This is fairly big news for point geeks that use Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer as one of their primary programs. When is Asia Miles gonna follow suit? It's gonna suck when they do!
The main changes I can see are as follows:
- The "permanent" 15% off redemption points for bookings made online will be removed permanently - quite a blow
- Fuel & insurance surcharges will be removed - this will probably drop the cash component of redemption fares by quite a bit, seeing as they were pretty high before
- The redemption rates for Saver Awards for Zone 7, 9, 11, 12, 13 for First, Business and Economy cabin classes are increasing
Those of us living in the Eastern states of Australia sit in Zone 9, so we will be directly affected by this change in a negative way (from the point of view of points cost). I can't see/find an easy way to see what the cash component of these redemption fares will be after March 23. To me, if the cash saving offsets the increase in points cost, then I'll consider it to be a net neutral change. As far as I can see right now though, it doesn't sound positive.
For anyone looking to redeem/book in the near future, book by March 23 to ensure you are still charged the "old rates". Best you do a comparison to the new points & cash rate (if you can) to see if what's more worth it, but I would assume in most cases the old rates are favourable!
didn't seem like the price in points was going up toooooo much and the dropping of the fuel surcharge is great