American Express has brought back its best-ever welcome offer for the AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, which awards 29,450 bonus miles for new-to-AMEX customers who spend just S$500 within the first 30 days of approval.
It’s 3,000 more miles than the offer for March, and matches the deal we saw in February. It’s also the highest payoff ratio for any welcome offer in the market right now, at a beefy 59 miles per dollar charged.
Add the fact that there’s no first year annual fee, and this is really one of the easiest ways of generating a big chunk of miles with minimal spend- enough for a one-way Economy Class ticket to Tokyo or Seoul.
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card welcome offer
 AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card |
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| Apply Here | |
| New-to-AMEX Customers | |
| First Spend | 5,000 miles |
| Spend S$500 (Mo. 1) |
24,450 miles |
| Base Miles from S$500 (@ 1.1 mpd) |
550 miles |
| Total Spend | S$500 |
| Total Miles | 30,000 miles |
| First year fee waiver | |
This offer is valid for new-to-AMEX customers who apply for an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card by 15 April 2024, and receive approval by 20 April 2024.
| ❓ Definition |
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New-to-AMEX customers are defined as those who:
For avoidance of doubt, there is no “timeout period” for a customer with a recently-cancelled card to be considered new (provided that card is not an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card). However, all approvals are subject to internal review. The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card is a distinct product from the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, AMEX PPS Club Card and AMEX Solitaire PPS Club Card. |
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 held an American Express KrisFlyer cobrand card before, you won’t receive it a second time.
Cardholders who spend at least S$500 within the first 30 days of approval will receive 24,450 bonus miles.
To summarise the offer, by spending S$500 in the first 30 days of approval, you’ll receive 30,000 miles, broken down as follows:
- 5,000 bonus miles for first spend
- 24,450 bonus miles for meeting the S$500 minimum spend
- 550 base miles for spending S$500 @ 1.1 mpd
When will the bonuses be credited?
If you’re 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 24,450 bonus miles for meeting the minimum spend will be credited within 10 weeks of the date you meet the spend threshold.
All questions about fulfilment should be directed to American Express.
What spending is eligible?
American Express provides a list of excluded spending categories here, but the key ones to take note of are:
- Donations
- Education
- GrabPay top-ups
- Insurance
- Public hospitals and polyclinics
- SPC transactions
- Utilities
CardUp, private hospitals, and anything else not explicitly stated in the exclusion list will count as eligible spend. Do note there are certain restrictions on the type of AMEX payments you can make with CardUp, as summarised in the article below.
All spending on supplementary cards will pool with principal cards when determining whether the minimum spend has been met.
Is it worth it?
The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card’s first year annual fee of S$179.85 is waived for the first year, so assuming you have S$500 of spend to clock, it’s basically free miles.
On a miles to spend ratio, you’re looking at 59 miles per S$1 (29,450 bonus miles divided by S$500 minimum spend), which is the highest offer on the market right now.
You’ll accumulate at least 30,000 miles for fulfilling this offer, which will be sufficient for a round-trip Economy Class ticket to Bangkok or Hanoi, or a one-way Economy Class ticket to Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai, Istanbul or Cape Town.
Terms & Conditions
The T&Cs for this offer can be found here.
Overview: AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card
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| Apply Here | |||
| Income Req. | N/A* | Points Validity | 3 years |
| Annual Fee | S$179.85 |
Min. Transfer |
N/A |
| FCY Fee | 3.25% | Transfer Fee | None |
| Local Earn | 1.1 mpd | Points Pool? | N/A |
| FCY Earn | 2 mpd (Jun & Dec) |
Lounge Access? | No |
| Special Earn | 2 mpd on SIA and KrisShop, 3.1 mpd for Grab | Airport Limo? | No |
| *AMEX no longer publishes income requirements for the AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card. All applications are subject to internal review. For reference, the last published income requirement was S$30,000 p.a. | |||
| Cardholder Terms and Conditions | |||
The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card has an annual fee of S$179.85, which is waived in the first year, and waivable in the second and subsequent years subject to approval.
