Posts on The Status Carousel

The Standard, Singapore

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 16:31:12 +0000

Before a well-earned holiday at the Phuket health resort for programmers and OnlyFans entrepreneurs, I stopped off in Singapore to sort things out with Hyatt.

To close out 150 nights and tick off yet another Hyatt Brand Explorer icon.

“Where does a retired points mathematician find $250 for a hotel?” asks the pedantic points-smoker.

Grandad Archimedes vs Accor 😠

Tue, 08 Sep 2026 07:05:42 +0000

Love’s young dream is over, and the rambutans have wilted.

The calculations above rested on an assumption that doesn’t hold in real life.

You can’t pay with points for a discounted price such as Red Hot Rooms or other promotional rates.

Pomp and Points: Learning to Tell Them Apart

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 07:09:55 +0000

Before the final chapter of the Novotel Nara**** saga, I’d like to make an important digression.

To repent myself, and to set you on the path of truth.

Sadly, in pursuit of virtual chutzpah, the troubadours of the status scene don’t spell out the numbers clearly.

This Cow's Not for Sale 🐄

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 20:27:32 +0000

There are cash cows, and then there are points cows. Guess which one I’ve been milking.

As you’ll remember, the task for the second half of the year was to bid farewell to that co-operative of French hostel-keepers.

Burn the points. Forgive and forget.

Accor Toujours

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 17:51:29 +0000

When it comes to supporting naive status chasers, Accor is nobody’s fool.

Madame Coco Dior-Chanel-Smythe will vouch for that.

A missing points request can be filed through a form on the website.

The form comes pre-filled with all the details of each booking.

C’est si bon!

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 08:58:32 +0000

C’est si bon, say the French, about very nearly everything. Except, as it turns out, the terms and conditions of their own promotions.

The Novotel Nara**** saga has dragged on, through no fault of my own.

In early July, Accor launched its 7500 promotion.

The Caro-Kann Defence

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 06:26:44 +0000

(e4 c6) A solid, positional defence, similar to the French, but without the hemmed-in light-squared bishop.

I’ve defended Hilton Diamond until 2028.

Debit / credit:

-$752.50 +21 103 points

Average price per stay — $30. Pricey.

Next year I plan to bring the bill down to $500.

A Right Pricing Kerfuffle 😱

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 18:47:55 +0000

My waters tell me we’re on the eve of a grand dynamic-pricing kerfuffle.

TK’s direct price through its own API turned out to be cheaper than both aggregators — probably down to differences in included baggage or fare class.

An important caveat: TK’s live booking engine returns dynamic, session-bound prices that can shift slightly between queries (I observed this on repeated checks) © Sonnet 5 Medium 🤫

Nights in the Cowshed

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 14:05:29 +0000

Hyatt launched the UrCove brand in 2019 as a joint venture with China’s BTG Homeinns group.

The hotels are in China only.

At one point they were the cheapest in the whole chain.

In 2024 there was a scandal when it emerged that one of the brand’s hotels had been inflating accounts on an industrial scale.

Intellectual Security

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 13:57:10 +0000

A lot of interesting things have piled up to tell you about.

But one story won’t make sense without the build-up from another.

I’d love to embroider the whole canvas in one go, like grandad’s old Singer.

But the needle is stuck somewhere in Accor’s support department, which still hasn’t managed to answer a request from 3 August.

Köfte in Gobsmack Sauce

Mon, 24 Aug 2026 12:08:36 +0000

GPT-5.6 SOL Yes, it all makes sense: T-T is the booking class, while EcoFly / ExtraFly / FlexFly / PrimeFly is the fare package. These are two separate characteristics of the same ticket.

I was going to ask you, but then remembered you probably don’t know either.

Rove, Going All In 📉

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 17:44:55 +0000

“When I have 100k Marriott points, I won’t tell a soul. But there will be signs.”

I left a comment in the Rovemiles community on Facebook.

For the first time in 20 years, my message was deleted.

You have received 1 warning from the admins in the past 90 days. If you receive more warnings, your activity in this group may be restricted.

Lonely as a SkyTeam Cloud

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 05:52:45 +0000

I wandered lonely as a cloud, that floats on high o’er lounge and gate, when all at once I saw a crowd — a host of golden status mates.

The Kenyans have opened a portal into the aviation status elite.

They’ve launched a status match from Accor Gold to SkyTeam Elite Plus.

Hotel Point Value 🛒

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:34:08 +0000

In recent years, lots of services have appeared for finding hotels bookable with points and working out CPP.

Put simply: is it worth booking a night on points, or better to pay money (cash, as we say).

MaxMyPoint is one of the oldest and best-known of the lot.

Hold the Front Page 🤡🤮💩

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 09:59:53 +0000

No later than yesterday, some status Samaritans — bless them, I’d kiss their fingers — gave Kal Kalych’s content the rating it deserves.

They showered him with emoji from the heart 🤡🤮💩

Whereupon, naturally, our status dung beetle blew his ~~top~~ bottom.

