Back in early 2021, Singapore Airlines introduced KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards to replace Elite Gold Rewards, making perks available to those holding any of the three membership tiers in the KrisFlyer programme based on Elite Miles accrued throughout the year.
That’s a nice benefit, since previously only KrisFlyer Elite Gold members got such treats, but they’re not exactly things to become too excited about. Nonetheless they are a nice gesture as you work your way towards initial status or annual renewal, starting from as little as 1,000 Elite Miles accrued.
The 10,000 Elite Miles reward has been devalued
Unfortunately KrisFlyer has decided that those who have accrued 10,000 Elite Miles within the calendar year are no longer worthy of a discount of up to 20% discount on a KrisShop purchase (S$20 off for a S$100+ transaction).
While the S$20 voucher itself remains, the minimum spend to trigger it has been hiked by 50%, to S$150, slashing the maximum saving by a third from 20% to just 13%.
This seems an unnecessarily stingy devaluation the airline probably thought no one would notice.
It’s especially the case given KrisShop’s generally high pricing (and therefore high margins!). It’s rarely the cheapest place to purchase a product.
The voucher does not even apply to discounted items, can’t be used against in-flight KrisShop spend, and there’s an extremely long brand exclusion list for eligible purchases.
We’d go as far to say that a brand or product inclusion list for this reward would have been shorter – it’s hard to see what you can actually buy on KrisShop that would be a valid purchase!
The voucher also cannot be used with any existing KrisShop promotions, offers, privileges and PPS Club discounts, so this reward’s generosity was already severely limited, even before this devaluation.
Full list of KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards
If you’re not familiar with Milestone Rewards, this benefit gives you gifts as you follow the road to requalification (or initial qualification) each year, with a total of 10 milestones to hit if you accrue a significant 100,000 Elite miles in a single calendar year.
There are two major aspects to be aware of with Milestone Rewards:
- Elite miles earned to achieve Milestone Rewards only considers your accrual on Singapore Airlines and Scoot flights – not other Elite miles earning partners like Star Alliance carriers.
- Milestone Rewards are awarded based on Elite miles accrued in a calendar year (1st January to 31st December), not your membership year, which may be different.
The gifts start small but get progressively more attractive the more Elite miles you earn, though this 10,000 Elite Miles one is now arguably even more ‘meh’ than before.
Nonetheless they are “better than nothing”, and Milestone Rewards start at 1,000 Elite Miles earned, as shown below. Simply click the ‘Full details’ dropdown for each reward, for further information.
| Milestone Rewards |
|
| Elite miles earned* | Reward |
| 1,000 |
1,000 Bonus KrisFlyer miles on your next flight with Scoot |
Full details (click)Receive a reward to earn an additional 1,000 KrisFlyer miles on your next flight with Scoot, in addition to the actual miles earned for a single flight segment. The bonus miles will be automatically credited into your account within four weeks of your flight, and are applicable for itineraries involving Scoot-operated flights only, or itineraries involving both Scoot and Singapore Airlines-operated flights. |
|
| 2,500 |
20% Discount Voucher on Scoot |
Full details (click)Receive a 20% Discount Voucher off your next Scoot booking on selected fare types (applicable to base fare only). Blackout periods apply and the principal KrisFlyer member must be travelling on the booking. Click here to find out how you can redeem your voucher. |
|
| 5,000 | 1,500 KrisPay miles (S$10) |
Full details (click)This reward must be claimed within 12 months of earning 5,000 Elite miles on flights operated by Singapore Airlines and/or Scoot. As usual with Kris+, these miles are valid for 6 months and are not transferable to KrisFlyer miles. |
|
| 10,000 | S$20 KrisShop Promo Code |
Full details (click)Receive a promo code for S$20 off a minimum purchase of S$150 on KrisShop.com (excluding promotional offers and discounted items). A lengthy brand exclusion list also applies, the promo code is not applicable for purchases made inflight or via the KrisShop order form, nor is it valid with any existing KrisShop promotions, offers, privileges and PPS Club discounts. The promo code is valid for 12 months, and can only be used once. |
|
| 20,000 | 25% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles |
Full details (click)Receive a reward to earn 25% more KrisFlyer miles on top of the actual miles earned for a single flight segment. The reward is valid for 12 months and can be applied before your flight departure or or on a past booking up to seven days ago. Only one Bonus KrisFlyer Miles reward may be used for one flight segment, and it can only be used by the principal member. If you have mixed KrisFlyer miles and cash to purchase your ticket, the bonus KrisFlyer miles will only be awarded on the amount paid for by cash. That means that any tier bonus or any amount redeemed by KrisFlyer miles are excluded from the calculation. |
|
| 30,000 | 50% Bonus KrisFlyer Miles |
