If you have been following the TLFL team tier point run from Bucharest to Phoenix you may have been tempted by the cheap business class fare which is still around. Planned correctly, if you do a hardcore run like Paul, you could get 1040 tier points not including any positioning flights. However, this does mean routeing a rather ambitious London-Bucharest-London-Helsinki-London-New York- Los Angeles- Phoenix and then back, so it’s not for the faint-hearted.

Even if you are not into tier point runs, Scottsdale is one of my favourite winter sun destinations. It’s a sophisticated desert resort with upmarket shops, restaurants and art galleries with a scenic red mountain and cacti backdrop. You can read my Scottsdale and Phoenix tier point break guide here.

The Phoenician has been undergoing a very significant renovation of not only the rooms, but also the whole hotel including a new spa and athletic club. At the time I visited two of the restaurants were still being renovated but due to open in the autumn.

The best time to visit is generally late October to February and then April. March is best avoided due to the very high hotel prices as many American come here to watch the baseball Spring training games. If you can stand the heat, the summer offers some incredible bargains but it will be at least 36°c over the summer months and even at night it often doesn’t dip below 26°c.

Location

The Phoenician is a 15-20 minute drive from the airport in an Uber which costs around £20 for Uber X or £26 for Uber select. They are easy to get from the airport. It has a handy location only about 5 minutes drive from the centre of Scottsdale where there is a large upscale mall, Old Town and plenty of restaurants with outdoor dining.

Check-in

The check-in area felt modern but luxurious as you enter facing the bar and terrace with its panoramic views of the mountains and landscape. The check-in desks were individual stand-alone ones rather than one long desk which was an unusual touch. The person checking me in was very professional and friendly and I was immediately offered a bottle of water. I had already pre-arranged a specific room with the hotel as I was keen to stay in a quiet location. As I knew it was in a separate building I got the porter to bring my luggage. I asked for them to be as quick as possible as I was meeting TLFL’s Claudio for some drinks and dinner and sure enough, the bags arrived only a few moments after I did in the room.

Room

I had a grand deluxe room which I knew was quite a walk from reception. The hotel is set out in 2 main parts – the main building overlooking the pools and golf course and then a second wing which overlooks the cactus garden.

Post from RICOH THETA. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

My first impression of it was that it was one of the largest hotel rooms I had stayed in which wasn’t classed as a suite and in fact, in most places, this would be a junior suite. As you walked there were 2 wardrobes, a vanity desk with stool and magnifying mirror and then the bathroom. Next came the bed with a huge flatscreen TV on a large bank of cupboards and drawers then finally a living area with both seats and a decent size table. Outside was an enormous terrace with sofa, chairs and a table and chairs. The terrace had good views of part of the golf course with the mountains and palm trees in the distance.

Bottled water was supplied on a twice-daily basis with 4 bottles a day. This was very welcome in the heat! The bed was large and very comfortable with lovely fluffy pillows and soft, high-quality linens. The air conditioning did not seem as if it had been upgraded as it was one of the loud old-fashioned types that was very noisy, although it was effective despite the extreme heat. Initially, it was making a loud clunking noise every time it switched off but, after a chat with reception, by the time I returned to the room later, it had been fixed.

The position of the TV was irritating as it appeared to be fixed to the wall meaning you couldn’t really see it from the living area which I thought was a bit of an oversight. Turn down service was done on 3 out of 4 nights with more water and chocolates too. I found housekeeping good when they came but the first day the room was not done until after 5pm which I thought was poor.

Bathroom

Dining

There is also a small cafe that does a few bits of food such as sandwiches and cakes to eat in or take away as well as a bottle of wine if you didn’t want to pay the room service prices.

Facilities

Pools

The Phoenician has several pools to choose from including the adults-only pool and a large jacuzzi. For the kids, there is even a water slide.  There is also a rooftop pool at the spa if you have an appointment there. Pool service is generally pretty attentive with chairs set up for you and jugs of iced water to keep you cool brought round regularly.

I enjoyed a cocktail or two from the menu by the pool as well as lunch. There was a good choice of bespoke cocktails and healthy or naughty lunches.

