If you’re a DISCOVERY Loyalty member, you might want to login to your account or check your email/spam folder and see if GHA has deposited a nice little present to start off the year.
Selected DISCOVERY members are reporting receiving up to D$100, as well as an extension of elite status till December 2023.
GHA DISCOVERY giving elite members up to D$100
GHA is giving targeted Platinum and Titanium members D$50 and D$100 respectively, which is equivalent to US$50 and US$100.
| ⚠️ Take Note |
| If you’re one of the lucky few to receive this, you’ll get an email; the D$ have yet to be credited. But you’ll need to click the “claim your D$50/100” button in the email, it’s not automatic! |
As a reminder, GHA recently replaced the previous Local Experiences rewards scheme with D$, which is basically a cash rebates programme. Members receive a certain % of their stay expenses back as D$, which can be redeemed towards future stays at a D$1=US$1 ratio (min. redemption of D$10 applies).
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Titanium | |
| Earn D$ | 4% | 5% | 6% | 7% |
| D$ Validity | 6 mo. | 18 mo. | 24 mo. | 24 mo. |
| D$ will only be earned on eligible rates, which typically means a booking through the hotel’s official website or the DISCOVERY portal. | ||||
| Eligible Spend to Earn/Redeem D$ | |
Room and add-ons:
| Food and Beverage at eligible outlets:
Other non-room spend at eligible outlets:
|
Here’s two things to remember about earning and redeeming D$:
- D$ can only be earned and redeemed during stays. You will not be able to earn or redeem D$ if you’re visiting a restaurant or the spa as an outside guest
- D$ cannot be redeemed on the DISCOVERY website. This means you can only use them for rates that are paid at time of check-out
GHA caveats that both these functionalities are “coming soon”.
Status extension till December 2023
⚠️ Update: GHA has confirmed that the extension was made in error, and that they are not offering additional complimentary extensions at this time. Statement from a spokesperson as follows: With the launch of our new GHA DISCOVERY programme in December 2021, which coincided with the extension of memberships, including elite tier status, until December 2022, there was a technical error that resulted in a small subset of our members receiving an additional extension to December 2023. This was quickly identified and rectified, and all members will now see a December 2022 expiry (unless they have requalified already in 2022). GHA DISCOVERY members will have the ability to requalify and extend their elite status more easily in the new programme thanks to additional tier qualification criteria, which include number of nights, spend on eligible purchases, or stays in multiple hotel brands. |
In addition to the free D$, selected DISCOVERY members have received an extension of their elite status validity all the way till December 2023. There doesn’t seem to be an email regarding this, but if you check your membership card on the app or in your web browser, you might see a new expiry date of 12/23.
When the new DISCOVERY programme was unveiled, GHA announced that existing Platinum and Black (now called Titanium) members would have their status extended till December 2022, so this represents a further year of validity.
As a reminder, here’s the benefits that DISCOVERY elites can look forward to…
| Silver | Gold | Platinum | Titanium | |
| Earn D$ | 4% | 5% | 6% | 7% |
| D$ Validity | 6 mo. | 18 mo. | 24 mo. | 24 mo. |
| Room Upgrade | – | – | Single | Double |
| Early Check-in | – | – | – | From 11 a.m |
| Late Check-out | – | – | Till 3 p.m | Till 4 p.m |
| Welcome Amenity | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| Share Status | – | – | – | Yes |
…and here’s what it normally takes to requalify for each tier.
| Tier | Nights | Brands | Spend |
| Silver | – | – | – |
| Gold | 2 stays | – | US$1,000 |
| Platinum | 10 nights | 2 brands | US$5,000 |
| Titanium | 30 nights | 3 brands | US$15,000 |
GHA’s new DISCOVERY programme
Last month, GHA revealed the biggest shakeup to its DISCOVERY Loyalty programme since its inception in 2010. There’s revised benefits and tiers, new elite qualification criteria and a completely revamped rewards scheme.
For the full details on what’s changed, refer to my article below.
I also had an opportunity to do a Q&A with GHA’s CEO to understand the rationale behind the changes, and put forward some concerns members had.
Conclusion
GHA is kicking off 2022 with a very nice surprise indeed, basically US$100 of free money for lucky members. That can be used to defray the cost of an upcoming staycation, or an overseas trip (remember, you can only burn D$ when you’re staying at the hotel).
Assuming you received the status extension, you won’t need to worry about renewing your status until the 1 January to 31 December 2023 period, which is nice as well.
Did you receive GHA’s new year surprise?
As Platinum, Got the D$50 e-mail, but no extension to 12/23 …
same here. Platinum, $50 email but no expiry. But ok la, is reasonable considering it was a free status.
I got D$100 (tho not credited yet) but no extension til 12/23..
Platinum extended to 31 Dec 2023, but no credits …. 8-).
Got the D$50 e-mail, but no extension.
There’s a promo for the business traveller, getting 1y membership with GHA platinum status for 16.5 GBP https://www.businesstraveller.com/btd45pc/
Titanium here. Got extended to Dec 2023.
Received the email that I will get D$100 but when I check my account on 5 Jan, it’s not credited yet.
Apparently status extension to 2023 were only given to those with stays at GHA properties in 2021.
I had a few stays but didn’t get an extension…
Same. I stayed with all 4 brands and got nothing.
I stayed 11 nights and got nothing sadly
I am Titanium (prior Black) for 4 years now, but no stays in 2021. I got no $D and no extension email.
Thanks Aaron for sharing. It was in my junk mail and it is required to click claim to receive it (not sure why, since no 1 will say no to free credits). I would have missed it if you didn’t share.
Titanium here, got the extension but no D$100