Renew or upgrade Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer & PPS status without flying

Singapore Airlines has a new offer for KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to earn Elite miles or PPS Value without flying, in order to retain or even upgrade their status level, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to make it almost impossible to achieve renewal the ‘traditional way’.

Between now and 28th February 2022 (i.e. for almost the next eleven months), you’ll be able to unlock status credits from your everyday spending, and by transferring bank reward points into KrisFlyer miles, which will count towards your next membership renewal.

Besides earning PPS Value and Elite miles from flights, you can now earn status credits on your everyday spend and activities. From 7 April 2021 to 28 February 2022, accumulate status credits as you shop, spend and convert partner reward points to KrisFlyer miles, to count towards your PPS Club or KrisFlyer Elite membership renewal.

Singapore Airlines

This is a similar initiative to the one launched in September 2020, though in that case status credit earning was capped and only went part of the way to unlocking full renewal from ground-based earning, also not permitting a membership upgrade.

What’s different this time?

The number of status credits (Elite miles for KrisFlyer members or PPS Value for PPS Club members) you can earn during this period is unlimited this time round, for those whose renewal is due between March 2022 and February 2023.

Remember KrisFlyer has already granted a blanket one-year status extension for those whose membership years were ending between March 2021 and February 2022, the second consecutive year it has done so due to the lack of travel opportunities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What you’ll be able to achieve

First thing to note is that the retention and upgrade offers are only intra-programme.

That’s to say a KrisFlyer member cannot jump to PPS Club status under this promotion, since they cannot earn additional PPS Value with these new options. Promotion from KrisFlyer into the PPS Club will continue to be based on PPS Value earned from revenue flights.

Singapore Airlines is offering the following possibilities for members to renew or upgrade their status tiers.

Options for KrisFlyer members

Current Status Tier	Your Options		Elite Miles Required
KrisFlyer	➚	KrisFlyer Elite Silver (upgrade)	25,000
	➘	KrisFlyer Elite Gold (upgrade)	50,000
KrisFlyer Elite Silver	➚	KrisFlyer Elite Silver (renew)	25,000
	➘	KrisFlyer Elite Gold (upgrade)	50,000
KrisFlyer Elite Gold	➙	KrisFlyer Elite Gold (renew)	50,000

As you can see, even if you don’t currently hold any status in the KrisFlyer programme you can upgrade to the Elite Silver or Elite Gold tier with 25,000 or 50,000 Elite miles via this promotion.

Unfortunately KrisFlyer Elite Silver (KFES) doesn’t really get you much, so it’s the upgrade to Gold most of our readers will be eyeing here.

KFES has no priority check-in, no complimentary lounge access, no priority boarding, not even an extra baggage allowance! It’s a complete waste of time.

Options for PPS Club members

Current Status Tier	Your Options		PPS Value Required
PPS Club	➚	PPS Club (renew)	25,000
	➘	PPS Club Solitaire (upgrade)	50,000
PPS Club Solitaire	➙	PPS Club Solitaire (renew)	50,000

Methods to earn status credits

There are six distinct methods for earning Elite miles or PPS Value without flying between now and 28th February 2022, as outlined below.

Ways to earn status credits

Method	KrisFlyer	PPS Club
KrisShop spend	3 Elite miles per S$1	1 PPS Value per S$1
Kris+ spend	3 Elite miles per S$1	1 PPS Value per S$1
Convert bank points to KrisFlyer miles	1 Elite mile per 5 miles	1 PPS Value per 10 miles
	Note: Min. 10,000 KF miles per transfer
Convert DBS or UOB points to KrisPay miles	1 Elite mile per 5 miles	1 PPS Value per 10 miles
Co-brand credit card spend	1 Elite mile per 5 miles	1 PPS Value per 10 miles
Spend / Convert with Non-Air Partners	1 Elite mile per 5 miles	1 PPS Value per 10 miles

The KrisFlyer miles for the qualifying transaction must be first earned or converted successfully, as per the applicable partner conversion terms and conditions.

Thereafter, it will take up to seven working days for the PPS Value or Elite miles to be credited to the members’ account, though at least one of our readers has already provided a data point that this happened the next day.

Note that Elite miles accrued from this campaign will not count towards the attainment of the new KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards.

Double status credits for the next two weeks

Singapore Airlines is offering a launch promotion for existing Elite and PPS Club members earning Elite miles and PPS Value between 7th April and 21st April 2021 on successfully completed qualifying transactions through spend accrued at the KrisShop, on KrisFlyer Spree and at Kris+ merchants.

To qualify, you’ll need to already hold some elite status with the airline, i.e. already be Elite Silver, Elite Gold or a PPS Club member. Basic KrisFlyer members will not receive these double status credits.

Double status credits

Method	KrisFlyer Elite	PPS Club
KrisShop spend	6 Elite miles per S$1	2 PPS Value per S$1
Kris+ spend	6 Elite miles per S$1	2 PPS Value per S$1
KrisFlyer Spree	2 Elite miles per 5 miles	2 PPS Value per 10 miles

Unfortunately there is no double status credit offer for the other conversion methods, like bank points to miles conversions (that would be too good to be true!).

How it works

Here’s an example of how a basic KrisFlyer member with zero current Elite miles balance could unlock the KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier for a year, by making the following spend / conversions to earn the required 50,000 Elite miles:

• S$1,000 spend online at KrisShop (= 3,000 Elite miles)
• S$1,000 spend in-store at Harvey Norman, earning KrisFlyer miles by scanning their Kris+ app at checkout (= 3,000 Elite miles)
• 220,000 miles transfer from credit card points to KrisFlyer miles (= 44,000 Elite miles)
• Total: 50,000 Elite miles
  (KFEG unlocked )

Conversion from bank points

Let’s start by looking at what’s by far the easiest way for most of our readers to retain their status or, perhaps better still, earn a higher tier in the programme if applicable.

That’s to convert your bank or credit card reward points into KrisFlyer miles, where you’ll earn 1 Elite mile for every 5 KrisFlyer miles transferred as a KrisFlyer member or 1 PPS Value for every 10 KrisFlyer miles transferred as a PPS Club member.

Transfers are recognised from all of KrisFlyer’s global bank partners (see the full list here), so this is a great option for those based outside Singapore too.

You’ll have to transfer a minimum of 10,000 KrisFlyer miles per conversion for it to be counted, but you’ll receive status credits for all of them combined.

For example, if you’re a KrisFlyer member and you transfer:

• 9,500 miles from American Express (not counted)
• 10,000 miles from Citi (counted)
• 100,000 miles from UOB (counted)
• 110,000 miles total ÷ 5 = 22,000 Elite miles

Note how the first transfer here from American Express didn’t earn you any Elite miles, because it was less than 10,000 miles.

Here are the miles volumes you’ll need to transfer to retain your status or earn a tier upgrade, using this option in isolation and assuming you’re starting from a zero Elite miles / PPS Value position:

Conversion from bank points
New / Renewed Status Tier	Transfer Needed
KFES	125,000 miles
KFEG	250,000 miles
PPS	250,000 miles
PPS Solitaire	500,000 miles

Conversion must be successfully completed by 28th February 2022 at 11.59pm Singapore Time, so do factor in the lead time for bank-to-KrisFlyer transfers if you’re planning to do this towards the end of the promotion.

The downside? You’ll probably lose flexibility by committing to the KrisFlyer programme (from Citi in Singapore, for example, you can transfer to 11 different FFPs, including oneworld programmes like Asia Miles and Qatar Privilege Club).

You’ll also be exposed to KrisFlyer’s fixed 36-month expiry policy for your miles, so if you are going to proceed with this, it’s best to leave it as late as possible so you have a full three years to use the miles.

If you transfer now, you’ll probably be waiting the best part of a year to start redeeming again at a decent rate, giving you perhaps only two years to then fully use the miles. Also, you probably don’t need the status extension or upgrade right now, while travel is still close to non-existent.

You can also transfer from UOB UNI$ or DBS Points into KrisFlyer miles via Kris+ and earn status credits in the process at the same rates for any valid transfer amount, though that process involves a 15% penalty on the conversion rate, so it’s hardly ever worth considering.

Co-brand credit card spend

If you’re holding a Singapore Airlines co-brand credit card, it’s a little more complicated. Since these cards automatically transfer miles into your KrisFlyer account on a monthly basis, you’ll only earn status credits for these automatic transfers made between now and 28th February 2022.

That means you’ll have to make fresh spend on the cards to accrue enough Elite miles or PPS Value over the next eleven months to earn a status renewal or upgrade solely based on this method, at the same rates applicable to bank points to status credit conversions.

Status credit earning is subject to a minimum of 100 KrisFlyer miles accrued from each of your co-brand cards’ qualifying spend per statement month.

A full list of KrisFlyer co-brand credit cards, which includes international cards, is available here.

Here’s an example of the spend required on the KrisFlyer Amex (Blue) or KrisFlyer Amex Ascend, assuming local spend at 1.1 mpd or 1.2 mpd respectively.

Co-brand credit card spend
New / Renewed Status Tier	Spend Needed
KFES	S$113,637	S$104,167
KFEG	S$227,273	S$208,334
PPS	S$227,273	S$208,334
PPS Solitaire	S$454,545	S$416,667

The interesting thing here is that if you meet this spend anyway on your card over the next 11 months, you’ll find yourself renewed or upgraded without any further action on your part!

For example, a basic KrisFlyer member spending S$210,000 on their KrisFlyer Ascend card anyway over the next 10 months will find themselves upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold status without even asking.

KrisShop or Kris+ spend

At the KrisShop, or when making in-store transactions at any Kris+ earning merchant, you’ll earn 3 Elite miles for every S$1 spent as a KrisFlyer member or 1 PPS Value for every S$1 spent as a PPS Club member.

This only applies when spending at these merchants using cash or card, not by redeeming your KrisFlyer or KrisPay miles (neither of which you should be doing anyway given the awful rates offered!).

Remember though that both KrisShop and Kris+ are offering double status credits for spend made between now and 21st April 2021 if you already hold Elite or PPS Club status, upping the earn rate to 6 Elite miles and 2 PPS Value respectively for that period for those members.

If you want to solely use KrisShop or Kris+ purchases to retain or upgrade your status tier, here’s how much you’d have to spend either between now and 21st April 2021 (as an existing Elite or PPS Club member) or between 22nd April 2021 and 28th February 2022, or as a basic KrisFlyer member throughout the total promotion period.

KrisShop / Kris+ spend
New / Renewed Status Tier	Spend Needed
	Existing Elite & PPS Club members 7 Apr 2021 to 21 Apr 2021	22 Apr 2021 to 28 Feb 2022*
KFES	S$4,167	S$8,334
KFEG	S$8,334	S$16,667
PPS	S$12,500	S$208,334
PPS Solitaire	S$454,545	S$416,667

* Higher spend also applicable to KrisFlyer basic members, with no Elite status, from 7 Apr 2021 to 28 Feb 2022.

At KrisShop, Elite miles or PPS Value will be earned on the net amount paid with a credit or debit card, excluding delivery charges, prevailing taxes, customs/import duties and postal clearance.

At Kris+, you’ll earn based on the total tax-inclusive amount paid by cash, debit or credit card at the merchant itself, provided you earn KrisPay miles via the Kris+ app at the time of payment.

Kris+ earning merchants (full list here) that are also useful for big-ticket items include Harvey Norman and Challenger, so you could go some way to hitting the requirement by simply spending here and picking up some additional KrisFlyer miles in the process.

Note that the Kris+ mobile app is only available for use when earning miles at stores in Singapore.

Spend or convert with Non-Air Partners

KrisFlyer’s ‘Non-Air Partners’ are those at which you can earn miles, or from which you can convert miles into the programme, excluding bank partners, co-brand cards, KrisShop and Kris+ partners.

For example miles earned from Grab Rewards conversions to KrisFlyer and transfers from Marriott Bonvoy points into KrisFlyer would all be included in this category.

See the full list of Non-Air Partners here.

Unfortunately there is a 500 miles minimum per transaction rule imposed for KrisFlyer miles earning or transferring in this category to also accrue status credits, at a rate of 1 Elite Mile per 5 miles transferred, or 1 PPS Value per 10 miles transferred.

Take a transfer from Grab Rewards points, for example.

Only the largest transfer block (5,000 points > 500 miles) will also earn status credits (100 Elite miles or 50 PPS Value in that case), since 500 miles is the minimum per conversion.

You probably won’t want to be using this method much, but if you were to do so to achieve all the status credits needed for tier retention / upgrade, here’s how many KrisFlyer miles you’d have to transfer between now and 28th February 2022, in 500+ mile blocks.

Conversion from Non-Air Partners
New / Renewed Status Tier	Transfer Needed
KFES	125,000 miles
KFEG	250,000 miles
PPS	250,000 miles
PPS Solitaire	500,000 miles

Like with bank points transfers, conversion from Non-Air Partners must be successfully completed by 28th February 2022 at 11.59pm Singapore Time, so beware of the lead time, which can differ significantly between partners.

How does this work alongside current status extensions?

The one-year status extension for KrisFlyer and PPS Club members announced in January means that:

• For KrisFlyer basic members, there was no impact.
• For KrisFlyer Elite members, Elite miles were rolled over to count towards requalification in the subsequent year.
• For PPS Club members, PPS Value was extended by one or two years, to count towards future requalification in the future.

What it effectively means is that if a KrisFlyer member without status uses this promotion to upgrade to the KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier by earning 50,000 Elite miles, the membership will be valid for 12 months from the date it was earned (e.g. earned in May 2021, valid until April 2022).

If an existing KrisFlyer Elite Gold status holder uses this promotion to retain the status by earning 50,000 Elite miles, the membership will be valid for two years from the end of the current membership year, provided this year’s extension hasn’t taken effect yet. That’s because at the end of the current membership year (March 2021 to February 2022), Singapore Airlines is already gifting a one-year extension.

For example, an existing KrisFlyer Elite Gold status holder who just got a free status extension in March 2021, and now has an expiry of March 2022, will in fact hold KFEG until March 2023 by participating in this offer.

An existing KFEG holder whose membership year ends in September 2021 will get a free status extension until September 2022, then this further one-year extension would take it to September 2023.

It’s a little confusing but it means those who have just received or have yet to receive their extension from SIA will still benefit, the additional year will just be tagged on to the end of the next ‘refreshed’ membership cycle.

KrisFlyer Elite Gold benefits

Most of our readers interested in this campaign will be doing so to obtain KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier status, equivalent to Star Alliance Gold membership.

It probably seems like a strange time to strive for this, while travel remains almost impossible, however with continued COVID-19 vaccine rollout around the world there is still hope for travel starting to progressively open up, especially in the second half of 2021.

Additionally, many people will be able to defer the start of this status to early 2022, thanks to the generous timeframe for this campaign.

Here’s the full suite of applicable benefits for the ‘KFEG’ tier.

For those less familiar, here are our picks of the major KFEG highlights (click to expand).

Summary

The standout option here is for those without status (even brand new members) to score KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier by simply transferring 250,000 miles from your credit card points into KrisFlyer miles between now and 28th February 2022.

There is no rush to do so, however.

For one thing, travel isn’t even back on the cards just yet, plus you don’t want the expiry clock to start ticking on 250,000 KrisFlyer miles any sooner than is necessary.

For many, that will make February 2022 a perfect time to transfer the miles across, giving you Gold status until early 2023, or even longer for those who already boast this tier.

For those who wish to use a variety of the different status credit earning options to obtain a retention or upgrade, however, it will probably mean ‘ticking along’ with the various methods throughout the year.

Are you planning to jump in with this status renewal or upgrade offer? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Cover Photo: Julian Herzog)