Golf Course

Fitness

Conclusion

Spa

The spa has been completely renovated so I headed there a few times in the name of research to have some treatments (and hangover recovery after the Flyertalk do, though I am not sure my snoring in the treatment was a welcome addition for the therapist!). The spa has a big range of facilities and treatments with a Nail Lounge, Drybar and luxurious treatments rooms. I tried Drybar for the first time and enjoyed the experience even if I did end up looking like an American prom queen! (fortunately, I managed to rescue it before I appeared in public).

The spa felt very luxurious and in the ladies area it had a vitality pool, steam and sauna along with the usual changing room facilities. There are also two relaxation areas – a quiet one with beds and the main lounge which has snacks, tea and water whilst you wait for your therapist. Spa facilities are available when you book a 50-minute treatment or more or you can pay to use them.

The treatments I had were pretty pricey as they usually are in the US at 5* hotels but they were extremely good. The treatment tables were amazingly comfortable, they almost felt like memory foam as you almost sank slightly into them and they were fully adjustable to maximum comfort. There was also a menu of add-on 25-minute treatments which I like rather than just having a longer massage as it gives some variety. I tried the salt stone massage, an Artisan massage with add-ons of a scalp massage and reflexology.

Kids Club

The Funicians Club is a daily, supervised program designed for children between the ages of 5 and 12. Each day features numerous
outdoor activities and indigenous arts and crafts. The Night Owls program also offered daily, allows parents to enjoy an evening
out while the kids have their own special time.

Cactus Garden

You can have a short stroll around the hotel’s cactus gardens with numerous species and some interesting sculptures too.

 

The post The Phoenician Hotel, a Luxury collection hotel, Scottsdale, Phoenix review in 360° appeared first on Turning left for less.

You will notice that today’s article is written by Jack Flower who you will probably never have heard of. Jack has been spending a week on work experience at TLFL and has produced most of this article. As well as a budding travel hacker, Jack writes his own blog Nothing of Interest. Today I shall be having take two of trying to get my gallbladder removed as the last op was cancelled at the last minute due to a power failure (better than when I was mid-operation I suppose). So I will be out of contact today and probably be a bit slower the rest of the week to reply to comments and social media. Thanks again for all your well wishes last time – I shall carry them over to today!

How to book hotel stays for nearly 50% discount in Marriott/SPG Merger

From August onwards it will be possible to book hotels from SPG and Marriott’s portfolio of hotels and resorts using points at a much cheaper rate.

The Marriott / SPG merger means that – as of August – you will be able to book hotels for both schemes in one place. The combination of both hotel redemption schemes is going to put all hotels into 8 categories. However, the Category 8 hotels under the new scheme will be Category 7 until the beginning of 2019, meaning significant savings can be made when booking with points before 2019 commences.

When booking over several nights this means you can save 40,000 points per night compared with 2019 peak prices, with the fifth night free offer remaining as it did in both previous schemes. Over a five night stay these savings can be well over 200,000 points for a five night stay when you add the discounted rate and free fifth night! But please note, these discounts will only stand when booking before 31st December 2018, after that the prices will rise.

Below is the new category scheme for the merger. The points listed are Marriott points. There is a 3:1 ratio between Marriott and SPG Points (3 Marriott Points = 1 SPG Point). More information on what categories hotels will be in can be found here.

Below I will show you some hotels where the most significant savings can be made. These are predominantly at what are currently Category 7 hotels in the SPG scheme, especially ones from SPG’s The Luxury Collection. A list of these hotels can be found on SPG here.

Hat tip to Matt Moffitt’s article on Point Hacks.  It is focussed on the Asian and Australian hotels, but if you have a holiday or big flight redemption planned in that region there are some great ideas on there.

The Wellesley Knightsbridge, A Luxury Collection Hotel, London

Current Cost for 5 nights – 140,000 SPG Points / 420,000 Marriott Points

Cost after August 2018 for 5 nights – 80,00 SPG Points / 240,000 Marriott Points

Cost after January 2019 for 5 nights – 400,000 Marriott Points

This luxury hotel in London is one of the most expensive to redeem using points in SPG, costing 35,000  SPG points (105,000 Marriott points) per night. It is perfect for a short break or longer stay; with only 36 rooms it offers a VIP experience. Save up to 40,000 Marriott points per night if booked after August this year, with a five night stay saving you over 180,000 points. That is a saving of 43%!

