Points 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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 Stay Plus ➕

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:28:40 +0000

Those mischievous Parisians won’t let you pay with points if you’ve selected Stay Plus.

I priced up Macau, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing.

According to the rules, the most expensive night in the booking becomes free.

In practice, there are lots of blackout dates.

Hyatt House Yinchuan 2️⃣

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 05:40:17 +0000

Second set, going for the points.

Hyatt merges consecutive bookings if you don’t actually check out.

You have to split them with a one-day gap.

That little trick is where Marriott does most of its business.

If Hyatt ever fixes this, the Marriott chain can be closed down as surplus to requirements.

Hyatt House Yinchuan 😑

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:42:21 +0000

As advertised earlier: the cheapest Hyatt House in the world.

Not new, but perfectly fresh.

The video shows a studio for $40 including taxes. No upgrade. But since I still have 3 more stays to go, I didn’t make a scene.

A Right Mix-Up 🧑🏼‍🎨

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 06:38:18 +0000

Someone got in touch asking for an agent rate — they’d mistaken me for Antoine Al Mourjan.

So let’s have a look at what Fora Travel agents earn their millions on.

Fora — $2,134.99 Hilton — $1,879.89 Rove — $1,913.38 + 9 566 Rove miles

Ocean Headlights 👁

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 07:28:06 +0000

The piece about my namesake was an introductory epitaph, a warm-up before the brunch gastronomy.

From day one, things didn’t click between me and the girls on reception.

I put it to them simply:

— Where’s the best pho bo in this village?

Miles, Smiles and Monkey Business 🐒

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 14:43:41 +0000

While I wage an unequal battle with Rove’s legal department over 32,692 miles at a price of $72.10, let’s take our minds off it and work out what these miles are actually worth in fiat.

Helping us here is the French hotel chain Accor, where everything is honest in the European way: the value of points is pegged firmly to the euro.

Hyatt House Mexico City / Santa Fe 😁

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:02:12 +0000

I stayed here two years ago. Last time they upgraded me to a room with a balcony, clouds, rain and a view of Walmart. Practically the Lake District.

This time I decided to test a booking made through Rove: would the status magic still work with a middleman in the mix?

The Living Will Envy the Dead ☠️

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:33:37 +0000

A few words on a sadder subject. It was the Day of the Dead we were marking, after all, not Carnival in Rio.

After the parade I went back to the hotel, squeezed like a lime for a margarita. Grabbed my rucksack and headed for Santa Fe.

Hyatt Regency Mexico City 🌮

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 19:03:36 +0000

In the evening the lounge served ceviche — a jolt of the sea and citrus enlightenment on a single plate.

The booze was carried round by two Mexican waiters with faces that said “we’re serving a sentence here, not following a calling”. They looked as if they were pouring the cocktails not for the guests but for themselves, on credit.