Mastercard offering instant ONYX Rewards Platinum or Gold status

Mastercard customers enjoy elite status with numerous hotel chains such as GHA DISCOVERY, IPrefer, MyMillennium and Wyndham Rewards. While these aren’t necessarily the biggest or the most well-known loyalty programmes, cardholders can bypass the usual qualification requirements, and some status is better than no status at all. 

Mastercard has now unveiled a new partnership with ONYX Rewards, the loyalty programme for Amari, Shama, OZO, Oriental Residence and The Mosaic Collection.

My guess is that most of those brands, with the possible exception of Amari, are unfamiliar to you. However, the fast-track for Mastercard customers takes you all the way up to Platinum status, the highest elite tier in the programme- and with that comes some potentially useful benefits. 

ONYX Rewards fast-track for Mastercard customers

Offer Details

From 1 November 2024 to 31 December 2025, Mastercard cardholders can enjoy a complimentary fast-track to ONYX Rewards elite status, bypassing the usual qualification requirements. 

• World Elite Mastercard: Prestige
• World Mastercard: Gold
• Platinum & Titanium Mastercard: Sapphire

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
HSBC Premier Mastercard	S$490.50*	Min. AUM S$200K
OCBC Premier World Elite Debit Card	N/A	Min. AUM S$350K
UOB Lady’s Solitaire Metal Card	S$599	Spend S$45K in 3-month period on UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card
*Waived so long as HSBC Premier status maintained (min. AUM: S$200,000)

World Elite Mastercards generally require high incomes or a privilege banking relationship, but even if you don’t qualify, no one should be getting anything less than ONYX Rewards Gold, since World Mastercards are so easy to come by. Even your basic debit and credit cards at the S$30,000 income requirement belong to the World tier, and I can’t remember the last time I saw a Platinum or Titanium Mastercard in Singapore.

How do you register?

1. Create an ONYX Rewards membership account, which can be done via this link.
2. 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 tier one before generating your code!)

3. Send an email to ONYX Rewards using the same email address as your membership, providing your account number, first and last name, and registration code

Upgrades will be processed within 7 working days. 

How long is status valid for?

Once your account is upgraded, status is valid for a 12-month period. 

To retain your status beyond this period, you’ll need to meet the regular requalification criteria, namely:

• Platinum: 10 stays or 40 nights per year
• Gold: 5 stays or 15 nights per year
• Sapphire: 2 stays or 5 nights per year

What perks do members enjoy?

Here’s a summary of the perks enjoyed by the various tiers of ONYX Rewards, including the free-to-join Silver tier.

Gold and Platinum members enjoy early check-in from 12 p.m and late check-out up till 2 p.m, but that’s subject to availability and not much of a perk. 

Both tiers also enjoy a one-category room upgrade, though it’s again subject to availability and explicitly excludes suites at Amari and OZO, Two Bedroom and Three Bedroom Suites at Oriental Residence Bangkok and all room types at Shama Sukhumvit Bangkok.

Platinum members receive club lounge access, though club lounges are only available at five locations: Amari Johor Bahru, Amari SPICE Penang, Club Siraa at Amari Bangkok, Club Napha at Amari Pattaya, and Coral Lounge at Amari Phuket. Club lounge access usually means a complimentary breakfast, which is good because free breakfast isn’t a perk of any ONYX Rewards tier otherwise. 

The benefit that has the most potential to be useful is the 24-hours check-in/check-out, available for Platinum members only. This is basically the Your24 perk offered to Marriott Ambassador Elites, where guests can request a specific check-in time for an upcoming stay, and check-out 24 hours later. 

Requests are subject to approval, but if everything works out, this can save you from having to book an extra hotel night on trips where you arrive and leave at odd timings.

For example, suppose your flight lands at 4 a.m on Saturday, and you’re due to fly out at 2 a.m on Sunday. If you wanted to have a room immediately upon landing and somewhere to stay until departure, you’d have to book two hotel nights (Friday and Saturday). But with this perk, you only need to book one night, and align the times accordingly. 

If the check-in time approved for a Platinum member is between 9 a.m and 2 p.m, you can still request the late check-out benefit accorded to Platinum members.

Where are ONYX Rewards properties located?

ONYX Rewards properties are mostly located in Thailand, but they do have a secondary regional presence as well in Malaysia, and Hong Kong.

What other hotel status do Mastercard customers enjoy?

Mastercard has been busy striking deals with smaller hotel loyalty programmes, and cardholders can enjoy fast-tracks to elite status with eight programmes in total.

Like I said, these aren’t necessarily the largest loyalty chains out there- I know I’d rather have Hilton Gold status than Swiss Belexecutive “Gold Influencer”, whatever that is.

But still, if your travel plans bring you to one of these hotels, then I’m sure you’d rather have some status than none at all.

Conclusion

Mastercard customers can now receive an instant upgrade to ONYX Rewards Platinum, Gold or Sapphire status, bypassing the usual stay requirement.

While this is a relatively niche programme, those who travel frequently to Thailand might find it useful- in particular the 24 hour check-in/check-out benefit offered to Platinum members which can save you from having to book an extra night.