The Ultimate Guide to Ascott Star Rewards

Looking to earn points and be rewarded on stays at brands like Citadines, Oakwood and Quest Apartment Hotels? Then you’ll want to become acquainted with Ascott Star Rewards (ASR). It’s the loyalty program of these properties, and many more – and you’ll find a stack of them in Australia and beyond.

Here’s how you can climb the ranks of ASR and turn your stays into valuable points, all through this no-fee program.

How do I join Ascott Star Rewards

Ascott Star Rewards is free to join. You’ll only need an email address to get started.

1. Venture to the Ascot Star Rewards website and enter your details.
2. Accept the terms and conditions.
3. Complete the sign-up process, and make a record of your Ascott Star Rewards membership number.

Now you’re ready to earn points and start working your way towards status in the program.

Which hotel brands are attached to Ascott Star Rewards

As you might have guessed, Ascott is the namesake brand attached to Ascott Star Rewards. That’s a higher-end brand mainly concentrated around Asia, but there are plenty of other hotels as well – including many based in Australia.

You’ll probably recognise Quest Apartment Hotels. Citadines also has several Australian properties, including one near Sydney Airport. Oakwood is another brand growing traction, claiming its stake to a shiny high-rise tower in Melbourne and elsewhere. Lyf is also making inroads Down Under, with an existing location in Collingwood and two more properties coming to Sydney.

The portfolio also includes Somerset, The Crest Collection, The Unlimited Collection, Fox Hotels, Harris Hotels, pop! Hotels, Preference Hotels, Vertu Hotels and Yello Hotels.

What are the Ascott Star Rewards tier levels?

There are four status tiers in Ascott Star Rewards. Members start at the entry-level Classic tier, and make their way up the chain from there. Status is assessed based on how much you spend. Given the program’s base in Singapore, figures are calculated equivalent to Singapore dollars at the time of the transaction. The four tiers are:

• Classic
• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum

Here’s a look at what you can expect from each level of ASR.

Ascott Star Rewards Classic

Requirement: given to all Ascott Star Rewards members upon joining.

Starting benefits include:

• An annual ‘birthday surprise voucher’ (in an undisclosed amount) to use towards a future stay.
• Complimentary basic hotel Wi-Fi.
• Access to hotel members’ rates and members-only sales.

Ascott Star Rewards Silver

Requirement to earn or retain: Qualifying annual spend of SG$1,000.

Members at the Silver tier of Ascott Star Rewards receive the basic benefits of Classic membership, plus:

• Earn 20% bonus points with every stay.
• Late check-out ‘on priority’ (but below the priority of higher-tiered members).

Ascott Star Rewards Gold

Requirement to earn or retain: Qualifying annual spend of SG$3,000.

For those doing more than an occasional trip, Ascott Star Rewards Gold offers:

• A higher total points bonus of 40% (versus 20% at Silver).
• 2pm late check-out.
• Complimentary ‘enhanced’ Wi-Fi.
• One complimentary token for use at a hotel’s on-property laundry, where available.

Ascott Star Rewards Platinum

Requirement to earn and retain: Qualifying annual spend of SG$10,000.

As the highest tier in Ascott Star Rewards, Platinum members can expect:

• A total points bonus of 60% on each eligible stay.
• Late check-out up to 3pm.
• Two laundry tokens per stay (rather than one at Gold).
• Complimentary breakfast (but only in Europe).
• Complimentary one-way airport transfer (but only in the Middle East).
• ‘Full 24-Hour Stay’, where the member can choose the check-in and check-out time.

It’s fair to say, there’s room for improvement in those benefits. Guests staying in the hotel’s own home market (Asia Pacific) don’t receive either of those top-tier benefits (breakfast, or airport transfers). Instead, the highest level of loyalty only really gets you an extra laundry token and a slightly later check-out.