Al Maha, A Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai 

Current Cost for 5 nights – 140,000 SPG Points / 420,000 Marriott Points

Cost after August 2018 for 5 nights – 80,00 SPG Points / 240,000 Marriott Points

Cost after January 2019 for 5 nights – 400,000 Marriott Points

This hotel is again one of the most expensive on SPG’s books, with great discounts to be had if booked between August and December 2018. It does not matter if the booking is for a stay after this period, all that matters is that the booking is made within these months.

Other Hotels With Similar Saving Rates

The link for which hotel categories SPG, Ritz-Carlton and Marriott is here. Note the Category 8 Properties which say they will be 80,000 points per night are in fact only 60,000 points until January 2019. Below are some ones I thought looked particularly good:

• Cristallo, A Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Cortina D’Ampezzo

• Le Méridien Bora Bora

• Kenoa Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort, Barra De Sao Miguel, A Member Of Design Hotels

Transfer your Amex Reward Points across before they are devalued

These are just some of the hotels on offer. American Express Membership Reward Points transfer rates to Marriott Points will be devalued after 26th July, from 1:1.5 points, to 1:2/3 points.

So it is undoubtedly worth transferring these points across to Marriott before then if you are looking to redeem for one of these fantastic hotels in August!

Marriott, Ritz-Carlton and SPG Hotels which can be used in Partnership with Iberia’s Promo Avios

I am sure many of you will have a lot of Avios with Iberia thanks to their recent promotion, although I have heard news of many of you not receiving these air miles!  This offer gave you 9000 Avios per flight booked and allowed you to earn up to 90,000 Avios from the promotion. Unfortunately, this deal has now closed, closing on the 25th June. For more information on using your promotion Avios and when redemptions have to be made by, check out our article here.

Michele in that article pointed out some of the best destinations to go with Iberia using your bonus Iberia Avios. Below are some ideas of which Marriott or SPG hotels you could stay at when flying to these amazing destinations. All the points listed unless stated otherwise are Marriott points.

New York with Iberia for 68,000 Avios + £158

• Staying at AC Marriott Hotel New York Downtown
• Currently 35,000 points per night, from August 25,000 points per night
• This is a saving of 10,000 points per night!

Chicago with Iberia for 68,000 Avios + £158

• Staying at Aloft Chicago City Centre
• Currently 36,000 points per night, from August 25,000 points per night
• Again, saving 11,000 points per night!

Havana with Iberia for 102,000 Avios + £198.90

• Staying at Four Tops By Sheraton Havana
• Currently 36,000 points per night, after August 35,000 per night
• Savings of 1000 points a night

SPG Gold to new Marriott Elite status match update

A few months ago Marriott laid out how everyone would be transitioned to the new status levels in the combined Marriott Elite scheme. If you had used an SPG Gold status to match to a Marriott Gold you were likely to lose some good benefits if you were matched with the new Gold level.

The current Marriott Gold gives you free breakfast and executive lounge access amongst other benefits so was very useful. Marriott has also given some conflicting answers in terms of what Amex status holders would be matched to, Gold or Platinum. The latest answer was that you would only be matched to Marriott Gold Elite in the new scheme from August. The new Marriott Elite Gold gives you:

• Complimentary enhanced internet
• Ultimate Reservation Guarantee
• 25% points bonus
• Priority late checkout (2pm, subject to availability)
• Welcome gift (points)
• Upgrades to enhanced rooms

However, Reader E had already booked some Marriott rooms on the basis of the Marriott Gold benefits and contacted Marriott to enquire whether he could expect his original booking benefits to be honoured since he had booked primarily on the basis of the benefits. The reply he got is very interesting.

“You will automatically be moved to Platinum Elite status under the new programme so you will not lose any benefits.”

Reader E only has  the required 25 nights for Marriott Gold Elite so he should, in fact, have been matched to Marriott Gold Elite. Whilst at this point it seems unlikely that the match to Platinum will actually happen, it could be worth contacting Marriott to see if you could get a guarantee of any hotel benefits you were expecting if you booked prior to the announcement of the changes.

What do you think of these offers and the changes coming in August? Will you be redeeming your points for any of these hotels at the reduced rates when these changes go live?

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Qatar economy

We flew on a variety of Qatar’s aircraft types, B777-300ER, B787, A380 and A320. As a BA silver member we were able to use a lounge though unfortunately not Qatar’s own amazing lounge. That said, the lounge was perfectly acceptable and we were booked in for complimentary facials on arrival.

