Tag Archives: priority club

InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa

Fiji Trip Report Index
Introduction: Belgium to Fiji in 13 flights (26561 miles, 42746km)
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur
Grand Suite at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
Singapore Airlines First Class: The Private Room @ Changi Airport
Singapore Airlines First Class: SQ211 Singapore to Sydney B777-300A
Opera King room at Park Hyatt Sydney
Beachfront View room at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa
Singapore Airlines Business Class: SQ232 Sydney to Singapore
Thai Airways First Class: Royal Orchid Spa, TG920 Bangkok to Frankfurt A380

Pic: Club Infinity Pool at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa (Jan 2013)
The InterContinental Fiji Resort Map includes Restaurants & Bars and practical Fiji travel advice.  The InterContinental Fiji Concierge Guide includes info on how to get around, where to eat, drink, shop and what to discover more at Fiji.

Pic: Beachfront room 1114 at InterContinental Fiji Natadola Bay (Jan 2013)
Instead of paying FJD920 (€394, $514) per night for a Garden View room, I used the Priority Club Points + Cash trick to book my 4 night stay at InterContinental Fiji.  At 30K points per night, this resulted in $210 (€161) room rate.  Upon arrival at 11am I was told my Garden View room wasn’t ready yet, despite my Royal Ambassador status which guarantees 8am check-in, and no room upgrade would be given as I was staying on points.  When inquiring about my other Royal Ambassador benefits, the front desk agent responded he wasn’t sure and had to check.  As my Garden View room would only be ready by 2pm, I was suggested to wait at the Kama Lounge.  The bartender provided me with the cocktail menu and offered me a complementary drink to ease the wait.  After 15 minutes, the bartender still hadn’t returned to take my order so I asked him what was going on.  He told me his supervisor had informed him the complimentary drinks policy had changed and I would actually have to pay for my drink.  My stay at IC Fiji was off to a bad start… room wouldn’t be upgraded, front desk didn’t know if RA benefits applied or not (previous IC Fiji trip reports suggested they did including room upgrades) and a complimentary drink had to be paid for.  In this kind of situations I turn to Twitter to express my malcontent, which in many cases results in a satisfying solution.  I tweeted @IHGCare and @InterConFiji  and expressed my frustration.  Soon after, I was informed my Beachfront View room was ready, courtesy of the InterContinental Fiji marketing department.  For the Royal Ambassador benefits, local management confirmed they didn’t apply on point stays as per IHG Ambassador T&C.

Pic: Bedroom of Beachfront room 1114 at InterContinental Fiji (Jan 2013)

Pic: InterContinental Fiji – Beachfront room 1114 Terrace with Cleopatra Bath

Pure Fiji Bathroom Amenities at InterContinental Fiji Natadola Bay (Jan 2013)

Pic: InterContinental Fiji Resort & Spa – Beachfront View Rooms 11xx

Pic: InterContinental Fiji Resort & Spa – Natadola Bay Beach (Jan 2013)

Pic: Breakfast at Sanasana Restaurant, InterContinental Fiji (Jan 2013)

Pic: InterContinental Fiji Resort – Main Infinity Adults Only Pool (Jan 2013)

Pic: Dedon Nestrest at Club InterContinental Fiji Inifinity Pool (Jan 2013)

Pic: Wedding Chapel at InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa (Jan 2013)

Pic: InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa – Indigenous band (Jan 2013)

Pic: Entrance InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa at night (Jan 2013)

Pic: Nighttime at Club InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa  (Jan 2013)

Pic: Sunset at Infinity Pool Club InterContinental Fiji (Jan 2013)

InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa

French Polynesia Trip Report Index
Tahiti and Bora Bora – Flights & Airfares
Hilton Frankfurt Airport
Lufthansa Senator Lounge Frankfurt Airport (Terminal 1, Departure Area B)
InterContinental Resort Tahiti
InterContinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa
The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort (site inspection)
InterContinental Resort and Spa Moorea

