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Not had your free Shangri-La meal yet? Avios conversion is now an option

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A lot of Head for Points readers earned 1,000 – 1,200 Shangri-La Golden Circle points in a promotion they ran last October. 

The reason this offer was so popular is that 1,000 points could be turned into a $100 Shangri-La food and drink voucher and, with Shangri-La due to open their hotel in The Shard in London, it offered a great opportunity for a couple to get $200 of free food and drink.

If you have not already redeemed your points, there is another option – for a limited period only.

Until the end of the year, Shangri-La Golden Circle has reduced the minimum number of points that can be transferred into airline schemes to 1,000.

Even better, there is a 25% bonus on airline transfers into British Airways, Miles & More, Enrich, Asia Miles, Velocity or Phoenix Miles.  BA transfers must be done by the end of November whilst the other five airlines are offering a bonus until the end of December.

What does this mean?

You now have a choice.  Obviously it is SUBSTANTIALLY better value to use 1,000 Shangri-La points for a $100 food and drink voucher rather than convert them into 1,000 airline miles.

However, if you realistically think that you will struggle to use your points in a Shangri-La hotel before they expire, this offers you a decent opportunity to use them for something else.  Shangri-La is a partner with 27 airlines so you could receive (with the 25% bonus) 1250 Avios, 1250 Miles & More miles, 1000 Virgin Flying Club miles etc.

Here is the small print of the bonus miles promotion:

Eligible Golden Circle members will receive 25% Bonus Miles when they convert GC Award Points between noon (HK Time) of 3 October 2014  and noon (HK Time) of 31 December 2014 into miles of the selected participating Frequent Flyer Programmes (except British Airways Executive Club valid until 30 November 2014) . 3) A minimum of 1,000 GC Award Points is required for each conversion request with additional point conversions made in increments of 500 GC Award Points. 4) Once the conversion is made, no amendment or cancellation is allowed.  The conversion is non-reversible and non-redeemable for cash. 5) The 25% Bonus Miles will be awarded upon confirmation of the conversion request and credited to the selected Frequent Flyer Programmes within 6 to 8 weeks after the completion of promotion.

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Category

British Airways and Avios, Lufthansa and Miles & More, Shangri-La Circle, Virgin Atlantic and Flying Club

Comments (47)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Manuel says:
    14 Nov14 November 06:36

    When are the points set to expire?

  • Nick says:
    14 Nov14 November 06:43

    Can someone please advise the validity period for Shangri-La Golden Circle points (ie. when would the 1200 points expire?). Cheers!

  • sandgrounder says:
    14 Nov14 November 06:55

    12 months I think. mine go at the start of next year

    • tony says:
      14 Nov14 November 07:48

      No, I believe it’s 24 months, plus the remainder of the year.

    • Nick says:
      14 Nov14 November 08:10

      Here you go:

      WHEN WILL MY GC AWARD POINTS EXPIRE
      GC Award Points will expire on an annual basis up to three calendar years (1 January to 31 December) after the end of the membership calendar year of accrual. Once expired, the GC Award Points cannot be redeemed for awards or other products/services.

      • sandgrounder says:
        14 Nov14 November 10:24

        Think I misred the statement, ‘Points will expire on the 31/12/2014’ is a seperate section. Well I think I will risk a devaluation and hang on to the points for a convenient time to dine in that case.

  • ee says:
    14 Nov14 November 07:17

    We have 2 lots of 1000 points to use. Was planning on using them at the Shard but we’re off to Hong Kong soon so was wondering whether there are any decent uses of the points there?

    • tony says:
      14 Nov14 November 07:45

      The Chinese restaurant in the hotel on the Island is I think one star. We ate there with points last year, but it wasn’t cheap. I think we spent US$200 – we had points to use, but this was the maximum limit. I think that may have changed now.

      We also had a meal at the place by the pool, again to use up points that would otherwise expire. Nice enough as it was free, but I wouldn’t rush back (we were staying in the Conrad so it was convenient enough)

    • CV3V says:
      14 Nov14 November 09:10

      Same 2 set of points as yourself, which were used in Hong Kong earlier this year. There are two Shangri La hotels, one on either side of the bay. We used the points for the buffet at each hotel, both of which were excellent, the Island one being slightly more upscale. On both occasions we used points and then had to top it up with a small amount of cash, but well worth it for the experience. If you do go, book ahead as they are often fully booked.

      You also have the option of using at Traders Hotel, which I imagine would also be excellent.

  • Dudeabides says:
    14 Nov14 November 07:41

    There website isn’t the best, when i go to convert it says i don’t have enough points to convert when i have 1200.
    Tried numerous times but it wont go through.

    • Ross Parker says:
      14 Nov14 November 16:33

      I have exactly the same problem. I have tired converting to BA at Lufhansa.

  • Sideysid says:
    14 Nov14 November 08:08

    I must say we had an excellent dinner at the TING restaurant using the vouchers. We had starters, mains, one dessert, two glasses of wine and a bottle of water and only went around £10 over the voucher amount.

