The Shutterwhale's Travel Guide to Beijing - What to See and Where to Go?

Beijing is my favourite city in China so far and I absolutely love the food, the sights and more importantly, the rate of progress in this bustling city. Now, I am sure that many of you would associate the city with pollution (you know, the things you read off the internet) but I assure you that the air quality in Beijing is indeed getting better. Find out where to go and what to eat in this amazing city!

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Mandarin Oriental finally unveils an Official Loyalty Program (Kinda!) - Fans of M.O.

The Mandarin Oriental does not have an official loyalty program for the longest time and frequent travellers believe that your stay history is somehow tracked by individual PMS systems that are located in each property but forgive me if I am not convinced. Now, the Mandarin Oriental has finally unveiled an official loyalty program which really should be deemed as a membership program for two main reasons - there are no membership tiers and you do not get rewarded (at least not officially) when you stay more.

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The Shutterwhale for iShopChangi: Pre-ordering and Picking up Travel Essentials before your Flight - Exclusive Discount Code!

On my latest trip to Japan where I checked out Japan Airlines' Business Class product for the first time, I decided to take up iShopChangi's offer to check out their duty-free e-store which has over 10,000 products from across 500 different brands and it allows me to purchase things like wines and spirits to high-end electronics from Bose and DJI. Instead of being able to just purchase these products prior to your flight, iShopChangi allows all eligible passengers to select from the e-commerce portal 30 days in advance and up to 18 hours before your flight. In fact, if you do not wish to lug your purchases with you throughout your trip, a convenient home delivery service can also be arranged for selected beauty and electronics purchases that are more than S$380.

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Get 100 More Chope-Dollars with each fulfilled Reservation - Redeem for chance to win S$88!

In celebration of the upcoming Lunar New Year ahead, Chope is giving you the opportunity to earn 100 more Chope-Dollars on your next reservation. More importantly, it is allowing you to use some of your Chope-Dollars for a chance to win extra Chope-Dollars (yes, pretty much like gambling really), Shopee credits, Chope Shop credits as well as S$88 Cash - unfortunately bonus KrisFlyer Miles is not one of the prizes though.

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Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts New Mobile App gives you Triple Golden Circle Points

In celebration of the brand new Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts mobile app, there is currently an opportunity to earn triple Golden Circle points for all stays booked and consumed between 22 January 2018 and 30 April 2018. Members (both new and existing) will also be able to earn 100 Golden Circle points for simply signing-in during the promotion period.

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Upcoming Changes to Hilton Honors in April 2018 - More Points, Elite Rollover Nights and Status Gifting

Hilton Honors have undergone some changes back in 2017 where members are allowed to pool their Hilton Honors Points with up to ten members for free. Come April 2018, there will once again be changes to the Hilton Honors program to reward members who stay more often with unlimited milestone bonuses. Additionally, members who hit a number of calendar nights will be able to gift Gold and Diamond status to a fellow member.

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Complete List of Credit Card Promo Codes (up to 15% off Hotels) for Expedia Discount

While most of us elite status-chasers do not use Expedia much (since it does not earn you elite-qualifying nights which contribute towards elite status each year), it can sometimes make sense to consider using Expedia when you are planning to stay in a property that does not belong to a greater loyalty program or one that you have no interest in. What a lot of people do not realise is that most banks in Singapore offer a discount code for hotel reservations made via a specific landing page. At the time of writing, Citibank offers the most generous discount of 15% off all participating properties where the 'Expedia Rate' is available - there is also only a one-night minimum stay for this promo code.

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IHG Rewards Club Point Changes for Reward Nights - Highest Category requires 70,000 Points!

There will be some upcoming changes to the number of IHG Rewards Club points required for a Reward Night this year. Additionally, a higher category of hotels will be introduced and these properties will be priced at 70,000 IHG Rewards Club points per night - this is 10,000 more points than the highest requirement of 60,000 points right now.

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