Marriott Q1: double elite credits and 1,000 bonus points
There were rumours last week about a repeating Marriott offer from last year, which turned out to be true. You could sign up to Marriott’s 1000 Times Yes offer here.
- Register by April 15th
- Stay between February 13th and April 29th
- Earn 1,000 bonus points per paid night, plus double elite night credits
It is exactly the same Q1 offer as 2023. If you are wondering why February 13th, Chinese New Year is on February 10th so Marriott expects enough demand and no need for a promotion before that date.
It is a great offer to score some elite night credits for status, the annual choice benefit or lifetime status, but remember that only paid nights count. Marriott awarded its China members many night credits a few months ago and many regretted have stayed too much, but I don’t think it’s gonna happen again this year.
My review of NEW Hotel Athens
After Melia Athens I wanted to move closer to the Acropolis, and decided on the NEW Hotel, a member of Marriott’s Design Hotel collection. 65,000 points for two nights is pretty good, and perfect for me to spend the 35k free-night certificate.
The location is excellent as you are only five minutes away from the main square and tube station, very convenient but also quiet at the same time. The Acropolis is within walking distance. In short it’s an ideal location for tourists.
The property is run by Yes Hotels, who owns a couple of other Design Hotels in Athens including Periscope and Semiramis. Unfortunately Marriott elite members receive very limited benefits at Design Hotels, and as a Titanium member all I get is 1,000 welcome points and room upgrade. Breakfast is not included, and the €35 price is bit insane in my opinion.
Good news is Superior Room is bookable using points, and I received a further one-category upgrade to Superior Plus.
The way how the basin just sticks out is quite weird, so is the mirror behind it.
The “ladder” by the wall is actually a chair. As a Design hotel there are for sure some design elements in the room, whether you agree with the concept or not is a different matter!
There’s no bathtub but the rain shower is powerful.
I received a bottle of water and some local delicacies as a welcome gift, and some more during the turndown service. I love baklava, but don’t think I’m a fan of Greek desserts otherwise…
As a result of the upgrade, my room comes with a balcony.
I went to the restaurant on the rooftop for some pictures.
Gym is at level -1. I’m sure there’s a jacuzzi hidden somewhere as well although I didn’t find it, as I was told by the staff.
I’m not necessarily fond of the hotel’s design choice, but the room is good in general and the location is perfect. Compared to the other Marriott hotels in Athens NEW does have some advantages, and is a decent option if the price is right.
Work for a big company? Enjoy instant Marriott Platinum status and fast track
Marriott’s Platinum status is well sought after, as it comes with handy perks including room upgrade, free breakfast and lounge access. If you work for a large company, you may qualify for a fast track offer that grants you access to such elite status immediately.
The following companies are eligible for the Platinum Challenge:
- Abbvie
- Amazon
- AT&T
- Capital One
- Cisco
- Citigroup
- Douyin
- GE
- Lockheed Martin
- Marsh McLennan
- McKinsey
- PwC
- Samsung
- Boston Consulting
- Toyota
Offer rules are:
- You need a corporate email address to validate
- You can enrol as a new member, or with your existing Member/Silver/Gold account
- A three-month Platinum trial is awarded immediately
- Complete 15 paid nights during the trial to keep your Platinum status
- You can only participate once every three years
The trial terminates at the end of the third following calendar month, so it’s best to enrol at the beginning of a month. For example if you register on February 1st, your challenge lasts until May 31st.
Once you’ve managed the challenge, you will enjoy Platinum benefits through March 2026 which is great. If you (or anyone you know) works for an eligible company, it’s worth considering undertaking the challenge.
GHA D$20 for completing a survey
(Edit: now fixed and only works for targeted members)
GHA sent out a new survey lately, and it’s your chance to earn some free D$!
To participate, use this link https://bondb.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0q4vCM59tu6Vgai?CUSTOM1= and add your membership number in the end. It’s not a public offer, but I don’t think it’s targeted either.
The survey takes 5-10 minutes to complete, and you’ll earn D$20 as a reward in the end.
The reward will hit your account by February 16th. I’ve had a couple of experiences redeeming D$ now and it’s usually quite easy. My main complaint is, D$ earned though promotions such as this one is usually very short-lived, with a 6-month or even 3-month expiry, and thus very restricted.
ITA Airways extends status again!
