Just received an email from Singapore Airlines:
As part of a regular review of our programme, there will be a change in the conversion rate between KrisFlyer miles and Velocity Points from 1 January 2019. You will receive 1 Velocity Point for every 1.55 KrisFlyer miles converted, and vice versa.
I'm guessing the flight award costs are still going to be the same, so SQ flight availability directly through Velocity (vs transferring then redeeming) is going to be close to none now…
This is a real devaluation of Velocity points for me, as I only want them for Singapore Airlines redemptions. Velocity
redemptions for SQ have dried up, and so I need to transfer to KrisFlyer. And so all of those Velocity Points sellers out there need to get their skates on too, or transfer them to KF ready to sell redemptions.
Good advise Peck,
Kris flyer cannot be transferred between family either, wonder how people will be able to sell kris flyer points?
You would have to sell a redemption to a 'Redemption nominee'.
On your KF account:-
"Pick up to five people as your redemption nominees, and use your KrisFlyer miles so they can enjoy award tickets and flight upgrades too. Once you add someone, you can't delete or replace them for six months. While adding a new nominee is free, you will need to pay a fee (in miles or cash) to delete or replace a nominee after six months. A flat fee is charged for each transaction whether you delete or replace one or more nominees."
I would have thought the cost of SQ flights booking through Velocity would increase to limit the arbitrage opportunities. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Tempted to transfer without any redemptions in mind…
Thinking of doing the same - haven't planned on any trips yet but I'm sure I could take one within the 3 years that the KF miles expire.
Often spoken about, I think that redemptions are best value if wanting business class.
I don't like overnight international flying in economy. And so I use KF points for Business class from or via Singapore to Australia.
I am unlikely to use Velocity points in Australia, because I rarely travel domestically, and even if I did, I would not need business class for such short flights.
Oh for sure!
I've just always kept my Velocity points until I knew I wanted to use them before transferring them over, but this ~13% increase is going to make that difficult. I have a stack of points I'll probabaly transfer over before the end of year..
Need to find a new credit card for KF miles now.
been saving up for RTW tickets for two in velocity points, this is devastating news :(
correct me if i'm wrong.. but it doesn't change the points required to do a reward booking w/ velocity points? so it's not the worst devaluation? There are cases where converting to krisflyer is ahead. i know KF will give more spots likely and more flexibility though
KF has A LOT more availability. The conversion though kept open the option of snagging cheaper Velocity redemptions vs availability. Once changes occur that is no longer an option. Furthermore I am sure velocity may change redemption rates for SQ (Or severely limited reward availability)
It's a shame it's going but nothing lasts forever. Now to quickly transfer over to SQ before eoy.
https://www.ausbt.com.au/virgin-australia-adds-carrier-charg…
gets worst
Virgin Australia will add new 'carrier charge' fees onto tickets booked using Velocity Frequent Flyer points, increasing the cash >component of a points-based reward booking by up to $460 per person based on a return flight.
The new fees apply to Virgin Australia reward flights booked from January 1 2019.
anyone here looking to sell 40600 KF miles? Please PM me!
1.3 cent rate!
You will have better luck buying 54,810 velocity points at 1 cent/point and then transfer it to Krisflyer
lol that's less than 1cpp for VFF. Who would take up this offer?
hope you guys haven't forgotten about this ;)
transfer by the end of the year to avoid devaluation.
Re-evaluation is such BS marketing spin… it is more a DEvaluation.
Now, at least they're are giving us close to three months notice.
Best to get your skates on and transfer them to SQ KF before the close of 2018.
And thank you for the post and heads up!