A Marriott Bonvoy bargain opens in Corfu – Domes Miramare

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• Will T says:

  6 Mar6 March 07:47

  OT: are there any hotels left in the ‘platinum Amex automatic status group’ that still give a late check-out? TIA

  • Rob says:

    6 Mar6 March 08:56

    In terms of ‘guaranteed’ not really. Marriott Gold wording is woolly “Get a checkout time as late as 2 p.m. (based on availability)” and Hilton is not guaranteed either.

    However …. being Plat gets you access to Fine Hotels & Resorts, and all FHR bookings DO guarantee 4pm late check-out. Those are generally five star properties although, as you get a $100 food and beverage credit and free breakfast thrown in, they can be surprisingly good value for one night stays.

    • Russ says:

      6 Mar6 March 10:25

      They also occasionally run three nights for the price of two which can tip the balance in their favor. No lounge access unless it’s specified in the package but not everyone needs a lounge and not all hotels provide them.

• Neil says:

  6 Mar6 March 08:10

  Hi Rob,

  Do you think the membership rewards offer of 2 points for 3 Marriot points is a good deal or is transferring them to Hilton better? I’ve collected what I need now with Virgin Atlantic so don’t need to transfer them there.

  Cheers

  • Peter K says:

    6 Mar6 March 08:49

    Just depends whether you want to stay at Hiltons or Marriott. If new York then Hilton does not charge any resort fees on purely points bookings. Also depends on what status you have and perks you will/might get with that.
    Personally I prefer Hilton but others have their own favourites.

  • Rob says:

    6 Mar6 March 08:50

    Purely on a hotel basis, I’d value (based on moving 100 Amex) 150 Marriott higher than 200 Hilton, say 0.75p v 0.6p. Marriott also has a better fall back position in that mileage transfer rates are good if you suddenly decide to take miles instead.

    If you have specific trips lined up, however, I’d be more focused on what Marriott and Hilton have to offer in those places.

  • Alex W says:

    6 Mar6 March 10:53

    Totally depends on where you are going to redeem them. If you’re off to Conrad Rangali then I would value the Hilton points quite highly. If not going for an outsize redemption I would probably value 3 Marriott points higher than 4 Hilton points. Marriott also transfer to airlines at a decent rate if you change your mind.

    • Genghis says:

      6 Mar6 March 12:06

      “If you’re off to Conrad Rangali then I would value the Hilton points quite highly.”
      But only as high as the replacement cost (ie buying when there’s a 100% bonus on) for the amount of points you need.

• Shoestring says:

  6 Mar6 March 09:35

  Vueling have got [from] EUR12.99 flights bookable now to fly until year end
  vueling.com/es/reserva-tu-vuelo/vuelos-en-promocion

• SimonW says:

  6 Mar6 March 10:07

  O/T – £25 off Wheely offer on Amex – used it twice on Saturday night. £29.00 (added a 15% tip just in case) and £26.00 (learnt my lesson for journey home)…. got both £25 credits on Monday. And as mentioned before, the service was very very good. Might be tempted to actually use it without the offer in future.

  • Neil says:

    6 Mar6 March 11:29

    +1 Used my first taxi last night (2019 S – Class) The 29 minute journey cost me £37 but really only £12 thanks to the Amex offer and both passengers got a bottle of water. I would be very tempted to use app for work travel permanently

• Rachael says:

  6 Mar6 March 10:14

  I looked at Corfu and it said it wasn’t taking redemption bookings at this time, so only cash rates available.

  • Rob says:

    6 Mar6 March 11:24

    That was happening last week but was fine yesterday.

• Sam says:

  6 Mar6 March 10:19

  OT – possibly a very stupid question I’ve been meaning to ask for a while

  Is there any benefit (apart from the obvious airport parking) to living literally 2 minutes from Gatwick airport? Thinking in terms of things like mattress runs etc?

  • Russ says:

    6 Mar6 March 10:35

    Depends, is that two minutes walking or driving? Cheapest taxi from local area is around £10 each way so need to add that in if not walkable. There is an housing estate with a path to the airport but it’s still a trek to get through the estate to the path start.

  • John says:

    6 Mar6 March 10:55

    How would mattress runs be a benefit? For those you would want to live close to a large selection of chain hotels that have cheap rates, not airport hotels!

    So perhaps somewhere like Aberdeen or Brussels where hotels are very expensive during the week and very cheap during weekends.

    Not sure how airport parking is a benefit either, unless you want to drag your bags through a muddy park then up and down various slopes and staircases to get to the terminal.

    Living right next to Horley station, or right next to a bus stop of the route 100, would be better.

    • Russ says:

      6 Mar6 March 11:28

      Perhaps mattress run for Hilton Diamond? There is the Hilton and Hampton on the terminal. Looking for cheapest hotels for runs are fine but then you have to factor in the cost of getting to them if they’re out of your way. If OP lives local perhaps family member could take and drop off and pick up at the airport.

