My Millennium Loyalty Program : An Introduction

Many of us here are very familiar with SPG, Hilton Honors and Marriott Rewards when asked about hotel loyalty programs. There are many other hotel chains out there in the market with their own loyalty programs. For instance, Leading Hotels of the World, Small Luxury Hotels, as well as My Millennium, which you would be reading more about below.

My Millennium is the loyalty programme of the Millennium group of hotels. In Singapore, they have quite a number of properties, as listed below :

• Grand Copthorne Waterfront
• Copthorne Kings Hotel Singapore
• M Social Hotel
• M Hotel
• Studio M Hotel (where many hipster Instagram photos come from)
• Orchard Hotel

This list is even more comprehensive than the hotels that other bigger chains have in Singapore! For comparisons sake, Marriott has only 3 properties in Singapore (barring Ritz Carlton and the SPG hotels).

How to qualify

My Millennium has 3 Membership Tiers, similar to other hotel loyalty programs.

They are :

• Club (obtained after sign up)
• Premium (8 Qualifying Nights or 15,000 Points in a 12 Month Period)
• Elite (20 Qualifying Nights or 40,000 Points in a 12 Month Period)

As per standard across many loyalty programs, Qualifying Nights exclude the following :

• Complimentary rooms (i.e from the KrisFlyer Ascend card)
• Commissionable room rates booked via third parties for e.g. travel agents, online travel agents, etc.
• Room rates provided in conjunction with airline and/or travel industry discounts
• Room rates of airline crew members paid by the airline
• Room rates for group conventions or corporate meetings
• Room rates for selected long-term stays

Interestingly enough, as per their FAQ, if you book under a non-eligible rate as listed above you are still eligible to receive elite benefits.

1 My Millennium Point is earned for every US$1 spend on room and other charges during your stay. Upper tier statuses (Premium & Elite) are valid for a period of 12 months after earning or renewal.

Elite Benefits

These are the listed benefits of each My Millennium Tier (obtained from their website):

Club :

• Earn 10 My Points per US$1 on qualifying room spend
• Earn 5 My Points per US$1 on other qualifying spend
• Complimentary Wi-Fi at selected participating hotels

Premium :

• Earn 15 My Points per US$1 on qualifying room spend
• Earn 5 My Points per US$1 on other qualifying spend
• Two complimentary Club Room upgrades per membership year – Note 1
• Complimentary Wi-Fi at selected participating hotels
• Early check-in from 10 a.m -Note 2
• Complimentary welcome drink
• 15% discount on total food and beverage bill – Note 3
• Dedicated e-concierge service at [email protected]

Elite :

• Earn 15 My Points per US$1 on qualifying room spend
• Earn 5 My Points per US$1 on other qualifying spend
• Two complimentary Suite Room upgrades per membership year- Note 1
• One complimentary room night stay at any participating hotel when you stay at 10 different participating hotels within the same membership year.
• Complimentary Wi-Fi at selected participating hotels
• Early check-in from 10am and late check-out till 4pm- Note 2
• Complimentary welcome drink
• 20% discount on total food and beverage bill- Note 3
• Complimentary Club/Executive Lounge Access- Note 4
• Free local calls – Note 5
• Dedicated e-concierge at [email protected]

_{Notes:
1 – Complimentary Club/Suite Room upgrades is subject to hotel’s availability on the day of check-in, member to indicate use complimentary Club/Suite Room upgrade when making a reservation on millenniumhotels.com.  Complimentary Club/Suite Room upgrade is applicable to maximum 3 nights stay per voucher booked by member.
2 –  Early check-in from 10 a.m (Premium and Elite members) and late check-out till 4pm (Elite members) is at local time, subject to hotel’s availability.
3 – Premium and Elite members to present a valid My Millennium membership card to enjoy discounts on food and beverages when dining at Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ restaurants.
4 – Elite members enjoy complimentary Club/Executive Lounge Access with 1 additional guest.
5- Elite members enjoy free local calls up to 3 calls per stay
*My Millennium member benefits are subject to availability and eligibility requirements.}

The benefits of Club members aren’t anything to shout about, complimentary Wi-Fi is already offered to those who book direct on the hotel website.

