Would you like to win 100,000 Avios points? Thought so. Wait until Monday …

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• Serrano says:

  3 Jan3 January 07:06

  Raffles, after your initial post I registered for Kaligo and I was about to book a hotel for one night (including 500 avios + 3,000 sign up bonus). Only to realise that the hotel is 38 USD more expensive than most other booking sites

  Then I compared Kaligo prices for various hotels in various cities and after 14 searches, calculated that on average the Kaligo price is 27 USD more expensive than average booking website prices and in all but one instance was always more expensive than any other website

  Appreciate Kaligo is a partner of yours and you’re probably involved in a commercial relationship with them but this is your second post about Kaligo and you havent warned us that their prices are higher than other websites. I know that you would never miss that so I’m asking why…

  • Anon says:

    3 Jan3 January 08:30

    £7 extra than the cheapest Hilton.com rate for Hilton LGW, so worth the 3,400 Avios.

    Interestingly when it comes up on a results list for a generic London search its another £15 more expensive, so might be worth honing your searches and playing about with options.

    Does it pay out the Avios immediately after booking or after staying?

  • Mr(s) Entitled says:

    3 Jan3 January 08:45

    It was mentioned multiple times in the comments section and has now been again. But that is not the point. Should a reference about this not be in the article?

    There are lots of articles on HfP with regard the ‘value of an Avois’ so incorporating such here to illustrate the breakeven would be proper and transparent.

    The ethos of the website appears to be about extracting value. Even promoting arbitrage (e.g. 3V) in some instances. To make no mention of the cost here is unfortunate.

    • Mr(s) Entitled says:

      3 Jan3 January 08:47

      Which is not to say that Kaligo is automatically an inferior product. Clearly there are times when it works. Just perhaps not all the time.

  • Singing Dwarf says:

    3 Jan3 January 09:05

    I think we know why…

    Just shows that the more ‘commercialised’ a site becomes, the more careful one has to be when considering the neutrality of the advertorial.

    • Rob says:

      3 Jan3 January 09:29

      Eh? I am not paid a penny by Kaligo, either directly or indirectly (ie via advertising or via free rooms). Not for this competiton, not ever. I do not have affiliate links for them even though they are available.

      If you see a Kaligo ad it is being put there by Google and I have no control over those.

      • Jwinters says:

        3 Jan3 January 09:48

        You may not get anything DIRECTLY from the promotion, but you clearly are using the competition to keep users on the site. Also are you saying you won’t ever get anything via any referral link in the future from the competition sponsor.

        • Rob says:

          3 Jan3 January 09:57

          In truth, companies are less likely to pay to advertise after doing a competition. They already have the attention of the HFP core readership. No company who ran a competition last year subsequently booked paid ad space.

          I am happy to refuse all future offers to sponsor competitions and tell the companies that they must buy advertising space instead if the readers prefer this :-). I would clearly be better off!

        • James67 says:

          3 Jan3 January 12:44

          I guess some of the comments leave you wondering why you bother! In truth, your blog has a good and virtually random mix of posts that keep it interesting when compared to some others that have become little more than a big yawn geared entirely towards generating credit card referals for the blogger. Provided HfPs remains informative, useful and fun I don’t give a toss about other issues such as advertising revenues, referals, kickbacks etc. I believe your assetions that you make little from the site but frankly I have no objections if infuture you do. Just readibg and comnebting on posts of interest to me is time consuming enough so cannot imagine how much effort this is taking you. Iutside family and wirk I suspect it is third most demanding activity on your time. Therefore, going forward I’d be more than happy to see you reap tangible benefits from your efforts.

        • Andy says:

          3 Jan3 January 14:49

          Keep the competitions, please. I don’t expect you to do my price research for me. Caveat emptor applies to this as it does to anything else.

        • Bhavin says:

          3 Jan3 January 09:57

          I don’t see the issue. If you like the competition you can enter it. If you like the site then you can use it. If not then why waste your time writing pointless comments!

      • Singing Dwarf says:

        3 Jan3 January 09:57

        But if you were to point out they were generally more expensive – IF they are, I have not checked – is there not a danger they would pull the prize/not offer future prizes or affiliate links; other prize sponsors would consider very carefully before offering future prizes?

        When running offers like this, it is very difficult to be open and fully honest – or at least perceived to be so. As a ‘consumer site’, there will always be concerns if you accept inducements – whether affiliate links, payments or prizes – from partners you discuss.

        This ‘advert’ for Kaligo appears in the same format as your editorial. If it were clearly marked as advertising, I would have less criticism.

        • Andy says:

          3 Jan3 January 11:15

          Always grateful for information on the site, it may not be useful to everyone, and one should do due dillegience prior to commiting to booking hotels, flights etc.
          You may have your preferred way of booking your travel needs so if this particular website is coming out more expensive and you dont feel the avios is of value to you, do use other booking sites.
          I have not used it yet but will be for my future trips just to compare prices and perhaps i may find it of some value,
          Thanks again to Raffles for sorting out a lucrative competition, hope it is a sign of things to come!

