KrisFlyer Experiences launched back in January, but thanks to COVID-19, there hasn’t actually been an in-person event yet. A wine tasting set for 1 March was cancelled as the pandemic worsened, and since then, we’ve had to make do with a handful of online workshops.
But with Phase 3 now on the horizon, KrisFlyer Experiences is ready to get more adventurous. The latest series includes not just online workshops, but in-person dining as well. The thing is- none of them strike me as particularly good value.
Check out the latest KrisFlyer Experiences
What are the latest KrisFlyer Experiences?
Online Workshops
| Workshop | Cost | Dates |
| Rum Tasting | 13,000 miles | 17-Oct |
| Intro to Homebrewing Craft Beer (Session 1, 2, 3, 4) | 16,000 miles | 24-Oct, 25-Oct, 31-Oct, 1-Nov |
KrisFlyer Experiences will be running one rum tasting and four homebrewing sessions during October and early November.
The rum tasting session is led by Adam Bursik, bar manager from Shangri-La Hotel’s Origin Bar. Origin Bar has a collection of over 350 bottles of rum from more than 40 countries, one of the largest rum collections in Asia.
Participants in the rum tasting session will receive a rum tasting kit featuring four 25ml rums- Mount Gay XO Peat Smoke, Neisson Rhum 15 YO, El Dorado Enmore 1993 21 YO and Plantation Extreme No.3 Long Pond 22 YO. They will also receive a cocktail shaker set.
The homebrewing craft beer session includes a starter kit with a 2 gallon glass jar, a stick-on thermometer, a hydrometer with test tube, 3 PET bottles, a pack of Enzybrew 10 detergent, a bottle of Morgan’s sanitiser, a pack of carbonation drops, a pack of dry malt extract, a pack of hops, a pack of yeast, a stainless steel boiling pot, a mixing spoon, a bottle of 330ml of Lion Brewery Straits Pale Ale, and an instruction sheet.
It sounds like you could do some serious science with that, but the T&C state “Any homebrewed beer produced cannot be sold and must be for personal consumption”– no moonshining here!
Dining Experiences
| Restaurant | Menu | Cost |
| Candlenut | Ahmakase (2 people) | 28,000 miles |
| Nouri | Omakase (1 person) | 28,000 miles |
| Hashida Private Dining | Omakase (1 person) | 38,000 miles |
| Odette | Lunch Set Menu (1 person) | 38,000 miles |
| All dining experiences are valid from 20 October to 29 December 2020. Blackout dates apply | ||
This is the first time we’re seeing dining experiences offered, although the prices should make most people think twice.
For instance, you could spend 28,000 miles to redeem an “Ahmakase” (think Ahma + Omakase) set menu at Candlenut for two. This normally costs S$139 nett per pax (the price I have is from 2018, so it may have increased since), or S$278 total. This yields a rough valuation of 1 cent per mile, not something I’d necessarily jump on.
Or take Odette ,where a set lunch costs S$292 nett. If you opted to redeem 38,000 miles, you’d get a value of 0.77 cents per mile, again nothing to shout about. I understand that Hashida Private Dining charges upwards of S$141 nett for lunch and S$294 nett for dinner, so your 38,000 miles would get similarly poor value there too.
I think the bigger issue is I don’t see how these are “money-can’t-buy” experiences. If anything, you’re just pre-purchasing a dining voucher with your miles. What I was hoping would happen is guests get behind the scenes access, maybe a kitchen tour, a chat with the head chef, the chance to have a custom dish made for them, anything that would set this apart from a run-of-the-mill visit.
Conclusion
While these options may be viable for someone who finds him/herself with a surplus of miles and doesn’t mind offloading some, the significant haircut you take means you might be better off paying in cash instead.
I do hope that Phase 3 brings more interesting events, or at least some where you get a truly unique experience.
