Free Upgrade to Ascott Star Rewards Platinum and Gold Tier (24 Months) for American Express Platinum Members (Charge and Credit Cards)

There are many reasons as to why I pay S$1,712 in annual fee for The Platinum Card from American Express and American Express has just introduced another benefit for all eligible American Express Platinum Members (The Platinum Card, American Express Platinum Reserve Credit Card and American Express Platinum Credit Card). All eligible members will get to enroll in the Ascott Star Rewards (ASR) program at a higher tier (and hold it for 24 months) - charge card and credit card holders will get to enroll at the Platinum (highest) and Gold (second highest) tiers respectively.

Click HERE to find out more about The Platinum Card from American Express!

Photo Credit: lyf Funan

Higher tier members in the ASR program will get to enjoy bonus points each time they complete an eligible stay at any participating Ascott property - Platinum and Gold members will earn 60% and 40% more points respectively. Additionally, top-tier members of the program will also enjoy things like complimentary airport transfer at serviced residences in the Middle East as well as priority early check-in and late check-out (subject to availability.

Photo Credit: Ascott

All eligible American Express Platinum members will be able to upgrade their ASR membership to Platinum and Gold (depending on which card you hold) and keep that status for 24 months. According to the terms and conditions of this partnership, you have until 31 December 2020 to register for the complimentary 2-year ASR membership. However, you will only receive 1,000 bonus ASR points when you sign-up before 31 December 2019 so you will have to make the choice of either starting the membership earlier (and getting 1,000 bonus points) or start it later (since you have until 31 December 2020) if you do not have immediate plans to use it.

Photo Credit: Ascott

All ASR members earn 10 ASR Points per S$1 but Silver (+20%), Gold (+40%) and Platinum (+60%) members earn bonus points. Unlike award nights with hotels that typically require a fixed number of points regardless of actual room rates, ASR Points can only be used to offset the cost of rooms. 1,000 ASR Points are worth S$2.50 (yes, that's how much the bonus is when you sign-up before 31 December 2019) and therefore, the ASR program offers a relatively-low rate of cashback for Classic (2.5%), Silver (3.0%), Gold (3.5%) and Platinum (4.0%) members.

Photo Credit: Ascott

If you hold The Platinum Card from American Express, you will be eligible for 10,000 bonus points (worth S$25 effectively) when you stay a minimum of 3 nights at any participating Ascott properties by 31 December 2019 - payment has to be made using The Platinum Card. ASR members will be required to re-qualify for Gold and Platinum status by hitting at least S$3,000 and S$10,000 in eligible spend within the 24-month window respectively.

If you are thinking about getting the card and would like to pick up some additional miles along the way, using my unique referral link for The Platinum Card will give you 40,000 more Membership Rewards (MR) points (equivalent to at least 25,000 miles) on top of the welcome offer of 75,000 MR points (equivalent to at least 46,875 miles). Looking for the American Express Platinum Credit Card instead? Use my referral link and get 15,000 more MR Points when you spend S$50 within the first 3 months of card membership (application before 10 October 2019).