Great Deals: 140,000 MR Points or 31,500 KrisFlyer Miles For American Express Cards

Been a while since I featured American Express card deals, but the most recent sign-up offers have caught my eye – get up to 31,500 KrisFlyer miles for Amex KrisFlyer Ascend or up to 140,000 Membership Rewards points (87,500 miles) for Amex Platinum Charge.

These are great sign-up offers and even existing cardholders of other Amex cards are eligible.

💳 A new American Express customer refers to cardholders who do not currently have a Basic Amex Card and have not cancelled any in the past 12 months.

If your Amex card was issued by a bank, you still qualify as a new cardholder. For example, if you have a UOB Amex Card or DBS Amex Card, you still count as a new customer to Amex as long as you do not have a Basic Amex Card.

31,500 miles with Amex KrisFlyer Ascend

The Amex KrisFlyer Ascend requires a compulsory annual fee of S$340.20 (inclusive of GST), but you get benefits that make the fee worth paying.

New cardholders can get as much as 31,500 KrisFlyer miles in all while existing Amex cardholders can get 21,500 miles upon meeting the spend requirement of S$2,000 within 2 months.

At a relatively conservative valuation of 1.25 cents per mile, that’s S$393.75 and S$268.75 worth of value respectively.

Cardholders also get complimentary one night’s stay at participating Hilton properties, and the nightly rate of a hotel like Conrad Bali or Conrad Bangkok is already around S$300. There are also 4 complimentary airport lounge visits a year which sweetens the whole deal.

Worth it? I definitely think so.

140,000 MR points with Amex Platinum Charge

The Platinum Charge card is a more complex proposition to look through. It has a hefty S$1,728 annual fee (inclusive of 8% GST), and with that comes a laundry list of benefits and perks that take some time to appreciate (and to make use of).

I have been wanting to review the card for some time now, and after a full year of owning this card I think I finally know how to review it so stay subscribed to wait for that.

But analysing the sign-up offer is a relatively simpler affair. New Amex cardholders can get 140,000 MR points by meeting the spend requirement, and that is worth S$672 if you redeem it for cash… which nobody should do since it is also worth 87,500 miles. You also get S$1,354 of statement credits to use for 2023, and another set in 2024.

You should be able to easily extract S$600 to S$800 from the S$1,354 set of credits, and since you will get 2 sets of statement credits by signing up in late 2023, earning back your annual fee and then some is pretty easily done. Even existing Amex cardholders who get a smaller sign-up bonus might find this deal attractive enough.

The card also includes a whole bunch of vouchers that include S$100 credits to spend at Tower Club’s dining establishments and a free hotel stay (I redeemed for St Regis) among perks like hotel membership upgrade (I got free breakfast and room upgrades for my recent Hilton stays thanks to this). These are perks that cost hundreds of dollars.

Should you get the Amex Platinum Charge?

In as few words as I can put it: if you want to enjoy some nice things while paying less, the Amex Platinum Charge’s current promo is a great deal. The spending requirement of S$6,000 this time is also significantly lower than the S$15,000 to S$20,000 it was at just earlier in the year.

Conclusion

Both Amex deals provide pretty great value provided you aren’t allergic to paying annual fees for your credit cards. And when the value of what you receive exceeds the price of admission, you shouldn’t shy away from paying the card fee.

Another small detail to note is that GST is going up in 2024, so the annual fees will also go up slightly. Given the two sets of statement credits given by the Platinum Charge Card, you should also sign up sooner rather than later so you have time to spend your 2023 credits.

Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.

He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.

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