The Le Meridien Khao Lak in Phuket, Thailand has an amazing rate right now, pricing rooms in Ugandan Schillings rather than US dollars. Naturally, this was found on Flyertalk.
- Go to this link.
- Change promotion code to “z3r” (for a 3 day stay, z5r may work on a 5 night stay, and of course you can line multiple stays up in a row)
- Change the special rate plan entry to a blank
- Pick some dates (must be at lease 3 consecutive days with ‘z3r’, most work at least through early September)
- Click continue. If you get an error, then see #6.
- On the left side, put in your dates again, scroll down and put “z3r” in the promo field, click search.
- Sort the available rates from high to low, you should get some rates in USD and some in UGX (Ugandan Shillings) that are each worth 0.00055 USD That makes the normally $1,100, 3,750 square foot, 2-bedroom oceanfront villa with private pool a whopping 60 cents a night. Make sure you select a rate that’s in UGX.
AS WITH ALL SUCH DEALS, DO NOT BOOK ADDITIONAL NON-REFUNDABLE TRAVEL UNTIL IT’S CERTAIN WHETHER THIS WILL BE HONORED OR NOT.
And in case they try to charge the required deposit in US dollars by mistake, you might use a card with a low limit or a prepaid visa/mastercard gift card.
I just booked three nights for next August and it worked. Let’s see if it sticks…
Well, never mind. They’re squirming out of it. Consolation prize of $50 per night, but that’s not worth making the trek out there. Here’s the e-mail I got:
Dear Valued Guest,
We are writing regarding your reservation at the Le Meridien Khao Lak
Beach and Spa Resort. As a result of an unfortunate error, the rate for
your booking was noted in our reservation system in “UGX” (Ugandan
Shillings) instead of “USD” (United States Dollars). Le Meridien Khao
Lak Beach and Spa Resort, located in Thailand, does not offer rates in
Ugandan Shillings. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.
We appreciate your interest in the resort and are offering all of our
customers who booked a rate in the erroneous currency a $50 USD per
night rate. Where possible, we will keep your reservation in the
original room type booked. For customers holding more than one
confirmed reservation, we will honor one, which you can select, at the
stated $50 USD rate. We hope you will decide to visit the beautiful Le
Meridien Khao Lak Beach and Spa Resort, the team at the hotel are
looking forward to welcoming you!
To tell us what you would like to do, you may simply respond to this
email with the information requested below, so we may appropriately
address your reservations. You may also telephone the Starwood Consumer
Affairs Executive Division at (914) 640-2690 or send a fax to (914)
640-2655. These are U.S. telephone numbers, so please use the
appropriate country code when dialing.
Please respond by Friday, December 29th, 2006. If we do not hear from
you by that date, we will assume you no longer wish to keep your
reservation(s) and we will cancel on your behalf. For customers with
arrival dates prior to December 29th, we ask that you respond as soon as
possible so we know your decision.