You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering if
that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for an
educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I will
receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin Atlantic.
I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15, 2003. There
are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to availability.
The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton family for 7 days
to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere from $180 to $450 per
room. (according to the fine print, these are the standard rack rates-- which
probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know many "educators" who could
afford hotel rooms at $450 a night. I would choose to go to London. and because
of my teaching responsibilities, it would have to be late July or early August. I
won't see the list of hotel choices til I get the voucher. The credit card has no
annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything to apply. The financial terms of the
card seem fair altho' I really have no need of another credit card. I'm wondering
what is the point on the hotel rate at which it would be cheaper to get my own
flight and look for a hotel of my own choice and price? Has anyone flown Virgin
Atlantic? I would be interested in hearing any insights concerning this offer.

Allison Williams Richmond, VA [email protected]

The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.
--Samuel Johnson

You could certainly do a week in London for less than $1400.00 w/ air for the week,
but their properties look kinda nice (http://www.starwood.com/sheraton/search/search_res-
ults.html?city=london&
stateProvince=&country=GB&arrivalDateMonth=&arriva lDateDay=&arrivalDateYe
ar=&inputDate=&dtArr=&dtDep=&theBrand=sh&departure DateMonth=&departureDat
eDay=&departureDateYear=&arrivalDate=&departureDat e=&lengthOfStay=&inputE
rror=&requestedChainCode=&requestedAffiliationCode =&corporateAccountNumbe
r=&corporateAccountMatchId=),

a lot of in-house services that might be a consideration.

You might want to look at an Orbitz type site and see what they can package air and
hotel for you. I was just in London and while its about the most expensive city in
the world... it is worth every 'pence' of it.

jay Fri, Sep 6, 2002 mailto:[email protected]




In article <B99EE8A1.6265%[email protected]>, Allison Williams
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering
    > if that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for
    > an educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I
    > will receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin
    > Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15,
    > 2003. There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    > availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton
    > family for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere
    > from $180 to $450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the
    > standard rack rates-- which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know
    > many "educators" who could afford hotel rooms at $450 a night. I would choose
    > to go to London. and because of my teaching responsibilities, it would have to
    > be late July or early August. I won't see the list of hotel choices til I get
    > the voucher. The credit card has no annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything
    > to apply. The financial terms of the card seem fair altho' I really have no
    > need of another credit card. I'm wondering what is the point on the hotel rate
    > at which it would be cheaper to get my own flight and look for a hotel of my
    > own choice and price? Has anyone flown Virgin Atlantic? I would be interested
    > in hearing any insights concerning this offer.
    > Allison Williams Richmond, VA [email protected]
    > The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.
    > --Samuel Johnson

--

Legend insists that as he finished his abject... Galileo muttered under his breath:
"Nevertheless, it does move."

This kind of offer is quite common and does not offer particularly good value compared to shopping around for flights and booking your room at well below standard rate - plus yo have little flexibility over choice of hotel. Often compulsory meal charge is added too. Avoid unless you do the maths (read the small print) and it adds up cheaper AND the choice of flight + hotel dovetails with your needs.

Allison Williams <[email protected]> wrote:
    : You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering
    : if that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for
    : an educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I
    : will receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin
    : Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15,
    : 2003. There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    : availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton
    : family for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere
    : from $180 to $450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the
    : standard rack rates-- which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know
    : many "educators" who could afford hotel rooms at $450 a night. I would choose
    : to go to London. and because of my teaching responsibilities, it would have to
    : be late July or early August. I won't see the list of hotel choices til I get
    : the voucher. The credit card has no annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything
    : to apply. The financial terms of the card seem fair altho' I really have no
    : need of another credit card. I'm wondering what is the point on the hotel rate
    : at which it would be cheaper to get my own flight and look for a hotel of my
    : own choice and price? Has anyone flown Virgin Atlantic? I would be interested
    : in hearing any insights concerning this offer.

