Accor Live Limitless (ALL) members save 25% if they book using the PRIVATE SALE RATE between January 15 – 31.

You can access this offer on Accor’s website here.

READ MORE: Accor ALL Rate & Bonus Points Offers

Note that the rates under this offer are fully prepaid and nonrefundable. You should only book them if your plans are 100% firm.

Participating Hotels:

Download (PDF, 125KB)

Rate Checks:

Mercure Bali Nusa Dua

Mercure Kuala Lumpur Shaw Parade

Conclusion

Accor used to have weekly Private Sales for various countries/regions and then Super Sales a few times a year, but we haven’t had them recently.

There are occasional Private Sales for stays in Asia, but it seems that Accor rather nowadays pushes these discounts through their paid membership programs.

Terms and Conditions of this offer:

*By booking this offer, the customer agrees to having read and accepted the following conditions: ​

The “Indonesia & Malaysia Member Private 25% off Sale” flexible rate (“MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE”) is valid for bookings, with a minimum of two nights or more, made at participating hotelsfor stay dates between 1 February 2024 and 5 April 2024 (“Stay Period”) where the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE is displayed as available and the booking is made between 12:01am on 15 January 2024 and 11:59pm on 31 January 2024 (both dates inclusive) (“Sale Period”). Guests whose bookings commence during the Stay Period and continue after the Stay Period, subject to these terms and conditions, will not receive the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE for that part of their booking which is not during the Stay Period. The MEMBER PRIVATE SALE rate provides a discount of 25% off when compared to the Full Flexible Rate. ​

The MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE is only available for guests that are members of the ALL – Accor Live Limitless or Accor Plus membership program at the time of booking and stay. The MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE is only available at participating hotels in Indonesia and Malaysia.​

There is a limited allocation of rooms on limited days for sale at the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE, and the rate is subject to black-out dates including school holidays and availability at the time of booking. Rooms in a participating hotel in excess of this allocation will not be available at the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE. ​

Bookings made on the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE must be prepaid in full online at the time of booking and are non-refundable. ​

Bookings made on the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE are subject to the following conditions; bookings cannot be changed, cancelled, exchanged or reimbursed and cannot be used in conjunction with other discounts or special offers except as provided in these terms and conditions. ​

Prices are quoted in the local currency stipulated at the time of booking and are inclusive of all local taxes unless otherwise stipulated. Exchange rates are given for information purposes only and are non-binding. Currency applicable to the transaction and charged is confirmed upon booking. ​

At the time of booking, if the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE is not available for the dates requested, another public rate will be suggested automatically on the rate screen. ​

Accor Plus members are eligible to receive their 10% Members’ Rate discount on the room rate on the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE provided that the relevant participating hotel is otherwise eligible for such discount under the Accor Plus Terms and Conditions of Membership. ​

ALL – Accor Live Limitless members are not eligible to receive any further discount on the MEMBER PRIVATE SALE RATE. ALL – Accor Live Limitless members will earn Status Points and Reward Points in accordance with the ALL Terms and Conditions of Membership​.

To the extent permitted by law, Accor reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to amend, modify or alter the terms of this offer, including  the list of participating hotels, at any time.

Source

Remember to email or message us via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with your airfare-related questions or discoveries!

fare: Scandinavian Airlines (SK) J2EU6BS FRA to EWR

• Booking class: J
• Price: from 1,691€ (1,519€ base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Day/time restrictions: -/-
• Advanced reservation/ticketing restrictions: reservations required at least 28 days before departure.
• Minimum stay: 6 days or until the first Sunday after arrival at turnaround.
• Maximum stay: -/-
• Stopovers: 1 free stopover permitted in each direction in Area 1.
• Cancellations: ticket is non-refundable.
• Changes: changes permitted.

Routing examples

Price comparison

Booking examples

This fare can be booked on SAS:

Accruals

FARE RULES

Download (DOCX, 23KB)

Source

IHG One Rewards members can save 28%, while the non-member discount is capped at 20%. The offer is available for bookings January 18 – 24.

You can access this offer on IHG’s website here.

READ MORE: IHG One Rewards Rate & Bonus Points Offers

Note that this offer is valid for stays of a minimum of two nights. The rate plan is prepaid, nonrefundable, and noncancelable.

