Get a hotel deal with a Melia 50% buy points bonus

MeliaRewards is running a ‘buy points’ promo. Until 12th July, all purchases up to 300,000 points will receive a 50% bonus.

1.000 points, plus bonus, are being offered for €5. The bonus is applied on top, so you will get 1,500 points for €5.  This works out at 0.33 Eurocents per point or €3.33 per 1000.

This is very cheap – as cheap as it gets – and is comparable to last year’s exceptionally generous Black Friday deal. There is one subtle difference, however.

Melia is treating these points bonuses differently.  The bonus points are placed in a separate bucket called ‘My Promotions’.  These points have slightly different terms.

The promotional points must be used in a booking made by before 31st December 2020 for stays until 31st December 2021.

If you cancel your booking after 31st December 2020, you will lose your bonus points.  This means it is not hugely attractive unless you intend to stay in 2020, which is presumably Melia’s intention.  For clarity, you won’t lose the base points if you cancel – only the promotional points.

When you book, you can choose to either use your ‘normal points’ or your ‘promotional points’.  If you do the latter, your promotional points will be used first, and any excess required will be taken from your main balance.  Points are not taken pro-rata from your ‘main’ and ‘promotional’ balances.

Here is a pricing example.  In London, the Melia White House is 23,988 points per night.  This is an absolute bargain at under £69, based on paying 0.33 Eurocents per point.

The funky lifestyle hotel ME London on The Strand is 41,123 points, which would cost you £117.  You would pay well over double that for cash.

INNSiDE New York NoMad, reviewed here, is an excellent way to use up MeliaRewards points but that is a bit risky to book speculatively given that there is no sign of US tourism opening up this year. 

You could, on the other hand, get an excellent deal in Spain or Portugal this Summer (Melia is a Spanish-owned chain) by buying and redeeming points.  It looks like Melia is trying to quietly sell rooms at heavily discounted prices via the back door without having to reduce its headline prices for those willing to pay the standard rate.

You can purchase Melia points here.

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How to get MeliaRewards Gold status from American Express (April 2024)

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE MeliaRewards Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Hilton Honors Gold and Radisson Rewards Premium status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can discover the benefits of MeliaRewards Gold status on the Melia website here. It includes three vouchers per year worth 20% off any booking.

Small business owners may want to consider American Express Business Platinum instead:

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)