Singapore Airlines cuts KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club renewal requirements by 50%

With COVID-19 shutting down all but the most essential of travel, few KrisFlyer or PPS Club members are going to rack up enough flights to requalify for elite status. 

Singapore Airlines has already given a blanket 12 month extension to all members for the upcoming year, but for the subsequent year it’s looking to do something different. Instead of automatically extending status again, it will instead cut the requalification requirement by 50%, while providing options to earn status miles on the ground. 

I’ve already written about how you can earn status miles without flying, so in this post I’ll look at the reduced requalification requirements for memberships expiring between March 2021 to February 2022. 

Singapore Airlines Renewal Support Scheme

As mentioned, Singapore Airlines has already granted a 12 month extension to PPS Club and KrisFlyer Elite status expiring between March 2020 and February 2021. 

For memberships expiring between March 2021 and February 2022, Singapore Airlines will credit 50% of the PPS Value or Elite miles required for requalification. The long and the short of it is that you’ll only need to earn 50% of the usual PPS Value or Elite miles, all or most of which can be done without actually having to fly, thanks to the concurrently-announced “earn on the ground” options. 

Here’s the specifics of how it works for KrisFlyer Elite members, as well as PPS Club members. 

KrisFlyer Elite Members

Renewal Support Scheme for KrisFlyer Elite members

KrisFlyer Elite members with status expiring between March 2020 and February 2021 will receive a complimentary extension of 1 year. 

For the period between March 2021 and February 2022, Singapore Airlines will automatically deposit 50% of the required Elite miles for requalification, based on membership tiers and tier renewal end-dates as of 8 September 2020.

These Elite miles will not count towards the Elite miles requirement for the various Elite Gold rewards. 

There are two possible scenarios here:

Scenario A: Elite membership has already been renewed under the 1-year automatic renewal scheme from Mar 2020 to Feb 2021

KrisFlyer Elite Silver members will receive 12,500 Elite miles, while KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will receive 25,000 Elite miles. This represents 50% of the renewal requirement, and will be credited as per the following timeline:

Scenario B: Elite membership has not yet been renewed under the 1-year automatic renewal scheme from Mar 2020 to Feb 2021

KrisFlyer Elite Silver members will receive 12,500 Elite miles, while KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will receive 25,000 Elite miles. This represents 50% of the renewal requirement, and will be credited as per the following timeline:

PPS Club Members

Renewal Support Scheme for PPS Club members

PPS Club members with status expiring between March 2020 and February 2021 will receive a complimentary extension of 1 year. 

For the period between March 2021 and February 2022, Singapore Airlines will automatically deposit 50% of the required PPS Value for requalification, based on membership tiers and tier renewal end-dates as of 8 September 2020.

This PPS Value  will not count towards the PPS Value requirement for the various PPS rewards.

There are two possible scenarios here:

Scenario A: PPS membership has already been renewed under the 1-year automatic renewal scheme from Mar 2020 to Feb 2021

PPS Club members will receive 12,500 PPS Value, while Solitaire PPS Club members will receive 12,500-25,000 PPS Value, depending on when they qualified. This represents 50% of the renewal requirement, and will be credited as per the following timeline:

Scenario B: PPS membership has not yet been renewed under the 1-year automatic renewal scheme from Mar 2020 to Feb 2021

PPS Club members will receive 12,500 PPS Value, while Solitaire PPS Club members will receive 12,500-25,000 PPS Value, depending on when they qualified. This represents 50% of the renewal requirement, and will be credited as per the following timeline:

Top up the balance with earn-on-the-ground options

From now till 15 October 2020, KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club members can earn Elite miles or PPS Value by converting rewards points from bank partners, spending on KrisShop, topping up KrisPay or spending at KrisPay merchants. 

The maximum Elite miles or PPS Value is capped as follows: 

What this means is that Solitaire PPS Club and PPS Club members can requalify without having to step foot on a plane at all. KrisFlyer Elite Gold and Elite Silver members, on the other hand, will fall slightly short by 5,000 and 2,500 Elite miles respectively. 

It is a strange distinction, and I don’t see why it had to be made, given how unlikely travel is in the near future. 

Conclusion

Although March 2021 to February 2022 may seem far off, Singapore Airlines seems to be anticipating that neither leisure nor business travel will pick up in a big way anytime soon (a safe assumption, given IATA’s grim prognosis). 

Therefore, it’s good to see them taking steps to help members (and rectification steps when those initial steps end up annoying more people!), and they’ve not closed the door to further ones either:

Singapore Airlines will review the situation closely and consider other measures to earn Elite miles and support members’ renewal at an appropriate time if required.

In any case, I no longer have any skin in the frequent flyer status game. Yes, I’m technically a KrisFlyer Elite Silver, but trust me- you won’t notice its absence (or its presence, come to think of it).