Once onboard the aircraft we were impressed with the space around the seats and the size of the entertainment screens. When the entertainment was up and running there was a huge selection of films both new and old. There were also several on-screen games (for both adults and children), TV shows and news programmes available. The quality of the screens was excellent and I would actually rate them as much better than some of the ones I’ve experienced in BA Business (especially those dreadful ones you have to ‘flick out’ on many of the older aircraft).

The Qatar cabin crew could teach BA a thing or two about customer service. They were all polite, efficient and just the right level of friendly throughout the entire flight. There was a good selection of quality alcoholic drinks available that didn’t run out during the flight. The menu choices for dinner were good and tasted great although it was the ‘all at once’ tray service which I really dislike but I suppose it’s the only practical way. The flight was just less than 7 hours and a warm snack was served about an hour before landing.

We had a tight transfer for our flight to Muscat so just headed straight to the gate without visiting a lounge. On our way home we had a little more time so visited the Qatar business class lounge for status holders that aren’t flying in business class. It was fairly basic and very busy when we were there. It wasn’t a patch on Qatar’s ‘proper’ Doha lounge which remains my favourite lounge of all.

The flight to Muscat was early hours and less than an hour long. The aircraft looked like it had just been taken out of it’s box it was so pristine. Although the flight was short the crew managed both a soft drink service then a further warm snack and soft drink service. The flight was surprisingly busy but the service never seemed rushed.

Immigration in Muscat is always, in my experience, quick and easy. A visa has to be purchased on arrival (at the currency exchange booth!) at a cost of OMR 20 which is roughly £37. There are always plenty of immigration staff to ensure a quick transit through immigration although they rarely utter a word to the visitors but chatter constantly to their colleagues. Baggage arrived quickly and we were in a taxi on the way to our hotel within 20 minutes. Taxis are all regulated and metered so are probably the best way to get to your hotel – hotel arranged transfers are often quite expensive.

Sheraton Oman

We arrived at The Sheraton, Oman at 06:00 local time hoping we could check in although we were actually only technically booked in from later that day. The manager said that he would only charge us for an early check in and not the standard half day rate which was a nice touch. While he processed our paperwork we chatted about the reason we were visiting Muscat on this occasion. As he handed us our room key he said ‘I think you’ve had enough stress so I have checked you in early free of charge’. Nice touch and appreciated by two very tired travellers!

The room was fresh and comfortable as I would expect from any reasonable Middle East hotel. My only criticism would be that the shower was over the bath and there was just one sink.

The pool

It is important to realise that this hotel is very much a business hotel in the middle of Muscat’s business area. It does not have a beach but the hotel provides a shuttle to and from the beach in the morning and afternoon. There is a small but beautifully landscaped swimming pool area with lifeguards on duty during opening hours. There were four jacuzzi beds actually in the shallow part of the pool which were very relaxing. The majority of the pool was covered which I’m sure is appreciated by all in summer.

The sun loungers had the poshest cushions I’ve ever seen on a sun bed. I was surprised that although the covers were embroidered jacquard type material they were very fresh and clean. The lifeguards insisted on arranging the towels on the loungers and positioning the beds in the sun although I would consider this is almost standard in the Middle East. The trees provide plenty of shade around the pool which although perfect for most meant that as a sun worshipper I had to ‘adjust position’ during the day. Actually it was the lifeguard that adjusted my sun bed position! There was a somewhat sporadic drinks and food service around the pool and alcohol was not served in that area after 15:00.

Dining

There are only two restaurants but again it should be remembered that this is predominantly a business hotel. The main restaurant is a buffet which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. One night a week there is a seafood buffet which is supposedly ‘famous’ in Muscat and highly rated by the locals. You could opt for with or without alcohol, cost with alcohol being OMR 40 (approx £75). This turned out to be amazing value and I wished it was done on more than one night! The seafood could not have been more fresh with a chef opening oysters as you asked for them. Lobster tails were plentiful and there was pretty much every other sort of seafood I could think of, all prepared to your personal taste. There was the usual salad, cheese and desert (including revolving gelato station!) buffet areas though I concentrated completely on the seafood!

In late November the weather was perfect to sit outside for dinner. I found that each time I turned my head away from the table my glass was refilled – that’s a compliment, not a criticism! There is another themed night which is ‘meat based’ and is slightly more expensive though we didn’t try it.