Participating Hotels:

Indonesia
Six Senses Uluwatu Bali
InterContinental Bandung Dago Pakar
InterContinental Bali Resort
InterContinental Bali Sanur Resort
InterContinental Jakarta Pondok Indah
Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach
Crowne Plaza Bandung
Crowne Plaza Jakarta Residences
Holiday Inn & Suites Jakarta Gajah Mada
Holiday Inn Bali Sanur
Holiday Inn Bandung Pasteur
Holiday Inn Cikarang Jababeka
Holiday Inn Jakarta Kemayoran
Holiday Inn Lampung Bukit Randu
Holiday Inn Resort Bali Canggu
Holiday Inn Resort Bali Nusa Dua
Holiday Inn Resort Baruna Bali
Holiday Inn Resort Batam
Holiday Inn Express Baruna Bali
Holiday Inn Express Jakarta International Expo
Holiday Inn Express Jakarta Matraman
Holiday Inn Express Jakarta Pluit Citygate
Holiday Inn Express Jakarta Wahid Hasyim
Holiday Inn Express Semarang Simpang Lima
Rumah Luwih Bali

Laos
Crowne Plaza Vientiane

Malaysia
InterContinental Kuala Lumpur
Hotel Indigo Kuala Lumpur On The Park
Crowne Plaza Kuala Lumpur City Centre
Holiday Inn Melaka
Holiday Inn Johor Bahru City Centre
Holiday Inn Sepang
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Johor Bahru City Centre
Holiday Inn Express Kota Kinabalu City Centre
Holiday Inn Express Kuala Lumpur City Centre

Maldives
InterContinental Maldives Maamunagau Resort
Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives

Philippines
Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria
Holiday Inn & Suites Makati
Holiday Inn Cebu City
Holiday Inn Manila Galleria
Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City

Singapore
InterContinental Singapore
InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay
Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong
voco Orchard Singapore
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Singapore Novena
Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium
Holiday Inn Singapore Little India
Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre
Holiday Inn Express Singapore Clarke Quay
Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong
Holiday Inn Express Singapore Orchard Road
Holiday Inn Express Singapore Serangoon

Thailand
InterContinental Bangkok
InterContinental Bangkok Sukhumvit
InterContinental Chiang Mai The Mae Ping
InterContinental Hua Hin Resort
InterContinental Khao Yai Resort
InterContinental Koh Samui Resort
InterContinental Pattaya Resort
InterContinental Phuket Resort
Dinso Resort & Villas Phuket, Vignette Collection
Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok, Vignette Collection
Kimpton Kitalay Samui
Kimpton Maa-Lai Bangkok
Hotel Indigo Bangkok Wireless Road
Hotel Indigo Phuket Patong
Crowne Plaza Bangkok Lumpini Park
Holiday Inn & Suites Rayong City Centre
Holiday Inn & Suites Siracha Laemchabang
Holiday Inn Bangkok
Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom
Holiday Inn Bangkok Sukhumvit
Holiday Inn Pattaya
Holiday Inn Resort Vana Nava Hua Hin
Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach
Holiday Inn Resort Phuket
Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Karon Beach
Holiday Inn Resort Phuket Surin Beach
Holiday Inn Resort Samui Bophut Beach
Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bangkok Central Pier
Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Siam
Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Sathorn
Holiday Inn Express Bangkok Soi Soonvijai
Holiday Inn Express Pattaya Central
Holiday Inn Express Phuket Patong Beach Central
Holiday Inn Express Rayong Map Ta Trut
Holiday Inn Express Sukhumvit 11
Staybridge Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit
Staybridge Suites Bangkok Thonglor

Vietnam
Regent Phu Quoc
InterContinental Danang Sun Peninsula Resort
InterContinental Grand Ho Tram
InterContinental Hanoi Landmark 72
InterContinental Hanoi Westlake
InterContinental Nha Trang
InterContinental Phu Quoc Long Beach Resort
InterContinental Saigon
InterContinental Saigon Residences
voco Ma Belle Danang
Crowne Plaza Danang
Crowne Plaza Resort Phu Quoc Starbay
Crowne Plaza Vinh Yen City Centre
Holiday Inn & Suites Saigon Airport
Holiday Inn Resort Ho Tram Beach
Costa Executive Residences

Korea
InterContinental Alpensia Pyeongchang Resort
InterContinental Grand Seoul Parnas
InterContinental Seoul COEX
voco Seoul Gangnam
Holiday Inn Alpensia Pyeongchang Resort
Holiday Inn Alpensia Pyeongchang Suites
Holiday Inn Gwangju
Holiday Inn Incheon Songdo
Holiday Inn Express Seoul Hongdae

Japan
ANA InterContinental Beppu Resort&Spa
ANA InterContinental Ishigaki Resort
ANA InterContinental Manza Beach Resort
ANA InterContinental Tokyo
InterContinental Osaka
InterContinental Tokyo Bay
Intercontinental Yokohama Grand
Intercontinental Yokohama Pier8
The Strings by InterContinental Tokyo
Kimpton Shinjuku Tokyo
Hotel Indigo Hakone Gora
Hotel Indigo Inuyama Urakuen Garden
Hotel Indigo Karuizawa
ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose
ANA Crowne Plaza Fukuoka
Ana Crowne Plaza Hotel Akita
ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Kobe
ANA Crowne Plaza Kanazawa
ANA Crowne Plaza Narita
ANA Crowne Plaza Okayama
ANA Crowne Plaza Osaka
Holiday Inn & Suites Shin Osaka
ANA Holiday Inn Kanazawa Sky
ANA Holiday Inn Resort Shinano-omachi Kuroyon
Holiday Inn Express Osaka City Centre – Midosuji

Guam
Crowne Plaza Resort Guam

Saipan
Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan

Conclusion

You need to look at the rates once this sale has gone live to see if the rates are reasonable, and you can make firm plans.

