The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the aviation industry hard, and airlines understand that it has been tough for its frequent flyers to earn sufficient elite qualifying miles to maintain or upgrade their elite status with them.
Singapore Airlines has announced that it is now possible for KrisFlyer members to maintain or upgrade their elite tier status without having to fly at all. From 7 Apr 2021 to 28 Feb 2022, you can accumulate elite qualifying miles even as you shop and spend with partner merchants, or even when you convert partner rewards points into KrisFlyer miles.
Depending on your current KrisFlyer tier, here are the tier(s) that you can be eligible for:
Note that it is not possible for a KrisFlyer Elite Gold member to jump to the PPS Club by using this lifeline, which of course helps to maintain the exclusivity of the PPS Club. However, if you are an existing PPS Club member, it is possible for you to attain the next higher tier, that is the Solitaire PPS Club.
For most other KrisFlyer members however, the KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier is very much attainable. As you can see from the list below, there are many ways for you to earn your Elite qualifying miles in order to accumulate the 50,000 miles required for the Elite Gold tier.
The easiest way to do this is to convert your credit card points into 250,000 KrisFlyer miles, and based on the 5:1 conversion ratio shown above, you’ll be able to accumulate the 50,000 Elite qualifying miles needed for the Elite Gold tier.
Now, most of you should already be aware that Singapore Airlines had earlier announced an additional 1-year extension of KrisFlyer Elite memberships for those due to end within the Mar 2021 to Feb 2022 window. However, you can still benefit from this, because all the Elite qualifying miles you earn now will roll over to the next qualifying period. For example, if your extended KrisFlyer Elite Gold membership is due to expire in Jun 2022 (after the earlier 1-year extension), by clocking an additional 50,000 Elite qualifying miles by Feb 2022, you will be able to enjoy your Elite Gold status for another year (i.e. new expiry in Jun 2023)!
Of course, if you do not already have an Elite status with Singapore Airlines but have loads of credit card points, you might wish to wait a while longer (i.e. closer to Feb 2022) before transferring them to your KrisFlyer account, so that you can maximise the benefits of the Elite tier membership, given that the aforementioned roll over of Elite qualifying miles will not apply to you.
If possible, do try to attain the KrisFlyer Elite Gold tier, as you can enjoy a host of privileges, including priority check-in, boarding, and baggage handling, as well as access to Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance partner lounges worldwide.
More information can be found here.