Le Meridien San Francisco, center and to left of pyramid TransAmerica building.

This hotel was formerly a Park Hyatt.

I was looking back at the Le Meridien Journey for free nights promotion running from December 1, 2007 through March 31, 2008. I drafted a piece December 13th and from this draft developed a piece for the December Hotels-and-Points report. The Le Meridien promotion is a 5-star promotional opportunity for free nights.

There have been some changes in the terms and conditions of the promotion since I wrote the December pieces. One major change is good — Le Meridien Cambridge in Boston, Massachusetts is listed as a participating property. I have tried to update the articles to reflect changes.

The main point for rehashing these pieces is I believe this is one of the best SPG promotions we will likely have this year. There are still 7 weeks to get your Le Meridien 7 stays to maximize the offer. There is a high value benefit relative to the cost of maximizing this offer.

Offer: (Free nights may be redeemed at most Le Meridien hotels through Mar 31, 2009.)

· Earn one free night after first 3 stays at Le Meridien hotels

· Earn one more night after 5 stays at Le Meridien hotels (2 free nights total)

· Earn two more nights after 7 stays at Le Meridien hotels (4 free nights total)

Dates: Le Meridien hotel stays through March 31, 2008, participating hotels only

Brands: Starwood Le Meridien Hotels—View list for participating properties as most hotels in the brand are eligible, but some properties are not participating.
Le Meriden participating hotels

Registration link: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/promotions/registration/landing_page.html?promoID=LEM

Starwood Category 6 Hotels cost 20,000 to 25,000 per free night using points. Opportunities to earn free nights at a Starwood Category 6 hotel do not come around often which makes the Le Meridien-brand promotion for up to 4 free nights after 7 Le Meridien stays an intriguing offer.

The frequent guest needs to get to San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Cancun, Toronto, or Montreal if you want to do the promotion in North America. These are the participating Le Meridien hotels for stays qualifying for the free nights.

Sample rates for North American hotels for this Saturday, February 16, 2008

Le Meridien Cambridge, Boston, Massachusetts $189

Le Meridien Cancun, Mexico $238

Le Meridien Sunny Isles Beach, Miami, Florida $319
(Rate for Feb 21; No Availability for Feb 16.)

Le Meridien Versailles, Montreal, Quebec, Canada $159 CAD

Le Meridien San Francisco $289

Le Meridien King Edward, Toronto, Ontario, Canada $179 CAD

View of North Beach and cruise ship arrival at dawn, May 2007

Le Meridien San Francisco 22nd floor

The following piece is an idea seed for people who have the time and inclination to plan an international Le Meridien getaway for March. When I wrote this in December, I took the time to actually plan a schedule and go through the reservations process to find out the total hotel cost for 7 stays in Germany over a two-week period. This methodology allowed me to see how to plan the routing around Germany to plan for lowest cumulative cost of the hotel nights. Laying out the daily rates for all the hotels in the country allowed me to visualize an itinerary where the trip would take the traveler to Nuremberg when the price for a room at the Le Meridien was under 100 Euros and avoid Cologne when the price was over 300 Euros.

Airfare is still relatively low for travel to Europe in March and the hotel prices are not prohibitive, even when paying in Euros.

A Le Meridien Romance 7-stay (days) planner

Some people look at the Le Meridien promotion and think “No good for me!” San Francisco, Boston, and Miami are the only participating hotels in the USA and I don’t live near these places. A weekend in Canada doesn’t help me get 7 stays.

Loyalty Travelers think outside the box.

Do you want to visit Germany and drink beer in Munich and Nuremberg? Try a late winter/early spring volksmarch in the forest hills and river valley villages of Bavaria.

Do Egyptology and the Pyramids rock you? Sunning in the Seychelles or Bora Bora your fantasy? A week in a 5-star London hotel your cup of tea?

Le Meridien hotel chain was originally established by Air France in 1972. A couple of years ago Starwood purchased the hotel chain and has worked to integrate and showcase the unique flair these hotels offer to the Starwood frequent guest. I personally have stayed in 4 Le Meridien properties in San Francisco, Singapore, and the Netherlands, and I noticed a different style in each hotel that was interesting and memorable for each of my experiences.

Europe, particularly Germany and Italy, are the best represented region for Le Meridien hotels. Egypt is another location with multiple properties. The choice of several Le Meridien properties makes Egypt, Germany, or Italy a great vacation destination for fulfilling the Le Meridien 7-stay promotion requirements.

To reduce the frequency of changing hotels, a couple can book consecutive reservations under each individual’s name. In the past, I have booked one night under my name and the next night under my wife’s name. It might require changing rooms, but keep your loyalty program focus on the objective of earning free nights. Even with a room change possibility, the advantage of two nights in one hotel is a budget minded solution and both SPG members will earn credit as long as the reservations are maintained separately.

[Note: This hotel rate data is from Dec. 12, 2007] I checked a sample week of hotel rates from February 16-23 for Le Meridien hotels in Germany and found prices ranging from 80 Euros/night at Le Meridien Nuremberg and up to 199 Euros for Le Meridien Munich. My sample itinerary would cost about $225US/stay = $1,575 for 7 stays.