  • Michael says:

    6 Mar6 March 10:57

    What on earth is a mattress run?

    • Michael says:

      6 Mar6 March 10:58

      Took me a second….worked it out now.

    • Alex Sm says:

      7 Mar7 March 11:13

      an unethical and lame way to scrape more points for cheap hotel stays by snobs

  • the_real_a says:

    6 Mar6 March 13:15

    Ive told the story before but a few years a ago a colleagues retired father in a low cost part of the country was very happy to “room sit” for people in the office that needed to hit promotion targets. He would arrive at the hotel (no id or card were required for fully prepaid rates) in the afternoon and collect the free drinks vouchers, consume the beer in the bar and then return the next morning for the free breakfast… This went on for several years at promotion times!

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      6 Mar6 March 14:16

      Great idea.

    • paul says:

      6 Mar6 March 15:19

      if he was going back for the breakfast, why didn’t he just sleep there…? or where they all that close to his house?

      • the_real_a says:

        6 Mar6 March 20:49

        He was about 10 minutes walk to the hotel, and apparently enjoyed the exercise!

    • ankomonkey says:

      6 Mar6 March 16:43

      That’s my retirement plan sorted!

  • Lady London says:

    6 Mar6 March 18:47

    speaking of airport parking could you rent out your drive then on justpark?

• curveballs says:

  6 Mar6 March 10:26

  OT – Virgin from Curve – Made a payment to Funding Circle via curve. Got a call from Virgin saying it’s a cash transaction so there’s a 5% fee and 29% interest. I’ve used it OK in the past for ATM and HMRC. Annoyingly it’s over the “go back in time” limit.

  Two questions: Any way I can fix this and avoid the 5% charge? Is curve/virgin still working for people at HMRC and ATMs?

  • Munch says:

    6 Mar6 March 11:17

    What was the MCC (Merchant category code) for the original transaction?

  • Nick says:

    6 Mar6 March 11:32

    Thanks for the heads up. Did this a few times last year and was thinking of doing it again before tax year end. Bad debts on FC seems to have got to silly levels for me though.

    • Nick says:

      6 Mar6 March 12:27

      … and with regarding ATM. I used Curve with Virgin’s VA card beginning of Feb and not charged as cash but not sure if I’ll risk it again now for anything more than a £10 withdrawal to test.

  • Genghis says:

    6 Mar6 March 12:09

    Yep. I got hit last year with £5 charge from Creation, but covered by the £5 I earned in referral.

  • Simon says:

    6 Mar6 March 12:50

    OT/curve related
    Not had this before.
    Just used curved backed with a nationwide credit card to buy lunch. Went through fine at first, but when walking back to office a few minutes later changed to declined. Now I have to traipse back to the shop to pay up… bit of a nuisance.

    • Leo says:

      6 Mar6 March 16:13

      This happened to me in once M&S it went through again the next day.

    • Mr Dee says:

      6 Mar6 March 20:03

      I certainly wouldn’t go back to try and pay twice as I’m sure Curve will charge you again as they will have already been charged

  • Yorkieflyer says:

    6 Mar6 March 13:00

    Even if it was within the go back in time limit I doubt that the cash advance fee would be refunded

• BSI1978 says:

  6 Mar6 March 10:26

  Morning all – any suggestions for hotels in Sofia for a long weekend? Thinking reasonably central as our first time there. Reasonably high end if possible without breaking the bank (which I appreciate could be a little contradictory….)

  Ta

  • Tocsin says:

    6 Mar6 March 10:57

    I’ve had a couple of stays at the Hilton – if you have status they upgrade nicely. Centre is walkable, metro station a couple of minutes.

    • Tom H says:

      6 Mar6 March 13:04

      Any tips for bars or restaurants for a group of 8 that don’t mind it getting a little rowdy?

      • Tom H says:

        6 Mar6 March 13:05

        Shoul have said traveling next month

  • GeoffGeoff says:

    6 Mar6 March 11:21

    Stayed in the Grand Hotel Sofia a couple of years ago. Would do so again if in town.

  • Rob says:

    6 Mar6 March 11:23

    New InterCon

  • AlexT says:

    6 Mar6 March 12:08

    New InterContinental. Used to be the old Radisson Blu and has been refurbished recently. It is as central as you can go (in front of the houses of parliament). The Hilton is older (10+ years) but still pretty central and right by a park.

  • Alex Sm says:

    7 Mar7 March 11:15

    There was an IHG hotel on points sale recently (either CP or IC) – you can check if they still have decent redemption rates

  • Alan says:

    10 Mar10 March 15:40

    Would definitely recommend the InterContinental – had a superb stay there as Spire Amb. Great upgrade and free dinner for two (& bottle of wine!) as they couldn’t upgrade us any further! 😀

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