Singapore Airlines has been extending KrisFlyer and PPS Club benefits like tier status, miles validity and earned rewards throughout COVID-19, in a nod to the difficulties many members have faced utilising their perks while jetting off on a trip was more or less impossible, due to strict border restrictions.
We had assumed, now the pandemic is behind us, that we’d seen the last of this generosity. Indeed we’ve recently seen the end to KrisFlyer miles validity extensions, that finally ended with one final reprieve through to 30th June 2023.
However, the airline has announced another extension, which may benefit PPS Club members.
Advance Upgrade Rewards extended
If you have earned any Advance Upgrade Rewards as a PPS Club member, which trigger at 60,000, 75,000 and 100,000 PPS Value accrued in your membership year, and so therefore only really apply to Solitaire PPS Club members, there’s an extension in store for you.
Advance Upgrade Rewards previously extended till 31 December 2023 or expiring in 2024 will be further extended till 31 December 2024.
Singapore Airlines
This extension will be processed automatically, and no action is required on your part.
Note that this extension is only for Advance Upgrade PPS Rewards, it does not apply to KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards, including Short-haul Advance Upgrades and Premium Economy Advance Upgrades, which will still expire on 31st December 2023.
You can check whether you have any expiring Advance Upgrade Rewards by logging in to your KrisFlyer account and then going to Account Summary > PPS Rewards.
Your Rewards are then listed under “Manage rewards”, which also shows their expiry dates.
Note that the extension to these rewards will take place by 31st December 2023. That means you may not see their new expiry of 31st December 2024 reflected until the end of this year.
Remember you can apply your Advance Upgrade Rewards for flights departing after their expiry date, so in this case you now simply need to apply these extended ones on or before 31st December 2024.
If you have already applied an Upgrade Reward to a booking that has now been refunded, you will have to contact Singapore Airlines to have the award redeposited into your account. It will then be valid until 31st December 2024.
Full details of this Advance Award validity extension are available here.
How Advance Upgrades work
PPS Club members receive an Advance Upgrade Award when they hit 60,000 PPS Value in their membership year, then another identical one when 75,000 PPS Value is achieved, and finally an identical third one when 100,000 PPS Value is achieved.
There are also PPS Rewards for hitting 30,000 and 40,000 PPS Value respectively, but those are not being extended.
| PPS Rewards |
|
| PPS Value earned* | Reward |
| 30,000 |
2 x Double KrisFlyer Miles |
| 40,000 |
50,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount |
| 60,000 | Advance Upgrade 1 EXTENDED |
| 75,000 | Advance Upgrade 2 EXTENDED |
| 100,000 | Advance Upgrade 3 EXTENDED |
* Per membership year
Each Advance Upgrade Reward gives you one advance upgrade voucher, which allows you to apply for a one-cabin class upgrade on your eligible booking.
This can be used by the principal member, or by a redemption nominee.
Your upgrade will be confirmed at the point of booking, subject to availability.
The single cabin class upgrade is valid:
- From Economy to Premium Economy (if fitted)
- From Economy to Business (if PY is not fitted)
- From Premium Economy to Business
- From Business to First (if fitted)
The upgrade is valid for commercial tickets (not award flights) booked under anything except the ‘Value’ and ‘Lite’ fare buckets.
Here’s how that looks in terms of eligible and ineligible fare codes.
| Booked Class | Fare Codes | |
| Eligible | Ineligible | |
| Economy | Standard: M, H, W Flexi: Y, B, E |
Lite: V, K Value: Q, N |
| Premium Economy | Standard: L, P Flexi: S, T |
Lite: R |
| Business | Standard: U Flexi: Z, C, J |
Lite: D |
Remember that the Advance Upgrade Reward only permits a one-cabin class cabin upgrade, so if you’re planning to use it on an eligible Economy Class booking, you should probably do so on a flight that doesn’t have a Premium Economy Class cabin installed.
That will allow you to upgrade straight to Business Class, but your flight will need to be operated by one of the following aircraft to be eligible:
- Airbus A350 Medium Haul
- Boeing 737-800 (but why would you?)
- Boeing 737-8 MAX
- Boeing 787-10
You can also use the reward to upgrade straight from Economy Class to Business Class on Airbus A350 Long Haul and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft that operate regional routes where the Premium Economy cabin is not sold – currently this applies on Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Male flights.
For further details, including for the other PPS Rewards available to members of the programme, see our dedicated guide.
Summary
Singapore Airlines hasn’t quite finished with its COVID-19 membership support programme, this week announcing an extension to Advance Upgrade PPS Rewards expiring in 2023 and 2024, now valid through to 31st December 2024.
Provided you’ve got an eligible cash booking in Economy, Premium Economy or Business Class, you can use these to lock in an upgrade (subject to availability) to the next higher cabin, or straight from Economy to Business Class in the case of some aircraft types, and on some routes with three or four-class aircraft like Jakarta and Male.
Remember that provided you redeem these vouchers by 31st December 2024, they can actually be applied to any future flight booking, giving you well into 2025 to actually take advantage.
(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)