Small Luxury Hotels of the Word (SLH): 3 Nights for the Price of 2

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The Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) is a curated selection of some of the world's finest independent hotels. It comprises of over 520 properties in more than 70 countries. I have previously covered a promotion where one could benefit from 2-for-1 rates (50% off) for a limited time. 

However if you own an American Express credit card (even the ones that are co-branded with banks), you will be able to access 3-for-2 rates from now until 28 December 2014 for stays until 31 December 2014 (summarised below). 

Booking Period: until 28 December 2014
Travel Period: until 31 December 2014

Click HERE to access the promotional landing page from SLH. 

This promotion is great if you have the UOB PRVI Miles Platinum Card (read my review of the credit card HERE) which will give you 2.5 Miles per S$1 spend (in foreign currency) and also a free limo transfer to Changi Airport. 

Terms and Conditions: To be eligible for the offer, reservations must be made and paid for with an American Express Card. Cardmembers must book and pay for three consecutive nights to receive the complimentary third night. The third free night is reflected in the total price when booking three consecutive nights and is equal to a 33% discount. Offer is valid when you book and pay by December 28th 2014 and stay by December 31st 2014. Bookings are subject to availability. Black-out dates and restrictions apply and vary by property. Alternatively call SLH to make your booking quoting ‘N6B9’ to receive the 3 for 2 rate on participating properties. Prepayment/Deposit is required at time of booking and varies by property. No change or cancellation may be made after booking. The amount is non refundable in the event of cancellation or change of dates of stay. Available room categories vary according to each participating property. Rates are subject to local taxes and service charges. Offer cannot be combined with other offers or promotions, is non-transferable and valid for new bookings only.

Take 13% off Hotels on Zuji (HSBC Credit Card Members)

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Zuji Singapore is once again running a promotion for discounted hotel stays. If you own a HSBC Credit Card, you are in luck! Take 13% off hotel bookings (no minimum spend required) when you book using an eligible HSBC Credit Card and the promo code HSBCHOLIDAY13. Compared to the OCBC promotion last month (12% off), this is slightly better!

Click HERE to access the promotional landing page.

Booking Period: until 31 July 2014
Travel Period: until 31 December 2014

Terms & Conditions: The Coupon Code cannot be used for hotel reservations at properties belonging to the following chains: (a) Accor Hotels (Accor Hotels, Pullman Hotels and Resorts, Sofitel, Ibis, Mercure, Grand Mercure, All Seasons, Novotel, Mgallery, hotelF1, Formule, Sea Temple, Quay West, The Sebel and Citigate), (b) Hilton Hotels Corporation (Conrad Hotels and Resorts, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton International, Double Tree by Hilton, Embassy Suites, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts), (c) Intercontinental (ANA Hotels, Crowne Plaza Hotels, Holiday Inn, Hotel Indigo, Intercontinental Hotels, Special Properties, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites), (d) Marriott International (Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, Marriott Hotels, JW Marriott, EDITION, Marriott Vacation Club, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott, Residence Inn by Marriott and TownePlace Suites by Marriott, (e) Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (aloft Hotels, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, Sheraton Hotels, The St. Regis, W Hotels, Westin Hotels and Resorts and Element Hotels), (f) Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts (Shangri-La Hotels, Shangri-La Resorts, Traders Hotels and Kerry Hotels), (g) Marina Bay Sands, (h) Venetian Macau Resort (i) Sands Macao Hotel, (j) Banyan Tree Macau and (k) MGM Macau.

 

UberX Summer Price Promotion (up to 20% off usual taxi rides) + S$10 Referral Credit

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Attention all cab-takers and taxi-lovers! Rejoice as UberX becomes cheaper with its Summer Price Promotion. This is particularly useful for those who book their taxis and pay the S$2.30 to S$8 booking fee. Also, you will not need to pay location surcharges with UberX. With all that being said, you should always use the Fare Estimator within the Uber app to get a rough idea on how much will you be required to pay. 

With the Summer Price Promotion for UberX, base rate starts at S$3.50 with a minimum spend of S$8. Per KM charge is now S$0.30 and per minute charge is S$0.16 for this promotion. For a more detailed comparison between previous and current promotional pricing, please see the table below:

or those of you that do not already have an existing Uber account, please feel free to use my affiliate link. You will get a free S$10 credit to your account using my link and I will too when you make your first successful UberX trip! 

Click HERE to register for Uber (free S$10 credit)! 

I have previously covered an Uber(BLACK) review and did not find it to be spectacular from a price point of view but I will most definitely be taking advantage of this UberX promotion.

Safe travels! 

Starwood (Asia Pacific) - enjoy up to 50% off!

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From now until 13 July 2014, take up to 50% off your hotel stays in a participating Starwood property in Asia-Pacific. This offer is valid for stays up until 31 October 2014. 

Click HERE for the promotional landing page. 