Pic: Golf Cart at Entrance InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa (Sep 2012)

Pic: Main Swimming Pool at InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa (Sep 2012)
There are 4 InterContinental properties in French Polynesia: Tahiti, Moorea, Le Moana Bora Bora and Thalasso Bora Bora.  All are managed by the same owner.  Detailed information on each of these resorts is available in PDF format:  Resort Specifications, Rooms, Bungalows and Villas + Transfers

Pic: Lagoon at InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa (Sep 2012)
After my 5 night stay at the amazing InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa, I returned to Papeete with Air Tahiti.  The crossing to Moorea took half an hour with the Aremiti 5 ferry.  The fare was XPF3000 (€25) round trip.
The Papeete Port building is brand new (opened March 2012) and has ticket offices which open +-1,5 hour before departure.  No need to buy tickets in advance, only car space is limited and might require upfront reservation.
You can leave your luggage (lock it!) in a metal container which is put on the ferry using a forklift.  My private shuttle from Moorea Vaiare Pier booked via IC Bora Bora was XPF4500 (€37), on return I used a shared shuttle service which was only XPF1000 (€8).

Pic: Standard Overwater Bungalow at InterContinental Moorea (Sep 2012)
The InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa has 144 deluxe rooms and junior suite bungalows:
• 48 Lanai rooms
• 1 Lanai suite
• 17 Standard Beach Bungalows
• 17 Garden Pool Bungalows with a private swimming pool
• 11 Premium Beach Bungalows wide open ocean view
• 21 Standard Overwater Bungalows
• 29 Premium Overwater Bungalows with wide open ocean view
All bungalows have the same layout and interior.  Garden bungalows feature plunge pools, beach bungalows have direct access to the beach and overwater bungalows direct access to the lagoon.

Pic: Bungalow types – InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa Map
Instead of spending XPF109,734 ($1214) to book a Lanai room for 3 nights, I used 90K Priority Club points (value $540).  As Royal Ambassador, I was upgraded to Standard Beach Bungalow 412.  RA benefits were honored on my points stay including free internet and complimentary minibar.

Pic: Living Room of Bungalow 412 at InterContinental Moorea (Sep 2012)
Pic: Bedroom of Bungalow 412 at InterContinental Moorea (Sep 2012)

Pic: Welcome amenity InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa (Sep 2012)
Pic: Royal Ambassador complimentary mini-bar IC Moorea (Sep 2012)
Pic: Hammock at InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa (Sep 2012)
Pic: Flowers at InterContinental Moorea Resort and Spa (Sep 2012)
Breakfast was served at the “Fare Nui” restaurant.  As usual in French Polynesia, it was rather expensive: Continental breakfast XPF3035 (€25) and American breakfast XPF3701 (€30) Fare Nui also served dinner.  Other options were all day dining “Fare Hana” and the new swim up bar Motu One.

Pic: Rainbow at Overwater Bungalow InterContinental Moorea (Sep 2012)
As I didn’t have a car or motorcycle to navigate around the island, I booked a 4X4 WD Inner Island Roto Nui Tour (XPF5500) via the InterContinental Moorea Concierge.  I found Moorea to be a nice island, but in my opinion Bora Bora is way more superior.  If you’re traveling to French Polynesia and only have time to visit one island, Bora Bora should be your choice!
Pic: Belvedere lookout ATV tour at Moorea, French Polynesia (Sep 2012)
Pic: View from Magic Mountain Moorea, French Polynesia (Sep 2012)

Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill


Pic: King Bed Superior room 506 at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Last weekend, I attended the Opening of the London 2012 Olympics.  Apart from my amazing experiences at the Olympic venues, I also had a fabulous hotel stay.  Back in August last year, I wrote about the luxury hotels I had booked using PriorityClub points.  A few weeks ago, I changed my mind about the length of my London 2012 stay and shortened it from 9 to 3 nights.  If I would have booked my hotels in Aug 2011 on the best available prepaid rates (which were as high as £450 per night), it would have been impossible to shorten my stay without a penalty.  This is a huge advantage of booking with points: You can cancel your reservations up to the day of arrival (before 6:00 PM local hotel time) without penalty.  Note: Make sure to check the cancellation policy for each points booking you make.  Some properties impose a more strict policy (e.g. the IHG French Polynesia resorts require to cancel a few days in advance to avoid a penalty).  But in general, you can cancel point bookings and have the points returned in your account instantly without any penalty!  Also make sure to have separate reservations for each night you book with PriorityClub points, even if it’s a seven night stay at the same hotel.  This will allow you to cancel certain dates of your stay without cancelling the entire booking.  It might be impossible to make a new reservation using points at the time you want to make changes.  IHG hotels are required to release at least 5% of their room inventory for PriorityClub bookings, but once those are gone, it might be impossible to book on points. Also, canceling a room reservation booked on points doesn’t necessarily mean it’s being added back to the inventory of rooms  bookable on points.

Pic: Work Desk Superior room 506 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Finding my way from the Eurostar St. Pancras International station to the hotel was easy, as Aldgate tube station (Circle line) is on walking distance from the hotel (note: Aldgate East station also is nearby).  To my surprise, enthusiastic front desk staff member Tamara spoke fluent Flemish, my first language.  She had been living in Antwerp (Belgium) for 10 years where learned both Dutch and French.  As PriorityClub Platinum member, I was offered a complimentary dessert or glass of wine at the hotels restaurant ‘Square Mile Kitchen & Lounge’.  Internet access was complimentary for all guests, and so was the minibar!

Pic: Nespresso Essenza at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)

Pic: Shower Bathroom Superior room 506 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill

Pic: Bathroom Superior room 506 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)

Pic: Aveda Bathroom Amenities Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)

Pic: Olympic Welcome Gift Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
On my first two nights, I didn’t receive an upgrade and was assigned Superior room 506.  It was one of the smallest rooms on the 5th floor (plan), still spacious enough to move around comfortably and it was a corner room.  As I felt ‘home’ at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill, I decided to cancel my reservation at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street (booked on Club Carlson points) and to stay a third night at Hotel Indigo Tower Hill.  For my first two nights, I had burned 25K points per night as they were booked back in Aug 2011.  Unfortunately PriorityClub devaluated their points in Jan 2012 by increasing the number of points required for a free night at many of it’s prime properties, including Hotel Indigo Tower Hill (now 35K).  At least those extra 10K points were rewarded with an upgrade to a King Executive room (406) on the 4th floor (plan).  The Executive room was much more spacious than Superior room 506, still it had exactly the same size on the floor plan (4 vs 5).  The bathroom at the Executive room also had nicer walk-in shower and the TV was placed on a drawer instead of being mounted on the wall.

Pic: Bed King Executive room 406 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)

Pic: Bed and Work Desk King Executive room Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill

Pic: Overview King Executive room Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)
Conclusion: I had a fantastic stay at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill during the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Weekend thanks to the well appointed cosy rooms and the outstanding staff.  Even at 35,000 Priority Club points, I can highly recommend it!

Pic: TV and Work Desk King Executive room Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill

Pic: Bathroom King Executive room 406 Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill
Video: King Executive room 406 at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill (Jul 2012)

Loyalty Programs: Account Statuses (July 2012)

Back in May 2011, I published an insight in my loyalty program statuses including the number of points and miles earned.  More than a year has passed since then, so it’s time for an update:

HOTEL LOYALTY PROGRAMS

1) PRIORITY CLUB

  • Membership Level: Platinum Royal Ambassador
  • Expiration date: Jan 2014 (Platinum) Feb 2013 (Royal Ambassador)
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 11
  • Number of points: 117,574
  • Points earned in 2012: 77,545

