Free Sands Rewards Lifestyle Elite status with ICBC cards- great for staycations at MBS (and more)

If you’re planning a staycation at Marina Bay Sands soon (or even if you aren’t), here’s an offer to take note of. 

From now till 31 December 2021, ICBC cardholders can receive a free upgrade to the Prestige or Elite tier of the Sands Rewards Lifestyle (not to be confused with Sands Rewards Club, which is the casino’s Players Club), valid for 3 months.

This means free attraction tickets, free parking at MBS, extra benefits during staycations and more. Even if you have no interest in the bright lights of MBS, getting free parking in the CBD still has to be a fantastic deal, right? 

ICBC’s instant Sands Rewards Lifestyle Prestige/Elite offer

ICBC cardholders will receive instant Prestige or Elite status, depending on what card they hold:

Status is valid for 3 months, but it’s possible to extend this by a further 9 months upon meeting a certain spending threshold with MBS merchants, as shown above. 

Now, you should have no trouble at all getting an ICBC Gold or higher card- if you need suggestions, get the ICBC Global Travel Mastercard. This ICBC Platinum Card gives you six free lounge visits per calendar year through DragonPass, with no annual fee for 3 years. What’s there not to like? 

Claiming your free Sands Rewards Lifestyle Elite membership requires you to make a trip down to Marina Bay Sands, but it takes all of five minutes once you’re there. Look for any of the Sands Rewards Lifestyle counters:

• Lobby, Hotel Tower 1
  Daily: 10am – 11pm

• B1, Galleria Level, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
  (above Sampan Rides)
  Sun – Thu: 10am – 11pm
  Fri, Sat & Eve of PH: 10am – 11.30pm

• B2, Canal Level, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
  (near Digital Light Canvas)
  Sun – Thu: 10am – 11pm
  Fri, Sat & Eve of PH: 10am – 11.30pm

What benefits do Sands Rewards Lifestyle members get?

Sands Rewards Lifestyle members enjoy some standard privileges across tiers, like earning up to 20% rebates (in the form of Reward Dollars, MBS’s loyalty currency) on spend at participating MBS outlets. 

However, the higher tiers enjoy additional benefits across MBS’s hotel, attraction, dining and entertainment offerings. I’ve highlighted the ones I think are interesting below:

Some of the perks require purchases, e.g the free 15-minute head & shoulder massage for Elite members is only valid when you buy a massage, but others (e.g free attraction tickets) are pure gravy. Heck, three months of free parking at MBS is also incredible, even more so if you’re working in the CBD. 

What’s that admin fee about?

There’s probably only one term in the table that needs some explanation: admin fee for redemption.

There is no admin fee for redeeming Reward Dollars at Marina Bay Sands Outlets, i.e 1 Reward Dollar= S$1. However, if you redeem your Reward Dollars at Partner Outlets, you’ll pay an admin fee that varies depending on your tier:

	Marina Bay Sands Outlet	Partner Outlet
LifeStyle	1 Reward Dollar= S$1	1.2 Reward Dollar= S$1 (i.e 20% admin fee)
Prestige	1 Reward Dollar= S$1	1.1 Reward Dollar= S$1 (i.e 10% admin fee)
Elite	1 Reward Dollar= S$1	1 Reward Dollar= S$1 (no admin fee)

What’s a Marina Bay Sands Outlet and what’s a Partner Outlet? It doesn’t say online, but I managed to get this brochure from the concierge. 

The presence of the admin fee is supposed to encourage you to spend your rebates with MBS-operated merchants, creating a sort of “double captive” system. But remember, your trusty ICBC credit card should land you in the Elite tier, so you don’t need to worry about this concept (for three months at least).

Marina Bay Sands Staycation Package

MBS is currently offering the following “Sands Staycation” package from S$339++ per night, which includes:

• One night in Premier Room (automatic upgrade from Deluxe)
• $50 Reward Dollars
• Free parking
• 12 p.m check-in (subject to availability) 
• Free entry to Sands SkyPark Observation Deck & Infinity Pool
• 15% off ArtScience Museum tickets
• 10% off single treatments and 15% off couple treatments at Banyan Tree Spa

This is valid for bookings made up till 29 September 2020, with stays up till 23 December 2020. Reservations are fully refundable up to 48 hours before arrival. 

All Sands Rewards Lifestyle members will receive a 6% Reward Dollars rebate on the staycation, which work out to S$20.34 (based on a S$339 rate). However, an Elite tier member in the Sands Rewards Lifestyle program would enjoy these additional benefits on a staycation:

• No admin fee when redeeming the $50 Reward Dollars at any participating tenant across MBS
• Free tickets to Digital Light Canvas, SkyPark Observation Deck, Sampan Rides, ArtScience Museum
• An additional discount on Banyan Tree Spa treatments (20%, instead of the standard 10%)
• Sands Lounge check-in (this is not the same as Club 55)
• Potential room upgrades, early check-in and late check-out
• Additional free parking, should you overstay a 24-hour period

Conclusion

It’s simple enough to get an ICBC credit card, and with the annual fee waivers, this really is a freebie. If you’re doing a staycation at MBS, it’s a potential way to snag a further room upgrade (if anyone has data points about how generous they are with upgrades for Lifestyle members, please sound out), and even if you aren’t, it’s a way to get more out of your shopping & dining at MBS. 

The offer runs till the end of 2021 so there’s no rush to take advantage of it now, but do note that like all offers it can be pulled without notice.