Use the points for a high-value hotel redemption such as 4 free nights for a hotel with lowest available rates around $400/night. This Le Meridien promotion allows a frequent guest to stay 11 nights for about $1,600. The fair market rate of $3,200 would be double the actual paid rate for the loyalty traveler who plans the promotion well.

[The math: Traveler pays $1,575 for 7 paid nights at Le Meridien hotels and earns 4 free nights with a $400/night value. $1,575 + $1,600 = $3,175 value received in hotel rooms.]

Egypt has four Le Meridien hotels and prices range from $90 to $130 per night on most dates I checked.

7 nights in hotels will cost about $225/night average. A couple can pay for 14 nights and earn 8 free nights for about $3,000. The free nights can be redeemed for rooms that you would not be able to get for under $400 per night otherwise, even if you had 50% off rack rate. Basically, you can have a two-week vacation in Europe and consider all of your hotel expenses to be credited and applied to a future luxury resort hotel vacation worth at least $3,000 for the 8 free nights in Le Meridien hotel resorts. There are several beach resort Le Meridien properties.

Le Meridien Singapore

Hotels-and-Points article excerpt:

Offer: (Free nights may be redeemed at most Le Meridien hotels through Mar 31, 2009.)
· Earn one free night after first 3 stays at Le Meridien hotels
· Earn one more night after 5 stays at Le Meridien hotels (2 free nights total)
· Earn two more nights after 7 stays at Le Meridien hotels (4 free nights total)
Dates: Le Meridien hotel stays through March 31, 2008, participating hotels only
Brands: Starwood Le Meridien Hotels—View list for participating properties as most hotels in the brand are eligible, but 11 properties are not participating.
Registration link: https://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/promotions/registration/landing_page.html?promoID=LEM

Voyage of Discovery Promotion

2008 is upon us and Starwood has the jump on the other hotel loyalty programs with the first “free nights” of the new year with a Le Meridien-brand promotion.

7 Stays at Le Meridien hotels earns 4 free nights.

Four nights are worth 80,000 to 100,000 points at a Category 6 hotel. This offer is potentially a huge bonus for 7 hotel stays. SPG Category 6 properties in Bora Bora, Seychelles, and London and several expensive Category 5 resorts that normally run about $400 to $500/night in peak season are participating in free nights redemption.

“You can earn the free nights up until 31st March 2008, but you have up until March 31, 2009 to utilize the free nights you earn.”

Potential Value of Le Meridien Free Nights used April 22-26, 2008

Nightly Low Rates for Luxury at these Le Meridien Hotels
(12-15-07 SPG.com)
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (SPG Category 6) 45,000 XPF = $543/night
Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles (Indian Ocean)(SPG Category 6) 485€ = $698/night
Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco (SPG Cat 5) 395€ = $567/night
London Piccadilly, United Kingdom (SPG Cat 6) 269 GBP = $544/night

Potential Value of Le Meridien Free Nights used July 22-26, 2008
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (SPG Category 6) 48,500 XPF = $585/night
Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles (Indian Ocean)(SPG Category 6) 485€ = $698/night
Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco (SPG Cat 5) 445€ = $641/night
London Piccadilly, United Kingdom (SPG Cat 6) 279 GBP = $564/night

Potential Value of Le Meridien Free Nights used October 12-16, 2008
Bora Bora, French Polynesia (SPG Category 6) 48,500 XPF = $585/night
Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles (Indian Ocean)(SPG Category 6) 485€ = $698/night
Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco (SPG Cat 5) 240€ = $346/night
London Piccadilly, United Kingdom (SPG Cat 6) 279 GBP = $564/night

The primary obstacle to fulfilling this promotion is the relatively small number of participating properties combined with the number of frequent stays to maximize the promotion for its potential value.

The challenge is to either travel to several places over the early months of 2008 or design a vacation to frequent Le Meridien hotels in one region over a week or two of vacation nights. There are only about 120 Le Meridien hotels worldwide. Only 6 hotels are located in North America. Miami, Cancun, and Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean, are all high season rates in winter. Le Meridien hotels in San Francisco, Toronto, and Montreal have hotel rates from $130 to $230 for many dates.

Europe is feasible for hotel hopping this winter with Germany, France, Portugal, and Italy having sufficient hotels at reasonable rates to travel within a region and limit the geographical distance traveling between hotels.

A tour of Le Meridien hotels in Asia can find reasonable rates in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore. Egypt’s three Le Meridien hotels have lowest average rates in the world.

Winter time in the urban centers of Germany may not be the “Sound of Music” vision you had for a European vacation, but keep the objective in mind of luxury free nights. Stay 7 nights bouncing around western Germany, north and south. Your Le Meridien hotel hopping can take you to Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich, Nuremberg, Cologne, and Hamburg. (Sorry, no LMs in eastern Germany). Plan a two-week trip for a couple and earn 8 free nights and then stay at expensive Le Meridien resort hotels for your next vacation in 2008.
Flights are abundant and airfare is low this winter to Germany. Plan on an average nightly rate of about $225 for your 7 stays. About $1,600 for 7 one-night stays.

A couple spending $3,000 to $4,000 for hotel nights to maximize this promotion can earn another $3,000 to $4,000 in free hotel nights—a two-for-one. A couple can earn 8 free nights for a Le Meridien island resort like Bora Bora, Sardinia, or the Seychelles with a value of $500-$700 per night. Essentially, you can earn free trophy travel by taking a winter European vacation tour with Le Meridien hotels guiding your locations.

