Full details: Earn KrisFlyer Elite miles or PPS Value without flying

Back in early February, Singapore Airlines launched a celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of its KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme, with a range of miles earning and redemption offers including 50% bonus miles on revenue flights, an ongoing fast-track to Elite Gold status via credit card spend, hotel redemption discounts and more.

One of the more interesting promotions announced last month was the ability to earn status credits for on-ground spend, helping you maintain your tier in the KrisFlyer or PPS Club programme, or even helping you ascend up the ranks, potentially without the need to take additional paid flights.

Strangely though, that three-month promotion wasn’t set to launch until 1st March 2024, a whole month after the anniversary was being celebrated, and it then got delayed further still, only finally launching today (5th March 2024).

SIA has now shared full details of how the promotion will work, so let’s get into it.

Earn Status Credits Beyond the Skies

Singapore Airlines’ catchily-named “Earn Status Credits Beyond the Skies” promotion is running from 5th March 2024 to 4th June 2024, so even though it started late, the promised three-month opportunity window has been retained.

During the promotion, KrisFlyer and PPS Club members can earn status credits (Elite miles and PPS Value respectively) for on-ground spend at the following SIA Group merchants:

• Kris+
• KrisShop
• Pelago

From 5 March 2024 to 4 June 2024, besides earning status credits from flights, you can also earn PPS Value or Elite miles when you shop and dine with Kris+ in Singapore and Australia, when you get your latest gadgets or SIA-exclusive branded items through KrisShop, or engage in any of Pelago’s unique experiences globally.

Singapore Airlines

Unfortunately the first big caveat with this promotion is that it’s not a replication of the airline’s COVID-era “Unlock Status Credits Without Flying” campaign, an offer first launched in April 2021 that finally wound up in February 2022.

That one allowed you to retain or upgrade your status in the KrisFlyer or PPS Club programme purely from ground-based spending or credit card points transfers, but the context was of course entirely different – since stepping on a plane at that time was difficult, if not impossible for some.

With COVID behind us, borders reopened and travel back to normal, the deal this time round allows you to earn only 10% of the status credits required for upgrade or retention from this on-ground spend.

That’s hardly opening the floodgates for a raft of new elite memberships – think of it more as a ‘leg up’ if you’re going to end your membership year slightly short of the status retention or upgrade threshold.

The earn rates and status credits cap for KrisFlyer and PPS Club members under this offer are outlined in the following table.

Earn Status Credits Beyond the Skies

Current Membership	Earn Rate	Cap
KrisFlyer	1 Elite mile per S$1 spent*	5,000 Elite miles
PPS Club	1 PPS Value per S$3 spent**	2,500 PPS Value

* Or 1 Elite mile per AU$1 spent via Kris+ in Australia
** Or 1 PPS Value per AU$3 spent via Kris+ in Australia

Elite Miles can only be earned by KrisFlyer members under this promotion, while PPS Value can only be earned by PPS Club members.

That means if you are a KrisFlyer member trying to achieve PPS Club status through accrual of PPS Value, this on-ground earning promotion will not be able to assist you with that, since you’ll only be able to earn Elite miles under this offer.

During the promotion, you’ll only be able to earn these status credits for cash spend via credit or debit card with these three merchants.

If you redeem any KrisPay miles via Kris+, or redeem KrisFlyer miles at the KrisShop or Pelago, that element of your purchase will not earn any status credits.

Here’s a summary of the eligible spend with each merchant under this promotion.

Eligible spend by merchant

Merchant	Inclusions	Exclusions
Kris+	Payments made on the Kris+ app via Google Pay or Apple Pay, including KrisShop purchases made via the Kris+ app.	Bookings with Pelago made via the Kris+ app.
KrisShop	Purchases made with a credit or debit card at KrisShop.com, or in-flight on Singapore Airlines or Scoot or via pre-order.	KrisShop purchases made via the Kris+ mobile app. Any amount paid for taxes and delivery charges.
Pelago	Online bookings made on Pelago.com, or bookings with Pelago made via the Kris+ mobile app.	Any amount paid for taxes and delivery charges.

Crediting of Elite miles or PPS Value, up to the maximum allowed for on-ground spend during this campaign, differs between the three merchants as follows:

• Kris+: Instant
• KrisShop and Pelago: Within 14 days after end of promotion (i.e. by 18th June 2024)

For example, if you make a KrisShop purchase directly, you’ll see the Elite miles or PPS Value for that purchase credited by 18th June 2024, whereas if you make a KrisShop purchase via the Kris+ app, the crediting will be instant.

Kris+ is your go-to here for short-term crediting, if you need the Elite miles or PPS Value to appear in your account before 18th June 2024, since this will be the only instant method during this promotion (you’ll see the status credits in your account straight away).

For the latest list of Kris+ earn merchants in Singapore, do check out our recently updated summary of the 442 retailers participating, including their earn rates.

Retention and upgrade options

This campaign can help you to to retain or upgrade your KrisFlyer membership status with up to 5,000 Elite miles towards the required total, as shown below.

Options for KrisFlyer members

Current Status Tier	Your Options		Elite Miles Required
KrisFlyer	➚	KrisFlyer Elite Silver (upgrade)	25,000
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, including up to 5,000 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.

PPS Club members can use this campaign to retain or upgrade membership status with up to 2,500 PPS Value counted towards the usual required total, as shown below.

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

Once again, do note that a KrisFlyer member cannot jump to PPS Club status under this promotion, since they cannot earn additional PPS Value with the on-ground earning options. Promotion from KrisFlyer into the PPS Club continues to be based on PPS Value earned from revenue flights.

What about Milestone Rewards and PPS Rewards?

In a nutshell:

• Elite miles earned from this campaign will not count towards the tracking of KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards.
• PPS Value earned from this campaign will count towards the tracking of PPS Rewards.

PPS Club members are the ones who feel the love here, but no joy for KrisFlyer members hoping for their next Milestone Reward. You can view our full rundown of PPS Rewards benefits here.

It’s also worth noting that PPS Value earned as part of this promotion in excess of renewal or upgrade requirements will be deposited as Reserve Value if necessary, up to 2,500 PPS Value.

Is it worth it?

As we mentioned earlier, this promotion certainly isn’t your ticket to elite status purely from on-ground spending.

Singapore Airlines is only allowing you to top up 10% of the required total via these three merchants, with no benefit for credit card points transfers or anything like that (though there’s a good ongoing deal for new and existing Amex KrisFlyer Ascend cardholders to score KrisFlyer Elite Gold).

The earn rates are also poorer than those we saw during the 2021 “Unlock Status Credits Without Flying” campaign, which admittedly was a different promotion for a different era.

Nonetheless if you think you’re going to fall short of renewal or upgrade and this 10% status credits boost unlocks that possibility for you, or at least then makes it realistic for you to achieve it with a bit more flying, by all means take advantage between now and 4th June 2024.

Terms and conditions

You can view the full terms and conditions, including a range of frequently asked questions regarding the “Earn Status Credits Beyond the Skies” campaign at this dedicated page on the Singapore Airlines website.

Over the next three months, Singapore Airlines is offering status credits to its frequent flyers for on-ground spend, in the form of Elite miles or PPS Value.

Unfortunately it’s capped at 10% of the required total for renewal or upgrade (5,000 Elite miles and 2,500 PPS Value respectively), making this more of a ‘leg up’ for those who need it, rather than a game-changing scenario whereby anyone who wants status can simply buy it without setting foot on an SIA plane.

PPS Club members can top up their PPS Reserve value via this campaign, which might be useful, and can also potentially unlock PPS Rewards this way too.

(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)