From Miles to Smiles Stylish travel for professionals seeking luxury at affordable prices
Spain is one of the top travel destinations for British travellers. UK residents recorded a whopping 14.7 million visits to the land of sun, sea and sangria in 2016. Brits flock to the Spanish mainland and its islands every year, and now there is a way to combine this Spanish love affair with an opportunity to earn hotel rewards and recorded a whopping 14.7 million visits
Melia hotels
Melia brands include Gran Melia, Melia, ME, Paradius, INNSIDE, Tryp and Sol offering ‘sophisticated glamour and timeless standards in the world’s most desirable destinations.’ It is the biggest hotel group in Spain, has 350 hotels in 40 countries and claims to turn ‘small moments into big memories‘. I am all for that given that my major life objective is to create as many memorable moments as possible.
Melia Hotel Rewards programme
The Melia Rewards programme rewards entry level members with:
- 10 points for every €/$ spent on your hotel room and during your stay at the hotel
- 2,000 welcome points for new members*
- A birthday gift
It literally takes a minute to sign up and the 2,000 points show up instantly on your account.
As you progress through the tiers, your earnings will increase as follows:
- Silver 11 points for every 1 US $ / € spent
- Gold 13 points for every 1 US $ / € spent
- Platinum 14 points for every 1 US $ / € spent
Melia rewards redemptions
This is the current reward chart from Melia, so with my 2,000 free points, I will need to book nine nights spending an average of £100 per stay to earn a free night. Definitely not as exciting as the SPG Credit card offer but if you plan to continue your Spanish love affair, it shouldn’t be too long before you reap the benefits.
| Brand | MeliáRewards points |
| Sol 3* | from 11,000 |
| Sol 4* | from 14,000 |
| All Inclusive Sol Hotels | from 25,000 |
| TRYP by Wyndham 3* | from 11,000 |
| TRYP by Wyndham 4* | from 17,000 |
| Innside by Meliá | from 17,000 |
| Meliá Hotels & Resorts 4* | from 17,000 |
| Meliá Hotels & Resorts 5* | from 22,000 |
| ME by Meliá | from 28,000 |
| Gran Meliá Hotels & Resorts | from 28,000 |
| ME All Inclusive | from 42,000 |
| Paradisus Resorts | from 42,000 |
AVIOS With Melia
Alternatively, you can convert all your reward points with the Melia hotel group into AVIOS. If you typically collect them with British Airways, you will first need to transfer the points to Iberia PLus and then combine your Iberia Plus points with your British Airways account. They are currently offering a generous treble Avios promotion for reservations made by the 30th January and taken by the 15th March 2018.
Normally you will earn 3 Avios per € spend but with this offer you can earn 9!
Double bubble earnings
Furthermore, if you first log into your AVIOS store account and search for Melia hotels, you can earn an additional 7 AVIOS per £1 of spend.
What might you earn?
So imagine you book into The Tryp Lisboa Caparica Mar in October 2014 because you are foolish enough to combine a holiday with running the Rock N Roll Half marathon (yes, that would be me). It currently costs £147.32 per night so for a two night stay, I will earn circa 3,000 points. After all, I am going to have a cocktail or two in the bar!
If I also click through from the AVIOS store, I will earn a further 2,062 AVIOS giving me a total of 5,062 AVIOS. Pretty neat hey?
What do you think of Melia hotels?
I’d love to hear from any of you who have stayed at a Melia property. What did you think and what are your thoughts on this deal?
Thanks for the mileage earning tips….that multiplier by going through the AVIOS store sounds pretty huge. Never heard of Melia hotels, but from the sound of it, they are must for our upcoming trip to Spain!
Melia hotels look so enticing! We usually travel on the budget-friendly side of things, but do sometimes splurge a for a nice few nights once or twice a year. Will have to keep this in my back pocket for the next time we’re out that way. Thanks for sharing!
This is a great tip! We’re heading to Spain in March and we love making the most of every bit of money we spend. Melia hotels sound like a great option! I’m always looking for new hacks. I love that you get so many points just for signing up!
I have never stayed in any of Melia hotels and I’ve never been to Spain but this looks like a great reward points system. I occasionally splurge on hotels and I’m a member of few brands so will definitely consider them when I make it in Spain this year. Thanks for the great tip!
I think the Melia is a little out of my price range but good to know that they do a rewards scheme like this. 10 points for every $ spent is actually quite a decent return too, I’m sure a lot of $ are spent in the hotel bar 😀
Yes that’s definitely one way to earn more points lol!
I’ve never stayed in a Melia hotel before, but i remember seeing the one in Bilbao, and it looked very fancy. I think they may be out of my price range, but if I was to splurge on a holiday, I would consider staying in one due to the rewards scheme!
Maybe in the future Tom. The rewards schemes definitely help
So that’s neat! Will remember Melia Hotel when we finally get to Madrid and Barcelona next year!
Spain is so close to Britain, it’s no wonder it’s so popular! I love earning hotel and airline miles when I travel, and enjoy the perks even more. Saving money is always a track hack I try to employ for our trip planning, and those Melia hotel choices look very tempting!
Yes I have a friend that raves about them. Good to see they are getting more properties in the Uk too
We loved our stay at the Melia hotel in Madrid. It was right in the centre of everything. Easy to walk to local cafes and to just people watch.
That’s awesome. They have some great properties