How did I earn these points?
Obviously by resting my head for 11 nights on qualifying rates at IHG properties in the first 6 months of 2012, but more importantly, by signing up for every possible Priority Club Promotion (check FrequentFlyerBonuses.com and FlyerTalk.com for more details)  I also made some changes to my London 2012 Olympic Games reservations.  I cancelled my 7 nights at Hotel Indigo London Paddington reimbursing me 175K points.  I retained my two night booking at Hotel Indigo London Tower Hill for the opening weekend and added one extra night at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street using Club Carlson points.  This shortened my London 2012 Olympics trip to 3 nights instead of 9, but allowed me to use some of the points to book my upcoming French Polynesia trip.
Where did I spent points?
Past stays:
30K points for two nights at City Ocean View room at Holiday Inn Pattaya
25K points for one night at King Suite at Crowne Plaza Changi Singapore
5K points for one night at Crowne Plaza Venice East-Quarto d’Altino
Upcoming stays:
60K points for two nights at InterContintal Resort Tahiti
150K points for five nights at InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa
90K points for three nights at InterContinental Moorea Resort & Spa
Video: Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa

2) HYATT GOLD PASSPORT

  • Membership Level: Diamond
  • Expiration date: Feb 2013
  • Suite Upgrade Award vouchers left: 4
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 0
  • Number of points: 40,820
  • Points earned in 2012: 452

How did I earn these points?
I only stayed once at Hyatt this year and it was on points.  During award stays you only earn points on food & beverage charges, in my case 452 points.
Where did I spent points?
30K points for two nights at Club View King room at Grand Hyatt Seoul

3) HILTON HHONORS

  • Membership Level: Gold
  • Expiration date: Mar 2013
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 6
  • Number of points: 3,066
  • Points earned in 2012: 9,236

How did I earn these points?
Stays at Hilton Millennium Bangkok and Hilton London Tower Bridge.  Interesting detail:  I didn’t stay a single night at Hilton properties in 2011, still I managed to achieve Hilton HHonors Gold status for free.  I posted this opportunity several times on my twitter feed, make sure you don’t miss it next time, follow me on twitter! 
Where did I spent points?
170K points for four nights at Ocean View Pool Villa at Conrad Koh Samui
Note: 153,435K points were bought for this stay, read the blog post for all details.

4) STARWOOD PREFERRED GUEST (SPG)

  • Membership Level: Preferred Guest
  • Expiration date: N/A
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 4
  • Number of points: 2,524
  • Points earned in 2012: 4,040

How did I earn these points?
Stays at Honeymoon Suite at Sheraton Seoul D Cube City and Caroline Astor Suite at St. Regis Bangkok
Where did I spent points?
3K points for one night at Four Points by Sheraton Barcelona Diagonal

5) Club CArlson

  • Membership Level: Silver
  • Expiration date: Feb 2013
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 3
  • Number of points: 64,214*
  • Points earned in 2012: 108,722*

How did I earn these points?
Stays at Radisson Suites Bangkok Sukhumvit, Park Plaza Soi 18 Sukhumvit Bangkok and Park Inn Leuven.  Check my Club Carlson post for more details.
* Points from my Park Inn Leuven still need to post (including 44K bonus)
Where did I spent points?
50K points for one night at Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel (Opening weekend London 2012 Olympics)

6) LE CLUB ACCOR

  • Membership Level: Platinum
  • Expiration date: Oct 2012
  • Qualifying nights in 2012: 1
  • Number of points: 1,676
  • Points earned in 2012: 452

How did I earn these points?
One night stay at Novotel Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Interesting detail:  I acquired free Le Club Accor Platinum status using a simple sign-up link.  I posted this opportunity several times on my twitter feed, make sure you don’t miss it next time, follow me on twitter! 
Where did I spent points?
No Le Club Accor points spent in 2012.  Le Club points have a very low value, you need a minimum of 4K points to convert them to 2000 airline miles or 2K points for a €40 discount voucher (which can only be used to lower roomrates, not on F&B)  In general, this loyalty program is really weak,  with platinum benefits rarely honored.  The only really positive experience I had as A Club Gold member was at Sofitel Paris La Defense back in 2010.

