While many travellers are familiar with airline and hotel loyalty programs, you should know that you can also earn points through other aspects of travelling that you may not have considered before.
For example, you might be surprised to hear that Plaza Premium and its parent company Plaza Premium Group have a loyalty program called Smart Traveller. You might even be more surprised to hear that you can earn points even when accessing lounges for free as a credit card benefit.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through Plaza Premium’s Smart Traveller program, including how to redeem the points you earn on your lounge visits.
What Is Plaza Premium Smart Traveller?
Smart Traveller is the Plaza Premium Group’s loyalty program. You might wonder why a lounge access provider would come up with loyalty program, especially when many individuals have complimentary access through credit cards and are bound to access lounges anyway.
For one, while Plaza Premium faces little competition at Canadian airports, there are cities around the world where there are many lounge choices available to passengers. Singapore Changi is a good example of this, as Plaza Premium competes with a number of other lounge providers at the airport.
More importantly, the Plaza Premium Group isn’t only a lounge provider; it also has a range of other airport services under its scope, including hotels and concierge services, as well as food and beverage offerings. Needless to say, Plaza Premium wants you to know about and be loyal to all of the brands under their umbrella.
When you sign up for Smart Traveller, you can score discounts and also earn Arrture points on the above brands. In turn, you can redeem Arrture points on Plaza Premium Group services, as well as for a wide variety of merchandise and gift cards.
How to Sign Up for Plaza Premium Smart Traveller
As with other frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs, Smart Traveller is available to anyone worldwide.
To sign up for an account, either download the Smart Traveller app on Apple App Store or Google Play, or sign up through the website.
Simply fill out the form with your basic information, agree to the program’s privacy policy, and enter a verification code. And that’s it – you’re already a member!
If you signed up using the website, be sure to download the app too, since it contains your membership info and the QR code you need to show to earn points on your lounge visits.
Furthermore, upon signing up, you’ll immediately be eligible for the following discounts:
- 20% discount on paid Plaza Premium Lounge visits
- 10% discount on paid Plaza Premium First visits
- 10% additional discount at Aerotel
- 10% discount at Plaza Premium Group’s Airport Dining
- 10% discount on ALLWAYS concierge services in Hong Kong
How to Earn Arrture Points with Smart Traveller
Whenever you visit a Plaza Premium Lounge anywhere in the world, be sure to present your membership QR code upon entry. It’s important to note that you should also proactively ask for your Arrture points to be credited, since based on past experience, lounge attendants don’t usually volunteer the points.
Visits to Plaza Premium Lounges earn the following amounts of Arrture points:
- 100 Arrture Points for complimentary visits through credit cards (excluding Priority Pass), airline invitations, travel passes, corporate deals, etc.
- 150 Arrture Points for every paid entry from online bookings and walk-ins
Note that other Plaza Premium-affiliated lounges, such as Avianca lounges, do not award points for visits.
Keep in mind that you can get complimentary access to Plaza Premium Lounges around the world with the American Express Platinum Card and the Business Platinum Card by American Express, as well as qualifying Canadian credit cards with DragonPass memberships.
You can also earn Arrture points with other Plaza Premium Group brands as a member of the Smart Traveller loyalty program, with earning rates as follows:
- 2 Arrture points per US dollar spent on Aerotel bookings
- 1 Arrture point per US dollar spent on airport dining
Aerotel is the group’s hotel chain that’s available at airports in London (LHR), Rio de Janeiro (GIG), Singapore (SIN), and Sydney (SYD). Meanwhile, Plaza Premium’s airport dining concepts include The Bar, TGM, Route 98, Lee Fa Yuen Express, and The Terrace.
Aside from Plaza Premium Group’s brands, you can also earn Arrture points through Smart Traveller’s shopping portal. To access it, log into the Smart Traveller website and click on the “Points” tab at the top.
Navigate towards the bottom of the page, and you’ll find “Discover More”, which lists partner merchants and websites. While the selection is relatively Asia-centric, it also includes websites and brands that you won’t find on usual cash back sites like Rakuten.
For example, Trip.com, one of the world’s largest online travel agencies, offers the following earning rates:
- 60 Arrture points for any train booking
- 24 Arrture points per $10 (USD) spent on any hotel booking
- 24 Arrture points for any Mainland China domestic booking
- 12 Arrture points per $10 (USD) spent on any tours and ticket bookings
- 4 Arrture points per $10 (USD) spent on any international flight booking
Lastly, until end of 2023, you can earn bonus points through referrals. Refer three friends and you get 200 Arrture points, and when each one of your referrals makes a points-earning activity, you get an extra 100 points.
How to Redeem Arrture Points through Smart Traveller
Once you’ve earned Arrture points, you can redeem them for Plaza Premium Group services, as well as merchandise and gift cards. Points redemptions are available via the Smart Traveller website or app.
To view the catalogue and redeem, click on the “Redeem” tab on the app or the “Rewards” tab on the website.
For Plaza Premium Group’s services, some examples of redemptions are as follows:
- 30-minute shower package at Plaza Premium Lounge: 1,500 points
- Plaza Premium Lounge/Aerotel $20 (USD) voucher: 2,500 points
- Access voucher for Plaza Premium Lounge Toronto (YYZ): 2,800 points
- Aerotel Kuala Lumpur 6-hour room package: 8,000 points
- Dallas (DFW) departure meet and greet: 15,000 points
The selection of merchandise and gift cards are mostly redeemable in Hong Kong, where Plaza Premium Group is headquartered, but you’ll still see a few for Canada and the US.
Examples of possible redemptions are as follows:
- Best Buy $25 (CAD) e-gift card: 2,325 points
- Walmart $25 (CAD) e-gift card: 3,100 points
- Target $50 (USD) e-gift card: 5,625 points
- Apple $50 (USD) e-gift card: 7,500 points
As you can see, some gift cards cost more than others, so make sure to pick the ones that allow you to attain more value for your Arrture points should you decide to go this route.
Given that one visit to a Plaza Premium Lounge using your credit card earns you 100 points, you’d need at least 15—25 visits to redeem your points for anything meaningful. But there’s no downside to collecting Arrture points on these visits, since you’re likely getting in for free anyway.
You might just have to put in a little effort at the front desk in proactively asking for the Arrture points, since again, the lounge staff usually don’t offer you the points on their own accord.
Conclusion
Plaza Premium and its parent company, the Plaza Premium Group, have a loyalty program called Smart Traveller. Lounge visits, including free ones with qualifying credit cards, earn Arrture points that can be redeemed for Plaza Premium Group’s services, as well as merchandise and gift cards.
At the earning rate of 100 Arrture points per Plaza Premium Lounge visit through a credit card, it might take some time for you to redeem for anything meaningful. But since you’re likely getting lounge access for free anyway, you may as well cover all your bases and add Smart Traveller and its Arrture points to the list of benefits and optimizations in your Miles & Points journey.
A couple of things that were left out.
For those who do not have unlimited lounge access, there is an ongoing promotion for bonus points upon the first visit but it requires a paid visit… so just pay for entry the first time you use the program. On your following visits, you could use your DragonPasses for free entries and points.
If you add your birthday they also give double the points for lounge visits during your birth month. The extra birthday points were posted at the end of the month for me.
The app is pretty straightforward and easy to use. I can see myself using the points on a shower eventually. Hopefully, with enough popularity, the program will grow.
I meant to sign up prior to my trip but didn’t have any referral codes so I waited and then forgot. Later on my way back from Brazil upon checking in at the Plaza Premium lounge in Rio de Janeiro with my DragonPass, I remembered the program and quickly signed up and was able to get the points for the visit.