A Surprising Giftbox from Starlux Airlines
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year of Ox, and a nice surprise has just hit my mailbox!
The story started last year when Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines (星宇航空) launched their status match initiative. As the status was gonna be good for four years, I took part although I saw no immediate use of the airline. My BA Gold was matched to Insighter, the highest membership level of their COSMILE programme.
I was then approached by their customer service asking me to complete my contact details, as “a nice surprise will be on its way soon”. Unfortunately it didn’t happen as soon as they promised, although I had no complaint at all considering I got the status totally for free!
Almost a year after the match, on Tuesday I woke up seeing a Whatsapp message from DHL:
And I knew immediately that the belated gift is finally coming, so exciting!
The giftbox arrived onto my doorstep on Friday, sealed with Starlux’s logo on top.
Enclosed on the upper layer is a very well presented Insighter membership card:
I must mention that it is a metal card, and feels as heavy as my Amex Platinum. This is no doubt the most lovely membership card I’ve ever seen from an airline or hotel group.
Underneath you’ll find a luggage tag, which as described is made of vegetable-tanned leather. Again my named is engraved, which is a nice special touch.
All in all I’m very happy to have received such an exclusive gift, although I’m not sure that I deserve it. Just a reminder that Starlux’s status match programme is still ongoing, although your matched status will be valid only for one year now.
Iberia Gift Card Sale – Save 25% off Your Next Flight Bookings
Iberia is running a promotion on its gift cards (again!) and it may be interesting to some.
You can check the offer here and click the Buy Now button to make a purchase. The gift cards provided in the link are in GBP, however you can switch the country if you want options in EUR or USD.
Until 14 February, you can enjoy a 25% discount when you buy gift cards, and there doesn’t seem to be a limit on the amount.
- Can be used against Iberia / Iberia Express / Air Nostrum flight bookings
- Revenue bookings only, i.e. not award flights
- The flight must take place by 31 December 2021
25% is a very decent offer, and remember that it means additional savings on whatever cheap bargains you find. The snag of course, is that you must fly by the end of this year, which can be tricky to many of us.
If you are frequent traveller to or from Spain, the deal might make sense as I expect intra-Europe travel resume to some extent in a few months’ time.
Recycle Ink Cartridges for Tesco Clubcard Points
Tesco had an ink cartridge recycling scheme which has been paused for a while, and it’s good to see it coming back finally.
You can view the programme’s website here. Click View Eligible Cartridges and you’ll see how many Clubcard points your cartridge earns:
You’ll need to ask for the recycling envelops in a Tesco store, put your cartridges inside and complete some details on the tear-off strip, then return the envelope in store.
Unfortunately there won’t be any confirmation of receipt, and if the points fail to post due to the cartridges being ineligible, lost or whatever, you won’t be able to make a claim. You can earn on up to 100 recycled cartridges per year.
IHG Luxury & Lifecycle 3-for-2 Offer with Free Breakfast, Room Upgrade, $100 Credit & More
Many hotel groups, including Marriott, Hilton and IHG, have one or more specialised booking schemes for high-end customers. Qualified travel agents can make such bookings on their behalf which come with extra benefits.
IHG’s program is called Luxury & Lifestyle, and participating brands include Regent, Intercontinental and Kimpton etc. You pay the Best Flexible Rate and enjoy 2pm late check-out, room upgrade, welcome amenity, plus:
Regent, Intercontinental & some Kimpton hotels:
- Free breakfast for two
- $100 hotel credit per stay
Other brands:
- $50 hotel credit per stay
Even better, IHG Luxury & Lifestyle is running a promotion now. For select hotels, you can book three nights and pay for only two, which is equivalent to 33% off compared to the Best Flexible Rate, plus you still enjoy all the benefits mentioned above.
Some of the participating UK and Europe hotels:
- Intercontinental London Park Lane
- Kimpton Fitzroy London
- Hotel Indigo London Kensington
- Intercontinental Edinburgh The George
- Intercontinental Paris Le Grand
- Regent Berlin
- Intercontinental Berlin
- Intercontinental Amsterdam Amstel
- Intercontinental Sofia
To check, you can simply search on IHG’s website using Corporate ID 786905371. For example, Intercontinental London Park Lane comes up at £226 per night, which is slightly higher than the Get a Night on Us offer. However remember it includes many additional benefits, and you can cancel free of charge one day before.
And Regent Berlin:
Beware though, that you can only use this method to check for availability and don’t book away. You must get a qualified travel agent to book for you, for example Virtuoso.
Amazon Warehouse 20% off Deal
If you don’t mind buying second-hand stuff, Amazon Warehouse is running a pretty decent deal at the moment.
You can access the deal here. Now through February 14th, you can enjoy a further 20% discount on select Amazon Warehouse products. Simply add them to the basket, and the discount automatically applies at checkout:
Amazon Warehouse sells openbox / used products and their condition (like new or very good or good etc.) is available on the product pages, which helps you make a decision. Since they are already priced lower than new counterparts, another 20% off can be a great deal.
Free £5 Credit from Paypal (Targeted)
Paypal is gifting £5 to select customers and you may try your luck by opening this link and signing in.
If eligible, you will received a £5 credit into your Paypal account within 72 hours and no action is needed. It’s limited to the first 20,000 customers and closes on Feb 10th. Unfortunately I’m not eligible.
On the other hand, if you don’t have a Paypal account yet, you may considering signing up via my invitation, and once you’ve spent £5 via Paypal both of us will earn a £10 bonus credit. Please email me at [email protected] should you be interested.
Marriott Releases 2021 Category Changes
Like previous years, Marriott has just released the planned category changes for 2021.
You can view more information here. Note that the changes will kick in on March 3rd.
The most affected countries appear to be United States and China. Only four properties in UK are on the list:
- Delta Hotels Milton Keynes 4 -> 3
- Moxy Edinburgh Airport 4 -> 3
- Moxy York 4 -> 3
- The Langley 6 -> 7
And the current Marriott redemption chart is as follows:
Note that the off-peak pricing includes 10% promotional discount valid until Feb 21st.
17,500 points for a hotel in central York during busy times is definitely a bargain, however I personally don’t quite like the extreme simplicity of Moxy’s hotel rooms. The Langley, on the other hand, sees a great hike from the initial Cat 5 to Cat 7, and redemption here no longer represents great value unfortunately.
If you have a plan to stay at any hotel on the list whose price is going to increase, lock in your reservation now as you can always cancel later.
Registration Open: Marriott Double Points & Night Credits Promotion
Firstly, a quick reminder that Marriott’s 2021 bonus elite nights have just landed onto our accounts:
Elite members receive certain night credits depending on the status that they have earned in 2021:
- Silver 5
- Gold 13
- Platinum 25
- Titanium 38
- Ambassador 50
Being Titanium and the Amex co-branded credit cardholder, I’m starting the year with 53 nights already!
More importantly, Marriott’s Q1 global promotion is now open to registration, and you can sign up here.
- Stay between 16 Feb and 27 April
- Two-night minimum stay required
- Earn double points and double night credits on all eligible stays
This is a very good offer, especially considering how un-generous Marriott usually is when it comes to global promotions.
On a separate note, a new influx of targeted offers has been making its round in the last week. If you haven’t checked your mailbox yet, you can visit Marriott’s Promotion Centre to see if there’s any offer awating.
The offer could be double points, stay X times earn Y bonus points etc. It’s stackable with the Q1 promotion above, however unfortunately I didn’t receive anything this time (again!)