But has it become a ripoff?
 

I've been a PP member for some time but was conviced to rejoin recently as the sales rep claimed they offered VIP rates to long term members and I could obtain "5 star rooms at 2 star prices".After checking my new literature,online bookings and PP's member number .. no reference to VIP rates;
It also seems Sydney Intercontental does play ball to the extent they once did; and
After 3 emails .. no response from Priority Privilege's Customer Service
Not Happy 56

mm, sounds like they are just telling stories to get sales :(

can you explain more what you mean by Sydney no longer playing ball to the extent they once did?

I have been a PP member for over 5 years and have never heard of VIP rates. I imagine they'll do anything to get a sale!

the PP telemarketers are incessent.

next time one rings i'm shouting down the phone one sentence.

NO AND DON'T RING ME AGAIN!!!

Did anyone get the January eNewsletter and Offers? I have nothing in my mailbox or even spam box.

The last newsletter was valid for December 2010 - January 2011.

Thanks, guess being the height of summer down there they can combine an issue or two as we do up here in July/August.

'VIP' rewards??
 

so I didnt renew before my membership expired but did again a month or two later - at the time i called and asked if i could get any bonuses but was told no it would start again. clearly they haven't linked the 2 as i just had a call from George F offering me the world as i have been with them for so long.
2 free nights at any IHG in oz/NZ/fiji - in any level room, he would be opening up club/exec suites etc for me
access to VIP rates which are the lowest rates available at all like their corporate rates, for anywhere in the world
25% off these VIP rates for 2x stays during the 13 months
plus the dining credit and free breakfast
monthly emails offering special VIP offers/rates/free nights/bonuses that are more than just standard PP email offers

After listening to the whole spiel and thinking it sounded pretty good I asked what I could do with the current membership that I only just purchased - could i transfer to in-laws etc? That threw him ;-)


He said no I, could transfer the usual transferable vouchers but not the membership/card..I asked him to go and find out if there was anything he could do - eg freeze my current membership till this new one were to expire, etc

Will be interesting to see if he bothers calling me back again now!

So, what do you think? Is this just sales patter that will prove to be no more special than current PP? I asked for concrete examples of rates at places I knew but he said he's not reservations so couldn't, but an example he had used was CP surfers paradise (where I haven't been) where a king spa suite would usually be $350 he got it for around $160-170. Just had a quick look at the PP reservations website and that would get me down to around $200/night in next few weeks, so this 'new' vip deal is not such a massive saving but still less..

I am so far planning travel in Fiji (already booked but cancellable) and Europe/UK with stopovers in Asia.

Would love to hear if anyone else has had this and if you can shed any further light on how much is bull**** factor vs genuine bargain. Ideally before he calls me back, if he does..

thanks :)

I am saving around 2K a year with the monthly specials where you get a BOGO without the need to surrender the cert, and unlike AMB the BOGO works all week and for suites.

But he told you he isn't 'reservations' so how would he do that???

This is really interesting. I'm very tempted to hold off when my membership year ends but then I might miss out on the third BOGO voucher and the second PP card for anyone I choose.

Decisions, decisions - I'll be interested to hear of other experiences too.

BOGO voucher is a one time use?

For the last three years I have received three BOGO vouchers (instead of the usual two) as an "exclusive" deal for continuing my membership. ^
PP often have monthly specials where you can stay two nights for the price of one but keep you voucher.

Has anyone managed to book a room through the February specials? I have tried a number of different hotels on a number of different dates and keep getting messages that there are no rooms at that rate.

AMB and PP have their strengths
 

Both schemes have their benefits. Amb is global plus seems to have access to rooms that PP doesn't. When I was going to the IC Fiji in late Jan, I couldn't get a PP room (first with the PP offer of the month of keeping the certificate, or with a regular surrender the cert booking), I even phoned reservations and they tried about a two week period and still couldn't get me in. Yet I was able to book straight in with my Amb BOGO and was set.

I was actually pretty disappointed at how useless PP was for that booking, most of the time I've found it quite good.

Some hotels are loaded however most will be in the next few days, I rang reservations yesterday to check.
I agree both have benefits, although AMB is limited by it's weekend only and IC only certs. I do have issues with PP when trying to get a last minute booking, but not if well ahead, including ADL for the Clipsal and Melbourne for the upcoming airshow as well as Sydney for NYE.