I had a rough look at properties in Singapore and the Sheraton Towers Singapore is enjoying 40% off BAR (S$228++ instead of S$380++). On the other hand, the newer Westin Singapore is getting only approximately 22% off BAR (S$304++ instead of S$390++). Do remember that these promotional rate reservations cannot be cancelled and cannot be modified after you make them. 

TravelPony - Save up to 23% off!

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Previously I covered a small review on TravelPony (click HERE to read it) and how you can take advantage of it to access really good rates in some cases. I would strongly advise reading my previous article if you have not heard of or used TravelPony before. 

Click HERE to access the sale and use the promo code JULYMYSTERY for up to 23% off hotel room rates. This promotion is only for a short period of time and it will cease on 10 July 2014. 

Kindly note that when you use my link to register, you will get US$35 off your first purchase of US$200. I will also get a referral bonus from it. 

Sale begins on July 8, 2014 at 12:00am CDT. The sale will end at 12:00AM CDT on July 10, 2014. Discount may not be used in conjunction with other promotions. You must enter the code at checkout to discover the savings amount.

ANZ Travel Visa Signature: Changes from 10 July 2014

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I have previously reviewed the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card some time in June 2014 and it has come to my attention that with effect from 10 July 2014, certain changes will be put in place. This post serves as an update to the previous entry to provide supplement to the existing review as well as to reflect the new changes that will take place. 

Please click HERE to access the previous review. 

 

EARNING TRAVEL$ (AND MILES)

Card members will continue to earn 1.4 Travel$ for every S$1 spend. However, this is only applicable for the first S$10,000 of total retail spend in the month's billing cycle. Subsequent expenditure above S$10,000 for that month will earn 0.5 Travel$. 

Participating merchants where you could earn 2.8 Travel$ per S$1 spend have been greatly reduced. Merchants where you can earn 2.8 Travel$ for every S$1 spend only includes the following now:

  1. Foreign retail spend in AUD or NZD,
  2. Qantas, and 
  3. Jestar Airlines 

 

REDEMPTION OPTIONS

The same conversion applies: 1 Travel$ to 1 Mile on KrisFlyer or Asia Miles. Miles need to be redeemed in blocks of 2,000 and there's a administrative charge of S$25 for each conversion (so it's always wise to convert all at one go when you need it). If you do not wish to pay for the administrative charge, you have the option to offset that amount with 3,000 Travel$ which is an extremely bad idea. 

Cash credits can be redeemed at a 55 Travel$ to S$1 ratio (2.55% cash rebate on every dollar spent). If you were to redeem 3,000 Travel$ for a conversion fee of S$25, you are practically using 120 Travel$ for S$1 which is effectively only 1.17% cash rebate. 

Conversion rates for redeeming Travel$ against cash credits remain the same. However, you now have the flexibility to redeem against S$8, S$20 and S$50. 

 

DISCONTINUATION OF TRANSPORT/LIFESTYLE REBATES

You used to be able to get 5% rebates for MotorPay, EZ-Reload as well as some participating merchants (e.g. Cold Storage, Golden Village, Giant, Jasons, Marketplace and Guardian). These will be discontinued after 31 August 2014. 

 

ANNUAL FEE 

The card member used to be awarded 12,000 Travel$ upon renewal of the annual membership from the second year (S$200 for main card holder). Since it only requires 11,000 Travel$ to redeem for S$200 cash credit, paying the annual fee allowed cardholders to earn a minimal profit (S$15) alongside some extra Travel$. 

However, the bonus Travel$ issued for card renewals will fall from 12,000 Travel$ to 10,000 Travel$, discontinuing the "profit" that cardholders were able to take advantage of previously. 10,000 Travel$ is enough for S$180 cash credit so you're essentially paying only $20 for the card - which isn't a bad deal considering the free lounge access that you get with holding the card.

 

CONCLUSION

With all the impending changes to the ANZ Travel Visa Signature Credit Card, is it still worthwhile to keep this card? The answer for me is yes. Since I do not fly internationally often enough on non-budget airlines, spending only S$20 a year for free lounge access is a no-brainer for me. The card also offers a flat 2.55% cash rebate for the first S$10,000 spend each month with no minimum spending required. Do keep in mind that you still have to deal with paper statements and the internet banking for ANZ Singapore right now is almost non-existent especially if you do not  have a savings account with them. 

AirAsia Promotion (from S$70 return)

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The AirAsia sale is now on until 13 July 2014! Enjoy sale tickets on AirAsia to nearby destinations departing Singapore from only S$41 (all-in fare) one-way. 

Booking Period: Until 13 July 2014
Travel Period: Until 13 November 2014

Click HERE to access the promotional landing page. 

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Destination Ideas

For some ideas on where to go, check out my following recommendations! 

