Pelago Miles Rush: 2,000 bonus KrisFlyer miles for new and existing users

Singapore Airlines’ activities booking platform Pelago has brought back Miles Rush Week, which runs from now till 2 July 2024. 

While initial editions of Miles Rush Week were exclusively for new-to-Pelago customers, the previous edition was open to both new and existing customers, and that applies to this offer as well. 

Customers who spend at least S$150 in a single booking will earn 2,000 bonus miles, on top of the evergreen 3 mpd rate and a further 4 mpd from the right credit card. 

Pelago Miles Rush Week

Pelago Miles Rush Week

From 26 June to 2 July 2024, both new and existing Pelago users will receive a flat bonus of 2,000 miles when they spend at least S$150 in a single booking. 

By way of comparison, the previous edition we saw in February 2024 offered 2,500 bonus miles on bookings of at least S$100, so this time it’s less generous.

To enjoy the promotion, you’ll need to use any one of the following promo codes during your booking:

• PELMRW5
• SHRUGMRW5
• KITTYMRW5

It doesn’t really matter which code you use; the first is the generic Pelago code, and the other two I believe are codes for followers of some other blogs. 

Activities must be completed by 31 August 2024, and each customer is entitled to a maximum of 2,000 bonus miles. No further stacking with other promotions or promo codes is allowed. 

Pelago has not specified any hard cap on the number of redemptions, but the most recent Miles Rush Week had a cap of 1,500 customers. The good news is that unlike previous editions where you’d have to spend and pray you were still within the limit, the mechanic this time round is a promo code. I would assume that the promo code would no longer work once the limit is hit, though only Pelago knows for sure. 

When will bonus miles be credited?

Bonus miles awarded under this campaign will be automatically credited to your KrisFlyer account by 30 September 2024.

Terms and conditions

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

Earn 3 mpd on all Pelago bookings

All Pelago users will continue to enjoy 3 mpd on bookings, upsized from the previous 1 mpd from 28 June 2023 onwards. This is capped at a maximum of 5,000 miles per booking, so if your purchase is larger than this, it s worth to try splitting it into separate bookings. 

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.

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

Details

Back in August 2023, Pelago launched a very generous 30% discount (capped at S$35) on all activities, available to any customer with a Singapore Airlines booking reference code (also known as a PNR).

Unfortunately, the offer was quietly nerfed ahead of schedule, and the resulting promotion (which ends on 31 December 2024) is much less attractive: 

1. The 30% discount is now capped at S$20 for new users and S$10 for existing users
2. The 30% discount will only be available for activities in the destination/layover countries of the booking reference code

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 as many times as you have passengers.

Redeeming KrisFlyer miles on Pelago

KrisFlyer members can redeem miles on Pelago, but this is probably a bad idea as the rate on offer is 150 miles = S$1, or just 0.67 cents per mile. 

We sometimes see this rate upsized to 120 miles = S$1, but even then it’s marginal at best.

Moreover, 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 mpd. 

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	S$2K per calendar month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	S$1K per calendar month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	S$1.5K 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. Also, the HSBC Revolution Card is no longer an option, following the January 2024 removal of MCC 4722 from its bonus whitelist. 

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. My understanding is that this will eventually change, but I’m not sure about the timeline. 

Conclusion

The latest Pelago Miles Rush week offers both new and existing customers a flat 2,000 bonus miles for spending at least S$150 in a single booking. Pelago has not specified a cap on the number of redemptions, but all the same I’d book sooner than later if I were you.

While we may be past “peak Pelago” — the period after launch where startups splash the cash on customer acquisitions — the platform still offers more than 11,000 activities worldwide and an extra 3 mpd compared to Klook or KKDay.