The other restaurant is a wonderful steak restaurant with staff knowledgeable about the content of the menu. We opted for tomahawk steak (beef fore rib) for two. It was cooked perfectly to our request (very rare) and full of flavour. It of course was served with side dishes and a jus of your choice. Neither of us managed to finish the sides but no meat remained! We adjourned to the adjacent bar for after dinner liqueurs – great selection and even better measures. This meal, including a decent bottle of red wine and liqueurs cost approximately £160 and was completely worth it.

There is a coffee and cake area in the lobby with an absolutely huge selection of cakes which I surprisingly managed to resist.

Club lounge

I was disappointed with the Club Lounge though I had to constantly remind myself that it was geared for business visitors. Soft drinks, tea, coffee and various snacks (which changed through the day) were available from 10:30 until 23:00. Complimentary alcoholic beverages were served from 18:00 until 20:00. The evening buffet was very disappointing. There were two hot offerings which repeated every second evening – onion rings, chicken wings and similar. Bread, basic salad items and sandwich fillers (egg mayonnaise, ham, cheese or tuna) were there if you fancied making yourself a sandwich! The cheeseboard was pitiful with only two cheeses – Edam and leerdammer. It lacked a couple of cheeses that actually had flavour! Strangely there were no crackers available and it was suggested that you could have bread with your cheese. There were a couple of mini cake offerings for dessert. The drinks service however was excellent.

Our flight home was overnight. I was quite surprised that I had found the outbound day flight in economy perfectly acceptable but after the return flight I’d changed my mind about ever choosing to fly medium / long haul economy again. I’m too old to try to sleep sitting up! I would however definitely consider flying economy with Qatar so long as it was day flights both ways. There are currently 5 flights daily each way between Heathrow and Doha so with a bit of forward planning day flights are easily available both ways.

Overall, although it was not the holiday that I had expected it was a perfectly good winter sun break. Temperatures by day were mid to high 20’s and by night high teens or low 20’s. The sky was clear blue every day (we actually saw one single small cloud in the whole time we were there!)

Conclusions

If you are happy to relax on a sun bed with a book this was a great holiday at a wonderful price (total was £2150 for both of us) but if you are more adventurous this isn’t the place for you. There is really nothing more than office blocks to see anywhere near the hotel though the rooms had a wonderful view of the Hajjar mountains. My husband did manage to find a military museum with an entrance fee of OMR 1 if you were desperate for some culture. I declined his invitation to go with him!

Would I do this again – economy flights and stay at The Sheraton?

Probably not but in our specific circumstances it was fine and for such a low total price of £2150 it’s worth consideration for a quick bit of guaranteed winter sun as a week in the likes of Tenerife can cost much the same. If I did it would most definitely have to be day flights both ways! All in all it’s highly unlikely that we would revisit this particular hotel as there are several lovely Muscat ‘leisure’ hotels. The Chedi is superb and would be my first choice though Shangri-la Al Bandar or Shangri-la Al Husn are excellent too. You can see more pictures of the Sheraton here.

I have no doubt that we will get to Bali at some point though having read Michele’s post on her recent trip to Mauritius (another place on my bucket list) I’ve just booked flights there for December 2018. I’m sincerely hoping that there are no volcanoes or other geographical phenomena on Mauritius that could result in another holiday hastily replanned in a Heathrow coffee shop!

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Lufthansa

Lufthansa has never been one of my favourite airlines for business class as the seats have never been particularly great (First class is a very different story though). The current Lufthansa seats, whilst being better than the sloping ones they have had, are still not great with the tiny footwell to cram your feet into whilst sleeping.

Lufthansa have now revealed a sneak peak of their new Business Class which will feature on their B777-9 from 2020.

In the meantime they will increase comfort for passengers from early 2018, with mattresses, new duvets, and pyjamas.

Their new seats will feature a flat bed with a length of up to 220 cm (86.6 inches). The seat has been specially designed to keep your spine straight when lying on your side as your shoulder will sink into the seat to creat the optimal position.

The Boeing 777-9 has a considerably wider cabin than previous B777s. This has been used to give all passengers direct access to the aisle with a 1-2-1 and 1-1-1 seat configuration. The new seats also provide customers with a significantly increased amount of personal space, more privacy, as well as generous storage compartments and flat surfaces. One thing I really like is the fact there are different seat layouts to choose from. Depending on your personal needs, you can choose between a number of configurations. For example, you can potentially choose to have an extended-length bed or a seat with twice as much desk space. I suspect the seats with the extra desk space will be the most popular seeing as they are like the popular throne seats on airlines such as Aer Lingus. What remains to be seen is how they are allocated. Will they charge a premium for selecting them or only allow their top tier frequent flyers to select them?

