Jasper2009

Wouldn't surprise me. Unlike at all the other Fairmont hotels, there are pretty tight capacity controls for using free night certs at the Plaza and the Savoy.

bnatrotter

I don't doubt they impose stringent capacity controls. It's just that the Savoy isn't available every single day of this year that rather bothers me. There has to be some available rooms during winter times

Althekillr

I'm sure this has been answered before but I've searched through 30 pages and couldn't find anything.

-I have a stay coming up at the Fairmont orchid in about 6 weeks in a partial ocean view room.
-I just received my Fairmont card yesterday, and planning to do the 3k spend today on biz expenses.
-I registered to link my Fairmont card to my chase online account.

Questions I have
1. Is there another separate online account setup different than the chase banking one?
2. from what I have read I receive my premier status right away with arrival of card, with the suite upgrade option coming with that, but it may take 4-6 weeks for certificate to show up on my acct? any way to expedite that, I'm worried that suites upgrades won't be available if I wait too long, and want to upgrade right away.
3. I actually booked two separate reservations, a 4 night and a 1 night, contiguous. I'm sure they will count that as one stay for the suite upgrade purposes, 5 nights?

Thanks for any help.

BOSOGG

Althekillr

Tia for the help, I will be sure to update

beachmiles

I am deciding whether to apply for this card again. DW and I each applied in 2012 when the card was introduced. I think the original offer back then included an upgrade on the two free nights. We had a wonderful 4 night stay in a Mission Suite , at the Fairmont Sonoma.
My current status is "Club" which is no status. The card will give us a little status , but no suite upgrade.
What type of experience have people, coming in with no status , had in getting upgrades , on the free nights.
I'd love to do it again, but not if I can't get out of the base Fairmont room.

Also, do free night bookings trigger any offers to for cash upgrades. I'd pay real money to upgrade.

thanks.

Jasper2009

Actually, having the CC comes with FPC Premier status, which in turn gives you one suite upgrade cert (among other benefits; see FAQ Master thread).

beachmiles

Thank you Jasper. So if this sign up bonus gives me 2 free nights and a suite upgrade , that can be used on the free night stay, this seems as good as the original 2012 offer.

I called the hotel. They said the certificate would get me a Fairmont Room, the suite certificate would bump me up to a Jr Suite. Then I could request an upgrade to a Mission Suite, which they might-probably do for maybe an additional $85 per night.

Not as good as 2012 but still great.

Thanks to all

mahasamatman

The offer is the same. It's the hotel that's changed.

mintcilantro

I have this card but I don't think it makes sense for me to put 12k on it for the free night cert. You must have plans to stay at a property with rates of >$500/night for it to make sense.

I do think the $95 AF for the card pays for itself multiple times with the various certificates.

For me, this card is an 1% card. I have many cards with bonus categories so I will average 3% cash back on that 12k spending. So my cost for gaining the free night cert is $360-$120 = $240. If I had 12k in reimbursable fairmont spend, then I would put the spend on this card.

The certs book you usually in the lowest category room and the booking doesn't qualify for the third night free certificate. By booking a paid rate through visa signature/virtuoso/FHR, atleast I can get breakfast and use the third night free certificate.

do you guys put 12k on this card? any particular reason why it makes sense for you?

Jasper2009

If you can average 3% cash back on your other credit cards, it indeed probably makes more sense to those those cards. Using the Fairmont CC may make sense for certain spend which earns 3%-5& cash back or if you're using the CC abroad (if your CC have FX fees)

Your $500/night figure seems to contadict your other calculations. But generally speaking redeeming for Fairmont GCs probably offers the best return for most people.

mintcilantro

what I meant was I would not "invest" $240 in the fairmont card spending unless I was redeeming for a hotel with a rate of >$500/night. Reason being cash rates have the additional benefits like breakfast and 3rd night free cert.

If plans to use the free night don't work out for some reason, then the certificate is a loss. To compensate for the inflexibility and hassle, I need to get atleast 2x the value.

I do put rental cars on this card for the primary insurance. I also put award flight taxes on this card as the flights are then eligible for trip insurance. My spend in the bonus categories of this card doesn't get even close to 12k. If I'm booking revenue flights, I use my travelocity card for 10% off. I have many cards offering no FT fees including 2% capital one card.

So while I will never cancel this card, I won't put 12k on it either.

Jasper2009

I'm still not sure I fully understand (or agree with) your valuation approach, but I'd agree that the main reason for keeping the card is the variety of benefits (FPC Premier status, no FX fees, primary car insurance etc.) and not the award program (apart from maybe spend at Fairmont hotels; afaik there's no other card which offers 5% cash back at Fairmont hotels).

mintcilantro

I think we both agree but are using different language

If a fairmont hotel is $500 per night and I can use a third night free certificate, I get 3 nights for $1000 or $333/night. Most fairmont hotels can be booked with a luxury hotels program for free breakfast.

If it is a five night stay, I can book 4 nights with the citi prestige card and get a rebate for the fourth night. The fifth night can come from the FPC 3rd night certificate. So 5 nights for $1500 total. $300/night. Sometimes you can get breakfast included through the mastercard world elite program from city prestige.

I don't like doing one night stays.. takes too much energy to check in check out. I like min of 2 night stay, 3 is better.

So for me, it's better to earn cashback on other cards and use it for a paid fairmont stay rather than putting 12k on the fairmont card.

YMMV. It probably makes sense for some people to put 12k on the fairmont card depending on their spending and travel patterns. I just wanted to point out that for many it will not make sense.

FrenchLaundry

While I haven't yet received an anniversary free night from this card yet (there should be one very soon), I'll note that this forum provides many examples of Fairmont's customer service supporting the use of benefits in conjunction with paid nights to achieve whatever goal one wishes. i.e the "free night" is de facto quite usable.

Also, $12K spend would accumulate 12K Fairmont Chase points - and many more if your spend is at Fairmonts. That's why it makes sense to me.