Le Meridien Des Indes, The Hague, Netherlands  July 2006

Three participating Le Meridien Hotels are in the United States. Sunny Isles Beach, Miami, Florida is in high season with rates regularly $300+. Le Meridien San Francisco is in the low season months and rooms are as low as $129 in December, and $209 rates available many dates in Jan to March. Le Meridien Cambridge, Boston has rates under $200 on some nights.

What do I think of Marriott Hotels and Marriott Rewards?

- There are 250 Marriott brand hotels in California. They are everywhere and I really liked the hotels I have visited and stayed in. Comfortable rooms and generally lots of seating in the lobby for people to hang out is a common feature. Having said that I like the hotels, I do not like their high level of nights for top-tier elite status.

Being Loyalty Royalty is the Goal of the Game

Courtyard by Marriott, San Jose Airport

The 75 night threshold for Platinum elite status makes Marriott Rewards a non-starter for me. There is significant added value through complimentary upgrades, bonus points, special offers, and amenity gifts offered to the top-tier elite frequent guest.

The advantage of Hyatt, Starwood, and Hilton is the ability to easily reach top-tier elite status with 25 to 35 paid nights when you have a travel pattern of mostly 1-night or 2-night stays. Hyatt and Starwood require 25 stays or 50 nights. Hilton requires 28 stays or 60 nights for top-tier Diamond elite status.

The way the system works is a frequent guest with 25 1-night stays will earn top-elite status while a guest who has 36 paid nights, but all earned as 3-night stays will only have mid-tier elite status. The nights spent and money spent are not the dominant criteria for elite qualification for Hyatt, Starwood, or Hilton. Hilton does have a spending elite qualification factor that may benefit some high spenders with fewer nights or stays.

IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards count hotel nights, not stays, for elite qualification. Top-tier requires 50 nights with Priority Club and 75 nights for Marriott Rewards.

The high threshold of hotel nights for top-tier elite status keeps most frequent guests outside the inner circle of diamond and platinum amenities and upgrades. The perks are still widespread for Loyalty Royalty frequent travelers.

The ability to change a hotel loyalty program rules at short notice make the current offers for fast-track elite status with Starwood Preferred Guest and Hyatt Gold Passport all the more enticing. The ability for a frequent guest to lock in top-tier elite status for two years, through February 2010, is a financially savvy move.

Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elite membership packet

This could be a dream travel year with a high return on your hotel loyalty investment.

Starwood required registration by January 15, 2008 for the opportunity to earn double hotel stay credit through February 29, 2008.

Hyatt’s offer is still available and details were discussed in previous Hotels-and-Points posts.

Instant Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum Elite Offer for New Members:
http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/benefits/join.jsp?me02_mbr_src=INT16

Stays Count Double registration
www.goldpassport.com/SCD08

Airline Miles Transfer Tutorial or Know When To Hold Them

The other night a discussion evolved in my home around transferring airline miles. The issue of transferring frequent flier miles from one account to another is generally a poor value transaction in my opinion and I shared this comment with my friend.

The argument for the transfer of 20,000 US Airways miles was the special offer currently available for transfers at the rate of $10/1,000 miles.

The woman discussing the transfer said her friend had moved out of the country and his miles would expire soon. When she said she planned to use the miles for a 25,000 mile domestic airfare, I commented that transferring miles was usually a waste of money. In her mind, spending $225 to get her friend’s miles, combined with her own US Airways Dividend miles would be a bargain ticket for Albuquerque, New Mexico compared to the $400+ she spent for travel last Christmas season.

I told her I would show her a better way to use her friend’s miles to get the ticket for less or at least get more value for her money.

My research question – At what point is it better to transfer miles compared to buying miles or earning miles from other partner activity?

(The scope of this analysis is only considering domestic awards at 25,000 mile level. These are the majority of all frequent flier award redemptions in the US. My analysis would be quite different and very likely favor a miles transfer if the redemption were for an international ticket or upgraded cabin award.)

At one extreme a person could just buy miles for a 25,000 mile award ticket.

US Airways special offer to purchase miles from January 1 – March 31, 2008 is $25/1,000 miles.
http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/programdetails/purchasemiles/default.aspx
The cost to buy 25,000 miles is $625 + $25 service fee for a domestic award ticket. $650 is higher than most domestic fares. Some last minute fares may actually cost more than $650 and in this case the best value strategy may be to buy miles — if there is award availability.

A US Airways itinerary can be ticketed using miles up to 6 hours before flight time.

Online redemption of miles, valid for US Airways and America West flights, is a strategy to avoid a service fee.

There will be a $15 service fee for ticketing using the US Airways Reservations Desk phone number. Partner airline awards require Reservations Desk booking. An airline award within 14 days of flight time will also have a $75 service fee if booked through Reservations Desk.

Cost for a domestic 25,000 mile ticket using only purchased miles will range from $650 for US Airways online redemption to $740 for a domestic partner award within 14 days of flight made through the Reservations Desk.

Buying all the miles for a domestic ticket is generally not a good cost/benefit move unless you are looking at a sky-high ticket cost in the $650 to $750 range.