My bias is that I don't go for offers like this that have catches, in hopes - at best
- of saving a few hundred bucks. Too many potential "gotchas!" and restrictions
here. There's a chance you could save some money, but is that amount worth the
restrictions you are liable to have to put up with?

July and August are busy months for travel to London from the US, the "subject to
availability" bit would worry me. As for the hotels - is there a restriction on how
you are able to book them? Do you have to book through a special agency? In that
case, the rates would worry me

Well, let's take a look at flying from Dulles to London (presumably you couldn't fly
Virgin Atlantic from Richmond anyway).

FYI, as of today Virgin Atlantic has a web fare of $551 R/T from Dulles to London
for September (might August be higher? who knows?). But let's assume your total X2
airfare is $1100 next summer. Now, hotels in London *are* quite expensive; if you
spend 7 nights there, unless you stay in a hostel, figure $80-$100 per night on
your own. So figure $700 for hotels + the $1100 airfare = $1800 for this trip
paying for it on your own (with any airline, with a good choice of hotels,
whenever you want to go).

Just to break even using the voucher, you'd have to book a Sheraton for a total of
$1800; divided by 7 nights, that's $257/night. If you manage to get a Sheraton in
London via their agency for $180/night (check Orbitz - even their rate isn't a whole
lot less than this for the cheapest Sheraton in London I could find), you could save
a little over $500 - best case.

Then again, are there other ways you might save that same $500, while maintaining a
little more flexibility? I use Priceline for hotels when I can, and I would have
tried them for air travel my upcoming trip to Europe had Northwest not had a great
sale (on an open jaw, too). You could save $200 or $300 or more on two tickets right
there. See
http://www.biddingfortravel.com to see
what people are paying for hotels and airline tickets on Priceline.

I guess if you are getting the card for no fee, you have nothing to lose by trying to
make the hotel reservations and see what they run you before committing to travel
with the voucher, if you are allowed to do that. But don't make that your only
option if you want to plan a trip to Europe next summer. Before you get ready to
book with the voucher, price a trip to England on your own and price it out, so you
don't feel pressured into using the voucher.

Andrew
--
----> Portland, Oregon, USA <----
************************************************** *****************
----> http://www.bizave.com/photos/ <----
Andrew's Photography ---->
http://www.moviepundit.com/ <----
Andrew's Movie Website
************************************************** *****************


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Allison Williams <[email protected]> wrote:
    > You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering
    > if that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for
    > an educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I
    > will receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin
    > Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15,
    > 2003. There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    > availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton
    > family for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere
    > from $180 to $450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the standard
    > rack rates-- which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know many
    > "educators" who could afford hotel rooms at $450 a night.

This deal is only worth it (obviously) if you would otherwise pay those rates (minus
the flight costs) for a hotel.

Are you inclined to (or interested in) staying in a $200 hotel room? Here's your
chance. Otherwise, just buy a $300 plane ticket and stay in a $50 hotel and you'll
have much more money in your pocket.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos and tales from around the world:
http://travel.u.nu New mini photo-feature: Life in
DC: http://travel.u.nu/dc/

On Sat, 07 Sep 2002 03:20:01 GMT, Allison Williams <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15, 2003.
    >There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    >availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton family
    >for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere from $180 to
    >$450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the standard rack rates--
    >which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know many "educators" who could
    >afford hotel rooms at $450 a night. I would choose to go to London. and because
    >of my teaching responsibilities, it would have to be late July or early August. I
    >won't see the list of hotel choices til I get the voucher.

My impulse is to advise against it. If availability is a question, you can probably
forget about summer. Additionally, I know some people who got a similar "deal" going
to Jamaica. The tickets were very cheap (not free) but the hotel they stayed at was
vastly overpriced. They were also obliged to buy one meal, also overpriced, a day at
the hotel. Caveat emptor.

