A Guide to the Refreshed Changi Rewards Program - Elite Status and Qualification

Many of you have already heard about the Changi Rewards program which to put it simply, gives you Changi Rewards (CR) points for every S$10 that you spend at participating merchants. These CR points can then be used to offset your next eligible purchase (1,000 CR points = S$5 rebate). Alternatively, you may choose to convert your CR points into valuable KrisFlyer miles (which you can then use on things like free First Class flights) or things like vouchers amongst other things. There are also a number of benefits that you get with the Changi Rewards program but the point of this article is to introduce the different membership tiers as well as qualification requirement. 

Photo Credit: Changi Rewards

Membership Tiers

There are three membership tiers in the Changi Rewards program and everyone starts off at the Member level which is the base level. In order to move up the ladder, you will have to spend S$4,000 and S$8,000 in each program year for Gold and Platinum status respectively. 

	Member	Gold	Platinum
Spend Requirement	-	S$4,000	S$8,000
Points per S$10	10	20	60
S$5 Rebate
Points required for S$5 Rebate	1,000	1,000	1,000
Spend required for S$5 Rebate	S$1,000	S$500	S$167
Effective Cashback	0.5%	1.0%	3.0%
KrisFlyer Miles
Points required for 500 KF Miles	3,000	3,000	3,000
Spend required for 500 KF Miles	S$3,000	S$1,500	S$500
Opportunity Cost (Cost per Mile)	S$0.03	S$0.03	S$0.03

Use Your Points for Rebates

As you can see from the table above, Platinum members get 6X more points than a regular Member and this translates into a much greater effective cashback amount. I cannot believe I am saying this but your CR points are best used for rebates which you can use to offset a future purchase. Alternatively, you may choose to redeem them for Changi Rewards E-Vouchers which you can then utilise across 400 participating stores in Changi Airport. If you look at the table above, Platinum members effectively get a further 3.0% equivalent in cash rebate (on top of the GST savings that you will already get) when they redeem their CR points for vouchers or instant rebates.

Photo Credit: Changi Rewards

Forget about the Miles

While CR points may be converted into KrisFlyer (KF) Miles, they are at a ridiculously expensive rate. Previously, members were able to convert 1,500 CR points into 500 KF Miles but with the 'refresh', it now costs twice as much for the same amount of miles. This means that every time you choose to redeem 500 KF Miles, you are forgoing S$15 of rebate - this puts the cost of acquisition (or cost per mile) at $0.03 which is a lot higher than what you can get by simply paying for certain credit card's annual fees. 

Photo Credit: iShopChangi

Earn and Redeem Online via iShopChangi

I have previously written an article on pre-ordering things that you want across all terminals in Changi Airport (and picking it up at one central location) with iShopChangi. You will be able to use your CR points to offset all eligible purchases made online and earn CR points on the balance amount. 

Photo Credit: Citibank

Stack Those Promotions with the right Credit Card

Changi Rewards is currently offering 2X CR points on all eligible pruchases made in the month of April 2018 - this is capped at S$150 in accumulated nett spend. Additionally, members (all tiers) are also able to receive a pair of movie vouchers when they spend a total of S$200 nett in three or less receipts on the same day - limited to the first 300 members per month. If you intend to blow that money on alcohol or beauty products, Citi Rewards Card is currently offering 8 miles per dollar (20X Rewards) on all eligible spend made at DFS until 03 May 2018. So if you time it nicely, spending S$200 might just give you 350 CR points, a pair of movie vouchers and 1,600 miles (in equivalent Citi Rewards Points)!