    I also teamed this up with x2 £20 credit (two iphones) on Uber so had two UberLux journeys there and back to the Hilton Park Lane. I also used my free night certificate for this and got and a room upgrade overlooking the city, lounge access and free breakfast using the Gold status upgrade from the milepoint membership.

    The whole night out cost me just over £15, who said romance was dead?

    This was all through articles on site, thanks Raffles.

    • ankomonkey says:
      14 Nov14 November 09:21

      Well done. Sounds like you maxed out on your points deals 🙂

    • ian says:
      14 Nov14 November 12:21

      I’d do the same with my points but it seems sad to waste all that luxury on the wife. 🙂

    • Volker says:
      14 Nov14 November 12:21

      Had a similar dining experience at The Shard/Ting just yesterday – Head for Points has really changed my life(style), thanks Rob! UBER took us there and back, too. I had referred Mrs Volker to UBER, so she got her discount – does anybody know how long I have to wait to get the referral credit? I had assumed that would happen straight after the “referral ride”…

    • What's the Point says:
      14 Nov14 November 22:12

      Sideysid – that sounds almost identical to our night out. Although we were saying at the Hilton Doubletree Tower bridge (got the £50 credit for spending £250 via Amex) and earned a shed load of BA + Hilton points for the stay as well!

      The meal at the Shangri-La was pricey, but the £60 off helped. Plus the free 2 Uber taxis.

    • squills says:
      14 Nov14 November 22:23

      Wife must genuinely love you, don’t tell her, Sidey 😉

  • Keith says:
    14 Nov14 November 12:54

    It didn’t work for me. I have 1800 points and tried to convert 1000.

    Convert Points to Miles
    To convert your GC Award Points to airline miles, simply select your desired Frequent Flyer Programme Membership below. Each conversion request requires a minimum of 2,500 GC Award Points with subsequent 500-point increments.

    • Rob says:
      14 Nov14 November 13:04

      Very weird. Seems very unlikely to be a targeted offer. Might be worth dropping them an email.

      • Ross Parker says:
        14 Nov14 November 16:35

        I am having the same problem (1,270 points will not convert to BA or Lufthansa) and am emailing them now. The screen shot I am sending them is funny as it states on the same page “You now only need 1,000 points” *and* “Your points balance is 1,270” *and* “Your have insufficient points”. I will update with any response.

        • Ross Parker says:
          16 Nov16 November 14:43

          The reply from Shangri-La:
          ———————————————
          Dear Mr. Parker,

          Greetings from Golden Circle Member Services.

          Thank you for your e-mail of 15 November 2014, concerning converting your GC Award Points to Airline Miles.

          We are sorry to learn that you had faced difficulties in converting your GC Award Points to Airline Miles online. Please be informed that we will look into this matter and rectify the issue as soon as possible. Kindly accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

          Nevertheless, we will be able to assist you with the points conversion as requested below. We are pleased to inform that Golden Circle members may convert a minimum of 1,000 GC Award Points (with increments of 500 points) into airline miles with our participating airline partners, from now until 31 December 2014. In addition, members will also receive 25% Bonus Miles when converting their GC Award Points into British Airways Executive Club points (valid until 30 November 2014).

          Kindly note that the conversion ratio is generally one GC Award Point to one airline mile (one to one), but several participating Airline Partners may have different conversion rates. The converted airline miles will only appear in your respective frequent flyer membership account 4 – 6 weeks after they have been converted.

          We would highly appreciate your attention on the following details:
          GC Award Points will be deducted from the Member’s account at the time the conversion is made.
          Once the points the conversion is made, no cancelation or amendment is allowed.

          Should you wish to proceed with the conversion using your 1,000 GC Award Points, kindly advise us of your registered name on your British Airways Executive Club Frequent Flyer Programme membership card, so that we can update it in your membership profile. In addition, please also inform us of your date of birth and home mailing address, for verification purposes.

          Mr. Parker, we look forward to hearing from you soon. In the meantime, should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are also pleased to inform you that Golden Circle Member Services is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You may contact us at any of the international toll-free numbers listed on our website or you may e-mail us at golden.circle@shangri-la.com.

          —————-

          I have sent through the details they ask for and hopefully the can do the conversion.

  • tony says:
    14 Nov14 November 16:42

    I have a balance of 1000 points that I’m trying to convert to BA Executive Club and I get this message:

    Unfortunately you do not have enough GC Award Points for your points conversion request, please earn more GC Award Points by enjoying more Shangri-La experiences.

    Odd

    • Darren Thompson says:
      14 Nov14 November 18:49

      Ditto

      • Kevin says:
        15 Nov15 November 17:21

        Tried that landing page and still got the msg about not having enough points (I have 1200).

        • Keith says:
          19 Nov19 November 10:57

          I had the same when I tried it previously, but this morning I received the email from Golden Circle telling me about this, and now its just worked fine. So perhaps you do need to be invited.

          • Rob says:
            19 Nov19 November 11:18

            I got the email again, as did my wife – I reckon they have fixed it and emailed everyone again.

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