MeliáRewards is a hotel loyalty program with most of its properties in Europe, and the largest number in Spain. The next biggest region for them is South America. There are 3 hotels in the U.S. as well, in New York, Atlanta, and Orlando.
They have a current joining offer of 12,000 points, enough for a free night with many of their hotels.
Here’s the detail:
- 2000 points is the normal signup bonus, and it’s enough to get a discount on a hotel booking (cash and points).
- The current promotion gives you an additional 10,000 points — for a total of 12,000 points as a signup bonus.
- The catch is that the extra 10,000 points expire at the end of April if unused. So you need to book an award night right away (within the next couple of weeks) after creating your account.
This won’t get you a free night in New York, but cash and points can be useful too. And of course two people traveling together can each sign up for an account and redeem points as separate reservations, back-to-back. So no doubt this will be useful to some readers, even though the timeframe to use it is limited and most redemption options are outside the U.S.
(HT: SlickDeals)
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ah i was going to try to use this for an overnight layover, but the fine print says, “A three-night minimum stay is required.”
@Jonathan Khoo – I was able to test-book book a one-night award, the terms and conditions aren’t clearly written but it appears that rule applies to the discount room offer.
When I signed up it stated I could use those points until April 2015.
Anybody else getting “We’re sorry, our system is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later”?
I was able to sign up. Got 2000 points and an offer for 15% discount.
Just looked again and the 12000 points are now deposited.
@Gary ah nice! i’m trying to do an award booking now but i think we brought down the site 😉
There is a thread on flyer talk which details on how to book the free night. You could get free night in many countries and the best thing is you could book any date till Dec 31. For e.g you could book a refundable night in Bali melia for ~$20
Anybody know how much is an award night at the Orlando property?
how far ahead can we book ?
The BEST thing about joining Meile Rewards is that EACH year on your birthday, they send you an email certificate good for a FREE night! You must book the FREE night within a month, but it can be booked for UP TO ONE YEAR in the future. Amazing. Not sure if any other hotel reward clubs offer a FREE birthday night. And best yet, this will happen EVERY year!
I tried a transfer to AA miles for 2000 miles but the message says joining points cannot be transferred…
@Ruy – that’s correct, signup bonus points cannot be transferred
Got signed up, however no email received and cannot login, but when trying to re-register says that my email is already registered. Guessing their system is just getting slammed and cannot update fast enough.
What if I book a flexible rate with points and cash now and then cancel again after april. Will I get back any points even they were expired by then? Any experience on that?
@abc – no way to know since this is new 🙂
Thank you for the tip, Gary…As DANNY mentioned earlier, my new account also shows that 12,000 points will expire 4/15/2015. They also included a 15% discount for my next booking.
Perfect, I’m going to Spain in a few months and now I have a free room booked my last night in Madrid. Thanks!!
I’m having the same experience as Danny and Pete, in that my 12,000 points posted within a few minutes and they’re valid to April 15 of next year (’15)
And I also got the 15% discount code 🙂
Thanks, Gary!
The Melia Vendome in Paris is just 89,000 or so points per night, so you’re totes on your way with that 12,000.
cough
Orlando in June was listed as 28,000 per night.
I’m not sure I get the whole “free hotel night just for signing up” post title. 12,000 isn’t going to be a free hotel night anywhere, is it?
@Steve actually yes it is check out a bunch of properties in spain
looks like a $120 room in Bali goes for 24,500 points…
Lots of places in Europe under 12,000 points. For example: http://www.melia.com/en/hotels/germany/celle/tryp-celle-hotel/home.htm