AIRLINE LOYALTY PROGRAMS

1) MILES AND MORE (LUfthansa)

  • Membership Level: Senator – Star Alliance Gold
  • Expiration date: 02/14
  • Number of Award miles: 346,564
  • Number of Status miles earned in 2012: 59,093
  • Number of eVouchers: 2

How did I earn these miles?
I earned more than 280,000 miles in the past year.
150K miles were ‘butt-in-seat’ miles (by taking flights)
32K bonus miles for business flight to Rio de Janeiro
75K miles were earned using the Brussels Airlines American Express cards.
23K miles were earned from various sources like hotel stays, shopping, etc…
On what did I spent miles?

70K miles to upgrade GIG-FRA from Business Class to new Lufthansa First Class

2) MILEAGEPLUS (UNITED)

  • Membership Level: MileagePlus member
  • Expiration date: N/A
  • Number of Award miles: 521
  • Number of Status miles earned in 2012: 0
  • Number of Award miles earned in 2012: 61,200

How did I earn these miles?
I bought 98,000 Wyndham Rewards points for $308 (€237,85) during the yearly U.S. Travel Association “Daily Getaways” campaign and converted them to 39,200 United Mileage Plus miles.  I also bought 20,000 Mileage Plus miles for $451 (€347,86) via a facebook 40% discount sale.
Finally, during an award reservation, I was 1479 miles short, so I had to buy a set of 2000 Mileage Plus miles for $70 (€58,47).
Conclusion, in total I bought 61,200 United Mileage Plus miles for €644,18
On what did I spent miles?
70K miles on an itinerary including Singapore Airlines First Class & Business Class + Air New Zealand Business and Economy Class.  More details to follow! :)

London 2012 Olympic Games – My Free* Hotel Room


Pic: Bart at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (Aug 2008)
My interest for next year’s Olympic Games was low.  Earlier this year, I didn’t managed to grab any London 2012 tickets in the disastrous Belgian London 2012 ticket sale nor did I have any luck with the international London 2012 ticket lottery.  End of June, Eurostar announced they were selling 2012 return tickets Brussels – London at 99 euro each to celebrate the start of the London 2012 train ticket sale.  Why not visit the City for the Opening Weekend of the Games to enjoy the atmosphere, I thought.  I booked the ticket and challenged myself to find a reasonable priced hotel room for July 27 – July 29, 2012.  “Impossible” is what most people said.  If I failed, I could still CouchSurf or bail for 99 euro.

Today, just two months after I booked my train ticket, I can report success.  I booked a room for the London 2012 Opening Weekend!  And for the first week of the Games too!  Eight nights at luxurious hotels in London City Centre… Best Of All, It’s FREE!*
Pic: Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bird’s Nest (Aug 2008)
The InterContinental Hotel Group (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, …) loads it’s hotel inventory 50 weeks in advance.  This happens every Sunday morning at 7AM (CET)  Rooms are released per week, from Sunday until Saturday.  Two weeks ago, IHG did something unexpected.  They released reward rooms for the Opening Night of the London 2012 Olympic Games.  And on Sunday August 14th, they loaded rooms for the whole first week of the London 2012 Games.  Finally, this weekend (Aug 21)  the second week of the Olympics was loaded.  I didn’t really expected this.  PriorityClub had always been very generous with reward rooms, but during the Olympics?  The 5* InterContinental hotels in London were not available, but the 4* Indigo boutique hotels , some 4* Crowne Plaza’s and most Holidays Inn’s in the heart of London were available for both paid and reward bookings.  The “best available” rates were highly inflated, somewhere between £400 to £800 per night.  With 180.000 points in my PriorityClub account, I booked 7 nights (July 27-Aug3) at the Indigo brand at 25000 points per night.  Two nights at Indigo London – Tower Hill and 5 nights at Indigo London – Paddington  Those 7 nights would have cost me around 5000 euro booked on the best available rate.

