Review: AMEX PPS Credit Card

Here’s The MileLion’s review of the AMEX PPS Credit Card, the card that’s exclusively for Singapore Airlines PPS Club members.

Given the substantial amount of spending that qualification for the PPS Club requires, you might think a credit card reserved for this group would offer equally compelling rewards. 

You’d be wrong.

Fact is, the AMEX PPS Credit Card shares the same fundamental flaw as its Solitaire big brother: terrible earn rates that render it effectively dead on arrival.

AMEX PPS Credit Card
🦁 MileLion Verdict
☐ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☑ Leave It
What do these ratings mean?
Like its Solitaire counterpart, the AMEX PPS Credit Card’s terrible earn rates make it practically dead on arrival.
👍 The Good	👎 The Bad
No conversion fees	Lacklustre welcome bonus Very poor earn rates compared to other general spending cards The double miles and 50,000 miles discount vouches are worth less than the opportunity cost of earning them

Overview: AMEX PPS Credit Card

Let’s start this review by looking at the key features of the AMEX PPS Credit Card.

Apply
Income Req.	N/A*	Points Validity	3 years
Annual Fee	S$561.35 (FYF)	Min. Transfer	N/A
Miles with Annual Fee	N/A	Transfer Partners	1
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	N/A
Local Earn	≤S$3.8K: 1.3 mpd >S$3.8K: 1.4 mpd	Points Pool?	N/A
FCY Earn	≤S$3.8K: 1.3 mpd >S$3.8K: 2 mpd	Lounge Access?	No
Special Earn	2 mpd on SIA, Scoot, KrisShop, Pelago	Airport Limo?	No
Cardholder Terms and Conditions
*AMEX no longer publishes an official income requirement for this card; the last documented requirement was S$30,000 p.a.

For context, Singapore Airlines has a total of four Singapore Airlines AMEX cobrand cards, each targeted at a different section of the member base. 

The AMEX Solitaire PPS Credit Card sits at the top of the hierarchy, and is exclusively for Solitaire PPS Club members. Just below it is the AMEX PPS Credit Card for regular PPS Club members, followed by the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend and AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, which are open to all KrisFlyer members.

Card	Eligibility	Annual Fee
AMEX Solitaire PPS Credit Card	Solitaire PPS Club*	S$561.35 First Year Free
AMEX PPS Credit Card	PPS Club	S$561.35 First Year Free
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend	General public	S$397.85
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card		S$179.55 First Year Free
*Only for principal Solitaire PPS Club members; supplementary members do not qualify

It’s worth noting that a PPS member is not obliged to take up the AMEX PPS Credit Card. They can also choose the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend or AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card if they so wish. The only restriction here is that a PPS member cannot take up the AMEX Solitaire PPS Credit Card (and obviously, vice versa). 

How much must I earn to qualify for an AMEX PPS Credit Card?

American Express no longer publishes minimum income requirements for any of its cards, saying instead that “card application is subjected to customers meeting the regulatory minimum income requirement and internal assessment”.

Prior to this, however, the AMEX PPS Credit Card had an income requirement of S$30,000 per year, the MAS-mandated minimum. 

The biggest hurdle to membership isn’t so much the income requirement, but the fact that you must be a PPS Club member to apply for this card.

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

And before someone asks, no. You cannot use the AMEX PPS Credit Card in lieu of the PPS Club membership card. It won’t be accepted for entry into the SilverKris Lounge, much less partner lounges. 

How much is the AMEX PPS Credit Card’s annual fee?

The AMEX PPS Credit Card has an annual fee of S$561.35 for the principal cardholder, and S$81.75 for supplementary cardholders. 

The first year’s annual fee is waived for the principal card, as well as the first two supplementary cards. However, this only applies 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 Credit Card would still have to pay the annual fee.

Principal cardholders can request an annual fee waiver for the second and subsequent years, but unless you’ve been using it regularly over the past year (American Express does not define a minimum spend threshold for a fee waiver), or hold a premium card like the AMEX Platinum Charge or AMEX Centurion, you may not be successful.

What welcome offers are available?

