Last call: Earn Elite miles or PPS Value without flying (and KrisFlyer Elite Gold till 2025)

Back in April 2021, Singapore Airlines launched a promotion that allows KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to earn Elite miles and PPS Value (collectively known as “status credits”) on the ground- no flying required.

Status credits can be clocked via credit card points transfers, cobrand card spending, purchases via KrisShop or Kris+, or converting points from partners like Grab or CapitaStar. 

It’s now February 2022, which means you have just under a month left to take advantage of this offer- potentially earning KrisFlyer Elite Gold status all the way till 2025, thanks to KrisFlyer’s recent gifting of a further one-year membership extension.

Recap: Unlock status credits without flying

Here’s a recap of the campaign to earn status credits on the ground, which runs till 28 February 2022. 

Campaign Page
	KrisFlyer	PPS Club
Convert KrisFlyer miles (min. 10,000 miles)	1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles	1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles
Convert KrisPay miles (min. depends on bank)	1 Elite mile per 5 KrisPay miles	1 PPS Value per 10 KrisPay miles
Spend on co-brand cards (min. 100 miles earned)	1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles	1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles
Spend on KrisShop or Kris+	3 Elite miles per S$1	1 PPS Value per S$1
Earn with non-air partners (min. 500 miles)	1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles earned	1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles earned
⚠️ Note: KrisFlyer members will not be able to earn PPS Value, and PPS Club members will not be able to earn Elite miles

For most people, transferring credit card points will be the easiest way of racking up status credits.

• KrisFlyer members will earn 1 Elite mile per 5 KrisFlyer miles transferred
• PPS Club members will earn 1 PPS Value per 10 KrisFlyer miles transferred

Frankly speaking, you really should have done this last year while the 15% transfer bonus was in play. But there’s no point living in the past, I guess, and earning some status credits from credit card points transfers is better than earning nothing– which will be the case from 1 March 2022. 

If you’re planning to transfer points, I wouldn’t leave it till the last minute since there are lead times involved. Remember, your miles must be credited to your KrisFlyer account by 28 February 2022 to earn Elite miles/PPS Value; it doesn’t matter when you initiated the transfer.

There is no limit to how many Elite miles or how much PPS Value you can earn, although the latter lends itself more to stockpiling thanks to the Reserve Value feature (which lets members store PPS Value in excess of requalification for up to three years). 

Remember, however, that KrisFlyer members cannot earn PPS Value, and PPS Club members cannot earn Elite miles. This means there’s no “ladder jumping”, in the sense that a KrisFlyer member can’t make the leap to PPS Club. 

KrisFlyer members

Here’s your options if you’re currently a KrisFlyer member:

• A current entry-level KrisFlyer member can qualify for either KrisFlyer Elite Silver, or KrisFlyer Elite Gold
• A current KrisFlyer Elite Silver can requalify for KrisFlyer Elite Silver, or upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold
• A current KrisFlyer Elite Gold can requalify for KrisFlyer Elite Gold

The table below summarises these options, as well as how many credit card points (cc points) you’ll need to transfer to attain each outcome.

Current Status	CC Points Transfer Required	Outcome
KrisFlyer	125,000 KrisFlyer miles (25,000 Elite miles)	KrisFlyer Elite Silver (upgrade)
	250,000 KrisFlyer miles (50,000 Elite miles)	KrisFlyer Elite Gold (upgrade)
KrisFlyer Elite Silver	125,000 KrisFlyer miles (25,000 Elite miles)	KrisFlyer Elite Silver (requalify)
	250,000 KrisFlyer miles (50,000 Elite miles)	KrisFlyer Elite Gold (upgrade)
KrisFlyer Elite Gold	250,000 KrisFlyer miles (50,000 Elite miles)	KrisFlyer Elite Gold (requalify)

If you’re going to take advantage of this campaign, there’s really no point stopping at KrisFlyer Elite Silver– the perks are virtually non-existent. KrisFlyer Elite Gold is where the good stuff starts, like lounge access, priority check-in and priority baggage.

For a limited time, KrisFlyer Elite Gold members even enjoy access to the beautiful new SilverKris Lounge at Changi Airport. That’s at least until the KrisFlyer Gold lounge reopens for business, after which they’ll be funnelled over there.

