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Last chance: 10000 Lufthansa miles card bonus, register for the current Marriott promotion

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News in brief:

Last chance to get 10,000 Miles & More miles with the Lufthansa credit card

For only the second time, Lufthansa is offering an increased sign-up bonus on its new UK payment card.  You will receive 10,000 Miles & More miles if you sign up by 31st December after which it will presumably drop back to 5,000 miles.

You can find out more, and apply, here.

It is an odd product, I admit.  You get a Diners Club card (!) and, luckily, you ALSO receive a Mastercard, featuring a smart picture of the virtually unknown Boeing 747-8 with the extended upper deck.

The sign-up bonus is 10,000 Miles & More miles.  This credits with your first purchase – there is no spend target to hit.

The real value is in your on-going spending.  You earn 1.25 miles per £1 spent.  This is a VERY good rate for a Mastercard, even one with an annual fee.  It isn’t as good as the market leading Virgin Flying Club Reward+ Mastercard (1.5 Virgin Atlantic miles per £1) but the fee is 50% lower.

The annual fee is £79.  Supplementary cards are not allowed.  Note that this is a charge card and NOT a credit card.  You MUST repay your balance in full each month.

Having this card will stop your Miles & More miles from expiring.  The ’36 month rule’ on expiry is waived.  The conditions are that you have been a holder of the cards for at least three months and you make at least one miles-earning purchase on the card each month going forward.

It is all quite complex.  Rather than dig through old ground again, I recommend you read my full review of the Lufthansa Miles & More Global Traveller card here.

You can apply for the new Miles & More cards here.  If you want to jump on this offer, the higher 10,000 mile bonus is only available until New Year’s Eve.

New Lufthansa Miles & More UK charge card Diners Club

Think you might have a Marriott stay in the next two weeks?

The current Marriott Bonvoy promotion, Unlock More, runs until 14th January.

Annoyingly, however, registration ends on New Year’s Eve.  If you think you might have a couple of Marriott stays before 14th January, you should register for the Marriott promotion now, just in case.

You can register here.

You will receive 2,000 bonus points for your second paid stay after registration.

After you have done this, you will unlock ‘a personalised additional offer’ which will also run until 14th January.  Given that the offer ends soon, I wouldn’t worry about this part as it is unlikely you will reach it.

All 7,000 hotels across all 29 hotel brands are taking part. The 29 brands you can stay at include: AC Hotels, Aloft, Autograph, Courtyard, Delta Hotels, Design Hotels, Edition, Element, Fairfield Inn, Four Points, Gaylord, Le Meridien, Marriott, Moxy, Protea, Renaissance, Residence Inn, St Regis, Sheraton, The Luxury Collection, The Ritz-Carlton, Springhill Suites, Towneplace Suites, W and Westin.

I value a Marriott Bonvoy point at 0.5p, so the 2,000 bonus points means that you are getting an additional return of £10-worth of points after your 2nd stay.  This is clearly not life changing, but if you are going to do the stays anyway then you might as well register.

Click here to visit the registration page on the Marriott website.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (November 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points for signing up and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

Huge 80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

(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.)

Comments (37)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Stuart says:

    I have a 16-night Marriott stay coming up in Feb…hoping for a little promo!

    • Lady London says:

      Hum. Let’s hope any upcoming promo from them will reward nights not just stays then.

      Re the new Marriott Motto concept (now revised by them) does anyone have any idea when in 2020 the first one will open? Its in London.

  • Jack says:

    O/T

    Iv been platinum IHG for a year and tried to get a status match or challenge to diamond at Hilton. (Currently gold) iv filled out the form 3 times and never receive a response. I’m now IHG spire so I filled out the form again no response. So emailed them and got a reply saying you can enjoy all the benefits of gold so we won’t match your spire to diamond or give you a challenge. I will now probably never book Hilton again over IHG unless I really need too. Whereas if they’d allowed me the challenge I’d have easy moved 18 nights over. Seems bizarre.

    • John says:

      Well enjoy the non-benefits of Spire then.

      If you want diamond, you can stay with Hilton 30 times or spend US$12000. It’s a lot easier to do this if you are already gold compared to starting from scratch.

