HoteLux offering status match for KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club members

HoteLux is a hotel booking app that allows you to access travel advisor rates at over 4,000 luxury hotels worldwide, without the added hassle of actually contracting an advisor, for exclusive perks on your booking and the ability to earn hotel loyalty points, elite night credits and HoteLux Points on your booking.

HoteLux Elite members can tap rates from the likes of Virtuoso, Marriott STARS and Rosewood Elite, including things like third night free offers, additional hotel credit, and elite membership perks, often at the hotel’s best available rate.

Benefits when booking through HoteLux as an Elite or Elite Plus member during your stay include:

• Daily breakfast for two
• US$100 dining or spa credit
• Welcome amenity
• Early check in and late check out (subject to availability)
• Room upgrades (subject to availability)

HoteLux doesn’t take any payment from you – instead your card details are used simply to secure any reservation, and you’ll pay directly at the hotel.

You can download the HoteLux app via the QR code above, or via the App Store or Google Play.

Status match for KrisFlyer members

Between now and the end of 2023, HoteLux is offering Singapore Airlines frequent flyers holding KrisFlyer Elite Gold status and above a complimentary status match in its programme, as follows.

HoteLux KrisFlyer Status Match

KrisFlyer Membership Tier	HoteLux Membership Status
KrisFlyer Elite Gold	HoteLux Elite
PPS Club Solitaire PPS Club	HoteLux Elite Plus

Your status tier will be upgraded to HoteLux Elite or HoteLux Elite Plus for 12 months, based on your existing KrisFlyer or PPS status tier.

A 12-month subscription to HoteLux Elite usually costs US$299, while HoteLux Elite Plus costs US$499. You can also currently earn HoteLux Elite status for three months by referring five friends to the programme.

Enjoy accelerated status match with HoteLux as a PPS Club or KrisFlyer Elite Gold member! Get ready for an unforgettable journey complete with welcome letters and gifts at select participating hotels – just another way we make sure you feel special every time you travel.

Singapore Airlines

You must submit your status match request no later than 31st December 2023, so if you’re a KrisFlyer Elite Gold member on your way to PPS Club membership and will hit that tier before the end of the year, it’s probably better to hold off applying until then to score HoteLux Elite Plus.

To retain your status after the 12-month match expires you will need to earn a specific number of qualifying nights booked through HoteLux within the upgraded membership year, as follows.

HoteLux Status Retention Requirements

HoteLux Status	Qualifying Nights Required
HoteLux Elite	15 nights
HoteLux Elite Plus	30 nights

We’ve updated our comprehensive articles covering KrisFlyer Elite Gold and PPS Club earning and benefits to include this status match offer, which you can refer to via the links below.

How to apply

Before you start, you’ll need a copy of your current KrisFlyer or PPS Club membership card, which you can access via your profile when logged on via singaporeair.com under the “Profile” > “Membership card” link.

Note that the digital membership card on the SingaporeAir mobile app is not accepted by HoteLux, it has to be the one you can download from the desktop site.

HoteLux has provided the following step-by-step guide to unlocking your 12-month status match via its mobile app.

HoteLux will email you to advise whether your status match is approved, within five to seven business days.

Do note that you won’t be eligible for this status match if you have participated in a previous HoteLux status match, or have received an “Elite Status Exception” in the past.

Full terms and conditions are available via the HoteLux app.

First booking promotion for PPS Club members

As part of this promotion, PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club members who match to HoteLux Elite Plus status can benefit from a cash back promotion on their first booking.

PPS Club and Solitaire PPS Club
Cash Back Offer

Qualifying Booking Value	Cash Back
S$1,000	S$80
S$2,000	S$160
S$3,000	S$240
S$4,000	S$320
S$5,000	S$400

To take advantage of this offer after your status match has been approved, you will need to book and complete your first stay by 31st October 2023 (update – now by 31st December 2023).

This 8% cash back will be credited to your PayNow account no later than 30th November 2023 (update – now by 31st January 2024).

The registered name of your PayNow account must match your registered name in the PPS Club or Solitaire PPS Club programme, and the lead guest’s name in the hotel booking itself.

Full terms and conditions are available via the HoteLux app.

Convert HoteLux Points to KrisFlyer miles

As part of this new partnership, it’ll also soon be possible to convert your HoteLux Points into KrisFlyer miles.

Unfortunately the conversion ratios are not very attractive.

HoteLux Points to KrisFlyer miles

HoteLux Membership Status	Conversion Rate
HoteLux Elite	1 Point    3 KF Miles with the following transfer options: • 4,000 Points = 12,000 KF Miles • 5,000 Points = 15,000 KF Miles • 6,000 Points = 18,000 KF Miles
HoteLux Elite Plus	1 Point    4 KF Miles with the following transfer options: • 4,000 Points = 16,000 KF Miles • 5,000 Points = 20,000 KF Miles • 6,000 Points = 24,000 KF Miles
HoteLux 1A Club	1 Point    5 KF Miles with the following transfer options: • 4,000 Points = 20,000 KF Miles • 5,000 Points = 25,000 KF Miles • 6,000 Points = 30,000 KF Miles

HoteLux points are worth US$0.09 (around S$0.12) each as room vouchers against future stays.

That is usually much better value than you’ll achieve when converting them to KrisFlyer miles, otherwise you are effectively ‘buying’ KrisFlyer miles at 4 Singapore cents, 3 Singapore cents or 2.4 Singapore cents each respectively for these three membership tiers.

That’s unlikely to be of any interest to our readers, since you’ll almost never realise such high valuations for your miles even when used for future First and Business Class flight redemptions.

While Singapore Airlines has already announced these conversion rates from HoteLux Points to KrisFlyer miles, the functionality in the app has yet to be added (it’s still listed as “launching soon”).

That means we don’t currently have information on the transfer block sizes available, until this option is added to the app.

It will be interesting to see what the block sizes are, since HoteLux points are actually quite difficult to use. Currently the room voucher options comprise:

• US$800 voucher for 8,799 Points
• US$700 voucher for 7,699 Points
• US$600 voucher for 6,599 Points
• US$500 voucher for 5,499 Points
• US$400 voucher for 4,399 Points

Points can be used as part payment for a booking – so you can use the US$400 voucher, for example, for a stay of US$450 (you’ll pay the rest separately in this case).

It will be very interesting to see how the KrisFlyer redemption block sizes look, since this could present a way to ‘cash out’ a smaller volume of HoteLux points you don’t want or won’t be adding to in future, perhaps more optimally than the above options.

The big benefit of HoteLux isn’t that it offers anything luxury travel advisors can’t, but that the whole process can be completed quickly and directly though its mobile app, without the need to pick up the phone or rely and back-and-forth emails.

Being able to access these Elite membership tiers as a KrisFlyer Elite Gold or PPS Club member for 12 months for free is therefore definitely worth considering, between now and the end of 2023.

There’s also a cash back offer for your first booking as a PPS Club or Solitaire PPS Club member, while the ability to convert HoteLux points into KrisFlyer miles is unlikely to be of interest, unless some useful transfer block sizes are offered.

(Cover Photo: Soneva Jani)