I agree that transferring miles is often a more economical way to get an airline ticket, rather than paying market fares, but only if conditions favor this choice. An alternative usually is to earn miles through flight activity or special offers to earn sufficient miles for an airline award. My primary mileage earning strategy is flying for miles, but when flying is not feasible, I look for other activities earning airline miles.

Today, February 11, I can earn Dividend Miles with several options:

• a purchase at FTD florists. Valentine’s Day is Thursday. A $100 purchase will earn 20 miles per $1.00 = 2,000 Dividend Miles.

• $75 to register an internet domain name for three years with Network Solutions. Earn 2,000 miles for each new domain name registered.

• Miles purchase during February promotional sale are discounted. 5,000 miles will cost $25/1,000 miles or $125 for 5,000 miles. Plus a $25 service fee = $150/5,000 miles. The normal rate for miles is $35/1,000 miles and a $25 fee or $200 for 5,000 miles.

Here is my analysis for travelers who may be considering transferring or purchasing miles. Assume our US Airways account holder has 20,000 miles.

#1 – The account holder can keep the Dividend miles active by a variety of mileage-earning activities. Dividend Miles was one of the airline frequent flier programs to change its rules for miles expiration in 2007. All account miles are forfeited upon 18 months with no earning or redeeming miles activity in a Dividend Miles account. Some activities allow Dividend Miles to be earned for free like Points.com registration through the Dividend Miles website.

http://www.usairways.com/awa/content/dividendmiles/earnmiles/other.aspx#tcnetwork

Objective is 25,000 mile domestic award

Option A: Cost = $225
Transfer 20,000 miles for $200 (+ $25 transfer fee) from the business traveler’s account to the leisure traveler’s account = $225 for 25,000 mile ticket redeemed from Leisure traveler account. (This is a good option if you are not planning an upcoming trip and want the miles for future use. The leisure traveler may have 5,000 miles already in account or can work at getting more miles over time.)

or

Option B: Cost = $150
Business Traveler buys 5,000 miles for $125 (+ $25 transfer fee) = $150.

Business traveler redeems 25,000 mile domestic ticket for leisure traveler friend. This is the best option if the leisure traveler wants to get a ticket soon and costs less than a transfer.

or

Option C: Cost = $200 to $250 for goods and services that earn miles.

Business traveler and leisure traveler can work out agreement to spend $250 with FTD florist and earn 5,000 miles in business traveler’s account with purchase. This is $100 more than simply buying miles, but the purchased gifts have added value, in excess of $100.

The cost of earning 5,000 Dividend Miles can be reduced to $200 with two internet domain name registrations for a 3-year period ($150 earns 4,000 miles) and a $50 FTD purchase (earns 1,000 miles).

Business traveler redeems 25,000 mile award for leisure traveler after the miles post.
This is a good option if you are not in a hurry to redeem miles. $250 for purchasing items to earn 5,000 miles and an award ticket is a better value than paying $225 to simply transfer miles for an award ticket.

Network Solutions Domain Registration offer: http://www.networksolutionsretail.com/flyaway/usair.htm

There are many options for maintaining active mileage accounts during periods of no flight activity. I have miles in frequent flier accounts over ten years old with no flight activity.

Transferring and buying miles are two options for building frequent flier account balances to ticket redemption levels. Keep in mind that non-flight purchase activity with loyalty program business partners is often a way to grow your miles while getting added value from purchased items. Partner activity to grow mileage accounts is often a good alternative to buying or transferring miles.

[this post was originally published Feb 11, 2008 on www.loyaltytraveler.net/wordpress]

Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands, California

An article I read today about Leading Hotels of the World members stated average room rate for 2007 was $470 per night for these luxury hotel members.
http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/article/20080208114856638

$8 Cups of Beer! Pinch Me, I’m Luxuriating.

I took time out this weekend from the internet and writing to go hang out with the mostly rich and predominantly beautiful crowds at the golf tournament. I spent Saturday at the ATT Pro-Am mingling around the Lodge at Pebble Beach and the 18th hole.

The constant work of adding to my knowledge base of luxury hotels combined with honing my skill of refusing to buy $8 cups of beer is demanding.

Golf? What Golf? I had to come home on Saturday and check the internet to find out that Vijay Singh was tied for the lead. And my wife, who spent all day there at the Pebble Beach tournament yesterday, was there not watching the tournament. She did not even find out there had been a play-off for the winner until she got home. They had ATT wireless “Golf Caddy” devices one could arrange to rent for free, but I thought it would be easier to follow play than it turned out to be. In retrospect, I wish I had tried the Golf Caddy. Golf is much easier to follow on TV and more interesting to watch on screen.

The people, however, well, that is another story altogether. The crowd spectacle reminded me of the Superbowl half-time show last week watching the young crowd dancing at the Tom Petty Band. The appeal of Pebble Beach is simply being somewhere exclusive and of course there is star appeal. The ATT Pebble Beach crowd, hanging around the Lodge and around the 18th green was surprisingly young, lots of drinking, lots of cigar smoking, and lots of cell phone talking and photo taking of Kevin Costner, Don Cheadle, Kenny G, and others (despite the ban on cell phones at the tournament).

The ATT tournament raises money for charities, but I’d appreciate a better system of wealth re-distribution than $8 cups of beer and $3 water bottles on a sunny, hard-to-find shade day.

