We came across an article featuring MilesLife as a new payment service in Singapore which allows you to earn air miles. Naturally, we became interested. And with the on-going promotion of additional 4x miles, we decided to try it out ourselves. We spent the weekend downloading the app and did some exploration. Here’s our MilesLife Review. (Note: This is not a sponsored post, but rather our fair and unbiased review of the app and the service it provides.)
What is MilesLife?
MilesLife is a mobile payment service which runs on your smartphone. Payment made through the MilesLife app allows you to accumulate in-app points which you can use to redeem with 12 different frequent flyer programs. Krisflyer happens to be one of them (as of now, 1 app mile = 1 frequent flyer mile). The aim of the app is to make the accumulation of preferred airline miles easy and seamless, regardless of location.
The mobile application has two main services which you could earn miles from:
1. Purchasing of lifestyle products
Similar to Klooks where you can purchase tickets or lifestyle packages (think – spas and hotels), you are able to do this on the MilesLife App as well. An e-Voucher will be issued and you can use it to redeem the actual ticket from the respective merchant at its storefront. By purchasing these packages through the app, you will earn the miles stated in the product.
Looking at the current catalog, the lifestyle tab shows a number of tourist attractions such as Universal Studios Singapore, S.E.A Aquarium and Singapore Cable Car Ride. Personally, I think that there are limited choices and the promotions seemed to be catered towards foreign tourists. The Spa and Hotel tabs do not have much choices either.
I shall reserve my judgement on this feature and hope to see more merchants on board soon.
2. Dining Payment via the app
The dining category has the most number of merchants across all categories and it is this main feature which MilesLife shines in. The app works like a “middle man” similarly like Grab. (I.e. customer pay Grab, Grab pays the taxi driver). In turn, you get rewarded with air miles into your MilesLife account. This is on top of your credit card miles earnings.
As of writing, there are a number of dining merchants, such as Crystal Jade restaurants and Miam Miam. I believe more merchants will be on-board their partnership in the near future.
Our experience with MilesLife
To try out the MilesLife app, we decided to take my mother out for dinner. We chose Guksu Restaurant in Suntec City.
Step 1: Attach your credit card to your MilesLife account
Step 2: During payment, mention that you are paying through the MilesLife App.
Step 3: Look for the merchant’s page in the app and click on “PAY”
Step 4: Confirm with the staff on the final billing amount and enter the amount into the app.
Step 5: Select your credit card and similar to Grab-Pay, the amount gets deducted through your Credit Card.
Miles will be accredited to your frequent flyer program account within the next 3 to 5 working days. I will provide an update if it takes longer than what was stated.
Afterword
With the existing promotion of 4x miles, we earned a total of 928 miles for our $136.65 dinner and an additional 162 miles from my DBS one-altitude card. So we earned extra miles on top of our credit card earnings. This works out to an effective mileage of 7.98 miles per dollar. Pretty good deal!
Contrary to comments online, I find the payment process rather simple and the restaurant manager was able to guide me through the entire process. Troy, the founder of MilesLife, mentioned that they are looking into simplifying the steps and reduce the need for manual entry. I am looking forward for the feature to happen and it will soon become our preferred way to pay for dining.
Bonus: Add in this voucher code (ML621) after signing up to receive an additional 500 miles with a second spending of at least $39. (Expires on 9th July)
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the in-app transaction count as an online transaction?
No, credit card companies or banks identify MilesLife’s transaction as non-online. So credit cards with bonus miles for online transactions does not apply. (i.e. DBS World Women MasterCard)
Update 28/06: MilesLife has mentioned that the transaction would be considered as “online” soon. I cant’ wait for it to happen!
Are there additional surcharge on top of the dining bill?
No, if your meal costs $50, you will be charged the same price. Do note that GST and service charge are not applicable for the MilesLife’s miles.
Do I get to earn my credit card points / rebate through MilesLife?
Credit Card points / miles – Yes. The credit card transaction will net you additional points, but will not be considered as an online transaction.
Example, I used the DBS one-altitude card for a $50 meal and made payment through the app. If the restaurant I picked offers 2 miles per dollar, the total miles calculation goes as such:
Miles through MilesLife: ($50 deducting GST and service charge) × 2 miles per dollar = 84 miles
Miles through DBS one-altitude card : ($50 × 1.2 miles per dollar) = 60 miles
In total: 144 miles for a $50 meal. Assuming no promotional items or set meal purchased and no ongoing MilesLife promotion.
Credit Card Rebate – Might not be able to get rebate. To the bank’s point of view, the transaction will not be classified as a dining transaction. Therefore, cards like the POSB Everyday 14% dining rebate might not work. I will update this again when I have official word from MilesLife.
Is there an additional surcharge to transfer in-app miles to frequent flyer program?
No, it is currently free to transfer any amount of points to your desired frequent flyer program.
Update 28/06: MilesLife clarified that Miles earned are directly credited into your frequent flyer ! In short, no transfer fees as there is no need to do a “transfer”.
Does MilesLife accept Amex cards?
No, I tried to add in my Amercian Express Platinum card, but it threw errors. Pending clarification from MilesLife.
Update 28/06: MilesLife clarified that Amex card will be supported in the near future. Bookmark us to stay updated!
Update 20/10: Amex has been accepted as a valid credit card provider. You can now link amex cards into your app. Do note there is an on-going promotion where you earn 2x more miles if you pay by Amex.
