While very few people were flying during the COVID period, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Singapore Airlines saw their biggest-ever jump in KrisFlyer Elite Golds.
That’s because from April 2021 to February 2022, the airline ran a promotion allowing KrisFlyer and PPS Club members to earn Elite miles and PPS Value on the ground, with no flying required.
Even though you couldn’t qualify for PPS membership through this campaign (as KrisFlyer members couldn’t earn PPS Value), you could still earn KrisFlyer Elite Gold if you clocked enough Elite miles through credit card points transfers or other means (there was even a 15% transfer bonus; what a time!).
As an added bonus,ย Singapore Airlines offered a rollover of any Elite miles earned as of March 2022, which meant that you could enjoy KrisFlyer Elite Gold status anywhere from March 2024 to February 2025, depending on when you initially qualified.
Well, 2024 is now at the halfway point, and we’re seeing the earlier batches of KrisFlyer Elite Golds start to lose their status. Normally this would mean a straight demotion to regular KrisFlyer, but Singapore Airlines is doing something rather nice: soft landings.
KrisFlyer Elite Gold soft landing to Elite Silver
As far as I’m aware, in the pre-COVID period Singapore Airlines generally did not offer soft landings for KrisFlyer Elite Golds (if you want to be technical, it was a thing pre-2010). Any member who failed to requalify was immediately demoted to the base tier.
However, that appears to have changed. KrisFlyer Elite Gold members who have failed to attain the 50,000 Elite miles required for requalification are now reporting that they’re being soft landed to KrisFlyer Elite Silver.
Thank you for your support. we hope you’ve enjoyed the benefits of your KrisFlyer Elite Gold membership in the past year
Unfortunately, your account does not have sufficient miles to qualify for renewal of your KrisFlyer Elite Gold membership.
As such, your membership has now changed to KrisFlyer Elite Silver. To requalify for KrisFlyer Elite Gold membership, simply accumulate 50,000 Elite miles within 12 consecutive months
-Singapore Airlines
If you’re soft landed to KrisFlyer Elite Silver, you’ll enjoy this status for a further 12 months from the date you lost KrisFlyer Elite Gold.
During this period:
- If you clock at least 50,000 Elite miles, you’ll be immediately upgraded back to KrisFlyer Elite Gold (with the 12-month membership year starting from the month you crossed the 50,000 Elite miles threshold)
- If you clock at least 25,000 Elite miles but less than 50,000 Elite miles, you’ll retain KrisFlyer Elite Silver for a further 12 months after the initial 12-month period ends
- If you clock less than 25,000 Elite miles, you’ll be downgraded to KrisFlyer at the end of 12 months
It’s important to remember that soft landings to KrisFlyer Elite Silver are not official policy. This is a courtesy offered by Singapore Airlines, which means it can be removed at any time without notice.ย
Still, it’s nice that those losing KrisFlyer Elite Gold don’t need to go cold turkey altogether. KrisFlyer Elite Silver is a significant step down from Gold, but it’s better than nothing.
What benefits does KrisFlyer Elite Silver have?
KrisFlyer Elite Silver was recently enhanced to include additional benefits such as priority check-in, extra baggage and priority boarding. It’s nothing life-changing, but certainly better than before.ย
| โ๏ธ Overview: KrisFlyer Elite Silver & Gold | ||
| ย | KrisFlyer Elite Silver |
 KrisFlyer Elite Gold |
| Elite Miles Req. (in 12-mth period) |
25,000 | 50,000 |
| Mileage Bonus | 25% | 25% |
| Priority Waitlist | โ | โ |
| Complimentary Seat Selection | โ
(Standard) |
โ
(Forward and Standard) |
| Birthday Bonus | โ
(1,500 miles) |
โ
(1,500 miles) |
| Discounted Service Fees | โ | โ |
| Extra Baggage | โ | โ |
| Priority Check-in | โ | โ |
| Priority Boarding | โ | โ |
| Priority Baggage | ย | โ |
| Lounge Access | ย | โ |
| Waived Service Fees | ย | โ |
| Shangri-La Jade Fast Track | ย | โ |
| Heathrow Express Upgrade | ย | โ |
Members also enjoy a 25% bonus on mileage accrual for Singapore Airlines or Scoot flights,ย free standard seat selection, and Scoot perks such as an upsized luggage allowance and priority boarding.
For the full guide to KrisFlyer Elite Silver, including other ways of earning this status without flying, refer to the article below.
PPS Club has a soft landing too
While we’re on the topic of soft landings, it’s worth mentioning that Solitaire PPS and PPS Club members have enjoyed this perk for a while now, even prior to COVID.ย
Where you land depends on which status you hold and, in the case of PPS Club, for how long.
| Fail to requalify for… | …soft landing to |
 Solitaire PPS Club |
 PPS Club |
| PPS Club (member for โฅ2 years) |
KF Elite Gold |
| PPS Club (member for 1 year) |
KF Elite Silver |
If you fail to requalify for Solitaire PPS Club status, you will be soft landed to PPS Club in the following membership year.ย
If you fail to requalify for PPS Club status:
- those who have been a PPS Club member for two or more years will be soft landed to KrisFlyer Elite Gold
- those who have been a PPS Club member for only one year will be soft landed to KrisFlyer Elite Silver (unless they have accrued sufficient Elite miles to achieve KrisFlyer Elite Gold in their own right)
Conclusion
KrisFlyer Elite Golds who fail to requalify are now being soft landed to Elite Silver, instead of losing status altogether. This gives them a further year to enjoy benefits such as extra baggage and priority check-in.
