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Get exclusive benefits on a range of hotels
If you don’t want to pursue status with one of the main chains, there are several other options, such as Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Leaders Club for Leading Hotels, and Mr and Mrs Smith that offer perks and points. However, they often only have a small range of options. There is another option, which is the Michelin Guide Plus membership, which is ideal if you don’t want to use an OTA.
You can get a 30-day trial free, and then it costs £79 a year. The Michelin Guide features a broad range of hotels from luxury like the Savoy to more boutique properties. It is worth noting that only certain properties in the guide are part of the scheme.
It is not easy to find details on the Plus scheme as you can only join at checkout when you book a hotel and the benefits vary from hotel to hotel.
As an example of what you could receive, here is the list for The Mayfair Townhouse in London:
- Upgrade to next room category, based upon availability at check-in
- Guaranteed 2pm late check-out
- Welcome treat in room on arrival
- 20 GBP food and beverage credit per room, per day
- Please note: Complimentary upgrades are not provided to suites
You can book and check which hotels have member benefits here.
IAG interested in TAP
After IAG’s deal to buy Air Europa fell through last year, the airline group appears to be keen to look for another European partner. IAG owns 20% of Air Europa but had planned to buy the other 80% but was thwarted by regulatory issues.
I personally would say TAP is a more exciting option than Air Europa. TAP Air Portugal has done a lot to modernize the airline in recent years with new business class seats and a fleet of new aircraft. It operates several A321LR on transatlantic routes with fully flat beds. The airline does sometimes suffer from negative reports about its customer service, which hopefully is something IAG could improve.
IAG believes that the route structure and hub in Lisbon would complement their existing routes and help them be more competitive in South America and the US, where most of TAPs’ routes are focused. At a meeting in Dublin, IAG director Jonathan Sullivan told Portuguese journalists, “Over time, we would like to have a path towards a majority [position] because it would give the business the possibility to grow without the investment of other shareholders”.
Marriott Boost Points
You may be familiar with the British Airways Avios booster, which is one of the cheapest ways to buy Avios, but did you know that Marriott also has a points boost option? It is well hidden on the website, and you need to go to the Manage My Points page.
You can then choose to boost by 2x, 3x or 4x at a discounted rate.
Here you can see the discounts and pricing:
It is worth noting that you will need to have earned points from a stay in the last twelve months to qualify for the boost.You also need to have been a member for 30 days.
If there is no current offer for buying points, this would be the cheapest way to buy them, but if you are not in a hurry, the points offers are usually for 45-75% bonuses. Obviously, you also need points in your account to boost!
The maximum number of Points a member can purchase annually under the Offer is 100,000 Points, this is in addition to the standard buy points limit.
Stays at The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, and Sonder properties are not eligible for the Offer.
2 comments
Imho it’s not that TAP is more “exciting”. It is IAG’s only realistic, alternative, option. Personally I think it’s the better option ( of those available/ alliance leaning realistic). I’d go further to say that IAG’S attempts to takeover Air Europa were doomed to fail from the start. I would love to assert I came up with that, but for certain, I did not.
Not only would it have created a blatant ( anti consumer) Espana monopoly that even the EU couldn’t imagine to decree as “fair”. The counter (( and imho MUCH more prevalent)) lobbyists agents, acting on behalf of the other EU / Flag Carrier’s would/ have/ will go so much further
That’s a shame. I flew TAP for the first time on Monday, from FNC to LIS, and had a superb experience. If they end up subsumed into the IAG behemoth then I don’t see that as a positive.
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