Singapore Airlines offering PPS Value and Elite miles without flying

In September last year, Singapore Airlines launched a campaign that allowed KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club members to earn status credits on the ground, without flying. This lasted a short time and was limited in scope, capping the maximum Elite miles or PPS Value that could be earned.

Campaign Landing Page

The good news is that Singapore Airlines has brought the campaign back for almost a year, and it’s bigger and better than before. 

Earn status credits without flying

From 7 April 2021 to 28 February 2022, KrisFlyer and PPS Club members can earn Elite miles and PPS Value by converting rewards points from bank and other non-air partners, spending on co-brand cards, or making purchases with KrisShop or via Kris+. 

There is no cap on the maximum Elite miles or PPS Value that can be earned during this campaign. These status credits will count towards KrisFlyer Elite or PPS Club membership renewal that is due between March 2022 and February 2023, or to upgrade your existing membership status. 

While KrisFlyer members will not be able to make the leap over to PPS Club through this campaign, they will be able to move up a tier (or two), all the way to KrisFlyer Elite Gold. Likewise, existing PPS Club members can move up to Solitaire PPS Club. 

	Renew	Upgrade
Solitaire PPS Club	✅
PPS Club	✅	✅  (to Solitaire PPS Club)
KrisFlyer Elite Gold	✅
KrisFlyer Elite Silver	✅	✅  (to Elite Gold)
KrisFlyer	✅	✅  (to Elite Silver/Gold)

Elite miles and PPS Value will be credited to your account within seven working days of the qualifying transaction posting. There will be some lead time depending on the route you choose, so take note. 

For PPS Club members, PPS Value earned through this campaign will count towards the tracking of PPS Rewards, and any value in excess of requalification requirements will be deposited as Reserve Value. 

However, for KrisFlyer Elite members, Elite miles earned through this campaign will not count towards the tracking of KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards. Elite miles earned within your KrisFlyer Elite membership year (with membership start date from 1 March 2020 till 1 March 2021) will be rolled over to the next qualification cycle for KrisFlyer Elite members.

Let’s now take a detailed look at each of the ways to earn status credits without flying. 

Converting bank points to KrisFlyer miles

KrisFlyer and PPS Club members who convert bank points to KrisFlyer miles will earn:

• KrisFlyer: 1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles
• PPS Club: 1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles

Singapore Airlines has provided a list of eligible banks, but long story short, every single bank  that offers conversions to KrisFlyer will qualify. 

Each bank transaction will require a minimum of 10,000 KrisFlyer miles converted in a single transaction to qualify. For example:

• If you convert 9,000 miles from Bank X and 1,000 miles from Bank Y, both transactions will not qualify
• If you convert 10,000 miles from Bank X and 9,999 miles from Bank Y, your Bank X transaction will qualify but not your Bank Y transaction
• If you convert 10,000 miles from Bank X and 10,500 miles from Bank Y, both transactions will qualify and a total of 20,500 miles will be considered for the PPS Value or Elite miles award.

The Elite miles or PPS Value awarded will be calculated based on each qualifying transaction; not on the cumulative sum of KrisFlyer miles converted during the campaign period. In other words, you can convert points from multiple banks to KrisFlyer and earn status credits, provided each transfer is at least 10,000 KrisFlyer miles in value. 

For a full discussion on whether this route makes sense, check out this post.

Converting bank points to KrisPay miles

KrisFlyer and PPS Club members who convert bank points to KrisPay miles via Kris+ will earn:

• KrisFlyer: 1 Elite mile per 5 KrisPay miles
• PPS Club: 1 PPS Value per 10 KrisPay miles

The minimum transfer depends on which bank you’re transferring from. As a reminder, only DBS and UOB currently offer transfers to Kris+:

	Transfer Ratio
DBS Points	100 DBS Points: 170 KrisPay miles
UOB UNI$	1,000 UNI$: 1,700 KrisPay miles

All transfers to Kris+ are instant, so you can do this any time up till the campaign deadline. 

Earning with co-brand cards

KrisFlyer and PPS Club members who accrue a minimum of 100 KrisFlyer miles through spending on a co-brand card will earn:

• KrisFlyer: 1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles
• PPS Club: 1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles

Singapore Airlines has provided a list of eligible co-brand cards, and once again, every single one out there will qualify. 

Remember, cobrand cards batch your transactions and do a monthly transfer; for my AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, this happens on the 10th of every month. Assuming your base earn rate is 1.2 mpd, you’ll just need to spend at least S$84 per month to earn some status credits from your spending. 

