The best Black Friday deal? MeliaRewards points being sold both directly and via Amazon

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• Gavin says:

  29 Nov29 November 06:22

  I bought 110k points last year on BF. Booked the New York hotel but then had to cancel my trip several months later. I was able to transfer all the points into Avios.

  • BJ says:

    29 Nov29 November 06:41

    Even so, not a good deal this year as it is about 1.1ppa. That said, if readers found themselves in same position as you and unable to realise the better value from a hotel redemption then at least their avios rate is no worse than buying from BA with a 50% bonus . Thus folks can buy with some fallback assurance provided Melia don’t change the rules.

  • Shoestring says:

    29 Nov29 November 06:44

    if it’s still 10:3, that’d be 55,000 Melia for EUR198 = 16,500 Avios for GBP169 = 1.02p/ point

    • BJ says:

      29 Nov29 November 07:05

      Calculated it on the 80k package but I am not sure if my exchange rate is reliable. Any idea if giftcard balances from UK accounts carry over to the Spain page to use for payment? If so, that changes things by at least 10%.

    • Rob says:

      29 Nov29 November 08:30

      They are ringfenced points. Melia has form – once they did a promo and forgot to ringfence them, and then pulled the miles back after they had gone to the airlines!

      Not sure if booking and cancelling a room releases the fence.

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:

        29 Nov29 November 11:35

        Back in the good old days they used to randomly credit 5/10k unrestricted points every now and then to encourage you to make a redemption.

• Rich says:

  29 Nov29 November 06:29

  I was hoping this would be back. Bought 2x55k. You do have to be a bit canny when looking at redemption value as it does jump around a bit, and there isn’t always a refundable redemption option

• meta says:

  29 Nov29 November 07:19

  You can also now buy points directly from Melia for the same price. Actually 80k points is 20 euros cheaper.

  • BJ says:

    29 Nov29 November 07:23

    Good spot; can those be transferred or are they ring fenced?

    • meta says:

      29 Nov29 November 07:27

      Not sure, but booking then canceling might work.

      • meta says:

        29 Nov29 November 07:51

        I bought directly from Melia and it’s instant. However, the points are ringfenced. Will try booking then cancelling later.

        • Sal says:

          29 Nov29 November 08:08

          Yeah I bought off the app recently, very easy, instant and good value to cash prices. Although I made the awful mistake of booking Melia White House in London. Seems to be recommended lots on here, but unless you’re staying in the level area of the hotel, I wouldn’t recommend the main part and their bedrooms on my worst enemy!

        • BJ says:

          29 Nov29 November 08:45

          @Sal, there is also the Me I think it’s called and Rob reviewed that on here some time ago. Higher end IIRC so probably worth checking out points required for that. I’m going to have a look but with multiple amex offers on Hilton and Diamond status, I am not sure I can make this offer work for me.

        • meta says:

          29 Nov29 November 09:05

          @Sal Do you know if the price is always the same? I’m thinking this could be a cheapish source of Avios.

        • Sal says:

          29 Nov29 November 10:25

          @meta i bought just over 30000 points in October, was topping up my account. I paid just over 150euros. If i quote for the same amount i bought now its pricing at 109.90euro. So i guess it must be promo’d at the moment!?

      • marcw says:

        29 Nov29 November 08:14

        Doesn’t work always.

  • Bagoly says:

    29 Nov29 November 08:56

    Thank you so much for that.
    Saves the hassle of waiting in the post (melia.com says points post within 24 hours, but mine appeared instantly so I have already made hotel booking)
    And one can buy just the exact number of points one needs.

• Tom says:

  29 Nov29 November 08:36

  Great deal, thanks a lot. Booked 3 nights in their Rome hotel next year for less than 400EUR. As it’s during Euro 2020, even average hotels on the outskirts of the city cost more than that. Thanks for flagging it.

• sloth says:

  29 Nov29 November 08:58

  does the 20% birthday discount work with points bookings or is it cash only? thanks

  • meta says:

    29 Nov29 November 09:03

    Works with points booking. Points price is somewhat based on the cash price. You can also do points+cash booking if you don’t have enough and sometimes it works out better.

    • marcw says:

      29 Nov29 November 09:18

      Not true. Only once the 100% redemption rooms are sold out (very limited). Then the points value are a factor of cash rates.

      • meta says:

        29 Nov29 November 09:58

        But the question was whether it works with 20% off voucher and it does work just not on straight redemptions.

        • sloth says:

          29 Nov29 November 10:37

          thanks for the responses both…

          next question…anyone have any experience of booking for two adults and then contacting the hotel later to add a rollaway bed for a child? child is 9

        • marcw says:

          29 Nov29 November 12:22

          sloth, just do it. Appear on the day with the child. They won’t turn you away. You may have to pay some fee, but that’s fine.

• Phil says:

  29 Nov29 November 08:59

  Just checked the Meliá App. You can Buy Points through that. 80,000 points is currently priced at €288.00. A €24 saving if you include postage.

• KBuffett says:

  29 Nov29 November 09:27

  Does anyone know how long the points are valid for? That are their premier properties in Europe/ROW?

  • marcw says:

    29 Nov29 November 09:40

    Their great properties are Gran Meliá. Plenty in Spain. But ME Meliá are great as well, W alike.

  • Bagoly says:

    29 Nov29 November 11:14

    “The purchase of MeliáRewards points is not eligible for direct access to the Silver, Gold or Platinum levels
    The price includes all applicable fees. GST/HST will be charged to Canadian residents
    Purchased points are not refundable
    Points purchased with this option will be deposited in the account of the MeliáRewards that makes the purchase within 24 hours
    The minimum purchase is €5. The maximum purchase per transaction is 150,000 MeliáRewards points
    Points purchased by members expire if the account is inactive for 12 months from the date points were last earned or redeemed.
    Points can be used for purchases using only points or points plus euros.”

    “earned or redeemed” – does buying points count?

    Today EUR5 gets one 1389 points.
    I deduce that outside this sale period the minimum to keep points alive would still be EUR5, but one would get fewer points (1000?) for spending it.
    *IF* that keeps them alive, that would be good, but does anyone know whether buying counts as “earned”?

    • marcw says:

      29 Nov29 November 11:24

      Yes, ,buying points extend expiration for 1 year

• Benilyn says:

  29 Nov29 November 09:30

  Melia website is a pain on mobile (Android/Chrome), is there a way to see hotel point rates without registering?

  • marcw says:

    29 Nov29 November 09:40

    You need to be logged in to see point values

  • Bagoly says:

    29 Nov29 November 11:22

    I struggled with the Melia website using Chrome.
    Then I tried Firefox (a comment on here some time ago recommended that for Iberia) and it worked much better.
    Perhaps Firefox is the default for web developers in Spain?

    • ChrisBCN says:

      29 Nov29 November 11:47

      Chrome is the default browser here in Spain, I find it works as well as Firefox for Spanish sites

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