Marriott points 30% off discount
If you are short of some Marriott points to make a good redemption, a decent sale has just commenced.
You can access the offer page here. Buy at least 2,000 points to take advantage of the 30%-off discount, and the offer runs until June 20. The maximum points you can buy annually has been doubled to 100,000 points for 2021.
1,000 points works out at $8.75 under this offer, which converts into £6.23. On the face of it, 30% off is a better deal compared to the 40%-bonus offer in February, but worse than the 50%- of 60%-bonus offers that we’ve seen a few times last year.
However, don’t forget that Pound Sterling is very strong against USD at the moment, and the points are actually cheaper this around compared to when we saw 50% bonus last year. It may not be a bad time to top up your Marriott account if you are looking to redeem soon.
You could also read my posts about redeeming your points for UK and European hotels, although they may not be very up to date…
Amex retention bonus is back!
For those who are not familiar with the idea, if you call American Express’s customer service and “threaten” to cancel, sometimes they offer a retention bonus of points to keep you as a customer.
Given its ghastly annual fee, Amex tends to be quite generous to Platinum cardholders and has been offering up to 50,000 bonus points in the last year to persuade you to stay. I asked and got one last May, but being an early bird I didn’t get the biggest worm, as only 15,000 points was offered at that point.
Since a year has passed I tried again today, and after a couple of minutes of chitchat I cheekily asked if there’s any retention bonus in the system. The happy chap had a look at the computer and bang, I got 35,000 points!
That’s not a bad result. If you have an Amex Platinum card, you probably should try your luck as well.
IHG UK midnight checkout promotion
IHG is running an interesting yet unusual promotion in the UK, which could be useful if you need extended late checkout for a stay in the next couple of weeks.
You can see the offer here. Simply make a note when you book on IHG’s website or in the app, and the hotel will accommodate your late checkout request, for as late as 11:59pm!
There are a few catches though:
- Stay between May 17 and June 2, which is a pretty short window
- Only valid on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday checkout
- Standard room stays only
- Subject to availability
Still a good promotion anyway if you happen to need it and are happy with one of the participating hotels (listed on the offer page).
Given most hotels’ occupancy rate must still be fairly low in the next weeks (at least on weekdays), I assume that they would try the best to fulfil your request, even if you are staying in a non-standard room.
Free Leading Hotels of the World Club membership (usually $175)
Similar to GHA and SLH, Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) is a hotel alliance for high-range boutique hotels. It operates its membership program in a different way though, as you’ll need to pay to get any benefits.
There are two membership tiers:
- Club: $175 fee per year, benefits include free wi-fi, continental breakfast, welcome gift, early check-in and late check-out. You’ll also receive one room upgrade voucher having completed the first stay.
- Sterling: $5000 spend required per year, addition benefit is five room upgrade vouchers.
You also earn points from hotel stays which you can use for free night redemption. There is a secret invitation-only tier above Sterling, namely Aurelian, for those whose annual spend fall in the top 1% amongst all members. The whole scheme reminds me of InterContinental Ambassador now…
LHW is running a promotion though which is giving the $175 membership for free. To sign up, simply visit their website and wait for the pop-up:
Click Join Now, or use this link to claim it. If you have an existing LHW account, sign in first before visiting this page and your membership should be activated as well.
As you can see from the advert, you’ll also get 500 points as a kickstart, which appears to be worth $40 when you reach the threshold to redeem them.
LHW has eight properties in London (including The Ritz, The Landmark and The Lanesborough) as well as one in Scotland. Its spread is quite decent in Western and Southern Europe, and I’m especially astonished when I see there are 33 hotels in Switzerland!
LHW’s website can be flaky so you may need to try a few times. The membership is valid for a year so you may prefer to wait till you have any travel plans, however it’s not indicated anywhere when the offer is going to be pulled.
Related Read:
Thistle & Guoman Hotels 50%-off sale
Thistle / Guoman is a London-centric hotel group which offers mid- and high-range accommodation. They are running a 50%-off sale should you be interested.
You could view Thistle’s offer page here, and Guoman here.