You didn't say where you live. Airfare to Europe, depending on the time of year, can
be as little as $400, round trip, from New York, to $600 or $700, round trip, from
Los Angeles.

You are correct -- no one pays rack rate for rooms. If you go to Europe for one week
and get hotel rooms for $100/night (which is very doable), you'll have spent about
$1000 on airfare and $700 on hotels. If you take the credit card's "deal," assuming
an average rack rate of $270 (the median between $180 and $450), you'll spend $3,780
on hotels for the single week alone!

For what its worth, my wife and usually stay at 4- and 5-star hotels when we travel
in Europe. Though there are exceptions, we usually pay around $250/night for our
accomodations.

Virgin Atlantic is a legitimate airline, but their coach service is nothing to write
home about.

Frankly, this doesn't sound like a very good deal.




"Allison Williams" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:B99EE8A1.6265%[email protected]...
    > You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering
    > if that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for
    > an educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I
    > will receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin
    > Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15,
    > 2003. There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    > availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels
in
    > the Sheraton family for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be
    > anywhere from $180 to $450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the
    > standard rack rates-- which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know many
    > "educators" who could afford hotel rooms at
$450
    > a night. I would choose to go to London. and because of my teaching
    > responsibilities, it would have to be late July or early August. I won't
see
    > the list of hotel choices til I get the voucher. The credit card has no annual fee
    > so it doesn't cost me anything to apply. The financial terms of the card seem fair
    > altho' I really have no need of another credit card. I'm wondering what is the
    > point on the hotel rate at which it would
be
    > cheaper to get my own flight and look for a hotel of my own choice and price? Has
    > anyone flown Virgin Atlantic? I would be interested in hearing any insights
    > concerning this offer.
    > Allison Williams Richmond, VA [email protected]
    > The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.
    > --Samuel Johnson

"Paul Tauger" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > You didn't say where you live. Airfare to Europe, depending on the time
of
    > year, can be as little as $400, round trip, from New York, to $600 or
$700,
    > round trip, from Los Angeles.

Uh, yes she did - Richmond, VA. You're gettin' too accustomed to the people who
don't. ;-)

    > You are correct -- no one pays rack rate for rooms. If you go to Europe
for
    > one week and get hotel rooms for $100/night (which is very doable), you'll have
    > spent about $1000 on airfare and $700 on hotels. If you take the credit card's
    > "deal," assuming an average rack rate of $270 (the median between $180 and $450),
    > you'll spend $3,780 on hotels for the single week alone!
    > For what its worth, my wife and usually stay at 4- and 5-star hotels when we
    > travel in Europe. Though there are exceptions, we usually pay around $250/night
    > for our accomodations.
    > Virgin Atlantic is a legitimate airline, but their coach service is
nothing
    > to write home about.
    > Frankly, this doesn't sound like a very good deal.

Agreed. I could visit London, Bath/Cotswolds, Oxford, Brussels, Brugge, Paris,
Normandy for two months on a budget of $3,780, including transatlantic airfare from
the U.S. west coast, all ground transport and meals.

    > "Allison Williams" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:B99EE8A1.6265%[email protected]...
    > > [snip] Allison Williams Richmond, VA [email protected]

"J Quick" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected] y.c-
om...
    > "Paul Tauger" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > > You didn't say where you live. Airfare to Europe, depending on the time
    > of
    > > year, can be as little as $400, round trip, from New York, to $600 or
    > $700,
    > > round trip, from Los Angeles.
    > >
    > Uh, yes she did - Richmond, VA. You're gettin' too accustomed to the
people
    > who don't. ;-)

It's too early in the morning for me.

