The Westin Singapore officially opened its doors (again) in November last year after an absence of 12 years. To many frequent travellers, the addition of a new Starwood property spells excitement as there is more to choose from. Like other Starwood properties, The Westin Singapore participates in the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program which allows you to earn Starpoints on eligible hotel spend.

There are three main tiers in the SPG program - Preferred, Gold and Platinum. Within the Platinum category, there are further sub tiers to reward the frequent and business travellers. Unlike other hotel programs that expire with every year (through a re-qualification process, you may reach a lifetime status under this program, disabling the need to re-qualify for Gold or Platinum statuses - a major incentive to remain to SPG! However such lifetime statuses are difficult to qualify and usually requires a minimum period of 10 elite years.

Amongst other benefits, the SPG Gold tier allows for a 4pm late checkout, an upgrade (that does not include suites) and a welcome gift (in the form of bonus Starpoints, a welcome drink or complimentary internet access). Full details on the Gold tier benefits can be found here. The usual qualification process requires 10 eligible stays or 25 eligible nights in a calendar year. However, if you hold a World MasterCard in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan), you can qualify for the Gold status with as little as just one eligible night stay.

You may sign up for this promotion here.

Upgrade to the Gold status will take up to 4 weeks after your stay. For a cheap way to gain this status, you may consider the Aloft Kuala Lumpur property at Kuala Lumpur Sentral or the Sheraton Singapore if you do not wish to leave the country. Do remember that you need register for the program first, and you have to book directly with the hotel (not through Agoda or online travel agents) in order to qualify for this promotion. Also do note that status earned after 1 April of each year will last longer in absolute terms.

Additionally, if you book before 6 April 2014, you may qualify for the Book Early or Stay Longer promotion (in Asia Pacific properties only), giving you up to 50% and 10% off respectively. So go on and get your well-deserved Gold status with SPG and enjoy your Gold benefits for a year.