Loyalty Traveler is ranked #73 in the Top 100 Travel Blogs on Technorati today. Yesterday my blog was #72, so my star is already fading. Like Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Jack in the movie “Titanic”, I’ll gloriously ride the waves at the front of the ship as King of the World today before I go under tomorrow. For the time being I’m elated to be listed in Technorati’s top 100 Travel Blogs.

 

 

The best aspect of the Technorati recognition is I am staying at my parent’s house in Las Vegas (going home to Monterey today) and I was able to show my mom the Technorati page with the Top 100 Travel icon. My dad asked me again, the fifth time this week, “What is a blog?”

I happened to be reading the State of the Blogosphere 2009 report being posted each day this week on Technorati.

Reading over the SOTB2009 report, I thought to myself, “Yeah, I fit the professional blogger profile. I have a graduate degree (labor studies), work like a dog over 40 hours a week for virtually no pay, I’ve been at this for over two years, and I have launched four or five websites.”

I also fit Stephen Colbert’s moniker of “internet hobo”. I’m a bootstrapper blogger and lifestyle entrepreneur struggling to carve out a living as a travel writer and social media player in a narrow niche of the travel industry before I go bankrupt.

Only 17% of professional bloggers in the SOTB 2009 report their primary income source comes from blogging. I currently fall in the 83% who do not get their primary source of income from my blog, however, I do earn my primary meager income from writing.

After browsing through the SOTB report I read the Penelope Trunk interview and her response to the question, “What’s your advice for aspiring professional bloggers?”

“Professional blogger? Really? Think about your blog as an audience builder for selling something that has a higher margin than advertising.”

 

Some advertising revenue from my blog sounds rather nice to me at the moment.

 

 

Odds are against a self-employed travel writer surviving as a viable business entity. I launched a Hotels-and-Points newsletter two years ago and sold one copy after four monthly issues. Obviously I needed a new business model. Then, I moved into blogging with the basic axiom of “write it, share it with the world for free, and they will come”.

The Loyalty Traveler blog has always been planned as a way to build an audience by sharing travel tips and analysis with others who may not realize the potential of hotel loyalty programs or simply desire more information about hotel loyalty programs. The leisure traveler and/or business traveler has scarce information on the value of hotel loyalty programs validating, analyzing, and critiquing the information provided by the corporate hotel entities aside from the FlyerTalk forums and the blogs on BoardingArea, SmarterTravel, and FrequentFlier.

 

The developing aspect of my business is Loyalty Traveler’s role as a marketer of California, and more specifically the marketing of my local region in the Monterey Peninsula and San Francisco.

“Travel globally, promote locally” is a business objective of Loyalty Traveler.

My aspiration is simple, but difficult to realize.  Work independently for myself in collaboration with the travel industry, provide real value to other travelers and the hotel travel industry as a writer and educator, and create a sustainable travel-oriented business that can keep me self-employed for the next 20+ years.

I’m not trying to build an empire, just make a basic living so I can afford to continue my life in Monterey  –  the environmentally, aesthetically, and culturally cool area of California where I was born and would like to remain. And of course, I desire to continue traveling the world which has been much more difficult since I became entirely self-employed 30 months ago.

Travel loyalty programs have allowed me to travel well on a rather limited travel budget for the past two decades. Some call it gaming the system. I call it travel economics and getting the best value for the money you spend as a smart shopper.

The real point of Loyalty Traveler blog is to build an audience and develop a community of travelers who can help each other travel better wherever our travels take us. I am a facilitator who brings up issues in my blog. I need readers to contribute additional insight to develop and grow the information into the knowledge base we need to travel better. So please leave comments on my blog. I have met some wonderful travelers and travel industry professionals through Loyalty Traveler. It takes a community to be successful in social media.

Honestly, I am not clear how I should develop my relationship with the hotel industry. Affiliate marketing, sponsorships, accept freebies so I can stay in more hotels and have more places to write about?

I’m looking for a win-win relationship where I can market hotels, hotel travel, and the value of loyalty programs while remaining a consumer advocate.

Admittedly I have made some errors in content, made some mis-steps in public relations, and I’ve probably been too critical of some hotels and hotel loyalty programs in public with my blog. But always I have strived to be honest and accurate, and constructive in my criticism. When aspects of my hotel experience suck I think many other frequent guests probably had a similar experience. I try and separate what I believe are one-time circumstances compared to what are likely systemic issues with a hotel or program.

I admit when I’m wrong, apologize when I go over the top (or delete, although nothing can really be deleted once it is published to the web), and I reach out to help others when and where I can. I desire to build a lasting relationship with the hotel industry as a traveler, writer, and consumer advocate. Hey hotel PR people –email me. And don’t be afraid to comment on my blog.

Loyalty Traveler blog needs to improve both technically and stylistically. That is an immediate objective. My writing needs to improve aesthetically. That is a life-long process.

I work to create trust with my readers by providing high value and accurate content. Believe me. I beat myself up whenever I realize I published a content error.

