Well well well.
The SCB X Card continues to take steps in the right direction. First there was the 100% transfer bonus to Emirates Skywards. Then there was the 3 mpd on foreign currency spending. And now, here’s something rarer than toilet paper at the supermarket- a hotel points transfer bonus.
SCB is offering a 100% transfer bonus to Accor Live Limitless
From 16-29 March 2020, SCB is offering a 100% transfer bonus for conversions to Accor Live Limitless (ALL).
Instead of the usual 3,500 points: 700 ALL points, you’ll receive double the points (ie. 3,500 points: 1,400 ALL points) with no cap.
All transfers must be made by 11.59 p.m SGT on 29 March 2020 to be eligible for the bonus. Bonus ALL points will be credited to your account by 15 April 2020.
With this transfer bonus, you’re earning the equivalent of 1.2/2.0 ALL points per dollar when you spend on the SCB X Card.
This offer is marketed to SCB X Card holders, but just like the Emirates Skywards bonus, SCB Visa Infinite cardholders can get in on the fun too. Your points are pooled for the purposes of redemption.
Is this a good deal?
First up, just who is part of ALL? The’s a fair number of familiar brands under the ALL umbrella, including Raffles, Banyan Tree, Fairmont, Sofitel, M Hotels, Pullman, Swissotel, Movenpick, Novotel, Mercure, and ibis, to name a few.
The second thing you need to understand about ALL is that it offers fixed value redemptions. Although Accor spoke about adding an award chart back when they were formulating ALL, it never happened.
ALL points are instead redeemed at a fixed rate of 2,000 points= €40 (~S$62). This means that 1 point is worth just over 3 Singapore cents, so your 3,500 SCB Rewards points are worth ~S$42 when transferred to ALL.
To put it another way, those 3,500 SCB Rewards points can also be transferred to 1,400 KrisFlyer miles. Valued at 1.8 cents each, that’s ~S$25. For KrisFlyer to be more “worth it” than ALL, you’d have to get at least 3 cents per mile when you redeem- hardly impossible, but worth noting.
Normally, fixed rate redemptions aren’t a good deal, but in the current climate where hotel rates are rock bottom low, there’s a lot of potential here. Remember, your points are used just like money- there’s no restriction on the rate you can book. If you’re an AccorPlus member, you may have seen Red Hot deals for the Swissotel Stamford from as low as S$120++. That would be ~4,700 ALL points, after service charge and GST- a rather good deal!
| ALL points expire after 12 months of no account activity; earning points from any source will reset the counter |
Personally, I’ve got a surplus of KrisFlyer miles now and no real plan for spending them (yes, I’m breaking my own rule). The miles I have from the X Card sign up bonus would be worth 107,200 ALL points, or ~$3,216 of hotel credit. I have to say, that’s mighty tempting.
Put it another way- we can earn miles very easily in Singapore, but hotel points are almost impossible to come by. How often will you get an opportunity like this?
Conclusion
I’m glad I didn’t transfer my SCB points to Emirates during the previous transfer bonus, because this one gets me much more excited. No issues with award space, no fuel surcharges…aren’t hotel points grand?
The only potential fly in the ointment is if ALL decides to introduce an award chart. It feels strange to say that, because most miles chasers prefer an award chart over fixed value redemptions any day. But the math on which we’re getting into ALL is based on this promo, so it’s perhaps best if it stays the same.
It’s great to see the SCB team sprucing up the X Card’s attractiveness with promotions like this. Let’s hope the trend continues.
Hi Aaron, any idea if it applied to all SCB X cardholders? The bonus points are not reflected in my app, which shows 5000 points to 1000 ALL points. CSO said its only for targetted members 🙁
if the past emirates skywards promo is anything to go by, all x card holders will be eligible. the app by default does not show the bonus.
If I only have the Visa Infinite Card and no X Card, can I get the bonus Accor points?
ALL points are valid for how long and their expiration date are usually… ?
points expire after 12 months if there is no account activity. earning activity resets the counter. have updated.
I do not have the X card and hence have no access to the redemption option despite being a VI card holder. Guess this is only for X card holder
go via mobile app. select credit card rewards. you should see the new partners.
On my mobile banking, the transfer rate is shown as a ridiculous 5000 reward points to 1000 All points. And I cannot find All transfer partner on web banking. Is that normal? I hold the x card and I have received the marketing for bonus All point transfer
Same, here. Are they expecting us to have blind faith that it will be added later!?
Saw a few comments that for the red hot deals, the points are not applicable at all. So the points aren’t really “cash” unfortunately. Since that’s the case I will have to pass on this offer sadly..
Where did you see this? In telegram Accorplus members say you can use points to pay for red hot
Saw a few comments that for the red hot deals, the points are not applicable at all. So the points aren’t really “cash” unfortunately. Since that’s the case I will have to pass on this offer sadly..