Earn 700 Virgin Flying Club miles for £3

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• William Charles says:

  8 Sep8 September 15:29

  You can also get $14 by using the US based site, which you can do even if you’re from the UK. Probably better value than 700 miles, but depends on the individual. I’ve been doing it a bit recently as I am in SEasia and they actually have some nice 3-4 star properties for around $15-$20, makes a massive discount and they also get my beverage/tour spend as well.

• AviosNewbie says:

  8 Sep8 September 16:10

  Hi folks, I originally belong to India, but have been living in the UK for the past several years. I have been a regular reader of HFP, and in that context let me offer some perspective as one who’s seen some of these hotels and how that market works:

  I haven’t seen the hotel (it’ll be called a ‘lodge’ in India, and I’d be surprised if the owner has even heard the term ‘B&B’) in question, but if it costs £3, it’ll doubtless be in one of the smaller towns. Which means booking.com (or any online channel) would account for an extremely small proportion of their sales, and they would depend on walk-in customers, referrals or small travel agents for bulk of their bookings. Also, the labour costs in India are very low, and they’d be astonishingly low in the smaller towns. So there’s not much impact in terms of additional costs to prepare the room – actually most likely, it’ll be done by the owner’s wife or son.

  Also, as long as they get paid – the discussion about booking.com’s margin is pointless here because whatever that it is, it’s factored in anyway – the B&B should be happy with the extra money anyway. If there’s a no show, they’ll be able to fill in the vacancies through their usual channels (i.e. walk-ins, etc.) without problems, because that will continue to be their everyday channel to fill rooms.

  I disagree with comments above that most of India is ‘dry’, but it’s true that these smaller establishments won’t have an attached bar (taking out a liquor licence is a long process in India). The breakfast will be prepared on the day, so if there’s a no show they save on making the breakfast and cost of raw materials. There’s also no staff morale to worry about, because they’ll run on skeletal staff, most of the work being done by family.

  So my view is that I’ll tend to side with Raffles here because any additional money should be welcome by these establishments – the rest are sunk costs. If he gets 50 bookings and £112.5 (assuming 25% booking.com share), that amount will make him a happy man!

  But appreciate the viewpoints expressed above – will only say that some of the factors applicable to B&Bs in the UK will not be relevant in the small towns of India!

• Oly says:

  8 Sep8 September 17:17

  found one for £3 🙂 shared toilet and shower, nice

• Dwadda says:

  8 Sep8 September 18:50

  It took me 2 minutes to find/book another hotel for £3. I doubt they sell food or other services, single bed shared toilet. Pretty sparse.

  I told them in the notes that if I don’t show up by 1 hour after the room is ready that I won’t show up and they can sell the room.

  I’ve been to India, and stayed in these types of places (many moons ago). It’s just a room, hopefully safe.

• Dan says:

  8 Sep8 September 21:27

  exactly my view – booked a bed in a shared dorm, no restaurant or bar – did the same as the poster above and left the hotel a message in the booking to say i won’t be showing up. Thought i should be honest! Thanks for highligting Raffles.

  I think your totally justified in highlighting deals like this – it’s then up to the reader if they want to take advantage or not.

• sir crusticroc says:

  8 Sep8 September 22:05

  £2

  • idrive says:

    9 Sep9 September 11:05

    me too, but booking does not show in pending. anyone else?

• TJ says:

  9 Sep9 September 06:06

  Raffles, you have heard of tineye.com ? 🙂

  • Rob says:

    9 Sep9 September 13:34

    Actually, no, I hadn’t. Looks interesting though!

    • TJ says:

      9 Sep9 September 17:17

      You can reverse search any images. It comes in handy 🙂

      FWIW these no-shows have never posted for me with any CB portal at booking.com. Maybe things are different this time.

• David says:

  11 Sep11 September 09:48

  I assume you do not get them until after the date of the stay??

  • Rob says:

    11 Sep11 September 09:56

    Would guess so – and a chance you don’t get them at all for a no-show, of course

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