KrisFlyer Cruise: Earn 1.5 mpd on cruise bookings, with limited-time 20% bonus

Singapore Airlines has launched a new platform called KrisFlyer Cruise, which allows KrisFlyer members to book and earn miles on cruises worldwide. 

We are excited to introduce KrisFlyer Cruise, a brand-new way to earn miles on your adventures out at sea. As a KrisFlyer member, you can now earn 2 KrisFlyer miles for every USD 1 spent on cruise fares booked through KrisFlyerCruise.com.

With more than 30,000 itineraries from over 40 top cruise lines like Royal Caribbean Cruises, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Virgin Voyages, Disney Cruise Line and more, there is an adventure waiting for every voyager.

-Singapore Airlines

The concept is similar to KrisFlyer vRooms; basically a white label portal that compiles cruise options from major providers including Carnival, Cunard, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and more.

KrisFlyer members can earn 1.5 mpd on all cruise bookings, upsized to 1.8 mpd for bookings made by 12 December 2024.

Book cruises with KrisFlyer Cruise

KrisFlyer members who book cruises on KrisFlyer Cruise will normally earn 2 miles per US$1 spent on cruise fares, which upon conversion to SGD works out to around 1.5 mpd. 

However, to mark the launch of KrisFlyer Cruise, Singapore Airlines is offering a 20% bonus on all bookings made from now till 12 December 2024, which boosts the rate to 1.8 mpd. 

Do note that miles will not be awarded for port expenses, government taxes, gratuities, onboard spend, and shore excursions.

To earn KrisFlyer miles, you need to provide your membership number at the time of booking, with the name of the lead guest matching the account. Miles can be earned by a maximum of one KrisFlyer member per cabin, and will be credited to your account approximately four weeks after cruise completion.

Now, here’s an important thing to note. Only certain cruise lines, like Carnival and Royal Caribbean, can be booked online. 

Other cruise liners require you to call up to finalise your reservation, and in those scenarios KrisFlyer Cruise would be more like a catalogue than an OTA. So it’s not as seamless as I would have hoped for, not to mention that making reservations over the phone will deprive you of online bonuses for certain credit cards.

It’s currently not possible to redeem KrisFlyer miles for cruises, though I doubt there’s any reason to look forward to that. If KrisFlyer vRooms, KrisShop and other on ground redemption opportunities are anything to go by, the value per mile will be very poor- perhaps 0.8 cents per mile at best.

Is it worth it?

Whether it’s worth booking cruises on KrisFlyer Cruise boils down to whether the prices are competitive vis a vis the official website, or booking via another travel agent.

You’ll have to comparison shop to be sure, but as a guideline, the extra 2 miles per US$1 is equivalent to an incremental rebate of ~2.2%, assuming a value of 1.5 cents per mile (2.7% during the 20% bonus period).

Therefore, I wouldn’t consider the miles a particularly big incentive to book, unless the prices on KrisFlyer Cruise were largely similar or better.

What’s the best credit card to use for bookings?

It’s not clear at the moment what MCC KrisFlyer Cruise codes under; I tried to do a dummy booking online with a blocked Amaze Card, but the website didn’t charge my card immediately (and now I can’t unblock it for fear that a five digit cruise fare will suddenly show up).

However, I think there’s two main possibilities:

1. KrisFlyer Cruise codes as a travel agency (MCC 4722)
2. KrisFlyer Cruise codes as a cruise provider (MCC 4411)

For what it’s worth, I think (1) is the more likely scenario. Given that we also know transactions will be processed in USD, I would suggest the following cards to maximise your miles.

🏨 Best Cards for OTA Bookings
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$2K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
DBS WWMC Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1.5K per c. month. Must be online Review
UOB Visa Signature  Apply	4 mpd FCY only	Min S$1K max S$2K FCY spend per s. month Review
Maybank World Mastercard Apply	3.2 mpd FCY only	Min. retail spend of S$4,000 per c. month. No cap Review
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Apply	3.2 mpd (till 31 Jan 25) FCY only	Min. retail spend of S$800 per c. month. No cap Review

Keep in mind the table above assumes your transaction is processed online; if you do it over the phone then you’ll have to exclude the DBS Woman’s World Card.

Conclusion

The brand new KrisFlyer Cruise platform allows KrisFlyer members to earn an extra 1.8 mpd on cruise bookings till 12 December 2024, after which the earn rate decreases slightly to 1.5 mpd.

I can’t say for sure how the pricing compares to other channels, so be sure to do your comparisons and make sure you’re not paying over the odds for the miles!