Premium tier members get a little bit more, it is interesting to see an early check in option, but not a late check out option here as a benefit. Although they do not receive complimentary upgrades to rooms in another category, they have at their disposal 2 Club Room certificates to be used (although up to a maximum of 3 nights per booking only). They also earn at a higher points rate than Club members. Oh and they also have a dedicated email address to send their queries too.

The perks for Elite Members however, are incrementally better than the Premium tier. They get 2 Suite Night upgrades (also at a maximum of 3 nights) instead of Club Room upgrades. Late check out in addition to early check in (subject to availability). Complimentary Club/Executive Lounge access as well as free local calls (do people still use the hotel phone to call out these days). Elite Members however, earn the same points as their Premium tier counterparts. Similar to Premium members, Elite members have a dedicated email address to which they could send their request in too.

Hotel Footprint

Surprisingly, they have quite a number of properties in the UK (and Europe, mainly in Paris) and Down Under. As well as a few properties scattered across Asia, North America and the Middle East. The full list can be found here.

Curiously, Copthorne Cameron Highlands, Millennium Hotel Fuqing and Millennium Residences Beijing only participates as a redemption member and not a elite nights/points earning hotel.

Redemption Options

Points earned in the My Millennium program can be used to redeem for :

• Free Nights (Points or Points + Cash redemption options)
• US$30 Food & Beverage Voucher : My Points Required: 12,000
• US$50 Food & Beverage Voucher : My Points Required: 20,000
• Spa Treatment at Select Hotels for 12,000 Points
• Laundry Services (?????) for 12,000 Points
• Unlimited Broadband Access (wut) for 6,000 Points

A quick check on their website reveals that, room redemptions with My Millennium points are tagged to room rates, rather than room categories (i.e Hilton and SPG). Using the Grand Copthorne Waterfront as an example.

Currently they are running a Celebrate Merriments rate which comes with benefits as shown below :

and if you were to book with points :

If you were to book on a Flexible rate for instance, the points needed would be at an additional 15,000 (rounded up) points!

Thus, redeeming points for stays might not be the most efficient use of points, given that if you’re a Club member and do not spend on any in-room dining during your stay. You would need to spend around US$5,550 on room rates to redeem a single room in Singapore! (although by then you would already be in their Elite Tier which gives you club room access so hmm)

A check on the Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur, confirms that points required are tagged to the room rates, where it requires much lower points for a redemption on the Celebrate Merriments rate.

Worth adding to your portfolio of Loyalty Programmes?

Well, if you actually sifted through the paperwork which came with the KrisFlyer Ascend credit card, you would have found a pamphlet with a promotional code which comps you Premium status with My Millenium, meaning you can now upgrade your free night obtained by having the KrisFlyer Ascend card, to a Club Room from a Basic Room and get Lounge Access (woohoo).

Also, their qualification for Premium status only requires 8 Nights, the lowest that I know of for mid tier status so far. Elite only requires 20 nights and this grants you complimentary Club/Executive Lounge access!

Comparing it to SPG Platinum and Hilton Diamond which also gives you guaranteed Lounge Access, 20 nights is a steal compared to the 50 Nights you have to clock with SPG and the 60 Nights you have to clock on Hilton to achieve the status which grants you that.

If you’re a KrisFlyer Ascend card holder, I encourage you to sign up for the complimentary Premium My Millennium membership for its two Club Room certificates and use it along with the free night (if you don’t wish to wait for the Hilton nights redemption to be out).

Even if you do not use the free night offered by the Ascend card, having 2 Club Room upgrade certs at your disposal (for a year) is certainly useful, especially when you’re booking yourself at the lowest room category at properties which might be a little more costly.

Given the free Premium Membership that comes with the Ascend card, I think I might have some stays in Millennium hotels in the future so as to utilize the free Club Room upgrade.

P.S Keep a lookout for a review of the Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur! Coming to you shortly.