I’m not sure why IHG promotes the double points offer on this page when the sale is valid for stays when the bonus offer is no longer valid. (It only runs through the end of January.)

Terms and Conditions of this offer:

The 2024 January Sale (the “Promotion”) is valid only for selected bookings made from 18 to 24 January 2024 (both dates inclusive) (“Booking Dates”) for stays at participating IHG branded hotels between 8 February to 30 May 2024 (both dates inclusive) (“Stay Dates”) using the ‘January Sale’ rate during the Booking Dates. The Promotion is available to IHG One Rewards members and the public to make bookings through IHG direct channels from 18 to 24 January 2024.

The Promotion offers a discount of up to 20% off the hotel’s Best Flexible Rate (BFR), the BFR rate is an unrestricted, non-qualified, non-discounted rate. IHG One Rewards members will also be eligible to receive an additional 10% discount on bookings made through the Promotion which are made directly through IHG channels. Rates are per room, per night for up to 2 adults sharing a room and are subject to availability during the Stay Dates.    ​

Minimum 2 nights’ stay required for bookings in the Promotion. Bookings must be made at least twenty-one (21) days in advance of your check-in date. Reservations are final and require full prepayment for the entire stay at the time of booking. Payment is non-refundable. No refunds if cancelled or changed. Once a reservation is confirmed, your credit card will be charged between the time of your booking and your check-in for the total amount shown, regardless of whether the reservation is used or not. Local government guidelines might require hotels to make any operational changes and you will be informed at the time of check-in. ​

The Promotion is valid in Southeast Asia, South Korea, the Maldives, Japan, Guam and Saipan at participating Regent Hotels & Resorts, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant, Hotel Indigo, voco hotels, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites. See our website for full details of participating hotels.   ​

The Promotion is not valid in conjunction with any other offer, discount or promotion. At Holiday Inn, kids 12 years and under stay for free sharing parent’s guest room in existing bedding and eat free from the all-day dining restaurant with an accompanying paying adult guest.  ​

Bookings made through IHG Brand websites, IHG App, CRO or directly at hotel qualify for IHG One Rewards Points. Standard IHG One Rewards programme terms and conditions apply. Visit www.ihgonerewards.com for details. IHG reserves the right to remove a member’s points or cancel a member’s account if fraudulent use of the Promotion is detected.  ​

Tax, service charge, credit card surcharges are not included. Any other In-room dining purchases, minibar purchases and private dining are excluded from this offer. The Promotion is not applicable to group bookings. Unused components do not have a cash value and are non-refundable. Not applicable with other discounted rate promotions. Rates are subject to availability. Blackout dates (days when the offers are not available) may apply in some participating hotels. Final bill will be in hotel’s local currency.  ​

IHG reserves the right to withdraw, suspend or modify this Promotion or amend these terms and conditions without prior notice at any time with or without notice and without any liability. To the extent permitted by applicable law, IHG reserves the right of final interpretation of this Promotion.  ​

Source

Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.

You can access Lufthansa here.

Email From the Reader:

I recently flew SIN-FRA on a Lufthansa 747-8. I had pre-selected the seat when I booked the ticket. During check-in at the airport, I was given the selected seat with no mentioning of any problems.

I boarded the plane, found my seat and that’s when I realized that the seat was defect. It was not possible to recline or change the seating configuration in any way. A sticker with the word “INOP” had been placed on the control panel of the seat. The sticket was starting to wear off and I suspect this seat had been defect for some time already. The headphones were dirty and had the ear-cover of a previous passenger still mounted to them.

The crew informed me that this was a full flight and neither relocation nor upgrading was possible. So I took my seat and flew the 13+ hour flight on it.

In my opinion, this was worse than flying in economy. At least the economy seat reclines a little bit.

So I contacted Lufthansa to request a compensation or partial refund. Their first response was a very standard and impersonal apology with no mention of any compensation. So I wrote them back:

Reader’s Follow-Up Email to Lufthansa:

Thank you for your quick response and for taking action to hopefully have the seat repaired, avoiding future passengers’ discomfort.

I understand that the full flight made it impossible to change or upgrade my seat, and the crew did their best to minimize the damage.

But this does not change the fact that I had to sit in a defect Business Class seat on a 13 hour flight, causing a substantial discomfort that does not live up to the standard of the travel class I had paid for.

