Singapore Airlines introduces KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards; adds Elite Miles accrual on Scoot

Singapore Airlines has kicked off 2021 by adding some new features to its KrisFlyer program, in the form of KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards and Elite Miles accrual on Scoot flights. PPS Club members will also enjoy new benefits on Scoot, effective 1 February 2021. 

This comes after a further extension to PPS Club and KrisFlyer Elite membership was announced, covering all status expiring from March 2021 to February 2022.  All members will maintain their current elite tier until at least March 2022. 

KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards

Back in 2018, Singapore Airlines introduced Elite Gold Rewards, a trio of awards that could be claimed by KrisFlyer Elite Gold members who accumulated 60,000, 75,000, and 100,000 Elite Miles in a year. 

Singapore Airlines has now renamed these “KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards”, and rolled them out to all tiers of KrisFlyer. For the purposes of these rewards, Elite Miles are tracked by calendar year (not membership year, as was the case with the former Elite Gold Rewards), with the first period being 1 January-31 December 2021. 

Important point to note: While you can earn Elite Miles from flying with Star Alliance and other selected partner airlines, these Elite Miles will not count towards KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards. 

All rewards are valid for 12 months from the date of issue, unless otherwise stated. Rewards cannot be extended, but Singapore Airlines is making exceptions for existing ones on account of the COVID-19 pandemic (see here). 

Let’s look at each of these rewards in greater detail. 

5,000 Elite Miles: Receive 1,500 KrisPay Miles

KrisFlyer members who accrue 5,000 Elite Miles will receive 1,500 KrisPay miles. This is equivalent to S$10 on the Kris+ app, and can be redeemed at various dining, retail and wellness outlets in Singapore. Since these KrisPay miles cannot be transferred into your KrisFlyer account, the award is pretty much useless for any KrisFlyer members based outside of Singapore. 

As mentioned, you have 12 months to claim your reward, but once the KrisPay miles are credited, you have the standard 6 months to use them. 

10,000 Elite Miles: S$20 KrisShop Promo Code

KrisFlyer members who accrue 10,000 Elite Miles will receive a S$20 KrisShop promo code, which has a minimum spend of S$100 and an exclusion list the length of Taylor Swift’s ex-lovers. 

I feel like I should copy them here, for comic effect:

The promo code cannot be stacked with any existing KrisShop promotions, offers, privileges and PPS Club discounts, unless otherwise stated.

Wow. 

20,000/30,000 Elite Miles: 25/50% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles

KrisFlyer members who accrue 20,000/30,000 Elite Miles will receive a voucher that lets them earn 25/50% more KrisFlyer miles on a single flight segment.

If you mix KrisFlyer miles and cash to purchase a ticket, the bonus KrisFlyer miles will only be awarded on the amount paid for by cash. This means that any tier bonus or any amount redeemed by KrisFlyer miles are excluded from the calculation.

The 25/50% Bonus KrisFlyer miles will be awarded upon completion of your flight, with a crediting lag of up to four weeks. 

40,000 Elite Miles: 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount

KrisFlyer members who accrue 40,000 Elite Miles will receive a voucher for 5,000 miles off a redemption booking or redemption upgrade, for flights operated by Singapore Airlines/SilkAir (i.e no partner awards). 

This reward can be used by the principal member or his/her redemption nominees. If your booking is refunded, the discount voucher will be credited back to your KrisFlyer account, so long as it is still valid. 

60,000 Elite Miles: Double KrisFlyer Miles

KrisFlyer members who accrue 60,000 Elite Miles will receive a voucher for double the KrisFlyer miles on a single flight segment. 

This works similar to the 20/30,000 Elite Miles award above, only that you receive a 100% bonus. 

75,000 Elite Miles: Short-haul Advance Upgrade

KrisFlyer members who accrue 75,000 Elite Miles will receive a voucher for a one-cabin upgrade (subject to availability) on a single flight segment for flights between Zone 1 & Zone 2, or Zone 1 & Zone 3. 

This is only valid for commercial bookings in the following fare classes:

• Economy: Y, B, E, M, H, W
• Premium Economy: S, T, P, L
• Business: Z, C, J, U

This unfortunately excludes the discounted “lite” buckets, which Singapore Airlines introduced back in 2017. 

It’s interesting they mention Premium Economy, because as far as I’m aware, it’s not offered on flights between Zone 1 and Zone 2/3. This means your Economy Class booking should be upgraded to Business Class, assuming a two cabin configuration. 

