Using Krisflyer miles on other airlines?

[Krisflying]

I've relocated from Singapore to New Jersey and have about 100,000 Krisflyer miles.

I have no plans to fly to Asia for the forseeable future, but have family in Switzerland whom I could go and visit.

SIA flies from JFK to Frankfurt, but that route is inconvenient for me; I know that from Newark airport there are Star Alliance partners; United/Continental Airlines, Swiss and Lufthansa (with a connection) which could get me to Zurich.

Has anyone used their Krisflyer miles to use on partner airlines? Can this be done on their website or do I have to go via a SIA callcenter? I've never done this before and I'd appreciate any suggestions!

[jalanperak]

You can use Krisflyer miles on any Star Alliance carrier. I've used my on United and Lufthansa before.

[Krisflying]

Thank you for your reply; however the new re-vamped SIA website is a nightmare!

How did you book your flights by using your Krisflyer award miles? Did you book online?

Another possibility is to book an economy ticket and use the award miles to upgrade - not sure how to do this as I know some classes of tickets have restrictions.

I've heard about the glitches with the SIA website so I'm a bit wary TBH.

[cmdsea]

And generally redemption availability is much better on partner airlines rather than SQ and they also add far in fuel surcharges and taxes/fees that SQ seem to manage to add even to supposedly "free" award tickets.

Dont forget you can also mix and match, ie, fly outbound on Continental (UA) and back on Swiss etc. You will need to call the US call center to check on availability though. This cannot be done online. It helps if your dates are flexible...

[Lester25]

I used Krisflyer miles to book Air NZ flights quite easily. You call the SIA redemptions call centre and book over the phone. The number should be found on the SIA web site. Its worth having the details of the flights you want (dates, flight numbers, etc) with you and having some fallback options in case your first preferences aren't available

[Kafka]

Agree with all PP, used my miles on South African Airways... go through the call center, they will check availability live while on the phone... that said, be prepared that all your 100K may be fully used as the conversion factor is not favorable when you use your miles with an airlines partner vs. using with SQ... I remember I "paid" 35K miles for a round trip J'burg-Durban in economy class...

[cmdsea]

A star Alliance award North America - Europe using Krisflyer miles is 95,000  round trip so the OP should be home and dry.. 

Remember the mantra..

Earn in Economy & burn in Business

Mileage redemptions in premium cabins is always much more bang for your buck than economy. Ie mileage increase is usually 50-100% whereas cost increase for a paid ticket is usually 200-500% depending on the route. Upgrade awards are usually a bad deal as its only the higher priced fare buckets that are eligible for upgrade..

[jalanperak]

Like others, I've always redeemed my miles either through the call center or the PPS service centre.