Mastercard cardholders enjoy some excellent generic card perks, including elite status with numerous hotel programmes such as CentaraThe1, GHA DISCOVERY, IPrefer, Swiss-Belexecutive and Wyndham Rewards.
While these aren’t necessarily the most well-known loyalty programmes, free status is free status, and if you’re staying at these hotel chains anyway, you might as well enjoy it.
There’s one more programme which I neglected to write about previously: Brilliant by Langham. This is a replacement for the former 1865 Privilege and Langham Supper Club programmes, and adds the ability to earn points directly with the group for the first time.
Mastercard cardholders can now enjoy an instant upgrade up to Ruby status, the highest elite tier in the programme.
Brilliant by Langham fast-track for Mastercard customers
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| Offer Details |
From now till 28 February 2025, Mastercard cardholders can enjoy a complimentary fast-track to Brilliant by Langham elite status, bypassing the usual qualification requirements.
- World Elite Mastercard: Ruby
- World Mastercard: Sapphire
- Platinum, Titanium, Standard & Gold Mastercard: Diamond
It’s understandable if you’re confused by the naming convention, especially since Sapphire outranks Ruby in the oneworld status hierarchy, and Diamond is generally considered to be the highest tier for programmes everywhere! But with Langham, the pecking order (from top to bottom) is Ruby > Sapphire > Diamond > Topaz > Onyx.
As a reminder, the following Mastercards belong to the World Elite tier.
| Card | Annual Fee | Qualification Req. |
 Citi Prestige |
S$545 | Income โฅ S$120K |
 Citi Private Client Debit Card |
N/A | Min. AUM S$1.5M |
 Citi ULTIMA |
S$4,238 | Income โฅ S$500K |
 DCS Imperium |
S$3,584 | Unknown |
 OCBC Premier World Elite Debit Card |
N/A | Min. AUM S$200K |
 UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card |
S$599 | Spend S$45K in 3-month period on UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card |
These generally require high incomes or a privilege banking relationship, but even if you don’t qualify, no one should be getting anything less than Diamond, since World Mastercards are so easy to come by. Even your basic debit cards and credit cards at the S$30,000 income mark belong to the World tier. I can’t remember the last time I saw a Platinum or Gold Mastercard in Singapore.
How do you register?
- Create a Brilliant by Langham membership account, which can be done via this link.
- Login to the Mastercard Redemption Portal to obtain your registration code. This can be found on the home page after logging in. Click on the Get Code button to generate your unique registration code (if you have multiple Mastercards linked to the redemption portal, be sure to select the highest tiered one before generating your code!)
3. Send an email to Brilliant by Langham using the same email address as your membership, providing your account number, first and last name, and registration code
Upgrades will be processed within 15 working days.
How long is status valid for?
Once your account is upgraded, status is valid for a 12-month period (unlike other hotel programmes, Brilliant by Langham tracks status by membership year rather than calendar year).
To retain your status beyond this period, you’ll need to meet the regular requalification criteria, namely:
- Ruby: 720,000 status points (equivalent to US$24,000 spending)
- Sapphire: 360,000 status points (equivalent to US$12,000 spending)
- Diamond: 108,000 status points (equivalent to US$3,600 spending)
That’s an awful lot of spending with a relatively niche programme, and I doubt many Mastercard cardholders will see value in extending their status beyond the free look period.
What perks do members enjoy?
Here’s a summary of the perks enjoyed by the various tiers of Brilliant by Langham membership.
Given the relatively small footprint of Langham, you’d think that the elite benefits would need to be great in order to compensate.
Unfortunately, they feel rather underwhelming. Even at the highest Ruby tier, there’s no free breakfast, and room upgrades require the use of a voucher, implying limits. The website itself seems confused about elite perks too, describing the 4 p.m late check-out benefit as “guaranteed” in some places, and “subject to availability” in others (I’ll side with the T&Cs here, which list the perk as guaranteed, except at Cordis Dongqian Lake-Ningbo, The Langham, Gold Coast and The Langham Huntington Pasadena, Los Angeles).
In any case, most Langham hotels would be available through programmes like American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts and Virtuoso, which would offer even better benefits such as complimentary breakfast and a US$100 hotel credit.
Langham might have been better off joining a programme like GHA DISCOVERY instead of trying to run their own programme, which doesn’t feel like it’ll drive a lot of incremental loyalty.
Where are Langham hotels?
The Langham Hospitality Group has more than 30 properties across four continents, though the bulk of its footprint is located in China. Outposts are also available in London, Jakarta, Melbourne, Sydney, Chicago, New York and Boston.
In addition to Langham Hotels, Cordis Hotels and the Chelsea Hotel Toronto also fall under the Brilliant by Langham umbrella.
Conclusion
Mastercard cardholders can now receive an instant upgrade all the way to top-tier Ruby status in the Brilliant by Langham loyalty programme, bypassing the usual spending requirement.
Some status is better than none, but I’m struggling to see the appeal of the programme in general. If you were going to stay at a Langham in the first place, you might as well book it through a luxury privileges programme like Virtuoso which guarantees better benefits without the need for status.
Well, maybe those invitations to member-exclusive experiences will be worth something…
Anyone has experience with Langham hotels?
Kind of ironic that the Langham brand began with the London property, but the HQ of the group is now in HK. Given the situation in and around HK, it’s been no surprise that the Langham group is now focusing heavily on China properties. I’d fully agree that there’s no attractiveness in the Brillant program to maintain any elite status. The HK Cordis property (formerly Langham Place Hotel) has also become quite worn at the edges after almost 20 years. Stayed there last year for the first time since Covid and had sneezing fits nonstop in the room, which went… Read more »
Agree. 15 years ago Langham Place at Mongkok was my go to hotel. Loved the location and facilities. The rooms were great at that time. My last time in 2019 it was worn out and really needed a refurbishment. The AC was stale too. Stop visiting after that.
It has become even worse after 2019. Ming Court used to be a pretty good balance between price and quality of food. Last year when I went, one of their signature dishes (pan fried cod fish stuffed with prawn) had seen a reduction in size by half (but same price as before) and it was served with mash potato. First time ever seeing a Cantonese Michelin starred restaurant serve mash potato. Quality of all the dishes was at best the same as what you can find in a Crystal Jade Express. Some were worse than zichar stalls. Had another dish… Read more »
Usually FHR/Virtuoso and of course, Langham Couture (their own internal counterpart to FHR/Virtuoso, bookable through travel agents only) are the best way to book. But it’s important to check the hotel’s site for interesting special offers. I booked 3 nights at Langham NYC for next month, and they had a special offer that included Club access, a discount, and guaranteed 1pm checkout starting from Junior Suite level. This was outstanding value because Club access is usually only included from much more expensive room categories and completely negates the need for breakfast or hotel credits. And children are allowed into the… Read more »