Mastercard offering instant I Prefer Titanium hotel elite status

You might not have heard of The Preferred Hotels Group, but it has more than 600 hotels and resorts over 80 countries, including familiar names like The Fullerton Hotel, The Fullerton Bay Hotel, Artyzen Singapore and Royal Plaza on Scotts.

The group’s loyalty programme is called I Prefer, and Mastercard cardholders can enjoy an instant upgrade up to Titanium, the highest published tier in the programme. World Elite Mastercard cardholders will also enjoy an extra 25,000 bonus points after their first stay, enough for a free night at hotels like The Landmark Bangkok, One World Kuala Lumpur, or Sapporo Excel Hotel Tokyu. 

This offer was originally set to lapse on 30 June 2024, but has now been renewed for a further year.

I Prefer fast-track for Mastercard customers

I Prefer Offer

From now till 30 June 2025, anyone with a Mastercard issued in Asia Pacific can enjoy an instant fast-track to I Prefer elite status, bypassing the usual qualification requirements. 

Really, the only I Prefer tier you should be looking at is Titanium, since there’s no reason why anyone in Singapore should be holding anything less than a World Mastercard. Even your basic debit cards, and credit cards with a S$30,000 income requirement belong to the World tier.

The question then is whether you have a World Elite Mastercard, which gets you an extra 25,000 points after completing your first booking made on iprefer.com, preferredhotels.com or the I Prefer app. I Prefer reward nights start from 15,000 points, or you can redeem them for cash certificates at a value of 1 point = 0.2 US cents (so 25,000 points would be US$50).

As a reminder, the following Mastercards belong to the World Elite tier.

Card	Annual Fee	Qualification Req.
Citi Prestige	S$545	Income ≥ S$120K
Citi Private Client Debit Card	N/A	Min. AUM S$1.5M
Citi ULTIMA	S$4,238	Income ≥ 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

How do you register?

1. Visit the Mastercard Redemption Portal and look for the I Prefer banner. 

2. Click on ‘use now’ to register and create your account.

While other Mastercard status matches for Brilliant by Langham and CentaraThe1 require generating a unique redemption code that is then verified by customer service, the I Prefer match is much simpler. All it does is redirect you to an enrolment page with the relevant code already filled. 

I’m going to let you draw your own conclusions on that, suffice to say the registration links are below and whatever you do, please absolutely, certainly, definitely do not use the wrong link!!!!

• World Elite Mastercard
• World Mastercard

How long is status valid for?

Once your account is upgraded, status is valid for a 12-month period (unlike other hotel programmes, I Prefer tracks status by membership year rather than calendar year).

Status is valid for 12 months, and to retain your status beyond that period, you’ll need to requalify according to I Prefer’s usual requirements:

• Titanium: Spend US$5,000 in a 12-month period
• Gold: Spend US$2,500 in a 12-month period

What perks do members enjoy?

Here’s a summary of the perks enjoy by the various tiers of I Prefer membership.

To be frank, the perks aren’t great. Titanium members do enjoy early check-in, late check-out, and enhanced room upgrades, but then again it’s subject to availability, and so do all Silver and Gold members too (all Titanium does I imagine is put you at the front of the queue).

There’s no complimentary breakfast nor lounge access, and in any case I Prefer is not so much a chain as it is a marketing alliance. Consequently, there isn’t a lot of consistency or enforcement of I Prefer elite benefits. 

In my experiences so far (at the Fullerton Hotel Sydney, Hotel Munchen Palace and Hotel Maximilian) I got nothing more than a drinks voucher- no upgrades, no late check-out, no welcome amenity. The check-in staff seemed altogether unfamiliar with the programme. Perhaps things have changed in the years since, but I don’t have the best impression based on my stays. 

According to the I Prefer terms and conditions, you’ll need to book through the following channels to enjoy points and benefits: 

• IPrefer.com, PreferredHotels.com, PreferredGolf.com, StayBeyondGreen.com
• Preferred Hotel Group call centers
• Travel agent bookings (other than online travel agents including, but not limited to Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia, and Hotels.com)
• Hotel website
• Hotel direct bookings, e.g. phone bookings

However, I’ve been told by hotels that you need to book through I Prefer to receive benefits, so there seems to be some inconsistency there. 

Conclusion

Mastercard cardholders can now enjoy an instant match to I Prefer Titanium status, the highest published tier in the programme. If you hold a World Elite Mastercard, an extra 25,000 points are yours after completing your first stay.

If nothing else, it means some extra dining credits on your next stay, as well as a shot at a room upgrade or late check-out. You have until 30 June 2025 to register and status is valid for 12 months, so time your registration accordingly.