RG1X

Thanks for the info. I've decided to go through Amex travel anyway so as to use up mine and my wife's £200 off £600 offers.

There are some tempting Fine Hotels options in there too.

Giovan

I find the Golden Circle by Shangri-La Hotels to be the best loyalty program in the market for its flexibility in earn and redemption options. I believe it has the highest earn rate at 10% return on spending. You can earn and redeem at any bar, bakery, and restaurant at any Shangri-La branded property worldwide even when not staying at the hotel. For those who already have their Golden Circle membership card, (can be requested after your 1st stay) you can easily earn points or redeem points to pay your bill with just a swipe of your card, it's basically a debit card. I usually keep around 400 USD worth of points (4,000 GC points) in my account in anticipation of the reward redemption sales (discount on required amount of points to redeem free nights, anywhere from 25-50% off), which occurs at least 2 times a year.

Golden Circle's generous annual birthday benefit entitles you to earn triple (3x) points on your first dining transaction upon recieving the e-mail offer, which is usually sent one (1) week prior to your registered birthday with a minimum one month validity (i.e. birthday on January 3, the b-day benefit expires at end of February). You have to be careful and plan your use since you cannot choose which transaction gets the points multipler, it's a single transaction benefit, you could easily end up earning triple points for a 5 USD cup of coffee at the lobby instead of your 200 plus dollars meal at the restaurant of your choice. It's best not use your GC card within a week before your birthday to avoid complications, note that dining charges to your room doesn't count, so your safe in that situation. Triple points is equivalent to 30% return in points: 100 USD spend (amount excluding tax and service charge) earns 100 base points x 3 = 300 GC points, equivalent to 30 USD in FnB credit (no tax and service charge for GC redemptions). The obvious and best strategy would be to dine in a large party.

The Golden Circle program is an advantage to those members who live in a city with a Shangri-La branded property, as the potential to earn and redeem is more convenient. I happen to live in a city with 4 Shangri-La properties, so it's especially rewarding in my case. I honestly think the Golden Circle program is a dining loyalty card with a hotel loyalty program attached.

I only redeem for hotel stays at 1,000 to 2,000 GC per night properties since the points diminish value with higher priced redemptions. Shangri-La at Shard, London for example requires 20,000 GC points (2,000 USD worth of FnB credits) for a sub 1,000 USD per night hotel, which cuts the value of your GC points by more than half.

Overall, Golden Circle is worth maintaining. The only hotel loyalty program that awards their mid-tier (Golden Circle: Jade) status members with complimentary buffet breakfast for 2 daily for just 10 stays or 20 nights. Breakfast at Shangri-La hotels tend to be the best in their locale.

Note that redemption nights and stays count towards your status.

helvetic

Technically, with Starriott these days Platinum is a mid-tier status. (it's the 3rd level out of 5), and does kind of offer breakfast.

Just nitpicking, though, of course

Concerto

That's all very well, Giovan​, but they don't have much in the way of hotels in Europe which is a problem for me. It's ok if you're bumbling around the Middle East or Asia. I suppose having status would stop points expiry, but I'm not likely to achieve that. It's a shame, because I largely agree with your assessment. But it's mostly useless for me.

Giovan

Hello, Concerto, I agree with you, I live in Asia and I still find their locations quite limited. Since I'm not a corporate traveller, mainly for leisure, the return value on my own dime is where I see the benefit. Shangri-La's limited locations outside of China hampers its usability and their upcoming properties don't expand beyond Asia-Pacific.

Which is why I added "Golden Circle program is a dining loyalty card with a hotel loyalty program attached." it really doesn't reward top tier members with guaranteed room/suite upgrades like other brands do, so achieving status is not necessary. Diamond Members have Horizon Club Lounge access benefit, but you are not guaranteed a Suite or even a Horizon Room upgrade which is possible, but is subject to availability.

Sorry to break it to you helvetic,but Platinum requires 50 nights and that is far from a mid-tier status, when compared to Shangri-La's 10 stays / 20 nights Jade status, which is just one step from entry-level membership. Technically, Starriott with Marriott Bonvoy now has 6 levels of membership, which makes Platinum status a level 4 out of 6. I have to say, Marriott Bonvoy has no middle ground in terms of benefits, it's either you're a Platinum or a nobody, which is why I book a club room or suite when staying at Marriott branded properties.

Booking direct with Shangri-La in my (website or mobile app) allows you to cancel your reservation 1 day (24 hours before the hotel's standard check-in time, make sure to compute at the property's local time.) prior to your stay on a no-prepayment rare. In my experience, I find the "no pre-payment" rates to be useful even when I tend to pre-plan my stay weeks in advance. It comes in handy when I'm close to my arrival and that's the time I decide to pay a pre-paid rate, which is lower, it might be even during a promotion, so no opportunity will be lost. My credit doesn't get charged during reservation on a no-prepayment rate, I even use my back-up debit card with no funds allocated just to be sure and no they really don't try to block the amount.

You also earn a minimum 10% return value in Golden Circle Points. 1 USD = 1 Golden Circle Point. 10 Golden Circle Points = 1 USD FnB dining credit that's redeemable at any Shangri-La property worldwide even just dining at their restaurant (non-staying) with either your Shangri-La membership card (most convenient) or through their mobile app, which has a digital copy of membership card (a hassle to explain to the staff when in a hurry). Golden Circle points can be used to pay your bill in partial or in full, you can even request how much you want to redeem (as per experience).

Example: 500 USD spend (not including tax and service charge) earns you 500 Golden Circle Award Points, which is equivalent to 50 USD in dining credit (tax and service charge excluded as this is a non-sale aka redemption).

Please note that points earned as stated on Shangri-La's terms, usually take 3-4 weeks to reflect, but in my experience it now just takes 3-4 days at most to be in my account.

Dav77

Giovan

Complimentary breakfast for Jade Members is based on the number of registered occupants in the room, so please book accordingly. The only promo I see for Shangri-La Abu Dhabi is "Travel Rewarded with 15% Off" for Golden Circle Members, must sign-in to avail of the rate. Don't forget to download the Shangri-La App and sign in with your account to receive 250 GC Award points ($25 USD value), if you haven't already.

zer0k1

Sorry if this against the T&C to ask, but I've been selling my Shangri-La points to a broker for quite some time. I stay at the Shangri-La very often for work so I accumulate a ton of points and much prefer the cash since work pays for my hotel anyway. Is there any known risks in selling the points?

janwillem

Good post. As a Diamond member I value the points to be used for F&B at almost 18%. Really great value. I exclusively use points for dining, never for free nights.

helvetic

Can't the points be transferred to airlines? Seems like that'd be really good value.

barracuda93

Just for a note, came across an interesting thing here: americanexpress.com/sa/benefits/the-platinum-card/shangri-la-golden-circle-jade-membership.html

"Cash advance of USD 250 per stay"

Does this go as a normal room charge, i.e. allow earning points?

JRK

Unfortunately it does not earn points (and usually needs to be settled right away - although in exceptional cases I had it added to room and only pay upon check-out). Still a great benefit for getting local currency relatively cheap (books as a sales transaction, not cash advance) and hassle free.

barracuda93

I actually meant credit card points, but should have asked in a clearer way. It's great if it goes as a purchase.

P. S. Do you know if this perk is specific to using Amex at Shangri-la properties?

JRK

Definitely earns CC points and not card specific - I must have used AMEX, VISA and Master for this over the years....

barracuda93

So it's specific to Shangri-la elites?