1 day ago
First, I discovered my account had been closed by Singapore Airlines a year ago. After re-registering, I found I couldn't search for award tickets.
A quick search revealed that they now require a 1,000-mile balance in your account before you're allowed to search.
Considering they'll also close your account for having no activity, that's really something else.
This threshold may also depend on account status—for example, newly registered and reactivated accounts may have different search permissions, so it's worth discussing each case separately.
You mentioned that your account was closed a year ago—could you share roughly how long it had been inactive before that? Also, when you signed up again, did you use the same email or a new one? These details may affect how your search permissions are currently assessed.
Account registration rules can vary by region, so it's best to check with local customer service first to confirm.
Looked at from another angle, the 1,000-mile threshold may also be filtering out pure search users—but at the cost of inadvertently penalizing long-time users whose accounts were just closed.
Does the 1,000 miles have to stay in the account at all times, or is it enough to have a single redemption on record? Also, roughly how much does it cost to come up with those 1,000 miles, and is it worth putting that in upfront just to be able to search?
With no promotions, account closures, and search barriers in place, existing users are basically impossible to retain.
First, confirm whether the newly registered account has passed the cooldown period; otherwise, you won't be able to search even if you have miles.