With stocks, you can not only earn (or lose) from price increases and dividends, but you can also get nice discounts or benefits from some companies. Especially in the travel sector, there are some large companies with shareholder benefits. An overview:
If you are still looking for a broker to buy the shares cheaply, take a look at Trade Republic or Scalable Capital. With both brokers, you can easily buy shares for only a €1 order fee via the app.
At Trade Republic, we checked whether the stocks we listed can be bought there. Depending on the broker, this may not be possible everywhere.
Table of Contents
- Accor Hotels: Gold Status with One Share
- NH Hotels: Silver Status with Only One Share
- Meliá Hotels: Silver Status with One Share After One Year
- Sixt: Up to 20% Discount with One Share
- Premier Inn: Complimentary Breakfast with 64 Shares
- Carnival: Up to €200 Onboard Credit on Cruises (including AIDA) with 100 Shares
- Norwegian Cruise Line: Up to $250 Onboard Credit on Cruises with 100 Shares
- Royal Caribbean: Up to $250 Onboard Credit on Cruises with 100 Shares
- Conclusion
Accor Hotels: Gold Status with One Share
With just one registered share, you can become a member of the Shareholders Club of the Accor hotel chain (WKN: 860206 | ISIN: FR0000120404) and receive the Accor Live Limitless Gold status completely free of charge for one year.
We have described in detail how this works:
NH Hotels: Silver Status with Only One Share
Shareholders at NH Hotels (WKN: 853615 | ISIN: ES0161560018) also receive the NH Rewards Silver Status with just one share. From a share package of €2,000 you’d get the gold status and from €3,000 even platinum status. And that for as long as you hold the shares!
Meliá Hotels: Silver Status with One Share After One Year
At Meliá Rewards, as a shareholder in Meliá Hotels (WKN: 901347 | ISIN: ES0176252718), you can obtain the silver status via the Shareholders Club if you have held the shares for at least a year. From 1,000 shares you’d get gold and from 10,000 even platinum status.
To do this, you must register with the Shareholders Club using your Meliá Rewards number. At least, with the Silver status, you can already get free breakfast for an accompanying person (you have to pay for your own breakfast).
The additional benefits of a Gold status are limited to late check-out (subject to availability) and three vouchers with a 20% discount. It gets interesting again for Platinum status holders, with a guaranteed upgrade to a Superior room, if available at check-in, and access to the VIP area in some hotels.
Sixt: Up to 20% Discount with One Share
Sixt (preferred shares are cheaper – WKN: 723133 | ISIN: DE0007231334) offers its shareholders its own shareholder fare, which can be stored in your Sixt profile. Officially, you get a discount of up to 20%, but often it’s more like 10-15%. Unfortunately, the Sixt share is not exactly cheap at around €75.
To do this, simply create a profile with Sixt, buy shares and send the receipt with a request to activate the shareholder fare to sixtcard@sixt.com. The fare is then stored for selection in your Sixt profile.
Incidentally, Sixt offers many discounts. You get even more discount with a Sixt Gold or Platinum Card. It’s practical that Sixt offers a status match for numerous programs.
Premier Inn: Complimentary Breakfast with 64 Shares
Whitbread (WKN: A0LGB1 | ISIN: GB00B1KJJ408) is the company behind the Premier Inn hotel chain, the largest hotel chain in the UK. As a shareholder, you will receive the shareholder card when you hold at least 64 shares and thus free breakfast in participating hotels in Great Britain and Ireland.
All you have to do is show your shareholder card at check-in and receive free breakfast for up to two rooms, each with two adults and two children (under 15). The offer is currently only valid until May 31, 2022. However, it has already been extended by a year in the past.
Carnival: Up to €200 Onboard Credit on Cruises (including AIDA) with 100 Shares
The largest cruise company in the world, Carnival Corporation (WKN: 120100 | ISIN: PA1436583006), with brands such as AIDA, Costa, Cunard, …, offers shareholders with at least 100 shares €40 – €200 onboard credit on cruises. The credit depends on the brand (mainly relevant for the currency) and length of the cruise.
For the European brands (AIDA, Costa…) you’d get the following onboard credit:
- 6 days or less: €40
- 7 to 13 days: €75
- 14+ days: €200
The application for the on-board credit must be made at least four weeks before departure via the travel agency or to the respective brand.
Norwegian Cruise Line: Up to $250 Onboard Credit on Cruises with 100 Shares
Norwegian Cruise Line (WKN: A1KBL8 | ISIN: BMG667211046) also offers onboard credit on cruises if you hold at least 100 shares, depending on the duration:
- 6 days or less: US$50 (~€47)
- 7 to 14 days: US$100 (~€93)
- 15+ days: US$250 (~€233)
The credit must be requested from the respective brand at least 15 days before departure. You can also find the linked PDFs on www.nclhtd.com at the very end of the website under Shareholder Benefit.
Royal Caribbean: Up to $250 Onboard Credit on Cruises with 100 Shares
Royal Caribbean (WKN: 886286 | ISIN: LR0008862868) is also offering up to US$250 (~€233) onboard credit on cruises if you own at least 100 shares. Unfortunately, the stocks aren’t exactly cheap.
- 5 nights or less: US$50 (~€47)
- 6 to 13 nights: US$100 (~€93)
- 14+ nights: US$250 (~€233)
The application must be submitted via this online form at least 2-3 weeks before departure.
Further Programs
- SAS: The SAS Shareholder Program offers Friends & Family discounts from 4,000 shares, EuroBonus Gold Status from 100,000 and even Diamond Status from 1,000,000. However, only with residence in Denmark, Norway or Sweden.
- IHG: The hotel chain offers an IHG shareholder discount. No further details unfortunately, but according to this Flyertalk post it’s 15% off the best available flexible rate. However, the rate can no longer be cancelled – all in all not very attractive.
- Corinthia Hotels: If you hold at least 1,000 shares in International Hotel Investments P.L.C., you can receive the Shareholder Privilege Card and, for example, receive a free upgrade to a room with Executive Club access in hotels in Malta (e.g. Radisson Blu Hotel).
Conclusion
It can pay off to buy shares just for shareholder benefits. However, you should always consider whether you are using the advantages sufficiently. Especially if you buy e.g. 100 shares, the risk of losses is significantly higher than with just one share. Do you know of any other benefits for stock owners? Please leave a comment.
Cover Picture: © Thomaspajot (Deposit Photos)
Comment (1)
CARNIVAL Shares are trading, at the moment, at about $9. Our 16-nt. HAL Zuiderdam Transatlantic cruise in April should bring us $250 in OBC (Onboard Credit), unless they change the Shareholder Benefit before then. Don’t buy the shares and expect the stock to increase in the near future because Carnival is, in spite of high bookings, not in great
financial shape due to the length of the pandemic. But, if you cruise often with any of their member cruiselines (including Princess, HAL, as well as the other ones mentioned in the article), it might be worth it to buy 100 shares.