Singapore Airlines has announced that it will allow earning of elite status credits from on-ground spend a year-round proposition from 1st September 2025, with the launch of a permanent programme that allows KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to accrue Elite miles and PPS Value through non-flight spending activities.

Under the scheme, members can earn status credits through everyday spending with Kris+, KrisShop and Pelago, which will count towards PPS Club or KrisFlyer Elite status qualification or renewal. This may sound familiar – SIA has offered such benefits previously – but only during limited promotional periods like for KrisFlyer’s 25th anniversary celebrations in 2024.

Now, the airline has decided to offer these earning opportunities permanently, with some notable enhancements for higher-tier members.

Earn Status Credits Beyond the Skies

Unlike the pandemic-era “Unlock Status Credits Without Flying” campaign that allowed members to achieve status purely through ground spending, this year-round programme is designed as a supplementary benefit.

It provides a nice ‘leg up’ for members who might fall slightly short of their status requirements, rather than opening the floodgates to elite membership through on-ground spending alone.

The benefit creates more opportunities for members to qualify for or renew their tiered membership status, helping you to bridge the gap when you need those crucial additional Elite miles or PPS Value to maintain or achieve your desired status level.

Under the new system, 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 1 September 2025, your everyday spend with the Singapore Airlines Group non-flight entities will help count towards your PPS Club or KrisFlyer Elite tier status upgrade or status renewal.

Singapore Airlines

Unfortunately the first big caveat: this isn’t a throwback to the pandemic-era “Unlock Status Credits Without Flying” offer in 2021/22, which temporarily let members keep or gain status without flying at all. That scheme was a one-off response to travel restrictions, whereas the new system is a permanent – but limited – supplement.

The new deal allows you to earn only 10-20% 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.

Nonetheless, this is a structural shift in how KrisFlyer rewards loyalty – not just a limited-time perk.

The earn rates and status credits caps 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 KrisFlyer Elite Silver	1 Elite mile per S$1 spent*	5,000 Elite miles
KrisFlyer Elite Gold	1 Elite mile per S$1 spent*	10,000 Elite miles
PPS Club	1 PPS Value per S$3 spent**	2,500 PPS Value
Solitaire PPS Club	1 PPS Value per S$3 spent**	5,000 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
^ 2,500 PPS Value for Solitaire PPS Club with status achieved before 1st June 2018

Elite Miles can only be earned by KrisFlyer members, 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 option will not be able to assist you with that, since you’ll only be able to earn Elite miles under this offer.

PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club members who have already met the PPS Value needed to (re)qualify won’t lose out on further on-ground earnings. Any additional PPS Value will be set aside as Reserve Value, up to the tier-specific cap.

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.

Eligible spend by merchant

Merchant	Inclusions	Exclusions
Kris+	Payments made on the Kris+ app via Google Pay or Apple Pay, including KrisShop and Pelago purchases made via the Kris+ app.	None
KrisShop	Purchases made with a credit or debit card at KrisShop.com, or in-flight on Singapore Airlines or Scoot or via pre-order.	Any amount paid for taxes and delivery charges.
Pelago	Online bookings made on Pelago.com.	Any amount paid for taxes and delivery charges.

For the latest list of Kris+ earn merchants in Singapore, do check out our recently updated summary of the 491 retailers participating, including their earn rates.

How crediting works

Elite miles or PPS Value from Kris+, KrisShop and Pelago spend will post within one month of the miles themselves appearing in your account. Here’s how long the initial miles take to show:

• Kris+: Instant (except Pelago bookings, which credit one day after the activity)
• KrisShop: Up to 5 business days (usually within one day)
• Pelago: Within 1 week of completing the activity (usually one day after)

Once those miles are in, your status credits (Elite miles or PPS Value) follow up to a month later.

Example:
Make a S$500 Pelago booking on 1st September 2025, for an activity on 1st October 2025 via Kris+ (earning 3 mpd).

• 2nd October 2025: 1,500 KrisPay miles appear in Kris+ (one day after the activity).
• By 2nd November 2025: 500 Elite miles land in your KrisFlyer account (one month after the KrisPay miles).

