Singapore KrisFlyer, Singapore Airlines’ frequent flyer program, has just launched a new and exciting promotion. Indeed, until February 28, 2022, you can earn the Star Alliance Gold status:

• by collecting KrisFlyer miles with airline partners
• by transferring points to KrisFlyer miles

To earn KrisFlyer miles, there are many co-branded credit cards around the world. Or partners like hotels.

However, for Canadians, the opportunities to participate in this promotion are limited to two programs:

• HSBC Rewards
• Marriott Bonvoy

To achieve KrisFlyer Elite Gold status – equal to Star Alliance Gold status – you must earn 50,000 Elite miles. And since you can get 1 Elite mile for every 5 KrisFlyer miles you convert, that means you’ll need to have converted a total of 250,000 KrisFlyer miles.

Concretely, here is the number of HSBC and/or Marriott Bonvoy points that you will have to convert to reach this goal:

With HSBC Rewards, you can convert 25,000 points into 9,000 KrisFlyer miles. And with Marriott Bonvoy, you can convert 60,000 points into 25,000 KrisFlyer miles.

If you have US credit cards, you can earn KrisFlyer miles from other programs at a 1:1 rate like:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Points
• Brex

This is much more interesting than the offers on the Canadian market.

Achieving Star Alliance Gold status is nice perk because of the benefits it provides:

• Priority check-in
• Priority baggage handling
• Access to Star Alliance Lounges
• Priority Boarding
• Additional baggage
• Gold Track Security Check
• Priority waiting list

And these benefits are recognized by Air Canada as a Star Alliance partner.

However, getting 250,000 KrisFlyer miles takes a lot of points. Especially for:

• miles that expire after 36 months
• a status that is only valid for 12 months

The only benefit of having KrisFlyer miles is the capacity to book award flights on Singapore Airlines – especially its First Class cabin – as Singapore Airlines blocks such flights to partner programs like Aeroplan.

If you are still interested in this promotion and have a more than comfortable points portfolio, my recommendation would be to wait until as late as possible (early 2022) to take advantage of this offer. Hopefully, it will be OK in 2022 to travel (and airport lounges should be reopened)!

Let’s hope this promotion gives Air Canada / Aeroplan ideas to launch a similar offer in the coming months. Last year, it was relatively easy to get Aeroplan 25K Elite status, but transfers of points from American Express Membership Rewards or Marriott Bonvoy were not allowed.

Here are the credit cards to earn Marriott Bonvoy points or HSBC Rewards points: