Should I use Krisflyer miles or pay cash during Singapore airlines sale?

[doublea]

Hi all

There is a Singapore airlines sale on right now. I was planning on redeeming a couple of flights (Melbourne - Singapore, Singapore - Haneda), but am wondering whether I should pay cash instead of using my points

How do I calculate whether it’s more worth it to use my points or cash?

Thanks!

[w.hiew]

Hi there,

Please have a look at this previous post of a similar question. It should give you an idea on how to calculate the cents per point (cpp).

If you have further questions after, please reach out with some further information like prices and routes.

Is it better to pay fully with points or points+cash for Krisflyer?

Hi all, Does the relative value of Kris Flyer points vary depending on whether you pay for a flight in full versus mixing and matching with money and points? I ask because we are flying as a family of 4 to Europe this August (economy), and I wonder whether it is worth using our KrisFlyer points to get a modest discount on the overall cost of the return flightsfor all 4 of us, or whether we should save them to pay for a single flight in full, if the overall monetary saving is greater. Any advi…

[doublea]

Thanks very much @w.hiew

The flights I’m looking at are:

1. Melbourne ↔ Singapore = $3642.12 or (232,000 miles + $758.92 taxes)
2. Singapore ↔ Haneda = $3896.85 or (204,000 miles + $465.95 taxes)

Using the formula in your other post, the CPP is:

1. (364212 - 75892) / 232000 = 1.2428 cpp
2. (389685 - 46595) / 204000 = 1.6818 cpp

With my Amex explorer card, I earn 2 membership rewards per $1. or 2/3 Krisflyer miles per $1

So my earning cpp is 100 *3 / 2 = 150 cpp

Have I calculated this right? My earning cpp is much much less than my spend cpp.

[w.hiew]

Hi there,

If you were willing to pay those cash price, that is exactly how the spend value in cpp.

For calculating earn costs in cpp, it is actually based on how much you are willing to pay to earn the points. So think credit card surcharges charged by some retailers or services that charge you a fee to pay some invoices with credit card.

If they charge 1.5% surcharge and your card earns 1 airline point for every dollar spent, you have paid 1.5 cent for earning that 1 point. So your earn cost for that transaction is 1.5cpp.

If your average earn costs is 1.5cpp, you would want your redemption value to be at least 2 to 2.5cpp. If your redemption value is less than 1.5cpp, you would be better off using cash instead of “buying”/paying to earn points.

Hope that makes sense.