AMEX PPS Credit Card
Apply
First Spend	5,000 miles
Spend S$10,000 (First 90 days)	29,500 miles
Base Miles from S$10,000 spend (@ 1.3 mpd)	13,000 miles
Total Spend	S$10,000
Total Miles	47,500 miles

New-to-AMEX cardholders who apply for an AMEX PPS Credit Card by 31 January 2027 will receive 29,500 bonus miles when they pay the annual fee and spend S$10,000 within 90 days of approval. 

Cardholders will also earn a further 13,000 base miles from the S$10,000 minimum spend (S$10,000 @ 1.3 mpd).

In addition to this, all first-time American Express KrisFlyer cobrand cardholders will enjoy 5,000 bonus miles on their first spend of any amount. This is a once per lifetime bonus, so if you’ve held an American Express Singapore Airlines cobrand card before, you won’t receive it a second time.

Truth be told, this is a very poor welcome bonus. Earning 34,500 bonus miles with a minimum spend of S$10,000 works out to just 3.45 mpd — well below what other cards are offering. 

How many miles do I earn?

SGD/FCY Spend

The AMEX PPS Credit Card has a rather complicated earning structure.

• For spending up to S$3,800 per calendar month, both SGD and FCY spend earns 1.3 mpd
• For spending above S$3,800 per calendar month, SGD and FCY spend earns 1.4 mpd and 2 mpd respectively 

On the surface, these sound like competitive rates — 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 AMEX 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 pulled down by the “drag” imposed by the first S$3,800.

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 SGD alone, or S$3,800 in FCY alone, to unlock the higher earn rates. It cannot be a mix of the two— how silly!

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

Long story short, the earn rates are woefully uncompetitive compared to other general spending cards.

💳 Earn Rates for General Spending Cards (Income Req: S$30K)
Cards	Local Spend	FCY Spend
UOB PRVI Miles Card AMEX Mastercard Visa	1.4 mpd	3 mpd IDR, MR, THB, VND 2.4 mpd All Others
BOC Elite Miles Card Apply	1.4 mpd	2.8 mpd
HSBC TravelOne Card Apply	1.2 mpd	2.4 mpd
DBS Altitude Card AMEX Visa	1.3 mpd	2.2 mpd
OCBC 90°N Card Mastercard Visa	1.3 mpd	2.1 mpd
Citi PremierMiles Card Apply	1.2 mpd	2.2 mpd
StanChart Journey Card Apply	1.2 mpd	2 mpd
AMEX Solitaire PPS Card Apply	1.3 mpd Up to S$3,800 1.5 mpd S$3,801 onwards	1.3 mpd Up to S$3,800 2.4 mpd S$3,801 onwards
AMEX PPS Card Apply	1.3 mpd Up to S$3,800 1.4 mpd S$3,801 onwards	1.3 mpd Up to S$3,800 2 mpd S$3,801 onwards
AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend Apply	1.2 mpd	1.2 mpd
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	1.2 mpd	1.2 mpd
AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card Apply	1.1 mpd	1.1 mpd

2 mpd for Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop and Pelago

The AMEX PPS Credit Card earns an uncapped 2 mpd on: 

• Singapore Airlines bookings (commercial and award tickets) made through singaporeair.com, mobile app or over the phone
• Scoot bookings (commercial and award tickets) made through flyscoot.com or the mobile app
• KrisShop purchases made onboard Singapore Airlines flights or at krisshop.com
• Pelago bookings made through pelago.com or the Pelago mobile app

Tickets must originate from Singapore and be purchased in Singapore dollars. Do note that the bonuses for KrisShop and Pelago transactions do not apply if you shop via the Kris+ app. 

Considering how you could easily earn up to 4 mpd on these purchases with other credit cards, there’s nothing to get excited about here. And even if you run out of caps on those cards, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card offers an uncapped 3 mpd on Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop and Pelago.

What is the FCY fee?

All FCY transactions on the AMEX PPS Credit Card are subject to a 3.25% FCY fee, which is on par with the market.

Therefore, using your AMEX PPS Credit Card overseas represents buying miles at 2.5 cents each (3.25%/1.3 mpd), which is far more than you should be willing to pay.

Transaction date or posting date?

The AMEX PPS Credit Card tracks spending based on the posting date, not transaction date.

