American Express has launched a new flash deal for the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, which runs from 30 December 2022 to 8 January 2023.
New cardholders who apply via The MileLion and spend just S$1,000 will receive up to 35,800 bonus miles, making this one of the biggest bonus to spend ratios in recent memory.
They will also 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 flash deal
 Apply Here |
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| Spend | Miles | |
| First Spend | Any | 5K |
| Sign-Up Bonus |
S$1K (First 1 mo.) |
30.8K |
| Base Miles | 1.2K (S$1K @ 1.2 mpd) |
|
| Total Spend | S$1K | |
| Total Miles | 37K | |
This offer is valid for applications submitted by 8 January 2023 and approved by 22 January 2023.
All first-time American Express KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders will enjoy 5,000 miles on their first spend of any amount. This is a once per lifetime bonus, so if you’ve previously held an American Express KrisFlyer cobrand card before, you won’t receive this a second time.
Cardholders will receive 30,800 miles upon paying the mandatory S$340.20 annual fee (remember, GST increases to 8% from 1 January 2023) and spending at least S$1,000 within the first month of approval (defined as the first 30 calendar days).
| ❓ Who is eligible? |
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This offer is open to anyone who does not currently hold a principal AMEX card, and has not cancelled an AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Card in the past 12 months. For example, someone who cancelled an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card six months ago and does not hold any other AMEX cards at the moment will be eligible for this offer. Holding a DBS/UOB-issued AMEX card or the AMEX HighFlyer Card will not, in and of itself, disqualify you from this offer. |
To summarise the offer, by spending S$1,000 in the first month of approval, you’d receive the following:
- 5,000 miles (first spend bonus)
- 30,800 miles (sign-up bonus)
- 1,200 miles (base miles earned for S$1,000 spend @ 1.2 mpd)
For avoidance of doubt, there is no further stacking with any MGM bonuses.
When will bonus miles be credited?
If you are eligible for the 5,000 miles bonus for first-time AMEX Singapore Airlines cobrand cardholders, these will be credited to your KrisFlyer account after the month of approval and first spend.
The 30,800 miles will be credited within 12 weeks of the date you meet the spend threshold.
All questions about fulfilment should be directed to American Express. If a CSO directs you to The MileLion, please highlight the term on the landing page which states “all enquiries about the promotion are to be directed to American Express”.
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs for the 30,800 miles sign-up offer can be found here (refer to Page 3 for AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend)
What spending is eligible?
A minimum spend of S$1,000 must be met within the first month (defined as 30 calendar days from the date of card approval).
American Express 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
CardUp, private and non-profit hospitals, donations, and anything else not explicitly stated in the exclusion list will count as eligible spend.
All spending on supplementary cards will pool with principal cards when determining whether the minimum spend has been met.
Overview: AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend
| Apply Here |
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| 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 |
|
| FCY Fee | 2.95% | Transfer Fee | None |
| Local Earn | 1.2 mpd | Points Pool? | N/A |
| FCY Earn | 2 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.
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.
Don’t forget to check out my full review of the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend below.
Conclusion
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| Apply Here |
New AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend members who spend S$1,000 and pay the first year’s S$340.20 annual fee can get up to 37,000 miles. That’s enough for a one-way ticket to Perth or Johannesburg/Cape Town, with some left over.
Remember: your application must be submitted by 8 January 2023 and approved by 22 January 2023.
On the eligibilty, is it anyone that does not currently hold any principal AMEX card or just the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Card ?
You cannot hold any principal amex card
Could I cancel the principal amex card and still entitled to this offer? Assuming I have no ascend card before.
Even charge card?
its a costly $340.20 in my humble opinion…
Why would that be? Isn’t it ~10-11cpm? Assuming, you don’t get the 5k bonus.
Just use Citipay. Writer should know isint worth the effort lol
Hold up- if you’re talking about the cost per mile, you’re forgetting the 340.20 gets you 4 lounge passes + a free Hilton night.
And Citi Payall is not a license to print miles. You still need an underlying bill to pay. You can talk all you want about making fund transfers to family members, and I’m sure people get away with it, but if Citi decides to audit your account well it won’t end well for you
Not forgetting one will have to also spend $1000. Citi Premier Miles card has a lower annual fee. In terms of sign up offer, if we are talking about cost per miles, that’s way much worthwhile. As for citipay, let’s take the approach of act first, think later As you’ve mentioned before “But before you rush off and pay your wife S$50,000 for love and affection, remember that such transactions may have income tax implications. In general, any income exceeding S$20,000 is liable to tax, provided it’s deemed to be derived in the course of a trade. Payments of a… Read more »
But it’s still not an apples to apples comparison. You have a free Hilton hotel night and two more lounge visits compared to Citi premiermiles. That must somehow factor into your cpm calculation, even if you want to do it that way (and when talking sign up bonuses we generally assume you need to make that $1k or whatever spending anyway, so it shouldn’t factor in).
Happy new year btw!
Do one get any email on the application? As in I don’t even get any email on the application number?
No, unfortunately Amex does not autogenerate an email upon submission. App number is displayed on the final screen during application process. if you did not note this down, you can try contacting AMEX customer service for assistance
All questions about fulfilment should be directed to American Express. If a CSO directs you to The MileLion, please highlight the term on the landing page which states “all enquiries about the promotion are to be directed to American Express”.
lol. have a feeling Aaron got tired being CSO in previous Amex promos….
Can I get the 35k miles from this offer, and then apply for citibank prestige and spend $800 and get another 30k miles, and then combine the miles from both sources?
Yup
Can stack with Amex refer-a-friend?
I just checked the usage of the Hilton 1 night stay voucher for use in Singapore.
Now there is only ONE hotel = Hilton Garden Inn Singapore @ Little India !!
Previously, it could be used for Hilton, Conrad, etc. (as featured on Milelion too)
talk about absolute cut backs!
Actually, the voucher was historically not available for use in sg (hgi aside). They allowed it as a covid era concession. Now they’ve reverted to normal policy. Don’t think it’s fair to call it a cut back when it was something extended as a temporary measure.
How come the tnc you linked to, on page 5 and 6 shows different miles and spending requirement?
thanks for spotting that. have corrected the link: https://www.americanexpress.com/content/dam/amex/sg/campaigns/pdfs/affiliates-milelion-tncs-dec22tojan23.pdf
I just received my card but it doesn’t mention about spending $1000 within the first month to enjoy the bonus 35,800 miles. I’m pretty sure I applied the card via the link on Milelion. Anyone has the same issue as me?
I don’t think they will mention it. But if you applied by the link it’s fine.
For users that signed up via Singpass, did you still have to upload any supporting documents? Hope to check as it stated “Thank you, no further document is required for your application” when I clicked on the upload supporting document link.
Also, how long does it take to receive the card?
How would I know the $1000 that I spent is counted as qualified for this miles bonus?
Is it possible to check it somewhere before the 1 month time limit expire?
I intend to use CardUp to fulfil the criteria.