Pelago Miles Rush: 28 mpd for new customers, plus 30% off for SIA passengers

Singapore Airlines’ activities booking platform Pelago has brought back Miles Rush Week, which runs from now till 27 September 2023.

Just like the previous edition, new users can enjoy a bonus of 25 miles per S$1 spent on Pelago, though it’s capped at a maximum spend of just S$100. This is on top of the year round 3 miles per S$1 rate enjoyed by all users when booking experiences, attraction tickets and tours in Singapore and overseas, and can be stacked with the 30% discount offered to SIA passengers. 

As always, users can earn an extra 4-6 mpd by making their bookings with the right credit card, which means a new customer could earn up to 34 mpd on a booking (though I should emphasise again it’ll be capped at just S$100).

Pelago Miles Rush Week

Pelago Miles Rush Week

From 21-27 September 2023, new Pelago users (defined as those who have yet to make a booking) can enjoy an extra 25 mpd on their first booking, capped at the first S$100.

This is on top of the usual 3 mpd earn rate, so a new user who books an activity costing S$200 would earn 3,100 miles, broken down as follows:

• 2,500 bonus miles (S$100 x 25 mpd)
• 600 base miles (S$200 x 3 mpd)

All Pelago bookings are eligible for the bonus, with the exception of the JR Whole Japan Rail Pass (7, 14 or 21 days).

In order to receive the bonus miles, your activity must be booked via this link between 21-27 September  2023, and completed before 1 December 2023. Bonus miles (i.e. the 25 mpd) will be credited by 31 December 2023.

The terms and conditions for this offer can be found here.

Year-round 3 mpd continues

Regardless of whether you’re a new or existing Pelago user, you can enjoy a 3 mpd earn rate on all bookings. This was upsized from the previous 1 mpd from 28 June 2023 onwards.

Miles will be automatically credited to your KrisFlyer account up to one week after completing the booked experience. 

For miles to be credited:

• your KrisFlyer membership number must be reflected on the booking details page
• Your Pelago booking must be made under your name as it appears in the KrisFlyer membership records

In other words, you can’t earn miles on bookings made for other people.

KrisFlyer miles will be awarded on the final amount paid for Pelago bookings (including taxes), after eligible discounts have been applied. 

Save 30% off with an SIA booking code

Details

As a reminder, from now till 31 December 2023, Pelago customers can enjoy a 30% discount on all bookings with a Singapore Airlines Booking Reference Code (a 15% discount will apply for bookings made from 1 January 2024).

While the booking must be made by 31 December 2023, the activity date can be any time in the future. The maximum discount is capped at S$35, which means you’ll max it out with a booking of S$116.67.

To take advantage of this offer, simply enter your 6-character PNR and last name under the “Singapore Airlines Promo” field during checkout. 

Do note the following:

• The discount is valid for both award bookings and cash bookings
• Each PNR can only be used once, regardless of the number of passengers within the booking
• PNRs can only be used from the date of their issuance up till the date of the last segment of the booking. For example, if the last flight in your PNR is 20 November 2023, you must use the discount by 20 November 2023
• PNRs must be for confirmed flights; waitlisted bookings will not trigger the discount
• Pure Scoot bookings are not eligible; however a mixed itinerary involving Singapore Airlines and Scoot flights is eligible provided the ticket is issued by Singapore Airlines 

If you have more than one passenger on a given PNR, you can call up Singapore Airlines customer service and ask them to split the booking so that each passenger has a unique PNR. This will then allow you to enjoy the discount multiple times.

You can further stack this with the new customer offer of 25 mpd, plus the regular 3 mpd earn rate.

Redeeming KrisFlyer miles on Pelago

KrisFlyer members can normally redeem miles on Pelago at a rate of 150 miles= S$1, but from now till 31 December 2023, the rate has been upsized to 120 miles= S$1. 

This values 1 mile at 0.83 cents — certainly better than the usual 0.67 cents rate — but still suboptimal compared to a flight redemption.

To make matters worse, Pelago takes an all or nothing approach to redemption. You must pay the entire amount with KrisFlyer miles; there’s no option to mix cash and miles!

For example, suppose I want to buy an attraction ticket that costs S$48. At check-out, I can select KrisFlyer miles as my payment method, but the system forces me to pay the entire S$48 with 5,760 miles. 

This means that you couldn’t even use Pelago to selectively burn a small number of miles that are due to expire.

A few other things to note:

• Pelago bookings redeemed with KrisFlyer miles must be made under your name, or the name of one of your redemption nominees
• Pelago bookings redeemed with KrisFlyer miles can be cancelled, subject to the activity’s T&Cs. If so, miles will be refunded within two weeks. They’ll still have their original expiry date tagged to them, so you won’t be able to use this as a roundabout way of extending miles.

What card to use with Pelago?

Pelago transactions code as MCC 4722: Travel Agencies and Tour Operators, which means you can pay with the following cards to earn an additional 4-6 mpd. 

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	6 mpd	S$3K per calendar month. Must choose travel as 10X category Review
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	6 mpd	S$1K per calendar month. Must choose travel as 10X category Review
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	S$2K per calendar month Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	S$1K per calendar month Review

Avoid using the Citi Rewards Card, as MCC 4722 is classified as a travel transaction and explicitly excluded from earning the bonus 4 mpd rate for online transactions.

For avoidance of doubt, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card will not earn 3 mpd on Pelago transactions, because Pelago is still not part of the SIA Group- at least as defined by the T&Cs. 

Conclusion

Pelago has brought back its 25 mpd welcome offer for new customers, though it remains capped at just S$100 as before.

All users can continue to enjoy 3 mpd on bookings, together with a 30% discount for anyone with a valid SIA booking reference number. Stack this with 4-6 mpd from the right credit card, and things could be very tasty indeed. 

Pelago’s selection has grown steadily, and now offers almost 9,500 activities worldwide. Add the fact that Singapore Airlines has terminated its partnerships with Klook and KKday, and I’d say it’s worth checking Pelago before going elsewhere.