For this reason, I request adequate compensation (for example: an upgrade voucher, the equivalent value in Miles & More award miles, or a partial refund) and would appreciate if you honor the high standard that your passengers are promised.

Thank you very much for your consdideration.

Lufthansa’s Response:

Thank you for your email dated January 13, 2023.

We are very sorry that your journey did not operate as per schedule. We understand your frustration with this occurrence, as we are aware of how stressful every change to your journey can be. You rightly expect to be kept fully informed when a flight does not operate as planned. Therefore, we want to offer our sincere apologies for the same

However, as per our records, we will not be able to comply with your request of compensation. Please accept our sincere apologize for the same.

In spite of the unfortunate experience you had, we would be pleased to welcome you on board a Lufthansa flight in the near future.

Reader’s Thoughts:

Do I have any options, or should I just bite the sour apple and move on?

Side note: this was my very first Lufthansa business class experience and the first impression is: never again!

Lufthansa knew that the seat was inoperable and should not have been sold or assigned to paying passengers using cash or miles. The reader could have perhaps asked the crew to see if there were any nonrev passengers (airline employees) in the cabin whose seats could be reassigned.

The reader had three options:

1. Fly in the operable business seat

2. Request to be involuntarily downgraded with adequate compensation

3. Request to be rebooked in another airline in business

I know that options 2 and 3 are difficult, especially 3 because they will likely lead you to arrive at your destination with a significant delay.

The reader now has three options:

1. Do nothing and let it go

2. Open a case with Soep in Germany

3. Hire a lawyer and take Lufthansa to court

Opening a case with Soep likely gets Lufthansa’s attention, but I am unsure if it yields an acceptable level of compensation. It is almost surely something other than those two “sorry emails” from customer service.

If the reader, however, is German, Austrian, or Swiss, as their name suggests, they should hire an attorney and go to court. I would consider this inoperable seat a downgrade where Lufthansa is required to refund 75% of the segment value.

The reader took a photo showing that the seat was clearly marked as inoperable, and thus, it should not have been used. This was negligence and bad faith on Lufthansa’s part that the lawyer needed to argue in court.

Conclusion

Lufthansa’s current business-class product is very dated compared to other airlines and should be avoided unless there are no other direct options or the price is very competitive.

The main selling point of a business class is to have proper sleep on board in a lie-flat seat. The reader was denied this when Lufthansa decided to sell this seat even when it knew it was broken.

I am not sure if the person replying to the Lufthansa consumer complaints understood the issue, as it looked like a standard copy/paste reply from an outsourced shop.

Engaging Lufthansa through Soep and/or a lawyer will get attention to their team in Germany and will lead to a better outcome than this: “We are sorry.”

Source

Amex Hotel Collection reservations, just like Fine Hotels & Resorts, require a prepayment if you want to use your annual US$200 Hotel Credit, so walking away from a reservation isn’t as easy and requires some effort.

Usually, I only go after such a stressful exercise if it’s absolutely worth it, but in this case, I felt that the property credit would have been completely wasted, and I really didn’t want to stay another night there, so I decided to go for it.

I have stayed at this Grand Hyatt hotel multiple times, and in fact, it was one of the best hotels in Shanghai, with an excellent Club Lounge in the past. Both have been wiped out, and the service culture and quality have been absolutely decimated ever since the pandemic. Now, sadly, the hotel is only a shadow of its former self.

Here is the booking as I originally placed it:

Minus $200 credit, this meant $110/night for the Grand Hyatt and $100 F&B credit to use at the hotel’s outlets, which was an extremely attractive deal to me. You can add your loyalty number to THC bookings with Hyatt and also earn stay credit (doesn’t go for all THC bookings with other brands so careful with that). I was upgraded to a Grand Suite as well, so pre-stay, I was very positive about what to expect.

But it quickly turned sour upon arrival. Only two employees at the front desk, a third that didn’t speak any English. The elevator to the Club Lounge on the 83rd floor for check-in requires a keycard, but no staff is around to let you go up. I went to the 85th floor, where there is a restaurant, and tried to use the floor phone to call someone up. The phone was a piece of broken plastic that didn’t work. A restaurant employee eventually called someone from the lounge up with a key card.

Talking about the lounge, this is representative of what was on offer at the Grand Club later that evening:

Absolutely inedible slob. Other items were either out entirely or looked similar. I grabbed some sparkling water and just left trying to utilize my dining credit.

Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t have any great F&B spots anymore, and the only option given to me was the buffet restaurant, which didn’t have any seats available that evening, or the Oyster Bar on the 85th floor – the supposed “Best restaurant at the hotel”. I walked in and the first thing I heard was kids watching cartoons on a tablet, I left immediately.