The new Business Class will also be technologically advanced. All the functions of the seat as well as the in-flight entertainment system can be controlled using your own smartphone or device. Smartphones and tablets can also be recharged at the seat using wireless technology.

Whilst they are waiting for the new product to arrive, Lufthansa will improve the current business class product much in the same way BA are doing with Club World. Mattresses that have been developed exclusively for Lufthansa and new blankets will be provided on long intercontinental flights from early 2018. Apparently you will also be able to request a sleeping sweater, whatever on earth that is??

SPG and Marriott Loyalty changes

As you are probably aware Marriott bought Starwood hotels recently and has been contemplating what to do with the 2 rewards programs. They had previously promised there would be no major changes until next year although they had allowed members to link their accounts and transfer points between the 2 schemes. The other advantage has been that if you had status in one program but not the other your status would automatically be matched across the two which is very useful. Marriott have now announced that the 2 programs will continue to remain separate for 2018.

The other announcements were about a close partnership with Hertz. Beginning in early 2018, Platinum members can register to receive Hertz Gold Plus Rewards^® Five Star^® Status, and Platinum Premier members can register to receive Hertz Gold Plus Rewards^® President’s Circle^® Status. There is more information here.

The final announcement was about rollover nights when gaining status. 2017 is the last year members can earn Elite Rollover nights. This means any 2017 nights earned in excess of Elite requirements will roll over toward 2018 status, but excess nights earned in 2018 will not roll over toward 2019 status.

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Hilton

Hilton hotels have extended their latest sale to the Middle East and Africa. I wrote about the European sale here, offering up to 25% off.  For participating hotels in the Middle East & Africa, stays must be booked between May 16, 2017 and September 4, 2017 and completed on weekends between May 19, 2017 and October 8, 2017, except as otherwise indicated.

The catches are the same as for the European sale. Full prepayment is required at the time of booking and rates are not refundable. Discounts are up to 20% off the Best Available Rate and Best Available Bed & Breakfast Rate so won’t be 20% off the cheapest rate you can find. Hilton Honors members get an extra 5%.  It is easy and free to join Hilton Honors here which also gives you free Wi-Fi and the chance to earn Avios as well as Hilton points on your stay. There is also a promotion on Avios.com eStore to earn up to 8 Avios (usually 6) per £1 spent on Hilton hotels until 03/09/2017. The link on the Avios website takes you straight to the Hilton website where you book as normal.

The sale page is here.

Conrad

Conrad Hotels have an offer when you book two or more nights. You will get a $50/£50/€50 hotel reward each night of your stay. The offer is available at all of Conrad’s hotels worldwide. The offer page is here.

Radisson

Radisson have a sale on currently that includes Radisson Blu, Park Inn, Park Plaza, Quorvus  and Radisson Red hotels across the UK, Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

You can read my review of the Park Plaza Westminster, London here.

The saving is up to 30% off Best Available Rate. Like Hilton these are non-refundable rates and pre-payment is required. To get the full 30% off you need to be a Club Carlson member, otherwise you get 25% off. It is free to join when you book. You need to book before 25 June and stay between 19 June and 3 September 2017. Radisson hotels are useful for Scandinavian ex EU flights as they have a good presence at the airports. At Stockholm there is a Radisson actually inside the airport building.

The home page for the sale is here.

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There are a plethora of offers from the major hotel groups at the moment. This article will have look at the best offers.

Hilton Honors

2000 Bonus points per night This is very simple. Register here and get 2000 points for every night you stay at a Hilton group property. It applies to existing bookings and can be used for up to 2 rooms on the same booking per night. You can still book through the Avios e-store portal to the Hilton website. That gets you an additional 6 Avios per £1 spent on the booking. Depending on the cost of your stay it may be a better option than using the app.

500 bonus points per booking when you complete a stay booked through the Hilton Honors app. You can register here. The promotion is valid for stays booked and completed 7 February 7 – 31 December 2017. You can use this in conjunction with other offers.

