Fairmont President's Club - 5 day Fairmont stay

Have upcoming Fairmont reservation for a 5 night stay in Toronto. Can I do any better than a measely 500 airline miles (I am only regular Fairmont member)?

Have upcoming Fairmont reservation for a 5 night stay in Toronto. Can I do any better than a measely 500 airline miles (I am only regular Fairmont member)?

Which specific frequent flyer plan would you be crediting towards? Air Canada's Aeroplan often has a bonus with Fairmont, though it's hit & miss and the only one that might work for you for this summer stay would be for booking a certain room rate. That promo is here. (http://www2.aeroplan.com/promotions/promotion_details.do?promotion=promo_ecomp3879_201 0_10_01)

Let us know as there are far more learned Fairmont fans around here than I. :)

My preferred FF program is United, although I would consider a switch for a decent promotion (but am not even a member of Aeroplan so that would not make sense for me). Thanks.

My preferred FF program is United, although I would consider a switch for a decent promotion (but am not even a member of Aeroplan so that would not make sense for me). Thanks.

1000 miles is the best you can do when booking a regular room. I believe there´s still a promotion to earn 1500 miles if you book a suite or Fairmont Gold room (though I think it´s limited to Aeroplan)

Even Premier/Platinum members can usually only earn a maximum of 1000 miles as Premier/Platinum members earn either the Premier/Plat bonus or the promotional bonus, but never both.:rolleyes:

Also, you should be aware most rates do not earn any miles, and if your rate does qualify, it´s hit or miss whether the miles will post automatically.

I´m quite happy with FPC overall, but their policies and promotions regarding earning miles are quite mediocre IMO.

So how do I get the 1000 (v. 500) United miles for my 5 day stay? Is there some special code I need to use? Thank you.

I am going to use my suite certificate to upgrade my 5 days stay, however, there is one day that fall into the blackout date. Can anyone tell me what I need to do? Any suggestions?

Call the hotel directly during business hours and ask for the front desk or sales manager to navigate the air miles maze. The Royal York is always SUPER helpful, accommodating and fair.

If they are not busy, they are usually very generous with upgrades as well. Being ultra courteous and flexible with everyone, including the sweethearts at the front desk never hurts either ;)

PS the corner suites and martinis are fabulous. The car service they utilize is first class. Ignore the hilariously pompous *!% at the bell/concierge desk and enjoy this CDN gem!

Cheers,

Mrs. P.

Pay with your American Express Gold Card.. and get double miles on the dollar amount spent in addition to the bonus miles as applicable above..

AFAIK.. paying with your Visa, there's a Fairmont promo that gets you 50% more points than the 1:1 received..

This is in addition to the promos above..

I am going to use my suite certificate to upgrade my 5 days stay, however, there is one day that fall into the blackout date. Can anyone tell me what I need to do? Any suggestions?

According to the T&C you´d only be able to upgrade to a suite for the first four nights and would have to move to the room you booked for the last night.

However, unless the hotel is fully booked, I´m confident the hotel will do their best to apply the suite upgrade cert for the entire stay. FPC won´t be able to help you, I´d recommend sending the hotel an e-mail kindly asking them to upgrade you for your upcoming stay. I wouldn´t mention the black.out dates, if it is an issue for them, they´ll bring it up and you can then discuss any possible solution/compromise (e.g. lower suite category, surcharge for the last night etc.)

I´ve found most hotels to be very accomodating if you ask nicely, don´t have unreasonable expectations and are a little flexible.

P.S. I´d agree with Mrs Penner that the Royal York is great. While the reviews you find are somewhat mixed, I received really excellent service during my stay this year.