For the month of December 2023, Amex is offering a 30% bonus on points transfers to Virgin Atlantic. While that’s open to all eligible US card members, there appears to be a second transfer bonus available as well, though it’s targeted and has limited supplies.
In this post:
Transfer Amex points to KrisFlyer with a 20% bonus
The American Express Membership Rewards program in the United States is offering a targeted 20% bonus on points transfers to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. This promotion is valid for points transfers through Sunday, December 31, 2023, or while supplies last.
I see this offer on all the accounts that I manage. However, I assume the offer is targeted because the end date is only listed in the “See Offer Terms” section, while when the offer is publicly available, the end date is listed on the main page. If you look at the terms, you’ll see that the offer is valid through December 31 “or while supplies last,” so you’ll want to make a transfer sooner rather than later, if interested.
Ordinarily points transfer at a 1:1 ratio (in 1,000 point increments), while through this promotion you’d get 1,200 KrisFlyer miles for every 1,000 Membership Rewards points transferred.
I could be mistaken, but this is the first time I ever recall seeing a transfer bonus from a major transferable points currency to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer that’s being offered on the bank’s end. A couple of times we’ve seen KrisFlyer incentivize bank transfers, but that’s about it.
- 4x points at restaurants
- 4x points at U.S. supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases annually
- 3x points on flights booked directly with airlines or through amextravel.com
- $250
- Access to Amex Offers
- Redeem Amex Points Towards Airfare
- $375
- Earn 5x points on flights purchased directly from airlines or through Amex Travel (up to $500k/year)
- $200 Annual Uber Credit
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- Earn 1.5x on purchases of $5,000 or more in a single transaction on up to $2MM per calendar year
- Redeem Points For Over 1.5 Cents Each Towards Airfare
- Amex Centurion Lounge Access
- $695
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Should you transfer Amex points to Singapore Airlines?
The single reason you should want to collect KrisFlyer miles is if you want to redeem for travel on Singapore Airlines. That’s because Singapore Airlines restricts much of its premium cabin award space to members of its own KrisFlyer program, and this especially applies to redemptions in Suites and first class.
Singapore Airlines is one of the world’s best airline brands, and offers both one of the best first class and best business class products out there. If you want that experience, KrisFlyer miles leave you best positioned. The good news with KrisFlyer is that the program partners with most major transferable points currencies. However, we don’t regularly see transfer bonuses, which is what makes this opportunity so special.
Obviously there could be value in taking advantage of this if you have a short term redemption in mind. However, I think it could also be worth a speculative transfer, depending on when you next plan on redeeming on Singapore Airlines.
For example, I redeem through KrisFlyer fairly regularly, but have no immediate plans to make a new booking. Still, I would likely otherwise make a transfer without a bonus, so it could be worth taking the risk of transferring points with this offer.
Bottom line
At the moment Amex is offering a targeted 20% bonus when you transfer points to Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. You’ll want to check your account to see if you’re eligible for this, as the offer is valid for select members through December 31 or while supplies last.
KrisFlyer is the best program for Singapore Airlines premium cabin redemptions, and for the first time I can recall, we’re seeing a bonus directly from a transferable points currency to the program. This is a pretty noteworthy offer, since it’s anyone’s guess when we’ll see something like this again.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this Amex transfer bonus to Singapore KrisFlyer?
It was there yesterday in my account. It’s gone today. Quite annoying.
AMEX Platinum here, but offer doesn't appear in my account so obviously targeted. (The VS offer for 30% bonus appears though.) Dang....could have used that bonus on an upcoming redemption too...
Well once again I’ve screwed up. Am I getting too old for this.
An earlier transfer to SQ for 5th Freedom FRA JFK took so long I thought it’d failed so transferred the rest of hubby’s points
Plus with SQ opening more award seats awhile back, I picked up Biz through Air Canada for 60K All this for backup if my waitlisted ANA First doesn’t open up
But I do enjoy the...
Well once again I’ve screwed up. Am I getting too old for this.
An earlier transfer to SQ for 5th Freedom FRA JFK took so long I thought it’d failed so transferred the rest of hubby’s points
Plus with SQ opening more award seats awhile back, I picked up Biz through Air Canada for 60K All this for backup if my waitlisted ANA First doesn’t open up
But I do enjoy the SQ Suites :-). So I’ll find a way to use the 100K+ SQ miles ;-)
I Had a lovely time in October SYD SIN LHR - on SIN layover I enjoyed the Private Room with my own private room for a 6 hour nap before PR closed overnight - I got my steps in during the closure then with an overlap in the FC lounge until a shower and breakfast back in the PR
Looking forward to what Ben thinks of Private Room
I’m planning on flying on Singapore airlines from LAX to Jakarta in March with my fiancé . I have 111,000 AMEX points that I want to get The 20% bonus currently being offer by Krisflyer. What do you suggest?
Check availability and if there, transfer ;-)
I was targeted but wife was not which is so dumb :(
Same here. Only I have a husband ;-)
He has Biz cards and I have personal cards and didn’t get the bonus
Of course she has twice the points as I gutted 300k last year.
For me it's just losing out on 45k free miles sucks because we are doing Singapore longhaul on points anyways. I even chatted with Amex. Nothing one can do
I was not targeted at all. So not everyone is getting this.
I wasn’t either
I have this on my Platinum and Gold cards. Even more intriguing is an offer for 17,500 points for spending $1000 on ITA.
I see the 20% transfer bonus on both my and my wife's account. Our home airport is Houston (IAH) and Singapore Airlines operates a Fifth Freedom route from Houston to Manchester for 81,000 miles; or I can book the same flight through Aeroplane for 70,000 miles. The 20% transfer bonus effectively reduces the amount of Krisflyer miles to 68,000; therefore, not much of a savings. However, as Ben noted there's more availability in terms of...
I see the 20% transfer bonus on both my and my wife's account. Our home airport is Houston (IAH) and Singapore Airlines operates a Fifth Freedom route from Houston to Manchester for 81,000 miles; or I can book the same flight through Aeroplane for 70,000 miles. The 20% transfer bonus effectively reduces the amount of Krisflyer miles to 68,000; therefore, not much of a savings. However, as Ben noted there's more availability in terms of flights available on a given date, and it also appears that for this route Krisflyer members get access a day earlier; with lower taxes and fees. A harder calculation is Houston to Singapore, and points thereafter in Asia. Aeroplane only requires 87,500 miles for those routes whereas Singapore Airlines requires 111,500. Even with the transfer bonus, it will cost me 93,000 miles which is still higher than what Aeroplane costs. However, maybe the earlier/wider availability; and lower taxes and fees are worth that extra 5,500 miles.
Correct me if I'm wrong but, for this particular route (IAH-MAN-SIN) Aeroplan is gonna require 115k in business as it's 11,000+ miles; 87,500 is true for SIN-JFK or SIN-LAX routes.
I just logged onto Aeroplan and confirmed it is 87,500 mile and $75.20 CAD for IAH to SIN in business class with departure date on Wednesday, November 6. As you noted, there is a stop in Manchester which states "Passengers may be required to leave aircraft." It is pretty amazing that Aeroplane has this pricing for IAH currently.
Please remind me... do Singapore miles expire without account activity, and do transfer amount to account activity?
Miles expire 3 years after earning; doesn't matter if you have activity. I've gotten hit a few times.
Thanks. Wife is sitting on 25K and was wondering if it were worth a spec add to my account from AX. Have another 18 months before hers expires... she's tied to Citi. I'll have to ponder over a gin and tonic.