As far as I know, the coupons are renewed when they review your account annually, regardless of whether you upgrade from Gold to Platinum before then.
The ones you have as Gold are still valid until Melia Rewardws review your account.
It usually takes a few days after checkout to post the nights and of course upgrade from Gold to Platinum, so my advice if you can is to book 2 nights minimum a week before using the 21 day reservation to ensure your account is upgraded to Platinum Member.
It depends, usually 2,000 points and paying the fare is the best, but sometimes paying everything with points is cheaper.
Originally Posted by
kingofbeans
Very interesting post! Hearing it is even possible amazes me. With a requirement of 50 stays (not nights) per year including covid times and that you had to fight and know somebody to get it, I am not surprised there are almost no lifetime platinum members.
Not quite sure why Melia’s strategy targets infrequent guests (giving away gold and 20% vouchers) vs actual loyalty (messy terms, almost impossible lifetime platinum, loyal guest pay more on average than less loyal with 20% vouchers, no corporate intervention with member hotels).
I have almost completely given up on Melia for a little over a year and changed to Hyatt. My platinum seems to have been renewed for another year though despite not meeting the requirements. I think this is because they are currently assessing on the basis of stays in the last two years. As is typical with Melia, the two year thing is not clear.
The only good advantage over Gold is the access to the lounge and that they usually respect the late check out and early check in for Platinum members. I have often told the guest service department that compared to Marriott, IHG, Hilton... they do not appreciate the highest level member as much.