Shangri-La has just rolled out a promotion on purchased points, which is the second such promotion I ever recall seeing from the program. I find this to be interesting on a couple of levels.
In this post:
Buy Shangri-La points for ~8.67 cents each
Between November 30 and December 13, 2020, Shangri-La Golden Circle is offering a 50% bonus on purchased points. Not only that, but the cap on how many points you can purchase has been doubled.
Shangri-La ordinarily charges 13 cents (!!!!) per point, which I think makes Golden Circle points the most expensive travel loyalty program points currency to purchase.
Through this promotion you could purchase a maximum of 30,000 points (including the 50% bonus) for $2,600, which is a cost of ~8.67 cents per Golden Circle point.
A few more things to note if purchasing Golden Circle points:
- Purchased points will be credited within 48 hours
- You can only purchase points 30 days after becoming a Golden Circle member
- Members can ordinarily purchase up to 10,000 points per calendar year, but that limit has temporarily been increased to 20,000 points
- The bonus applies as long as you purchase at least 200 points in a single transaction (pre-bonus)
- Points purchases are processed by points.com, so don’t qualify as a hotel purchase for the purposes of credit card spending
Shangri-La Colombo
Is buying Shangri-La points worth it?
Obviously not all points currencies are created equal, though Shangri-La is in a league of its own by charging ~8.67 cents per point even during a promotion. For context, here are Shangri-La’s normal redemption rates:
As you can see, Shangri-La’s properties range in price from 1,000 to 20,000 points per night for a standard room. At a rate of ~8.67 cents per point, that’s like paying ~$87 per night at Collection A properties, and ~$1,740 per night at Collection G properties.
There are few circumstances under which it will likely make sense to outright buy points for one of Shangri-La’s higher end properties.
However, if you intend to purchase points in order to top off your account for a redemption, it could make sense. In other words, if you have 19,000 points and buying 1,000 points would get you a free night at a top property, that could be worth it.
Shangri-La Paris
Bottom line
Shangri-La Golden Circle is more of a niche loyalty program, so this won’t be of value to everyone.
At a standard rate of 13 cents per purchased point, it will take much more than a 50% bonus for me to bite. The one exception is if you’re trying to top off an account for a redemption, in which case this could make sense.
Anyone considering buying Shangri-La Golden Circle points?
@Lucky, Correct me if I'm wrong,
@arshi007 ,
I think they extend the expiration date to end of 2021.
Also, I totally agree with @blubot, F&B is worth way higher than 10 cents. My parents dine out at local Shangri-La with points regularly .
As of point earning, I'll use Amex gift card that I acquired during the Amex promotion since I have already got enough return when I bought it.
can this be used to extend the expiration on existing points, i have some points expiring end of Dec and wondering if purchasing 200 points will extend them
it can be very well worth it if you pay for your F&B using shangrila points. last week I was in Hong Kong and spend 1000points for 1000HKD worth of F&B. so using this conversion 1point is worth about 0.13usd.
but only for F&B including their bakery and giftshop. don't use points to redeem roomnights.