How I got a great hotel deal from Melia’s Black Friday ‘buy points’ offer
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On Friday, I covered a very generous ‘buy points’ offer from Melia Hotels. Initially I thought that the offer was only available to people who bought points gift cards from Amazon Spain (link here), but it turned out that Melia had reduced its ‘buy points’ prices online to match.
Most people seem to have missed the value that this deal offered. I didn’t see our article picked up by anyone else. More fool them.
Here is an example to show you how good it was.
Every July, my brother and his family come to London for Wimbledon. I have always offered to sort out their hotel accommodation for them, since this is generally the most expensive week of the year for London hotels.
I decided to book them into ME London, Melia’s funky luxury lifestyle hotel on the Strand.
Here is the pricing for Saturday 4th July (click to enlarge):
As you can, a reassuringly expensive £599 for Bed & Breakfast. And he needs two rooms.
This price is not out of line. InterCon Park Lane is £793, whilst Holiday Inn Camden Lock is £268. Admittedly, there are better deals at some hotels.
This is what it costs for MeliaRewards points:
We’re looking at 51,412 points for Bed & Breakfast. Whilst an odd number, this is the standard price for B&B at ME London. I saw the same points price on offer on dates when the cash price was far, far lower than £599.
And what does it cost to buy 102,824 points? (51,412 x 2 rooms)
The answer is €370.17, or £320.
The points post instantly and I immediately made my points booking.
I picked up two rooms at ME London, retailing for £599 each, for £160 each. You can’t argue with that. For comparison, the best IHG alternative for that price, including breakfast, was the Holiday Inn Express Earl’s Court, which is not exactly comparable with a luxury five star hotel on the Strand.
Here is another example from a reader who emailed to say he booked INNSiDE New York (Anika reviewed INNSiDE New York here) for 3 nights in May. Here is a cash price of £667.64, which includes taxes:
…. and for points, the total needed is 71,222 MeliaRewards points:
…. which costs you €256.40 (£221):
Buying and immediately redeeming points at INNSiDE New York means you pay £221 for three nights instead of £667.64. Importantly, the redemption is also fully refundable whilst the cash rate I quoted is non-refundable.
I don’t know if this offer will still be running on Tuesday or if it was only for Cyber Weekend. The Amazon Spain page is here for buying postal gift cards – the offer price was from €126 per 35,000. If it shows from €210 per 35,000 then the price has gone back up. Similarly, you can try buying points on the Melia website – these post instantly – to see if you get the same rates I quote above.
Have a read at Friday’s article first before you go down the Amazon Spain route.
You may well have missed out now, but if so this is still one to consider for Black Friday 2020 or whenever Melia next runs a major ‘buy points’ promotion.
How to get MeliaRewards Gold status from American Express (April 2024)
Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE MeliaRewards Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Honors Gold and Radisson Rewards Premium status.
We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.
You can discover the benefits of MeliaRewards Gold status on the Melia website here. It includes three vouchers per year worth 20% off any booking.
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Small business owners may want to consider American Express Business Platinum instead:
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
(Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)
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