to Sydney	32,900	SQ221, SQ231	–
Sydney to Singapore	32,900	SQ212, SQ232, SQ288	–

Africa & Middle East – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Dubai	17,500	SQ494	–	34,300	SQ494	–
Dubai to Singapore	17,500	SQ495	–	34,300	SQ495	–
Singapore to Johannesburg	17,500	SQ482	–	34,300	SQ482	–
Johannesburg to Singapore	17,500	SQ481	–	34,300	SQ481	–

Africa & Middle East – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Dubai	25,900	SQ494	–
Dubai to Singapore	25,900	SQ495	–
Singapore to Johannesburg	25,900	SQ482	–
Johannesburg to Singapore	25,900	SQ481	–

Europe – Economy & Business

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Paris to Singapore	26,600	SQ333	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Barcelona	26,600	SQ388	–	64,400	SQ388	–
Barcelona to Singapore	26,600	SQ387	–	64,400	SQ387	–
Düsseldorf to Singapore	–	–	–	64,400	SQ337	–
Singapore to London	26,600	SQ308	–	–	–	–
London to Singapore	26,600	SQ305, SQ317	20-31 Mar	–	–	–
Milan to Singapore	26,600	SQ355	20-31 Mar	–	–	–
Rome to Singapore	26,600	SQ365	21-28 Mar	64,400	SQ365	–
Singapore to Zürich	26,600	SQ346	–	–	–	–
Zürich to Singapore	26,600	SQ345	–	64,400	SQ345	–

Europe – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Paris	45,150	SQ334	–
Paris to Singapore	45,150	SQ333, SQ335	–
Barcelona to Singapore	45,150	SQ387	–
Düsseldorf to Singapore	45,150	SQ337	–
Rome to Singapore	45,150	SQ365	–
Zürich to Singapore	45,150	SQ345	–
Frankfurt to New York	32,900	SQ26	–
New York to Frankfurt	32,900	SQ25	–

USA – Economy & Business

Dates	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to San Francisco	26,600	SQ2	–	66,500	SQ2	–
San Francisco to Singapore	26,600	SQ1, SQ31	–	66,500	SQ1	–

USA – Premium Economy

Sector	Miles required – Premium Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Los Angeles	47,600	SQ36, SQ38	–
Los Angeles to Singapore	47,600	SQ35, SQ37	–
Singapore to San Francisco	47,600	SQ2	–
San Francisco to Singapore	47,600	SQ1	–
New York to Singapore	51,100	SQ21	–

SilkAir

South East Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Kuala Lumpur	5,250	MI322, MI324, MI326, MI328, MI330, MI340, MI342	–	13,300	MI326, MI328, MI330, MI340, MI342	–
Kuala Lumpur to Singapore	5,250	MI321, MI323, MI325, MI327, MI329, MI339, MI341	–	13,300	MI321, MI323, MI325, MI341	–
Singapore to Penang	5,250	MI346, MI348, MI350, MI352, MI354	13-15, 20-22 Mar	13,300	MI346, MI348, MI350, MI352, MI354	–
Penang to Singapore	5,250	MI345, MI347, MI349, MI351, MI353	13-15, 20-22 Mar	13,300	MI345, MI347, MI349, MI351, MI353	–
Singapore to Bandung	5,250	MI192, MI194, MI196	15-31 Mar	–	–	–
Bandung to Singapore	5,250	MI191, MI193, MI195	15-31 Mar	–	–	–
Singapore to Bali	–	–	–	13,300	MI176	–
Bali to Singapore	–	–	–	13,300	MI175	–
Singapore to Surabaya	5,250	MI226	–	13,300	MI226	–
Surabaya to Singapore	5,250	MI225	–	13,300	MI225	–
Singapore to Lombok	5,250	MI124, MI128	–	13,300	MI124, MI128	–
Lombok to Singapore	5,250	MI123, MI127	–	13,300	MI123, MI127	–
Singapore to Medan	5,250	MI234, MI238	–	–	–	–
Medan to Singapore	5,250	MI233, MI237	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Davao City	8,750	MI562	–	15,050	MI562	–
Davao City to Singapore	8,750	MI562	–	15,050	MI562	–
Singapore to Cebu	8,750	MI562	–	15,050	MI562	–
Cebu to Singapore	8,750	MI559	–	15,050	MI559	–
Singapore to Phuket	8,750	MI750, MI756, MI758	13-15, 20-22 Mar	15,050	MI750, MI756, MI758	13-15, 20-22 Mar
Phuket to Singapore	8,750	MI749, MI751	13-15, 20-22 Mar	15,050	MI749, MI751	13-15, 20-22 Mar
Singapore to Koh Samui	–	–	–	15,050	MI774	–
Koh Samui to Singapore	–	–	–	15,050	MI771	–
Singapore to Yangon	8,750	MI518	–	15,050	MI518	–
Yangon to Singapore	8,750	MI519	–	15,050	MI519	–
Singapore to Siem Reap	8,750	MI614, MI616	–	15,050	MI614, MI616	–
Singapore to Phnom Penh	8,750	MI602, MI606, MI608	–	15,050	MI602, MI606, MI608	–
Phnom Penh to Singapore	8,750	MI601, MI605, MI607	–	15,050	MI601, MI605, MI607	–

North Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Hiroshima	–	–	–	32,900	MI868	–
Hiroshima to Singapore	–	–	–	32,900	MI867	–

South Asia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Chennai	12,950	MI436	–	27,300	MI436	–
Chennai to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	MI435	–
Singapore to Hyderabad	12,950	MI472	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Kochi	12,950	MI468	–	27,300	MI468	–
Kochi to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	MI467	–
Singapore to Colombo	12,950	MI428	–	–	–	–
Colombo to Singapore	12,950	MI427	–	–	–	–
Singapore to Kathmandu	–	–	–	27,300	MI416	–
Kathmandu to Singapore	–	–	–	27,300	MI415	–
Singapore to Malé	12,950	MI480	–	–	–	–
Malé to Singapore	12,950	MI479	–	–	–	–

Australia

Sector	Miles required – Economy	Flight no.	Blackout dates	Miles required – Business	Flight no.	Blackout dates
Singapore to Cairns	19,600	MI811, MI813	–	43,400	MI811, MI813	–
Cairns to Singapore	19,600	MI812, MI814	26-31 March 2020	43,400	MI812, MI814	–

18 February 20

Buy LifeMiles and get up to 140% bonus

Your targeted bonus will only get you 125%, so use the link below.

Avianca’s LifeMiles is running a buy-miles-get-free-miles promotion right now, offering up to 140% bonus on miles bought.

If you are an existing LifeMiles member, you probably got the emailer offering 125% bonus, but Avianca is also running a similar promotion for readers of One Mile At A Time with a bigger bonus.

The promotion

LifeMiles will give anything between 105% to a whopping 140% bonus on the miles you buy. To achieve the 140% bonus, you will need to buy at least 101,000 miles, which is currently valued at USD3,333. At 140%, it will work out to USD 1.375 cent per mile.

You might have been targeted with an email offer giving up to 125%, but using this OMAAT link you can boost that bonus up to 140%.

Note that there is a maximum of 200,000 miles you can buy from LifeMiles each year, so the theoretical maximum of miles you can get is 480,000 miles for a cool USD6,600.

These are the bonuses depending on the number of miles you buy:

1,000 to 10,000 miles: 105% bonus
11,000 to 50,000 miles: 115% bonus
51,000 to 100,000 mile: 130% bonus
101,000 to 200,000 miles: 140% bonus

What is LifeMiles?

For the uninitiated, Avianca belongs to Star Alliance, so the miles are good for redemptions on the likes of Singapore Airlines, ANA, Lufthansa (why bother) and Air New Zealand.

While not as exciting as Alaska Air’s Mileage Plan, LifeMiles has also been offering pretty aggressive miles-buying promotions, lowering its usual 3.3 US cents per mile rate to below 2 US cents most times.

What is LifeMiles good for?

As mentioned above, LifeMiles can be used for Star Alliance redemptions. One good thing about LifeMiles is that they don’t charge fuel surcharge, so you pay a nominal cash fee for redemptions.

