Over the past two years, we’ve covered very good deals for cash vouchers, offered for hotels throughout Thailand by a company called Megatix and this week I got a reader question if these are still worthwhile purchasing.
These vouchers (at the peak of the pandemic and the absolute dead-end for Thai tourism) came with up to 70% bonus which made them almost irresistible to buy and use as long as you were still in the country.
A reader was asking now if these offers are still around and if so, are they still worthwhile pursuing as the Thai tourism sector is slowly recovering and prices are going up in the process.
To remind you, these were the campaigns the company (Megatix) was running for a range of hotels with Marriott being the most prominent chain throughout these sales:
First it started in 2020:
Then more sales in 2021:
Marriott Megatix 50% – 70% Bonus Voucher Extension Through December 15, 2021
I went to have a look around on their website and I also receive emails from Megatix quite regularly when new sales are coming up. The good news are, YES the company is still around. The bad news: Deals aren’t as great anymore as they used to be which was to be expected.
For example, the Marriott hotels on Megatix now offer a maximum of 10-20% bonus depending on which hotel you select:
For the Vana Belle Samui (and many others) they didn’t even bother to make a new graphic as it still shows 50% bonus. The maximum now is 20%.
Same at the Marriott Marquis:
Remember, this bonus used to be 70% meaning you buy a 10,000 THB voucher and get 17,000 THB in value. Of course, that was during times when no foreign tourist was able to enter Thailand, at least not without a two-week hotel quarantine. The country is open again so there is no need anymore to offer rock bottom prices for hotels and huge bonuses on vouchers.
A further problem is that in order to use the vouchers you most often have to book a flexible rate which is always more expensive than a corporate, saver, package, or prepaid rate. This eats up the mediocre 20% bonus right from the start so definitely not recommended unless you find a property that allows to use them at their lower rates.
So Marriott is essentially dead for these vouchers even though they’re still being offered. Marriott did offer their own cash and stay vouchers during a couple of Bangkok-based travel shows at big shopping malls as recently as April so I’ll have an eye out for those when I’m returning to Thailand next week.
As far as Megatix is concerned they still have many promotions such as the current Digital Sale but you have to sift through all the offers and many aren’t stay related anymore.
Instead, the deals are for spa, dining, and other activities at the respective properties. Nice stuff but I don’t like to lock myself in with a voucher for those as I do those more spontaneously.
Conclusion
With the reopening of Thailand and the improvement of tourism arrivals in the Kingdom the rock bottom sale prices for hotels have almost come to an end. There are still some very good deals around if you look thoroughly but the days of the 50-70% bonus vouchers on Megatix are over – at least until the next crisis.
I’ve used several hundred thousand Baht worth of these vouchers in the past two years and the Megatix articles were quite popular with the readers. Of course, I was all too aware that this gravy train would come to an end as soon as Thailand opened up again. Such low prices only covered a hotel’s basic operations if at all and that’s not a basis on which you can do continuous business.
