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NOTE: The discussion below was based on membership rules that will change on 31 August 2007. Please see this thread for a summary and discussion of the new requirements and benefits of PPS Club members.

What is PPS?

The PPS* Club is the true elite tier for KrisFlyer members.

* Note: The letters ‘PPS’ originally stood for ‘Priority Passenger Service’, but here's a little piece of advice: don’t use the full name, unless you want to lose your FF-cred .

What readily differentiates PPS members from other *G is extended access to the SKL in Singapore. Fly in SQ economy or even on any other airline, and you get to use the Raffles side of the SKL – a very, very nice privilege to have in SIN. Fly in Raffles, and you’re admitted to the First Class side.

In the process of attaining PPS membership, you're allowed to bank your miles with another FFP. In effect, you can gain top-level recognition from SQ, achieve top tier in another FFP, and at the same sidestep the often unfavorable earn-burn ratios of KrisFlyer. Thus, many PPS members bank with LH’s Miles&More to take advantage of the more generous (100% for C, 200% for F) cabin bonuses, while others bank with UA or AC to take advantage of those FFP’s perks for North American elites. Note that when you double-dip, you’re earning status miles on both your chosen FFP and the PPS Club, but are accruing award miles only on your chosen FFP.

Other perks include:

• Use of Virgin Atlantic Clubhouses (e.g., at LHR [see this thread and this one; JFK; and NRT) when travelling on SQ (and of course, VS)
• 10% discount for KrisShop items
• Renewal vouchers depending on your length of tenure as a PPS member and whether you’ve achieved QPP, TPP or LPP
• Availability of a PPS coordinator to help with travel issues
• PPS dinners, birthday gifts, or Chrismas gifts depending on your PPS coordinator
• For Solitaires, First Class tags plus another special tag on their checked luggage
• For Solitaires, a small round sticker on their BPs to alert cabin crew about their arrival on board; think of this as sort of like a visual drum roll

The full list of benefits is on this page of the SQ website. This thread discusses which of the perks PPS FTers have found particularly useful.


How do I join the PPS Club?

You don’t join or sign up; you qualify. All you need is a KrisFlyer number to allow SQ to track the relevant miles and sectors that you fly.

You have to fly the minimum PPS miles (50,000) or sectors (25) within a 12-month period, which begins on the month of your first qualifying flight. (Thus, your PPS qualification period is a personal 12-month period.) The number of PPS sectors you earn per flight depends on the distance flown, as shown here.

It’s worth re-emphasizing that premium class flights on SQ codeshares count towards PPS status. Kiwi Flyer maintains this updated list of SQ codeshares, while WearyBizTrvlr has calculated the PPS sectors and mileages that correspond to these codeshares.

You become QPP01 as soon as the system recognizes that you’ve reached the required minimum miles or sectors for any rolling 12-month period. Re-qualification features a few added complexities (which are discussed after the question on short cuts to PPS status).


Are there short cuts to PPS status?

PPS status is rarely comped or fast-tracked, so it’s best to acknowledge the fact that PPS status will be costly in terms of time and money. That said, this isn’t a forum of frequent flyers for nothing. If the perks are valuable, someone will have thought about minimizing the pain of obtaining them.

So, if you’re asking yourself what a PPS run might look like, PPS FTers have put together some options for PPS runs. If you're one of those who are willing to attempt these itineraries, you might want to know about the intricacies of turnarounds* at BKK and CGK, two popular destinations that add relatively little to the cost of a long-haul premium class ticket to SIN but which (currently**) add a nice 2.5 sectors to your sector count.

* The turnarounds are also handy for maximizing the total mileage in round-the-world tickets or for getting lower fares from certain ticket originations.

** Note: There is a rumor that SIN-CGK may soon stop earning PPS sectors. Your printout of that thread doubles as your invitation to the protests that StarG and shortfinals will spearhead – all very civilized, naturally, in the manner of most SIN / Bali DO’s .



What are some things to keep in mind as I seek to re-qualify as PPS?

(1) Can I re-qualify early if I quickly rack up the PPS sectors or miles?

