Scoot flights to earn Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles, not status

UPDATE | Scoot’s forthcoming tie-up with Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer frequent flyer scheme won’t extend to earning elite miles, accruing ‘PPS value’ or the usual tier benefits such as lounge access and priority boarding.

Scoot passengers will be able to purchase a KrisFlyer add-on with their fare to enable them to earn KrisFlyer miles, which Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson says will be based on the price paid for the ticket rather than the distance travelled.

Even if you’re jetting about in ‘ScootBiz’, the airline’s premium travel class, you'll have to buy the optional cost-extra bundle to pocket those KrisFlyer miles, Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson confirmed to Australian Business Traveller.

Read our review: Scoot's Boeing 787 Dreamliner ScootBiz seats

“I am very resolute on the fact that for us, it’s earn and burn only – I don’t want to have any complexity arising from recognition of status tiers or giving free (tier) benefits,” Wilson said.

When asked if Scoot would later consider a closer integration with KrisFlyer, Wilson promised that the airline was “never going down that horrible slippery slope, because then you start having Golds wanting something extra, then Silvers and PPS Club members want something extra and it just doesn’t stop.”

Wilson wouldn’t be drawn on the exact ‘earn and burn’ rates, saying only that Scoot’s airfares “are almost always much lower than Singapore Airlines, so as a consequence, the accrual rate (when flying with Scoot) will also be lower.”

And while members of Virgin Australia’s Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme won’t be able to directly earn Velocity points or status credits when flying with Scoot, Velocity points can be earned by first raking in KrisFlyer miles and later converting them into Velocity points.

Chris Chamberlin travelled as a guest of Scoot and Boeing.

PREVIOUS | Scoot and Tigerair will join Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer frequent flyer scheme, allowing KrisFlyer miles to be earned and burned on both low-cost airlines.

From April 2015 travellers will be able to trade their KrisFlyer Miles "for vouchers to travel on Scoot and Tigerair flights," according to Singapore Airlines.

By year's end passengers on Scoot and Tigerair will also be able to earn KrisFlyer Miles, although this is expected to be offered as a cost-extra fare option similar to the approach taken by Jetstar with its Qantas points-earning Jetstar Plus and Max fare bundles.

Singapore Airlines has not detailed how many KrisFlyer Miles it'll take to book a seat on Scoot or Tigerair, let alone what the earning rates on those airlines will be.

Scoot has established a foothold in the Australian market with flights from Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast, and will add Melbourne to its network in November.

Although the airline's ScootBiz cabin (above)  is more akin to premium economy than to conventional business class, many business travellers on a budget – especially the self-employed – consider it a cost-effective way to jet to Singapore.

Scoot will take delivery of its first new Boeing 787 this month and begin Perth-Singapore flights on the Dreamliner from February 5, with its other Australian destinations being upgraded to the Boeing 787 later this year.

Also read: How to convert Velocity frequent flyer points into KrisFlyer miles

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David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.