If you’re accumulating spend towards your welcome bonus, be careful about making transactions towards the end of the qualifying period — anything that posts beyond the deadline will not be included!

Which cards track spending by transaction date vs posting date?

How are KrisFlyer miles calculated?

Here’s how KrisFlyer miles earned on the AMEX PPS Credit Card are calculated:

Notice how the transaction is not rounded down to the nearest S$1; instead, it’s multiplied by 1.3, 1.4 or 2 straight away. This means the minimum spend to earn points is S$0.77.

This beneficial rounding policy allows the AMEX PPS Card to compete favourably with ostensibly higher-earning cards like the UOB PRVI Miles (1.4 mpd), at least where smaller transactions are concerned:

	AMEX PPS Card 1.3 mpd	UOB PRVI Miles 1.4 mpd
S$5	7 miles	6 miles
S$9.99	13 miles	6 miles
S$15	20 miles	20 miles
S$19.99	26 miles	20 miles
S$25	33 miles	34 miles
S$29.99	39 miles	34 miles

If you’re an Excel geek, here are the formulas you need to calculate miles: 

For the full list of formulas that banks use to calculate credit card points, do refer to these articles:

• General Spending Cards
• Specialised Spending Cards

What transactions aren’t eligible for KrisFlyer miles?

The AMEX PPS Credit Card’s full exclusion list can be found below:

Historically speaking, the AMEX PPS Credit Card was very liberal with awarding miles, and merchant acceptance was a bigger issue than exclusions. However, in recent times the exclusion list has been growing (though to be fair, it’s no different from what other banks do).

Key exclusions are charitable donations (although in practice, miles still seem to be awarded!), education, GrabPay top-ups, insurance premiums, SimplyGo rides, SPC transactions, utilities and public hospitals. For the avoidance of doubt, private hospitals, CardUp and government organisations still earn miles, to the extent that AMEX is accepted. 

However, American Express imposes certain restrictions on the types of payments that can be made via CardUp, which are explained below. 

Explained: American Express restrictions on CardUp payments

What do I need to know about KrisFlyer miles?

Expiry

KrisFlyer miles earned on the AMEX PPS Credit Card will expire at the end of the month, three years after they were earned. For example, KrisFlyer miles credited to an account from 1-31 July 2024 will expire at the end of the day on 31 July 2027.

Cancelling an AMEX PPS Credit Card has no impact on the miles already in your KrisFlyer account.

Pooling

All miles earned on the AMEX PPS Credit Card will be credited directly to your KrisFlyer account, where they will pool with miles earned from all other sources (be it other credit cards, flights etc.).

Transfer partners & fees

At the risk of stating the obvious, the AMEX PPS Credit Card is a co-brand card which does not give you a choice of where to credit your points. If you want to earn points that can be converted into a range of frequent flyer partners, pick a non-cobrand card instead.

All conversions to KrisFlyer are free of charge.

Transfer times

Miles earned on the AMEX PPS Credit Card are batched and credited to your KrisFlyer account once a month. 

You can typically expect to see them credited around the end of your statement period. 

While direct crediting avoids conversion fees, it does mean the three-year expiry countdown for KrisFlyer miles starts immediately.

Contrast this with non-cobrand cards where you pay conversion fees, but enjoy “two validities”, one on the bank side, and one on the airline side. For example, if I had a UOB PRVI Miles Card:

• My UNI$ are valid for two years
• Once I convert UNI$ to KrisFlyer miles, they’re valid for a further three years
• In total I get five years of validity

This means there’s slightly more time pressure to use your miles, though three years should be plenty for most people.

Other card perks

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.

All tickets must originate in Singapore, and be purchased in Singapore dollars to count towards the minimum spend.

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 voucher can only be used by the principal cardholder, for travel on flights operated by Singapore Airlines which begin or end in Singapore. 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. All it’s doing is offsetting some of the miles you lost by using the AMEX PPS Card to buy Singapore Airlines tickets, instead of a higher-earning card.

If you had bought those S$15,000 of Singapore Airlines tickets on the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card, for example, you would have earned an extra 15,000 miles compared to the AMEX PPS Card. 10,000 miles won’t cover that!