Cardholders earn 1.1 mpd on local spend, and 2 mpd on foreign currency spend in June and December (1.1 mpd otherwise). An uncapped 2 mpd is offered on Singapore Airlines and KrisShop transactions year-round, as well as 3.1 mpd on Grab, capped at S$200 per calendar month. Frankly speaking, these aren’t the best earn rates on the market, and can be easily bested by other alternatives. This is a card you get for the welcome offer, not so much for day-to-day spend.
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Cardholders who charge S$12,000 or more (on any miles-earning transaction) between 1 July and 30 June of the following year will receive S$150 cashback, valid on their next purchase of Singapore Airlines air tickets via singaporeair.com or the SingaporeAir mobile app.
Don’t forget to check out my full review of the AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card below.
Conclusion
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| Apply Here |
New-to-AMEX customers who sign up for an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card can now earn 29,450 bonus miles with a minimum spend of just S$500.
This card doesn’t pack nearly as many benefits as the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, but it does offer a first year fee waiver, compared to the mandatory S$343.35 annual fee of the latter. This means your bonus miles are essentially free, especially since they’re deposited directly to your KrisFlyer account without any conversion fees.
The main catch is that you need to be new-to-AMEX to qualify, but otherwise it’s a big chunk of miles for a low amount of spend.
Hi Aaron, you mentioned in your last sentence “The main catch is that you need to be new-to-AMEX to qualify”. Do you mean new to AMEX krisflyer? Previously I had a Amex Krisflyer Ascend card and I cancelled it in Nov 2023, am i still considered new to AMEX krisflyer and qualify for this promo? Thanks!
New-to-AMEX customers are defined as those who: Do not currently hold an existing principal American Express consumer card (AMEX cards issued by Citi/DBS/UOB do not count, nor does the AMEX HighFlyer Card), and Have not cancelled an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card in the past 12 months For avoidance of doubt, there is no “timeout period” for a customer with a recently-cancelled card to be considered new (provided that card is not an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card). However, all approvals are subject to internal review. The AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card is a distinct product from the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, AMEX PPS… Read more »
Basically so long as you didn’t cancel an amex kf credit card in the past 12 months and don’t hold a principal amex card now, you qualify.
Any idea if getting this card would make me ETB if i am looking to apply for plat charge in the coming week?
>An uncapped 2 mpd is offered on Singapore Airlines.
Fine print: only for travel originating from Singapore.
I have a true cashback card. can I cancel it and apply for this krisflyer card for sign up promotion?
New-to-AMEX customers are defined as those who:
For avoidance of doubt, there is no “timeout period” for a customer with a recently-cancelled card to be considered new (provided that card is not an AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card). However, all approvals are subject to internal review.
“On a miles to spend ratio, you’re looking at 59 miles per S$1 (29,450 bonus miles divided by S$500 minimum spend), which is the highest offer on the market right now. ”
Why is the miles from the base spend not counted in? i.e. 30,000 miles/$500
You can of you want, but I find it’s a better comparison between miles cards to look at the bonus component only, since the base is nothing special- any existing cardholder would earn that
Thanks for the article. Is it worth to use the new-to-Amex on this promo if there’s a chance that I may want to get the AMEX Platinum Charge in the near future (perhaps either this year or next year), taking into account the opportunity cost? Thanks!
Only you can decide that, but if you want the new to amex bonus you will need to cancel your kfcc prior to applying for amex plat charge (assuming you have no other amex principal cards)
hi aaron, do you know if the S$500 min spend must be in SGD? Will expenses in foreign currency be considered as part of min spend?
Does anyone know if Amex goes by the transaction date or posting date when determining if a transaction fell within the Qualifying Spend Period? This is not expressly mentioned in the T&Cs, but I note that the T&Cs do not include the standard language about disclaiming liability for delays by merchant in posting transactions.
Hi Aaron
Can you please advise which card can buy KrisFlyer miles at the lowest cost ? Is it Citibank or UOB ?