And my question: Why place the outdoor cigar lounge at the 18th green, adjacent to the primary path to the golf tournament play?

As a non-smoker and boycotter of $8 cups of beer, I waited for golf play to end, walked over to the Pebble Beach Company Store 200 yards away, and picked up a six-pack of Stella Artois. My idea of a fun golf day is sitting above the 18th green on the bleacher stands, drinking with friends after the crowds left, and listening to the rock band play below at the cigar and beer café.

5-Star guerilla tourism.

Locals joke about the seasonal timing of the ATT Pro-Am. Winter here on the Central Coast of California, the Monterey Peninsula, and the golf courses of Pebble Beach is typically like everchanging wave sets. The occasional crash of a torrential winter storm blows in from the vast Pacific, a few periodic mild storms, and generally lengthy periods of no storms and high pressure sunshine. The torrent passed through California a week ago, and we have been in high pressure all week on the California coast, for sunshine and golf. The temperature kept rising, a couple of degrees every day, to peak at 70 with slight ocean breezes here on the coast over the weekend. Golf by the sea in Pebble Beach at its finest.

InterContinental Carlton Cannes

Friday afternoon, I caught the Season 4 final Entourage episode where the lads are in Cannes. I was interested to rewatch this show since I wrote a feature piece discussing how to find hotels in Cannes for Hotels-and-Points.

The article shows a detailed online search starting with Kayak and TripAdvisor and following those site leads to Orbitz, Skoosh, Priceline, Expedia, otel.com. Then, I searched several InterContinental Hotels Group websites looking for their rates and special offers. Each search path led to a different hotel result as I made choices based on user ratings and reviews. Kayak and TripAdvisor provided several leads, all within a $30 range as I searched 4-star hotels in $120-$180 range. Ultimately the “Online Reservationist” shows how to land the InterContinental Carlton Cannes for $170 per night, tax included – a full $80/night less than Priceline quoted for IC Carlton. This was only $14/night more than the Kayak.com lead for a 4-star hotel and $16 less than the TripAdvisor 3-star hotel lead based on the #1 TripAdvisor rated hotel for Cannes, France. The InterContinental Carlton Cannes was rated #3 for TripAdvisor hotels. The deal is IHG 2 Nights for Price of 1 special offer through April 30, 2008.

There are good location shots of the lobby, entry way, building profile, beach and dock shots of the InterContinental Carlton Cannes throughout the Entourage show. I laughed so hard seeing Drama thrown out of the IC Carlton for complaining about the lack of an oceanview room upgrade.

The InterContinental Carlton Cannes is 5-star hotel class according to Expedia and TripAdvisor ratings and is part of the

Conde Nast Traveler 2008 Hotels Gold List.

http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/

In January, I studied the regional lists of more than 700 hotels making the 2008 Conde Nast Traveler Hotels Gold List and Reserve List. I categorized the major loyalty program hotels for Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and InterContinental Hotels Group. A full 20% of the hotels listed are available for room redemption using hotel points. My statistical research is in the February issue of Hotels-and-Points.

My interest in the survey analysis was to examine brand appearance for loyalty program hotels allowing room redemption using points compared to the total hotel list. The Gold List and Reserve List offer a broad-based sample of luxury and high-end upscale hotels around the world. My analysis shows that loyalty program hotel points are a valuable currency to earn and spend for travelers wanting to stay in finer hotels.

In short, my analysis of the Conde Nast survey shows (in elementary poetry form):
• Starwood’s the Star, and Luxury Collection is the popular European selection
• Hyatt is definitely the Parks and Grands, so fit these hotels in your travel plans
• Marriott, the JW appears a lot, but on these lists the Ritz-Carlton hotels dominate the Gold spots,
• Hilton, Conrad, InterContinental, which I personally think are alright, on the CN lists are mostly out of sight.

The Lodge at Pebble Beach
This weekend I experienced my own domestic hotel 5-Star Class and Conde Nast Gold List ambience while spending time at the Pebble Beach Lodge. The Pebble Beach peninsula is land, golf courses, resorts, and private homes owned by a private corporation in a gated community, sandwiched on the California coast and hills between Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel. The ATT Golf weekend reminded me that I like hotels and resort locations when they are quiet and uncrowded.

Walking the grounds and drinking $8 beer on the terrace is luxuriating at 5-star prices when you can watch a beautiful sunset and the waves crashing in the cove. The ATT golf tournament security limited Lodge access to all, but the highest tiers of VIPs. I felt like Johnny Drama getting no respect. My friend was inside the Lodge and my cell phone locked in her car (I followed the rules of no cell phones at the tournament) and security kept me outside the Lodge and unable to make contact.

The Conde Nast Traveler Hotels Gold List has 39 hotels in California.

The Post Ranch Inn and Ventana Inn are remote getaway locations on the Big Sur coast, 35 miles south of Monterey.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/bigsur

Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley is ranked #3 on Gold List in Hotel Service in the USA and is known locally for its restaurant and wine selection.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/carmelvalley

The Highlands Inn is a Hyatt Regency and Vacation Club hotel located 8 miles south of Monterey in Carmel Highlands. L’Auberge Carmel missed my attention when I originally drafted this piece. There are 7 Gold List hotels in Monterey County.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/carmel_by_the_sea

The Inn & Links at Spanish Bay and The Lodge at Pebble Beach are both on the Gold List.
http://www.concierge.com/bestof/goldlist/2008/regions/northamerica/usa/california/pebblebeach

Seven hotels on the California Gold List are Monterey County locations. Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach, Highlands Inn, and Post Ranch Inn have some rooms with excellent ocean views.