        • Polly says:

          3 Jan3 January 12:53

          I actually had long conversations with Sebastien, the owner of Kaligo about the cost issues. He said he tries to be competitive, but I was able to illustrate the price discrepancies. He did point out that the miles have to be paid for somehow, so I guess he helps us accumulate large number of avios, we wouldn’t otherwise earn so easily. He is keeping a close eye on pricing though, and even emailed me his morning, so they do seem to be on the ball. Rocketmiles are also much more expensive with costs too, and they claim to be competitive, but are definitely not. My hotel was 3x the price per night with Rocketmiles, the miles were massively more, but the maths didn’t work out.
          Agree with James, Raffles deserves all he gets, and it is time consuming for us all to be getting flights etc sorted. He must spend hours researching all this. And thank you!

    • Nick says:

      3 Jan3 January 10:36

      Dwarf, your post is the epitome of my one of my favourite lines-“no good deed ever goes unpunished”

      .. And I bet you’ll stilll be entering on Monday…

      • Singing Dwarf says:

        3 Jan3 January 23:58

        What if I do? Its all in the spirit of the blog 😉

    • CV says:

      3 Jan3 January 13:58

      If anyone has issues with how Raffles runs what is a first class blog, and the only one I read, then they are free to attempt to wade their way through all the US blogs (which are of little relevance to UK) or can visit Flyertalk and spend hours and hours trying to find some comment of relevance to them.

      I type this sitting in KL after visiting BKK and next week fly back via HKG. In every hotel I got either a free upgrade or given a great room (I just stayed in a holiday Inn express in a room on the top floor with its own little roof terrace, from which a group of us watched the bkk new year fireworks). All flights done in business and first class and all thanks to efforts of Raffles, who I can’t thank enough.

      • What_Economy says:

        4 Jan4 January 18:09

        Hi CV – totally agree with you. I am an avid headforpoints reader and don’t understand the comments around site being commercialized and trying to promote Kaligo .
        No one is forcing folks here, and before we start a big moan, I would like to see another UK specific blog that is as neutral as headforpoints.

        Raffles, thank you so much for your efforts and for bringing the information to us. Commercial or not, your efforts are much appreciated and truly valuable.

  • Bhavin says:

    3 Jan3 January 09:30

    I just returned back from Vancouver today. I stayed 4 nights at the Westin in two rooms. I banked 10,000 bonus avios and 38,500 for the stay. I paid £10/night more per room than best available rate, but £80 for 48,500 is a no brainer! You just have to do you homework and be smart. You can find some great deals, it may not work every time but it the first time travellers have an avios earning option. Definitely a huge step forward.

    • Polly says:

      3 Jan3 January 12:46

      Wow, what a haul, well done you. That’s what this site is all about, and let’s all continue to work together, help each other out with good tips to earn extra avios etc. After all, that’s all Raffles is aiming to do, so your time doing this is much appreciated. Keep up the good work R.

  • Andy says:

    3 Jan3 January 18:19

    Yet I booked a cheap hotel in Nottingham that came out the same price as Expedia. Guess it just depends where and when you want to stay.
    3,100 Avios for £35, that will do me

  • @mkcol says:

    3 Jan3 January 19:41

    I think like every booking you make, whether it’s a hotel, a flight, car hire etc you need to just do your basic research & find out which one is cheapest on each instance.

    Sometimes it’ll be Kaligo, sometimes not. You’ve got to remember that they have to fund the Avios they’re “giving away” somehow or other. Booking commission alone isn’t going to cover that.

    I’ve found Kaligo cheapest when booking the Hilton DUB Airport in July, even taking into account my public sector discount which dropped the regular price a load but still not as low as Kaligo – plus, as it’s my first booking with them, I’ll earn 3300 Avios to boot!

• Peter says:

  3 Jan3 January 07:09

  Does the fact that the hotel is only open to UK residents mean that those of us who are currently abroad can’t enter??

  • JQ says:

    3 Jan3 January 07:51

    I guess it depends on whether Raffles uses the weird software he used last time, and whether you can get a VPN.

    • Rob says:

      3 Jan3 January 09:23

      Yes, the weird software will be back! It will run all week though.

      • Andrew C says:

        3 Jan3 January 09:40

        Last time it blocked entry when I was outside of the UK even though I’m a UK resident. Given the likelihood a lot of your readers will be travelling wouldn’t it be better to allow anyone to enter with the condition that they prove they’re based in the UK at the end?

        Thanks for this competition, it’s a great opportunity!

        • Rob says:

          3 Jan3 January 09:51

          As prizes get more valuable I want the picking of the winner totally automated to avoid any issues if a friend wins. This software costs me £300 per year to licence, I did not do it lightly.

