AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend offering 25,800 miles sign-up bonus

American Express has launched an alternative sign-up bonus for the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, which runs from now till 31 January 2023. New cardholders who spend S$1,000 and pay the first year’s S$340.20 annual fee will receive up to 25,800 bonus miles.

This runs concurrently with the ongoing mainline offer of up to 32,000 bonus miles with S$3,000 spend, and is intended as an alternative for those who want a sign-up bonus with a smaller minimum spend. 

Cardholders will continue to enjoy the standard AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend benefits such as four lounge vouchers and a 1-night Hilton voucher redeemable at more than 250 hotels across Asia Pacific.

AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend 27,000 miles offer

Apply Here
	Spend	Miles
First Spend	Any	5K
Sign-Up Bonus	S$1K	20.8K
Base Miles	1.2K (S$1K @ 1.2 mpd)
Total Spend	S$1K
Total Miles	27K

From now till 31 January 2023, new AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend cardholders who spend S$1,000 in the first month of approval (defined as the first 30 calendar days) and pay the first year’s S$340.20 annual fee will receive a total of 27,000 miles. 

This is broken down into:

• 5,000 miles for all first-time American Express KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders  on their first spend. This is a once-per-lifetime bonus, so if you’ve previously held an American Express KrisFlyer cobrand card before, you won’t receive again
• 20,800 miles for spending S$1,000 in the first 30 days of approval and paying the S$337.05 annual fee
• 1,200 miles for spending S$1,000, as per the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend’s base earn rate of 1.2 mpd locally

For perspective, 27,000 miles would be enough to redeem a return-trip Economy Class ticket to Bangkok, Phuket, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh on Singapore Airlines. 

Do note that your application must be approved by 15 February 2023 to be eligible. 

Terms & Conditions

All bonus miles will be awarded 12 weeks after the qualifying spend criteria has been met. For avoidance of doubt, all fulfilment is handled by American Express; if any CSO tells you to contact MileLion for fulfilment, they are mistaken.

You can read the full T&Cs here.

AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend 35,600 miles offer

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	Spend	Miles
First Spend	Any	5K
Pay Annual Fee	–	10K
Milelion Bonus	S$2K	2K
Sign-Up Bonus	S$3K	15K
Base Miles	3.6K (S$3K @ 1.2 mpd)
Total Spend	S$3K
Total Miles	35.6K

As a reminder, there’s a different offer available for those able to meet a higher minimum spend.

From 1 October 2022 to 31 January 2023, new AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend cardholders who spend S$3,000 in the first 3 months of approval (defined as the first 90 calendar days) and pay the first year’s S$337.05 annual fee will receive a total of 35,600 miles. 

This is broken down into:

• 5,000 miles awarded to all first-time American Express KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders on their first spend. This is a once-per-lifetime bonus, so if you’ve previously held an American Express KrisFlyer cobrand card before, you won’t receive again
• 10,000 miles for paying the S$337.05 annual fee and making a first spend
• 2,000 miles for signing up via The MileLion and spending S$2,000 in the first 90 days of approval
• 15,000 miles for spending an additional S$1,000 (i.e. S$3,000 total) in the first 90 days of approval 
• 3,600 miles for spending S$3,000, as per the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend’s base earn rate of 1.2 mpd locally

For perspective, 35,600 miles would be enough to redeem a return-trip Economy Class ticket to Hong Kong or Taiwan. 

Terms & Conditions

All bonus miles will be awarded 8-10 weeks after the qualifying spend criteria has been met. For avoidance of doubt, all fulfilment is handled by American Express; if any CSO tells you to contact MileLion for fulfilment, they are mistaken. 

The T&Cs of the 10,000 miles annual fee bonus and 15,000 miles sign-up offer can be found here.

Which deal is better?

If you look at the spend to payoff ratio (and ignore the bonus miles), then the offers are basically:

1. Spend S$1,000 for 25,800 miles
2. Spend S$3,000 for 32,000 miles

(1) is clearly superior to (2) in that respect.

However, there’s another angle to consider: eligibility. (1) requires that you currently do not hold any principal AMEX credit cards, while (2) does not. Therefore, if you’re already an AMEX principal cardholder, then (2) would be your only option.

What spending is eligible?

AMEX provides a list of excluded spending categories here, but the key ones to note are: 

• GrabPay top-ups
• Insurance
• Public hospitals and polyclinics
• SPC transactions
• Utilities

For the avoidance of doubt, CardUp, private and non-profit hospitals, donations, and anything else not explicitly stated in the exclusion list will count as eligible spend. 

Overview: AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend

Apply Here
Income Req.	S$50,000 p.a.	Points Validity	3 years
Annual Fee	S$340.20	Min. Transfer	N/A
Miles with Annual Fee	None	Transfer Partners	SIA
FCY Fee	2.95%	Transfer Fee	None
Local Earn	1.2 mpd	Points Pool?	N/A
FCY Earn	2.0 mpd (Jun & Dec)	Lounge Access?	Yes
Special Earn	2 mpd on SIA and KrisShop, 3.2 mpd for Grab	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions

The AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend has an annual fee of S$340.20, which includes:

• 4x lounge passes to participating Plaza Premium Lounges worldwide (including SATS Premier Lounge in Singapore)
• One-night stay at participating Hilton Hotels across Asia Pacific
• Hilton Silver status (which allows you to enjoy the 5th night free on award redemptions- very valuable if you’re buying Hilton points)

Cardholders earn 1.2 mpd on all local spend, and 2 mpd on foreign currency spend in June and December (1.2 mpd otherwise). Grab Singapore transactions earn 3.2 mpd, capped at S$200 per calendar month.

Cardholders who spend at least S$15,000 on eligible Singapore Airlines tickets within the first 12 months of approval will be automatically upgraded to KrisFlyer Elite Gold. This upgrade is valid for one year, after which they will need to requalify through regular means.

Your complete guide to KrisFlyer Elite Gold benefits

Spending S$15,000 on eligible purchases on Singapore Airlines tickets between 1 July to 30 June of the following year also gives a double miles accrual voucher, which can be applied to a booking to earn up to 5,000 bonus miles. 

A further 500 bonus miles can be enjoyed for making a first telco recurring bill payment at participating merchants. 

Don’t forget to check out my full review of the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend below. 

Review: AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend

Conclusion

American Express has launched an alternative sign-up offer for the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, which is valid for sign-ups till 31 January 2023. This has a smaller maximum bonus, but also a disproportionately smaller minimum spend- making the payoff ratio better than the mainstream offer.

Do note, however, that the eligibility criteria is stricter as well, since it’s only for new American Express cardholders.