The Hyatt Highlands Inn is a Category 5 Gold Passport Hotel property. A free night takes 18,000 points. The September 2007 Hotels-and-Points article described how to use the Faster Free Nights promotion to get a room at the Highlands Inn for under $150/night. Room rates are as low as $215 currently in off-season.

Locally in Monterey County, California, 1 of 7 hotels as a member of a major corporate hotel chain participating in a points-based frequent guest loyalty program mirrors the overall Conde Nast Gold List of 1 in 5 of the 535 Gold List hotels, as part of five major hotel chains. There are 107 hotels on the 2008 Gold List which are affiliated with the major hotel corporations of Starwood, Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental and 104 of these Gold List hotels are available for free nights using hotel points.

The value of loyalty and the cost of luxury are apparent in a room rate analysis of Monterey County’s Gold List hotels. Room rates demonstrate the value of hotel loyalty programs when looking at a 5-Star hotel getaway and the Highlands Inn on Faster Free Nights award stay.

Current Listed Room Rates
for 6 Monterey County, California hotels on Conde Nast Traveler 2008 Gold List.

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur ( Special Note: No one under age 18)
Butterfly Room $550 to $725/night Forest and Mountain View
Tree House Room $895 Forest and Mountain View
Coast House $1,060 Ocean View.
Post Ranch Inn
Winter special offer for two nights is $1,140 for Butterfly Room ($40 more than rack rate, but with spa treatments added) or
$2,040 for Coast House ($80 off rack rate and with spa treatments). The Winter Special “Spa and Wellness Escape” package has the value added feature of two 1-hour spa treatments.

Ventana Inn, Big Sur – Valentine’s Day “Passion from the Heart” Package includes two room nights, dinner for two, and two 50-minute spa treatments. Price begins at $850 for guest room (regular rates are $350/night) or $1,200 for suite (regular rates are $638/night for Big Sur suite).

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley
$415/night Premium Garden room;
$685-$815 for Luxury Spa Room;
$1,065 – $1,970 one- and two-bedroom suites.
A special offer currently available for Sunday through Thursday nights at the Bernardus Lodge is $475 night for Garden room and two 50-minute spa treatments. Or $485 night with a $150 dining credit at the famed Marinus Restaurant. Again, value added items are available in package offers without reducing the room rates for lodging only.

Spanish Bay Inn, Pebble Beach
Garden View $580/night
Ocean View $815
Suites $1,150 – $2,495/night

Pebble Beach Lodge
Garden View $675/night
Ocean View $925/night
Suites: $1,550 – $2,195/night
http://www.pebblebeach.com/page.asp?pageName=2007_Offers_Lodge_Spa_winter_20070522

Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands
Weekend stays
Ocean View $465/night
Senior rate (62 or over) $395.25
Ocean View Townhouse $635.00/night
Weekday stays (Sunday-Thursday)Ocean View
AAA rate = $215.10
Ocean View Townhouse (AAA rate) = $368.10

Hotel Rates for 2 nights in Monterey County at 2008 Gold List hotels:

Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur
http://www.postranchinn.com/packages.shtml
$1,140/2-nights Butterfly Room (includes two 50-minute massages)
$2,040/2-nights Coast House (includes two 50-minute massages)

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley (mountain views, about 10 minute drive to Carmel Beach)
http://www.bernardus.com/lodge/rates/index.htm
$950/2-nights (Garden View room with two 50-minute massages) or
$970/2-nights (Garden View room with $150 dining credit)

Ventana Inn, Big Sur
http://www.ventanainn.com/packages_internet.asp
$850/2-nights Guest room (Dinner for two and two 50-minute massages)
$1,200/2-nights Big Sur suite (Dinner for two and two 50-minute massages)

The Lodge at Pebble Beach
http://www.pebblebeach.com/avail_rates.asp
$2,035/2-nights Ocean View (+ 2 massages)
$1,535/2-nights Garden View room (includes tax and two 50-minute massages)

Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach
http://www.pebblebeach.com/page.asp?id=2139
$940/2-nights Garden view
$1,290/2-nights Ocean view

Hotel has special offer for 4th night free that may be slightly less than Ocean View room winter special offer currently $645/night.

Hyatt Highlands Inn, Carmel Highlands
http://www.hyatt.com/
$430/2-nights Ocean View room (AAA rate Sun-Thu)
$736/2-nights Ocean View Townhouse (AAA rate Sun-Thu)

View of Pt. Lobos from Highlands Inn

My travel recommendation is come to Monterey and stay at the Hyatt Highlands Inn midweek.

A loyalty traveler can use the money saved to eat at Bernardus Lodge and visit the winery in Carmel Valley.

Spa and play or just walk the golf courses at Pebble Beach. Plan a meal at The Lodge’s Club XIX or eat at Roy’s in Spanish Bay and have drinks on the terrace by the fire pits at sunset.

Post Ranch Inn has off season free tours midweek, and you can dine at Ventana Inn, or go further down the coast to Nepenthe on the cliffs.