✈️ KrisFlyer Elite Qualification & Perks
	KrisFlyer Elite Silver	KrisFlyer Elite Gold
Elite Miles Req. (in 12-mth period)	25,000	50,000
Mileage Bonus	25%	25%
Priority Waitlist	✅	✅
Advance Seat Selection	✅ (Standard)	✅ (Forward and Standard)
20kg Extra Baggage		✅
Priority Check-in		✅
Priority Baggage		✅
Priority Boarding		✅
Lounge Access		✅

PPS Club members

Here’s your options if you’re currently a PPS Club member:

• A current PPS Club member can requalify for PPS Club, or upgrade to Solitaire PPS Club
• A current Solitaire PPS Club member can requalify for Solitaire PPS Club

The table below summarises these options, as well as how many credit card points (cc points) you’ll need to transfer to attain each outcome.

Current Status	CC Points Transfer Required	Outcome
PPS Club	250,000 KrisFlyer miles (25,000 PPS Value)	PPS Club (requalify)
	500,000 KrisFlyer miles (50,000 PPS Value)	Solitaire PPS Club (upgrade)
Solitaire PPS Club	500,000 KrisFlyer miles (50,000 PPS Value)	Solitaire PPS Club (requalify)

The main advantage that Solitaire PPS Club has over PPS Club is that you get a supplementary card (with the same perks and privileges), as well as access to the First Class check-in and lounge anytime you’re flying with Singapore Airlines.

✈️ PPS Club Qualification & Perks
	PPS Club	Solitaire PPS
PPS Value Req. (in 12-mth period)	25,000	50,000
Mileage Bonus	25%	25%
Non-expiry of miles	✅	✅
Priority Waitlist	✅	✅
Priority Redemption	✅	✅
Advance Seat Selection	✅ (All seat types)	✅ (All seat types)
Extra Baggage	✅	✅
Priority Check-in	✅	✅ (First Class check-in)
Priority Baggage	✅	✅
Priority Boarding	✅	✅
Lounge Access	✅	✅ (SilverKris First Class Lounges)
Supp. Card		✅

But then again, I’ve heard from some PPS Club members that they don’t want to upgrade to Solitaire PPS Club. Why? Because they find the PPS Club perks good enough, and are concerned about the accelerated burn rate. 

What’s this accelerated burn rate? Well, recall that any PPS Value in excess of requalification goes into a PPS Reserve account, which can be drawn down in future years as needed. An example is given below:

If you’re a PPS Club member, your drawdown each year will be 25,000 PPS Value at most. But if you’re a Solitaire PPS Club member, you drawdown will be up to 50,000 PPS Value. 

To phrase the problem another way: a PPS Club member who wants to squirrel away PPS Value during this campaign may ironically end up burning through his stash faster in the future, since Solitaire PPS Club status will be automatically achieved upon reaching 50,000 PPS Value.

So accumulating PPS Value under this campaign is a bit of a double-edged sword, at least if you’re not already a Solitaire PPS Club member. I’m quite sure you can’t reject an upgrade to Solitaire PPS Club, so you’ll have to look at your credit card points stash and see what works.

Earn KrisFlyer Elite Gold status till 2025

Thanks to the status credits campaign and Singapore Airlines’ decision to extend all KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club memberships by a further year, there’s a unique opportunity to earn and hold KrisFlyer Elite Gold status all the way till February 2025. 

All PPS Club and KrisFlyer Elite statuses that are due to expire between March 2022 and February 2023 will be automatically extended for another year. 

-Singapore Airlines

Here’s how it works (remember, you’ll need to do all this by 28 February 2022):

• Assuming you’re starting from zero, you’ll need to transfer the equivalent of 250,000 KrisFlyer miles to earn Elite Gold
• Once you’ve qualified for Elite Gold, you can proceed to transfer a further 250,000 KrisFlyer miles to clock the 50,000 Elite miles required for requalification.

KrisFlyer Elite members will be eligible for a rollover of the previous year’s Elite miles, which means you can clock them in 2022 for requalification in 2024. 

