AMEX Solitaire PPS and PPS Cards increase earn rates to 1.5 mpd

American Express kicked off November by announcing a slate of changes to its Singapore Airlines cobrand cards, which it’s calling — of course — an enhancement. 

That’s a dubious claim for the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend, which now earns 1.5 mpd, but has also lost its Hilton free night voucher, arguably its one remaining bright spot. It’s a mixed bag for the AMEX KrisFlyer Credit Card, which now earns 1.3 mpd, but will tweak its SIA cashback benefit later this month in a way that helps some cardholders and hurts others.

For the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card, I will concede that the changes are entirely positive, though they do little to address how fundamentally uncompetitive these cards are in the first place.

AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and PPS Card boost earn rates

The AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card’s earn rates have always been rather convoluted, with one rate for spending up to S$3,800, and another for spending beyond S$3,800.

From 1 November 2026, that’s been simplified somewhat — at least for local spending. All local spend now earns a flat 1.5 mpd, period.

	AMEX Solitaire PPS Card		AMEX PPS Card
	Until 31 Oct 26	From 1 Nov 26	Until 31 Oct 26	From 1 Nov 26
Local Spend Up to S$3,800	1.3 mpd	1.5 mpd	1.3 mpd	1.5 mpd
Local Spend From S$3,801	1.5 mpd		1.4 mpd
FCY Spend Up to S$3,800	1.3 mpd	1.5 mpd	1.3 mpd	1.5 mpd
FCY Spend From S$3,801	2.4 mpd	2.4 mpd	2 mpd	2 mpd

However, FCY spending will continue the current two-tier approach, with spending below S$3,800 rewarded with 1.5 mpd, and spending above S$3,800 rewarded with 2 mpd (PPS) or 2.4 mpd (Solitaire PPS).

It’s worth remembering that the higher earn rates only apply to every S$1 spent above S$3,800. In other words, if you spend S$4,000 in FCY on the AMEX PPS Card, you’ll earn S$3,800 x 1.5 miles + S$200 x 2 miles. Therefore, 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	1.5 mpd	1.5 mpd
S$5,000 FCY spend	1.72 mpd	1.62 mpd
S$10,000 FCY spend	2.06 mpd	1.81 mpd

This just illustrates how deceptively bad the FCY earn rates are — even after spending S$10,000 on FCY, the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card still loses to entry-level alternatives like the OCBC 90°N Card (2.1 mpd) or Citi PremierMiles Card (2.2 mpd).

What’s more, local and FCY 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 FCY alone to unlock the higher earn rates. It cannot be a mix of the two — how silly!

Finally, Singapore Airlines, Scoot, KrisShop and Pelago purchases do not count towards the S$3,800 minimum spend — though such purchases are unlikely to be made in FCY anyway. 

Still not good enough

With the revised earn rates, here’s how the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card compare to the competition.

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

1.5 mpd is the highest earn rate offered for local spend by a general spending card in the S$30,000 income segment.

However, I’ll echo what I said in my post about the AMEX KrisFlyer Ascend: this is only relevant if you’ve burst the caps on 4 mpd alternatives like the HSBC Revolution, Maybank XL Rewards Card and UOB Visa Signature. Even then, I’d sooner use the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card for an uncapped 2.4 mpd on dining, food delivery, online shopping, travel and transport.

The use cases for AMEX cards are few and far between, namely paying for government services or charitable donations (which were supposedly excluded in October 2023, but still earn rewards in my experience), where other cards don’t earn miles.

Assuming you can get the annual fee waived, you might keep one around for AMEX Offers too, but otherwise, the AMEX Singapore Airlines cobrand cards are woefully underpowered for something bearing the airline’s name. 

Other earn rates unchanged

There are no changes to the rest of the AMEX Solitaire PPS Card or AMEX PPS Card’s earn rates.

Cardholders will continue to earn 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

Air 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. 

But there’s nothing to get excited about here, since you could easily earn far more miles on such purchases with alternative cards. 

Best cards for Singapore Airlines & Scoot tickets

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month Review
Maybank XL Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd	Min. spend S$500 per c. month, max S$1K per c. month Review
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$750 per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap Review
Maybank Horizon Visa Signature Apply	2.8 mpd	Min. retail spend of S$800 per c. month. Max S$10K per c. month if SGD, no cap for FCY Review

Best cards for KrisShop

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd Website Kris+	Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card Apply	4 mpd Website Kris+	Max S$750 per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd Website Kris+	Max S$1K per c. month Review
Citi Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd Website 0.4 mpd Kris+	Max S$1K per s. month Review
UOB Preferred Visa Apply	4 mpd Website Kris+	Max S$600 per c. month Review
HSBC Revolution Apply	4 mpd Website Kris+	Max S$1K per c. month Review
OCBC Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd Website Kris+	Max S$1.1K per c. month Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd Website Kris+	No cap Review

Best cards for Pelago

Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
DBS Woman’s World Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month Review
Maybank XL Rewards Card Apply	4 mpd	Min S$500 per c. month, max S$1K per c. month Review
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Apply	4 mpd	Max S$750 per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
UOB Lady’s Card Apply	4 mpd	Max S$1K per c. month. Must choose Travel as bonus category Review
KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card Apply	3 mpd	No cap Review

Conclusion

The AMEX Solitaire PPS Card and AMEX PPS Card now earn a flat 1.5 mpd on local spend, and on the first S$3,800 of FCY spend. 

However, the bigger picture hasn’t changed. 1.5 mpd only matters once you’ve exhausted your 4 mpd caps, and even then, the KrisFlyer UOB Credit Card earns more across most everyday categories. Where FCY spend is concerned, the lower earn rates on the first S$3,800 drags the weighted average down so much that even S$10,000 of FCY spending can’t beat an entry-level OCBC 90°N Card.

It’s just sad to see how lacklustre these cards have become, and for something that’s exclusively reserved for Singapore Airlines’ top customers, you’d really expect better.