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

With the outlook for travel still grim, SIA announces plans to automatically credit 50% of the Elite miles or PPS Value for 2021-2022 requalification.

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:

Tier renewal end-date
as of 8 Sep 2020
Elite miles credited by
31 Mar 202131 Oct 2020
30 Apr 202130 Nov 2020
31 May 202131 Dec 2020
30 Jun 202131 Jan 2021
31 Jul 202128 Feb 2021
31 Aug 202131 Mar 2021

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:

Tier renewal end-date as of 8 Sep 2020Tier renewal end-date after 1-year renewalElite miles credited by
30 Sep 202030 Sep 202130 Apr 2021
31 Oct 202031 Oct 202131 May 2021
30 Nov 202030 Nov 202130 Jun 2021
31 Dec 202031 Dec 202131 Jul 2021
31 Jan 202131 Jan 202231 Aug 2021
28 Feb 202128 Feb 202230 Sep 2021

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:

Membership Tier
as of 8 Sep 2020
Tier renewal end-date
as of 8 Sep 2020
PPS Value credited
as Reserve Value by
Solitaire PPS Club
(qualified after 1 Jun 2018)
Mar-Aug 202131 Oct 2020
Solitaire PPS Club
(qualified before 1 Jun 2018)
Mar-Aug 202131 Oct 2020
PPS ClubMar-Aug 202131 Oct 2020

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:

Membership Tier as of
8 Sep 2020
Tier renewal end-date as of 8 Sep 2020 Tier renewal end-date after 1-year renewalPPS Value credited as Reserve Value by
Solitaire PPS Club
(qualified after 1 Jun 2018)
Sep 2020-
Feb 2021
Sep 2021-
Feb 2022
30 Apr 2021
Solitaire PPS Club
(qualified before 1 Jun 2018)
Sep 2020-
Feb 2021
Sep 2021-
Feb 2022
30 Apr 2021
PPS ClubSep 2020-
Feb 2021
Sep 2021-
Feb 2022
30 Apr 2021

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. 

 KrisFlyer Elite membersPPS Club members
Convert 50,000 KrisFlyer or KrisPay miles4,000 Elite miles2,000 PPS Value
Every S$1 spent on KrisShop3 Elite miles1 PPS Value
Every S$1 spent on KrisShop with co-brand card3.75 Elite miles1.25 PPS Value
Every S$1 of KrisPay miles topped up from KrisFlyer3 Elite miles1 PPS Value
Every S$1 spent at KrisPay partners 3 Elite miles1 PPS Value

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

TierMaximum status credits to be earnedRequalification requirement for Mar 21- Feb 22
Solitaire PPS Club
(qualified on/after 1 Jun 2019)
25,000 PPS Value25,000 PPS Value
Solitaire PPS Club
(qualified before 1 Jun 2018)
12,500 PPS Value12,500 PPS Value
PPS Club12,500 PPS Value12,500 PPS Value
KrisFlyer Elite Gold20,000 Elite Miles25,000 Elite Miles
KrisFlyer Elite Silver10,000 Elite Miles12,500 Elite Miles

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). 

Aaron Wong
Aaron Wong
Aaron founded The Milelion to help people travel better for less and impress chiobu. He was 50% successful.

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David

Hi Aaron, Thanks for the helpful article though I’d be grateful if you could please validate my thinking on my own account situation based on the latest developments. I am in the same boat as Jill from your previous article. My PPS requalification date was 30 April 2020, but I crossed over the $25k requalification threshold in December 2019, so I have received no additional credits to date.  https://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/sg/ppsclub-krisflyer/latestnews/2020renewal-pps With the latest developments described at the link above, do I understand it correctly that by 30 September I will receive $25k PPS reserve credits from SQ and then a further $12,500… Read more »

Edz

It will not wise to spend 312,500 miles to re-qualify for Krisflyer Gold, which imo offers few membership benefits, for another year. And in the event that your points/miles are expiring, go treat yourself with bank vouchers or something.

Last edited 3 years ago by Edz
Julius

Am a KFEG expiring Jan 2021. With the 12 months renewal, it will go till Jan 2022. During which SQ will deposit 25k Elite miles into my account under its Renewal Support Scheme.

If I’m to transfer 250k miles from bank cards to KF by 15 Oct to earn 20k Elite miles, would this add towards the 25k Elite Miles during the requalifying period of Feb 2021-Jan 2020? Thanks

Trish

Hi Aaron, any idea if KFEG will just drop to Silver if one does not have enough elite miles to requalify again? Considering that they halved the requalification Criteria and KFEG will get 25k elite miles which is what silver requires?

Still wondering if it’s really still worth a shot with the potential 5k shortfall (from no flying) 🤔

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