Fairmont President's Club - free night cert availability at the Savoy

I am planning a winter trip to London and would
like to use the free room certificates from the Chase promotion.
From posts here, it sounds quite difficult to redeem
at the Savoy. How far in advance can those
rooms be booked? Has anyone had success
for a January/ February booking? Many thanks.


Can someone edit title add "Winter Award Availability at Savoy" ?

In theory free night certs can be redeemed for any time until the end of the membership year (Feb. 2013). However, as you know the Savoy has implemented strict capacity controls for using the free night certs and afaik only opens up availability 2-3 months in advance. In any case, I´d recommend calling FPC in case the policy has changed.

I have a free night in early Oct that I arranged in March or Feb. I even changed it once after I made it (by about a week). My trip to the UK is still somewhat uncertain as to what dates I will be in what cities. I was thinking of calling again soon to try and shift it by a couple days but not sure if that will work this time.

Thanks. I hope I have the same luck you did!

Funny, I called yesterday and was told that there is no availability until March 2013. It's always been tight there, with a large number of blackout dates, but I suspect with all the CC free nights floating around now, it will be even more difficult.
While it's clearly a very good use of a free night in terms of the cost savings, the inability to use a suite upgrade means you may be stuck in a very small entry level +1 (if you use a room upgrade) room. Of course, you might get lucky...

I think it's hit and miss. I used two free nights over Easter this year, with about 3 months notice. I was completely shocked at my luck.

And for what it's worth - and I know others will disagree - wow, what a lovely place. A great use of the free night certs.

I was able to book nights in January. The FPC rep said
those dates had just opened. My husband will be
so surprised! :-:

I was able to book nights in January. The FPC rep said
those dates had just opened. My husband will be
so surprised! :-:

How many Free Nights did you score at Savoy?

In theory free night certs can be redeemed for any time until the end of the membership year (Feb. 2013). However, as you know the Savoy has implemented strict capacity controls for using the free night certs and afaik only opens up availability 2-3 months in advance. In any case, I´d recommend calling FPC in case the policy has changed.
Does anybody know the EXACT way they allocate the capacity controlled rooms at Savoy/PlazaNYC? I have heard a couple different theories:
1) They only allocate 10 Free Room Nights at each of these hotels each month. Once they are gone they are gone (no idea what happens if somebody cancels their stays, does it go back into inventory).

2) This new theory you mention above where they only release rooms 2-3 months in advance. I'm curious if anybody knows the exact answer.

And finally, how early can you book a Free Night? Can you book it for the following year as soon as you have requalified for FPC Plat in a certain year? Or not until March 1st when the new Free Night cert has been deposited into your acct?

Does anybody know the EXACT way they allocate the capacity controlled rooms at Savoy/PlazaNYC? I have heard a couple different theories:
1) They only allocate 10 Free Room Nights at each of these hotels each month. Once they are gone they are gone (no idea what happens if somebody cancels their stays, does it go back into inventory).

2) This new theory you mention above where they only release rooms 2-3 months in advance. I'm curious if anybody knows the exact answer.


I´ve heard various explanations. As I always say: Ask two different people and you´ll get at least three different answers.:p So I doubt you´ll get a definite answer.


And finally, how early can you book a Free Night? Can you book it for the following year as soon as you have requalified for FPC Plat in a certain year? Or not until March 1st when the new Free Night cert has been deposited into your acct?

In theory you can only apply certs you already have for stays completed by Feb. 28, 2013.

However, agents have done exactly what you describe on several occasions IME, though they´ve always pointed out that the upgrade was subject to the black-out dates (which are only published at the beginning of each year).

[QUOTE=gregorygrady;19128728]How many Free Nights did you score at Savoy?

I got FOUR!!!! 2 with mine and 2 with my husband's account.
This is my anniversary gift to him. Then got 4 nights at
Regent's Park Marriott for $85 on priceline. This is going
to be a great surprise. Of course, after the Savoy, he'll
probably be spoiled.

Congrats! It's a wonderful hotel!!! He will be VERY spoiled after this trip!

I got FOUR!!!! 2 with mine and 2 with my husband's account.
This is my anniversary gift to him. Then got 4 nights at
Regent's Park Marriott for $85 on priceline. This is going
to be a great surprise. Of course, after the Savoy, he'll
probably be spoiled.

Wow, that's a huge haul. I don't think you could have done much better overall with your 4 Free CC signup nights. I sure hope you are staying at Marriott first, otherwise it WILL be a big dissappointment if you stay there after Savoy!!!

BTW, I have a feeling with the introduction of this Fairmont Visa there are gonna be some pissed off FPC Plats this upcoming year. If the theory is correct that PlazaNYC/Savoy only release 10 "free/award" room nights per month, and a single family who simply signs up for the CC and acts fast can snag 4 of those 10, and assuming tens of thousands of people apply for the CC, there is gonna be some fierce competition for Free Nights at Savoy/Plaza..................and along with it some pissed off Plats who feel they are getting the short end of the stick when they can't even use their SINGLE free night cert at Savoy/Plaza due to the increased competition.

In theory you can only apply certs you already have for stays completed by Feb. 28, 2013.

However, agents have done exactly what you describe on several occasions IME, though they´ve always pointed out that the upgrade was subject to the black-out dates (which are only published at the beginning of each year).

Thanks for the answer. One big reason I ask is related to my previous post. Assuming FPC Plats can't book their Free Night until March 1st, there is a very real problem in that Fairmont Visa CC holders have Free Nights that are valid until farther out than that. For example, my Visa Free Nights don't expire until July 2013. Theoretically, Visa holders should now be able to book Savoy/Plaza NYC for March-Aug 2013 whereas FPC Plats CANNOT book those dates yet. So when FPC Plats finally attempt to book those free nights on March 1st of 2013, I assume all possible slots will already be taken by Visa CC holders. Hmmmmm, I see a nasty clash between Visa holders and Plats coming in about 7 months. I wonder if FPC thought this one through. @:-)

Wow, I did not realize there were only 10 nights available.
That is a great gift for us, but waiting until March seems unfair to the
generous platinum travelers.

Any word from people who have used "free breakfast voucher"
there? Is is a truly "free breakfast" or $25 (17 pound) allowance?
I went online and fruit juice is 6 pounds ($9) ! I may
sleep at Savoy and dine at Pret a Manger>...

Wow, I did not realize there were only 10 nights available.
That is a great gift for us, but waiting until March seems unfair to the
generous platinum travelers.

Any word from people who have used "free breakfast voucher"
there? Is is a truly "free breakfast" or $25 (17 pound) allowance?
I went online and fruit juice is 6 pounds ($9) ! I may
sleep at Savoy and dine at Pret a Manger>...

I've often stayed at the Savoy on the Amex FHR rate that includes breakfast and I've never had a breakfast charge whether I ordered a full English or just porridge.

I just booked a stay there for later this month and the Plat desk told me that there were 15 free nights available a month, so the story is indeed different depending on who you talk to.

I've often stayed at the Savoy on the Amex FHR rate that includes breakfast and I've never had a breakfast charge whether I ordered a full English or just porridge.

I just booked a stay there for later this month and the Plat desk told me that there were 15 free nights available a month, so the story is indeed different depending on who you talk to.

I've stayed there on an Ovation cert (which includes breaky), and I had no problem getting a full breakfast either. Obviously not the exact same thing as a Visa $25 cert, but my guess is that they are classy enough that they will basically let you have whatever you want, and won't try to nickel and dime you for another $8 (or even $20) if you go over the $25.