GrabRewards Flash Sale: 35% pointsback on STAR$, gift cards and more

From now till 9 August 2021 (or while stocks last), Grab is running a 35% pointsback promo for selected items in the GrabRewards catalogue, including FairPrice Online vouchers, Lazada gift cards and CapitaStar STAR$. 

This sale can be accessed through the rewards section of the Grab app.

Get 35% pointsback on redemptions

GrabRewards users who redeem the following rewards up till 9 August 2021 will receive a 35% points rebate.

Note that this is a rebate, not a discount– you can’t redeem a 2,500 points voucher if you have 2,000 points, for example, notwithstanding the fact the nett cost of the voucher is actually 1,625 points (75% of 2,500). The 35% pointsback is credited instantly to your GrabRewards balance with no action required from you. 

Limited redemptions are available for each of these rewards; the cap can be found under the individual item’s T&Cs (for STAR$, it’s 10 sets per customer, other rewards 20 sets). Do note that validity also differs by reward. 

Since all the other rewards are merchant-specific, I typically redeem STAR$ during these flash sales for greater flexibility. 5,000 STAR$ is equal to a S$5 eCapitaVoucher, but remember, PAssion Card members can redeem a S$5 eCapitaVoucher for 4,500 STAR$ instead of the usual 5,000. A total of 10,000 such discounted vouchers can be redeemed per month, capped at two per CapitaStars member.

How are GrabRewards points awarded?

Back in March 2021, Grab changed the GrabRewards earning structure to further reward users who spent with the GrabPay wallet, as opposed to a credit or debit card. This is basically meant to entice you to maintain a GrabPay wallet balance. 

GrabPay wallet balances can now be cashed out to a bank account, provided the balance wasn’t topped up via a credit card. Believe it or not, there’s still a handful of cards out there offering rewards for GrabPay top-ups:

💳 Cards for GrabPay Top-Ups
Card	Earn Rate	Remarks
AMEX SIA Business Card Apply	6.8 mpd	Until 30 Sep and capped at S$1K (registration required). 1.8 mpd otherwise
AMEX True Cashback Card Apply	1.5% cashback	No cap
CIMB World Mastercard Apply	1.5% cashback	Until 1 Sept
OCBC Premier Visa Infinite Apply	1.2 mpd	From 1 Aug to 30 Sep, min. S$1K max. S$20K per month
OCBC VOYAGE (all versions) Apply	0.5 mpd
UOB Absolute Cashback Card Apply	1.7% cashback	No cap

Conclusion

A 35% pointsback sale matches the ones we saw in May and June, so now seems to be as good a time as any to cash out. Grab periodically replenishes items in its flash sale catalogue, so if you see that a particular item has sold out, it’s always worth checking back slightly later. 

1 GrabRewards point is normally worth 0.2 cents, but with the 35% pointsback you’re effectively getting 0.31 cents per point with these rewards.