[originally posted Feb 11, 2008 at www.loyaltytraveler.net/wordpress]

What a racket the airlines operate! The airline ticketing process is an opaque world when all we desire as consumers is transparency. Give us a rational pricing structure and a system of fairness in consumer rights.

Yesterday, I made a purchase on United.com for two tickets San Jose, California-Denver, Colorado at the price of $236.99 each, in “L” booking class. Today, I look and the exact same economy class flights are $183.00 per roundtrip ticket, also in “L” booking class. This is a no frills ticket, but I’d like some money back. Please.

For Denver, airfare this low is an incredible bargain during the President’s week holiday. In years past these tickets were typically in the $400 range. The irony in present times is the high fuel prices we see impacting our car driving cost is not apparent in the pricing structure of airfares. The low airfares to Denver gets me back to wondering about the impact the economy is having on vacation travelers. February is usually the ski holidays in the Rockies when Denver ticket prices peak.

The point of this discussion is that United has a policy of allowing cancellations of nonrefundable tickets purchased online for 24 hours. I was 2 hours too late today, and at 26 hours after pressing the purchase button on United.com, yesterday’s ticket can not be canceled or changed without a $100 fee per ticket. So now, I have to settle for two credit vouchers for $53.99 each to be used on future United flight reservations. I would certainly prefer to just have the money back in my checking account.

I am not saying it could not have been worse. I made a Northwest purchase in summer 2005 and within minutes of making the online purchase realized I could have booked a better itinerary. I called NWA immediately and was told that I could cancel the ticket for a $200 fee and rebook the itinerary I wanted.

My past experience with the United vouchers is one of being nickel and dimed. There will likely be an airport customer service charge of $10 or $15 to actually use the credit vouchers when I ticket reservations.

And I bet you thought this post was going to discuss the $25 bag surcharge issue! You can read about the bag surcharges for travelers without elite status here -

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52481,00.html

On a positive note – Hyatt Summerfield Suites at $62/night on weekends in Denver is a loyalty dream night. The upscale Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency downtown Denver are only $125.

Cornell Bears go Bullish: Advising No Hotel Rate Cuts in 2008

Yesterday’s post made reference to a report from Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research regarding hotels not cutting rates to lure travelers to hotels because the practice does not increase hotel profits. I was recalling an article I had read a couple years back regarding post 9-11 hotel rate studies in the US.

I received an email from the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research today that features a new research report from the same team of Linda Canina Ph.D. and Cathy A. Enz Ph.D.

The US hotels study I referenced is “Revenue Management in U.S. Hotels: 2001 – 2005″ and it can be linked to here: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-14021.html

Well, today the news from the Center for Hospitality Research reconfirms this marketing practice of not discounting rooms in a just published study of 135 upscale hotels in Asia.

http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2008.html

The gist of the paper, as far as hotel frequent guests are concerned, is hotels are advised not to reduce their room rates to attract more guests and raise revenue. Research shows that a slight room rate cut below the rates of comparable hotel competitors does not increase revenue. Now, we will need to see how the US hotels integrate this idea in their pricing structures.

For this area of northern California, since 2005, hotels have tended to stay away from the low rates more commonly seen between 2002 and 2004. The days of $69 rooms every weekend for the W Hotel-Newark disappeared soon after the 2005 report came out. The rates at the W Hotel-Newark are typically $109 as a low these days, with the possibility of a $99 AAA rate. Even though the really low rates were not that common in the airport and suburb hotels regionally, 2007 had some of the best deals for San Francisco city hotels for brief periods of time when business travel was low. Otherwise rates were sky high.

2008 is a wait and see for hotel rates. As far as the Cornell Red Bears strategy goes–Hotels need to remain bullish.

Unlike the Fed, don’t expect hotel rate cuts to come deep and fast in 2008.

Clear Registration Booth at Grand Hyatt Denver Hotel

I have been pushing the Hyatt ‘Stays Count Double’ promotion for two months now in my Hotels-and-Points articles. Today, I became aware of an additional added value component for this promotion…as if it was not already a great deal!

Hyatt sent me an email reminding me of the Stays Count Double promotion today.

“ELITE STATUS COMES TWICE AS FAST AT HYATT™ JANUARY 1 – MARCH 31, 2008
Thank you for registering for our Stays Count Double promotion. All of your eligible stays at any Hyatt™ hotel or resort worldwide between January 1 and March 31, 2008, will count double toward achieving Platinum status.

You can now achieve Platinum membership with only three stays instead of five, and enjoy the following benefits:
• 15% point bonus toward earning free nights faster.
• Guaranteed bed type.
• Platinum Extras Award after every third stay, providing you with a choice of in-hotel benefits or points.
• Complimentary one-year membership in Clear®, the nation’s leading Registered Traveler program that enables its members to receive expedited processing at airport security checkpoints. ”

Currently, there are two elite status offers and a new Hyatt Gold Passport member can register and qualify for both promotions simultaneously.

For travelers already belonging to Hyatt Gold Passport the basic terms of Stays Count Double offer:
- Stays at Hyatt properties between Jan 1 and Mar 31, 2008 will count double for elite status qualification.
- Stays at Hyatt Hotels, Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites are eligible.
- Stays at Hawthorn Suites or Amerisuites hotels are not eligible for double stays.
- Current members may register for “Stays Count Double” promotion via www.goldpassport.com/SCD08
-or Register by phone at 1-800-51 HYATT or your nearest Worldwide Reservation Centre and request Offer Code SCD08.