At this point, I told the manager to get in touch with Amex to have them refund the reservation, and I’d just pay them for the daily member rate in cash (1080 RMB) for one night. I left the hotel and went to the adjacent IFC mall to grab something proper to eat.

After a walk, I got back three hours later only to find that the front desk manager had done absolutely nothing since I left him, at which point I called the Hyatt Concierge hotline to open a file and put the matter on record in case it went sour later.

The next morning, I talked to a senior manager at the hotel, who got the file submitted in the meantime. He agreed to have Amex refund it and told me he’d get in touch with them. 10 minutes later he called back and told me they currently have a “system error” and can’t do anything.

Of course that’s total BS – the fastest I ever got someone on the phone and dealt with reservations was 10-15 mins. I called myself, and the Amex Travel agent was really helpful; I gave her the direct line of the manager, and she called him. Another deception on his part happened when he told the Amex agent the refund would be 110 RMB, which confused her as that’s like 14 bucks.

When she told me that, I put him on speakerphone and ripped him a new one until he finally told her what was earlier agreed to – authorizing a full refund to Amex and a direct payment for the first night from me to the property.

The refund arrived within 36 hours:

I decided to book the Shangri-La Shanghai nearby for one night, which came to $195 under the FHR program, where I got a nice room, breakfast, and late checkout under the FHR benefits together with the F&B credit. This hotel has EXCELLENT food and beverage outlets, and despite being an older property, it’s still one of the best in Shanghai.

I really wish the Grand Hyatt gets it together again, finds some proper associates, and invests in the upkeep and cleanliness of public facilities. It’s a shame that this property came down to such a low level.

Conclusion

This was really a headache and probably not honestly really worth all the effort on my end, but I just didn’t want to stay at the Grand Hyatt anymore, considering the condition the hotel is in. It was really shocking and there appears to be a talent crunch for hospitality workers in China that’s even worse than pre-Covid.

Anyone with a bit of intelligence, language ability, and talent goes to other industries where a better salary is paid, which totally makes sense.

I was quite happy that American Express was understanding and agreed to process the refund without any questions or complaints. The hotel credit is finally gone now, and I don’t have to think about it anymore for the 2024 calendar year. I might book more FHR/THC rates, but as long as you don’t need to use your credit, there is no need to prepay for these reservations.

Source

They have made an updated list of Spontaneous Escapes available today for travel February 1 – 29, 2024, and they are available for bookings through January 31.

You can access Singapore Airlines Spontaneous Escapes here.

Source

SLH has had a distribution partnership with Hyatt, where a selection of SLH hotels appear on the rate search, and there has also been minimal availability using points. The collaboration with Hyatt, however, will dissolve due to Hyatt’s purchase of the Mr & Mrs Smith platform. The date of this termination is unclear, as is when Mr & Mrs Smith hotels will become bookable through Hyatt.

You can access SLH here, and Capital One here.

It seems that SLH has formed a new deal with Capital One where some of their hotels are bookable through Capital One Travel, and those stays qualify for SLH’s guest loyalty program that awards stay credits, upgrades, and daily breakfast for two.

The above email from SLH hit my inbox on Friday, but the link resolves to Capital One Travel’s web page with no further information about this partnership.

Capital One Travel lists SLH Hotels as part of their collection.

The Premier Collection and Lifestyle Collection come with some benefits.

Some of the SLH hotels appear on Capital One Travel, but there is always the pricing issue that has plagued SLH’s partnership with Hyatt as well.

You pay a significant premium to book any of these SLH hotels on SLH’s website and an even higher price if you book through partners, such as Capital On Travel or Hyatt. Third-party websites, such as Trip, sell many of these SLH hotels at a significant discount compared to the rates at which SLH itself sells them.

Rate Check: Palazzo Manfredi February 12 – 14

Note that I have not checked what room type the lowest rate corresponds with these four websites.

SLH

The lowest price for a two-night stay is 1127 euros ($1,235)

Capital One Travel

The two-night stay would set you back $1,612.

Hyatt

The price through Hyatt would be 1,282 euros ($1,406)

Trip.com

And the lowest price on Trip.com is $813 for exactly the same dates.

Conclusion

SLH has quite a few interesting hotels in its distribution portfolio, but the examples above demonstrate why I have always had great difficulty booking through them.

The hotels have always been significantly less if booked through one of the OTAs (not necessarily Trip), and why would you pay 50% to 100% premium to book through one of SLH’s partners, such as Hyatt or Capital One Travel? It just doesn’t make any sense.

There is no information about this supposed partnership on Capital One Travel’s website, to which SLH refers to members to whom they sent out the email above.

It is unclear when SLH hotels will disappear from Hyatt’s website, but that date cannot be that far out. Whether award reservations done using Hyatt points past the termination date are honored remains to be seen.

