KrisFlyer’s Elite Silver status tier is the first rung of the ladder in Singapore Airlines’ frequent flyer programme, and as such it’s never been showered with many benefits – no priority check-in, no complimentary lounge access, no priority boarding, not even an extra baggage allowance.

As such, many of our readers see it only as a stepping stone to higher tiers like KrisFlyer Elite Gold or the lofty heights of the PPS Club, rather than a long-term proposition to keep renewing Silver every year.

That may be about to change though, with one major benefit now awarded to KrisFlyer Elite Silver members from 4th June 2024 – an increased baggage allowance when flying on Singapore Airlines flights.

That’s not all either, with priority check-in desks at some airports and priority boarding at the gate also thrown in.

Update 5th June 2024: Singapore Airlines has removed the new benefits for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members from its website, confirming to Mainly Miles that the changes did not come into effect on 4th June 2024, and in fact will be announced at a later date.

In a statement, the airline told us “Singapore Airlines will be refreshing our KrisFlyer Elite Silver membership benefits. More details will be announced in due course.”

Increased baggage allowance

Singapore Airlines has announced that KrisFlyer Elite Silver members can now benefit from an additional baggage allowance when travelling on Singapore Airlines flights.

For countries where the weight concept is applied, the additional allowance for KrisFlyer Elite Silver passengers is an extra 10kg compared to the regular allowance for your travel class and ticket type.

Here’s how this looks on a practical basis when flying with Singapore Airlines to and from most destinations, which use the weight concept.

Singapore Airlines Baggage Allowance (weight-based)
Travel Class	Regular Allowance	KrisFlyer Elite Silver Allowance
First / Suites	50kg	60kg
Business	40kg	50kg
Premium Economy	35kg	45kg
Economy Flexi Economy Standard	30kg	40kg
Economy Value Economy Lite	25kg	35kg

These allowances also apply to award tickets, with Economy Saver and Economy Advantage redemptions both entitled to the Economy Flexi baggage allowance of 30kg, which is therefore hiked to 40kg for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members.

For reference, KrisFlyer Elite Gold members get a 20kg hike on the regular baggage allowance under the weight concept, while PPS Club members get double the usual allowance.

Where the piece concept applies, which for Singapore Airlines is only for flights to and from the USA, Elite Silver members are now entitled to an additional 23kg or 32kg piece of baggage, which actually matches the KrisFlyer Elite Gold allowance.

Singapore Airlines Baggage Allowance (piece-based)
Travel Class	Regular Allowance	KrisFlyer Elite Silver Allowance
First / Suites	2 x 32kg	3 x 32kg
Business	2 x 32kg	3 x 32kg
Premium Economy	2 x 23kg	3 x 23kg
Economy	2 x 23kg	3 x 23kg

Again, award bookings also benefit from the same increased allowances for Silver members.

This change leaves only PPS Club members with a higher baggage allowance than KrisFlyer Elite Silver and Gold flyers on these routes, with 4 x 23kg or 4 x 32kg bags allowed for those travellers.

These increased baggage allowances also extend to travel on low-cost subsidiary Scoot, but only when your itinerary includes a transfer to Scoot from Singapore Airlines, or vice-versa.

That will primarily be an advantage for our international readers, who are more likely to be travelling on itineraries like Sydney – Singapore (SQ) with a same-itinerary connection to the likes of Singapore – Koh Samui (TR).

KrisFlyer Elite Silver members travelling on Scoot bookings that aren’t part of a wider itinerary also including an SIA flight will continue to receive an additional 5kg checked baggage allowance, with purchase of a minimum of 20kg baggage.

Golds and PPS Club members get exactly the same – so don’t feel hard done by there as a Silver member!

Do note that these increased baggage allowances for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members on SIA do not apply when travelling on Star Alliance carriers, because the additional baggage perk in that case is a Star Alliance Gold benefit, not extended to Star Alliance Silver members.

There has also been no additional baggage allowance announced for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members when travelling on Singapore Airlines partner carriers, like Virgin Australia and Vistara.

Priority boarding

In more good news, Singapore Airlines isn’t just improving the baggage allowance for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members.

As part of these changes, the carrier has also announced that KrisFlyer Elite Silver members will now be invited to board “before Economy Class passengers”, which should see them jump into in the fourth group on a on a four-class aircraft like the Airbus A380, as follows:

1. Passengers who require special assistance, or who are travelling with infants and toddlers
2. Suites and First Class passengers
3. Business Class passengers and PPS Club members
4. Premium Economy Class passengers, KrisFlyer Elite Gold, Star Alliance Gold and KrisFlyer Elite Silver members
5. Economy Class passengers (by sequential boarding group)

It’s likely in our opinion that SIA will still board Premium Economy Class and KrisFlyer Elite Gold / Star Alliance Gold passengers first, and simply create an additional boarding group after that for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members, prior to general Economy Class boarding.

Let’s see what starts happening in practice out in the wild!

Priority airport check-in

KrisFlyer Elite Silver members will also now benefit from priority service at specially-designated KrisFlyer Elite Silver check-in desks, though the airline currently states this occurs “where available”.

Look out for these desks at Singapore Changi Airport T2 and T3, as a minimum expectation, but hopefully also to some of the larger outstation ports too.

Full KrisFlyer and PPS Club guides

We’ve update our full guides to the various KrisFlyer and PPS Club tiers in light of this positive news for Silver members.

If you’re wondering whether the various status tiers come with any other benefits that might be useful to you, don’t forget to check these out via the links below, for all the details.

KrisFlyer Elite Silver members now benefit from an additional baggage allowance of 10kg when flying on Singapore Airlines, including on Scoot flights that connect to or from an SIA service.

The additional allowance shifts to an additional 23kg or 32kg piece of luggage, when flying to and from the USA.

SIA is also offering priority boarding and priority check-in for KrisFlyer Elite Silver members for the first time as part of these improvements, perks that were only previously bestowed upon Elite Gold and PPS Club members.

It’s great to see the KrisFlyer Elite Silver tier finally get some decent perks, but it probably still remains a stepping stone to Gold for most.

(Cover Photo: Edward Russell)