Hyatt Gold Passport membership levels are:
Gold = less than 5 stays per calendar year
Platinum = 5 stays per calendar year or 15 nights
Diamond = 25 stays per calendar year or 50 nights

The Stays Count Double promotion changes the qualification level to:
Platinum = 3 stays by March 31, 2008 (will count as 6 stays)
Diamond = 13 stays by March 31, 2008 (will count as 26 stays).

Remember that you do not need to earn your elite status by March 31.
For example, if you have 2 Hyatt stays by March 31, 2008, then your account elite qualifying stays will be at 4 stays. You will be one stay short of Platinum elite status, however, your next Hyatt stay, as long as it occurs by December 31, 2008 will grant you Platinum status through February 2010.

There are two additional incentives to sweeten this Hyatt fast-track elite status deal deal.
1. New members to Hyatt Gold Passport can first register for a 90-day Instant Elite Platinum Status promotion. Only one Hyatt stay is needed to extend your Platinum elite membership through February 2009. This promotion may be combined with the “Stays Count Double” promotion, but as a new member you may want to register for Instant Platinum first.

New Members – Register before March 31, 2008 at http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/benefits/join.jsp?me02_mbr_src=INT16

As you will see, this can be a free way to earn $128 value.

2. A benefit of Hyatt Platinum elite membership is complimentary membership in the Clear© airport security pre-screened passengers program. This allows members to use their card to access security fast lanes at participating airports.

http://www.flyclear.com/about/clear_howclearworks.html

First year membership is normally $100 and there is also a $28 TSA fee. These first-year fees are waived for Hyatt Platinum elite members enrolling in Clear©.

The bottom line: A new Hyatt Gold Passport member can enroll for Instant Platinum elite, and without even staying at a Hyatt hotel, use your Hyatt elite status for free membership in Clear©.

Hyatt offers you a two-for-one fast-track to hotel status and airport status.

2008 hotel outlook looking brighter with no blackouts at Hilton
http://www.hiltonhhonors.com/landingpages/nobods.aspx

Conrad Hotel Bangkok, Thailand

Since my article last month, “Money for Nothing (But MY MTV)” railing about the stock market outlook and recession, the R word has been bandied about the hotel trade journals and mainstream media. Budget hotels are all the buzz. New brands like Starwood’s aloft and Hyatt Place look like marketing coups. Upscale hotels are being downplayed in the media while luxury room rates keep rising in price.

My gut feeling is the economic downturn will be widespread and cut into business travel. Research from Cornell School of Hospitality after the 9-11 travel downturn argued for hotels to maintain profitability by not reducing the room rate, but rather by providing added value incentives. The same strategy is applied to the housing market when the cost of a house is not reduced from $350,000 to $320,000, but rather new appliances or such are thrown in for the asking price.

I expect hotel loyalty program competition will heat up in 2008 and the loyalty travelers will be recipients of some of the best incentives we have seen in years.

First off the block, Hilton Hotels HHonors loyalty program eliminates blackout dates for hotel reward redemption.

This is a substantial loyalty program change for Hilton HHonors.

The number one complaint on FlyerTalk over the years against the HHonors program was the inability to get reservations for hotel rooms using points. The no blackout dates change in reward rules will increase the hotel chain’s loyalty marketing competitiveness. And this is a huge benefit for loyalty travelers.

Why is “No Blackouts” such a big change?

I invested several years of loyalty with HHonors. In 2000, I completed the LatinPass mileage run for a 1,000,000 mile frequent flyer bonus. From the outset of planning itineraries of Central and South America flights, I intended to transfer my bonus miles into Hilton HHonors. I managed to transfer around 600,000 LatinPass miles into 1,200,000 HHonors points over the course of a few years.

Between 1999 and 2005 I redeemed about 2 million HHonors points for hotel room nights. During those years I usually needed to call the HHonors diamond desk to secure my hotel reservation. Booking single nights was generally an easy reservation process. The reservation problems usually surfaced when trying to redeem an HHonors 6-night GLON VIP reward.

I estimate I needed to use the Diamond desk to arrange my reservation directly with the hotel about 80% of the time. These free hotel nights would have been unavailable to me if I did not have diamond elite status with HHonors (diamond status requires 28 stays or 60 nights in a year).

Hilton HHonors was my hotel loyalty choice for several years as I traveled and burned HHonors points as quickly as I could. Concern that redemption inflation would devalue their worth over time proved accurate when 6-night GLON awards increased from 100,000 to 150,000 points.

The HHonors no blackout dates is a wonderful enhancement. All they need to do now is move away from the targeted guest model of loyalty program promotions to lure me back.

The upside I see from a looming recession in business travel will be more loyalty program incentives for the frequent guest. 2008 may bring a continuation of back-to-back lucrative bonus offers such as we are currently experiencing with Starwood and Hyatt’s fast-track elite offers.

Conrad Hotel pool, Bangkok, Thailand

Happy Birthday, this February 6 to Bob Marley, who lives on at age 63 in the hearts and minds of so many.

“Don’t you forget no way
Just who you are
and where you stand in the struggle”