    > > You are correct -- no one pays rack rate for rooms. If you go to Europe
    > for
    > > one week and get hotel rooms for $100/night (which is very doable),
you'll
    > > have spent about $1000 on airfare and $700 on hotels. If you take the credit
    > > card's "deal," assuming an average rack rate of $270 (the median between $180 and
    > > $450), you'll spend $3,780 on hotels for the single
week
    > > alone!
    > >
    > > For what its worth, my wife and usually stay at 4- and 5-star hotels
when
    > > we travel in Europe. Though there are exceptions, we usually pay around
    > > $250/night for our accomodations.
    > >
    > > Virgin Atlantic is a legitimate airline, but their coach service is
    > nothing
    > > to write home about.
    > >
    > > Frankly, this doesn't sound like a very good deal.
    > >
    > Agreed. I could visit London, Bath/Cotswolds, Oxford, Brussels, Brugge, Paris,
    > Normandy for two months on a budget of $3,780, including transatlantic airfare from
    > the U.S. west coast, all ground transport and meals.
    > >
    > > "Allison Williams" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:B99EE8A1.6265%[email protected]...
    > > > [snip] Allison Williams Richmond, VA [email protected]

In article <B99EE8A1.6265%[email protected]>, Allison Williams
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering
    > if that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for
    > an educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I
    > will receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin
    > Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15,
    > 2003. There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    > availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton
    > family for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere
    > from $180 to $450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the
    > standard rack rates-- which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know
    > many "educators" who could afford hotel rooms at $450 a night. I would choose
    > to go to London. and because of my teaching responsibilities, it would have to
    > be late July or early August. I won't see the list of hotel choices til I get
    > the voucher. The credit card has no annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything
    > to apply. The financial terms of the card seem fair altho' I really have no
    > need of another credit card. I'm wondering what is the point on the hotel rate
    > at which it would be cheaper to get my own flight and look for a hotel of my
    > own choice and price? Has anyone flown Virgin Atlantic? I would be interested
    > in hearing any insights concerning this offer.

Get specific costs for this so called "free offering" then compare the price of
booking the same hotels and airlines yourself. In many cases, those free airline
tickets cost more, in total, than if you buy your own airline tickets because they
charge you top rate for the hotel.

On Sat, 07 Sep 2002 03:20:01 GMT, Allison Williams <[email protected]> let us in on
their opinion by saying:

    > You know the slogan, " If it's free, don't take too much of it?" I'm wondering
    > if that is the case here. I got a "pre-approved" credit card offer to apply for
    > an educator platinum card. ( I am a school librarian.) With the Mastercard, I
    > will receive vouchers for 2 RT flights to London, Hawaii or Mexico on Virgin
    > Atlantic. I must reserve the flights by Dec. 15, 2002 and use them by Dec. 15,
    > 2003. There are no black out dates, but of course, reservations are subject to
    > availability. The catch is I must sign up with certain hotels in the Sheraton
    > family for 7 days to use the plane vouchers. The hotel rates can be anywhere
    > from $180 to $450 per room. (according to the fine print, these are the standard
    > rack rates-- which probably no one ever pays.) Frankly, I don't know many
    > "educators" who could afford hotel rooms at $450 a night. I would choose to go
    > to London. and because of my teaching responsibilities, it would have to be late
    > July or early August. I won't see the list of hotel choices til I get the
    > voucher. The credit card has no annual fee so it doesn't cost me anything to
    > apply. The financial terms of the card seem fair altho' I really have no need of
    > another credit card. I'm wondering what is the point on the hotel rate at which
    > it would be cheaper to get my own flight and look for a hotel of my own choice
    > and price? Has anyone flown Virgin Atlantic? I would be interested in hearing
    > any insights concerning this offer.
    >Allison Williams Richmond, VA [email protected]
Read your own first sentence. It is the truth in this case an all others of
the same ilk.
    >The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.
    >--Samuel Johnson

--

ZombyWoof `99 FXSTC

Allison Williams wrote:
    > I'm wondering what is the point on the hotel rate at which it would be cheaper
    > to get my own flight and look for a hotel of my own choice and price?

That would be the point at which the rack rate hotel and free airfare cost more than
the discunted hotel price and paid airfare.

What kind of educator are you?