Source

Remember to email or message us via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram with your airfare-related questions or discoveries!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

FAQ: How to Book the Airfare of the Day?

fare: Cathay Pacific (CX) ER99SGAR SIN to NYC

• Booking class: E
• Price: from $1,354 ($1,199 base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Day/time restrictions: -/-
• Advanced reservation/ticketing restrictions: -/-
• Minimum stay: -/-
• Maximum stay: 6 months.
• Stopovers: permitted in HKG on the inbound fare component at SGD 240.00 each.
• Cancellations: charge SGD 300.00 for cancel/refund; charge SGD 350.00 for no-show.
• Changes: charge SGD 150.00 for reissue/revalidation; charge SGD 350.00 for no-show.

Routing examples

Price comparison

Booking examples

This fare can be booked on GoToGate:

Accruals

Fare rules

Download (DOCX, 35KB)

Source

Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.

A reader noticed from the last post that I was in China and had the great idea to let me know that trying the UrCove brand is probably not the best idea for me, to say the least.

For a bit of history, Hyatt started a joint venture with a new hotel brand in China called UrCove By Hyatt, and that was widely promoted in the local market and even abroad. These hotels also show up in searches for awards.

You can access the brand website here.

Following that, Frank wrote me the following email:

Hi Sebastian,

I noticed you’re in China right now so just a word of warning if you’re planning on staying at Hyatt’s UrCove properties – not all of them actually accept foreigners even though they take reservations.

This happened to me at the UrCove Beijing Wangfujing where I had a reservation but when I showed up they were unable to check me in. What might have contributed to the confusion is that I’m Canadian-Chinese with a Chinese first and last name. They accepted my reservation but when I presented my Canadian passport they were not amused or least told me immediately “Foreigners can’t stay here”. My wife is still a Chinese citizen so she checked in but they wouldn’t accept her U.S. credit card and she paid via ePay instead.

FYI: Many hotels in China aren’t set up utility wise to accept foreigners and that’s due to the reporting requirements to the authorities. But I was surprised to run into this with a brand touting their affiliation with Hyatt, an American brand.

I didn’t encounter these problems at other UrCove properties such as Shanghai Jing’An, but a word of warning should you decide to go there: It is a VERY select service, and the employees often speak very little English or none at all. Respectfully: I think you’d go mental there!

Enjoy your trip in Shanghai and let me know if I can be of any help!

-Frank

Wow – that really blew my mind as well. I mean it makes sense because what he says is indeed the case. Chinese hotels strictly have to report every foreigner staying at the hotel to the Public Security Bureau through an electronic system. If you stay at a private address you have to go to a designated office in the local district to do the reporting yourself.

This is not a loose requirement; they do follow up on this, and if there are unexplainable gaps (several nights or weeks unreported), you’ll be picked out the next time you leave or enter China and questioned.

I checked the property in Beijing Frank mentioned here, and it isn’t offered on the Hyatt website. I assume he made that reservation locally through their own systems, so I don’t hold that against Hyatt in this case. But maybe it would be best to equip and train all their hotels to accept foreigners if the brand carries the Hyatt moniker.

I was motivated by that email to try the Urcove Shanghai Jing An yesterday. As he said, it didn’t go well. I reserved the hotel for 5,000 points (it was over US$100 last night so good value) but first there were communication issues, they wouldn’t provide an upgrade and then there was a heater constantly blowing warm air into the room.

They also had some issues registering me because my passport didn’t have a visa, but all was fine in the end. Until I left, that is. Everyone was friendly and helpful though; it wasn’t a bad experience based on staff.

As a remedy, they said I should open the window (bad pollution yesterday). I left after 20 minutes and stayed at the Conrad on points. Hyatt refunded the 5k within an hour after emailing Consumer Affairs.

Have any of you experienced a problem with this UrCove brand?

Conclusion

There seems to be a problem with these UrCove by Hyatt hotels in China as far as catering to foreigners is concerned. English capability of the employees is close to zero, and there are some properties that don’t accept foreign guests or foreign credit cards. Amazing that Hyatt would allow this. Why not make all properties compliant?

The design at the JingAn property was actually pretty nice, and even the room was functional, but I couldn’t sleep with hot heating air in the room, so I had to leave. Maybe I try the Pudong property this week before leaving, and even if I don’t stay there the entire night, I book it until leaving late to the airport and at least clock in the brand.

Source

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

FAQ: How to Book the Airfare of the Day?

fare: Etihad (EY) ZNN08V5T OSA to CHI

• Booking class: Z
• Price: from $2,819 ($2,696 base fare + taxes & surcharges).
• Day/time restrictions: -/-
• Advanced reservation/ticketing restrictions: -/-
• Minimum stay: 2 days.
• Maximum stay: 4 months.
• Stopovers: 1 free stopover permitted in AUH.
• Cancellations: charge JPY 30,000 for cancel/refund; charge JPY 60,000 for no-show.
• Changes: charge JPY 25,000 for reissue/revalidation; charge JPY 50,000 for no-show.