Some examples of redemptions out of Singapore:

Route	Miles required for one-way redemption
Route	Economy	Business	First
Singapore – Tokyo	20,000	36,000	50,000
Singapore – Hong Kong	20,000	36,000	50,000
Singapore – Sydney	22,500	40,000	60,000
Singapore – London	55,000	78,000	102,000

Final thoughts

According to some sources, this is definitely not the lowest price LifeMiles have ever gone – last year’s Black Friday sale saw LifeMiles selling for 1.32 cents apiece.

The usual recommendations apply, including buying miles only if you have a firm plan to fly. The LifeMiles search engine can be pretty challenging to use, so be very sure to find the inventory before buying the miles to use them.

If you have made your award booking through LifeMiles’ website, note that all changes and cancellations can only be done through their call centre, and the changes/cancellations will come with a fee. Also another thing to note is that LifeMiles will expire after 12 months of inactivity.

13 February 20

IHG runs 4X bonus points promotion for stays

Earn up to 301,000 bonus IHG points on stays between 15 February and 15 May 2020

IHG has launched another bonus points promotion, offering up to 4 times the base points you normally earn.

The mechanism

Upon registration, you will start earning bonus points on your stays during the promotion period between 15 Feb and 15 May 2020. The first stay will see you net an additional 1,000 points, while subsequent stays will depend on the number of nights you clocked, as well as the base rates.

The table of points earned is as below:

Nights	Base points earned	Bonus points earned
1st night	10 points per USD on base rate	1000 points
2nd to 5th night	10 points per USD on base rate	100% bonus*
6th to 14th night	10 points per USD on base rate	200% bonus*
15th night onwards	10 points per USD on base rate	300% bonus*

*You can only earn up to 100,000 bonus points under each category, for a total of 301,000 bonus points for the entire promotion period.

While the headline number is 4X bonus points, note that it is probably more accurate to say that it is the usual number of points, plus up to three times (or 300%) of that base number of points, to make the ‘4X’.

How much are IHG reward points worth?

This is the existential question of all miles & points collector, and as the saying goes, YMMV (your mileage may vary).

I value IHG Reward Club points at about 0.7 Singapore cents (US$0.05) per point, so as a base member you get essentially a $7 bonus on your first stay, and then a 5% rebate on your 2nd to 5th night, 10% for 6th to 14th night and 15% thereafter. This is a rather good value, given that other hotel chains almost don’t offer as much a point.

For the purpose of illustrations, these are the number of points you will need for an award booking in some of the Singapore IHG properties:

Six Senses Duxton, Superior Shophouse – 55,000 points
InterContinental Singapore, Deluxe Room – 50,000 points
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport, Deluxe Room – 40,000 points
Hotel Indigo Katong, Deluxe Room – 35,000 points

The fine print

Note that you will need to register for the promotion here first before you can earn the bonus points. Needless to say, this promotion cannot be applied retrospectively. All stays must be booked by 15th April and consumed by 15th May.

If the booking is more than one night, the average nightly rate will be used in calculating the bonus points. This is a crucial point if your stay cuts across the tresholds (e.g. from 2x bonus to 3x bonus).

The full terms and conditions of the offer can be found here.

5 February 20

Earn 500 miles for every referral you make to Krisflyer
Earn up to 31,000 miles if you become one of the top three referrers in the month of February.

To celebrate its 21st anniversary, Krisflyer has launched a member-get-member promotion, giving out bonus miles for referrers and those referred.

Earn up to 31,000 Krisflyer miles for referring new members

Each referral made will earn the referrer 500 miles if certain conditions are met, while new sign-ups will enjoy 500 miles, no questions asked.

The new sign-ups must be done between 31 January and 29 February to qualify for the promotion.

How to refer?

Very simple: simply go to Singaporeair.com and click on the ‘Sign Up’ link on the top right corner.

Sign up link on Singaporeair.com

There’s no personalised link to send out, but the new member will have to indicate the referrer’s Krisflyer number when signing up:

New members should remember to key in their referrer’s Krisflyer numbers when signing up

Some might find this a little cumbersome, but I think it’s a good way to prevent mass spamming of sign-up links we see on many websites and social media platforms today. To be a referrer, you will have to provide your Krisflyer number to someone (preferably someone you trust), so you will think twice before placing it on a public platform (such as this website).

Next, the new member must also put in the promo code KFBD21 in the Krisflyer Registration Promotion field:

Enter KFBD21 in this field. No code, no referral recorded, no miles!

