Ascott Star Rewards offering easy status match for hotels, airlines and credit cards

Ascott Star Rewards (ASR) is the loyalty programme of The Ascott Limited, which operates numerous serviced residence brands including Ascott, Citadines, lyf, Oakwood, Somerset, and The Crest Collection.

ASR elite members enjoy benefits such as complimentary breakfast, room upgrades or late check-out. 

Qualifying for ASR elite status normally requires a minimum spend of S$1,000 to S$10,000 over a 12-month period, but Ascott is pretty desperate for the programme to gain traction. To that end, it offers one of the most generous status match policies in the industry, extending matches not only to other hotel loyalty programmes, but also to airlines and credit cards.

Ascott Star Rewards status match programme

ASR Status Match

If you have elite status with an airline or hotel loyalty programme, or hold certain credit cards, you may be eligible for an instant status match to ASR Silver, Gold or Platinum status.

Status match requests can be submitted here, and take up to 10 business days to process.

Status granted through this programme will be valid for 12 consecutive months. During this period, members will need to meet the respective tier’s minimum spend in order to retain their status for a further 12 months.

• ASR Silver: S$1,000
• ASR Gold: S$3,000
• ASR Platinum: S$10,000

Here’s a list of the programmes that will be matched.

Airlines

	Silver	Gold	Platinum
ANA	Bronze	Platinum	Diamond
Asiana	Gold	Diamond Diamond Plus	Platinum
Cathay	Silver	Gold	Diamond
Emirates	Silver	Gold	Platinum
EVA Air	Silver	Gold	Diamond
Hainan	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Lufthansa	Frequent Traveller	Senator	Hon Circle
Qantas	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Qatar	Silver  Gold	Platinum
Singapore Airlines	Silver	Gold	PPS Club Solitaire PPS Club
THAI	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Virgin Australia	Silver Gold	Platinum

Do note that Qatar Privilege Club Platinum and Virgin Australia Velocity Platinum only match to ASR Gold. Neither is particularly easy to attain, so that’s an interesting decision, to say the least.

Hotels

	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Accor	Silver	Gold	Platinum
Atour	Gold	Platinum	Black Gold
Choice	Gold Platinum	Diamond
Far East Hospitality	Standard	Premier	Elite
GHA		Platinum	Titanium Red
Hilton	Silver	Gold	Diamond
Huazhu	Rose Gold	Gold	Platinum
Hyatt	Discoverist	Explorist	Globalist
IHG	Gold	Platinum	Diamond
Marriott	Silver	Gold Platinum	Titanium Ambassador
Radisson	Premium	VIP
Shangri-La		Jade	Diamond Polaris
Wyndham	Gold	Platinum	Diamond
If you are submitting a match from another hotel loyalty programme, you must also submit a proof of a stay within the last 18 months with that particular programme.

Do note that Marriott Platinum only maps to ASR Gold. Assuming that’s a deliberate decision, and not a typo, it says a lot about how far Marriott Platinum has fallen!

Credit cards

Credit Cards	ASR Tier
AMEX Centurion AMEX Platinum Charge OCBC VOYAGE UOB Visa Infinite Metal Card UOB Privilege Banking Visa Infinite UOB Lady’s Solitaire Card UOB Reserve	ASR Platinum
AMEX Platinum Reserve AMEX Platinum Credit Cards	ASR Gold
All OCBC cards All UOB cards	ASR Silver

Don’t see your status listed?

If you don’t see your airline or hotel status listed on the status match dropdown, that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck.

The ASR status match form has an “Other” field, a handy catch-all for those who want to try their luck with matching an unlisted programme (perhaps cruise or rental car status?). 

Obviously, the match is still at Ascott’s discretion, but given how wide a net they’re casting, I’d fancy your chances. 

What benefits does ASR offer?

ASR has four tiers of membership:

• Classic: Earns 10 points per S$1 (2.5% rebate)
• Silver: Earns 12 points per S$1 (3% rebate)
• Gold: Earns 14 points per S$1 (3.5% rebate)
• Platinum: Earns 16 points per S$1 (4% rebate)

However, the benefits of Silver status are negligible, and it’s only the Gold and Platinum tiers which offer any real benefits. 

	Gold	Platinum
Enhanced Wi-Fi	✅	✅
Late Check-Out (Subject to Availability)	✅ 2 p.m	✅ 3 p.m
Complimentary Preview Stay (By Invite)	✅	✅
Full 24-Hour Stay		✅
Free Breakfast		✅ China, Europe, Japan
Free Airport Transfer in Middle East		✅ Min. 5 night stay

The best perks are, of course, reserved for the Platinum tier, with complimentary breakfast in China, Europe and Japan (note that Japan only offers this for one guest).

Platinum members also can request for a full 24-hour stay, though it’s subject to availability and the terms are very restrictive. Check-in must take place between 9 a.m and 3 p.m on the day of arrival, which means that you can’t use this benefit if you’re arriving and departing on a late night flight. Moreover, the benefit is not available in China, Europe, India, South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Citadines Connect City Centre — that’s a lot of exclusions!

Room upgrades and late check-out are subject to availability, so you may or may not be able to enjoy it.

Platinum members have a higher chance of being invited for complimentary preview stays at soon-to-open properties, or to ASR Local Signatures and Ascott Privilege Signatures, which include events with Chelsea Football Club, Singapore F1 Grand Prix and Wimbledon.

The full list of ASR-participating properties can be found here.

How do ASR points work?

ASR points have a fixed value (like Accor Live Limitless), so there’s no opportunity for outsized value on redemptions. When rates are higher, you need more points. When rates are lower, you need fewer points.

ASR points can be used to pay for stays at a fixed rate of 1 ASR point = 0.25¢. Members can apply points during checkout to reduce the total cost of a stay, and use cash to pay for the balance.

ASR points can also be converted into CapitaStar STAR$ at a rate of 10,000 ASR points = 25,000 STAR$. As 5,000 STAR$ = S$5 eCapitaVoucher, this is basically value-neutral. 

Alternatively, you can use ASR points to purchase Priority Pass lounge passes, though the value is very poor. If lounge access is what you want, then it’s a much better idea to apply for a credit card which offers this perk for free. 

ASR points have a hard expiry of 24 months, regardless of account activity. 

Conclusion

Ascott Star Rewards will match a wide range of competitor programmes all the way up to Platinum, its highest tier. Platinum members receive complimentary breakfast in China, Europe and Japan, so that’s a pretty solid benefit to have.

But the matched status is only valid for 12 months. Whether it’s worth requalifying for a further year really depends on your stay patterns. If you normally stay at hotels rather than serviced apartments, it’s going to be tricky to rack up the S$10,000 required to maintain Platinum, or even the S$3,000 required to maintain Gold.

In that case, you might be better off creating a throwaway ASR account and matching status from another programme — assuming you have it — the next time you find yourself staying at an Ascott property.