      • BJ says:

        OT @John, any idea if a status extension year counts towards Lifetime Diamond, and if triggered during the ninth year if it effectively means LD with nine qualifying years?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      If you do that many stays then I would forget about the challenge and earn it the hard way for next year. Honestly though the difference is minor not like IHG spire gets you lounge access.

      Gold get free breakfast and lounge access is guaranteed if you get upgraded to an exec room which happens so often at most properties.

      • BJ says:

        Tend to agree, relatively few hotels have lounges and fewer still have lounges worth getting excited about. I still like being Diamond though because I do lots of one night stays so the MyWay bonuses alone earned during the year equate to a useful free night. In the years I have been Gold the upgrades have been good but as Diamond they have generally been great but they are obviously property and capacity dependent. I wouldn’t go out of my way to retain Diamond if I was already Gold or secured it but I wouldn’t think twice about ignoring a 100k IHG accelerate promotion if I needed the same number of nights to retain or achieve Diamond.

        • Crafty says:

          You still get MyWay as Gold! The difference is the % bonus on base points; which, as you say, does add up.

          • TGLoyalty says:

            You do but points should be ilo of breakfast. Diamond get breakfast plus 1k MyWay.

          • BJ says:

            As Gold I think you are supposed to pick between the 1000 bonus points or breakfast, as Diamond you get both. Having said that I managed to get both as Gold too during the last year I held Gold, I got very confused about it but obviously said nothing.

          • Sal says:

            @BJ what did you have selected on your profile? To take the breakfast or points? As i wonder if you just have breakfast selected would they offer points also as gold

          • BJ says:

            I think it must have been the default setting which I think is points? However, I was clueless at the time about the need to choose as was previously Diamond. I only learned about it here after querying why other gold members were only getting breakfast. I have a habit of asking at check in when and where my free breakfast would be just to make sure I was on the list. My best guess is that I was set to points and hotels gave me free breakfast, not once did it appear on my bill.

      • Lady London says:

        I am set for breakfast choice but got both a few times.

        • Crafty says:

          You should always leave it set to points and then ask at check in where to go for breakfast. In the very rare instance they haven’t already included it for you, you can address the issue at the desk.

  • Melonfarmer says:

    Re Lufthansa card: I applied 5 weeks ago and am still waiting for the Diners card to arrive. They expedited my application after a call because I’m travelling soon, but one can’t use the lounge access (or the prepaid MasterCard) without the Diners card being active. Customer service are very nice, but limited hours (M-F, 9-5:30). Apparently each application is processed by hand.

  • Concerto says:

    Well I applied in early to mid November and, despite calling in early December, have heard nothing. The lady said they were taking a long time to process applications. Does the purchase which triggers the 10,000 bonus have to take place before the end of December? If so, I am stuffed.

  • Liz says:

    I will drop from Hilton Gold to a nothing member come the end of March but hubby will remain Gold with the credit card. Can I still pool the points I have or earn after I drop down 2 tiers with my hubby or is that only a status perk? I have 270k and wonder whether to leave them till i need them or pool together now. Not planning on using them anytime soon. Always hopeful of another Hilton credit card.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Not sure if its an elite benefit (I suspect you will soft land to Silver but might be wrong)

      If he will keep gold then makes sense to pool now so you can book all stays with his Gold account and enjoy the higher status/breakfast etc?

    • BJ says:

      No soft landing unless things have changed in last two years. However, if you qualified for gold some other way such as via amex platinum while you were already gold then you might find that you retain it. Quite sure points pooling is open to all. Not sure what the pros and coms of that versus points transfer is as I don’t really need either. I thought that transfers had to be in increments if 10k and that there was a charge but my dad transferred 4k to me for free before Xmas. I’m Diamond and dad is gold which may or may not have something to do with it.

  • Tom1 says:

    O/t
    Planning Las Vegas and San Fran in May – making use of a Virgin u/g voucher.
    Will also be able to use Singapore Gold (through Amex/Shangri-La infinite journeys) to get access to both LHR abd SFO clubhouses hopefully.

