Krisflyer Members Can Now Earn Miles On Scoot And Tigerair

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Members of the KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme can now earn miles when flying on Scoot and Tigerair, in the latest enhancement to the programme.

With effect from today, KrisFlyer members can earn miles when they purchase a PlusPerks bundle or FlexiCombo fare for their flights on Scoot and Tigerair, respectively. The option for KrisFlyer members to redeem miles for vouchers for travel on Scoot and Tigerair, or to pay for selected products offered by the two low-cost carriers, was made available earlier this year.

“We are pleased to offer our KrisFlyer members more benefits through this partnership with Scoot and Tigerair. With this launch, our members can now earn and redeem KrisFlyer miles across the Singapore Airlines Group portfolio of airlines,” said Singapore Airlines’ Senior Vice President Marketing Planning, Ms Lee Wen Fen.

“KrisFlyer is committed to delivering on our promise to constantly make it more exciting and rewarding to be a member with the range of partners we have now.”

Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson added: “PlusPerks, a new bundle of benefits including KrisFlyer mileage accrual, priority check-in and boarding, preferred seat selection and ticket flexibility, delivers Scoot’s commitment to choice and unbeatable value. PlusPerks gives you all the more reason to ‘get outta here’ with Scoot.”

PH Startups, Developers Push For Global Digital Inclusion Through Facebook’s Free Basics Powered By Globe

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Philippine startups and developers were recently called to push for global digital inclusion by providing free access to basic internet services to millions of people worldwide through Facebook’s Free Basics powered by Globe.

Globe, through its venture capital subsidiary Kickstart Ventures, Inc., recently brought Facebook’s Free Basics closer to Philippine developer and startup communities to rally them to develop locally relevant and useful services for Filipinos through the Free Basics platform.

Jackie Chang, Product Partnerships Manager, Facebook, spoke to over 150 members of the Philippine startup community at the Raid The Fridge event hosted by Kickstart.

“We’re here to support local developers create locally relevant services and content that will make a real impact in people’s lives. This is an opportunity for the developer community in the Philippines to scale their products and bring the benefits of the internet to more Filipinos,” said Chang.

One of Kickstart’s portfolio companies, Kalibrr, which provides online job training and assessment tools to job applicants, is already one of the pioneer Philippine digital startups to be part of the Free Basics platform. To date, Kalibrr has 40,000 monthly active users on its blog advice content.

DOTC: 7-Month MRT-3 Signaling System Upgrade Begins

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Most of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) glitches experienced by riders the past months are set to be eliminated soon, as the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has awarded the signaling system upgrade project to Bombardier Transportation Signal, Ltd. as part of the agency’s railway rehabilitation efforts.

“This upgrade of an obsolete signaling system, which should have been done by the private sector owner years ago, is crucial in minimizing operational disruptions. This will improve reliability and efficiency of the rail system for the benefit of our passengers,” said DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya.

Under the P53.37-million contract, Bombardier will replace the existing local control system called MAN 900 with the more contemporary EBI Screen 900 – a software with the same functionality as MAN 900, but which will allow the use of modern personal computers and fiber optic technology – over the next seven (7) months.

The signaling system maintains safe distances between trains and controls their speed: issues with its components may result in less operating trains and in slower travel.

Apart from modernizing the software components, this upgrade will also ensure the availability of spare parts needed for the uninterrupted and efficient operation of the metropolis’ busiest rail line.