There’s good news if you use the Klook SG website to make travel and experience bookings, with Singapore Airlines announcing a new partnership with the travel agent, now allowing KrisFlyer members to earn miles each time they spend.
To celebrate the launch, there’s also a double miles promotion for Klook bookings made between now and 21st November 2022, though the terms and conditions for this launch promotion mean you shouldn’t count on getting them!
There’s also an exclusion list for miles-eligible activities, and no earning of miles for bookings through the Klook app (only bookings through the desktop site count), in what generally seems to be a poorly thought-out partnership.
Nonetheless, the new tie-up complements KrisFlyer earning with other experience providers KKday (since May 2021) and Pelago (since October 2020), for a trio of options in this category.
Earn KrisFlyer miles with Klook
You can now earn 1 KrisFlyer miles for every US$1 (~S$1.40) spent when you book on Klook.
Klook is Asia’s leading travel and experiences platform. Experience a world of joy, from attractions, tours to car rental and hotels, and earn 1 KrisFlyer mile for every US$1 spent with Klook.
Singapore Airlines
Effectively, that’s about 0.7 mpd – better than nothing but worse than both KKday and Pelago earn rates, and nothing to write home about unless you’re spending big bucks with Klook.
KrisFlyer miles earning applies only to Klook’s Singapore users, with a Singapore mobile phone number.
Unfortunately, this is limited to bookings made on the Klook website via a web browser (mobile or desktop), with miles earning for in-app bookings not currently supported (come on Klook, how complicated can it be?!).
For now, you’ll therefore have to book through this link on a web browser.
At the information stage on the web browser site, you’ll see the place to enter your KrisFlyer membership number and the first name on your KrisFlyer account, prior to proceeding to the payment stage.
Unfortunately, when I tried this via the web browser on my mobile device (Safari on iPhone), the option to add KrisFlyer membership details did not appear at any stage. Only my web browser on a laptop or desktop computer seemed to work!
That’s despite Klook stating the promotion is valid “for mobile web and desktop web transactions”.
Do note that experiences on Klook’s Non-applicable Activity List (like JR rail passes in Japan) and flight purchases (like Jetstar flights to Bangkok) do not earn KrisFlyer miles, even though Klook (rather cheekily) still allows you to enter your KrisFlyer membership details when booking!
Miles from eligible Klook bookings also take some time to be credited, landing in your KrisFlyer account two months after the month of booking. For example, a booking made in January 2023 would have miles awarded by 31st March 2023.
Double miles launch offer (but it’s “limited”)
From now until 21st November 2022, you’ll be eligible to receive 2 KrisFlyer miles per US$1 (S$1.40) spent at Klook, double the year-round earn rate.
Rather vaguely, the “additional 1 KrisFlyer mile awarded is limited and subjected to first-come, first-served”, according to the campaign terms and conditions (seriously, who writes this stuff?!).
Even UOB, specialists in ‘gambling’ promotions, actually states how many users in total are able to benefit, so you at least have an idea of the likelihood of success.
Here Klook is offering anything from 1 single bonus KrisFlyer mile to 1 million+… we just don’t know.
It’s a bizarre way to run a promotion, and we’re shocked no one at SIA insisted they make it much clearer!
How it compares
While it probably offers the widest range of travel, experience and activity options, Klook’s year-round KrisFlyer miles earning rate is unfortunately the lowest among the FFP’s earning trio in this category, as shown in the table below.
KrisFlyer miles earning at experiences providers
| Experiences Provider |
KrisFlyer Miles Earn Rate |
|
| Year-round | Promo | |
 |
1.46 mpd | n/a |
 |
1.00 mpd | n/a |
 |
0.71 mpd | 1.42 mpd |
Pelago, SIA’s own experience and activities booking platform, has offered promotional earn rates of up to 5 mpd, including a recent 3 mpd offer, but there is no current promotion running.
When KKday launched KrisFlyer miles earning for activities bookings, a triple miles promotional earn rate was offered, meaning around 4.5 mpd for the first two months, but this has not returned since.
Note than when you use KKday to earn KrisFlyer miles, this cannot be combined with any voucher codes you may have, and some activities do not qualify, which makes the benefit quite limited compared to Klook and Pelago.
Which card to use
Like KKday and Pelago spend, transactions for Klook in Singapore fall under:
MCC 4722 Travel Agencies and Tour Operators
That means the following bonus miles earning credit cards should pick up their bonus earning rates of up to 4 mpd for transactions, in addition to any miles you’ll be earning directly through a credit to your KrisFlyer account.
| Card | Earn Rate |
Notes |
 DBS WWMC |
4 mpd | For online spend, capped at S$2,000 per calendar month. |
 HSBC Revolution |
4 mpd | For online spend at travel agencies (MCC 4722), capped at S$1,000 per calendar month. |
 UOB Lady’s
|
4 mpd | Capped at S$1,000 per month (Lady’s) or S$3,000 per month (Lady’s Solitaire). Subject to your specified quarterly bonus category being Travel. |
 Citi Lazada |
2 mpd | For travel transactions under MCC 4722, capped at S$2,250 spend per statement cycle but combined with other 4 mpd / 2 mpd bonus spend (i.e. S$2,250 cap assumes your only bonus category spend in a statement cycle is Travel). |
UOB Lady’s SolitaireAt the bonus earn rate of around 1.4 miles per dollar, that means picking up 5.4 mpd in total using some cards for Klook bookings made between now and 21st November 2022 (if you’re even eligible for the 1.4 mpd bonus rate, which isn’t at all clear).
If you don’t have any of the cards listed above, just stick to your best general spend miles earning credit card.
Remember to avoid the Citi Rewards card, which will only earn 0.4 mpd at Klook, due to MCC 4712 being specifically excluded from its bonus earn rate for online spend.
Summary
If you’re looking for attraction tickets or experiences in Singapore, or even staycation packages in some cases, it’s often a good idea to save money by pre-booking through experience portals like Klook, Pelago and KKday.
The good news is that with the latest tie-up between KrisFlyer and Klook, all three providers now allow you to earn KrisFlyer miles on top of any credit card points accrual.
That means a regular earn rate of around 0.7 mpd with Klook (the worst of the bunch, sadly), but hiked to 1.4 mpd for bookings made between now and 21st November 2022.
Do be aware there is no miles earning for experiences on Klook’s Non-applicable Activity List nor for flight bookings, while the 2x promotional launch earn rate is effectively “while stocks last” – which is as good as useless while they won’t tell us what the stocks are in the first place!
You might get the bonus, or you might not.
(Cover Image: Klook)
Boss still no year end transfer bonus?