How To Make the Most of KrisFlyer’s 25th Anniversary Promotions

KrisFlyer is 25 years old this month, but you get the presents! Here’s my rundown of the various promotions and how to get the most out of them.

In February 1999, Singapore Airlines launched KrisFlyer, which replaced the joint frequent flyer programme called 'Passages' which it shared with Cathay Pacific and Malaysia Airlines.

Now 25 years old, KrisFlyer has just over eight million members worldwide, who can earn miles at more than 1,300 non-airline brands operating over 3,300 outlets.

KrisFlyer is marking the occasion with a month-long series of offers and promotions. It’s a great opportunity to save money and earn bonus miles when booking Singapore Airlines flights or shopping with its on-ground channels like KrisShop, Kris+ and Pelago.

In this post, I’ll walk you through all the offers, and how to get the most out of them.

Table of Content

• Earn 50% bonus miles on SIA flights
• KrisShop Bonus Miles
• Earn Status Credits Without Flying
• Pelago Bonus Miles
• Kris+ Bonus Rebates
• Enjoy an Extra Month for Spontaneous Escapes

Earn 50% bonus miles on SIA flights

Singapore Airlines is offering a generous 50% bonus mileage accrual on all flights booked from 1 to 10 February 2024 and flown from 1 July to 30 November 2024. 

Earn a 50% bonus on the usual mileage accrual, capped at 5,000 miles

This offer applies to commercial tickets (not award redemptions) purchased on singaporeair.com or the SIA mobile app, operated by Singapore Airlines in any cabin class, even the deep-discount Economy Value and Lite buckets.

The maximum bonus you can earn is capped at 5,000 miles per segment, but it’s impossible to trigger this cap on any Economy Class fare anyway (Singapore Airlines does not operate any single segment longer than 10,000 miles).

Here’s a simple illustration of how the bonuses stack up. Suppose you purchase a one-way ticket from Singapore to San Francisco in Economy Standard (actual distance flown: 8,440 miles). You would earn:

• 6,330 miles from the ticket itself (‘H’ class fares accumulate 75% of actual miles flown)
• 3,165 miles from the 50% bonus promotion

You can expect to see the bonus miles posted up to four weeks after the flight is completed.

When booking your air tickets, don’t forget to pay with a Mastercard for a chance to win up to one million miles.

• 1st prize: 1,000,000 KrisFlyer miles
• 2nd prize: 500,000 KrisFlyer miles
• 3rd prize: 250,000 KrisFlyer miles

Once you’ve booked your ticket, you can register to participate here. Winners will be drawn on 19 February 2024 and notified within seven days.

Recommended credit cards for Singapore Airlines tickets

KrisShop Bonus Miles

From 1 to 14 February 2024, Singapore Airlines’ online shopping portal KrisShop will give a flat 250 bonus miles for every S$25 spent with a Mastercard. This is capped at 5,000 bonus miles per member, or S$500 of spending.

Don’t forget that you can earn an extra 2 mpd on all your KrisShop purchases simply by signing up for the free-to-join KrisShopper programme.

Recommended credit cards for KrisShop

Earn Status Credits Without Flying

During the COVID period when international travel was all but impossible, Singapore Airlines launched a campaign to allow KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to earn Elite miles and PPS Value through on-ground activities. This enabled them to qualify or requalify for elite status without actually having to fly.

Unfortunately, ever since borders reopened, the only way to earn status credits is through butt-in-seat miles. But for a limited time, Singapore Airlines is bringing back on-ground status credit earning, albeit in limited quantities.

From 1 March to 31 May 2024, KrisFlyer and PPS Club members will be able to earn Elite miles and PPS Value for spending with Kris+, KrisShop and Pelago.

• KrisFlyer members will earn 1 Elite mile per S$1 spent, capped at 5,000 Elite miles
• PPS Club members will earn 1 PPS Value per S$3 spent, capped at 2,500 PPS Value

Do note that Elite miles and PPS Value will only be awarded for cash spending. If you choose to redeem your KrisFlyer miles on these three platforms (which is a bad idea!), the equivalent dollar value will not earn you any status credits. 

No one’s going to be qualifying for KrisFlyer Elite Gold or PPS Club through this campaign alone - the cap represents just 10% of the qualification/requalification threshold. However, if you’re struggling to hit the required amount, this can help you cross the finish line.

Pelago Bonus Miles

Pelago is Singapore Airlines’ activities booking platform, which offers tours and attraction tickets (think of it like Klook or KKday).

From 1 to 14 February 2024, the first 1,500 new or existing Pelago users to spend S$100 in a single transaction will earn 2,500 bonus miles on top of the usual 3 mpd earn rate.

From 15 to 29 February 2024, Pelago will offer a 25% miles redemption discount for experiences. However, I’d advise against participating because the value of 0.88 cents per mile is inferior to a flight redemption.

Recommended credit cards for Pelago

Kris+ Bonus Rebates

If you’re not already using Kris+, you’re missing out because it’s an opportunity to earn extra miles at more than 500 merchants islandwide, at no additional cost. Not only do you earn miles from Kris+ itself, you can also stack an extra 4 to 6 mpd from the right credit card.

To celebrate KrisFlyer’s 25th anniversary, the first 2,500 users to spend a minimum of S$100 on Kris+ using Mastercard will get an instant rebate of S$25 in KrisPay miles.

Recommended credit cards for Kris+

Enjoy an Extra Month for Spontaneous Escapes

Singapore Airlines runs a popular monthly promotion called KrisFlyer Spontaneous Escapes, which offers 30% off Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class awards to selected destinations.

If you’ve read my previous column on Spontaneous Escapes, you’ll know that travel must usually take place in the following calendar month (e.g. January’s Spontaneous Escapes must be flown in February) - hence the name.

For those of you who struggle to take leave at such short notice, here’s the good news: February’s Spontaneous Escapes (which will be released on 15 February 2024) will be valid for travel in March and April 2024.

Conclusion

KrisFlyer’s 25th anniversary celebrations have something for everyone, and I’m particularly looking forward to an extra month of flexibility for Spontaneous Escapes awards. 

Be sure to use the right credit card for your bookings to stack extra miles on top of the offers, and act quickly on those with limited quantities available.