Courtyard Edinburgh 50% off flash sale
A while ago I wrote about Courtyard Edinburgh‘s 50% off flash sale, which I actually took advantage of. Looks like the deal is back, although more restricted this time.
As promoted on their facebook page, the new offer is:
- Valid for stays in November
- Sun – Thur stays only
- 50% off for a minimum 2-night stay
- exclusive of breakfast
No special code or landing page is needed, just search and book on Marriott’s website.
Rate appears to be slightly higher this time, between £29 and £34 per night. Not as good as the £24 I paid, but still a great deal though. Remember that you’ll get 2,500 bonus points per stay, plus $20 hotel credit per night for Platinum members.
Similar deals from other hotels:
- Courtyard Inverness Airport – 50% off sale
- AC Hotel Manchester Salford Quays – Buy 3, Pay for 2
NYX London Hotel opening offer, 2 nights + breakfast + £50 credit=£229
Jurys Inn / Leonardo Hotels is a local hotel chain which can be seen in many UK cities. They have just launched a new brand – NYX – by opening the first hotel in central London (Holborn).
The hotel is not really new – it’s a former Grange Hotel and the reviews were not very good, so hopefully the re-branding rejuvenates the property. They are having an opening offer at the moment, by paying £229 you get:
- 2-night accommodation, with breakfast included
- £50 dining credit
- Early check-in at 12pm
- Late check-out at 2pm
- 20% off spa treatment
Unsurprisingly availability is excellent at the moment so no need to rush to any booking. To be honest, even with the breakfast and £50 credit, £229 for 2 nights in a 4* hotel is not really that eye-catching, as many hotels in the same league are in the £70-a-night range.
What I do find interesting is that you can pay £30 more for a Double King room:
I think it’s the first time I see a hotel offer this sort of room type (only seen Double Queen before)! If you travel in four and need a room in central London, this can be a good deal. Although I’m not sure if the free breakfast is for four or only two people…
If you decide to book, you could also join the Jury Rewards loyal programme to earn a few points.
Fly BA in flat bed to Athens and Larnaca!
We talked about BA’s ludicrous sale a week ago, and a new trick has just emerged which you could use in combination.
We know that BA (and other airlines) sometimes flies wide-bodies in short-haul routes, most notably between London and Madrid for cargo reasons. It appears that BA’s Athens and Larnaca routes are also on 787 rotation at the moment, for the following dates:
- Heathrow – Athens BA632 2/9/16/23 October 12:40-18:25
- Athens – Heathrow BA633 2/9/16/23 October 19:55-21:45
- Heathrow – Larnaca BA662 1/8/15/22 October 11:15-17:55
- Larnaca – Heathrow BA663 1/8/15/22 October 19:25-22:15
You can tell they are operated by 787, clicking the flight details:
Selecting business class, you are presented an unusual seat map: not 2-2 (Club Europe) or 2-4-2 (Club World), but 2-3-2 instead. So it looks like you’ll sit in the World Traveller Plus cabin, i.e. premium economy instead.
If you are lucky enough, they may open the Club World cabin on the day so you’ll have a proper flat bed; but anyway flying a wide-body is usually a much more pleasure experience than on a narrow one. However, remember that the aircraft type is not guaranteed, therefore it could be switched at last minute.
Both Athens and Larnaca are on the 160-TP list, so you only need three roundtrips to hit BA silver. You have until 30 September to book.
IHG Europe flash sale, save at least 30%!
IHG has just extended its More to See promotion, but changed the format slightly this time.
- Valid for hotels in the UK and Europe
- Book by 14 October
- Stay by 11 April 2021
- Save at least 30% off Best Flexible Rate
- Minimum 3 days advance booking
- Refundable up to 14 days in advance
Compared to the previous edition, there is no longer three-night minimum stay required, which is good news.
The rate plan doesn’t appear to have a special name – it’s just shown as the regular advance purchase rate:
Here are some (good) rates that I’ve found:
- Crowne Plaza London – City £78
- Crowne Plaza London – Kensington £69
- Hotel Indigo London – Kensington £65
- InterContinental London O2 £117
- Hotel Indigo Edinburgh £67
- Kimpton Clocktower Hotel Manchester £79
- Crowne Plaza Manchester City Centre £44
- InterContinental Berlin €88
- Hotel Indigo Berlin – Ku’damm €59
- Crowne Plaza Frankfurt Congress Hotel €45
- Crowne Plaza Rome – St. Peter’s €88
- Hotel Indigo Milan – Corso Monforte €114
Beware that full payment is taken at the time of booking (although it may not be the case in practice), and two weeks’ notice for cancellation isn’t really generous. Due to the current IHG waiver though, you are free to cancel your booking as long as the stay is before 30 September, and hopefully it gets extended.
Village Hotels Last Minute Escape – UK hotels starting from £29
Village Hotels is a UK hotel chain that specialised in hotels in the, hmm, villages and suburbs. Although usually not ideal for a city break, they are good value for a family / weekend getaway, especially as they run very frequent promotions.
(more…)My Review of the Lufthansa Business Lounge, LHR T2
Courtesy of TAP Portugal, I’m now Star Alliance Gold until April next year 😉. My first relevant experience should have been Ankara, when I flew Turkish Airlines to Istanbul. However it’s only until I passed security did I find out that TK has a separate VIP terminal at Ankara airport! Well, stupid me…
(more…)Marriott UK & Europe PointSavers Hotel List
Similar to the Pointbreaks promotion that IHG used to run, Marriott also has a regular promotion named PointSavers which offers discount on award night redemption.
Has Amex Platinum increased their retention offer?
When you attempt to cancel a credit card, especially one with a high annual fee, they will sometimes offer you a retention offer to keep the card.
American Express is known to have marks on your card account. If the agent tries to start the cancellation process, they will see a retention offer right away, if available.
A few months back, it’s widely reported that Amex Platinum cardholders were offered an offer of 15,000 or 20,000 points when called to cancel. I myself was offered 15,000 points as well, which I happily accepted 🙂
However, it appears that Amex has decided that the incentive was not strong enough. Two readers called to cancel recently, and received 30,000 / 40,000 points respectively. This is a 100% increase compared to the last batch.
If you hold the UK Amex Platinum card, feel free to call and make the inquiry, and there may be a nice surprise awaiting!