CanadaDH

That was a bit of a gong show. They changed their system this year, and it included the bonus card in the shopping cart.

My first purchase went through just fine, and I got my $5,000 in cards, + $1,000 bonus. That was with a Visa card.

Then I went to make the second one, using my Amex. Amex approved the charge, but Buyatab flagged the charge for manual verification of my identity. OK, so I went through that, and they said to redo the purchase.
On the second attempt, the system didn't allow the adding of the promotional bonus card, because the system saw one was already used, except it was on the transaction they previously declined.

After some time on hold with customer service, they said to purchase it without the bonus card, and someone will manually process the bonus card within 24 hours. What a PITA, but it's still $2,000 in savings, so I guess an hour or two of my time is not a bad investment. But, in prior promotions, they went through with no effort at all.

Brendan

I haven't stayed at a Fairmont since the B2G1 & Suite Upgrades disappeared when Accor came in. I may be foolish, but I took a chance today, partly because the loonie is presently in the toilet. by buying C$835 + C$167 bonus = C$1002. My Chase account has a hold for US$596 for my purchase.

patty canuck

Did that ($2k+$2K+$1k = $5k +$1k bonus). Got a rejection email saying that they were unable to verify. I called in and they "rectified it" by cancelling it, but I had to order it again.

Ordered again, saw the $1k bonus in the side window on subtotal order, but when completed, the order was only for $5k total and NO BONUS GIFT CARD.

Called in again; took 20 minutes to get through this time. Nice guy ... understood, but still no excuses. Also noticed that my credit card was authorized 2x$5k.

Said a ticket was submitted. Asked to have a confirmation email of this grievance, he could not give it so I asked for an email address and he only could direct me to the one on the website - I wanted a paper trail of times, etc. in case I did not get my bonus $1k. Waited overnight. A little unnerved with $10k on my card and no real purchase.

Confirmation email and $1k bonus card appeared yesterday afternoon. As of now, authorization for additional $5k still on - business should be able to negate that with the credit card company asap.

PO'd as this is a biannual process (ie not the first time); there should be NO GLITCHES.

CanadaDH

The authorizations will drop off. I confirmed by calling Amex who was able to tell me charges were reversed and they will drop after a couple of days. I have no idea if that's controlled by the vendor or the bank.

I can also confirm my additional bonus card from my second batch purchased arrived yesterday around noon. So, Customer Service did follow through like they said they would.

But, it certainly was a pain this year. Did you use a Visa or an Amex? My first purchase was perfectly smooth using my Visa. My Amex for the 2nd batch (and my wife's Amex, as she also bought a batch of $5k) created problems being processed. In the end, we purchased $15k + $3k bonus, across 2 people and 3 credit cards, with multiple attempts on each Amex. Amex told me they originally approved the charges saying it was the merchant that cancelled it for their verification. I guess it tripped some sort of fraud alert, but considering this vendor's business is centered around gift cards and loyalty programs, they really should have it nailed down. While Amex said it wasn't them, the only common factor in my failed transactions was Amex, while Visa was smooth, so I'm not entirely sure which party caused the problems. I can totally understand, however, why a person making multiple large purchases from an online vendor that appears as "EGIFT CARD" on the credit card statement, would trip some fraud alerts and a manual intervention on the transaction.

patty canuck

I am aware of they will drop off - I just don't like seeing authorizations of that amount ...

RBC Visa IP for PB card used - you would expect no issues with a card like this. Have had some decent purchases in the past few weeks so not uncommon to have such a charge. That being said, in February, my business Visa had a suspicious number of gift cards charged to it so that card had to be changed (pain to deal with really).

Still at least got the $1k bonus which is a tempering note; just short 2,000 miles to ALL diamond so ready to stay somewhere again.

Brendan

Big question: Why does Fairmont always do this for a measly 3 hours?! Marriott's present GC sale lasts a whole week, so people can buy at a time of day convenient to each, as does the Aeroplan points sale.
Also, it is nice to learn from Jasper2009 that Fairmont offers registration of GCs just as Marriott does.

Jasper2009

#1:No idea - probably some "marketing genius" came up with this set-up 10+ years ago. On the bright side, unlike in 2010, you now receive electronic GCs instead of physical GCs (not to mention that at the time only $200 GCs were available).

#2 : Actually, you can register your gift cards on the Fairmont GC website.

CanadaDH

At least they give you a weeks notice of the sale. Many years ago, they would announce the sale on Facebook the morning of the sale, which probably upset a number of people who missed it, but was probably also very successful in getting people to follow them on social media so as not to miss future sales (I know haven't missed one since).

tris06

Hi all, I have a booking for fairmont peace hotel. I assume they have this promotion again for black Friday later this month. I Hope i can take advantage of it.

CanadaDH

I sure hope the sale is coming back. I'm counting on it, because I'm down to about ~$2,000 in gift card 'inventory', and I need about $18k for my winter vacations, so I'll probably pick up $5,000 x 3 purchases, plus the bonuses. I just hope I don't run into the same problems with Amex next time around as I did last time. I'll set a calendar reminder to start purchasing as soon as the sale starts, so I have time to deal with any IT problems and credit card holds.

After that, my next vacations aren't until June, so I'll hope the spring sale returns, which has been Mother's Day the past few years.

Brendan

After all this time, I forgot to thank Jasper2009 for telling me above that Fairmont offers GC registration! I registered mine right after that. I have not used any of mine mentioned in Post #62 . I still have 'em due to COVID.

canesfan

I can confirm the 20% bonus sale is coming back

CanadaDH

Excellent!!!

I think I'm going to recruit a couple of family members to be standing by to buy some on my behalf, in anticipation of more Amex issues or difficulties with multiple purchases.

For those who want to see the page directly, the promotion link is the same as before:

https://www.fairmont.com/egiftcard-rules-regulations/

Nice to see they're getting a bit more 'international' in their promo, allowing EUR purchases in addition to CAD and USD. For those considering international trips, remember it's most efficient to purchase the gift cards in the currency of your credit card, rather than the currency of the hotel you will be visiting, since the Fairmont gift card F/X rate is about as good as you can get.

The Willow Stream Spa gift card promo has been devalued this time. In the past, they would run Willow Stream Spa promos independently, and would typically offer 20% discounts on the spa certificates, but they've now combined that with the Fairmont promo and are offering a 20% bonus, which is really just a 16.67% discount.

Maxfinder

If you are staying at a Fairmont hotel and plan to use the Willow Stream Spa and book the charge to your room, do you need to purchase a separate Willow Stream Spa gift card? I assume the answer is yes, but want to double-check that the purpose of these cards wasn't just for those non-hotel guests using the spa.

CanadaDH

There is no reason to purchase separate Willow Stream cards. Anything you charge to the room, whether dining, spa or retail purchases, and be paid using Fairmont gift cards. You can also use a Fairmont gift card directly at the spa or in one of their restaurants. Basically, there is nothing you can buy with a Willow Stream gift card that you can't buy with a regular Fairmont gift card. The only reason to buy a Willow Stream card, would be if the sale discount is larger, but in this case, it is not.