From now till 13 December 2020, Shangri-La Golden Circle is selling points with a 50% bonus, and has increased the annual purchase cap to 20,000 points.
While Golden Circle points may be one of the most expensive rewards currencies on the market (on a per point basis- although obviously you can’t do a 1:1 comparison between programs), this could be an intriguing offer for those with Jade or Diamond status.
Buy Golden Circle Points with a 50% bonus
Buy Shangri-La Golden Circle Points
Shangri-La is selling Golden Circle points with a 50% bonus until 13 December 2020, with a minimum purchase of 200 points. A maximum of 20,000 points (pre-bonus) can be purchased during this sale.
With a 50% bonus, members are paying 8.67 US cents per point. For perspective, here’s Shangri-La’s award redemption chart.
| Collection | Standard | Club | Suite |
| A | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 |
| B | 2,000 | 3,500 | 5,500 |
| C | 3,500 | 5,000 | 7,000 |
| D | 5,000 | 7,000 | 9,000 |
| E | 6,500 | 8,500 | 12,000 |
| F | 9,500 | 14,000 | 20,000 |
| G | 20,000 | N/A | N/A |
The JEN Orchardgateway and JEN Tanglin are in Category C and cost 3,500 points per night, the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa is in Category D (5,000 points/night) and the Shangri-La Singapore is in Category E (6,500 points/night).
Given the abundance of staycation deals at the moment, however, it really doesn’t make sense to buy hotel points for redeeming rooms. Remember that award nights don’t come with extras such as breakfast, late check-out or hotel credit.
But there’s a much better use case for buying points- F&B credit.
Redeem F&B credit with Golden Circle points
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.
| Gold | Jade | Diamond | |
| Value per 10 GC points redeemed | US$1 | US$1.25 | US$1.25 |
| Note: Shangri-La offers two different redemption options for F&B credit. The first is a fixed value certificate of US$50/$100 for 500/1,000 points. The second is through The Table, which lets you spend points at US$1 (or US$1.25 for Jade/Diamond) per 10 points. The latter is obviously much more flexible, and offers better value to Jade/Diamond members. |
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 dining value- a 30% discount on dining! Yes, you’ll need to account for the FCY fees on your card when you buy points (~3%) and currency exchange when you spend the points in Singapore, but in my personal experience the rate used by the hotel is almost identical to the one on Google.
Even if you’re just a Gold member, you’re still getting a 13% discount on dining. This is more marginal, however, so I’d probably wouldn’t buy points for dining credit if I were a Gold.
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 foreign currency online spending. Using the following cards will earn you the highest return:
| Earn Rate | Remarks | |
 Citi RewardsApply here | 4 mpd | Cap of S$1K per s. month |
 UOB Visa SignatureApply here | 4 mpd | Min S$1K Max S$2K FCY spend per s. month |
 SCB Visa Infinite | 3 mpd | Min spend S$2K per s. month |
 UOB PRVI MilesApply here | 2.4 mpd | No cap |
| S. Month= Statement Month | C. Month= Calendar Month | ||
It’s generally advisable that you don’t use the DBS Woman’s World Card on Points.com, as many people have reported issues with getting the bonus 7X points credited.
Conclusion
For those of you who love dining at Shangri-La properties, buying points for F&B credit could make sense 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.
Interesting to know about the F&B redemption value – thanks! How would this work if you had a staycation at one of their properties. At checkout could you just use your points to offset F&B charges only?
Eaiser to just pay on the spot with your points
pls note that when you pay with points, you will not be eligible for other ongoing promotions such as credit card discounts or seasonal offers, i.e you are paying the full ala carte menu price – no set menu offers.
are there any credit card offers for shangri-la at the moment though?
What i meant was before recommending to buy points perhaps to let readers be aware of the other offers out there (if any) as well as the restrictions on use of points such as GC points are not valid for redemption on promotional items or black out dates such as eve and public holidays. A more holistic analysis would benefit readers.
Does the 30% saving apply to takeaways or festive orders from the F& B outlets?