To celebrate KrisFlyer’s 21st birthday, KrisPay is offering 21% miles back on transactions made between 28 February and 22 March 2020.Â
| Before KrisFlyer, Singapore Airlines, Cathay and Malaysia Airlines shared a combined FFP called Passages. You earned kilometers instead of miles, and Economy Class passengers couldn’t participate. Read all about that here. |
For example, if you spend 100 KrisPay miles, you’ll receive 21 miles back into your account instantly for a net outlay of 79 miles. 1 KrisPay mile usually gets 0.67 cents of value, so this boosts your value per mile by ~27% (0.84 cents per mile).
There is no cap on the number of KrisPay miles back you can receive, but KrisPay miles earned under this promotion cannot be transferred into your KrisFlyer account. You can find the full T&C of this promotion here.
Is it worth it?
In a word, no.
As far as miles back promotions go, this isn’t even the largest we’ve seen from KrisPay. During Christmas of 2018, there was a 30% miles back promotion, and in any case, you shouldn’t be accepting such a low valuation for your miles.
KrisPay redemptions rank at the bottom in terms of value per mile, and even with this 21% promotion, you’ll still get less than 1 cent per mile. The only way this could make sense is if you had a small balance of miles that were about to expire, with no upcoming travel plans.
| Option | Value per mile |
| Flight Redemptions | 2-6 cents |
| Shangri-La conversion | 1.1 cents |
| Pay with miles | 1.02 cents |
| KrisFlyer vRooms | 0.8 cents |
| KrisShop | 0.8 cents |
| Velocity conversion | 0.73 cents |
| TapForMore conversion | 0.73 cents |
| KrisPay | 0.66 cents |
It’s important to remember that any miles you transfer into KrisPay cannot be transferred back to your KrisFlyer account. They also expire in 6 months, but that’s not as big an issue because most KrisPay users will only top up the exact amount they need anyway.
KrisPay merchant list now up to 77
Although KrisPay may represent extremely poor value for burning miles, at least it’s growing the number of places you can earn them.
In March 2019, KrisPay added an earn feature which allows users to accrue miles at selected merchants. This is on top of the miles you earn from your regular mode of payment- you pay however you wish, and scan your KrisPay QR code at the cashier to earn miles afterwards. Unlike miles transferred into KrisPay, miles earned on KrisPay can be transferred back into your KrisFlyer account.
Different merchants offer different earning rates. Here are the various configurations on offer:
| Configuration | MPD | Number of Merchants |
| 5 miles per S$1 | 5 mpd | 1 |
| 3 miles per S$1 | 3 mpd | 4 |
| 2 miles per S$1 | 2 mpd | 6 |
| 3 miles per S$2 | 1.5 mpd | 1 |
| 1 mile per S$1 | 1 mpd | 55 |
| 3 miles per S$4 | 0.75 mpd | 2 |
| 1 mile per S$2 | 0.5 mpd | 2 |
| 1 mile per S$3 | 0.33 mpd | 1 |
| 1 mile per S$10 | 0.1 mpd | 1 |
KrisPay miles will be rounded down to the nearest whole number. For example, if you spend $7 at a merchant earning 1 mile per $2, you’ll earn 3 miles, not 3.5 miles.
Here’s the full listing of merchants and their mpd rates, as of March 2020:
| Name | Earn per S$1 |
| 108 Matcha Saro | 1 |
| 8 Korean BBQ | 1 |
| AIRZONE | 1 |
| ALDO | 1 |
| Amazing Chambers Singapura | 1 |
| Anglo Indian Café & Bar | 2 |
| Arteastiq | 3 |
| Asics | 1 |
| Birkenstock | 1 |
| Bottles & Bottles | 1 |
| BYND ARTISAN | 1 |
| bYSI | 1 |
| Cajun on Wheels | 3 |
| Candy Empire | 1 |
| CARs | 2 |
| Cedele | 1 |
| Challenger | 0.1 |
| COCA | 1 |
| Cole Haan | 1 |
| DC Comics Super Heroes Café | 1 |
| Dragon Brand Bird’s Nest | 1 |
| Face Shower Bar | 1 |
| Franck Muller | 1 |
| Fullerton Health | 1 |
| Gong Cha | 1 |
| Greenwood Fish Market | 1.5 |
| HappyCastle | 1 |
| Harvey Norman | 0.33 |
| Her Velvet Vase | 1 |
| Hudsons Coffee | 0.75 |
| Haagen-Dazs | 1 |
| iFly Singapore | 3 |
| Ikeda Spa | 1 |
| IN GOOD COMPANY | 1 |
| Isabella Aesthetics | 5 |
| Joo Bar | 1 |
| Kenko Wellness Spa & Reflexology | 1 |
| Kin Teck Tong | 1 |
| KLARRA | 1 |
| Klosh | 1 |
| Krispy Kreme | 1 |
| L’éclair Patisserie | 1 |
| LEGO Certified Store | 1 |
| Llaollao | 1 |
| MBT | 1 |
| Mega Adventure | 1 |
| Mellower Coffee | 2 |
| Naiise | 1 |
| Onitsuka Tiger | 1 |
| Paper Rice | 3 |
| PizzaExpress | 2 |
| Polar Puffs & Cakes | 1 |
| SaladStop! | 2 |
| Singapore Cable Car | 0.5 |
| Skeechers | 1 |
| Spectacle Hut | 1 |
| STAR 360 | 1 |
| Sultans of Shave | 1 |
| TAP Craft Beer Bar | 1 |
| Tapas Club | 1 |
| The Coffee Academics | 1 |
| The Kitchen by Wolfgang Puck | 0.75 |
| The Royal Albatross | 1 |
| The Soy Inc | 1 |
| Toss & Turn | 1 |
| TP Tea | 1 |
| Trapped SG | 1 |
| TWG Tea | 1 |
| Vintage Studio Hairdressing | 1 |
| Wild Wild Wet | 1 |
| Wings of Time | 0.5 |
| Workspace Espresso Bar | 1 |
| Xcape Singapore | 2 |
Keep in mind that not every branch of the merchants above will participate. For example, only the Tapas Club locations at Jewel and Vivo allow you to spend/earn miles; you can’t do so at the Orchard Central location.
The following merchants do not award any miles:
- Esso
- M1
- Presto Drycleaners
- Shangri-La Hotel Singapore
Since it costs you nothing to collect these miles, you might as well do so. The vast majority of KrisPay merchants offer 1 mpd which isn’t life-changing, but hey, it’s free.
Conclusion
The 21% miles back promotion definitely doesn’t make KrisPay a good deal, but if you need to quickly cash out some expiring points then it can be an option.
It’s more important to keep track of new KrisPay earning merchants, because that’s a chance to pick up some extra miles for no cost.
KrisPay is a waste of time. I tried to claim miles for spending at Haagen Daaz and Cajun on Wheels. The cashier did not know what to do and did not want to do it….. I wonder why SIA even try to do this