SIA extends validity of KrisFlyer Elite membership status for third year amid COVID-19 pandemic
A Singapore Airlines plane is parked beside Scoot passenger planes on the terminal tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore on Mar 15, 2021. (File hoto: Roslan RAHMAN/AFP)
SINGAPORE: KrisFlyer Elite and PPS Club members whose statuses are due to expire between March this year and February next year will have them automatically extended for another year, Singapore Airlines (SIA) said on Thursday (Jan 13).
"This supports our members, who have been unable to fly as before due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and follows a similar extension in 2020 and 2021," the flag carrier said in a news release.
Singapore started reopening its borders with vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) last year, and currently has active VTLs with 24 countries.
But amid concerns about what it called the "rapid spread" of the Omicron coronavirus variant in many countries, the Government in December froze new sales of VTL bus and flight tickets until Jan 20.
The move was intended to help limit Singapore's exposure to imported Omicron infections. The Government has said it will temporarily reduce VTL quotas and ticket sales after Jan 20.
With SIA's latest announcement, elite miles earned by KrisFlyer Elite members in the year prior will be credited back to their accounts after the extension.
Elite miles earned during the previous membership qualification cycle will be rolled over and count towards requalification in the March 2023 to February 2024 cycle, said SIA.
The airline also said it would pause the expiration of KrisFlyer miles in 2022. Miles that expire this year will be automatically extended six months at a time.
For example, miles that are expiring in January will be extended to July. If they remain unused by end-July, they will be extended to January 2023, said SIA.
Rewards earned from the PPS Rewards and KrisFlyer Milestone Rewards that are due to expire this year will be extended to Dec 31, it added.
SIA also announced enhanced benefits for KrisFlyer members who fly on the group's budget airline Scoot, such as additional check-in baggage allowance.
"We are very grateful to our PPS Club and KrisFlyer members for their continued loyalty," said JoAnn Tan, SIA's senior vice president for marketing planning.
"Extending the membership statuses, as well as continual enhancement of the KrisFlyer programme, provides our members with more recognition and programme benefits."