Then, the new member will have to have a qualifying transaction on or before 31 May 2020, which can include:
1. Miles accrued or redeemed on flown flights on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot
2. Miles accrual from partners
3. Transfer of points from partner programmes to KrisFlyer
4. Submission of retrospective mileage claims for flown flights
5. KrisShop accrual transactions
6. KrisPay accrual transactions and miles conversions
New sign ups get 500 miles

For those who signed up during this promotional period, they get 500 miles upon signing up as long as they key in the promo code KFBD21 in the Krisflyer registration promotion field.

Referrers’ bonus miles capped at 10,000 miles; top referrers get additional 21,000 miles

If you are referring new members, note that you can only earn up to 10,000 miles, which makes 20 referrals. However, if you are one of the top referrers during the promotion period (31 Jan to 31 May), you will get an additional 21,000 miles.

When will I get the miles?

If you are a new member who just signed up, you will get the miles within 4 to 6 weeks after the sign-up promotional window (i.e. after 29 Feb).

If you are a referrer, you will only get the miles if those you referred make the eligible transaction by 31 May. The bonus miles will be credited 4 to 6 weeks after 31 May.

Final thoughts

While it’s common for Krisflyer (or any other frequent flyer programme for that matter) to offer sign-up bonuses, this is one of the rare times they are encouraging referrals.

Given the referral count is not based on a link but instead relies on new members to key in their referrers’ Krisflyer number, I suspect the participation rate may not be high, as it’s very likely to miss out either one of the fields and thereby voiding the referral. On top of that, the new member has to make a qualifying transaction to be counted as a valid referral.

I’ll be keen to know who even make the 20 successful referrals, which seems quite difficult to achieve!

Full details of the promotion, including terms and conditions can be found here.
1 February 20
Buy Alaska Air Mileage Plan miles and get 40% bonus miles
Get up to 40% bonus miles in the first sale of 2020

Alaska Air Mileage Plan has launched its first sale of the year, offering up to 40% bonus miles. The sale runs from now till 17 February 2020, 3.59pm Singapore Time.

Check out your offer here

The offer given to me is as below, but do check your own account as the offers may be personalised:
- Under 5,000 miles – no bonus
- 5,000 to 19,000 miles – 20% bonus
- 20,000 to 29,000 miles – 30% bonus
- 30,000 to 60,000 miles – 40% bonus
At the maximum purchase, you can buy 84,000 miles (60,000 + 24,000 bonus) at US$1,809.23 (tax included), working out to an average of 2.15 US cents per mile, or about 3 Singapore cents.

This is normally higher than what I’d recommend people to buy miles at, but there are good reasons to do so.

Price per mile has gone up

Alaska has quietly revised its prices for miles.

Previously, the base price of a mile is US$30 (S$40.50) per 1,000 miles before tax, but this has since gone up to US$30.25 (S$40.88), a 0.83% increase.

The increase is not linear though, as it varies accordig to how many miles you buy. For instance, the price previously was US$1,650 before tax for 60,000 miles, and this has since increased to US$1,683, a 2% increase.

With JAL trick gone, what is Alaska miles good for?

Pre-October 2019, the open secret out there is how you could use Alaska Air Mileage Plans for a cheap pseudo-roundtrip business class ticket from Southeast Asia to Japan, which will cost you under US$600 for the ride to Tokyo and back.

Japan Airlines business class

But good things don’t last, so the botched addition of Singapore Airlines redemption into the Alaska Air Mileage Plan has screwed things up for everyone else.

Despite that, there are still some pretty decent redemptions you can make with your Alaska miles, such as:
- One-way first class trip from Southeast Asia to USA on Cathay Pacific – 70,000 miles
- Intra-Australia Qantas business class – 20,000 miles (perfect for Perth to Sydney/Melbourne)
- One-way first class trip from Australia to USA on Qantas – 70,000 miles
Final thoughts

This is definitely not a spectacular sale, but a good time to start planning your holidays in 2020 if you haven’t done so. Of course, as we always advise, do not buy miles speculatively if you have no immediate use for them.

Remember, sale ends 17 February 2020, 3.59pm Singapore time.
25 January 20