Bits: interesting Crowne Plaza refund guarantee, Etihad launches a 4-day sale

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News in brief:

Interesting Crowne Plaza money-back guarantee

One of our readers sent me information on Crowne Plaza’s ‘Sleep Advantage‘ guarantee. These applies to all hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The key benefit is this – if you book a wake-up call and it does not happen on time, your night is free.

Our reader has successfully claimed on this guarantee twice at the same UK hotel. On both occasions it was agreed without any excessive fuss.

If you are staying at a Crowne Plaza, book a wake-up call! Make sure that the person you discuss it with takes down your details correctly so they cannot claim it was an honest mistake.

Full details of ‘Sleep Advantage’ can be found here.

Etihad 96-hour business and economy sale

Etihad has launched a 4-day sale across both business and economy. You can book for travel all the way out until the end of February 2016.

Remember that Etihad flies from London and Manchester with Edinburgh being added soon.

The website does not seem to have an accurate list of the fares – they are listing higher fares than you can actually find. The following were in the email they sent out and do seem accurate:

Mumbai – £381 economy, £1359 business
Abu Dhabi – £360 economy, £1999 business
Colombo – £465 economy, £1738 business
Bangkok – £421 economy, £1726 business
Ho Chi Minh – £433 economy, £1676 business
Kuala Lumpur – £465 economy, £1774 business

Remember that these are only examples and that many other destinations are available. My review of the Business Class Studio on the new Etihad A380 is here.

You will also earn triple Etihad Guest miles on all business class seats and double miles on all economy seats booked via this sale, as long as you register.

The sale website – which also has the registration page for double and triple miles – is here. You must book by April 16th.

How to earn Etihad Guest miles from UK credit cards (December 2021)

Etihad Guest does not have a UK credit card. However, you can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards. These are:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with two free airport lounge passes.

The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 30,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Etihad Guest miles.

American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 5,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 5,000 Etihad Guest miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Etihad Guest miles which is an attractive rate. The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Etihad Guest mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.

Etihad Guest is also a partner with the HSBC Premier Mastercard (0.5 miles per £1 spent) and HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard (1 mile per £1 spent).

Category

Etihad and Etihad Guest, IHG Rewards

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Paul says:

14 Apr14 April 11:24

Had a night in Dublin last week. Very limited hot water and I boiled the kettle to shave. Full refund of night stay with no quibble. Very impressive. Hotel was quite nice from what I saw of it in 6 hours.
BP says:

14 Apr14 April 12:04

IHG devaluation coming!!

On May 1 2015, we’ll be changing the point requirements for Reward Nights at approximately 450 hotels. Less than 300 will be increasing by 5-10,000 points and about 150 will be decreasing by 5,000 points.
- Kai says:
  
  14 Apr14 April 12:11
  
  But the cap will remain 50k, which is good news.
  And more importantly a new tier above Platinum will be introduced.
  - S***o says:
    
    14 Apr14 April 12:31
    
    Importantly? – Not for those with a Platinum credit card…
    Depending on how Platinum will be viewed verse this new level – that will be another card to cancel.
    - Kai says:
      
      14 Apr14 April 12:35
      
      I have the Platinum card and I do care about what the new scheme will change of the current benefits. And since the 60k sign-up bonus counts towards status which seemingly makes the new tier very tangible, why is this new tier not important to the Platinum card holders?
  - Rob says:
    
    14 Apr14 April 13:22
    
    Exactly. I think it will be an improvement for big city hotels. No way is 35k for a HIX in London sensible when Park Lane is 50k!
    - Brian says:
      
      14 Apr14 April 17:14
      
      I doubt they’ll reduce the points needed for big city hotels – they’re more likely to increase the cost of good-value new hotels, like the Earl’s Court Indigo.
Nick says:

14 Apr14 April 12:23

I have used Jersey Travel twice in the last couple of years to arrange flight and accommodation for around ten people when going to support London Scottish playing Jersey. We went for three nights. It really is a first class company with helpful people and good prices. Last year we stayed half board at the Golden Sands Hotel and this year half board at the Somerville, both 4 star and both owned by Dolan Hotels. Accommodation was excellent and the food exceptional. Highly recommended.
Scott says:

14 Apr14 April 14:51

The Crown Plaza staff member who messed up the wake-up call will almost certainly get their ar$e kicked if they cost the hotel money. You can expect mistakes to happen less over time if people are successful in claiming on this, as hotel management will institute training/procedures to prevent it. Arguably this is the intended outcome from IHG’s perspective, you’ve gotta love the power of incentives.
signol says:

14 Apr14 April 16:22

It looks like some changes are afoot with the IHG Rewards Club… http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/ihg-rewards-club-reveals-new-top-tier-level
- CV3V says:
  
  14 Apr14 April 19:58
  
  New top tier, although they don’t even have a name for it yet!
  
  The 60,000 points from the IHG credit card count towards status, so having done a few IHG stays this year i already qualify based on points earned. However trying to do 75 nights in IHG hotels to get status would be an impossible task for me and Id prefer to spread the stays amongst hotel chains to cherry pick the best offers.
  
  No real mention about what the new hotel benefits will be. Perhaps they will actually honour their room upgrades perk for status members, or free breakfast ?? (excluding HIX)
  - signol says:
    
    14 Apr14 April 20:55
    
    And “Points Never Expire” is finished…
    - Fenny says:
      
      14 Apr14 April 21:50
      
      Bummer. And the changes come into force before I go away. I’d really prefer not to have to book everything before I go. I’d like to have a bit of leeway on where I’m staying while I’m travelling, so I can just wander where I feel like and stay with friends for odd days.