SQ offering status without flying

[sudoer]

My final batch of bonus elite miles posted sometime this afternoon.

Following @Mattg 's suggestion in post 56, I'm planning to transfer enough (or almost enough, depending on my question below) to requal again and have transferred the bulk today.



I'm not very familiar with KF, can someone please confirm what happens if I transfer enough to meet the 2002 remaining elite miles required for requal? I'm assuming I would keep Gold through til Dec 2023, and not for 12 months from today?

Is there any benefit to holding off on transferring the remainder until just before the promo ends in Feb?

 

[Mr H]

Is there any benefit to holding off on transferring the remainder until just before the promo ends in Feb?

I would ask, is there any benefit in doing it now? It is always possible (but perhaps unlikely) that another 15% bonus would pop up between now and then.

 

[spif8888]

I’m sitting at 49k elite miles and also have 700k Amex MR points

if I make 2 transfers before 28 February -
1. transfer 1000 points (equivalent Amex pts) to qualify for gold until February 23
2. Do another transfer of 250 000 points (Equivalent Amex pts)

Will the 2nd transfer allow me to keep gold status until February 2024?

 

[daft009]

I’m sitting at 49k elite miles and also have 700k Amex MR points

if I make 2 transfers before 28 February -
1. transfer 1000 points (equivalent Amex pts) to qualify for gold until February 23
2. Do another transfer of 250 000 points (Equivalent Amex pts)

Will the 2nd transfer allow me to keep gold status until February 2024?

Quite a few people are wondering if that's how it will work, including me

Someone's gotta try it

 

[Mr H]

I’m sitting at 49k elite miles and also have 700k Amex MR points

if I make 2 transfers before 28 February -
1. transfer 1000 points (equivalent Amex pts) to qualify for gold until February 23
2. Do another transfer of 250 000 points (Equivalent Amex pts)

Will the 2nd transfer allow me to keep gold status until February 2024?

I'm pretty sure that is how it would work, provided you let the first 1000 points arrive and get your gold status before transferring the second batch.

As a data point, I made two transfers in November. The first one took me to silver. The second one shows as points earned to requalify for silver.

 

[sudoer]

I would ask, is there any benefit in doing it now? It is always possible (but perhaps unlikely) that another 15% bonus would pop up between now and then.

Trying to lower my MR balance to encourage Amex to make me a higher retention offer (or just cancel the Plat Charge completely - haven't decided yet! but need to make a decision before late Jan)

 

[sudoer]

1. transfer 1000 points (equivalent Amex pts) to qualify for gold until February 23

You need to transfer minimum 10k KF miles to earn elite miles on the transfer. (link)



So you're looking at 20k Amex MR = 10k SQ KF = 2k SQ elite miles

Someone's gotta try it

I will tomorrow, just in case it only extends for 12 months so I get an additional calendar month!

 

[spif8888]

You need to transfer minimum 10k KF miles to earn elite miles on the transfer. (link)

View attachment 268051

So you're looking at 20k Amex MR = 10k SQ KF = 2k SQ elite miles



I will tomorrow, just in case it only extends for 12 months so I get an additional calendar month!

Yes, you correct

My thinking - beginning of February 2022 transfer 20k Amex points - gold through to February 2023.

Later in February 2022 transfer another 500k Amex points and hopefully receive gold till February 2024

 

[sudoer]

I've just transferred in just enough KF miles to requal and here's how the tracker looks - presumably the counter will reset to 0 in Jan 2023 and status will be extended for another year at that point.



I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days as I've noticed SQ can take a bit of time to update accounts.

 

[Mr H]

I've just transferred in just enough KF miles to requal and here's how the tracker looks - presumably the counter will reset to 0 in Jan 2023 and status will be extended for another year at that point.

View attachment 268112

I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days as I've noticed SQ can take a bit of time to update accounts.

Good for you. Just make sure you use the KF miles before they expire! Do you [lan to actually use your gold status? I am likely to go gold in February and not sure I will ever wield the gold card in anger.

 

[sudoer]

Just make sure you use the KF miles before they expire! Do you [lan to actually use your gold status? I am likely to go gold in February and not sure I will ever wield the gold card in anger.

I'm a brand new KF member so all my points have 34-36 months validity. I was planning to transfer enough over to hopefully book Suites in early 2023 anyway, Gold is just an added sweetener and may come in handy for securing those seats!

 

[ht20]

I have done a few credit card point transfers and now only need 1400 elite miles by 30 Nov 2022 to qualify for gold. But I don't need gold for now as I won't be able to travel much for the next 9 months. So can I wait until like Oct or Nov and take an SQ flight to somewhere to earn that remaining 1400 elite miles for gold qualification?

 

[Mr H]

I have done a few credit card point transfers and now only need 1400 elite miles by 30 Nov 2022 to qualify for gold. But I don't need gold for now as I won't be able to travel much for the next 9 months. So can I wait until like Oct or Nov and take an SQ flight to somewhere to earn that remaining 1400 elite miles for gold qualification?

Just as long as you are not buying a flight you don't want to obtain status you won't use...

 

[Mr H]

WOOT!

 

[daft009]

WOOT!

View attachment 268912

There was a clause that with this "free" way of getting status won't get the free extensions

 

[Mr H]

There was a clause that with this "free" way of getting status won't get the free extensions

Not seeing that anywhere. Meanwhile the new T&Cs say that all elite miles will be renewed and specifically says air and non-air accruals.

