New American Express cards offer: Buy KrisFlyer miles at 1.48 cents each

Back in June 2020, AMEX Platinum Charge and KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders enjoyed a special miles purchase promotion that let them buy up to 250,000 miles at just 1.48 cents each. 

American Express has brought the (targeted) offer back once again, with largely similar terms as before. Cardholders will need to enrol and spend S$500 by 31 March 2021. They can then pay a one-time fee ranging from S$738-S$3,687 to buy 50,000-250,000 KrisFlyer miles, yielding a price of 1.48 cents per mile. 

Bonus KrisFlyer Miles offer for AMEX cardholders

This bonus KrisFlyer miles offer is available to the following cardholders:

• AMEX Platinum Charge
• AMEX Solitaire PPS Card
• AMEX PPS Card
• AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend
• AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card

As per the T&C, only cardholders who received an invitation directly from American Express via eDM or other official communications may participate. Cardholders will first need to register via the channels below:

• Platinum Charge: Call The Platinum Concierge at 1800 392 1177
• AMEX Singapore Airlines Cards: Email your full name, mobile number, KrisFlyer membership number and offer selected (see below) to amexkf_enrolment@aexp.com

Here’s the different offers available, depending on which card you hold:

Card	One-time Fee	KrisFlyer Miles	Cost Per Mile
AMEX Platinum Charge	S$738 S$1,622 S$3,687	50,000 110,000 250,000	1.48 1.48 1.48
AMEX Solitaire PPS Card
AMEX PPS Card
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	S$738 S$1,622	50,000 110,000	1.48 1.48
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card

Once registered, cardholders must spend S$500 or more from 1 February to 31 March 2021. The one-time fee will be charged by 16 April 2021, and if that fee has been paid by 15 June 2021, bonus miles will be credited by 31 July 2021. 

To summarize:

• Spend period: 1 Feb to 31 Mar 2021
• One-time fee charged: 16 Apr 2021
• Deadline to pay one-time fee: 15 Jun 2021
• Bonus miles credited: 31 Jul 2021

If you register and fail to meet the minimum spend of S$500, you will not be charged the one-time fee. 

Do note that unlike other miles purchase promotions we’ve seen from banks, miles purchased through this AMEX offer will be directly deposited into your KrisFlyer account. AMEX Platinum Charge cardholders are therefore not buying Membership Rewards points; they’re buying miles. They won’t have the option to transfer these to any of the other 10 partners AMEX has. 

Is it worth buying KrisFlyer miles at 1.48 cents?

1.48 cents is a fairly low threshold for buying miles, but once again it all boils down to how much you value them.

For the sake of perspective, it’s possible to buy miles from as little as 0.42 cents each through Citi PayAll, although this requires that you have a Citibank credit card and a bill to pay. 

With travel on an indefinite hiatus, banks now find themselves with more miles on hand than they originally anticipated (since customers presumably aren’t converting points to miles in the same volume as before). I wouldn’t be surprised if they try to move their inventory through various promotions and transfer bonuses, so I’m pretty sure there’ll be more to come. 

The S$500 spending requirement isn’t that high, so it’s more a question whether you have a use for miles right now (you can cruise with them!)

Conclusion

While it’s hardly a “must-grab” deal, this targeted offer could nonetheless be useful for those want to top off their KrisFlyer balance.

Be sure to check your inbox to see if you were targeted, and decide accordingly.