Originally Posted by
sfozrhfco
Have already requalified for Platinum but will stay at the Dar Al Sandos next month for a night to get another free weekend night--even though Emirates is paying for me to stay at the Millenium Hotel. I already have two stays so doing a mattress one for one extra and to only spend $65 extra makes sense. Guess I will call EK and let them know I won't need their hotel booking. Generally it is not going to be worth it to do a mattress run if your sole aim is to get a free weekend night. You could just pay $191 and stay at the Grosvenor House directly rather than stay three nights at the Dar Al Sandos for no reason other than to get the $191 night at the Grosvenor House. A nice bonus and ok if you need stays but there would be very few cases where paying for three separate stays is going to be less than paying outright or using cash and points at a category 6 property. With the euro sinking--even in Europe you'd be hard pressed to find a property that would make it worthwhile. Only something like the W in Miami could make sense.
Really? Do you not think I and others have obsessed over the calculations for this very scenario? Why do you think I would be doing this if it wasn't financially justified?
I have several properties in the crosshairs and if my FFWN are used at these I will be saving 50% or more off their lowest available rate (even prepaid rates). Don't forget about the tax savings as well. I spend $197 a.i. for 3 stays so I can stay at the Le Méridien Ile des Pins in New Caledonia for example. Their rate for when I'm looking to go there is just under $500 and NOT including tax, fees. Thus what do I save here?
I'm not doing this to stay at the Grosvenor House.