One reader spotted this and reminded me last night – it seems that ITA Airways has quietly extended elite status once again this year!
If you log in to your account, your tier should have a new expiry 01/25, which is an extension by one year. I earned the top Executive status through status match in 2021, used it not even once since, and still just got it extended over and over again. ITA is being really generous here.
I’m suspicious that their IT system hasn’t implemented tier downgrade yet. Given that they haven’t even finished integration with all Skyteam partners, that might be possible :p
If you are also an Executive member, you have the privilege of gifting one Premium card, which is also Skyteam Elite Plus. The benefit should reset next month.
My review of Melia Athens
Back to Athens after nine years, and it’s the rare chance for me to stay at a Melia hotel again. €178 for two nights with breakfast included is a satisfying price, until it dropped again by a further €30 not long after I booked, oh well…
Location of the Melia Athens is good, but not great. The neighbourhood seems a bit rough, but it’s just 25 minutes on foot to the Acropolis which is a nice stroll for walkers. The Omonia metro station is fairly close, which brings you to the Acropolis and seaside directly.
I got trapped in a big traffic jam in Thessaloniki, followed by a flight delay, and was exhausted when I arrived at the hotel. Man from the front desk learned Chinese for a few years – we had a short but delightful conversation before I went to my room.
I am Melia Gold, but it doesn’t come with room upgrade as a benefit. I did however claim a room-upgrade voucher as my birthday gift, and it is time to test it. The voucher allows you to choose the room of a higher category during online check-in:
It’s only one-category, and only confirmed 48 hours before arrival, so not hugely useful. On the bright side, they are very efficient and I could see my room number in the app in the morning.
I got an upgrade to Supreme Room VIP Experience:
View from my room:
The bathroom has a very funky design, which converts part of the bathtub into a shower cabin.
The tub has built-in jacuzzi jets for a nice massage:
Dates and preserved fruits as the welcome gift for my Gold status:
The room is more or less the same with a standard Supreme Room, but with some VIP Experience addons:
- Welcome drink
- Free breakfast
- 20% dining discount
- Free fast wi-fi
- Coffee machine
- Upgraded bath amenities
- Early check-in and late check-out
Although its rooms are tired, the hotel has a nice rooftop swimming pool on the 8th floor.
Nice view of Mount Lycabettus.
It looks quite fancy in a different way at night.
Gym, sauna and steam room are on the same floor.
My welcome drink:
Breakfast is served at the Vivendo restaurant on the mezzanine floor until 10.30am. There’s also a late breakfast option at Cafe Mondo afterwards, but I’m not sure whether the offering is the same.
This is the usual buffet you find in Europe. The Spanakopita – Greek spinach pie – is pretty good.
It’s not a top-grade hotel, but in general it doesn’t have any major flaw and the rooftop pool is a big highlight. If you don’t mind the slightly odd location, Melia Athens is worth considering when the price is right.
New IHG targeted offers: 8K points every 4 nights and more
IHG currently has a double point promotion which ends at the end of January. They have just revealed the next round of promotion, which seems to have different targeted versions.
We have found two versions at the moment:
You check try signing up and see if you are eligible. For both offers, Stay between February 1 and March 31 to earn the bonus, and nights don’t need to be consecutive.
Error fare: Virgin Atlantic LHR-PVG Upper Class for 30k points
(UPDATE: Virgin woke up and pulled the “offer” – it lived for almost 20 hours though!)
Virgin Atlantic launched a new global reward sale:
- Book by Jan 31st
- Travel by Dec 31st
- Save 20% points on all reward flights
- Few destinations are excluded
It is a good offer, although not as good as the previous 50%-off and 33%-off sales.
More importantly, their Shanghai route seems to have loaded the sale fare erroneously.
You pay the following for PVG-LHR, off-peak and peak:
- Economy: 8,000 points / 16,000 points + 873 CNY
- Premium: 14,000 points / 22,000 points +1,565 CNY
- Upper Class: 30,000 points / 38,000 points + 1,719 CNY
To put it into context, the original price for Upper Class off-peak is 57,500 points, so it is almost half-price, not just 20% off. For LHR-PVG you pay the same amount of points, but taxes are gonna be much higher.
If you have an onward connection, the discount works too.
Just a couple of days ago VS had an £800 error fare to Shanghai in Upper Class too – something’s going on there for this route? Do not hesitate as it might get fixed anytime soon.