Kris+ is usually the fastest way to trigger the process, for those approaching the end of their membership year and seeking a short-term boost. For Kris+ payments (other than Pelago), your KrisPay miles post instantly, meaning your Elite miles or PPS Value should follow no more than a month later.

Retention and upgrade options

This new year-round status earning option can help you to to retain or upgrade your KrisFlyer membership status with up to 5,000 Elite miles (for basic and Silver members) or 10,000 Elite miles (for Gold members) towards the required totals, which are 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.

Unfortunately KrisFlyer Elite Silver (KFES) doesn’t really get you much, so it’s the upgrade to Gold most of our readers are interested in.

PPS Club members can use this new option to retain or upgrade membership status with up to 5,000 PPS Value counted towards the usual required totals, which are 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 this way, 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 on-ground spend will count towards the tracking of KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards.
• PPS Value earned from on-ground spend will count towards the tracking of PPS Rewards.

There’s some improvement in accrual of Milestone Rewards in this permanent feature compared to its promotional appearance in 2024, because Elite miles earned by KrisFlyer members will count towards Milestone rewards, whereas they didn’t before.

You can view our full rundown of Milestone Rewards benefits here, and PPS Rewards benefits here.

It’s also worth noting that PPS Value earned from on-ground spend in excess of renewal or upgrade requirements will be deposited as Reserve Value if necessary, up to 2,500 / 5,000 PPS Value.

Benefits of KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club status

We’ve got updated comprehensive guides to the earning requirements and benefits of SIA’s frequent flyer status tiers, starting with the KrisFlyer programme:

And also for the two PPS Club tiers:

Is it worth it?

This year-round non-flight status credits earning certainly isn’t your ticket to elite status purely from on-ground spending, but it provides a meaningful supplement for status qualification and retention.

The airline has carefully calibrated the caps – up to 10% of required credits for PPS Club members and 20% for KrisFlyer Elite Gold members – to offer some value without undermining elite exclusivity. The enhanced caps for higher-tier members, particularly the doubled allowance for KrisFlyer Elite Gold and newer Solitaire PPS Club members, provide useful flexibility in your annual status planning.

Where this option truly shines is for members who consistently fall just short of status thresholds.

A KrisFlyer Elite Silver member who’s short by around 800 miles at membership year-end could easily close the gap with a single Pelago booking or a few Kris+ restaurant bills, avoiding an unnecessary ‘mileage run’ to retain status or upgrade.

The inclusion of Elite miles toward KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards adds extra value, making every dollar spent with SIA’s non-flight entities (up to the cap) count toward both status progression and potentially useful rewards.

The permanent nature of the option means you can factor these earning opportunities into your ongoing status strategy, allowing routine SIA ecosystem spending to be part of your status-building activity in some cases, rather than scrambling to do so during the limited promotional windows we’ve seen before.

Terms and conditions

We are still awaiting publication of the full terms and conditions for this “Earn Status Credits Beyond the Skies” benefit, which will go live on 1st September 2025.

However in the meantime Singapore Airlines has provided some details here, with a list of FAQs available here.

Singapore Airlines is transforming what was once a limited-time promotion into a permanent benefit from 1st September 2025, allowing KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to earn status credits year-round through on-ground spending.

While this won’t replace the need for revenue flights to achieve elite status, it will provide a useful supplement for some members who find themselves close to qualification or requalification thresholds. PPS Club members can also benefit from these credits counting towards PPS Rewards, building Reserve Value for future use.

Our take? This is not a game-changer, but it’s a useful new lever – especially if you’re chasing KrisFlyer Elite Gold status and find yourself just short of the finish line.

• For KrisFlyer members: A handful of Pelago or KrisShop purchases could save you from booking an unnecessary flight just to earn those last few hundred Elite miles. Think of it as a “safety net” for requalification, rather than a fast-track.
• For PPS Club members: The impact is far less meaningful. Non-flight PPS Value accrues much more slowly, so this mechanic won’t move the needle much on qualification. That said, it’s a painless way to build up some Reserve Value in the background.

In short – don’t expect to qualify for status purely from buying wine on KrisShop or booking a weekend tour on Pelago, but if you’re close to the line, this new option could prove very handy.

(Cover Photo: MainlyMiles)