50,000 KrisFlyer miles redemption voucher

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

This offers 50,000 miles off any Singapore Airlines redemption booking or upgrade, for the cardmember or any of their redemption nominees.

To use the voucher, your KrisFlyer account must satisfy both conditions at the time of redemption:

• Have at least 50% of the miles required to cover the full cost of the redemption booking/upgrade before applying the voucher, and
• Have sufficient miles to cover the full cost of the redemption booking/upgrade after applying the voucher

The following illustrations have been provided (though I don’t really understand how the last scenario makes sense!)

Here’s an illustration of how the voucher works:

The voucher can be used for a cardholder or a redemption nominee, but do note that it’s only valid for a single passenger. For example, if you book two Business Class Saver awards between Singapore and Shanghai (45,000 miles each), you will pay 45,000 miles in total — the voucher covers the first passenger’s ticket, and the balance 5,000 miles is forfeited.

You also cannot combine the voucher with any other discount or promotion, so you can’t use it on a Spontaneous Escapes award. All bookings and travel must be within the voucher’s 12-month validity period. 

Ultimately, S$75,000 is a lot to spend on a card like this. A 50,000 miles discount based on S$75,000 of spending is an incremental 0.66 mpd at best. You could earn far more miles by spending on other cards in the first place.

Complimentary travel insurance

AMEX PPS Credit Cardholders who charge their airfares to the card will receive automatic travel insurance coverage, underwritten by Chubb. For the avoidance of doubt, this applies both to cash tickets, as well as award tickets where the taxes and fees are paid for with the AMEX PPS Credit Card.

Cardholders receive S$1,000,000 coverage for accidental death or total permanent disability while traveling on a public conveyance. There’s also coverage for travel inconveniences like missed connections and bag delays. 

However, there is no coverage for medical expenses, nor medical evacuation. This is something you can’t afford to miss, so a separate travel insurance policy is almost mandatory. 

AMEX Offers

AMEX Offers are targeted deals pushed to AMEX cardholders, which can range from small savings like getting a few dollars back on contactless transactions, to much more substantial offers like S$790 worth of hotel credits at Four Seasons, Hilton, IHG, Marriott and other major chains. They can also take the form of bonus miles promotions, like a bonus 2 mpd on Deliveroo and foodpanda. 

Some of the better offers we’ve seen recently include:

• S$60 back on S$300 spend with World of Hyatt
• S$3 back on every S$6 SimplyGo spend
• S$100 off S$500 spend with Cathay Pacific
• S$60 back on S$300 spend with Hilton
• S$80 back on S$400 spend with Shangri-La

AMEX Offers can result in excellent savings, but they’re not a unique feature of the AMEX PPS Credit Card.

How to save money or earn extra points with AMEX Offers

Terms and conditions

• AMEX PPS Credit Card Terms and Conditions
• Rewards Exclusions

Summary review: AMEX PPS Credit Card

Apply

🦁 MileLion Verdict

☐ Take It ☐ Take It Or Leave It ☑ Leave It

Like its Solitaire counterpart, the AMEX PPS Credit Card suffers from mediocre earn rates that render it dead on arrival.

Cardholders earn a mere 1.3 mpd on SGD/FCY spending — and don’t be deceived by the 1.4/2 mpd rates, because these only apply to spending above S$3,800. In reality, you’ll never be able to earn 1.4/2 mpd on a weighted average basis, due to the drag imposed by the first S$3,800 of spending.

Long story short: this card can’t even outperform entry-level options like the BOC Elite Miles or UOB PRVI Miles Card,  which is pretty damning for a product that’s supposedly for Singapore Airlines elites.

The poor earn rates also make the milestone benefits practically worthless. Why spend S$15,000 on SIA tickets to get a double KrisFlyer miles accrual voucher capped at 10,000 miles, when you could have earned 15,000 extra miles by charging those tickets to the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card to begin with? Why spend S$75,000 to get a restrictive 50,000 miles redemption discount, when you could have earned way more than that by spreading that spend on 4 mpd cards?

If you ask me, it’s a hard pass.

So that’s my review of the AMEX PPS Credit Card. What do you think?