Kris+ launches deals section; earn KrisFlyer miles when buying partner vouchers

Kris+ has added a new feature called partner vouchers, which are basically prepaid deals at selected dining, retail and activities merchants. It’s quite similar to what Fave or ShopBack offers, only you can earn or spend KrisFlyer miles when buying them. 

This feature is available with the latest version of the Kris+ app. To avoid confusion, note that the “deals” section in Kris+ is different from “privileges”. The former are prepaid vouchers; the latter are free-to-use discounts available to any Kris+ user. 

What deals are available?

This is still a fairly nascent feature, so the range of deals is limited at the moment.

I’m seeing things like S$1 coffee/cake/muffins at Cedele, gift sets from Neal’s Yard, discounted cash vouchers for Xpressflower and Andersen’s of Denmark, and a “lingerie essentials bundle” from Perk by Kate, which promises bras that make you look good and feel good. Intriguing. 

All vouchers can be purchased with cash or KrisPay miles, or a combination of the two. Even if you’re keen on something, you should absolutely opt for cash when paying because Kris+ applies a fixed value of 0.67 cents per mile when using KrisPay miles to pay.

This ranks near the bottom of the value you can get when redeeming miles. 

Voucher purchases earn miles based on the merchant’s regular earn rate. For example, Cedele offers 1 KrisPay mile per S$1 spent, regardless of whether you’re paying in-store or buying a voucher in the Kris+ app. 

How do I purchase a deal?

Once you’ve chosen a deal, tap “purchase” and you’ll be brought to a payment screen. 

Note that by default, the “use KrisPay miles” toggle will be set to on. For reasons I mentioned earlier, it’s poor value to spend KrisPay miles this way, unless perhaps they happen to be stuck in the Kris+ app (because you earned them from referrals, campaigns, or simply forgot to transfer them to KrisFlyer within 7 days). 

Switch it off, and you’ll be prompted to pay the balance with Apple or Google Pay. For Google, you’ll have the option to chose the specific card at the final screen before finalising the transaction. 

Once that’s done, you’ll see the payment successful screen. Don’t forget to transfer any KrisPay miles earned to your KrisFlyer account immediately. 

Purchased deals can be found under the “wallet” section of the app. Alternatively, scanning the merchant’s Kris+ QR code will bring up the relevant vouchers that can be redeemed. 

What card should I use to buy Kris+ deals?

Vouchers are purchased through Kris+, but what’s interesting is that the underlying MCC is maintained. For example, I tried buying a voucher for Cedele, and it coded as a fast food restaurant. 

Therefore, you should default to whatever card you’d normally use at that particular merchant. Here’s my picks for dining and shopping: 

🍴 Best Cards for Dining
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
HSBC Revolution Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$1K per c. month
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$1K per c. month. Must choose dining as 10X category
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$3K per c. month. Must choose dining as 10X category
Maybank Horizon Apply	3.2 mpd	Min. S$300 spend per c. month on any category. Capped at ~S$4.2K per month
KrisFlyer UOB Card Apply	3.0 mpd	Min. S$300 spend on SIA Group in a m. year
C. Month= Calendar Month | M. Year= Membership Year

🛍️ Best Cards for Shopping
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$1K per s. month
HSBC Revolution Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$1K per c. month
OCBC Titanium Rewards Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$12K per m. year
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$1K per c. month. Must choose shopping as 10X category
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4.0 mpd	Max. S$3K per c. month. Must choose shopping as 10X category
C. Month= Calendar Month | S. Month= Statement Month | M. Year= Membership Year

Even though you’re paying with Apple/Google Pay, don’t use the UOB Preferred Platinum Visa or UOB Visa Signature. The T&Cs state very clearly you need to tap the mobile device against the contactless reader to qualify for 4 mpd, which doesn’t happen with in-app payments. 

Conclusion

Kris+ looks like it’s evolving more and more into a vouchers and discounts platform, which is probably why they dropped the “-pay” suffix last year.

While I haven’t seen anything that catches my fancy, it’s worth a quick browse to see if you can spot any deals at merchants you frequently visit.