• Each KrisFlyer Elite member (as of 1 March 2022) will be eligible for a one-time re-crediting of Elite miles
• Only Elite miles accrued within your KrisFlyer Elite membership year (with membership start date between 1 March 2021 and 1 March 2022) will be re-credited to you
• KrisFlyer Elite Silver members who are upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier before their KrisFlyer Elite Silver membership end-date will also be eligible for a one-time re-credit of Elite miles
• Members who upgraded from KrisFlyer Elite Silver to KrisFlyer Elite Gold after 1 March 2022 from any status match programmes or accelerator campaigns will not be eligible for the re-crediting of Elite miles

Let’s use a simple example. Suppose I transfer 250,000 KrisFlyer miles to my account on 14 February 2022. That gives me 50,000 Elite miles, and an upgrade to KrisFlyer Elite Gold.

Then I transfer a further 250,000 KrisFlyer miles, and receive another 50,000 Elite miles.

• My status will initially be valid till 28 February 2023
• Since that expiry falls within the March 2022 to February 2023 window, Singapore Airlines will automatically extend it to 28 February 2024. 
• That means I have until 28 February 2024 to clock the 50,000 Elite miles needed for requalification
• But remember: my 50,000 Elite miles earned in February 2022 have been carried forward to the membership year running from 28 February 2023 to 28 February 2024
• In other words, I start the 2023/24 membership year already having requalified, and my status is valid till 28 February 2025!

It’s crucial that you get all this done by 28 February 2022. From March 2022 onwards:

• There will be no more opportunities to earn Elite miles on the ground (assuming the campaign is not extended)
• Any status earned will not receive the complimentary extension (since your status expires from March 2023 onwards, outside the extension window)

Basically, someone who misses the boat by qualifying in March 2022 will only have status till March 2023, and he/she’ll have to earn Elite miles purely by flying! 

Here’s a summary: 

This does require you to have 500,000 KrisFlyer miles sitting around in credit card points, but if so, securing KrisFlyer Elite Gold status for the next three years is quite tasty indeed. 

Caveats

Assuming you have the credit card points on hand, should you go ahead and do it?

It all comes down to how often you see yourself flying in the next couple of years, what cabin you’ll be in (since the perks of KrisFlyer Elite Gold are most appreciated when you’re in Economy Class), and how invested you are in the KrisFlyer programme (i.e. is it your go-to scheme for miles redemptions?).

I’d also consider the following.

Flexibility

When you convert credit card points to KrisFlyer miles, you lose flexibility because you’re committing yourself to KrisFlyer. 

That’s especially the case if you’re converting points from Citibank, which has 10 different frequent flyer partners including some very useful ones like Turkish Miles&Smiles and British Airways Executive Club.

KrisFlyer
Star Alliance
	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
	✅		✅					✅
	✅		✅
			✅
								✅
Oneworld
	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅			✅
	✅		✅
	✅					✅
	✅		✅	✅				✅
			✅					✅
SkyTeam
			✅					✅
	✅
Non-aligned
			✅					✅
	✅							✅
Hotels
								✅
	✅
			✅					✅
	✅

If you’re a “KrisFlyer or bust” kind of person, this won’t be a concern, but I think it’s prudent to maintain some flexibility so you can take advantage of sweet spots in other programmes.

Expiry

KrisFlyer miles have a 36-month expiry clock, which starts from the moment they’re credited to your account.

While Singapore Airlines has been periodically extending the expiry of miles during COVID, this only affects miles with expiry dates up to 31 December 2022. Any miles you credit in February 2022 will be valid till February 2025, well beyond the scope of the extension.

Devaluations

I don’t think it’s likely we’ll see a KrisFlyer devaluation over the next 12 months, but you can never fully rule out the possibility. If it’s any consolation, you’ll almost certainly get a few months’ of advance notice in the event of award chart adjustments, allowing you to burn your stash at the current rates. 

Conclusion

February 2022 is your last opportunity to earn Elite miles or PPS Value through credit card points transfers, Kris+ or KrisShop spending, and other activities that don’t involve stepping on a plane.

From March 2022, “butt-in-seat” will be the only way to earn Elite miles or PPS Value, and even though I expect a significant expansion of the VTL scheme this year (or hopefully its scrapping, with all fully vaccinated individuals allowed to enter Singapore sans quarantine), everyone will have their own work or family commitments that may limit their ability to travel. 

So it’s all about making hay, and if you have a sizeable stash of credit card points handy, there’s an opportunity to qualify and hold KrisFlyer Elite Gold status all the way till February 2025.

Decisions, decisions.