While looking at room rates for the Amari Johor Bahru recently, I chanced upon ONYX Hospitality Group's loyalty programme and have found it to be rather attractive. While points earned under ONYX Rewards can be utilised for a free night, they are dependent on the actual room rate of the property. In other words, much like the Accor Live Limitless loyalty programme, the points earn within ONYX Rewards are essentially a form of cashback. What stood out to me however was how generous the program was in terms of actual benefits. While the perks are fairly consistent to what you would typically expect for a top-tier member (i.e. upgrades, late check-out and guaranteed lounge access), it requires only 10 stays (or 40 nights!) for you to get to Platinum level.

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Photo Credit: Oriental Residence Bangkok

There are eight distinct brands under ONYX Hospitality Group and honestly, I have only heard of a couple like Amari (obviously!) as well as the Oriental Residence Bangkok (which really is just a property on its own). When I stayed at the Amari Johor Bahru last year, I really liked the location of the property (in fact, I dare say it has the best location in Johor Bahru if you are a Singaporean looking to spend the weekend there) and the Executive Lounge had a good selection of spirits in the evening. As such, whilst looking at room rates for a random weekend, I noticed that it will require me to stay only ten times to obtain the highest status in the ONYX Rewards program and subsequently, I will get to enjoy complimentary access to the Executive Lounge without having to actually pay for it.

There are three tiers in the ONYX Rewards program - Silver (lowest), Gold and Platinum (highest). Without going into too much details, Platinum status (which will be valid for 12 consecutive months from the date you obtain it), will give you perks like complimentary upgrades, early check-in from 11:00 AM, late check-out up to 4:00 PM as well as access to the Executive Lounge (in properties that have one) which comes with free-flow afternoon snacks and drinks. There are also exclusive perks across a handful of properties like the Oriental Residence Bangkok where you will get to enjoy Executive Benefits like complimentary laundry as well as cocktails in the evening. Requiring only 10 stays a year, Platinum status with ONYX Rewards seems to offer plenty of value - especially to travellers who frequent say Malaysia and Thailand (where ONYX Hospitality Group has plenty of properties in) a lot.

Honestly, there are only a handful of loyalty programs in the market that would allow a member to qualify based on stays (rather than nights or spend). If you are not a business traveller who spend a lot of time away from home, it is typically easier to qualify and retain your status based on stays, rather than nights as this requires a lot less 'monetary investment'. Essentially, one could do 10 one-night stays instead of 40 nights to qualify for Platinum status and that is fantastic if you are planning to use the perks in the following 12 months.

As mentioned earlier, ONYX Rewards also offers you to earn points (with no cap to the number of rooms) from your spend at a rate of USD 1 = 10 Points but I do not personally see much value in them as the number of points required for a free night fluctuates with the actual room rate of the property (essentially a cashback). While I am definitely a lot more invested in the Marriott Rewards and Hilton Honors program, I was pleasantly surprised to see how little needs to be done in order to get quite a bit of value out of the ONYX Rewards program.