Bali, Indonesia (3D2N)

Spend a quiet weekend away from Singapore at a luxury resort in Bali. Fly to Bali under S$300 each - if you're OK with night flights however, it's good to have a look at KLM since they have better flights for a better rate most of the time. My accommodation of choice is the Conrad Bali if you wish to stay in the resort for the full three days.

Read my review of the Conrad Bali HERE! 

If you wish to stay on Seminyak and would like to do more than just lounging in an excellent resort, do consider spending 4D3N instead! 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (3D2N)

Sale tickets start from S$70 for a return trip and approximately S$85 for flights with good timing - depart in the morning, arrive back in Singapore in the evening. Check out the PARKROYAL Kuala Lumpur Hotel that is conveniently located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. While you are there, pay a visit to Feeka - a cafe that serves excellent coffee! 

Public Transport Rebates (10-15%) in Singapore

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If you take the public transport daily in Singapore, here's how you can make it cheaper by combining it with a couple of credit and debit card tricks alongside certain promotions. I spend approximately $100 on public transport in Singapore but I get back $10 - $15 on average per month. This is in addition to the the miles/cash-back that I earn from my credit cards through EZ-Reload. 

In order to take advantage of the situation fully, here are the three items that you will require. If you do not know what they are, fret not as I will be going through them individually.

  1. Imagine Card
  2. Insinc Account 
  3. Credit Card of your choice 

Imagine Card

The Imagine Card is an American Express (Amex) Prepaid Card from EZ-Link. What this means is that the Imagine Card comes with two components - a debit card and an EZ-Link component. For those of you who aren't working yet, do not worry about minimum income requirements since this is a debit card. You will receive the following benefits until 31 August 2014.

  • 5% rebate on total monthly spend of a minimum S$50 on public buses and trains on the EZ-link purse (up to $5 a month).
  • 5% rebate on total monthly spend of a minimum $50 on the Amex purse (up to $5 a month).

What this means is that if you spend $50 in the month of June on public buses and trains using the EZ-Link component of this card, you will receive 5% ($2.50) back in the following month as a rebate. To double dip in this promotion, you can sign up for EZ-Reload using the American Express Debit Card Component to top up your EZ-Link component. In the scenario where you spend $100 on public transport a month, you will receive 5% ($5) back for satisfying the minimum $50 spend on public transport and you will also receive an additional 5% ($5) for satisfying the minimum $50 spend on the Amex component. In other words, you will receive up to $10 back in the following month if you sign up for EZ-Reload using the same Imagine Card. 

You can buy your Imagine Card online or simply from one of the Transit Link Ticket Offices. For more information on purchasing your Imagine Card, click HERE. 

Insinc Account

More than $2,500,000 have been paid out so far by Insinc. This has been utilised by many Singaporeans for the longest period of time but it's a little bit of a hit or miss depending on your luck and time of travel. Basically to simplify matters, Insinc allows you to earn cash rewards for taking the MRT and LRT (not buses though!). It is a research study conducted by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore.

You will accrue points over the distance you travel on such transportation options and these points can either be exchanged for cash rebate (back into your registered EZ-Link card) or to spin the wheel for you to earn more (at the risk of winning nothing too, of course). If you do decide to spin the wheel (like I do), you may choose between playing it manually or having it spun for you weekly. You will earn more points for travelling during the following 'de-congesting' hours on weekdays:

  • 6:30am to 7:30am
  • 8:30am to 9:30am 

Since this has been going on for quite some time, I'm not sure how long more is it going to last so get in there and get in quick! Click HERE and sign up for this now. You will only have to register and provide your EZ-Link CAN number (located at the back of your Imagine Card). Please note that by signing up using my link, I will earn 250 points (equivalent to $0.25 or 25 spin chances). 

For those of you who are skeptical (like I was), I have already gotten back $16 on my Imagine Card via the Insinc game over a period of 3 months. 

Credit Card 

You will require a credit card to top up your Imagine Card American Express Debit Card component. Depending on what you are after (e.g. miles or cash-back), you may choose to use a different card. I personally use the UOB PRVI Miles Platinum American Express Card to top up my Imagine Card. Loading my Imagine Card with $100 will give me 160 miles using this card. If you're a fan of cash-backs, you may consider the UOB One card which will give you $3.33 back (terms and conditions for the UOB One card applies). 

Conclusion

There are a handful of things you have to do (just once) in order to take advantage of this situation and get 10-15% cash-back per month on public transport expenditure. This is particularly useful for those that take the MRT/LRT. 

  1. Purchase an Imagine Card 
  2. Register the Imagine Card and load it with money using a Credit Card of your choice.
  3. Sign up for EZ-Reload for the Imagine Card using the American Express component of the same card.
  4. Sign up for Insinc. 
  5. Register your Imagine Card EZ-Link CAN number with Insinc.
  6. Enjoy your rebates. 

If you require any further information or clarification, just leave me a comment and I'll be sure to get back to you as soon as I can.