Last week, Singapore Airlines released its latest round of Spontaneous Escapes and it’s a good one. With these deals, you can combine discounted awards to reach some awesome destinations but also include a stop in Singapore.
If you’ve never been to Singapore, perhaps the cheapest Michelin starred restaurant could persuade you. Of course, Singapore is also home to the 8th most Michelin starred restaurants in the world and has plenty more for you to do during a stopover.
Spontaneous Escapes Recap
While I won’t get into the nitty-gritty — since we’ve already covered that, I do want to quickly recap a few details of the Singapore Spontaneous Escapes offers. The main story is that you can get up to 50% off of flight bookings using points in economy and business class; and you can book business class award for the rates you’d regularly pay for economy. A complete list of the routes, rates, and blackout dates can be found on Singapore Airlines’ promo page.
To book at the discounted redemption rate, you must book your travel by February 28, 2019. You must also travel during the month of March, with one exception which we’ll discuss shortly.
Remember, you won’t be able to include connections on partner airlines such as Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, SWISS or United as these deals are strictly for specific flights on Singapore Airlines. On the bright side, Singapore Airlines does not tack on carrier-imposed — “fuel” — surcharges on its own flights so that will keep the cash cost low.
Let’s start with what I think is the best Spontaneous Escapes option this month, flying in business class from Europe to Australia via Singapore — with a stopover, of course — for as little as 58,000 KrisFlyer miles.
To book, you’ll need to start your journey from Barcelona or Rome and book an award to Singapore then book a separate award from Singapore to Melbourne, Sydney, or Perth. The business class promo rate from Europe to Singapore is 38,000 KrisFlyer miles which is nearly 60% off the usual rate of 92,000 miles!
To add a flight to Perth, you’ll only need an additional 20,000 KrisFlyer miles while a business class award flight to Sydney or Melbourne in only 28,000 miles. Just think about that, you can book a one-way business class award that includes a stop in Singapore and lets you see Sydney for a total of 66,000 miles instead of the usual 116,000 KrisFlyer miles.
For those based in Europe, this is a fantastic way to fly to Australia since Amex’s UK Membership Rewards points can be transferred to Singapore KrisFlyer at a 1:1 ratio. Of course, those in Australia could book the reverse.
If you’re from the U.S. and enjoy booking around the world adventures, this could be just what you need to piece together an amazing trip.
If you’re looking for something simple from the U.S., you won’t find any business class award discounts this time but you can book premium economy from Los Angeles to Singapore. Of course, after a stop in Singapore, you could jet off to Australia or Europe in business class at the amazing rates we just discussed.
While the regular premium economy award rate from Los Angeles to Singapore is 68,000 KrisFlyer miles, you can fly for 38,000 miles if you travel between March 1 and April 30, 2019. While you can’t book business class, you do get an additional month of eligible travel dates.
While a 17-hour flight without the ability to lie down might not be everyone’s thing, Singapore’s premium economy gets great reviews. If nothing else, you’ll appreciate the catering including their famous Book the Cook option which lets you pre-order your preferred meals up to 24 hours before travel. Additionally, you’ll get a wider seat and more legroom complete with a leg and footrest.
Now, you just have to decide if you want to hop around Asia — there’s a promo award to Hong Kong, pop down to Australia, or head to Europe after you visit Singapore.
Think about what you could do with that. You could use cheap cash flights to hop around Asia after a visit to Singapore then fly to Europe in business class for an additional 38,000 miles.
That’s 72,000 KrisFlyer miles to get you to Asia in premium economy and Europe in business class. It often takes nearly that many miles to get from the U.S. to Europe in business class.
To get the promo redemption rate, you won’t be able to book from Europe to Australia, the U.S. to Europe, and what not. Instead, you’ll need to book the segments separately if you want to get the promo rate.
This will apply whether you want to book a one-way trip or a round-trip award. Either way, you’ll need to book separate awards to make this work. If you want to book a round-trip from Europe to Australia, you’ll need to book a round-trip between Barcelona or Rome to Singapore AND a round-trip between Singapore and Sydney, Melbourne, Perth.
One of the things I really like I about these promo awards is that you can pair one-way awards to include a stopover at no extra charge. Typically, one-way saver awards on Singapore Airlines require a $100-ish fee if you want to include a stopover.
To search for space, head over to Singapore Airlines. Make sure you select Redeem Flights before running the search otherwise you’ll be looking for cash tickets. Enter your origin/destination, dates, and class of service. We also recommend selecting Flexible Travel Dates which will show you whether saver award space is available across seven days.
This will make it easier to find a date with space and, if there are multiple options, let you choose the one that works best for you.
How To Earn Singapore KrisFlyer Miles
While Singapore KrisFlyer has devalued to the point that their award rates aren’t the most competitive, they have one advantage in that they have a bunch of bank transfer partners which makes it pretty easy to earn miles.
Several banks offer a variety of cards that earn points which can be transferred to Singapore KrisFlyer including American Express (Learn More), Chase (Learn More), Citi, and Capital One (Learn More). You can also transfer Marriott points (Learn More) at a 3:1 ratio with a bonus of 5,000 miles when you transfer 60,000 points — 60,000 points gets you 25,000 miles.
Amex Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, and Citi ThankYou Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio and will be your best options. Transfers are not instant and often take up to 24 hours to process.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve been wanting to try business class on Singapore Airlines or just wanted to visit Singapore or Australia, you’re not going to find a better award rate than you will with Spontaneous Escapes. It’s the perfect excuse to take a long weekend, a week, or maybe even two weeks to go explore.