However, the ‘Full 24-Hour Stay’ benefit could be of considerable use for those who regularly stay at hotels while in transit. It’s similar to the Your24 benefit for Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador members. For instance, an ASR Platinum member could check-in at 9 pm after stepping off their flight, and keep the room until 9pm the next day. The charge would only be the usual overnight room rate. For this type of traveller, the benefit has the perk of real convenience and savings. For those with more traditional business or leisure travel patterns, less so.

How do I earn and spend points through the program?

The main way to accrue points with Ascott Star Rewards is to stay at the chain’s hotels. For this – as well as eligible event spend – members can earn two points per SG$1 spent. As above, those with elite status in the program earn a percentage-based bonus on top.

It’s also possible to buy points. But, if you’ll pardon the pun, it’s a pointless exercise unless there’s a promotion running. That’s because the price you’ll pay when buying points with Ascott Star Rewards matches the value you’ll redeem them for. As such, there are no arbitrage opportunities – except if the foreign currency rates move in your favour. In fact, if the Singapore dollar weakens, your points will end up reducing in value in any other country.

Speaking of Singapore dollars, every point with Ascott Star Rewards has a redemption value of 0.25 cents (SGD). For instance, 1,000 points gets you a SG$2.50 saving on your hotel bill. The program doesn’t use traditional ‘award nights’ or fixed redemption rates. Instead, your points go straight towards paying the hotel bill.

Because you don’t need to save up for an award night, you can use practically any amount of points. If you only have a small number, you can burn them and then pay the rest in cash. Or, if you save enough, you can use them to stay for free.

It’s not possible to convert points from any Australian credit card points program to Ascott Star Rewards.

Earning frequent flyer points

Along with building a balance of points in Ascott Star Rewards, you may be able to double dip with some frequent flyer points on top. The program only has one airline partner, and that’s Singapore Airlines. But on eligible stays, you can pocket a handy 500 KrisFlyer miles in addition to the ASR points you’d normally earn.

qThe ‘magic number’ to earn miles is to make an eligible booking of over SG$1,000. With your KrisFlyer number linked in your profile, that’ll see 500 KrisFlyer miles land in your account after hotel check-out. Realistically, this threshold means that many stays would earn no miles at all. And even when miles are earned, it’s just a flat 500 – not 500 miles per SG$1,000.

For context, 500 KrisFlyer miles doesn’t take you very far. Sure, it’s nice to have – and if you regularly aim to earn KrisFlyer miles, any addition to your account will be a welcome one. But KrisFlyer miles also have a hard three-year expiry, so this won’t allow you to slowly bank up your miles over time. If anything, it’s an obligation on you to earn even more KrisFlyer miles, so that you can do something meaningful with the ones earned from your hotel stays.

There are no other airline programs affiliated with Ascott Star Rewards. This means you can’t earn Qantas Points, Velocity Points or other airline rewards when booking direct.

Is it worth joining Ascott Star Rewards?

My view on hotel loyalty programs has always been to consider how often you plan to stay with a particular chain or group. For a casual one-off stay where you’re unlikely to return, you might prefer to simply book through a platform like Qantas Hotels. That would give a solid serving of Qantas Points, which may be more useful.

Otherwise, when booking direct, you’d earn ASR points, for which you’d have to stay again to redeem. And on that stay, you’d likely earn more points – which you can only earn when you stay again. And so on, and so on (that’s the point!).

That said, if you’ll be a regular guest at hotels affiliated with Ascott Star Rewards, the program has stronger appeal. Perks like free Wi-Fi, late check-out and a higher points earning rate (via elite bonuses) bring more value when you can use those benefits again and again throughout the year.

At the end of the day, Ascott Star Rewards is free to join, so you have nothing to lose. The only question will be whether you’ll be better rewarded by booking direct and earning points with the hotel, or using a third-party platform like Qantas Hotels to accrue points somewhere else. The best option will ultimately depend on your own travel habits, and where else you’re already earning points.

Frequently asked questions

Featured imaged courtesy of Ascott Orchard Singapore. Membership card compilation graphic by Chris Chamberlin from source imagery courtesy of Ascott Star Rewards.

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