First-time Platinum
 

Hello FTers,

I'm about to reach Platinum status for the first time by Feb 2016. Soon after in March I'm planning to spend 5 nights in Fairmont Shanghai and another 5 nights in Fairmont Beijing. I would like to use either my room/suite upgrade certificates and also the free night.

Now I have read the master thread and wanted to confirm the sequence of matters in which they must occur:

1) Book the Shanghai and Beijing trips online on fairmont.com.
2) Contact FPC to use my upgrade certificates for both locations.
3) How do I apply the free night?

Or must I book everything through FPC? Would appreciate your thoughts and expertise on this, as well as on any other best practices. For example, do you recommend a suite or room upgrades at these hotels? It'll be my first time as well at both the Fairmonts Shanghai and Beijing.

Thanks for your help!

Same way. Just call after you book to apply the free night to one of the nights you already booked. Just remember your rate must make sense - i.e., if the rate is a "fifth night free" rate, you wouldn't be able to use the cert because you wouldn't be paying for four nights.

Thank you, mahasamatman. Will the funds for the free night be reimbursed to my card after applying the certificate?

It's a prepaid reservation? In that case, I don't know how they would handle it. I was assuming it wasn't prepaid.

What's the best practice? I assume it will be prepaid since if the lowest rate qualify for the upgrade and free night certificates I would choose the lowest rate, which I'm assuming is prepaid and non-refundable.

If you want to go with a prepaid rate, book four nights at the prepaid rate and one night with a refundable rate. Then call to apply the free night to the refundable night. You can also get them to apply one upgrade to the pair of reservations.

Thanks for the advice. I assume that to be able to use the upgrade certificates I have to book with FPC or on fairmont.com and not use a third-party, e.g. Amex Travel?

You should be able to upgrade the reservation no matter where you booked, but you may want a second opinion on this one.

Congrats on reaching Plat status!

To add to the above responses:

1) You can theoretically apply a free night cert towards a pre-paid booking made via Fairmont.com or FPC. In that case the hotel would charge back the rate to your credit card at check-out. However, it's very likely to be a hassle, so the suggestion to book a flexible rate for that night is good.

2) You can't use a free night cert when booking a pre-paid rate via a third-party website such as Expedia etc.

3) You can call FPC to apply your certs anytime between making the booking and checking in. Or you can do so simultaniously.

4) The booking doesn't necessarily have to be made with Fairmont directly to apply an upgrade cert. Bookings made via Virtuoso, AMEX FHR etc. are definitely no problem. IIRC people have reported being able to upgrade Expedia bookings, but don't quote me on that. I'd probably avoid Priceline or Hotwire bookings.

Thanks, everyone. Jasper2009, to your immediate point above, what's the usual timeline on the upgrade request approval? Assuming that upgrades are requested and approved based on availability.

My schedule just changed and I will qualify for Platinum by Mar 1. I will be in Shanghai and Beijing by Mar 23 onwards.

Thanks.

Upgrades are confirmed instantly when you request them as long as

1) the designated suite upgrade category (typically lowest suite category) is available
2) your dates are not blacked out (see here)