Are the American Express Solitaire PPS and PPS Credit Cards worth getting?

Pop quiz: How many American Express Singapore Airlines cobrand cards are out there?

Most people would be able to name the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend and AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card (colloquially known as the AMEX KrisFlyer Blue), but there’s actually two more: the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card.

As the name suggests, these are reserved for Solitaire PPS Club and PPS Club members respectively, and given their limited audience, they’re understandably less well-known. 

I’ve written a lot about the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend and AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, but hardly anything about the AMEX Solitaire PPS and AMEX PPS Credit Card. So whether you’re a Lifetime Solitaire PPS who’s seen it all, or a newly-minted KrisFlyer member who’s curious about life behind the curtain, let’s take a closer look at the features and benefits of these two cards. Does membership really have its perks?

Overview: AMEX Solitaire PPS & PPS Credit Cards

Here’s a quick summary of the key features of the AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Credit Cards.

	AMEX Solitaire PPS Card	AMEX PPS Card
Income Req.	S$30,000	S$30,000
Annual Fee	S$561.35 (FYF)	S$561.35 (FYF)
Local Earn	First S$3.8K: 1.3 mpd Above S$3.8K: 1.5 mpd	First S$3.8K: 1.3 mpd Above S$3.8K: 1.4 mpd
FCY Earn	First S$3.8K: 1.3 mpd Above S$3.8K: 2.4 mpd	First S$3.8K: 1.3 mpd Above S$3.8K: 2.0 mpd
Bonus Earn	2 mpd on Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop
2X KrisFlyer Miles Voucher		✅
50% Off KrisFlyer Miles Redemption Voucher	✅	✅
Business to Suites or First Upgrade Voucher	✅

You must be a principal Solitaire PPS Club member (supplementary members do not qualify) or a PPS Club member to apply for these cards.

If you subsequently lose your Solitaire PPS Club or PPS Club status, your credit card (and associated benefits) will still be valid till the end of its expiry date, after which it will not be renewed. 

Income requirements

American Express no longer publishes official income requirements for its cards, except to say that cardholders must meet the “regulatory minimum income requirement”, i.e. S$30,000 per year.

In any case, S$30,000 was the last published income requirement for the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card, which seems a little odd considering the requirement for the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend was S$50,000.

I suppose the implicit thinking is that if you’re able to qualify for the PPS membership, your income isn’t really an issue.

Annual fees

The real filter for the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card isn’t so much income requirement as it is annual fees. Both cards charge S$561.35 per year, which would put them on par with cards in the $120K segment!

At least a first year fee waiver is available for both cards, but only if you do not currently hold any other cobrand American Express Singapore Airlines cards. For example, someone upgrading from the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend to the AMEX PPS Card would still have to pay annual fee.

Earn rates

Earn rates for the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card are rather convoluted.

Both cards earn 1.3 mpd on the first S$3,800 of spending per calendar month, whether in local or foreign currency. 

💳 Spending up to S$3,800 per month
	AMEX Solitaire PPS Card	AMEX PPS Card
Local	1.3 mpd	1.3 mpd
Foreign	1.3 mpd	1.3 mpd

For spending above S$3,800, the local/overseas earn rate increases to 1.5/2.4 mpd and 1.4/2.0 mpd for the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card/AMEX PPS Card respectively. 

💳 Spending beyond S$3,800 per month
	AMEX Solitaire PPS Card	AMEX PPS Card
Local	1.5 mpd	1.4 mpd
Foreign	2.4 mpd	2.0 mpd

On the surface, these sound like very competitive rates compared to other general spending cards- but they’re not. 

First, the higher earn rates only apply to every S$1 spent above S$3,800. In other words, if you spend S$4,000 on the PPS Credit Card, you’ll earn S$3,800 x 1.3 miles + S$200 x 1.4 miles. This means that your blended earn rate will always be lower, because of the “drag” imposed by the first S$3,800. 

💳 Example: Weighted Average Earn Rates
	AMEX Solitaire PPS Card	AMEX PPS Card
S$3,000 FCY spend	1.3 mpd	1.3 mpd
S$5,000 FCY spend	1.56 mpd	1.47 mpd
S$10,000 FCY spend	1.98 mpd	1.73 mpd

Second, local and foreign currency spending are not cumulative for the purposes of determining whether the S$3,800 minimum spend has been hit. In other words, you’ll need to spend more than S$3,800 in local currency alone, or S$3,800 in foreign currency alone, to unlock the higher earn rates. It cannot be a mix of the two- how silly!

Third, Singapore Airlines, Scoot and KrisShop purchases do not count towards the S$3,800 minimum spend. Again: why?

These are some very nitpicky rules indeed. The AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Cards already struggle with substandard earn rates as it is; is it really necessary to add hoop after hoop?

What about the Singapore Airlines vouchers?

The main selling point of the AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Cards are their Singapore Airlines vouchers, namely:

• Double KrisFlyer miles accrual voucher
• 50% off KrisFlyer miles redemption voucher
• Business to Suites or First upgrade voucher

Sadly, none of the benefits are “passive” (in the sense that you enjoy them just by virtue of holding the card). You need to spend, and spend big in order to unlock these vouchers. 

