A stopover turns one redemption into two destinations, if the programme permits it. Singapore Airlines sets out what it permits in the KrisFlyer Terms and Conditions, in four provisions: a table of entitlements by award type, a 30-day ceiling, a 2022 date that closed the paid option, and a second and tighter rulebook that applies the moment a Star Alliance partner is in the itinerary. They sit in different sections and do not always agree, so the order below matters.
Your award type decides
Singapore Airlines publishes the entitlement as a table of award types against trip shape. Your route, cabin and tier do not change the figure.
| Saver Awards | Advantage Awards | Access Redemption | |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-way | No stopover | 1 stopover | 1 stopover |
| Round trip | 1 stopover | 2 stopovers | 2 stopovers |
| Ticket validity | 12 months | 12 months | 12 months |
The one-way Saver is the only empty cell. Redeem the cheapest award one direction at a time and you have no stopover entitlement. Check which award you hold before you plan around one.
Access Redemption matches Advantage, not Saver. It is Singapore Airlines’ newer redemption ticket, and the terms define it narrowly: tickets “marketed by Singapore Airlines as Access Redemption tickets”, redeemable at rates set “in the booking flow on singaporeair.com”, and “available only on flights operated and marketed by Singapore Airlines.” Codeshares are out in both directions, whoever markets and whoever operates. Inside that fence it carries the same stopover count as the more expensive Advantage award.
Thirty days, then two bookings
“Complimentary stopovers are only permitted for durations of up to 30 days.” Inside that window the stopover costs nothing beyond the award, and you can build it yourself: the terms say such stopovers “may be added via singaporeair.com”.
Past 30 days the itinerary stops being one award. “Two separate redemption bookings will be required for stopovers of more than 30 days for award redemption tickets issued on or after 1 August 2022.” That is no fee and no refusal. It is two redemptions priced independently, each against its own award chart, each with its own 12-month validity.
A month in Singapore on the way to Europe is one award. Five weeks is two.
Paid stopovers ended in 2022
“Paid stopovers are not permitted for tickets issued after 1 August 2022.” The terms say it again from the other direction: “Additional stopovers are no longer permitted for award redemption tickets issued on or after 1 August 2022 regardless of the class of travel.”
You cannot buy your way past the table at any price, in any cabin, on any route. Guides and forum posts from before that date describe an option that no longer exists. The terms do not say what it cost, so neither do we.
Star Alliance awards
Star Alliance awards carry extra conditions, and they are tighter in four ways.
Round trips only. “One complimentary en route stopover is permitted for round-trip awards”, and “complimentary stopovers are not permitted for one-way awards.” One stopover, not two, and none on a one-way.
A stopover cancels the one-way discount. A one-way Star Alliance award costs half a round trip, “provided there is no stopover included in the one-way award itinerary.” The half-price one-way and the stopover are alternatives.
Geographic exclusions. Complimentary stopovers are “not permitted in a purely domestic itinerary, or within the country of departure in an international itinerary”. They are also “not permitted if an itinerary contains only European cities, or is between the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands.”
The first sentence catches people. A stopover inside your own country of departure is excluded even when the trip is international. Leave Los Angeles, break for three days in San Francisco, then fly on to Asia, and that is not a stopover you can build, whatever your entitlement says.
Trip shape.
- A maximum of six travel segments per itinerary.
- One origin or destination open-jaw on a round trip, with “en route open-jaws are not permitted”.
- Side trips need a separate award ticket.
- Backtracking is not permitted, and travel “must be made via the most direct route.”
What counts as a stopover
The terms define it only in the Star Alliance conditions:
A stopover is defined as a connection above four hours in an itinerary within or between the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico or U.S. Virgin Islands, or a connection above 24 hours in all other itineraries.
So the thresholds are four hours within or between the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and 24 hours everywhere else.
A 22-hour connection at Changi on an Asia or Europe itinerary is not a stopover. It uses none of your entitlement, needs no declaring, and is allowed on a one-way Saver that gets no stopover. You will spend a night in the terminal or pay for a hotel to get out of it.
A 5-hour connection in Chicago on a US itinerary is a stopover, and on an award with no entitlement left it is a problem.
Upgrade awards
Redeeming miles to upgrade a paid ticket has its own clause, which lists the entitlement in sentences instead of a table:
- One-way Saver upgrade: no complimentary stopover.
- Round-trip Saver upgrade: one.
- One-way Advantage upgrade: one.
- Round-trip Advantage upgrade: two.
The 30-day ceiling and the August 2022 closure are restated in the same words. The four figures match the table above cell for cell, so an upgrade plan runs on the same numbers as a redemption plan.
Round the World awards are no longer sold
The terms still carry the Round the World rules, the most generous stopover allowance Singapore Airlines ever published: “a maximum of seven complimentary stopovers”, once per city and no more than twice in any one country, inside 35,000 miles of travel and 16 segments. Surface sectors are permitted but count against the seven, and “you may not purchase additional stopovers.”
A footnote states that Round the World Awards “will not be available for ticketing via Singapore Airlines from 1 May 2024”, and that tickets issued before that date remain valid. For a new trip this is history.
What the airline does not date
The terms carry no published revision date. The page says members are “responsible for keeping themselves informed of the current Terms and Conditions” and that Singapore Airlines may modify them “at our sole discretion without prior notice”. There is no “last updated” stamp, so open the page yourself on the day you book. We checked it on the date at the top of this article.
The 4-hour and 24-hour definition sits in the Star Alliance section. It is the only place the terms define “stopover”, but it is under the heading for partner awards, not the general redemption rules. We do not claim it governs a Singapore Airlines-only itinerary in identical terms. If your plan turns on a connection just either side of 24 hours on an all-Singapore Airlines award, ask KrisFlyer Membership Services before you ticket.
For what else KrisFlyer contains, including what the Elite tiers cost and carry, see our guide to KrisFlyer for travelers who fly Singapore Airlines once. For the equivalent rules on the other big Asian Star Alliance programme, see ANA award tickets and the rules that decide what you can book.