You know how sometimes there are these promotions that seem to want to give with one hand? The whole please enjoy this $5 off coupon which is valid with a min spend of $200. Or here’s a buy 10 get 1 at 50% off voucher for our highly marked up product. Or here’s a free air ticket, which you can redeem on these dates and only covers the base fare but not these ludicrously expensive fuel surcharges (wait isn’t that just Krisflyer)
Well we can now add UOB and Expedia’s latest promotion to that list.
UOB and Expedia are running a “promotion” (if you can even call it that) which gives you 10% off minimum 2 night Expedia stays booked by 31 March 2017 and consumed by 30 June 2017.
The catch?
- The exclusion list of properties is longer than Taylor Swift’s list of ex-lovers (I do pop culture references just fine, thank you).
For full visual impact, allow me to copy and paste the list here. Play this game- put your finger on the down key on your keyboard and see how long it takes to get to the bottom
- Amara Singapore
- Amari
- Aston Resorts
- Barcelo
- Occidental
- Radisson
- Country Inn & Suites
- Radisson Blu
- Quorvus
- Park Inn
- Park Plaza
- Arenaturist
- Radisson Edwardian
- Clarion
- Econo Lodge
- Comfort Inn
- Comfort Suites
- Quality
- Rodeway Inn
- MainStay Suites
- Ascend Collection
- CAMBRiA hotel & suites
- Suburban Extended Stay
- Sleep Inn
- Nordic Choice – Quality
- Nordic Choice – Clarion
- Nordic Choice – Comfort Inn
- Nordic Choice – Nordic Resort
- Nordic Choice – Ascend Collection
- Corinthia Hotels
- Dusit hotels
- Fortune Hotels
- Furama
- Embassy Suites
- Hampton Inn
- Hilton International
- Hilton Garden Inn
- Hilton Hotels
- Doubletree
- Homewood Suites
- Conrad
- Waldorf Astoria
- Curio Collection
- Home2 Suites by Hilton
- Hilton Grand Vacations
- Hotel 81
- HV Hotels
- Holiday Inn Express Hotel
- Holiday Inn
- Crowne Plaza
- Inter-Continental
- Candlewood Hotel
- Staybridge Suites
- Ana Hotels International
- Hotel Indigo
- Holiday Inn Club Vacations
- EVEN Hotels
- Holiday Inn Select
- HUALUXE
- Kempinski Hotels & Resorts
- La Quinta Inn & Suites
- Langham Hotels
- Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group
- AC by Marriott
- SpringHill Suites
- Marriott Hotels & Resorts
- Residence Inn
- Fairfield Inn
- TownePlace Suites
- Courtyard
- Protea
- Ritz-Carlton
- Delta Hotels
- Renaissance
- Autograph Collection Hotels & Resorts
- Marriott Executive Apartments
- marriottvacationclub
- JW Marriott
- Marriott Conference Centre
- MOXY
- Bulgari Hotels & Resorts
- Gaylord Entertainment
- Edition
- Sol
- Tryp Hotels
- Melia
- Gran Melia
- Me by Melia
- Sol Melia
- Paradisus
- Innside
- Meritus
- Millennium Hotels
- Kingsgate
- Movenpick Hotels & Resorts
- NH Hotels
- Hesperia
- Jolly Hotels
- Omni
- Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts
- Park Royal Hotels & Resorts
- Raffles Intl Hotels and Resorts
- RIU Hotels
- Rosewood Hotels
- Sandals Resorts
- Scandic Hotels
- Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts
- Six Senses Resorts & Spas
- Four Points
- Sheraton Hotel
- Westin
- aloft
- W Hotel
- Luxury Collection
- Le Meridien
- Starwood other branded
- St Regis
- element
- Swiss Quality Hotels
- Swissotel
- Vivanta by Taj
- Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces
- The Gateway Hotels
- Leela Group
- The Peninsula Group
- Thon Hotels
- Vincci
- Knights Inn
- Baymont Inns & Suites
- Ramada
- Super 8
- Days Inn
- Wingate Inn
- Microtel Inn
- Hawthorn Suites
- Wyndham Hotels
- Travelodge
- Howard Johnson
- TRYP by Wyndham
- Dolce Hotels and Resorts
- Universal Orlando Resort
Oh, we’re not done yet. In addition to chain-level restrictions, there are property-level restrictions too
- Amara Cay Resort
- Amara Club Marine Nature
- Amara Dolce Vita Luxury
- Amara Guest House
- Amara Hotel
- Amara Motel
- Amara Resort Hua Hin
- Amara Wing Resort Comfort
- Amarant Hotel
- Dusit Buncha Resort Koh Tao
- Dusit Devarana New Delhi
- Dusit Island Resort Chiang Rai
- Dusit Princess Korat
- Dusit Princess Srinakarin, Bangkok
- Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi
- Dusit Thani Bangkok
- Dusit Thani Hua Hin
- Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket
- Dusit Thani Laguna Pool Villa
- Dusit Thani LakeView Cairo
- Dusit Thani Maldives
- Dusit Thani Manila
- Dusit Thani Pattaya
- dusitD2 Chiang Mai
- dusitD2 hotel constance pasadena
- dusitD2 nairobi
- dusitD2 phuket resort
- Hotel Phoenicia Malta
- Mandarin Hotel Guangzhou
- Mandarin Hotel Managed by Centre Point
- Mandarin Pacific Hotel
- Mandarin Plaza Hotel
- Meritus Pelangi Beach Resort Langkawi
- The Cosmopolitan Of Las Vegas
- The Leela Palace Bangalore
- The Leela Palace Chennai
- The Leela Palace New Delhi
- The Leela Palace Udaipur
- The Venetian Macao Resort
- V Hotel
- V Hotel
- V Hotel – Bandung
- V Hotel & Suites
I am highly, highly amused that Hotel 81 is on the exclusion list.
