Mileslife: a secret almost too good to share!
What?
A loyalty program for “miles hackers” like us, to maximise the number of miles you get from everyday credit card spending. The miles you earn are on top of your regular credit card bonus miles, can be transferred to any of 14 different airline schemes (including KrisFlyer).
When?
Any time when dining at one of their associated outlets. The list of available outlets is growing every day – add them to social media for the latest updates.
Expert Tip: watch out for best earning rates. Some outlets award $1 = 1 mile, some are $1 = 2 miles, but some are $1 = 3 miles. There are also other offers like “2X miles AMEX co-brand” from time to time. Currently they are running a “3X Emirates Skywards Miles on all spend”
It’s not just dining…
Mileslife also offer points bonuses for ‘lifestyle’ purchases such as activities, theme park and event tickets, like $1 = 3 miles at the Spa by JW at the JW Marriott Hotel (we recently visited) and 600 miles bonus when you buy a ticket for this year’s ZoukOut. There are plenty more, and you’ll see a full list on the app.
You can also receive a miles bonus booking a selection of hotel stays through the app, like a 1-night ‘staycation’ at the Fullerton Hotel from $579 which comes with a 2,950 miles bonus. Make sure it’s a good deal on the night you visit though, otherwise you might effectively be ‘paying’ for the miles.
Where?
Available now on the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. A great, simple and easy to use layout. Just add your chosen credit card, link your frequent flyer accounts, then pay the bill via the Mileslife app at the end of your meal. Payment via the app couldn’t be simpler (even after a few glasses of wine!), and in our experience so far your server will be familiar with the process.
The test
We booked ourselves a table at Epiphyte ($1 = 2 miles, but also a “2x AMEX co-brand” multiplier was on offer at the time). We enjoyed a delicious meal with a bottle of wine. The bill came to S$144.
Here’s how many miles the meal earned us:
Normal AMEX miles from credit card spending: 1.2 miles per dollar: 173
Mileslife 2 miles per dollar: 288
Bonus 2X AMEX co-brand miles: 288
Total miles: 749 miles
Transfer times
Typically, a credit card may take up to a week to transfer the miles to your chosen account and they will sometimes charge you $25 a time for the service. Very annoying when you are trying to jump on that award ticket that just appeared!
Mileslife is a fantastic way of quickly topping up your KrisFlyer account with a decent number of miles, for example if you fall just short of a particular redemption.
On this occasion, MilesLife transferred the points directly into my KrisFlyer account the next day, with no charges. For another meal, the miles from a dinner we paid for using the app on a Thursday evening were credited to my KrisFlyer account the following Tuesday, still a quicker turnaround than the transfer time from many credit cards (it can take a week to get your miles transferred from HSBC).
Mileage programs
MilesLife allows you to credit to a wide range of airline frequent flyer programs, 14 in total, so you don’t need to just stick to KrisFlyer or Avios… be adventurous to find the best offers out there.
Mileslife credits
Mileslife credits allow you to earn some extra miles by topping up a ‘credit account’ using your credit or debit card, which is then used at any of the Mileslife merchants.
The amount you need to deposit to achieve the bonus miles is quite steep, so we can’t see many people doing it at anything other than the $1,000 level.
A double miles launch offer is on, so at the top end you’ll earn 12,000 bonus miles for depositing $6,000. You’ll still earn all the regular miles and promo miles on top when you use your credit with a merchant. There’s no expiry so you can take your time to use up the credit.
We think a more realistic proposition for most people is a $1,000 deposit which earns a 1,500 mile bonus, especially if you were planning to book one of the more expensive hotel stay offers for example, as this will give you a nice top-up.
The offer ends on 22 November, so act now if you think the Mileslife credit deal will work for you.
Best of all
Sign up now here, download the app and enter our special affiliate code “MAINLYMILES” and you’ll get 1,000 additional miles bonus the first time you spend $79+.
Post a picture of your dinner to @mileslife on Instagram and stand a chance to win 500 more miles every week.
Recommend your favourite restaurant, bar or attraction and get a whopping 5,000 bonus miles, if they sign up!
Conclusion
We are really happy with our Mileslife experiences so far, and we look forward to the number of outlets increasing. More miles means more travelling and that is never a bad thing, especially when it’s in a luxury suite with free-flow champagne.
Sign up now and get one step closer to your next holiday!
(Photo: Singapore Airlines)
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