Redeem your vouchers and rewards from loyalty programmes before they expire this year end

Over the past years, I have had several instances of vouchers and rewards points expiring before I get to even use them. Even though the equivalent dollar value could be minimal, my heart still ached during those instances. I am determined to reduce the frequency of such incidents by setting a year-end reminder in my calendar. As the year winds down to a close, it is a wonderful time to do some housekeeping. I did an exhaustive scan of my mobile phone and here are some of the common loyalty programmes that my readers may also be on.

1) Digital Wallets

Grab

Top of my priority list would be Grab as it is my main mobile wallet when paying at hawker centers and heartland shops. As I do not drive, I occasionally take Grab rides to get to more remote destinations. As a result, I do rack up quite a fair bit of GrabRewards Points as shown in Diagram 1.

My Platinum status is also expiring by the end of this year unless I accumulate another 2,690 points during the remaining period. There is too little time left to achieve this milestone so I will not stress myself over it. In the past, I have redeemed $5 CapitaStar vouchers with 1,250 GrabRewards Points during flash promotions. Therefore, I have until at least June next year to redeem my GrabRewards Points. Let me know if you know of a better redemption deal!

Singtel Dash

Besides Grab wallet, I sometimes also use Singtel Dash wallet (Referral code: DASH-AFSAP) to pay at the heartland stalls. Here’s how you can check your expiring Dash Rewards points.

Instarem

When I travel overseas or remit monies, Instarem is my default mobile app to reach out to. I use the Instarem card to double-dip by earning points on Instarem platform as well as the usual rewards from the underlying credit card.

I no longer use the Instarem card for local purchases because they are no longer as attractive as compared to the past.

2) Shopping

This is a major category because shopping is one of the favourite pastimes for Singaporeans. It is a social venue where families and friends gather to dine out and escape from the stifling heat at the same time.

CapitaStar

In this category, I generally favour CapitaStar because of the number of malls around my vicinity.

For the electronic CapitaStar vouchers, I can see that their expiry is still some time away. I do have physical CapitaStar vouchers which I have to track manually on my calendar though.

To my readers, I will advise that most people stick to their favourite neighbourhood mall to accumulate points quickly. Therefore, it may not be CapitaStar but Frasers Experience, shopFarEast (Referral code: P5koUB), GREAT Rewards (Referral code: nmFxYK) or even Changi Rewards etc instead.

FairPrice

Thanks to readers who have been using my promo code to sign up for Trust Bank to redeem freebies worth over $42, I have directed all my groceries spend from Sheng Shiong to NTUC FairPrice to utilize the vouchers. As a result, this has allowed me to accumulate a sizeable amount of Linkpoints which I use regularly to offset my grocery bills. That is why my Linkpoints still have some time before they expire as shown in Diagram 5.

For those who have not done so, you may want to download Trust Bank mobile app to collect a $25 NTUC voucher once you make your first spend on the Trust Card. You can use my referral code (S7CEKBDE) and I sincerely thank you in advance for your support!

3) Food & Beverage

Starbucks

I often take advantage of the occasional Starbucks 1 for 1 promotion and share it with my colleagues or wife.  Otherwise, I find Starbucks to be really expensive coffee!

Although not technically a reward programme, do check if there are any vouchers you would like to use on the Entertainer App as they all expire on 30 Dec 2022. I am on the programme courtesy of my HSBC Advance Credit Card and it has helped me save a ton of monies when dining out.

4) Travel

Singapore Airlines

Even though I do not actively chase miles, I do have a fair bit of KrisFlyer miles accumulated from business and leisure travels. Due to the pandemic, all expiring miles in 2022 would be automatically extended by 6 months as shown in Diagram 7.

Therefore, I do have to start worrying over my miles expiring from 2023 onwards. As shown in Diagram 8, I have about 33K miles expiring gradually over 2023 and it is the perfect excuse to plan a holiday for next year!

Hotel

The only Hotel loyalty programmes where I have attained a status worth maintaining are GHA Discovery and IHG One Rewards. These were all attained during the Covid-19 pandemic when the barriers were so low.

I utilized my Global Hotel Alliance Loyalty Programme status when I stayed at Anantara Desaru Coast Resort this October. Some of the privileges included double room upgrade, early check in, late check out, welcome amenity, $50 room credit, 7% cashback etc. It was such a good value proposition that I booked a return trip shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately, I am unlikely to go the extra mile to renew the IHG status so I am happy to let it simply expire.

5) Vouchers

From time to time, we also receive Takashimaya vouchers as gifts during birthdays and festive periods. Thankfully, they are popular because there’s no expiry date. Last but not least, do not forget to redeem your CDC vouchers. They will expire by 31 Dec 2022, so do check out this government website on where you can spend your CDC vouchers. Don’t let this free money flow down the drain. I have peers who forgot about their Singapore Rediscover Vouchers when they expired last year so do not let history repeat itself!

Hope you have enjoyed this article and do share it as it serves as a form of public service announcement, especially for the CDC vouchers.