How does “buying” of Krisflyer Miles work ?

[chris1987]

Hi all,

I am very new to the KF system and am a little confused on how the buying of KF miles work.

IE. i would like to book a Biz Class Ticket to Paris which cost about 190,000 KF miles, and i have only 60k KF miles in my account.

Is it possible to purchase just the difference to book the trip ? Or do i have to purchase the full 190,000 miles from the seller.

The part that is confusing me is when SQ Site stats that KF miles are not transferable.

Appreciate your help and pardon my amateur question.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Is it possible to purchase just the difference to book the trip ?

Possible, yes. However, there are at least two problems:

1. It's against KrisFlyer's T&Cs. If Singapore Airlines discovers the transaction, they have the right to cancel the miles and close your KrisFlyer account.

2. The seller could take your money then never transfer the miles.

 

[ciscube1]

I dont think Kris miles are transferable. Thus, you could
1. Use your current kris mile for redemption and pay the excess in cash.
2. Ask the seller to redeem a ticket in your name and pay him in cash.

Possible, yes. However, there are at least two problems:

1. It's against KrisFlyer's T&Cs. If Singapore Airlines discovers the transaction, they have the right to cancel the miles and close your KrisFlyer account.

2. The seller could take your money then never transfer the miles.

 

[BBCWatcher]

I dont think Kris miles are transferable.

They aren’t (directly), but that wasn’t the question asked. The question was whether KrisFlyer miles can be purchased. They can, as a technical matter on the “black market.” What tends to happen is that U.S. credit card “churners” and “manufactured spenders” sell their point bonuses, such as American Express Membership Rewards points, that are then exchanged for KrisFlyer miles. As another example, IHG (hotel chain) points can be exchanged in blocks of 10,000 for 2,000 KrisFlyer miles, and it’s pretty easy for clever people to accumulate gobs of IHG points. The brokers in this black market figure out how to get name matches by using such things as supplementary credit cards (point earning credit cards issued in another name that are tied to a primary account and thus require no credit assessment). I’m barely scratching the surface of this industry.

Like any other black market, there’s substantial risk.

Thus, you could
1. Use your current kris mile for redemption and pay the excess in cash.

Yes, Singapore Airlines allows this.

2. Ask the seller to redeem a ticket in your name and pay him in cash.

This is technically possible but another part of the black market, with substantial risk.

The KrisFlyer black market is not illegal, but you have no recourse if you don’t get what you paid for.

 

[existential_reality]

There are a few ways to approach this I've used some of them


Legit
- Buy Miles direct from SQ to top up, I think its like 0.04 USD per mile or 0.054 SGD per (most expensive) and there is a limit to how much you can buy.
- You can buy miles from Credit card companies, I know UOB Infinity offers this. Its works out to be 0.017 / 0.018 SGD per Mile then convert from points to miles, pending the card you have you might be restricted to the promotional periods.
- Use your existing card mileage to transfer in I think this you already would know.

Grey area (i.e seems odd but legal)
- You can get someone from carousell to buy a tix on your behalf using their miles (so getting a tix issued via their account) they charge between 0.16 - 0.18 per mile
- Risk are you pay the dude then he disappears (can see their rating before buying so risk is not that high)
- Risk also is if you need to change dates for whatever reason the seller won't entertain. These are closed transactions normally

Not permitted but happens
- You can contact someone to transfer miles to your account, charges start from about 0.019 USD per Mile (0.026 SGD per Mile). But I've been told some rule changes in Krisflyer this year prevents them from using that loophole. Advantage is you have miles your account and you can control/change dates whenever you want.
- Risk if Krisflyer finds that someone else transferred miles in your account they can technically suspend your account and you lose everything.

I've used some of these methods so I know they work, now I just buy the miles using my CC via the so its legit and cheap.

Good Luck!

Hi all,

I am very new to the KF system and am a little confused on how the buying of KF miles work.

IE. i would like to book a Biz Class Ticket to Paris which cost about 190,000 KF miles, and i have only 60k KF miles in my account.

Is it possible to purchase just the difference to book the trip ? Or do i have to purchase the full 190,000 miles from the seller.

The part that is confusing me is when SQ Site stats that KF miles are not transferable.

Appreciate your help and pardon my amateur question.

 

[Tiger9119]

If you are eligible, you can look into getting OCBC Voyage or OCBC Premier Voyage which give 150,000 krisflyer miles if you opt to pay S$3210 for the annual fee. The cost per mile is 2.14cts. Subsequent years, you can opt to pay $488 annual fee (15,000 Voyage Miles) or cancel the card. This may not be the most efficient way or the cheapest.

 

[ocs_woodlands]

I am a regular seller of KF miles and I have a regular buyer so not selling to anyone else. my rate was $22/1k kiles but i had to cut to $20/1k miles this year when SQ upped the redemption miles.my regular buyer has been dealing with me for more close to 10 years already....

straight forward actually. last time I just add him as a nominee in my account......

the first time was simply a face to face meeting with a laptop....