FHR rates competitive?
Mar 26, 2015, 4:18 pm
#121
Join Date: Jun 2005
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2015 FHR brochure now available - http://www.finehotelsresortsdigital....lplatinum/2015
Confirms free in-room WiFi as a new benefit ^
Confirms free in-room WiFi as a new benefit ^
Mar 26, 2015, 5:24 pm
#122
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Yes Centurion, so I get an extra bennie or two, but even normal Platinum FHR you get at least free breakfast right? So if the FHR rate is the same as the published web rate, it is again an easy choice. And I think you'd get the 3rd night free under the current promo.
Mar 28, 2015, 2:53 pm
#123
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Mar 28, 2015, 5:22 pm
#124
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It is not true at all that Centurion is substantially better in this case. If you read the link above to the 2015 FHR catalog and look up this hotel, you can see that you too will get the same benefits except one which is the $200 spa/F&B. Oh and Cent's get 12pm check in too. Those are the only differences. And as this thread is about the rates, those are the same for Plat and Cent.
Mar 29, 2015, 9:55 am
#125
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Then at least note it as such in your post stimpy. I would call 200.00(USD?) credit on a hotel that starts at SGD380 before any free nights pretty substantial
Mar 29, 2015, 4:15 pm
#126
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OK, here is a re-post of the above....
Booking the MO Singapore, the FHR rates are exactly the same as the rates on the MO website. So it's an easy choice to book with FHR and get the same room, but also...
3rd night free
daily buffet breakfast
$200 F&B or spa credit (Centurion only, minimum 3 night stay)
Free lunch or dinner
12pm check in and 4pm check out
upgrade at check in
Is that better for you? It doesn't really change the basic point that FHR rates are very competitive at this hotel.
Booking the MO Singapore, the FHR rates are exactly the same as the rates on the MO website. So it's an easy choice to book with FHR and get the same room, but also...
3rd night free
daily buffet breakfast
$200 F&B or spa credit (Centurion only, minimum 3 night stay)
Free lunch or dinner
12pm check in and 4pm check out
upgrade at check in
Is that better for you? It doesn't really change the basic point that FHR rates are very competitive at this hotel.
Last edited by stimpy; Mar 29, 2015 at 5:05 pm Reason: edit thanks to Kages note
May 2, 2016, 11:26 pm
#128
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Location: ORD
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Posts: 1,028
Conrad Seoul
Looking to add 1 extra night to my 2 x weekend certs. Hotel website is $76USD cheaper than FHR. As a Diamond, I get all the amenities other than the $100USD F&B credit. Will just book through the hotel's site.
May 3, 2016, 11:53 am
#129
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 558
To be fair, the $100 F&B credit might be worth more to some people. For example, if you were holding a dinner at the hotel. Is that a HHonors rate on the website?
May 3, 2016, 12:15 pm
#130
Join Date: Mar 2010
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yes, it's an HHonors rate but anyone can get that rate just by signing up
then again, HHonors rate only beats most other sites such as Booking.com and Expedia by $5
So FHR is still significantly higher
May 4, 2016, 1:32 pm
#131
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I'd estimate that in my experience FHR rates are best about 2/3 of the time. I usually assume that I'll use the F&B credit and breakfast, but I do not assume I'll get an upgrade.
Sometimes the FHR guaranteed 4 pm late checkout and likely early check-in benefit is the critical difference for me.
Sometimes the FHR guaranteed 4 pm late checkout and likely early check-in benefit is the critical difference for me.
Apr 18, 2018, 4:08 pm
#132
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Everywhere and Nowhere
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Posts: 515
I agree that I wouldn't really mind Amex ditching Marriott if they truly can't get anything better then the "new gold" which isn't that great compared to what we were used to this last year or so...
I would like Hyatt to be brought into the mix but really the perks aren't that great unless they bump you into the top tier, and I doubt that would be the case. The lounge access and full 4pm late checkout is what seems the most useful to me and what I would like to see from a $550 card. I doubt Amex would bump up to Hilton diamond since they already offer a cobranded card that offers that... They would need to add something else perk wise if they ditched Marriott and just kept Hilton the same, even if they expanded the Uber benefit to just be $200 in "car service" credits (rental, private card, car sharing, Uber/Lyft etc) but I suspect they're getting a sweetheart deal from Uber on that perk.
Maybe I need to investigate in booking more hotel stays using the Amex travel portal to gain the perks, though I'm not sure if any/many "normal" (think ~$200 to $250/night) Marriott level properties are part of that program. I don't really want to be dropping $400+ a night to get perks like that :P
MR and airport lounge... what are you going to do Amex, I don't see a lot of "wow" coming from your card...
