Shangri-La Golden Circle selling points with 50% bonus; offering redemptions for 60% less points

From 15-31 July 2020, Shangri-La Golden Circle is offering its members two different promotions- buy points with a 50% bonus, or redeem points for award nights at up to 60% off.

The points purchase promotion is quite intriguing, particularly for those who have Jade or Diamond membership in the Golden Circle program. 

Buy Golden Circle Points with a 50% bonus

Shangri-La is selling Golden Circle points with a 50% bonus until 31 July 2020, with no minimum purchase required. A maximum of 10,000 points (pre-bonus) can be purchased each calendar year. 

With a 50% bonus, members are paying 8.67 US cents per point. 

Now, Shangri-La allows Golden Circle members to redeem points for F&B credit across any Shangri-La or JEN hotel worldwide. The rate is usually 10 GC points= US$1, but Jade and Diamond members enjoy 25% more value. 

I hope you see where I’m going here- if you’re a Jade or Diamond member, you could buy 10 GC points for US$0.87, and redeem them for US$1.25 of value- a 30% discount on dining! Yes, there’ll be some currency exchange issues when you spend those points in Singapore, but in my experience, the exchange rate used was almost identical to the one on Google. 

Even if you’re “just” a Gold member, you’re still getting a 13% discount. This is more marginal, however, so I’d probably wouldn’t buy points just for dining credit if I were a Gold. 

Redeem rooms for up to 60% less

Here’s the other side of the equation: Shangri-La is offering 50-60% off room redemptions, for bookings made by 12 p.m SGT on 31 July 2020. Your stay can be any time from 15 July to 31 December 2020. 

The full list of participating properties can be found here, but since none of us are likely to be overseas during this period, I’m just going to look at the Singapore ones. Here’s what the discount means for the points per room, and the cost if you bought points during the current sale. 

I definitely don’t think it’s a good deal to buy points with the intention of redeeming a standard room. We’re seeing staycation rates at the Shangri-La which are lower or comparable to this, and those usually include extras like breakfast, late check-out and F&B credit.

On the higher end, it might make sense if you wanted to book a suite at the Shangri-La, given that these can cost upwards of S$1,000 per night.

What card should I use to purchase Shangri-La Golden Circle points?

Purchases of Shangri-La Golden Circle points are processed by Points.com in USD, so they’ll code as online foreign currency spending.

Using the following cards will earn you the highest return:

	Earn Rate	Remarks
Citi Rewards Apply here	4 mpd	Cap of S$1K per s. month
UOB Visa Signature Apply here	4 mpd	Min FCY spend of S$1K per s. month, cap at S$2K per s. month
SCB Visa Infinite	3 mpd	Min spend S$2K per s. month
S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month

Conclusion

For those of you who love dining at Shangri-La properties, buying points for F&B credit could make sense- but only if you have Jade or Diamond membership.

AMEX Platinum Charge and AMEX Centurion cardholders receive Jade and Diamond status respectively by virtue of holding the card, and it’s possible to get a fast track offer if you’re a Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer elite member under the Infinite Journeys partnership.