Full details (click)Receive a reward to earn 50% more KrisFlyer miles on top of the actual miles earned for a single flight segment. The reward is valid for 12 months and can be applied before your flight departure or or on a past booking up to seven days ago. Only one Bonus KrisFlyer Miles reward may be used for one flight segment, and it can only be used by the principal member. If you have mixed KrisFlyer miles and cash to purchase your ticket, the bonus KrisFlyer miles will only be awarded on the amount paid for by cash. That means that any tier bonus or any amount redeemed by KrisFlyer miles are excluded from the calculation. |
|
| 40,000 | 5,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount |
Full details (click)Receive a reward for a redemption discount of 5,000 KrisFlyer miles when you are redeeming your KrisFlyer miles for an award ticket or a redemption upgrade. Valid for 12 months from the date of issue for redemption bookings (excluding HighFlyer bookings) or for redemption upgrades on eligible flights operated by Singapore Airlines. The reward can be used by the principal member or for their redemption nominee. If your booking is refunded, the discount will be credited back to your KrisFlyer account if it remains valid. |
|
| 60,000 | Double KrisFlyer Miles Reward |
Full details (click)Receive a voucher which allows the principal member to earn twice the usual KrisFlyer miles for a single flight segment. This can be applied before your flight departure, or on a past booking up to seven days ago. If you used KrisFlyer miles to offset any cash element of your booking then you'll only receive double KrisFlyer miles in relation to the amount you paid in cash. |
|
| 75,000 |
Short-haul advance upgrade |
Full details (click)Receive an advance upgrade voucher for a one cabin class upgrade for you or a redemption nominee (subject to availability) on a single flight segment for flights between Zone 1 & Zone 2, between Zone 1 & Zone 3, or within Zone 11.  Flights within Zone 11 currently include SIA's "fifth freedom" Milan - Barcelona flights. The single cabin class upgrade is valid:
The upgrade is valid for commercial tickets (not award flights) booked under anything except the 'Value' and 'Lite' fare buckets (i.e. excluding D in Business Class, R in Premium Economy and K, N, Q or V in Economy). |
|
| 100,000 | Premium Economy Advance Upgrade |
Full details (click)Receive an advance upgrade voucher for an upgrade from Economy to Premium Economy (subject to availability) on a single flight segment, for you or your redemption nominee. Valid for commercial tickets booked under anything except the Value and Lite fare buckets (i.e. only valid for bookings under B, E, H, M, W, Y). Your flight must have Economy (obviously) and Premium Economy installed in order to use this voucher (A350 LH, A380 or 777-300ER only). There is no upgrade to Business Class on aircraft without a PY cabin. |
|
* Per calendar year (Jan-Dec)
Again, do remember that Elite miles earned on other Star Alliance airlines and eligible SIA partner airlines will continue to count towards your Elite Silver and Elite Gold status qualification / requalification, however they are not included in the calculation for Milestone Rewards.
Simply log on to your KrisFlyer account summary via the website or mobile app and click on “Account Summary” (desktop) or “My account” (mobile) and then “KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards” to check your progress through the chocolate wheel during the year.
KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards are valid for 12 months from the date of issue, unless otherwise stated, so you don’t have to use them within the calendar year of accrual (e.g. an award unlocked in November 2023 is valid for use until November 2024).
To use a Milestone Reward, log in to your account the same way we described above and you’ll see a list of those those you’re eligible to apply, alongside any you have used already.
You can find further details about KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards here.
KrisFlyer Elite Gold
The only status tier really worth having in terms of benefits offered in the KrisFlyer programme is KrisFlyer Elite Gold, which you’ll accrue with 50,000 Elite Miles accrued in a 12-month period.
You can find out more about the full benefits of the KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier in our dedicated article here.
Summary
KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards aren’t life-changing perks, but fall into a “better than nothing” category. We don’t think many members will particularly strive to attain them by choosing SIA over other carriers if they are not going for status (and if they are – they’ll do so anyway).
The 10,000 Elite Miles threshold benefit remains a S$20 KrisShop gift voucher, a perk that was already difficult to use as it was restricted to the store’s high-margin full-price items from a very selective list of brands, but to make it worse the minimum spend to trigger the discount has been quietly hiked by 50%, to S$150.
That means even if you can find an eligible item you want at a reasonable price, the maximum discount has been slashed by a third from 20% to only 13%.
Let’s hope KrisFlyer doesn’t have any more cuts to Milestone Rewards up its sleeve.
(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)
Worth clarifying that although the bonus miles rewards say “or on a past booking up to seven days ago”, you can’t use it retrospectively to any flights before you earned the reward. Which is fair enough, but the website doesn’t say it and their call centre staff don’t know that either.