Up to Quadruple Avios Until 30 April, 2017 you can earn up to quadruple Avios when you stay at participating Hilton Hotels. To be eligible for the promotion, you must be enrolled with Hilton Honors, select British Airways Executive Club Avios as your preferred partner, and choose ‘Points and Miles’ as the earning style option.

The ‘up to’ part is the catch. Unless you are staying a lot it is probably a better bet to go for the 2000 bonus points offer instead especially as it only applies to new bookings. The bonus goes as follows:

• Stay 1 – no bonus
• Stay 2 – Double Avios
• Stay 3 – Triple Avios
• Stay 4 onwards – Quadruple Avios

The promotion page is here.

Marriott

1000 Bonus Avios

Book and stay between 6 January – 26 March 2017 to receive up to 1,000 bonus Avios per stay with Marriott Hotels across Europe. To be eligible for this promotion, you must enrol with Marriott Rewards and select Avios Travel Rewards Programme as your earning preference. You then need to book through Avios.com through the link on this page.

Earn double points on your first three stays. Simply register by 15th March 2017. Then stay at any participating hotels worldwide between 16th January and 15th April 2017. Register here.

Earn 100 points for linking your Marriott Rewards account with your Twitter, Instagram or Facebook account at this page. You then get a further 50 points for each Marriott Rewards social media channel you subscribe to. There are regular promotions and competitions that you can take part in once you have signed up.

SPG – Starwood Hotels

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Yesterday I looked at status matching with airlines, today I will look at hotels. Bear in mind that most companies will only do a status match as a one time only offer so use it wisely!

Status matching is often a good way to leverage a hotel status you may have received free with a credit card or BAEC status which is not of much use, into something of far more benefit that suits your travel patterns. Once you have a mid to top tier in one scheme make sure you status match it whilst you still have the card!

This has proved particularly lucrative for me over the last year. I took advantage of the Hilton status match about a year ago which gave me Diamond membership to HHonors. I status matched my Accor Platinum status which I had been given as part of my American Express Platinum charge card package. This status match was of far more use than the original Accor status as I rarely stayed in Accors apart from the Sofitel at Heathrow. The Diamond status gives me a room upgrade, free executive lounge access and breakfast amongst other benefits including at Conrad Hotels. All of these benefits are extremely valuable to me and combined with the miles and points of the HHonors scheme, makes it a great deal. I have been upgraded twice to a suite from the basic room type which can’t be bad!

I have also linked my SPG Starwood account and Marriott which has given me Marriott Gold status. This was part of the merger of Starwood and Marriott rather than a standard status match but again it shows the value. With SPG, the Gold status was generally next to useless. On my last stay I was given one of the worst rooms in my room category and denied late checkout. Marriott Gold, however, gives you free lounge access or breakfast and late checkout plus an upgrade.

Hilton

Hilton often do specific promotions like the one I status matched in. Currently they have a challenge for matching which you can find at https://hiltonhhonors.hiltonapps.com/ You will get 90 days of status match initially and then if you complete the challenge it will be extended to 31 March 2018. If you’re matched to Gold status, you’ll need to complete 4 stays. If you’re matched to Diamond, you’ll need 8 stays.

You will need to attach your proof of current status as well as proof of a stay with that program (so you can’t just keep status matching without actually staying.)

SPG – Starwood

You will need to apply by email to platinum.liaison@starwoodhotels.com with proof of your status. It is likely to result in a challenge but they may allow you to include recent stays.

IHG and Intercontinental Hotels

They previously offered status matches but are currently reviewing the status match program and so have not been offering any matches recently.

Langham

Langham don’t do status matching but there are benefits if you are a BA Executive Club Gold member:

• membership to 1865 elite tier, Voyager, exclusively for Executive Club Gold Members.
• just present your BAEC Gold membership card when you check in at a Langham or Eaton hotel
• You will then be invited to join 1865 as a Voyager member.

Marriott

If you currently have status in SPG as a result of a credit card offer or your stays, make sure you link this with a Marriott Rewards. You can the page to do this here. The Marriott Rewards benefits are generally better than SPG. You can receive upgrades, lounge access and guaranteed late check out amongst other benefits at Marriott Gold level.

Alternatively if you don’t have SPG status and want to match to another hotel scheme you will need to call Marriott Rewards to request a status match. You are likely to be given a challenge such as 3 stays in 3 months and they may only match you to one tier higher than you currently are in Marriott Rewards.