Do note that welcome KrisFlyer miles earned from enrolment and/or first-time transactions using co-brand cards will not qualify for Elite miles or PPS Value through this campaign. I take this to include sign-up bonuses as well, so unfortunately those nifty new offers that AMEX has won’t earn you status credits. 

Similarly, miles won from lucky draws will not earn Elite miles or PPS Value, so apologies in advance to whoever wins The Milelion x AMEX Million Mile Draw…

Spending with Kris+ or KrisShop

For every S$1 spent at KrisShop or via Kris+, KrisFlyer and PPS Club members will earn 3 Elite miles and 1 PPS Value respectively.

This rate will be doubled for KrisFlyer Elites (i.e Elite Silver, Elite Gold) and PPS Club members  to 6 Elite miles and 2 PPS Value for all transactions made from 7-21 April 2021. 

Dollar spend on KrisShop refers to both purchases paid for with credit/debit cards (redeeming KrisFlyer miles does not count), and excludes delivery charges and taxes. 

Dollar spend via Kris+ refers to whatever you pay for with cash or credit/debit cards. Remember, you settle the bill as you normally would, and earn miles by getting your Kris+ QR code scanned. The main issue I have is that merchants always seem unable to use the Kris+ terminal every time I visit; I’ve had horrible luck at Bottles & Bottles. 

Non-air partners

KrisFlyer and PPS Club members who accrue KrisFlyer miles through non-air partners will earn:

• KrisFlyer: 1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles
• PPS Club: 1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles

A minimum of 500 miles must be accrued per transaction. The miles earned can come from completing eligible transactions (e.g foodpanda- although you’d need to spend S$500 in a single order!), or converting partner points to KrisFlyer (e.g Grab). 

Singapore Airlines has provided a full list of eligible non-air partners here, but the main ones of interest to us in Singapore would be:

• CapitaStar (new partner)
• Changi Rewards
• Esso
• Grab
• Kaligo
• KrisFlyer Spree
• Pelago

If you’re earning through KrisFlyer Spree, KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club members will receive double the Elite miles or PPS Value for transactions made between 7-21 April 2021. 

Just like bank conversions, do remember that all conversions must be completed by 2359 hours (GMT+8) on 28 February 2022 to qualify. Different partners will have different lead times (foodpanda is especially slow), so don’t leave this till the last minute. 

If you’re intending to earn miles through a hotel or rental car platform, do note that they only credit miles after your stay or rental is completed– so if you’re booking for March 2022 onwards, your miles won’t arrive in time to earn status credits. 

How does this compare to last year’s campaign?

As mentioned at the onset, Singapore Airlines ran a similar campaign in September last year. However, the current campaign is so much more generous. 

Here’s how they compare:

During the previous campaign, members could only requalify for their existing tier. That’s to say, a KrisFlyer Elite Silver member couldn’t move up to Elite Gold, and a PPS Club member couldn’t move up to Solitaire PPS. That’s because the maximum status credits were capped at a figure below that which you’d need for an upgrade. This time round, a lowly entry-level KrisFlyer member can get KrisFlyer Elite Gold by transferring 250,000 KrisFlyer miles. It’s a rags to riches story for sure. 

The previous campaign was a flash in the pan, valid for just 1.5 months. The current campaign will last all the way through 2022. Singapore Airlines has also improved the campaign by making provisions for co-brand cardholders and transfers from non-air partners, as well as improving the status credit rate for bank points conversions. 

Am I participating?

Yes, I think I will. I lost my KrisFlyer Elite Gold status in 2019, and sat out SIA’s previous “earn on the ground” campaign because it didn’t let me upgrade from Elite Silver to Elite Gold. However, this time round all I’ll be able to earn Elite Gold purely through points conversions. 

There’s a lot of uncertainity about when travel will resume, of course, but I’m hoping that I’ll be able to get vaccinated sometime in June. This will hopefully open up opportunities in the second half of the year, and since I see myself traveling quite a bit for work after that, it’s useful to have status. 

It all boils down to when you see yourself traveling again, but since the campaign runs all the way till February next year, you can time your transfers so as to maximize your membership validity. 

Conclusion

Although I’m sure most people would rather see Singapore Airlines offer another automatic requalification, it seems we’ll have to work for it this time round (once again, everyone’s status has been extended till at least February 2022 already). 

I’m seriously considering earning back my Elite Gold via points conversions, and I’m quite sure I can’t be the only one. There’s still plenty of time to mull it over though, so you may want to see how the rest of 2021 plays out. 

Will you be participating?