I’ve just come across a few new Mastercard promotions in China, and some of them are actually quite useful, especially if you are going to visit the country.
Airbnb
First up is a partnership with Airbnb. Simply sign in to your Airbnb account and enter the promo code MASTERCARD300 to activate the offer.
Once activated:
- Get RMB 300 off a single booking of at least RMB 3,000
- If your Airbnb account is registered in another country, the discount will be converted into the equivalent local currency
- Valid until the end of the year
You don’t have to pay with a Mastercard, and the stay can be anywhere in the world. Availability is limited, though, so it’s worth activating sooner rather than later.
Alipay
The next two offers are aimed at overseas visitors in mainland China. The first is for Alipay.
- The offer runs until the end of the year
- Receive a RMB 30 off coupon when spending RMB 300 after linking an eligible Mastercard for the first time, valid for 7 days
- There’s also a separate RMB 30 off coupon for purchases of RMB 1,000 or more
According to the terms, eligible cards include Mastercard credit and debit cards issued outside mainland China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
That said, transactions over RMB 300 incur a 3% handling fee, so the actual saving isn’t quite as attractive as it first appears.
Hainan Hotels
The final promotion is a dedicated campaign for hotels in Hainan, an island that has a very generous visa-waiver policy, and is a very popular tourist attraction.
- The offer runs until the end of the year
- Spend RMB 1,000 or more at participating hotels and receive RMB 200 back
- Each eligible Mastercard can claim the rebate once per hotel, up to three times in total
The promotion covers 65 hotels, including international brands such as Ritz-Carlton, InterContinental, Hilton and Sofitel.
Eligible cards can be issued in a wide range of countries and regions, some of them being UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, US and Canada.
In general, hotels are happy to split the bill across multiple cards at checkout. If you happen to have several eligible Mastercards, you could effectively bring the overall cost down to around 20% off.
One thing to note is that payment must be made by physically using a POS terminal, and the transaction must be settled in RMB. To be honest I am a bit sceptical, because from my personal experience, many of such POS terminals in China are wrongly coded, which means the offer may not trigger successfully.
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