Bits: up to 30% discount when you buy SPG points, Singapore Airlines drops fuel surcharges
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News in brief:
Up to 30% discount when you buy Starwood Preferred Guest points
Starwood is offering a 10%-30% discount when you purchase SPG Starpoints before 30th April. The link to buy is here.
The discount is staggered. You get 10% off purchases of up to 9500 points, 15% off 10000 to 14500, 20% off 15000 to 19500 and the full 30% off only when you buy at least 20,000 points.
At the top end, 30,000 points will cost you $735 (£600). These can be converted to 35,000 airline miles in the majority of programmes. The price per mile works out at 1.7p, which is certainly not a bargain but less than a lot of airlines charge for buying their miles directly.
Remember that until 8th March, British Airways is offering a 35% bonus if you transfer hotel points from seven major loyalty schemes into Avios – click for my article on that deal. Even with that bonus this is not a cheap offer. You would get (35,000 * 1.35) 47,250 Avios for £600 which works out at 1.27p. I struggle to see the value in Avios points at that price but it may work for you if you have a specific redemption in mind.
The rules are straightforward – points post within 24 hours, maximum purchase of 30,000 points per year, your SPG account must be 14 days old to participate.
If you are interested, you can buy via this link.
Singapore Airlines drops fuel surcharges on redemptions, but ….
Singapore Airlines announced yesterday that it was dropping fuel surcharges on redemptions on its own aircraft via its Krisflyer scheme.
There is always a snag, of course.
In this case, the snag is that Singapore is removing the 15% discount for online reward redemptions. As almost all redemptions which didn’t involve partners were made online, this is effectively a 18% price rise. There has also been some tweaking upwards of reward prices as well.
As an example of pricing, a one way from Singapore to London in Business Class increases from 80,000 to 85,000 miles. Stripping out the online booking discount and the actual rise is 68,000 to 85,000 miles. However US$241 of fuel surcharges will no longer apply. If you value miles at 1p each the impact is roughly neutral.
The changes take effect from 23rd March, so you have a couple of weeks to book at the old prices.
If you are interested in earning Singapore Airlines miles, there isn’t a Singapore Airlines credit card in the UK. It is an American Express Membership Rewards transfer partner at 1:1. You can also pick up miles via the HSBC Premier MasterCard (0.5 per £1) or the HSBC Premier World Elite MasterCard (£195 fee, 1 mile per £1).
The new reward chart is on the Singapore website here.
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