American Express increases sign up bonus for AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend & Credit Card

Although the AMEX KrisFlyer cobrand cards don’t have the highest earn rates in the market, they do have some of the best sign up bonuses. The most recent round ended on 31 Jan, and American Express has launched a new set of offers for applications approved between 1 Feb-30 Apr 2020.

The good news is that these bonuses are a slight improvement over the old set. 

AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card

Apply for the KrisFlyer Credit Card here and get a bonus 5K miles 

Under the old sign up offer, AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card holders who spent S$5,000 in the first 3 months received a total of 23,000 miles. 

With the new offer, cardholders who spend S$5,000 in the first 3 months get 23,500 miles. They can then opt to spend a further S$5,000 in months 4-6 to get an additional 13,500 miles. In other words, you spend a total of S$10,000 to get 37,000 miles, inclusive of all base miles and bonuses. 

Do note that the above offer only applies to “new-to-AMEX” customers. This excludes applicants who currently hold an existing American Express card (bank-issued AMEX cards don’t count). If you’re an existing customer, your total return for S$10,000 spending will be 29,000 miles, assuming you’ve not held a KrisFlyer cobrand card before (as the 5,000 first spend bonus is once per customer lifetime). 

On top of all this, you will receive 1,500 bonus miles for each of the first 2 approved supplementary cards. The S$53.50 annual fee will be waived for the first year anyway, so it’s an easy way to pick up some free miles. 

The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card’s first year annual fee of S$176.55 is waived. The complete T&C for this promotion can be found here. 

AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend

Apply for the KrisFlyer Ascend Card here and get a bonus 7.5K miles

Under the old sign up offer, AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend cardholders who spent S$10,000 in the first 3 months received a total of 39,500 miles. 

With the new offer, cardholders who spend S$10,000 in the first 3 months get a total of 40,500 miles. This comes from an additional 1,000 bonus miles awarded for meeting the S$10.000 spending threshold. 

Unlike the offer for the AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend offer is available regardless of whether you’re “new-to-AMEX” or existing.

You can also receive 1,500 bonus miles for each of the first 2 approved supplementary cards, and the first year’s S$80.25 annual fee will be waived. However, you will need to pay the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend’s annual fee of S$337.05 to enjoy the sign up bonus (even if you hold the AMEX Platinum Charge).

The complete T&C for this promotion can be found here. 

Key Features: AMEX KrisFlyer cards

Here’s the key features of the AMEX KrisFlyer cobrand cards:

	AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card	AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend
Income Req.	S$30,000	S$50,000
Annual Fee	S$176.55 (first year free)	S$337.05
Local Spend	1.1 mpd	1.2 mpd
Overseas Spend	2.0 mpd (Jun & Dec)	2.0 mpd (Jun & Dec)
Specialized Spend	-2.0 mpd on singaporeair.com -3.1 mpd on Grab (S$200/month) -3.1 mpd on “Daily Essentials” (S$200/month)	-2.0 mpd on singaporeair.com -3.2 mpd on Grab (S$200/month) -3.2 mpd on “Daily Essentials” (S$200/month)
Transfer Fees	None	None

The AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend also comes with four complimentary lounge passes, Hilton Silver status (great if you’re planning to buy points as you get the 5th night free on redemptions), a complimentary night at selected Hilton properties, and a fast track to KrisFlyer Elite Gold. 

Do remember that from 1 March 2020, the FCY fee on both these cards will increase from 2.5% to 2.95%, and GrabPay top-ups, SPC transactions and insurance payments will no longer earn miles. 

Conclusion

The new sign up bonuses are a slight improvement over the old ones, and are well worth looking at if you have upcoming big ticket spending. 

For a full list of all the sign up bonuses currently on the market, refer to our guide here.