Double KrisFlyer miles accrual voucher

AMEX PPS Cardholders who spend at least S$15,000 on Singapore Airlines tickets via singaporeair.com or the Singapore Air mobile app from 1 July to 30 June each year of membership will receive a double KrisFlyer miles accrual voucher.

This voucher allows members to double the KrisFlyer miles they earn on eligible flights, capped at 10,000 miles. For example, if a K class ticket normally allows you to earn 50% of the miles, you’ll earn a further 50%. 

Here’s an illustration of how the voucher works:

The following conditions apply:

• All tickets must originate in Singapore, and be purchased in Singapore dollars to count towards the S$15,000 minimum spend
• Voucher can only be used by the principal cardholder, for the principal cardholder’s own travel
• An eligible booking includes a maximum of two flight segments in one booking, where the first and/or last flight must include Singapore
• Flights must be operated by Singapore Airlines
• Bookings which include Singapore as a transit point are excluded
• Codeshare flights marketed by Singapore Airlines and operated by partners are excluded, as are codeshare flights marketed by partners and operated by Singapore Airlines
• Only KrisFlyer miles are doubled; Elite miles and PPS Value stay the same.

While bonus miles are nice, I certainly wouldn’t consider this benefit to be attractive. In fact, I’d view it as “compensation” for missing out on 4 mpd opportunities when using the PPS Credit Card to buy Singapore Airlines tickets.

S$15,000 of spending means an opportunity cost of up to 30,000 miles (based on a 2 mpd differential), so 10,000 miles doesn’t even begin to make up for it!

50% off KrisFlyer miles redemption voucher

AMEX Solitaire PPS or PPS Cardholders who spend at least S$75,000 on any retail transactions from 1 July to 30 June each year of membership will receive a 50% off KrisFlyer miles redemption voucher.

As the name suggests, this voucher reduces the cost of an award booking by 50%, capped at 50,000 miles. For example, if an award flight normally costs 80,000 miles, you’ll pay 40,000 miles instead.

Here’s an illustration of how the voucher works:

The voucher can be used for a cardholder or a redemption nominee, but here’s the catch: it’s only valid for a single passenger. For example, if you’re booking 2x round-trip Business Class Saver awards from Singapore to Hong Kong (68,000 miles each, 136,000 miles total), you’ll only get a 34,000 miles discount. 

The following conditions apply:

• Vouchers are only valid for flights operated by Singapore Airlines; it’s not valid for Star Alliance or other partner redemptions.
• Voucher cannot be combined with any other discount or promotion, so you can’t use it on a Spontaneous Escapes award, for example
• Bookings must be made through KrisFlyer membership services; you can’t book it by yourself online
• An eligible booking includes a maximum of two flight segments in one booking, where the first and/or last flight must include Singapore
• Bookings which include Singapore as a transit point are excluded
• Bookings made with this voucher cannot be changed
• Voucher is valid for 12 months from issuance; all bookings and travel must be within this period

These are some serious restrictions, and it does feel petty to only apply the discount to the first passenger in the booking. That’s not to mention the fact that S$75,000 is a lot of spend that could have been put on higher-earning cards. I’d much rather do that and earn more miles upfront, rather than having to deal with this highly-restricted voucher.

Business to Suites or First Class upgrade voucher

AMEX Solitaire PPS Cardholders who spend at least S$50,000 on Singapore Airlines tickets via singaporeair.com or the Singapore Air mobile app from 1 July to 30 June each year of membership will receive an upgrade voucher from Business to Suites or First Class.

The voucher can be used for a cardholder or a redemption nominee. 

The following conditions apply:

• Voucher only applies to commercial bookings (i.e. not redemption tickets) in the J, C, U or Z booking classes, operated by Singapore Airlines
• Voucher is valid for a one-sector upgrade only (e.g. if you have a round-trip SIN-LHR-SIN itinerary, only the outbound or inbound leg can be upgraded)
• Voucher must be used to book an upgrade at least 48 hours before travel commences

I love an upgrade as much as the next guy, but having to spend S$50,000 on Singapore Airlines tickets to unlock it? Again, it’s a question of opportunity cost, which could be up to 100,000 miles in an idealised scenario where you optimise the spend perfectly with 4 mpd options. That’s enough to redeem a First Class flight to Sydney outright!

Should you get an AMEX Solitaire PPS or PPS Card?

No, plain and simple.

The earn rates pale in comparison to other general spending cards, which offer similar if not better rates with no minimum spend necessary. The Singapore Airlines vouchers require a significant amount of spend to achieve, and come with all sorts of restrictions attached. And if you somehow manage to use them, then congrats- you just received a fraction of the miles you could have earned from using a better card in the first place!

Put it this way: the AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Credit Cards cost more than a Citi Prestige Card, with much less to show for it. I know which one I’d rather have!

Conclusion

The AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Cards are reserved for Singapore Airlines’ most loyal customers, and because of that, you’d think they’d be compelling.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. These are overpriced and underwhelming, and even if you’re the type who insists on using one card for everything, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card would be a much better option instead.

If you want to flex your Solitaire PPS or PPS Club membership, there are better ways of doing so!