How VX Elevate Points are Superior to KrisFlyer Miles on Short-haul Redemptions
Before anyone asks the question, I am going to say this and hopefully only once - you can redeem Virgin America (VX) Elevate Points on Singapore Airlines (SQ) flights (you are however subjected to a smaller inventory and getting Suites on VX Points is actually impossible). With that being said, you may be saving a lot of your precious miles if you use VX points (and money too!) to redeem for short-haul flights. To put things into perspective, consider the differences in points (and miles!) required to get from Singapore to Denpasar (Bali) on Singapore Airlines via the VX Elevate and SQ KrisFlyer programmes.
SIN to DPS (One-way) on SQ Metal
Virgin America - Elevate Points
Economy: 3,800 Points + US$34
Business: 7,800 Points + US$34
The chart above denotes the number of VX Elevate Points required to fly from Singapore to Denpasar (Bali) on Singapore Airlines. To get from SIN to DPS in Economy, you will require 3,800 VX Elevate Points + US$14 (Taxes and Carrier Imposed Fees) + US$20 (VX Call Centre Fees). Unfortunately, you are not able to redeem on partner airlines on VX itself and therefore, every redemption that you make over the phone will incur at least a US$20 fee on top of what is listed on the chart above.
Singapore Airlines - KrisFlyer Miles
Economy: 6,375 KF Miles + S$82.80
Business: 14,875 KF Miles + S$101.80
One of the best things about redeeming KrisFlyer (KF) Miles on Singapore Airlines (and SilkAir) is the 15% off required miles if you complete the redemption online. While 17,500 KF Miles are required to fly from SIN to DPS in Business, you will only require 14,875 KF Miles if you do the redemption online.
In the simple example above, you can see that it makes more economical sense to redeem an SQ Flight using VX Elevate Points (instead of SQ KrisFlyer Miles) on a short-haul flight. At the time of writing, US$34 is approximately S$46 and even after all the potential credit card fees that will be levied upon this transaction (for the sake of this example, let's overestimate it dramatically to be at S$50 after fees), you are still better off with using VX Elevate Points.
ECONOMY SIN - DPS (ONE-WAY): VX - 3,800 Points + S$50 | SQ - 6,375 Miles + S$82.80
BUSINESS SIN - DPS (ONE-WAY): VX - 7,800 Points + S$50 | SQ - 14,875 Miles + S$101.80
Before you go off and start crediting your SQ flights on your VX Elevate program, be sure to check the booking class to find out exactly how many VX Elevate Points you will be earning. More importantly, you should know that VX Elevate Points are only more superior for short-haul redemptions on SQ - the KrisFlyer program is still a decent one and one that I personally subscribe to! For a quick way to earn VX Elevate Points, make a hotel booking on Rocketmiles before 31 October 2016 (there is a promo that you can take advantage of to earn 3,000 bonus VX Elevate Points on your first eligible booking).
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