2. You can only use this coupon at hotels with Expedia Rates
As if that long list of restrictions wasn’t enough, you can only use the 10% off coupon at a hotel which offers Expedia Rates.
Expedia Rates require that your credit card be charged in full upon reservation (are they refundable? I don’t know because I was never able to find one). How hard can it be to find an Expedia Rate property?
Well, I tried. I looked at KL, Bangkok, Paris, Singapore. I rifled through 10+ pages of hotel listings for each geography. I played with different dates. Try as I might, I could not get any Expedia Rates to appear. Here’s a screenshot of what an Expedia Rate property would look like (if it existed)
Oh, I know! I’ll look for this specific hotel that Expedia featured in the screenshot.
Wait wut.
Try as I might I simply could not find an Expedia Rate. I have hence concluded that they are like a cure for male pattern baldness. You hear about it so much you’re certain it must exist, you just can’t find it.
If you could find one, the theory is you enter the code UOBEXPSG to get a further 10% off.
Conclusion
Between the long list of exemption chains/properties and the impossibility of finding an Expedia rate, I really can’t see any reason to jump on this promotion.
If you can find an Expedia Rate, POIDH.
Just use Mastercard disc code get 12% off valid for any mastercard
what’s the master card discount code?
Check this out :
https://www.expedia.com.sg/couponsignup?mdpcid=sg.direct.mastercard.cobrandauto&campaignId=mastercard&#BinCodeView
Hahaha …. This is so UOB!
like this ….
https://milelion.com/2016/12/05/why-the-maths-behind-uobs-latest-promotion-makes-my-head-hurt/
I see a pattern here
Why take this promotion when you can get 6 miles per dollar from expedia
Hi Aaron, this is awards season. Why not come with annual awards like worst credit card of the year; worst promotion of the year; worst rewards system etc…?
haha because i am stuck in a meeting room for 16 hours a day…
hope you had time to read this
http://images-lifemiles.com/mail/lmv2/lm0102/eng/transfermillv5eng.html
saw it but not worth covering really. this is a 100% promo, not the 130-140% we have seen before.
provided you have the miles balance in your ‘other’ account, it’s not a bad deal to consolidate the miles, extend the expiry dates, and ‘purchase’ additional miles for 1.5cent per mile…
The last altitude 8mpd promotion also had this bloody reference to “Expedia rates” which wasn’t in the previous promotion. I never found anything with an Expedia rate. A complete con.
Expedia had also ALWAYS overcharged me when the credit card bill came. They do refund upon calling, but be careful to check this…
Consider yourself lucky when they refund, i had the same experience with Hotel.com and guess what they replied me?
They want to give me a voucher for overcharging me. A voucher with exclusions and restrictions when they owe me cash.
Goodness me.
I have actually used the code a few times. The catch is it is usually only valid for non big chain hotels. You can get very good deals if you are looking for nice independent / boutique hotels in Bali (for example), plus you get 6 MPD with UOB Prvi. Anyway we don’t book a stay in Mariott or Hilton thru Expedia, we don’t get hotel points for that.
I also used a few times last year, October, the code then was at 15% discount (in Cologne & Dusseldorf 3-4 star kind of hotels), it is not refundable as far as I remember. and yes, just like Mike, I get 6MPD with UOB Prvi.
The ‘Expedia Rate’ property sign can only be found under the ‘We should mention’ subsection, last sentence. Not the most conspicuous, but its there..
I posted this in another article, but since we are talking about UOB, I thought I would repeat it here.
The T&C for the Lady’s Solitaire card states “The total Bonus UNI$ awarded to each Cardmember from qualifying spend will be capped at UNI$9,000 for each statement cycle.”
So if the minimum spend to get the 10x bonus is $3,000, the effective number of UNI$ for $3,000 is 12,000, which is equivalent to 4,800 miles which makes the earn at 1.6 mpd. Did I get my calculations right?