        • Andrew C says:

          3 Jan3 January 10:01

          I totally understand the need to ensure the selection is automated, but simply meant that you could configure the software to allow anyone to apply from any country and police the residency of the winner only, and allow the software to select again if they’re not from the UK. I imagine a lot of your visitors are often overseas due to the nature of the site (often having travelled using the points you’ve helped us collect – thank you!) so it seems like this excludes a lot of people unnecessarily. Of course the reverse is also true – right now you’re allowing anyone UK resident or not to apply as long as they’re visiting the UK (or using a UK IP address) which presumably is checked if they win.

          A few competitions ago I entered without a problem from overseas (the Langham I think) but couldn’t enter the lounge pass Or AirNZ competitions presumably due to a change in software or its configuration.

        • RIcatti says:

          3 Jan3 January 22:16

          We are indeed travelling!

• PGW says:

  3 Jan3 January 08:32

  Will the competition require a related booking on their site? I ask because I’m about to book some accommodation this weekend but will hold on if necessary.

  • Rob says:

    3 Jan3 January 09:30

    No.

• Ed says:

  3 Jan3 January 09:11

  I assume those who said they didn’t like competition posts on the New Year’s Day open forum won’t enter this one ;-). I’m quite keen on winning it!

• Corrine says:

  3 Jan3 January 09:18

  oooooh fingers crossed, I need some more. I spent all my VFC, BA miles, HH etc on a really big family holiday in December ….now to start again 🙂

• Martin says:

  3 Jan3 January 10:48

  Good effort Raffles, thanks for posting the comp up

  • Kathy says:

    3 Jan3 January 10:56

    Me too, I cleared my Avios stash on flights and a hotel in New York (and yes, I know a hotel booking is not an optimum value use of Avios, but I couldn’t afford to spend £800-£900 on a long weekend in New York, I really wanted to go, and this brought the actual cost down to £410 – plus I’m coming back in business class and staying in a nicer hotel than if I’d booked with cash).

    • richie says:

      3 Jan3 January 22:35

      try air b and b , iv stayed in some cracking apartments in NYC for much cheaper than hotels

• Polly says:

  3 Jan3 January 12:42

  Great comp Rob, can’t wait. Am currently earring 16k avios on our hotel stay in Bali, had to do 4 different bookings, but yes they were £10 more per night, though, cheap avios at that. The remainder of the holiday is booked directly through booking.com. So yes one has to do the maths. I really object to the sanctimonious comments earlier, Raffles is helping us all, he always advises people to do the maths, so if you don’t like it don’t log in and benefit. We are all able to work our what it costs to book, and whether it’s worth going with whichever company is better. We are very grateful as a family for his help, currently in NYC, club world both ways, and loving it . Actually staying in the Hilton garden inn midtown, as per other post today, and we can HIGHLY recommend it.

  • @mkcol says:

    3 Jan3 January 19:36

    O/T: Oh Polly – care to recommend where you’ve stayed in Bali? I’m kinda stuck for ideas at the moment, maybe coz there’s so much choice! Just I’m heading to that part of the world in F on BA on an AMEX 2-4-1, no small part helped by Raffles highlighting as many Avios offers as possible.

    • Think Square says:

      3 Jan3 January 21:00

      We’ve been to Bali a couple of times. The Maya Ubud was the stand-out hotel. I haven’t really warmed to any of the beach hotels (we stayed at the Conrad and the Grand Mirage). The beaches in Bali aren’t anything special; head inland.

      (As it happens, we love the HGI Midtown too. Great value for the location)

    • Polly says:

      3 Jan3 January 21:30

      Hi mkcol, yes we are also doing the 241 in F via HKG to bali end of jan. Chose the Rama Beach Resort and villas, KUTA , family friends say it’s quiet but can walk to local eateries etc which we love. Not bothered about the beach. Book local driver to go out to UBUD on day trips instead of changing hotel. To get the Kaligo avios 4x3200k, each of us booked one night, then the rest as one booking. It’s got an advanced offer on booking.com, v reasonable. Rocketmiles are offering massive miles,but way more expensive. But worth looking at again if price is closer now. We looked at Grand Mirage but needed reliable wifi so the Rama stood out on that front. Enjoy. Agree too, we would never be going in F or J if it wasn’t for this site!

      • @mkcol says:

        4 Jan4 January 09:57

        Excellent thanks Polly, will investigate further.
        We’re on the direct BA to KUL, then are hopping off from there further afield – Bali is towards the top of the list of places to see & explore.

    • Graeme says:

      3 Jan3 January 23:29

      If you want to keep your costs down, I can highly recommend the Tune Hotel in Legian. Tiny rooms, great bed and shower, right near the beach – absolutely fine if you plan on spending no time in the room.

      I reckon this will be the first time that a Tune Hotel will have been recommended on here too!

      • @mkcol says:

        4 Jan4 January 09:58

        Brilliant thanks Graeme. I’ve used Tune a few times before & with my expectations at the right level have been impressed each time. How daft of me to overlook them given it’s kinda home turf for them!

• jason says:

  3 Jan3 January 13:08

  Thanks again Rob,hopefully you ignore those people who continue to have a pop.

  • Jeremy i says:

    3 Jan3 January 13:20

    Yes great competition and ignore the naysayers!

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