Chase Ultimate Rewards Adds on Singapore Airlines a New Partner

Just last week Chase added a new transfer partner to their Ultimate Rewards program – Singapore Airlines. This is the 6th airline partner to the program (the other transfer airline partners are British Airways, Southwest, Korean Air, United, and Virgin Atlantic).

This is a great addition to the program as the Singapore Airlines loyalty program KrisFlyer can be very valuable – even for those who do not want to go to Singapore! Since Singapore Airlines is part of Star Alliance, that opens up another opportunity to use your Chase Ultimate Reward points on Star Alliance partners.

How to use your Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer points:

• Flying on Singapore Airlines: You can fly to Singapore from Houston, LA, New York, and San Francisco. All of these routes now include a stop (the direct New York to Singapore flight no longer exists). The award chart differs based on if you are flying from the East Coast or West Coast of the US. You can also fly Singapore Airlines from the US to Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, Frankfurt, and Moscow.  The award chart also differs based on if you are flying from the East Coast or West Coast of the US.
• Flying on a StarAlliance partner: Singapore Airlines’s award chart has some favorable redemption opportunities for partner airlines. Here is the StarAlliance award chart. For example, you can fly from the continental US to Hawaii for 35,000 miles roundtrip. Or 55,000 miles roundtrip to Europe! Both of these are for economy class seats, but if you are looking for a discount in business class you can use your points for domestic United flights in the US for only 40,000 points. While all of these routes are less expensive then most other airlines, pay attention to the fuel surcharges on some international flights as it could be pricey.
• Flying on Virgin America, Virgin Australia, and Virgin Atlantic: 
  • Virgin America: The number of miles needed to redeem for a free flight depends on your destination. To fly from the East Coast to West Coast is 20,000 miles each way in coach which is not a good deal. But if you want to fly between two West Coast destinations it is only 9,000 miles each way (although using your British Airways Avios points is a better deal). Award chart.
  • Virgin Australia: You can always use your points to fly Virgin Australia. These are for flights within Australia as well as New Zealand, Papa New Guinea & Pacific Islands, Asia, Middle East, and North America. Award chart.
  • Virgin Atlantic: Chase Ultimate Rewards can be transferred directly to Virgin Atlantic’s loyalty program, but you can also use them to redeem KrisFlyer points on Virgin Atlantic flights. If you are looking to fly Virgin Atlantic, I suggest you compare the two award charts against each other to see which one will cost you less points and taxes/surcharges. Award chart. 

Things to know:

• You can book award flights for Singapore Airline flights online, however, if you are looking to redeem points on a partner airline you will need to call for this reservation. The number is 213-404-0301.
• If you make your reservation online you can get a 15% discount on the award rate (only applies to Singapore Airlines and SilkAir reservations as you cannot book partner awards online)
• The following routes do not have fuel surcharges: Avianca/TACA, TAM, Virgin America, and domestic Virgin Australia flights, and domestic United flights.
• You can also transfer points to Singapore Airlines from American Express Membership Rewards and Starwood Guest Preferred.
• You are allowed one free stop-over on roundtrip awards.
• Chase states that it will take up to 2 business days for points to transfer, but reports have shown about 24 hours.

I’m very excited about a new partner to the program and hope more partners continue to be added!

 You can read more about the Chase Ultimate Rewards loyalty program here.