Amazing points deal at the W Abu Dhabi hotel for the 2021 F1 Grand Prix
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If you follow the hotel ‘scene’, or indeed Formula 1, you may know that there is a hotel built across the Formula 1 track in Abu Dhabi on Yas Island.
It looks like this:
The hotel was launched as a Viceroy but was taken over by Marriott. Following a spell as the Yas Hotel Abu Dhabi it is now operating, following refurbishment, as the W Abu Dhabi.
The website is here if you want to find out more.
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix usually takes place every November, but in 2021 it is over the weekend of 10th to 12th December, with the 12th being the main race.
Amazingly, despite rooms at the W over the Grand Prix weekend selling for crazy prices – since the track runs through the hotel – reward availability has opened up.
It appears that you need to book a 6-night minimum stay over the Grand Prix weekend, from Tuesday 7th December to Monday 13th December. The race is Sunday.
Here is the cash rate for the cheapest non-refundable room. These are probably rooms on the side overlooking the marina, not the track.
To save you getting your calculator out, Dhs 24,391 is £4,691. Bargain.
However, this is what you get if you book with Marriott Bonvoy points. Remember that Bonvoy offers ‘5 nights for the points of 4’:
The 6-night package costs you just 190,000 Marriott Bonvoy points as a Category 5 hotel, which I value, at my standard 0.5p per point, at £950.
(Whichever option you book, there is an additional fee of Dhs 350 per night over the four nights of the event to cover your track pass, which includes all of the music events in the evenings.)
Quite a saving, to put it mildly. Now, flights are not going to be a bargain although with all the options into Dubai and Abu Dhabi (a taxi from Dubai to the hotel will only be around £40 and will take an hour) it probably won’t be as bad as you think. British Airways has dropped flights to Abu Dhabi, but Qatar Airways is now flying to various points in the UAE again and can be booked with Avios.
You should do some research into exactly what viewpoint the hotel can offer you of the circuit if you want to watch from your room. In the past, people have been given track-side rooms irrespective of what they booked. Even if you can’t see the track from your room, you have access to the grandstands plus other vantage points.
Take a look at this, which is the view that a HfP reader had from his room when he redeemed for this deal in 2018.
There is a 30% bonus when you buy Marriott Bonvoy points at present, although if they take a few hours to post there is a risk that the rooms have gone.
The W Abu Dhabi website is here..
How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (December 2021)
There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.
The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card usually comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.
You can apply here.
Marriott Bonvoy American Express
20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits Read our full review
You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.
Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card? It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status. We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.
The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review
You can also earn American Express Membership Rewards points with American Express Gold (20,000 bonus points), the American Express Rewards Credit Card (5,000 bonus points) and – for small business owners – American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus points) and Business Platinum (40,000 bonus points).
(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.)
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