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There’s a new miles earning opportunity available to KrisFlyer members, with SIA’s lifestyle app Kris+ offering 10 mpd on bookings with Pelago, the airline’s own Klook-like “destination discovery platform”, when locking in experiences via in-app payment.

That hugely eclipses Pelago’s own year-round 3 mpd earn rate, which itself is capped at the first 5,000 miles earned per booking (S$1,667 spend). Happily, the current Kris+ earn rate has no such upper limit.

In addition, as always, you can accrue up to 4 mpd when making payment using a bonus miles-earning credit card, subject to your monthly spend limits, for up to 14 mpd total earning.

This also finally brings the KrisFlyer UOB credit card into the mix for Pelago bookings at its bonus uncapped 3 mpd rate, for a total of 13 mpd earning on even the most expensive Pelago experiences, without even touching your 4 mpd card spend caps.

Earn 10 mpd for Pelago bookings via Kris+

You can now book any Pelago activity worldwide and pay using the Kris+ app. To search and book, you’ll need to have the latest version of the app installed (Apple | Google).

Simply click the new Pelago link at the top of the screen after you launch the app.

You will still need to log in to (or create) a Pelago account in order to make a booking.

Once you select your activity and proceed to pay, you’ll be redirected back to the Kris+ app to make payment.

As you can see even for this relatively low priced activity, 10 mpd is being offered, before your credit card points come into play.

Activities and experiences available on Pelago include include theme park admission, food and drink tours, wellness treatments and museum tickets, with over 10,000 packages currently available ranging from a few dollars to several thousand dollars, including nearly 500 here in Singapore itself.

Will it last?

The bonus earn rate for Pelago bookings is part of the app’s ‘Birthday Bash’ promotion, which already offers 10 mpd at over 40 merchants in Singapore and even more generously at all 177 merchants in Australia, until 31st October 2024.

It’s now known what the year-round Pelago earn rate will be for those booking via the Kris+ app, but in common with KrisShop (1.5 mpd) we suspect it will be the regular 3 mpd that Pelago offers directly on a long-term basis.

Therefore if there’s an activity on Pelago that you’re interested in and makes sense value-wise, we’d recommend locking it in by Thursday next week via Kris+ to maximise your miles stash in the process.

This circumvents Pelago’s earning cap

Back in February this year, we reported that Pelago had quietly introduced a KrisFlyer miles earn cap on activated booked through its website.

That means no matter how expensive your experience is, you’ll never earn more than 5,000 KrisFlyer miles per booking via Pelago’s website, an issue that crops up once the total cost is more than S$1,667.

Luckily this Kris+ payment method circumvents that, with no upper cap imposed, so even for the S$2,884 experience shown below, 28,840 miles will still be awarded.

This particular booking would earn only 5,000 KrisFlyer miles if booked directly via the Pelago website, compared to 28,840 miles currently via Kris+, and remember the latter are awarded instantly – great for a short-term top-up to secure a redemption.

Which card to use

Many bonus credit cards in Singapore earn at their top rate for Kris+ transactions, either for all spend or for purchases in selected Merchant Category Codes (MCCs).

For some cards it’s a little complicated, because the payment you make in-app will tag under the merchant’s MCC, so you’ll need to be confident it qualifies prior to your purchase, but there are some cards that earn at their top rate for all Kris+ spend too.

Pelago uses the following Merchant Category Code (MCC) when processing credit card payments:

MCC 4722 Travel Agencies and Tour Operators

Here’s how many miles some of these cards earn for Kris+ payments in general, within their monthly spend caps. You can check the MCC with the merchant in advance of your payment if necessary, though some are obvious (like restaurants – 5812).

Bonus cards Kris+ earning

Card	Earn Rate	Notes / MCCs
UOB Lady’s UOB Lady’s Solitaire	4 mpd	Capped at S$1,000 per month (Lady’s) or S$2,000 per month (Lady’s Solitaire). Subject to your specified quarterly bonus category, including:
		Dining:	MCC 5499 MCC 5812 MCC 5814
		Beauty:	MCC 5977 MCC 7230 MCC 7297 MCC 7298
		Fashion:	MCC 5621 MCC 5651 MCC 5661 MCC 5691 MCC 5699 MCC 5948
HSBC Revolution (see our review)	4 mpd	On mobile wallet payments at specific outlets by MCC, capped at S$1,000 per calendar month.
		MCC 3501 MCC 5045 MCC 5462 MCC 5621 MCC 5651 MCC 5661 MCC 5691 MCC 5699 MCC 5732	MCC 5734 MCC 5812 MCC 5944 MCC 5945 MCC 5947 MCC 5948 MCC 5992 MCC 5999 MCC 7011 MCC 7997
DBS WWMC (see our review)	4 mpd	On on up to S$1,500 of online spend per calendar month, including when paying at a merchant using Apple Pay or Google Pay via the Kris+ app (all MCCs).
OCBC Rewards (see our review)	4 mpd	On shopping transactions in specific MCCs, capped at S$1,110 per calendar month.
		MCC 5309 MCC 5621 MCC 5651 MCC 5655 MCC 5661	MCC 5691 MCC 5699 MCC 5941 MCC 5948
KrisFlyer UOB (see our review)	3 mpd	On all Kris+ spend, with no minimum and no upper cap.

As you can see for Pelago it’s the DBS WWMC and the KrisFlyer UOB credit card that will work well here, given it’s rather limited MCC.

Nonetheless, this finally brings the KrisFlyer UOB credit card into play for Pelago bookings.

Despite earning an 3 mpd for all “SIA Group” spend including at the KrisShop, the card still does not award this higher rate for Pelago transactions booked via the website.

The good news is that the card has earned this rate for Kris+ spend since late 2022, so it’s a great uncapped 13 mpd option for Pelago bookings, at least for the next few days.

Pelago does not support payment by American Express cards via Kris+, like most other partner merchants in Singapore do. You’ll need to pay via Apple Pay or Google Pay using a Visa or Mastercard.

Don’t forget – transfer straight to KrisFlyer miles

Once you’ve earned miles from a Pelago booking via the Kris+ app, or indeed have earned any miles from merchant payment via Kris, always remember to transfer them to KrisFlyer miles.

Why? Well KrisPay miles can only be transferred to your KrisFlyer account within 21 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 21 days), but why wait?

Remember that KrisPay miles earned per transaction can only be transferred to your account in their entirety. If you earned 100 KrisPay miles from a single Kris+ transaction, for example, the full 100 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, in case you either forget or make a mistake later.

Between now and 31st October 2024, you’ll net a very generous 10 mpd when making Pelago experience bookings anywhere in the world and making payment via the Kris+ app, using a Visa or Mastercard.

That means up to 14 mpd with many popular miles-earning cards on the market in Singapore, but also crucially an uncapped 13 mpd with the KrisFlyer UOB credit card, which is still excluded from “SIA Group” bonus earning at Pelago.

This generosity is unlikely to last, as a latecomer to the Kris+ ‘Birthday Bash’ 10 mpd promotion just days before it ends, so if there’s something of interest on the Pelago platform you may wish to lock it in via the Kris+ app over the coming days to take full advantage.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)