American Express’ latest round of sign-up bonuses were supposed to run from 1 July to 30 September, but perhaps in recognition of the tightening economic climate, they’ve rejigged them early.
The revised KrisFlyer cobrand cards and Platinum Credit Card sign-up offers now have lower spending requirements, while maintaining the same (or better) bonus.
These offers are available to all cardholders who are approved from 1 August to 30 September 2020.
AMEX Platinum Credit Card
| Old Offer (until 31 Jul) | New Offer (1 Aug- 30 Sep) | |||
| Spend | Points | Spend | Points | |
| Welcome Gift | N/A | S$150 Lazada Voucher | ||
| MGM | S$2K | 12K | S$2K | 12K |
| Months 1-3 | S$6K | 25K | S$5K | 25K |
| Months 4-6 | S$6K | 25K | N/A | N/A |
| Base Points | 15K | 6.25K | ||
| Total Spend | S$12K | S$5K | ||
| Total Points | 65K | 43.25K | ||
Apply for the AMEX Platinum Credit Card and get a $150 Lazada Voucher
For the AMEX Platinum Credit Card, the spending requirement to trigger the 25,000 bonus points in months 1-3 has been reduced by 17%, from S$6,000 to S$5,000. The separate offer for spending in months 4-6 has been removed.
| ☝️ FYI: 450 Membership Rewards points= 250 airline miles |
American Express has also added a S$150 Lazada Voucher which will be automatically granted upon payment of the first year’s S$321 annual fee. This helps to offset the cost, and if you make use of the Love Dining benefits, can be quite worth it.
All in all, cardholders who spend S$5,000 in the first 3 months will receive a total of 43,250 points (24,028 miles), split into:
- 12,000 points for applying via MGM (MGM spending double counts towards sign-up bonus spending)
- 25,000 points for hitting the sign-up bonus
- 6,250 points for the base spend of S$5,000
The AMEX Platinum Credit Card’s annual fee of S$321 must be paid. Bonus points will be credited approximately 8-10 weeks from the date you meet the spending threshold.
The complete T&C for this offer can be found here.
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card
| Old Offer (until 31 Jul) | New Offer (1 Aug- 30 Sep) | |||
| Spend | Miles | Spend | Miles | |
| First Spend | Any | 5K | Any | 5K |
| MGM^ | S$2K | 3K | S$2K | 3K |
| Months 1-3 | S$5K | 8K | S$4K | 8K |
| Months 4-6 | N/A | N/A | S$4K | 8K |
| Base Miles | 5.5K (S$5K @ 1.1 mpd) | 8.8K (S$8K @ 1.1 mpd) | ||
| Total Spend | S$5K | S$8K | ||
| Total Miles | 23.5K | 32.8K | ||
| 💡 ^MGM refers to the AMEX member-get-member program. You’ll be eligible for this bonus if you apply through any of the links in this post. |
Apply for the KrisFlyer Credit Card and get 3K bonus miles
For the AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, the spending requirement to trigger the 8,000 bonus miles in Months 1-3 has been reduced by 20%, from S$5,000 to S$4,000.
American Express has also added the option to spend a further S$4,000 in Months 4-6 to earn another 8,000 bonus miles.
All in all, cardholders who spend S$8,000 in the first 6 months will receive a total of 32,800 miles, split into:
- 5,000 miles for their first spend
- 3,000 miles for applying via MGM (MGM spending double counts towards sign-up bonus spending)
- 8,000 miles for hitting the sign-up bonus in months 1-3
- 8,000 miles for hitting the sign-up bonus in months 4-6 (this is only available for new-to-AMEX cardholders)
- 8,800 miles for the base spend of S$8,000
Bonus miles will be credited approximately 8-10 weeks from the date you reach the spending threshold. The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card’s annual fee of S$176.55 is waived for the first year.
The complete T&C for this offer can be found here.
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend
| Old Offer (until 31 Jul) | New Offer (1 Aug- 30 Sep) | |||
| Spend | Miles | Spend | Miles | |
| First Spend | Any | 5K | Any | 5K |
| MGM^ | S$2K | 7.5K | S$2K | 7.5K |
| Months 1-3 | S$10K | 16K | S$8K | 16K |
| Months 4-6 | S$10K | 16K | S$8K | 16K |
| Base Miles | 24K (S$20K @ 1.2 mpd) | 19.2K (S$16K @ 1.2 mpd) | ||
| Total Spend | S$20K | S$16K | ||
| Total Miles | 68.5K | 63.7K | ||
| 💡 ^MGM refers to the AMEX member-get-member program. You’ll be eligible for this bonus if you apply through any of the links in this post. |
Apply for the KrisFlyer Ascend Card and get 7.5K bonus miles
Likewise, the spending requirement to trigger the 8,000 bonus miles for the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend in months 1-3 or 4-6 has been reduced by 20%, from S$10,000 to S$8,000.
Cardholders who spend the full S$16,000 will receive 63,700 miles, split into:
- 5,000 miles for their first spend
- 7,500 miles for applying via MGM (MGM spending double counts towards sign-up bonus spending)
- 16,000 miles for hitting the sign-up bonus in Months 1-3
- 16,000 miles for hitting the sign-up bonus in Months 4-6 (this is only available for new-to-AMEX cardholders)
- 19,200 miles for the base spend of S$16,000
Bonus miles will be credited approximately 8-10 weeks from the date you reach the spending threshold. The AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend’s annual fee of S$337.05 must be paid.
The complete T&C for this offer can be found here.
Which transactions are eligible?
As per AMEX’s master list of exclusions, the following transactions will not count towards your sign-up bonus spending.
| a) Charges processed and billed prior to the Enrolment Date or charges prepaid on any Card Account prior to the first billing statement for that Card Account following the Enrolment Date; b) Cash Advance and other cash services; c) Express Cash; d) American Express Travellers Cheque purchases; e) Charges for dishonoured cheques; f) Finance charges – including Line of Credit charges and Credit Card interest charges; g) Late Payment and collection charges; h) Tax refunds from overseas purchases; i) Balance Transfers; j) Instalment plans; k) Annual Card fees; l) Amount billed for purchase of KrisFlyer miles to top-up your miles balance; m) Purchase and top-up charges for EZ-Link Cards using American Express Cards; n) Bill payments and all transactions via SingPost SAM kiosks and mobile app (with effect from 1 March 2020); o) Payments to insurance companies (except payments made for insurance products purchased through American Express authorized channels) (with effect from 1 March 2020); p) Payments to Singapore Petroleum Company Limited (SPC) service stations (with effect from 1 March 2020); q) Payments for the purpose of GrabPay top-ups (with effect from 1 March 2020); r) Charges at merchants or establishments that are excluded by American Express at its sole discretion and notified by American Express to you from time to time. |
Do note in particular the exclusions for insurance, SPC and GrabPay transactions, which took effect from 1 March 2020. However, charity, hospital, education and utilities payments continue to earn miles, assuming AMEX cards are accepted.
Conclusion
American Express is reducing the spending requirements across the board, while keeping sign-up bonuses the same. If you have big ticket spending coming up in the next few months, consider whether it makes sense for you to try for these bonuses.
For a full list of all the sign up bonuses currently on the market, refer to our guide here.
Amex customer service not so good now.. i had some missing points not credited despite chasing and only when i escalated to jamie lee was i being reimbursed and given a service recovery.. are banks now cutting costs by reducing service staff?
Reduction from $6,000 to $5,000 is a reduction of 16.7% rather than 20% isn’t it since the base is $6,000.
someone’s paying closer attention than me on a monday night…will fix!
The phrase “cutting sign-up bonus spending” made me scratch my head. Consider “reducing the spending requirements for sign-up bonus”.
Perhaps, too sleepy on a Monday night… 🙂
Unfortunately the Amex Rewards signup promo has been 86ed…