In an ideal world, we will always redeem points for every hotel stay. The reality though is that from time to time we have to pay cash. This could be because your preferred hotel chain may not have a property where you are travelling, or there may be no award availability, or the cash price might be too low to redeem points or simply because you may not have sufficient points to pay for the stay.

If you have any travel travel planned over the next 6 months and find yourself in one of the above situations, read on.

Earn triple Velocity points on hotel stays

Velocity is currently offering 9 points per dollar on hotel stays when you book through this link. The standard earning rate is 3 points per dollar which makes the promo 3x as valuable.

Here are the full details about the promotion

• Velocity members will earn triple Velocity points on eligible bookings made during the offer period via this link.
• The offer period runs from 26th August 2022 – 13th September 2022 for travel between 30th August 2022 and 28th February 2023.
• An eligible booking is one that is made during the offer period via the dedicated link and where Velocity points have not been used as a form of payment or part payment.
• You must enter your Velocity membership number at the time of booking to earn points.
• Points will be credited 2-3 weeks after you check-out.

Are the bonus points worth it?

It used to be that booking direct rather than going through travel agencies or 3rd party operators always worked out cheaper. Not so anymore, OTA’s these days have become very competitive and in many cases match and on occasions beat the hotel website and app prices.

For instance, this is the price on a random date for a 1 night stay at Four Seasons Sydney on their own website

and here is Velocity’s price for the same room and day

In another example, here is the price for W Brisbane on Marriott’s own channels

and here is Velocity’s price for the same room and day

As you can see, you cannot rely on one of them consistently being cheaper or pricier, so it is always a good idea to compare prices before you make the booking.

In Conclusion

If you are a free agent and not tied to any hotel program, this is a no-brainer. There is no cap on the number of points you can earn or on the number of bookings you can make under the offer. The stay period covers the rest of 2022 and extends well into early 2023 (until 28th Feb), meaning you can plan and book multiple stays and pocket the bonus points.

If you hold status with a hotel loyalty program then it might make more sense to book directly with the hotel and earn points and other elite benefits.

Do you plan to take advantage of this offer? Leave a comment below.