If you’re looking to do a staycation at the Capitol Kempinski or Capella Singapore but don’t have any status with GHA, there may still be a way to snag some additional benefits.
As per Loyalty Lobby, Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) is offering a free Leaders Club membership for a limited time, which normally costs US$175. This comes with benefits like free breakfast and a room upgrade at almost 400 properties worldwide.
Free LHW Leaders Club membership
LHW has two membership tiers: Club, and Sterling. As mentioned, there’s usually a US$175 annual fee, which is being waived for the moment. You don’t need to provide any credit card details, as the membership will automatically lapse a year after registration.
Here’s a rundown of the key benefits of each tier:
| Club | Sterling | |
| Qualification | Pay US$175 fee | Pay US$175 fee & spend ≥US$5K per year |
| Free breakfast | ✅ | ✅ |
| Free Wi-Fi | ✅ | ✅ |
| Early check-in | Based on avail. | Based on avail. |
| Late check-out | ||
| On arrival upgrade | ||
| Pre-upgrades | 1 per year* | 5 per year |
| *Will be unlocked in Year 1 after first paid stay | ||
You’ll notice that there are two types of upgrades: on arrival, and pre-upgrades. The former are self-explanatory; the hotel will endeavor to provide a one-category upgrade at the time of arrival, based on availability.
The latter are guaranteed one-category upgrades that can be confirmed before arrival. In the first year of membership, you receive one pre-upgrade award after your first paid stay. In other words, a newly-minted LHW Club member who joins via the current promotion will only be able to rely on the on arrival upgrade, but hey, some shot at an upgrade is better than none at all.
What is guaranteed is a daily continental breakfast for two. Now, continental breakfast usually conjures images of stale pastries and weak coffee, but the good news is that the Capella Singapore will offer you the same breakfast menu as any paying guest. Capitol Kempinski offers a more “traditional” continental breakfast, with cereal, muesli, yoghurt and pastries.
As and when travel does resume, you can look forward to LHW benefits at the Capella hotels in Bangkok and Ubud, The Reverie in Ho Chi Minh, the Palace Hotel in Tokyo and many more.
Do note that you’ll need to make your bookings via the LHW website if you want to enjoy LHW benefits, which means you won’t be able to earn local experiences for GHA Black members. But if you were a GHA Black member, you’d be better off enjoying your benefits by booking direct or via the Discovery website anyway. The good news is that most of the rates available on the hotel’s website are also available via LHW.
Conclusion
If you’re a GHA Black member, you’ll no doubt want to continue using those benefits as they’re superior to what you get as a LHW Club member. But for those without status, this at least gives you a shot at a room upgrade, plus free breakfast.
For those who don’t have upcoming stays just yet, you might be thinking about delaying your sign up so as to maximize the 1-year validity period. However, I don’t know when this offer ends, so delaying is at your own risk.
Would LHW breakfast stack with GHA benefits? I think GHA doesn’t offer free breakfasts?
I doubt the benefits will stack as these are two different loyalty programs.
https://loyaltylobby.com/2021/04/14/whine-wednesdays-useless-lhw-membership-benefits-as-rate-is-double-compared-to-hotels-own-offer/?fbclid=IwAR3WByRwoIHqJ-haE54qUkk7RwIO9vVDGoYX8B2p-v7hQeWmLDWGDttykJ4
fortunately that’s not the case in SG. capitol prices are the same whether you search on official website or via LHW. the main diff is that direct site has a further 10% saving for discovery members, so you’ll need to decide if that 10% saving is worth forgoing upgrade and bf.
thanks for the check/confirmation 🙂
Unable to register as I’m already a LHW member.