Hilton Shah Alam Glenmarie 🤩

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 05:43:10 +0000

Of no fixed abode and no fixed brand loyalty, I kip at Hiltons for the time being. At least the radiators work.

Three weeks in Japan have flown by.

Still left to write up: the Novotel Nara ****.

But the points seesaw there is still mid-swing. So I’ll wrap it all up in one go, once it’s done.

Rove: Travel the World for 👌🏾

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 06:45:43 +0000

Rove’s slogan on its Y Combinator pitch page sounds defiantly implausible: "Travel the world for free."

No sooner said than done.

Remember the IONOS wheeze?

Today 7,846 miles landed in my account.

But that’s not the juicy bit.

When I signed up, I already had several ancient IONOS accounts.

SAS Business for 60k 🐕‍🦺

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 03:29:05 +0000

“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”

The Scandinavians have some lively deals popping up.

Nipping over to the US at that price is nothing new. But catching Asia was impossible.

There are options in the other direction as well.

Marriott Bonvoy “Exclusive Fuck You”

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 05:35:00 +0000

Marriott has pushed out its targeted offers.

All the good little boys get +10 status nights.

Those who’ve been naughty get two free nights at 35k and a kind wish not to be too upset about it.

Over at LoyaltyLobby, 10 good little boys have reported in.

Kyoto Four Points Flex by Sheraton

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 06:03:32 +0000

The pricing is a Japanese fairground ride.

Monday to Friday — $30.

Friday to Saturday — double.

Saturday to Sunday — triple.

The location is excellent.

Discussing the size of the room at that price would simply be impolite.

I took the $42 rate: breakfast plus 1000 Bonvoy Points for the road.

Strike While the Iron's Hot? Not Quite

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 05:45:42 +0000

We’ll catch up as the shinkansens roll along.

July hotel prices in Japan sprang an unwelcome surprise.

We start in Kyoto.

In high season, Kyoto gives not only Tokyo but Geneva and London a run for their money.

I flew into Osaka from Seoul in the morning and headed straight for Kyoto.

Marriott Bonvoy

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 21:11:59 +0000

O Marriott, Marriott, wherefore art thou so stingy with the nights? And, while we’re at it, did anyone remember the status match?

Since last year, the British banking market has been busily rolling out quasi-miles products.

Brexit brought not only a new wave of emigration but changes to banking regulation too.

First Semester 2026: 195 Nights

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 21:03:27 +0000

Nomads come in all sorts: hotel nomads, Airbnb nomads, hostel nomads. And every last one of them needs something to fuss over.

Let’s look at the report card:

141 — Hyatt 41 — Marriott 7 — Accor 2 — Hilton 4 — Booking

Japan — July 2027 🇯🇵

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 16:22:50 +0000

There are people who plan their travels a year ahead.

And there are people who decide in half an hour and then start bodging together logistical problems overnight.

I’m the second kind of tourist-naturalist.

Japan wasn’t in this year’s plans.

How to Buy €110 for $57? 💱

Wed, 13 May 2026 11:28:38 +0000

Well, knock me down with a feather! Antoine Al-Mourjan ran back and forth across a bridge three nights in a row, for the lulz.

Then he rolled out a rough draft about Rove. Heaven knows what came over him.

C’est la vie — these are your status heroes now.

Mates' Rates, Doubled 🐰

Thu, 07 May 2026 09:02:39 +0000

Qatar has a WhatsApp chat for its “Platinum” members.

It’s staffed by agents with the swagger of nightclub bouncers.

They can see your profile’s full history.

In the ordinary chat, all they can see is that you’re Platinum. Not your underwear.

The Status Monk 😊

Tue, 05 May 2026 10:04:13 +0000

Yinchuan is not Shanghai. Here, running into a fellow Westerner counts as a stroke of luck.

And I’m a lucky man. My phone has been stolen three times. My laptop once.

And so mischievous karma took pity and sent me a weekend drinking buddy of pure-blooded German stock.

Accor Platinum for 1 Night 🤔

Sat, 02 May 2026 04:18:44 +0000

Our old acquaintance Kai, the content machine, wrote something useful yesterday.

Accor has been launching quick fast-track promotions all year, and here’s another one:

After registering, you need to book and complete a stay by 30 September.

It requires one business stay, booked through Perk.

Sofitel: Buffet vs Lounge 🦞

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:58:31 +0000

Instead of the lounge, they offer two options.

Free soups, in two varieties, or a buffet for $12 for loyalty members.

For mere mortals the price is $60. That’s roughly the going rate for a seafood buffet elsewhere in Macau.

Sofitel Macau at Ponte 16 🫶

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 08:26:17 +0000

Bonjour, bloody hell.

My favourite hotel in Macau, damn it. It was.

The hotel is old — from 2008, the same age as the Grand Lisboa.

But location plus view — top, top tier.

I’ve already covered the price and the set-up.