Singapore: Ascott has launched Ascott Star Rewards, which it describes as the first serviced residence loyalty programme to offer full flexibility to earn and redeem points.
Ascott Star Rewards membership is free. Members can earn and redeem points from direct bookings at all participating serviced residences under the Ascott, Citadines, Citadines Connect, Somerset, The Crest Collection or lyf brands globally.
Members can enjoy a range of privileges including year-long 10 per cent off Best Flexible Rates, seasonal offers of up to 50 per cent discount, property opening specials, birthday discounts of up to 40 per cent, early check-in and late check-out, as well as complimentary airport transfers, room upgrades and breakfast3.
To celebrate the launch of Ascott Star Rewards, members will receive 3,000 bonus points upon sign-up via Ascott’s brand websites. Existing Ascott Online Advantage members, who will be automatically upgraded to Ascott Star Rewards, will enjoy a tier match based on their spending with Ascott in 2018 and receive 5,000 bonus points upon their first completed stay from now till 31 December 2019.
Ascott Star Rewards members will have the flexibility to exchange points with My TAUZIA Privilege loyalty programme from 1 June 2019, and this flexibility will be extended to other loyalty programmes such as CapitaStar; as well as the donation of points to CapitaLand’s philanthropic arm, CapitaLand Hope Foundation, to support the underprivileged. At a later phase, there are plans to work with partners to allow members to redeem points for various treats such as shopping, dining and entry to attractions.
As part of Ascott’s digital transformation efforts, Ascott Star Rewards is offering members no cap to the points that can be earned, no minimum points required for redemption, no blackout dates, and the option to nominate other guests to earn points. Its four membership tiers are based on the guest’s accumulated spending during the qualifying period, starting with the complimentary Classic membership tier, followed by Silver, Gold and Platinum. In addition to the full flexibility to earn points instantly, members can also easily redeem the points in part or in full through Ascott’s websites for complimentary stays and other privileges.
Alfred Ong, Ascott’s head of global operations, said: “Ascott already has a strong sales team globally that generates more than 50 per cent of our revenue directly from corporates. We are rolling out Ascott Star Rewards to drive more direct bookings on our websites and reduce our cost of sales. We aim to increase our brand websites’ share of online revenue to 40-50 per cent of total online revenue by 2021. Within the first 10 days of soft launching this new loyalty programme, the number of room nights booked on our websites by members has tripled and online revenue through our websites has grown by 50 per cent. Ascott Star Rewards will provide us with a systematic examination of our guest data to identify, attract and retain the most profitable customers, while cultivating and signing on new customers in new markets.”
To complement the launch of Ascott Star Rewards, Ascott has revamped its booking websites to enable members to access their rewards, redemptions, booking history and preferences on a personalised dashboard. It has also enhanced members’ online experience by streamlining its room booking process from six to three steps.</p