    Various questions I would love your help on please!
    1) Wynn/Encore – is this something Emyr can get better rates/benefits with? Any other tips on best way to book?
    2) sfo – any recommendations for hotels ? Have Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt points (more Hilton and Hyatt than Marriott)
    3) tips for flights from LAS-SFO on points? Cash looks cheap anyway.

    Thanks in advance!
    Tom

    • BJ says:

      2) Pay cash for The Chancellor hotel on Union Square. This hotel is old and worn but it is special, people in the know walk past the St Francis to stay there.
      3) Strongly recommend you cut your time short in LAS to drive through and stay overnight in Yosemite before cutting over to the coast to drive north into San Francisco. You could chop a night from the latter too allowing you to get more out the coast.

      • Darren says:

        Unless Greta is correct the Tioga pass may be closed in May

        • Chas says:

          This year it opened exceptionally late (late June) due to the extremely heavy snowfall during the winter. I believe that it is more normal for it too open from mid April, so depends on when in May the OP is visiting. But you could take an alternative route and avoid Death Valley and Bishop and take a detour from Mariposa to access Yosemite.

      • Tom1 says:

        Thanks BJ.. hadn’t thought about Yosemite. I have to be back for year end, and meeting friends in Vegas so dates aren’t too flexible. Might be able to push an extra day if another reward flight becomes available. Will check that drive out, thanks.

    • Chas says:

      If leisure stay, I wouldn’t stay in Union Stay, but by Fisherman’s Wharf (and don’t forget to book your trip to Alcatraz well in advance). We stayed at Marriott near Union Sq in July and regretted it on so many levels; irrespective of the building works which whilst frustrating we coped with, and “ignoring” the housekeeping issues (had to have the bedsheets changed twice on arrival until we had a set which was clean enough for us to sleep in [first set had blood stains……], and subsequent complaints were ignored for the remainder of our stay until the manager called us at the end of our 3 night stay), we found the location wasn’t ideal for us as we spent a lot of time in ubers (which are a lot more expensive than in LAX) heading towards Fisherman’s Wharf or similar areas.

      I’d endorse BJ’s view on not missing out an overnight trip in Yosemite too. We did a huge 3 week road trip in the area this summer. After LAS we drove through Death Valley (thoroughly recommend lunch at “The Oasis”) before overnighting in Bishop (stayed at the CreekSide Inn, and ate at the Rambler Brewery) – obviously no points opportunities. Drove to Yosemite from there (book your accommodation very early), and from there you can drive to SFO relatively easily. I loved Vegas, but would happily have spent less time in SFO in lieu of more time in Yosemite.

      • Chas says:

        *Union Sq

      • Rob says:

        We’re in San Fran with the kids at Easter and the Argonaut Hotel has been strongly recommend by a friend as a good combo of quality and location (eg Fisherman’s Wharf).

    • Darren says:

      Depends what you want at Wynn, if you need a basic room then a direct booking may be preferable as they have a variety of promotions going throughout the year.

      I’ve used Emyr for the old MO Vegas before it switched to Waldorf Astoria, this worked out well, this could now be booked a variety of ways, on points maybe? IME Bon Vivant is not the cheapest but the benefits are usually good, the prices seem to be based on Best Available rate at the hotel with extras thrown in.

      I’d also recommend a trip over the bay to Sausalito and on to Sonoma if you have the time.

      • Chas says:

        +1 for Sausalito. That and Alcatraz were our highlights of SFO.

        • Tom1 says:

          Thanks both.. travelling with friends so we all picked where to stay (encore actually, not Wynn). Will see what Emyr can do.

          I actually had two days booked with points at the WA after friends left but decided to cut a few days from Vegas and add SFO instead.

  • Moria says:

    I’m currently Hilton Gold, with 10 stays required for diamond. If I do 10 stays and achieve diamond before March so I keep diamond till March 2021? Or will I only have diamond for the short time between achieving it and March 2020?

    • Brighton Belle says:

      From Hilton T’s&C’s

      Maintaining Your Elite Tier

      Once the Member has reached a certain Elite tier, the Member may keep such status for the calendar year in which the Elite tier was earned and the subsequent calendar year.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      You need to have achieved diamond by 31/12/19. Which is now is now impossible as there are less than 10 days left in the year.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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