Last year, taking advantage of the new route launch, I quickly redeemed a Virgin Atlantic ticket from London to Seoul, which solved my Easter trip back home. Now that the recent tensions in the Middle East has made Europe – Asia flights more scarce, I’m feeling very lucky.
I booked a Marriott hotel in Seoul, and today when I opened the app, I saw a push notification and discovered an interesting partnership in South Korea with Shinsegae Duty Free:
- Marriott Gold → Shinsegae Black tier
- Marriott Titanium and above → Shinsegae VIP tier
- Shinsegae Black and above → Marriott Silver
- Earn 2 Marriott points for every 1,000 KRW spent at Shinsegae (1,000-point monthly cap)
After going to Shinsegae’s website, registering, and linking my Marriott account via the designated link, my Titanium status was instantly matched to VIP.
Shinsegae has five membership tiers: Silver, Gold, Black, VIP, and S VIP. Gold seems quite easy to obtain through various promotional channels and offers a 15% discount. VIP, on the other hand, normally requires $16,000 in annual spending. In reality, it only adds two extra benefits:
- 20% discount
- Access to the VIP lounge on the 9th floor of the Myeongdong Shinsegae store (plus one guest)
For a status obtained for free, I cannot complain about better discounts and lounge access for a bit of fun.
There are also two limited-time offers:
- Spend $300 by the end of March to receive an extra 2,000 Marriott points
- Claim six coupons (three online, three offline)
After claiming them, I realised the coupons are only valid until the end of the month, which is a bit annoying. Maybe I should’ve waited until next month to claim them?
Shinsegae has stores in Myeongdong and at both terminals of Incheon Airport. I’ll probably check them out on my trip, and if you’ve got recommendations on what to buy or how to best use this membership, feel free to share!
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