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Booking examples

This fare can be booked on Expedia (access here):

Accruals

Fare rules

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The deal doesn’t include two Radisson Collection hotels, The May Fair and The Edwardian Manches + The Londoner. It seems that these 10 Radisson Blu hotels will eventually exit the Radisson affiliation after property upgrades.

Hotels Sold:

• Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Berkshire Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Kenilworth Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Hotel
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow Hotel & Conference Centre
• Radisson Blu Edwardian Sussex Hotel

Starwood Capital’s Press Release:

Acquisition of landmark Central London hotel portfolio

LONDON, Jan. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Starwood Capital Group (“Starwood Capital”), a global private investment firm with a primary focus on real estate, announced today that a controlled affiliate has acquired a portfolio of 10 hotels from Edwardian Group for an undisclosed sum via an off-market transaction.

The portfolio comprises 10 hotels with 2,053 rooms. Edwardian Group will continue to own and operate The Londoner and its two Radisson Collection hotels, The May Fair and The Edwardian Manchester, following closing of the transaction.

Alongside the acquisition, Starwood Capital and Edwardian Group intend to collaborate on future opportunities together. As part of this relationship, Edwardian Group will continue to operate the portfolio on a transitional basis while Starwood Capital plans its future investment into the hotels.

The acquisition adds to Starwood Capital’s existing portfolio of European hotel investments, which following the transaction will comprise 47 hotels / c.10,000 rooms across Europe.

Tim Abram, Managing Director at Starwood Capital, said: “We are delighted to have had the opportunity to acquire this one-of-a-kind portfolio of Central London freehold hotels. London is one of the world’s most sought-after hotel markets, and this portfolio enables to us gain exposure on a unique scale to London. We plan to invest significant capex during our ownership into further enhancing the hotels.”

Inderneel Singh, CEO of Edwardian Group, said: “Following the successful development of The Londoner and a period of strong trading across the portfolio, the sale represents an opportunity to refocus the group and position it for the next chapter of growth.”

“Our three landmark properties – The Londoner, The May Fair Hotel, and The Edwardian Manchester – each mark our continued commitment to invest in and deliver distinctive experiences for guests in high-end, purpose-built, city-centre hotels.”

JLL provided real estate advisory services and Baker McKenzie provided legal services to Edwardian Group for the sale. Paul Hastings (Europe) LLP acted for Starwood Capital on the acquisition.

List of Hotels

Radisson Blu Edwardian Hampshire Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Bloomsbury Street Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Berkshire Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Kenilworth Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf Hotel

Radisson Blu Edwardian Heathrow Hotel & Conference Centre

Radisson Blu Edwardian Sussex Hotel

Conclusion

You may recall that Starwood Capital owned Principal Hotels in the UK that it sold to IHG and its partners in 2018, and many of those hotels were later reflagged under IHG’s Kimpton and InterContinental brands.

Nothing will happen with these Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels in the short term, but eventually, Starwood Capital will fix them up and likely resell them.

I’m not sure what is going on with Radisson.

It seems that the chain is in free fall after being acquired from the HNA by the Chinese Government-controlled hotelier, resulting in a split of operations to the Americas and the rest of the world, and later, the entire Americas operations offloaded to Choice.

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Readers are encouraged to send us questions, comments, or opinions by email, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. We’ll try to cover them here several times a week.

You can access Etihad here.

Reader’s Email:

I am getting so frustrated with Etihad Public Relations and with the whole organisation I cannot tell you.

In April 2023 we travelled Etihad Airways to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi in Business Class. Our 2 checked bags did not arrive on the plane. Etihad Baggage Service at Frankfurt assured us that the bags will arrive on the NEXT flight and the bags will be delivered to us. We told them that we were flying to Athens and we would be there for 3 days only.  We were promised that the bags will be sent to our hotel in Athens the next day. They also said that we should get whatever we needed and keep the receipt for reimbursement.

We got to Athens without our bags and had to purchase clothes and toiletries from a department store in Athens.

Well, surprise surprise, the bags did not arrive the next or the following 3 days. Just as we were leaving the Athens hotel on our driving tour of Greece, a delivery person showed up with our bags, 4 days later. I don’t know what we would have done had the bags not arrived on the day we were leaving to another city in Greece.

In any event I put in a claim for the expenses on Etihad website and provided them with the receipts and the Flights and copies of Electronic Tickets. I was given a Case Number on their website.

I had further emails from them asking for my passport details and other details with several emails over the next several weeks. Each time I went to put those documents, I had to create “another case number” as their website did not allow me to use the original case number to upload the needed documents. At one stage they wanted me to send some of the documents in PDF rather than .PNG format. I did so.