Your re-qualification period begins as soon as you reach QPP01. If you end up re-qualifying sooner than the requisite 12 months, your official re-qualification year still begins after those 12 months have elapsed.

Let’s do an example. Suppose your re-qualification year (for QPP02) begins on May 1, 2005, meaning you have until April 30, 2006 to reach the minimum 50,000 miles / 25 sectors. Now suppose you manage to get the required sectors/mileage by August 2005, a full eight months before your re-qualification year ends. Can you start re-qualifying for QPP03 in September? No.

In fact, you won’t be technically requalified until 3 months before your re-qualification year ends (i.e., January 31, 2006 in this example). This is currently an unpublished benefit, whereby SQ reviews your status nine months into the PPS year. If you’ve already re-qualifed at the 9-month mark, you re-qualify early and therefore have a 15-month period to re-qualify once again.

But, in the example above, what about the miles and sectors that you earn in the months after August: are they wasted? Not really, because they do count towards your TPP and LPP qualification. They will also help achieve re-qualification earlier in the future, through an unpublished averaging method. Here is a recent discussion of the averaging method (start with post #2). Kiwi Flyer's helpful summary of this unpublished benefit is here.

(In case you'd like another example to work through the intricacies of early re-qualification, here's another discussion.)

(2) How do I make sure that I’m double-dipping (having award miles go into my other FFP, while PPS status miles and sectors go into my KrisFlyer account)?

In theory, according to the guidelines in the KrisFlyer membership guide, members, when checking in, should present both their KrisFlyer card as well as the FFP card to which they will credit the miles.

In practice, however, some PPS members have reported that this action has occasionally confused the staff at some airports. If you see looks of confusion or annoyance thrown your way as you follow the official guidelines, you have two options:

1. At airports served by SQ, ask for the supervisor, who will usually know how to sort out the confused checkin agent
2. Present the other (award miles-accumulating) FFP card to the checkin staff. (In fact, veteran PPS flyers would advise you to show just the award miles FFP card, and to enter only the other FFN in any reservation.)

Be careful about using OLCI as well. There have been reports that if you OLCI after logging into your KrisFlyer account, the miles-earning FFP reverts back to KrisFlyer.

The best thing to do is to be vigilant about what appears on your BP. If double-dipping is working, the small print should show SQxxxxxxxx (and QPPzz, TPPzz, LPPzz if qualified), where xxxxxxxx is your FF number and zz is the number of years you've qualified as a PPS member; the large print should say YY*G (if, for example, you have *G status in the other FFP -- YY is, e.g., LH, UA, AC, etc.). CGK gives a clear explanation of what you should request in this post.

If, on the other hand, your BP doesn’t show this, take a deep breath ... make sure you keep your BP ... and resign yourself to chasing KrisFlyer (or better yet, calling your PPS coordinator) for the PPS miles / sectors.

Then again, even if your BP shows this, double-dipping sometimes still fails. Again, you'll have to chase the miles. The best policy is to keep the BP and monitor your mileage account.

Then again, in a well-lived life, there are other, more painful things than righting mileage credits that went wrong. (Granted, this process can be a right royal pain.) You’ll have flown in one of SQ's front cabins, and you’ll be on your way to PPS. Things can be much worse.


(3) Any other thing to keep in mind as I try for Solitaire (or, in other words, one of the nobility at the top rung of paffendorf’s Roll Call)?

The final, encouraging, thing to keep in mind as you fly towards Solitaire status is that you no longer have to meet the old requirement of 5 consecutive years of PPS. All you need to do these days is to be a QPP when you reach the minimum miles or sectors for Solitaire. (Yeah, like that’s as easy to do as to say. ) Here is a discussion of how the TPP counter switches over from your QPP counter when you reach this milestone of your SQ travels.

Don't sweat the details -- frequent-flying when you're going for PPS isn't as painful as on other airlines -- and keep your eyes on the prize (i.e., the extra privileges of being Solitaire). Oh, and hope that StarG, CGK, shortfinals and the rest of the gang are organizing a SIN / Bali DO around the time you join their hallowed ranks. This way, you'll be able to celebrate your milestone with damn good company.