Good news: All PPS/Solitaire PPS Club members will receive 25,000/50,000 Reserve value

Back in April, Singapore Airlines announced that it would grant a 12 month extension to all KrisFlyer Elite and PPS/Solitaire PPS Club status expiring between March 2020 and February 2021. 

Where the latter are concerned, the original policy was to credit the shortfall in PPS Value. This wasn’t the fairest way of going about it, resulting in a lot of unhappiness among members. 

Well, Singapore Airlines has reversed course and now plans to credit 25,000/50,000 in Reserve Value instead, regardless of account activity. 

Original Policy: Credit shortfall in PPS Value

The original plan would have seen Singapore Airlines crediting the shortfall in PPS Value so that re-qualification could be achieved.

The problem with this was that it created winners and losers. Consider the following scenarios: 

Jack would be the biggest winner here, since he’s basically had no activity, yet re-qualifies. Jill is the biggest loser, since she’s already re-qualified and therefore gets nothing. I considered it a classic example of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, but imagine few PPS members would have felt as philosophical about it. 

Long story short, Singapore Airlines was inadvertently penalizing its biggest spenders. That’s not something you want to do in the current situation (or in any situation, really), and it’s good that they’ve come to their senses.

New Policy: Award 25,000/50,000 PPS Value to all

Singapore Airlines has announced a new policy whereby all PPS/Solitaire PPS Club members will receive a fixed Reserve Value equivalent to another year of re-qualification.

This is a lot more equitable. Jill will be able to store up the PPS Value she’s already accrued this year as Reserve Value, while Jack gets to re-qualify anyway. 

Here’s when PPS/Solitaire PPS Club members can expect to receive their additional value:

Do note that if your re-qualification period was from March 2020 to June 2020, you will receive 25,000 (or 50,000, depending on tier) minus whatever shortfall value you were previously credited. 

Anyone who has already re-qualified for PPS/Solitaire PPS Club membership will be able to carry forward their PPS Value via the reserve system for subsequent years. 

Expect delays in receiving your new membership card

Singapore Airlines notes that COVID-19 has disrupted their supply chain for card production, and says that members should expect a 16-20 week delay before receiving their new membership kit. 

In the rare chance that you happen to be travelling during this period, you can use the digital card on the SingaporeAir mobile app instead. 

Extension of expiring PPS Rewards

As a reminder, any PPS Rewards that expire between July and December 2020 will be extended, with a revised validity until 31 March 2021. This covers:

• Double KrisFlyer Miles Reward
• 50,000 KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Discount
• Advance Upgrade

Standby Upgrade Rewards will not be extended.

If you have already applied these rewards towards an existing booking that you now need to convert to a flight credit, KrisFlyer membership services will be able to assist.

Conclusion

All’s well that ends well, I suppose. I’ve listened to the rants of many a PPS Club member who felt disgruntled about the new scheme, but the new policy addresses these concerns amicably. 

Anyone who has gone above and beyond to clock PPS Value during a time like this will get to save that for the future; anyone whose travel plans have been cancelled on account of COVID-19 will still get to re-qualify. Everyone wins. 

On a separate note, since COVID-19 isn’t disappearing anytime soon, it’s more likely than not we’ll see additional measures to help loyal members retain elite status. I do suspect we may see reduced qualifying thresholds for the next year, as well as further extensions for KrisFlyer mile validity (not that this affects PPS Club members, whose miles never expired anyway).