They could work their way back to Elite Gold by clocking 50,000 Elite miles over the next 12 months, but my guess is that those who earned status through credit card points transfers are not the sort who would regularly fly on paid tickets, or at least not enough forย regular Elite Gold qualification.ย
Any other soft landing data points?
Just one data point but I got PPS for only one year and did not accumulate 50k elite miles but still got soft landed to KFG
thanks for sharing this! maybe they’re being even more generous now.
Hi Aaron, question for the supplementary Solitaire PPS. if I land from PPS solitaire to PPS, what status will my partner retain? is there a soft landing as well? PPS solitaire supp to Gold? ๐ or back to silver or whatever previous status. would you know?
nah, that’s overly optimistic. supp solitaire pps is a privilege of solitaire pps. if you drop to pps, your partner goes back to whatever status he/she previously had.
After 20 years as KFEG (earned the hard way.. BIS in Economy), I was downgraded to KGES in March 2024 due to a change in corp travel policy requiring us to fly Budget. Thankfully, SQ recently updated their Silver benefits so I don’t feel too abandoned. Thankful for Silver priority boarding and more luggage, but miss the lounge tho I’ve learnt to enjoy Kopi at the food court. I’ve signed up for the SQ/Bonvoy program that provides accelerated pathway to Gold for Bonvoy Plats. I’m done with my second round trip and now waiting to be reinstated as Gold!
Just got the KFEG email! It took a grand total of 3 days from last segment. The elite qualification counter has been reset to Zero.
Hi kelvin, Can I please check if which link you used for Bonvoy sign up? I tried signing up since 2 weeks ago and the sign up screen has been “greyed out” (i.e. cannot type details in.
Appreciate if you can share! I’ve been using this link Marriott Bonvoyยฎ Travel Partner | Singapore Airlines Landing Page
I missed the quality by 25 points in June 24. And SIA do not give consideration by disqualified my hard earn pps points very sad.
Hope SIA can reconsider my appeal. Thanks
These soft landings from PPS to Gold or Gold to Silver have been around for ages actually
yes, soft landings from pps have been around for a long time. but from what i know, gold to silver was done prior to 2010, then disappeared for a long while, and now has come back again.
But if you earn between 25-50k miles in your elite gold year, you’ll just drop down to silver anyway right? That’s not a soft landing as such, just qualifying for silver not gold?
basically, a soft landing treats a gold who earned <25,000 miles the same way as a gold who earned 25,000-49,999 miles.
Ah yes, those people really are soft.
Just to check, if one were to get soft landed to KFES, is it still possible to get KFEG through the Marriott Bonvoy status match? I believe it was 4 flights within 6 months.
so long as you’re not an existing KFEG, you can use the bonvoy status match route to go for KFEG
I made Gold through transferring – Thanks! – and got the soft landing as a U.S. based member. I’d be highly interested in you writing about what scenarios would get me and people in similar circumstance back to Gold. Would it have to be on SQ metal? What costs or distances would be involved, etc.?
really, your best bet of going back to gold is via the marriott bonvoy status challenge, which requires you to have at least platinum status. otherwise, it’s back to butt in seat grinding.
that sounds wrong.
Question on Solitaire soft landing to PPS
If I am currently Solitaire with 30k PPS Reserve (not enough to requalify for Solitaire) and I soft land into PPSโฆ. will 25k PPS Value be deducted as โrenewal chargeโ?
HI. Just reading with interest as I haven’t bought an airline ticket for myself or my family for years. I’m basic KF now and for every other FF program. We just redeem points and miles. For those who are not fortunate enough to have paid corporate travel, is there any simple way to attain long-term status or is it even worthwhile? If it means anything for experts who can answer, we redeem J or better for our holidays and our cards provide enough PP/Centurion/Plaza lounge access for the whole family. I am aware of status matches but that’s more hoops… Read more »
Don’t go down the rabbit hole. Chasing status is addictive, like drugs. Being free of status means you can fly any airline you choose. And since you fly J and have lounge access, KFEG does not offer any significant advantage except bonus miles.
Thanks for the advice. I do like the other airlines too and Citi+Amex lets us redeem with most FF programs (La Premiere/LH First is impossible? Any tips?). Thanks to COVID it will be a while before we can whittle down our point balance – our 6-mthly trips for 5 just about matches our earn rate now. We have unlimited free airport limo both ways with the banks, so I guess airline status just adds baggage allowance and maybe slightly earlier boarding(?). Will not go down the rabbit hole!