On Aug 21st, I had again 16000 points in my account thanks to my stay at InterContinental Bangkok and Holiday Inn Pataya earlier that week.  Unfortunately no rooms were available anymore for Aug 3-4, so I booked an 8th night (15.000 points + $60) for Aug 4-5 at Holiday Inn Express London – Swiss Cottage.  So that leaves me with one night open on Aug 3-4, 2012.  HI Swiss Cottage has availability, but only on paid rates with the cheapest being around 400 pounds for just one night!  I rather have a £400 party that night!  You’re all invited! ;-)

What’s in it for you?  If you don’t have a PriorityClub account yet, I suggest you create one now.  Sign-up for all available bonuses.  Stay a few times at IHG hotels.  Soon, you’ll find yourself in a free hotel room at a World Event!  :)

PS: Follow me on twitter to get instant updates on great travel deals.

* Booked with PriorityClub points.  70.000 points were bought (out of 200.000 points required for this booking)  60.000 via the Discover America promo (253 euro) 10.000 via the points + cash option ($60 = 42 euro).  Total cash: 295 euro.

Update 1 (24/08/11)
Last night I checked the Reward Night availability again for Aug 3, 2012 in London.  I noticed Holiday Inn Express London – Swiss Cottage  showed available nights at 25K points.  As I had only 2500 points left in my account, I had no other option than to buy (expensive) points via the PriorityClub website.  I bought 13K points for 162.50 USD and then selected the Points + Cash (60 USD) option to book the HI Express Swiss Cottage.  In total I paid 222.50 USD (155 euro) for my Olympic night on Aug 3, 2012.  Total cash: 450 euro.
Update 2 (18/09/11)
This morning, Hotel Indigo London Paddington loaded award night availability for almost every day of the London 2012 Olympics.  Consequently, I canceled my Holiday Inn Express London – Swiss Cottage booking for the second weekend of the Games.  Canceling the 2 nights at HI Express resulted in a 50K points refund.  For my new booking at Indigo London Paddington I used points+cash (15K + $60 per night).  At the end of the transaction I spent $120 (90€) and recovered 20K points.  Thus, I paid $120 for 20K points which are now in my Priority Club account.  This keeps my total for 9 nights at the London 2012 Olympics on 450 euro.

InterContinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers


Pic: My InterContinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers Club Floor Room

Pic: My InterContinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers Club Floor Room
Pic: IC Sandton Towers – Complimentary Club Lounge Breakfast
On May 20, I had the pleasure to be one of the first passengers flying the brand new Lufthansa Airbus 380-800 ‘Wien’.  I left Brussels on Friday night and returned on Monday morning May 22, just in time for work. :)   As I spent two nights on the plane, I only had to book one Priority Club reward night in Johannesburg.  Originally I had booked the InterContinental O.R. Tambo Airport, but one of my Couchsurfing friends convinced me to rebook (Priority Club reward nights can be canceled without penalty) at the InterContinental Sandton Towers.  Glad I did, as I had an awesome weekend in sunny downtown Johannesburg.  On arrival at O.R. Tambo Airport, I took the Gautrain to Sandton.  The airport and train felt very safe, every wagon had its dedicated security guard.  The InterContinental Sandton Towers transfer service from Sandton Gautrain station to the hotel turned out to be a laughable 500m ride…at least I arrived in style.  Upon arrival I was directed to the 27th floor for the executive check-in desk.  Early check-in (10am) was not an issue and I received a nice upgrade to a Club Floor room with Club Lounge access.  A nice gift from the hotel, as they are not obliged to give upgrades or lounge access on reward stays.  I didn’t spend much time in the hotel, but enjoyed lovely complimentary breakfast, afternoon snacks and evening drinks in the Club Lounge. Above all, I had a good night of sleep in between two nights on the A380!
Details Priority Club Reward booking:
When: May 21, 2011
Redeemed points for Reward Night: 30,000 (value $180)
Lowest rate found for May 21, 2011: +- 275 euro