 

[daft009]

Not seeing that anywhere. Meanwhile the new T&Cs say that all elite miles will be renewed and specifically says air and non-air accruals.

Hope what you're saying is how it is.
My info was from my post 17 in this thread,

SQ offering status without flying

Just got the following email last night... Besides earning Elite miles on flights with Singapore Airlines and Scoot, you can now earn Elite miles on your everyday spend and activities. From now till 28 February 2022, accumulate Elite miles as you shop, spend and convert partner reward points...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[Mr H]

Hope what you're saying is how it is.
My info was from my post 17 in this thread,

I cannot make that link apply to the current promotion - the old link talks specifically about upgrading from silver to gold as a status match or accelerator program (whatever one of those is). The new T&Cs say inter alia they supersede previous schemes and they talk about all elites, not some of them and talk about elite miles earned through air and non-air methods.

Membership Renewal, Elite Gold Rewards and KrisFlyer Miles Extension

www.singaporeair.com

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I cannot make that link apply to the current promotion - the old link talks specifically about upgrading from silver to gold as a status match or accelerator program (whatever one of those is). The new T&Cs say inter alia they supersede previous schemes and they talk about all elites, not some of them and talk about elite miles earned through air and non-air methods.

Membership Renewal, Elite Gold Rewards and KrisFlyer Miles Extension

www.singaporeair.com

That does seem to suggest that as long as you gained Elite Status in the period 1 March 2021 and 1 March 2022 that any elite points earnt, including non-flying, up till March 22 will be rolled over.


I also received an email from them late today:

​

​ ​ ​ 2022 KRISFLYER PROGRAMME UPDATES AND ENHANCEMENTS​ ​

​ ​ Dear Mr Lovetravellingoz,​ ​ ​ As we look forward to welcoming you on board Singapore Airlines (SIA) in the new year, we are pleased to share the following programme improvements for the benefit of our members. EXTENSION OF YOUR KRISFLYER ELITE MEMBERSHIP FOR ANOTHER YEAR In recognition of your loyalty and given the limited flying opportunities available in the past year, SIA will automatically renew your KrisFlyer Elite Gold status for another 12 months for your next membership renewal that is due between March 2022 and February 2023. For your convenience, you can access your digital membership card via the SingaporeAir mobile app. Any Elite miles you have earned through air or non-air accruals in your membership qualification cycle will be brought forward to your next membership renewal cycle, to count towards your membership requalification due between March 2023 and February 2024. For more information, click here.

In the current promo I had already earnt Gold in Nov 21 and I also had already requalified for Gold renewal in Nov 22 (see below). So the announcement above would suggest I will now have already qualified for my renewal in Nov 23. If so then

 

[Ken1]

I have not flown with SQ before, usually flying One World airlines. I have never had status since the business I was running before I retired last year did not involve any flying and our holiday flights were usually booked with points from credit cards sent to QFF as well as from Amex sent to QFF and CX and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to mostly travel in J in most years since 2008. AFF has been a wonderful resource that has assisted me in learning about many opportunities in earning and redeeming points.

I was waiting until February 1 to transfer 250,000 KrisFlyer miles from my Amex Platinum Charge to earn KrisFlyer Elite Gold status. We will start booking flights from SYD to LHR or ZRH in a few weeks and then book the return flights in April. This morning at 9.45am I transferred 10,000 KrisFlyer miles from Amex since it was my first transfer to SQ and I wanted to be sure it went through without any problems before transferring any more. At 4.15pm this afternoon I transferred another 240,000 miles so have now transferred 250,000 which should give me Elite Gold status when it goes through. Both times the transfers showed up in my KrisFlyer account instantly.

I've just looked at my KrisFlyer statement and it shows the transfers from Amex of 10,000 and then 240,000 KrisFlyer miles, listed as "Accruals - American Express Australia Limited" are dated 31 January even though I did them today, 01 February. However, luckily, it shows entries for Elite Miles for 2000 and then 48000 dated today, 01 February, listed as "Accruals - Unlock Status Credits Campaign" so when everything updates it should be dated as February for the month becoming Elite Gold so give me status until the end of February 2024 with the one year extension SQ are offering.

Even though it shouldn't matter so long as SQ count the 01 February date for the transfers, I'm wondering why the transfers are dated 31 January though. If SQ were using 00:00 GMT like they do for the release of seats each day the transfer at 09:45 this morning would have been at 22:45 GMT on 31 January but the transfer at 4.15pm would have been 05:45 GMT on 01 February. Maybe the back end of the Amex system uses US time when doing the transfers.

Since we will book J Saver award flights from SYD to and from Europe we will not gain anything from Elite Gold for those flights except an extra 20kg of luggage, but we are also looking at booking to fly LHR-EVE in Northern Norway with SAS and if Star Alliance Gold gives me lounge access and extra bags we would be able to buy the cheaper SAS Go Smart fare rather than the more expensive SAS Plus Smart or SAS Plus Pro fares, since the seats are the same. I can't see any mention on the SAS website of benefits for Star Alliance Gold members but SAS Eurobonus Gold members receive access to SAS Gold Lounges and Star Alliance lounges worldwide, Fast Track security and Two extra checked bags, free of charge (except on SAS Go Light fares) so I assume that Star Alliance Gold members would receive the same benefits.