Members of Singapore KrisFlyer can now redeem miles for one-way awards on select Star Alliance partner airlines and Mexicana. Previously, one-way awards were allowed only for travel on Singapore Airlines or Silkair. The number of miles required for a one-way flight is half of the miles needed for a roundtrip award. One-way awards can be combined with a purchased ticket so you can pay cash for one leg and miles on the return flight, an option that gives members more flexibility when redeeming miles. One-way awards on the following Star Alliance carriers are now available: Adria Airways, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, bmi, Egyptair, Lufthansa, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways. According to the FAQ on the airline’s Web site, “work is in progress to make one-way awards available on all Star Alliance carriers.”

Star Alliance award charts have been revamped and awards are now calculated according to 12 zones instead of the previous 14 zones and award levels on some zones have been revised. While most awards aren’t changing, North America 1 and North America 2 are being combined into one North America category and awards to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver are now more expensive from many departure cities. For example, it will now cost 80,000 miles to fly coach between Singapore and Los Angeles (from 70,000); 140,000 miles in business (from 120,000) and 200,000 miles in first (from 180,000). Award charts from Delta Air Lines, Mexicana and Virgin Atlantic have also been revised. Visit http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?2008 to view all of the changes.