Extended: Earn up to 9 mpd for taxi rides in Singapore with Kris+

Back in December 2022, it became possible to earn KrisFlyer miles for taxi rides in Singapore through a partnership between the Kris+ app and ComfortDelGro, Singapore’s largest taxi operator.

To celebrate the launch, a promotional rate of 3 mpd was offered for all bookings until 31st March 2023, after which the rate was set to drop by a whopping 89% to a measly 0.33 mpd (1 mile earned per S$3 spent).

The 3 mpd rate is now ongoing

The good news for those using this new service is that Kris+ has maintained its 3 mpd earn rate for booking a ComfortDelGro taxi via the Kris+ app, with no end in sight for that promotion, even though it was supposed to revert to 0.33 mpd over a week ago.

This can be accrued on an unlimited number of bookings, and stacks with miles earned for Kris+ spend on your credit card for the payment itself, worth an extra 6 mpd in some cases – meaning a total of up to 9 mpd.

How it works

You can book your ComfortDelGro taxi ride through an option button at the top of the Kris+ app homepage, which then uses the CDG Zig platform to complete the booking and earn you miles in the process.

Since the Kris+ app fully embeds the CDG Zig features (albeit in a slightly ‘clunky’ way), you can book and track your taxi in-app as if you were doing so directly through the provider’s own platform.

Here’s the process:

1. Click the “Book A Taxi” button on the Kris+ app homepage
2. Enter your pick up point and destination
3. Confirm your fare
4. Track the location and status of your taxi

KrisPay miles are credited at the end of the trip, and you can then transfer them across to KrisFlyer miles within seven days.

Currently Kris+ only supports booking a 4-seater normal taxi, with Limo or MaxiCab options not yet available through the platform (like they are bookable through the CDG Zig app).

Does it cost the same?

The fare payable for these taxi bookings is generally more expensive than the one you’ll pay when booking directly with the CDG Zip app, due to the small addition of a Kris+ platform fee of S$0.30 per booking.

Effectively, you are paying 30 cents to earn the additional miles, compared to a ‘standard’ CDG Zig booking, which is almost always a worthwhile extra.

Do note that Kris+ will also hold an S$8 surcharge in addition to the quoted fare on your payment card to cover things like ERP charges (even for routes that clearly won’t incur them).

Actual payment of the final amount will be collected on completion of your trip, with the S$8 refunded if no additional charges were incurred.

We also noted that the fare itself for a ComfortRIDE can vary slightly between the CDG Zip app and the Kris+ app, by up to around S$1 (sometimes cheaper, sometimes more expensive, sometimes the same).

That’s annoying, because a S$1 difference on a S$20 fare, for example, pretty much outweighs the 60 KrisFlyer miles that can be earned using Kris+ as the payment platform (without taking into account miles earned from your credit card).

You’ll also no doubt want to be pricing up the fare against not only CDG Zip direct, but also alternatives like Grab and GoJek, so there’s a fair bit of mental maths to contend with here, just to book a ride somewhere!

Use the right credit card for up to 9 mpd

ComfortDelGro transactions made via the Kris+ app will code under MCC 4789: Transportation Services Not Elsewhere Classified, and that means you can tap into some 3 mpd, 4 mpd and 6 mpd earn rates with a variety of credit cards, subject to their monthly requirements and spending caps.

Those miles are issued by your bank, so they come on top of up to 3 mpd Kris+ is dishing out with this promotion, and that means up to 9 mpd total effective earning on these taxi rides.

Here’s an example of the cards which should give you upwards of 6 mpd for Comfort taxi rides booked through Kris+ with in-app payment.

Card	Earn rate	Spend Cap per calendar month
UOB Lady’s	6 mpd	S$1,000 (Lady’s) or S$3,000 (Lady’s Solitaire) Subject to Transport being chosen as one of your bonus categories at the start of the month
DBS WWMC	4 mpd	S$2,000
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature	3.2 mpd	S$4,285 (min. S$300 spend per month in any category)
UOB KF	3 mpd	No minimum spend No cap

Be careful not to use Citi Rewards cards to make in-app payments on Kris+, since mobile wallet payments are specifically excluded from that card’s bonus miles earning, regardless of the merchant MCC.

Similarly the HSBC Revolution card will not offer 4 mpd on MCC 4789 (we confirmed this new MCC for CDG taxi rides booked via Kris+ on 11th April 2023 via the DBS WWMC).

Remember there is now no cap on 3 mpd earning for Kris+ transactions made using the UOB KrisFlyer credit card – so that’s a nice hassle-free unlimited 6 mpd option.

These cards also earn bonus rates on Grab and GoJek

It’s worth pointing out that the credit cards mentioned above will also earn their bonus rate for ride-hailing bookings on platforms like Grab and GoJek (as do the Citi Rewards cards in this case), so the true benefit of using CDG Zip via Kris+ is only the differential 3 mpd on offer.

That’s fine when a Kris+ taxi is available for the same price or lower than these alternatives, but assuming you don’t wish to “buy” KrisFlyer miles at more than say 1.8 cents each, you should only consider paying more for your ride via Kris+ when the fare is higher only by approximately the following amounts:

• S$10 ride – S$0.54
• S$15 ride – S$0.81
• S$20 ride – S$1.08
• S$30 ride – S$1.62

For example, if a Grab ride for your route is S$20, you should only consider the Kris+ Taxi option if the fare is S$21 or less (buying 63 miles for 1.59 cents each).

If Kris+ Taxi is charging S$22 in this example, the 66 additional miles you are earning are costing you S$2 (3 cents each), which is well over the odds.

The situation was set to become much more stark after the promotion period, when the incremental earn rate was due to be slashed to 0.33 mpd, but thankfully this hasn’t actually happened (at least, not yet).

Transfer immediately to KrisFlyer

KrisPay miles earned through Kris+ can only be transferred to your KrisFlyer account within seven days of the transaction. To do so, simply tap on the “Transfer to KrisFlyer” button which will appear on the miles earned confirmation screen or transaction details screen.

You can do so later (within seven days), but why wait?

Remember that KrisPay miles earned per transaction can only be transferred to your account in their entirety. For example, if you earned 1,000 KrisPay miles from a single Kris+ transaction, the full 1,000 KrisPay miles must be transferred to your KrisFlyer account. If you have already spent some of your KrisPay miles earned, a partial transfer option is not available.

We therefore recommend transferring to KrisFlyer immediately following any Kris+ earning transaction like this, in case you either forget or make a mistake later.

You can also use KrisPay miles to book

This taxi booking function via Kris+ also gives you the option to use KrisPay miles in your Kris+ wallet to pay for your ride.

Unfortunately this remains at the regular value of 0.67 cents per mile when redeeming miles for Kris+ transactions, which is quite terrible.

It’s therefore not something you’ll want to be doing unless you have KrisPay miles stuck in the Kris+ app, which cannot be transferred to your KrisFlyer account. Even then, bonus redemption offers do come up now and then, so provided your KrisPay miles are not expiring in this example it can still be better to hold off for one of these.

Kris+ has extended its 3 mpd earn rate for booking Comfort taxis via the Kris+ app, and that’s good news because it was set to drop to a mere 0.33 mpd, which would hardly be worth bothering with for most people.

Pairing with the right credit card when you pay via Kris+ can also net you an additional 6 mpd, meaning you can earn up to 9 mpd in total.

These kind of smaller KrisFlyer miles accruals aren’t going to see you on your way to Sydney in Business Class any time soon, but every little helps!

Do be careful not to pay more than other ride-hailing services for your trip simply to accrue additional miles (or at least, not much more), since you may then be ‘buying’ miles at a rate over the odds, but if it’s the same price or less, this is a nice instant earning option.

It’s also potentially a good way for many to collect more miles throughout the year on an everyday expense.

(Cover Photo: ComfortDelGro)