- Book and stay by 5 September
- Free cancellation
- Breakfast-inclusive rate also available
To be honest it’s not genuinely 50% off as the best flexible rate is inflated. Here are some examples:
- The Royal Horseguards £135
- The Tower £88
- Thistle City Barbican £55
- Thistle Bloomsbury Park £65
- Thistle Trafalgar Square £88
- Thistle Piccadilly £88
Still some good rates to be had, especially for end of May or early June.
I’ve actually stayed at the Barbican hotel once – it’s pretty old and basic but for that price you can’t ask for more in the City. The Royal Horseguards appears to be a good deal as £135 seems very cheap for a 5-star hotel in central London.
Instant Indulged upgrade with Small Luxury Hotels
Small Luxury Hotels, or SLH, is yet another boutique hotels group with a decent spread worldwide. You may have heard the name from its connection with the Hyatt hotels that started a couple of years ago.
SLH has its own loyalty program as well, and members can enjoy some benefits when booking direct:
- Invited entry level with complimentary wi-fi, early check-in and late check-out upon request
- Inspired four nights per annum, with complimentary breakfast and room upgrade subject to availability thrown in
- Indulged thirteen nights per annum, with a free night voucher upon attaining status and invitation-only events
SLH runs quite a few promotions in collaboration with different organisation that gift you Inspired status straightaway without meeting the stay requirement. Even better, there’s even a chance for instant upgrade to Indulged, their top-level status.
You could view the offer page here. Through this offer, HSBC Jade members can enjoy a complimentary upgrade to Indulged courtesy of a special arrangement. HSBC Jade is a semi-secretive client tier within the bank, and you won’t get in unless you are very wealthy. However, this offer doesn’t require any validation – simply login or create a new account on the page, and the upgrade should take effect right away.
It worked for me briefly, and then dropped to Inspired a few days later 🤷♂️ To be fair, the stay benefits between Inspired and Indulged look almost identical.
Remember that you can also book SLH hotels through Hyatt, difference being:
- Not all SLH hotels are bookable through Hyatt
- Only Best Flexible Rate is available on Hyatt, whereas many discount rates on SLH
- Earn Hyatt points, or $300 voucher for every 12 nights with SLH
- Stay benefits are pretty much the same on paper, however I’d expect Indulged / Globalist members fare better with regards to room upgrade
Related Read:
Village Hotels 7-day £30 Flash Sale
With England and Wales already opened up, and hotel accommodation in England to re-open soon as well, Village Hotels is running another sale to entice customers.
You can view the offer page here, to book you’ll need to create an account or sign in.
- Book by May 10
- Stay between May 17 and December 31
- Room rate start from £30
- In addition, you could purchase a £40 dining voucher for £20
Village Hotels tend to be located in the countries or at least far from the busy areas, therefore their rates are usually not high – on top of that, there’s some serious discount you can get in this offer.
Village Hotel Edinburgh, which is not far from the city centre, can be had for as low as £40 from September onwards. Although availability is blocked during the Fringe Festival, many dates in July and August can still be had for £60, which is pretty good for a summer holiday in the Scottish city.
Loads of summer availability for £40 – £60 for Village Hotel Swansea:
And Village Hotel Bournemouth：
You could also pay more for a better room (Family / Club) in the booking process. Note that however, the rate is non-refundable and one change is permitted – although rate change may apply.
ebay app £10 coupon, 20% off select products
Just saw a popup when I opened ebay’s homepage：
Looks like they are having a go in promoting their app. I scanned the barcode and installed their app – it didn’t take long for the coupon to show up after I logged in.
You can view the terms & conditions here. The coupon is actually quite generous as there’s no restriction apart from £20 minimum spend requirement. The offer doesn’t appear to be targeted, so try you luck by visiting ebay’s homepage, or maybe just scan the barcode above.
In the meantime, ebay’s regular promotion is back. Purchase any products on the offer page with a minimum order value of £15, and enter coupon code PRICEWINS at checkout to take 20% off the price.
Beware as some merchants increase their prices beforehand to fake a deal. According to what I see on hotukdeals in the past, small appliances / furniture, gym equipment and refurbished mattresses tend to be the best bargain.