Hyatt

Hyatt only do status matching during specific promotions rather than ad hoc. They do not appear to be doing any currently.

Club Carlson – Radisson and Park Plaza

You need to email statusmatch@carlsonrezidor.com to request a status match. They will generally match like for like with no conditions.

The post Status matching – what is it and how to do it? – Part 2 hotels appeared first on Turning left for less.

In part 2 I will look at two of the other major players in the hotel market – Marriott and Starwood. Tomorrow I will look at some of of the smaller hotel groups which may be of interest to the luxury traveller, Langham, Shangri-la and Leading Hotels of the World.

Starwood SPG and Marriott Rewards

Marriott has recently bought Starwood hotels and the loyalty schemes are now linked. The loyalty programs will continue to operate as separate entities for some time. They don’t anticipate combining the programs until 2018. Now that the two companies have merged, you can link your Rewards and SPG accounts and transfer ponts between them.

This brings quite a few benefits for those that had status in one of the schemes. You can now match your status to the other scheme. This is particularly useful if you had SPG Gold through your Amex card which didn’t really get you a huge amount. There was premium internet, a sort of upgrade and late check out if it was available. On my last SPG stay I didn’t get either of the last 2 benefits, unless you count an accessible room in the category I booked that overlooked a car park as an upgrade…

If you status match SPG Gold to Marriott you get Marriott Gold which gives you guaranteed lounge access and breakfast for 2 people. The page you need is here.

Starwood hotels – SPG

If you are a heavy Uber user it is definitely worth joining SPG as you will earn points on your Uber rides once you have completed a qualifying SPG stay. Further details can be found here.

The main benefits of SPG are:

• SPG discounted rate for hotel stays
• Earn two Starpoints for each U.S. dollar spent on eligible stays.
• Complimentary in-room Internet access when you book on spg.com, SPG hotel sites or SPG apps.
• Earn Starpoints and save up to 30% at over 1,000 restaurants and bars located within Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide — even when you’re not staying with us.
• Starpoints never expire as long as you have account activity once a year.
• Earn 1 Starpoint per U.S. dollar spent with Uber every day, and 2 Starpoints per U.S. dollar spent with Uber during your stays with SPG.
• SPG Moments – custom experiences that you can buy with your starpoints
• Brands include Sheraton, Westin, St Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Le Meridien and Design hotels.
• Earn Avios at a minimum of earn 2 Avios per U.S. $1 spent

SPG Moments is a great scheme if you enjoy going to concerts or want to enjoy a one-off experience. You can spend your starpoints on a range of experiences either close to home or across the world.

SPG has a suite at the O2 and regularly has Moments to see top concerts from the comfort of the suite with food and drink provided. The Moments are either auctions or a fixed price. The prices are generally around 15-25000 Starpoints. They have previously offered concerts by Rod Stewart, Madonna, Stevie Wonder and Justin Bieber.  It is worth reading the wording carefully as some experiences that sound a bit dull actually include a lot of extras such as dinner and a night in a 5* hotel.

I managed to get an SPG moment for 2 VIP tickets to Take That at BST in Hyde Park  this year. As well as the tickets, it included a glass of champagne and a backstage tour. We were able to stand on the side of the stage whilst Jamie Lawson performed which was an amazing experience.

Starwood Preferred Guest Amex

There is currently a sign-up bonus of 10,000 SPG points when you spend £1,000 within the first three months. You could convert this into 10,000 Avios or other airline schemes.  You also get Starwood Preferred Guest Plus status which gets you a couple of benefits: 4pm late check-out and a better room though generally in the same category.

St Regis Princeville, a Starwood property in Kauai, Hawaii where I stayed in 2015

Marriott Rewards

The main benefits of Marriott Rewards are:

• Includes Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Edition, Marriott, Renaissance and Autograph Collection hotels
• Complimentary in-room Internet access when you book direct through Marriott
• Up to 2 Avios per USD spent
• Up to 2 Virgin Flying Club miles per US$ spent on all qualifying charges:
• Discounted rate if booked via Marriott.com

  

• Earn up to 10 points per $1USD you spend
• With cash+points free nights start at 3000 points +$45
• You can redeem on the spot at a Marriott brand hotel from 2500 points for $5 credit
• You can redeem for gift cards such as Amazon starting at 2500 points for £5

The post How I got VIP tickets to Take That for free & Hotel Loyalty schemes part 2 appeared first on Turning left for less.