Originally Posted by
patriotPHL1
Bit of a dilemma, hoping for some advice. (cross posting in general bonvoy london thread)
Scenario: me and 2 other guys (late 20s, all good friends) need 1 night in London. I'm trying to use my 40k free night cert. Friday night in March 2020. Titanium status. 2 of the guys don't mind sharing a queen size or above bed.
At the Bankside Hotel, there's availability for Generous Guest Room, 2 queen, 40K points + 100 GBP. However, tried to book this and the agent says the certificate can't be used for a "premium" room. Has to be used for rooms that are 40K points only, and not additional $.
At the Bankside, I could book modest guest room (1 king) for 40K, using the certificate...and hope for an upgrade. Anyone have a sense of the upgrade probability at this property, Friday night in March? There seem to be both 1 king + sofa bed rooms, and 2 queen rooms that would in theory be available. If an upgrade didn't come through, would kind of be screwed.
Not against any of the properties in London where I could use my 40k cert, but it's almost impossible to find 2 queen beds (or King + sofa bed) based on my search.
Given that they offer cash + points upgrade redemptions, I would redeem for the base room, then email the property and explain that you want to pay to upgrade to that room similar to the C+P rate, and they'll most likely be able to work out something directly with you. If they're already publishing such a rate I think they'd just confirm your desire to pay the extra amount and then alter the room type on the reservation accordingly. It makes no difference to them, you're merely running into a system limitation.
I do this frequently even at properties that don't offer upgraded rooms for redemptions, for example, just today I finished discussions to confirm a suite upgrade at the Ritz-Carlton Nikko by emailing and asking if they offer a buy-up to that room on award stays.