I have not had any communication from them in any form since 11 August 2023. Since then I have been phoning them up as well as sending them email. The last email I sent to them was on 19 October 2023. I have not even had an acknowledgement from them let alone finalising the reimbursement. I have made umpteen phone calls to the only phone number available, which is their Booking Office. They all apologise and promise that action will happen as they will “escalate” the matter to the highest level in Baggage Services. They refuse to give me the Baggage Services phone number and only say they will send high priority email to them.

When I rang them today I was told that the person in-charge of my case had put it into the “inactive” file, hence nothing has been done and seemingly nothing will be done. We had to spend over €400 to survive several days without our bags.

What recourse do we have? Any?

Etihad is responsible for up to 1,288 SDR per passenger (roughly 1,600 EUR) who check bags if they are completely lost or if you need to make emergency purchases to get by until you are reunited with them.

I have documented the claim process in three of my cases:

Compensation Clinic: Pilferage From Delayed Luggage (Avianca & Copa)

Compensation Clinic: Air France Delayed Luggage HEL-CDG-HND

Compensation Clinic: Air France Delayed Luggage

The reader’s issue is that Etihad has decided not to pay and has closed the file, even when they are responsible for reimbursing the reader for their relatively modest emergency purchases.

The reader should open a case with a German conciliation body called Soep, which our readers have had great success with.

Usually, just opening a case with Sope will spring the airline into action after they have sat on the case and closed it.

Conclusion

There is no excuse for Etihad Airways not to pay a valid claim other than they know that most passengers don’t know their rights well enough and how to escalate the claim.

Unfortunately, this is how all the airlines in the region operate, and Emirates and Qatar Airways are no better. All of them are wonderful in the air and when things run smoothly. If something doesn’t go to plan, you are basically on your own and stonewalled by customer service.

Luckily, you have enforcement bodies and consumer ombudsmen in many jurisdictions that can help inconvenienced passengers with their rights.

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Now, Accor has decided to increase the Diamond members’ points earning bonus to 100% from the variable Platinum one (roughly 75%).

You can access Accor’s page for tier benefits here and point earnings here.

READ MORE: Accor ALL Rate & Bonus Points Offers

Platinum & Diamond Point Earnings %:

The main difference between Platinum and Diamond was that Diamond members are eligible for a complimentary breakfast at participating properties worldwide, but only on weekends. Both get complementarity breakfast at Asia-Pacific hotels every day.

While you can earn Silver, Gold, or Platinum tiers by nights only, the Diamond status doesn’t count nights at all, only status qualifying points.

You need 26,000 status points to reach Diamond, which is 10,400 euros spent at full points earning Accor properties.

Accor Plus and ALL PLUS Voyageur/ibis subscription cards come with bonus elite qualifying nights and the ALL Signature with up to 1,000 bonus elite qualifying points monthly (essentially a fast track to Diamond).

Accor’s Subscription Products:

• Accor Plus – Asia Pacific (read more here)
• ALL Signature – Brazil (read more here)
• Ennismore Dis-loyalty – only Ennismore properties (read more here)
• ALL PLUS Voyager / ALL PLUS ibis – worldwide (read more here)
• ALL PLUS China – Mainland China

Conclusion

It makes sense for Accor to differentiate more between the Platinum and Diamond tiers, and bumping up the point earnings is probably the easiest to implement.

We have received some feedback about the Diamond complimentary weekend breakfast, especially in Europe and France, where hotels have decided and have been allowed to opt out of this benefit, and we are looking into this.

Overall, earning a 10% rebate on your Accor stays at a Diamond level is pretty decent.

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the hotel

Opened in June 2022 as the brand’s inaugural property in Portugal, the W Algarve is nested in the hills right next to Albufeira, just a 50-minute drive from Faro International Airport. The hotel complex features 134 sunset-facing rooms, (including 10 WOW suites with private rooftop terrace) and 83 W-branded Residences. The interior design was crafted by the awarded Hong Kong studio AB Concept.

the room

Discover 134 west-facing luxury guest spacious rooms and suites with large, private balconies with stunning ocean views. Premium rooms include 10 aptly named WOW Suites, all featuring a private rooftop terrace, and the ultimate seaside retreat, the E WOW Suite. Spanning 200 square-meters, W redefines the classic presidential suite with its signature E WOW Suite. The sanctuary offers two floors of oceanside hotel suites with a clever design and a panoramic rooftop terrace where lush gardens accent head-turning coastal views, a zero-edge lap pool and dining space

our video review

conclusion

Lovely space! The chosen blue palette brings the ocean vibes into the room, and the ocean views from the terrace adds to the charm, By W nomenclature, this qualifies as a junior suite, and it plays the part correctly.

In case you missed it!

Suite Saturdays: Dining Club Suite @ InterContinental Bahrain

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