The last holdout is caving. The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore — the only Ritz-Carlton on earth that didn't participate in Marriott Bonvoy — will start earning and redeeming points from 1 December 2026.
For years this 608-room landmark near Marina Bay was a trap for loyalty points collectors. Book it through Bonvoy channels and you'd get a stay with no points, no elite night credits and no night-earning on your credit card spend. Plenty of guests only discovered this at check-in.
The backstory is a legacy contract quirk. The hotel opened in 1996, before Ritz-Carlton ran any points-based loyalty programme at all. When Ritz-Carlton Rewards launched in 2010 alongside Marriott Rewards, participation was optional for individual properties, since each hotel had to pay fees to fund the points. Osaka and Singapore initially opted out; Osaka eventually came around, leaving Singapore alone. Even after the Marriott-Starwood merger created Bonvoy, the hotel's owners could keep sitting out under their old agreement.
Why the change of heart now? No official word, but the logic is easy to read. Singapore's hotel market is crowded and getting more competitive, this is a huge property with 600-plus rooms to fill nightly, and the hotel is nearly three decades old. Loyalty programmes are among the cheapest tools for driving occupancy — the owners have presumably decided the loyalty fees are worth the extra heads in beds. There's also the reputational angle: even when the hotel disclosed its non-participation clearly, travellers still felt short-changed when their expected points didn't materialise.
One expectation to manage: Bonvoy perks at Ritz-Carlton properties are modest. Elite status won't get you free breakfast at this brand, so don't bank on the upgrade in perks being dramatic. What you'll get is standard points earning, redemption options, and elite-night credits — which is still a big deal for anyone chasing Bonvoy status or planning an award stay in Singapore.
Practically speaking, the timing matters. If you're staying at the Ritz-Carlton Millenia before 1 December 2026, treat it as a non-Bonvoy stay and book on whatever rate or programme suits you best. From that date onwards, it finally makes sense to route the stay through Bonvoy — especially if you're a few nights short of a status tier or sitting on a points balance you want to burn on a Singapore suite.
For Singapore regulars, this also rounds out the local Marriott portfolio nicely: between the St Regis, JW Marriott, W Sentosa Cove and now the Ritz-Carlton, Bonvoy collectors have a genuinely strong spread of properties to build a Singapore trip around. It was odd having the city's most recognisable luxury hotel locked out of the programme; that oddity ends in December 2026.
Story first reported by One Mile at a Time.
