Woman praises SIA for reinstating expired miles after mum’s passing, says airline ‘won a loyal customer’

Singaporean woman says Singapore Airlines ‘won a loyal customer’ for reinstating expired miles after mum’s death

A Singaporean woman has praised Singapore Airlines (SIA) for reinstating her late mother’s expired miles, a gesture she said brought comfort during a period of grief.

In an Instagram post on Friday (1 May), Audrey Yap, 41, shared that her mother had died in February while they were on holiday in Vietnam.

Before the trip, Ms Yap had booked two Singapore Airlines Suites first-class tickets for herself and her mother for a planned trip to China in June 2026.

Speaking to MS News, Ms Yap said her mother passed away on 20 Feb.

Following this, SIA refunded three tickets: the two Suites tickets for the June trip, as well as the unused return leg of their economy flight from Vietnam, which Audrey and her mother were unable to take.

Flights refunded, including unused return leg

In her post, Ms Yap wrote that she had booked an SIA first class flight with miles almost 10 months in advance, for June 2026.

After her mother’s passing, both Suites tickets were refunded.

SIA also refunded the return leg of Ms Yap’s economy flight from Da Nang on 20 Feb, which they did not manage to board.

She told MS News that the refund process took “a few weeks to a month”, as she only contacted the airline after settling the funeral arrangements.

Airline reinstated expired miles on request

Ms Yap later realised that some of her mother’s KrisFlyer miles had expired and could not be refunded.

She then made a separate request for the miles to be reinstated.

To her surprise, the airline restored the expired miles to her account.

“They didn’t have to reinstate the miles, but they did. Most loyalty programmes don’t have such policy even on compassionate grounds,” she said.

The reinstated miles were worth around S$113. While the amount was not large, Ms Yap said the gesture meant far more to her.

“The reinstated miles are small in terms of value, but I think I felt it was a simple act of compassion from the airline to grant my small request.”

She also stressed that she was not a high-tier customer, saying SIA’s gesture had won them a loyal customer.

“I’m not some super customer or elite KrisFlyer member,” she clarified. “I’m just like every other passenger putting in a small request.”

Says experience changed how she views Singapore Airlines

Ms Yap recalled speaking at length with a customer service officer, who informed her about the expired miles and offered to submit a reinstatement request on her behalf.

She later noticed that the miles had been restored to her account.

The experience left a lasting impression on her.

“For S$113, you won a loyal customer [because] in the lowest moment of my life, in my time of need, you were willing to put in an exception,” she wrote in her post.

People over Policy. Now, take my money, Singapore Airlines.

Shared story to highlight rare gesture

Ms Yap, a content creator who shares tips on personal finance and credit cards, said she decided to post about the experience because such reinstatements are uncommon.

“Typically, expired miles don’t get reinstated, so I was pleasantly surprised when it was, on compassionate grounds.”

She added that while she could not speak for other airlines, the experience changed how she viewed Singapore Airlines specifically.

Also read: Grieving passenger collapses onboard Singapore Airlines flight, expresses gratitude to staff for exemplary service

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Featured image adapted from @yourlobangsis on Instagram.