I would like Hyatt to be brought into the mix but really the perks aren't that great unless they bump you into the top tier, and I doubt that would be the case. The lounge access and full 4pm late checkout is what seems the most useful to me and what I would like to see from a $550 card. I doubt Amex would bump up to Hilton diamond since they already offer a cobranded card that offers that... They would need to add something else perk wise if they ditched Marriott and just kept Hilton the same, even if they expanded the Uber benefit to just be $200 in "car service" credits (rental, private card, car sharing, Uber/Lyft etc) but I suspect they're getting a sweetheart deal from Uber on that perk.
Maybe I need to investigate in booking more hotel stays using the Amex travel portal to gain the perks, though I'm not sure if any/many "normal" (think ~$200 to $250/night) Marriott level properties are part of that program. I don't really want to be dropping $400+ a night to get perks like that :P
MR and airport lounge... what are you going to do Amex, I don't see a lot of "wow" coming from your card...
Now, if they made it so hotels booked directly with the hotel earned 5x MR points the same as flights booked directly with airlines, then I'd be listening. That would be a huge win for Amex if they made that change and I think it might be the most logical change with this devaluation of their current hotel status offerings.
Apr 23, 2018, 1:10 am
#133
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Any time I've used the Amex portal to get some of the FHR benefits, the price has been so significantly higher on a per night basis than it would be booking direct that no amount of supplementary value from the FHR program would make it worth it. At times I've noticed hundreds of dollars difference on a nightly basis for the same room and the FHR benefit for that hotel has been something pointless like a one time hotel credit or daily breakfast, which at most hotels I get anyway, well I did before this.
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But it seems to nearly never be a great deal elsewhere.
I see two possibilities
1) People aren't comparison shopping and believe FHR is a good deal even when it isn't.
2) There are select cities/times/properties where it is a great deal and we've just missed them.
But even if (2) is true, I suspect you are still giving up a deal at some other hotel to get the FHR deal. In other words, you might get an $800 room for $600 with FHR and also get free food, but there's still a really great $500 hotel out there to be booked directly/via Expedia/etc.
Apr 23, 2018, 8:19 am
#134
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Posts: 373
But even if (2) is true, I suspect you are still giving up a deal at some other hotel to get the FHR deal. In other words, you might get an $800 room for $600 with FHR and also get free food, but there's still a really great $500 hotel out there to be booked directly/via Expedia/etc.
The only complaint I have is that the 4th night free benefit sometimes offered on FHR is a scam - the price booked on the hotel web site is the same as the FHR price *with* the discount included. So the 4th night free really isn't a discount at all.
Apr 23, 2018, 7:16 pm
#135
Join Date: Feb 2017
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I agree with this over a few dozen searches (admittedly small data). I have heard comments that "it's great for Las Vegas" and maybe that's true.
But it seems to nearly never be a great deal elsewhere.
I see two possibilities
1) People aren't comparison shopping and believe FHR is a good deal even when it isn't.
2) There are select cities/times/properties where it is a great deal and we've just missed them.
But even if (2) is true, I suspect you are still giving up a deal at some other hotel to get the FHR deal. In other words, you might get an $800 room for $600 with FHR and also get free food, but there's still a really great $500 hotel out there to be booked directly/via Expedia/etc.
But it seems to nearly never be a great deal elsewhere.
I see two possibilities
1) People aren't comparison shopping and believe FHR is a good deal even when it isn't.
2) There are select cities/times/properties where it is a great deal and we've just missed them.
But even if (2) is true, I suspect you are still giving up a deal at some other hotel to get the FHR deal. In other words, you might get an $800 room for $600 with FHR and also get free food, but there's still a really great $500 hotel out there to be booked directly/via Expedia/etc.
My experience is with hotels in Hawaii, specifically the Fairmont Orchid. The FHR price is always the same as booking directly from the hotel, but it gives the $100 amenity (spa credit or in recent years food credit), plus free breakfast and if not a room upgrade, you at least get a reasonable room. A couple of years ago, when I booked through an OTA, I received an extremely crappy room on the bottom floor, with the view and noise of a nearby utility building. I didn't even know that the Fairmont has such substandard rooms. I had the same experience with a Marriott just a couple of miles down the road. SInce then I never book any hotel in Hawaii through an OTA, I always make sure to book direct or preferably through FHR, my experiences since have been much much better.
The only complaint I have is that the 4th night free benefit sometimes offered on FHR is a scam - the price booked on the hotel web site is the same as the FHR price *with* the discount included. So the 4th night free really isn't a discount at all.
The only complaint I have is that the 4th night free benefit sometimes offered on FHR is a scam - the price booked on the hotel web site is the same as the FHR price *with* the discount included. So the 4th night free really isn't a discount at all.
I might try FHR for Hawai'i trips from now on. I've tried it all over the world and don't think I've ever come across something that made any financial sense whatsoever. I also never use it in Vegas because I tend to get upgrades direct from hotels, but I might give it a try there too since everyone seems to suggest it works best there. I'm in Vegas 10 times a year.