100,000 Elite Miles: Premium Economy Class Advance Upgrade

KrisFlyer members who accrue 100,000 Elite Miles will receive a voucher for a Premium Economy Advance Upgrade (subject to availability) on a single flight segment, usable at the point of booking. 

This is only valid for commercial bookings in the following fare classes:

• Economy: Y, B, E, M, H, W

Once again, the “lite” fare buckets are excluded.

My take on KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards

I certainly get the idea behind KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards. They’re meant to:

1. Give members a little something extra along the way to 50,000 Elite Miles
2. Encourage members to continue choosing Singapore Airlines after 50,000 Elite Miles have been earned

But here’s the problem. None of these are compelling enough to have any real sway on decision making. As rewards, they’re meh. As incentives, they’re negligible. I mean, S$10 worth of KrisPay miles? A highly-restricted KrisShop voucher? A few thousand bonus miles here and there or a one-time cabin upgrade?  I’ll take them if you’re offering, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to earn them.

In other words, I highly doubt these will encourage incremental business. As I said back in 2018:

Suppose I’ve just hit 51,000 Elite Miles and have the option of arranging further business travel. Will the proposition of a double miles voucher, a (highly restricted) one cabin upgrade award and an economy to premium economy upgrade voucher persuade me to do another 9,000, 24,000, 49,000 elite miles with Singapore Airlines? I doubt it.

On the other hand, suppose I’ve just hit 51,000 elite miles in my membership year and have a ton of compulsory business travel left to do. I may well hit 60,000, 75,000, even 100,000 elite miles in a year. But I would have done that anyway, with or without the presence of Elite Gold Rewards.

I don’t see anything here to change that conclusion. 

Earn Elite Miles on Scoot

Effective 1 January 2021, KrisFlyer members flying with Scoot will be able to accrue Elite Miles, which count towards qualification for Elite Silver and Elite Gold status, as well as KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards (see above).

For itineraries entirely on Scoot

Elite Miles are awarded based on the fare, not the actual distance flown. Elite Miles will be accrued at a rate of 1 Elite Mile per S$1 spent (or its foreign currency equivalent) on base fare and add-ons (except e-Visa, travel insurance/Scoot Protect). 

For example, the SIN-BKK leg below will earn 20 Elite Miles, based on the fare of S$20 (for perspective, the actual distance between Singapore and Bangkok is ~880 miles).

Miles earned are subject to currency fluctuations based on prevailing exchange rates. Taxes, infant tickets, credit card processing fees and amounts offset using Scoot vouchers are not eligible for miles accrual.

For flights that are partially paid with KrisFlyer miles, only the cash portion (i.e. paid by credit or debit card, etc.) is eligible for miles accrual. Flights that are fully paid with miles or Scoot vouchers are not eligible for miles accrual.

For mixed Scoot & Singapore Airlines/SilkAir itineraries

If you’re flying on a single itinerary that involves both Scoot and Singapore Airlines/SilkAir operated flights, you will earn Elite Miles based on the fare class of your ticket and the actual mileage flown on the Scoot sector. 

Additional PPS Club benefits on Scoot

In case you were curious, PPS Value will not be awarded for Scoot-operated flights. However, from 1 February 2021, PPS Club members will enjoy additional benefits on Scoot flights:

• Priority check-in and boarding*
• Additional 5kg baggage allowance with any baggage purchase
• One-time complimentary booking change
• Complimentary standard seat selection

*Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, priority check-in and boarding are currently not available until further notice

If you ask me, this feels little weak. Why not just give PPS Club members a free checked bag? When these guys give you S$25,000 in revenue each year, surely that’s not too much to offer. It’d also have been nice to see lounge access extended to PPS Club members flying Scoot. It doesn’t have to be the SilverKris lounges; I understand capacity can be an issue, but at least the contract lounge…

Conclusion

While its nice that KrisFlyer is finally showing some love to its lower tier members, I highly doubt that any of the Milestone Rewards will influence customer behavior in a meaningful way. 

Earning Elite Miles on Scoot is a welcome policy change, although it would take you a very, very long time to clock 50,000 Elite Miles that way (S$50,000 base fare on Scoot!). 

PPS Club members will now receive some benefits on Scoot, but I feel they could have stuck their necks out a little more by offering at least a free bag, if not lounge access. 

What do you make of these changes? Will you try to earn any of the KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards?