Last 4 weeks: Earn KrisFlyer Elite Gold status on the ground till 2024 or 2025

February 2022 marks the final month of Singapore Airlines’ “Unlock Status Credits without Flying” campaign, an incentive to allow KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to accrue Elite miles or PPS value to retain or upgrade their status level through a variety of on-ground accrual options.

One of the simplest of those methods is a transfer of credit card points from your bank into KrisFlyer miles, and that means being able to upgrade to Elite Gold status for a year (or even two years) if you have sufficient points.

With KrisFlyer now also gifting a one-year membership status tier extension, it’s possible to benefit from this status level until 2024 or 2025, but if you haven’t taken advantage it yet this is the last month to do so.

Unlock status credits offer

The unlock status credits offer allows you to earn an unlimited number of Elite miles (for KrisFlyer members) or PPS Value (for PPS Club members).

Here’s a reminder of the various ways you can earn status credits without flying, between now and 28th February 2022.

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 Citi, 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

You may already have accrued some status credits during your membership year this way, on top of any flying activity, perhaps without even realising!

This campaign allows you to retain or upgrade your status in the combinations shown below.

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 have been 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

Note that a KrisFlyer member cannot jump to PPS Club status under this promotion, since they cannot earn additional PPS Value with these new options (including bank points transfers). Promotion from KrisFlyer into the PPS Club continues to be based on PPS Value earned from revenue flights.

Bank points conversion are the obvious choice

It’s the transfer of credit card (bank) points into KrisFlyer miles which is how most of our readers have already picked up their new Elite status, with this month marking the final opportunity to do so.

You’ll have to transfer a minimum of 10,000 KrisFlyer miles per conversion for Elite miles / PPS Value crediting, but you’ll receive status credits for all of them combined.

Status credits from credit card points transfers

Method	KrisFlyer	PPS Club
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 Citi, DBS or UOB points to KrisPay miles	1 Elite mile per 5 miles	1 PPS Value per 10 miles

All major banks in Singapore support conversion into KrisFlyer, as shown below.

When you convert your bank or credit card reward points into KrisFlyer miles, 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.

Here are the miles volumes you’ll need to transfer to retain your status or earn a tier upgrade, using the credit card points conversion option in isolation while stacking these two campaigns, 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 (existing PPS members only)	250,000 miles
PPS Solitaire (existing PPS members only)	500,000 miles

One-year status extension

The great thing about the deal is that Singapore Airlines is automatically extending your KrisFlyer or PPS Club status for another year from the end of its existing expiry month, as part of membership support packages announced last month.

This is the third membership extension the airline has offered and means those who have earned status on the ground, or will do so by the end of this month, will keep it for at least two years and up to three years in some cases.

Extension of Elite membership will take place in accordance with the following table.

Current Expiry Month	Renewal Date	New Expiry Month
Mar 2022	31 Mar 2022	Mar 2023
Apr 2022	30 Apr 2022	Apr 2023
May 2022	31 May 2022	May 2023
Jun 2022	30 Jun 2022	Jun 2023
Jul 2022	31 Jul 2022	Jul 2023
Aug 2022	31 Aug 2022	Aug 2023
Sep 2022	30 Sep 2022	Sep 2023
Oct 2022	31 Oct 2022	Oct 2023
Nov 2022	30 Nov 2022	Nov 2023
Dec 2022	31 Dec 2022	Dec 2023
Jan 2023	31 Jan 2023	Jan 2024
Feb 2023	28 Feb 2023	Feb 2024

As you can see, new KrisFlyer Elite Gold memberships achieved this month (February 2022), which would normally be valid until 28th February 2023, will now be automatically extended until 28th February 2024.

Earn or retain status till 2024 or 2025

If you’re a KrisFlyer member and you haven’t achieved your status upgrade or retention yet, this is the perfect month to do it, since you’ll get a fresh membership year through to February 2023, which will then automatically be extended to 2024 as part of the status extension.

For those have sufficient credit card points to repeat the process, giving them enough Elite miles to qualify until February 2024, the status extension means they’ll be good until the end of February 2025.

Let’s take a look at how that would work.

Example: KF Basic to KF Elite Gold for two years

If you qualify for KrisFlyer Elite Gold during February 2022, you’ll have status until 28th February 2023, which will be automatically extended by a year as part of the latest status extension offer to 28th February 2024.

Here’s an example of how you could do it as a basic KrisFlyer member with 24,000 Elite miles already accrued. You are currently 26,000 Elite miles short of an upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold status (50k requirement).

With a credit card points transfer of 130,000 miles (e.g. from 65,000 DBS Points), you’ll receive:

• 130,000 KrisFlyer miles; and
• 26,000 Elite miles

Once the Elite miles have credited, which happens automatically within a day of the KrisFlyer miles themselves, your account will be upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold for a year, since you’ve now hit the 50,000 Elite miles threshold.

Your KrisFlyer Elite Gold expiry will now show as 28th February 2023, but at the end of that month the blanket membership extension will kick in, and the status level will be renewed until 28th February 2024, regardless of account activity (or lack thereof!).

Of course the more Elite miles you need to hit the target, the larger your transfer will need to be, with 250,000 miles needed if you’re still at a zero Elite miles balance (250,000 ÷ 5 = 50,000 Elite miles).

Example: KF Basic to KF Elite Gold for three years

Better still, if you have sufficient credit card points in your account, you can follow the process above to achieve KrisFlyer Elite Gold for one year (automatically extended to two years), then once your KrisFlyer Elite Gold status reflects in your account make another 250,000 miles transfer from credit card points.

Important: 2-stage process

Don’t attempt to do this ‘in one go’ with a 500,000 KrisFlyer miles (100,000 Elite miles) transfer!

Excess Elite miles over and above 50,000 from your first transfer won’t count towards requalification, so they also won’t trigger a second year extension.

You’ll therefore have to allow the upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold to be processed from the first transfer, which typically takes a few days, then make the second transfer of 250,000 miles only after your KFEG status reflects.

This will then give you a KrisFlyer Elite Gold account plus 50,000 Elite miles, and thanks to KrisFlyer also announcing that it will once again roll over Elite Miles earned for memberships from March 2022 to February 2023, those will give you an additional fresh year of Elite Gold at the end.

“Elite miles earned by KrisFlyer Elite members, in the 12 months prior to the latest extension, will be credited back into their accounts after the extension. Elite miles earned during the previous membership qualification cycle will also count towards their requalification in the March 2023 to February 2024 cycle.”

Singapore Airlines

Since the additional 50,000 Elite miles, which you would normally need to accrue from March 2023 to February 2024 for a further year of Elite Gold status, have already been carried over into that year, you’ll then have your status extended to 28th February 2025, a total of three years.

You’ll obviously need a significant number of credit card points to achieve this three-year deal, so it won’t be feasible for many members.

Do it by 28th February 2022

From 1st March 2022 the “earn status without flying” campaign is set to end, and furthermore newly minted KrisFlyer Elite Gold memberships from that date will not benefit from the one-year status extension, unless one (or both) promotions are extended.

That makes it important to complete this process by the end of this month at the latest, to take maximum advantage.

Transfer points by 14th February 2022

Don’t forget there’s a lead time to consider when transferring points from your credit card rewards account into KrisFlyer to also benefit from status credit earning on the ground.

Conversion must be successfully completed by 28th February 2022 at 11.59pm Singapore Time, and some banks take around a week to complete the process from the request date (HSBC and Standard Chartered in particular).

Recent transfer times for our own Singapore credit card points and those of our readers have been:

• Amex SG: 48h
• Amex UK: 24h
• Citi Singapore: 24h – 48h
• DBS SG: 48h
• HSBC SG: 1-7 days (weekly batch transfer)
• HSBC UK: 24h
• Maybank: 24h
• OCBC: 24h (weekends included)
• Standard Chartered: 6-7 days
• UOB: 48h

Our personal recommendation is therefore to allow a two-week buffer, in case of any issues, initiating your transfers no later than 14th February 2022.

KrisFlyer Elite Gold benefits

Most of our readers interested in stacking these two campaigns will be doing so to obtain KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier status for two years, equivalent to Star Alliance Gold membership.

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

Don’t forget, the future KrisFlyer Gold lounge at Changi T3 is the former temporary SilverKris facility, which will be a great upgrade for KFEG members going forward once it becomes their dedicated lounge, including its own restrooms and showers.

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

Downsides

You’ll likely lose flexibility by committing a large volume of miles to the KrisFlyer programme.

From Citi in Singapore, for example, you can transfer to 10 different FFPs, including oneworld programmes like Asia Miles and Qatar Privilege Club.

Taking advantage of this status extension by transferring credit card points may leave you without enough to transfer into other partners for award flexibility, or to take advantage of promotions like the recent Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles award discount (Business Class to Europe for 31,500 miles!).

You’ll also be exposed to KrisFlyer’s fixed 36-month expiry policy for your miles, for example those credited in February 2022 to trigger this status upgrade will expire on 28th February 2025.

Though travel options are gradually unlocking, you may be waiting six months or more to start redeeming again at a decent rate, giving you perhaps only two years to then fully use the miles.

You’ll need to weigh up how much a status extension or upgrade means to you and what value you’ll get from it, against some of these disadvantages of locking your miles in KrisFlyer, assuming like most of our readers you’re upgrading via a credit card points transfer.

If you haven’t yet taken advantage of KrisFlyer’s earn status on the ground campaign for an extra (or fresh) year or two of KrisFlyer Elite Gold status, this month is the optimal time to do so, since your membership will be valid until at least 28th February 2024 and even 2025 if you have enough points to transfer (two batches).

This is thanks to SIA’s fresh one-year blanket status extension for memberships expiring from March 2022 to February 2023, which will include those upgrading this month, in combination with the “earn on the ground” campaign.

With quarantine-free travel to and from Singapore slowly reopening over the last few months, we’re getting word that there are much bigger plans by the government for 2022, which we should see filtering through soon.

That will make KrisFlyer Elite Gold quite a useful card to have in your pocket, especially for lounge access when flying in Economy or Premium Economy Class with SIA and Star Alliance carriers.

Obviously you may need a large credit card points-to-miles transfer (or two) to achieve this benefit, depending on your existing Elite miles balance accrued so far, but it will mean holding status for a minimum of two years.

Will you be transferring credit card points to earn two or three years of KrisFlyer Elite Gold status? Let us know in the comments section below.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)