Author: Shane

Covid-19: Airlines and hotels extend elite status for select members

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Several airlines frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programmes have announced membership extensions for affected members. Here are the details. LAST UPDATED: 29 April 2020 With Covid-19 entering now heading into its fifth month soon and seeing no signs of easing, global travel has taken a severe beating. Airlines have made drastic cuts to their capacity, while hotels are reporting all-time low occupancy rates. Moreover, China now makes up one of the most significant group of members that any airline or hotel will want, so I will imagine any loyalty programme manager will want to ensure that this group returns to the fold once the crisis is over. Several programmes have announced expiry extensions for their elite members, almost most of them are targeted at members in Greater China. See below for details. Frequent flyer programmes:Singapore AirlinesCathay PacificQantas Frequent Flyer Hotel loyalty programmes:Marriott Bonvoy (Updated)Hilton HonorsWorld of HyattIHG Rewards ClubAccor Live LimitlessGlobal Hotel Alliance DISCOVERY (New) Singapore Airlines [Updated] Singapore Airlines have announced a one-year extension for all KrisFlyer Elite Silver, Elite Gold, PPS Club and …

Singapore Airlines full schedule for April 2020

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Only 306 flights operating this month. Singapore Airlines have published their schedule for the month of April, with its previously announced ‘greatly reduced’ capacity. In this month, Singapore Airlines will only take off slightly over 300 times – and that includes a single weekly Silkair service to Chongqing. In this month alone, SIA will only operate to 15 cities in 13 countries, including Los Angeles, Shanghai, Sydney, London, Zurich, Frankfurt and a handful of Southeast Asia capitals. Full schedule below: Southeast Asia North Asia Australia Europe USA Southeast Asia – 123 flights Sector Flight no. Days operating Dep Arr Duration Aircraft Singapore – Kuala Lumpur SQ104 Mon, Wed, Fri 0830 0930 1h A350-900 Kuala Lumpur – Singapore SQ105 Mon, Wed, Fri 1025 1135 1h 10m A350-900 Singapore – Bangkok SQ976 Mon, Fri, Sun 1600 1725 2h 25m B787-10 Bangkok – Singapore SQ979 Mon, Fri, Sun 1830 2155 2h 25m B787-10 Singapore – Jakarta SQ966 Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun 1830 1920 1h 50m A350-900 Jakarta – Singapore SQ967 Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun 2015 2305 …

Get 40,000 miles when you sign up for Standard Chartered Bank X Card

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No minimum spend required, but you will need to fork out $695.50 for the annual fee (1.7 cents per mile) SingSaver is currently running a sign-up promotion for SCB’s X Card, offering 40,000 miles as a sign-up gift if you pay the $695.50 annual fee, up from the usual 30,000 miles. This offer effectively lowers the 2.3 cents per mile you would normal pay for to 1.74 cents per mile. How to apply The promotion mechanics are pretty straightforward: simply apply through SingSaver’s website. The bonus miles will be credited to your account directly, there is no need to fill up a separate redemption form. The 40,000 miles will be transferred in the form of 100,000 360° Rewards Points that you can use on 11 different partners (see below). Note that the annual fee is $695.50 cannot be waived. An overview of the card: Income requirement: S$80,000 p.a. (or $30,000 p.a. for Priority Banking customers) Annual fee: S$695.50 for principal cardmembers, S$107 for supplementary cards Annual fee gift: 30,000 miles (in the form of 75,000 reward points) Earn …

Mandarin Orchard to be rebranded as Hilton Orchard Singapore

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Property set to be the largest Hilton in Asia Pacific region OUE Limited and OUE Commercial Reit (OUE C-Reit), owners of Mandarin Orchard Singapore, has announced that it will be rebranding the property into Hilton Singapore Orchard. Located in the heart of Orchard Road right across from Ngee Ann City, Hilton Singapore Orchard will be Hilton’s flagship in Singapore and the largest Hilton hotel in Asia-Pacific. The refurbishment was originally planned for later, but OUE has brought it forward to commence in Q2 this year, given the challenging climate due to Covid-19. The works are scheduled to complete by end 2021, for a 2022 opening. When completed, the hotel will boast of 1,080 rooms, three ballrooms and five restaurants, one of the largest non-IR properties in Singapore. In the meantime, the hotel will still continue to operate under the Mandarin Orchard brand, managed by Meritus Hotels & Resorts. Final thoughts This is definitely very exciting news for Hilton, given that the group has not put out any new properties in Singapore despite growing its footprint …

Hilton Honors offers 1-year extension for all members with status in 2019, 2020

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All statuses extended by a year. Hilton Honors has finally announced its Covid-19 provisions for its loyalty members, with what is possibly one of the most generous extensions across any hotel chains. Extensions for members with status in 2019 Hilton will be giving a one-year extension for members who had status through the whole of 2019 and were scheduled to be downgraded this month. They will instead hold on to their 2019 status for another year, up to March 2021. This refers to the group of members who earned their status through stays in 2018, and enjoyed them in 2019. If this group of members didn’t requalify for their status in 2019, they would have been downgraded this month (i.e. March 2020). Extensions for members with status in 2020 For members who have qualified for an elite status for the entire year of 2020 through stays in 2019, their status will be extended through March 2022, a year longer than it usually is. Similar to Qantas’ policy, the extension of the status doesn’t mean that …