As blockchain technology gains traction across the economy, one airline is providing a wonderful new way to waste your miles.
Singapore Airlines now lets you convert KrisFlyer miles on a 1:1 basis into what it calls KrisPay, a digital wallet in which miles are converted into cryptocurrency which can be used to make everyday purchases like gasoline or coffee.
Here’s a visual depiction of how the process works:
After verifying your device once using 2-Factor Authentication (2FA), you’ll be free and clear to quickly send over miles to KrisPay and pay on-the-spot using a QR code.
Partners include:
| Categories | Beauty Services | Food and Beverage | Petrol | Retail |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merchants | • Browhaus • Qi Mantra • Spa Esprit • Strip • We Need A Hero |
• Cedele • TWG Tea • Shangri-La Hotel (Origin Grill and Nami Restaurant & Bar) • Gong Cha • Greenwood Fish Market • PizzaExpress • Toss & Turn • Workspace Espresso Bar • Xiao Ban Beancurd |
• Esso Service Stations | • Challenger • M1 • LEGO® Certified Stores (Bricks World) |
More details here.
Why This is a TERRIBLE Deal
The value of a mile is subjective, not objective…to an extent. We all value the “real” price of awards differently, but if you are not getting more than one cent per mile in value, you should using a cash back credit card.
As I stated above, 1 KrisFlyer mile is equivalent to 1 KrisPay mile. 15 KrisPay miles equals S$0.10 in value (about $0.07 USD). So you are getting less than a half cent per mile (USD) in value here. That’s horrific!
Two other problems. First, all transfers from KrisFlyer are final. Second, all sales using KrisPay are final. I’m sure the merchants love that…
CONCLUSION
I love the concept of blockchain technology and the potential it unlocks. At the same time, using your KrisFlyer miles in this fashion represents a fundamental failure to understand the value of miles and points.
Is Delta next? 😉
Horrible deal to the frequent flyer yes, but maybe it could work for the kind of person who flies once a year and gets ~5000 miles total before they expire…
There are plenty who don’t have use for their limited miles (and no credit card transfer opportunities, esp. in the more developing countries)
The company I work for recently bought my wife and I tickets from MUC-DPS with a stop in SIN both ways on Singapore/Lufthansa. Since my companies policy is only booking economy tickets, but there’s nothing that says you can’t upgrade the flights yourself to premium economy or business. They book through a travel agent, which is where my question arises. I tried calling Singapore to upgrade to at least premium economy, they say they can’t touch the ticket because it was purchased by a travel agent even though it has a Singapore ticket number and reservation code. So I called the travel company that my company uses, they say they won’t do anything because it’s company policy, but to call Singapore and they will do it. I tried calling Singapore again (the whole, if you don’t succeed the first time, try someone else.) Again, they refused to touch the ticket and referred me back to the travel agency. They would however do it using miles. Who’s right here? Is there a way to get Singapore to upgrade the flight? Also, the return from SIN-MUC is operated by Lufthansa, but the travel agency booked it using the Singapore code-share flight number (I don’t have a Lufthansa reservation code for that leg, it’s still the same Singapore.) Is there a way to use one of my United GPUs on the Lufthansa flight even though it’s booked using the Singapore flight number? The travel agency said she could change my reservation to the Lufthansa flight number, but it would cost $6000 each to do so. Any helpful hints? Thoughts? Ideas? Thank you.
These points expire — with no recourse. We have 8000 points going up in smoke in September but we just happen to be going to Singapore that month. It’s only about $53 but it’s either that or *poof*…