A good Cyber Monday deal from Preferred Hotels, including the two UK Virgin Hotels

The Black Friday flight and hotel deals we’ve covered over the last couple of days have been, to put it politely, average. Accor’s quadruple points offer is probably the best we’ve seen – you need to book that deal by tonight.

Things are picking up a little today with an interesting offer from independent luxury hotel booking consortium Preferred Hotels.

Details are on the Preferred Hotels site here.

To put the deal simply:

• book a three night stay by 4th December at participating hotels, saving up to 35% in the current ‘Cyber Sale’

• you will also receive 35,000 bonus iPrefer points, worth a free night at some properties

There are over 170 participating hotels offering up to 35% off. In the UK, the options are:

• Virgin Hotels Edinburgh
• Virgin Hotels London Shoreditch
• The Beaumont, London (Mayfair)
• Royal Lancaster London (overlooking Kensington Palace)
• The Mandeville, London (Marylebone)
• The Pelham, London (Knightsbridge)
• The Guardsman, London (Westminster)
• Middle Eight, London (Covent Garden)
• The Londoner (the huge new hotel in Leicester Square)
• The Bo’Tree, London (Marylebone)
• The Grand, York
• Sopwell House, St Albans
• Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
• The Fitzwilliam Hotel, Belfast

The small print includes the following points:

• you need to be a member of the Preferred Hotels iPrefer loyalty scheme (join here, click on ‘Join’)

• you must book for stays completed by 31st March 2025

• use rate code MKTCYB24 when booking the ‘Cyber Sale’ deal

• the bonus points do not count towards tier promotion

• you can book multiple stays under the ‘Cyber Sale’ offer but you will only receive the 35,000 bonus points once

What hotels can you book with 35,000 bonus points?

You can take a look at the redemption list here.

However, this link was throwing up an error message over the weekend so I can’t confirm what hotels are available.

When this offer ran last year, there were 35 hotels redeemable for 30,000 points of which three were in Europe – Prague (The Emblem – image above), Budapest (Mystery Hotel) and Munich (EXCELSIOR by Geisel). All of these hotels are still bookable at 30,000 points.

Last year there were also eight hotels bookable for 15,000 points per night although none were in Europe.

You’d obviously end up with more than your 35,000 bonus points after your qualifying stay, but at 10 points per US$ spent this is unlikely to make a big difference to your redemption. The next level up after 30,000 points is 50,000 points. Under the scheme rules, a hotel is only obliged to give points on your room rate – it is ‘discretionary’ if points are awarded for food, drink, spa and other spend.

You can also redeem your 35,000 points for a gift voucher

You can also redeem your iPrefer points for a Preferred Hotels gift certificate.

15,877 points gets you a £25 certificate, so you’d definitely be able to order two and potentially three after your stay. You can also order vouchers in $ or € depending on where you plan to redeem.

Obviously £50 towards a future stay is better than nothing, but you’d do better using your 35,000 iPrefer points from this offer for a free night.

Conclusion

This is a decent offer. The sweet spot would be a three night stay in a low cost hotel, potentially in Asia, to take advantage of the ‘35% Cyber Sale’ rate and get you 35,000 points which could be used for a free night in a more expensive location.

That said, getting 35% off may on its own give you a bigger £ saving than the bonus points are worth, and you can treat the 35,000 points as an extra freebie on top.

PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, please consider signing up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters. They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

Hotel offers update – January 2025:

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.

Want to buy hotel points?

• Hilton Honors is offering an 80%-100% bonus when you buy points – no closing date is given. Click here to buy.

• IHG One Rewards is offering an 80%-100% bonus when you buy points by 31st January 2025. Click here to buy.