Quote:
Originally Posted by Intltuk
I won't use the word stingy.....more like Best value
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Thank you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Intltuk
Gotcha
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Glad you understood.
Meantime,i also looking at some smaller scale booking joints that has SYTs but dont charge that high,hehehe...will share more when there are more concrete information on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by InNeedOfSex
Formosa Hotel is having some membership promotion at IDR400k and u get back IDR450K worth of vouchers which can be used to offset hotel rates, cafe etc. According to them, u will need to book directly from them and it cost IDR550K for weekdays and IDR600K for weekends. They do provide shuttle service at 50k for 2way to Batam Centre or Harbour Bay. Seems to me quite worth it.
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I saw this membership thing around 2 to 3 trips ago,hehehe....if i dont remember wrong,after 15 booking with them in a year,you also get one night free stay in Formosa too. Being a stingy man,please allow me do the maths sums up...
You pay 400k you get 450k voucher,and becomes a member of Formosa Hotel where you can book their room from them at 550k weekdays and 600k weekends. Lets just use your 9750/SGD as a bench mark on the average exchange rate.
Lets say,i book from booking.com today becos i am going to Batam 2morow (weekdays),my price will be :
Agoda.com is at about S$52.50 inclusive +10%,+11% tax
S$54 as you can see from the above pic (it used to be S$53 last week weekdays). Which will be converted as 526500 rupiah base on 9750/SGD.
We can also look at Kaha Travel which is priced at 500k rupiah for weekdays and 525k for weekends for the same room.
So i compare the membership privileges over booking.com 1st,yes...you profit 23500 rupiah,but remember,that is only for the 1st time due to your 450k voucher which you pay 400k for and as your future booking ,you will lost -23500 rupiah.Imagine it is for 15 trips to retain your membership per year to be upgraded to the next tier of higher membership,the Silver membership or retain at least 5 stay per year to prevent the membership from expiring. You win on 1st stay,but lost on the rest of your other stays.You lost even more if its a Friday stay.
Now we compare with Kaha Travel prices. You break even on your 1st stay using your 450k voucher,and subsequently lost 50k thereafter. And then multiply them by 15,hehehe...guess i dont need to say more. Weekends will be much worse off.
Wait,they also give me 20% discount on the Alishan KTV bill....hehehe...and the room service order too. I hope you read the in-room menu tho,there is already a 20% on their food menu whether you are a member or not,same applies for Alishan KTV. In Alishan KTV,tell the Mami that you stayed in Formosa,you auto receive 20% off,hehehe...so this makes no difference.
Now for the transportation,you sure its 50k for 2 way? or was it 1 way? Lets just take it as 2 way for now,but i can get 30k per point to point trip,so i need to admit i will lost 10k. i booked from Kaha Travel all the time,minus out this 10k lost,i still win 40k/night on weekdays and 65k/night on weekends. And if i get from booking.com minus out 10k,i still win by 13500/night stay.
I count here and count there,i still feel that the membership is a gimmicks to lure unsuspecting patrons or 1st time Formosa visitors. Hehehe...i still cannot forget my friends who are regulars to Formosa is getting S$50-S$55 for Family room (the one with 1 Queen size bed + 1 super single bed). They call direct to the receptionist to reserve room tho (which i need to add in 20k to 30k on their IDD phone bill).
Now to conclude,this membership thingy isnt exactly a complete bad. The one good i can see is only if a person is a 1st timer staying in Formosa Hotel. Remember what i wrote above? Newbies or 1st timer will usually book from online but if you sign up for their membership at 400k,you get 450k voucher and comparing with online booking,1st timer saved 23500 rupiah,plus got transportation at 50k to and fro from Harbour Bay to Formosa Hotel. It is safe,it is cheaper than online,but only for the 1st timer when they 1st signed up. For those who frequent Batam,it would be a no no,hehehe...unless the Hotel can promise fix room rate that wont change forever,and if they do,and when the exchange rate is 10k/SGD...then i will take their membership,hehehe...
Quote:
Originally Posted by InNeedOfSex
Weather there for the past 3 days are wet. Keep raining mostly in the afternoon. Oh and one more thing to mention: can't connect to sbf over there. Seems like indo had ban it?  |
Oh...raining!Thats no good,thank you for sharing this info on the weather,as i am heading there soon,this is very important to me. Indonesia network banned SBF? I will find out 2morow and update here to confirm,hehehe...
Thank you for sharing.