My main goal is to remain true to myself and the community of travelers seeking value for their travel dollars. Sustainable travel should allow travelers to get good value for money spent (i.e. not get ripped off). I will continue to develop Loyalty Traveler with the simple aim of providing a community of travelers informed analysis of hotel value for frequent guests.               

And that is all for my self-reflection as Loyalty Traveler blogger and entrepreneur. Anyone with teacher training knows self-reflection is a vital part of professional development.

My next blog post will be back on track with a hotel topic.

Congratulations to:

Debbie Dubrow – Delicious Baby #1 Travel Blog 10-20-09

Heather Cowper – Heather on her Travels #9 Travel Blog 10-20-09

Gary Leff – View from the Wing  #23 Travel Blog 10-20-09

Gary Arndt – Everything, Everywhere #29 Travel Blog 10-20-09

KiwiFlyer – Musings of the Global Traveller #70 Travel Blog 10-20-09

And there are loads of other travel blogs I need to look into from the Top 100 list.

Starwood Preferred Guest has just changed the terms for SPG Cash & Points awards to allow Category 1 and Category 2 redemption level Starwood hotels in the USA and Canada. Cash & Points awards for these lowest level hotel categories had previously been limited to Asia-Pacific region only. Link to SPG Cash & Points table.

SPG Category 1 Cash & Points award is just $25 and 1,200 points. Redeeming a points-only award night costs 2,000 points on Friday or Saturday night and 3,000 points for other nights of the week at a Category 1 Starwood hotel.

SPG Category 2 offers even better value at just $30 and 1,600 points. Redeeming a points-only award night costs  3,000 points on Friday or Saturday and 4,000 points for other nights of the week at a category 2 Starwood hotel. Spending $30 cash will save 2,400 Starpoints on a weekday night using a Cash & Points award. This is an incredible savings.

There are a far greater number of Category 2 hotels in the US and Canada than Category 1 properties.

This is huge value for SPG members at US and Canada Category 1 and 2 hotels offering the Cash & Points option. 

Remember — Cash & Points are offered at the hotel’s discretion so I expect members will often find a room is available for points-only, but not Cash & Points. Unfortunately, at this time, I am unable to locate any Category 1 or 2 hotels in the US offering a Cash & Points option for dates I checked over the next week.

For now, here is the revised wording on the SPG Cash & Points chart. Category 1 and 2 hotels – “offered at Asia Pacific, U.S., and Canadian hotels only”.

Starwood Preferred Guest shows its members another positive hotel loyalty program change.

 

After two long days at BlogWorld09 I just needed to chill out this morning with some easy reading and photo viewing. Easy reading led me to the Barbara De Lollis Hotel Check-In blog at USA Today from October 12, Exclusive: Starwood’s loyalty program launches Twitter, Facebook strategies. 

Interesting statistic from article is SPG members who have blogs are 80% more likely to book a Starwood Hotel than other members (time-frame please! Is the booking probability based on the next week, next month, this year, remainder of this life?)

 

The basic SPGTripShare process:

1.       Upload photos into your Facebook account. This was the time-consuming part since I didn’t have preloaded photos in my Facebook account. Each photo (4MB) took about 3 minutes to upload.

2.       Launch the SPG TripShare Facebook application: http://apps.facebook.com/spgtripshare/upload.php

 

3.       Upload up to 5 photos. I uploaded 5 pics from St. Regis Monarch Beach into the SPG TripShare app.

 

4.       Provide location and date of trip.

 

5.       Add some tags to describe the trip type. SPG TripShare has a set of tags to choose from or you can create your own.

 

6.       Submit your trip.

Here is my result: http://apps.facebook.com/spgtripshare/trip.php?id=225

 

 

Just browsing through other trip photos was an interesting diversion for a Sunday morning. I find the Facebook page much more interesting than the Twitter feed from SPG.

 

 

I am at BlogWorld Expo 2009 in Las Vegas. Yesterday at the keynote address of BWE09 a campaign started at 9am or so to send out the largest social media mass  message ever #beatcancer via Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.

For every mention of the hashtag #beatcancer in a social media platform over 24 hours there will be a donation from eBay/PayPal and MillerCoors to cancer research. This is also a campaign approved by Guinness World Records for a world record entry as the largest social media mass message ever.

I remember those days in grade school back in the 1960s when I always had an annual edition of the Guinness Book of World Records and read the various entries. I actually haven’t seen the book in a number of years.

So if you ever wanted to be part of a world record there are still a couple of hours left to contribute your share to the effort for the largest social media mass message ever –

#beatcancer.

Post on Twitter, post on Facebook, post a blog using #beatcancer to be part of the world record attempt.

Here is a blog post on the topic from another blogger with far more details:

http://www.pamil-visions.net/twitter-beatcancer/26918/

And I’m off to the Las Vegas Convention Center for a full Saturday session @BlogWorld2009.

#beatcancer

You know we can if we give it our concentrated effort.

 October 24, 2009 Update:

#BeatCancer set the Guinness World Record with 209,771 total mentions on Twitter, Facebook, and blog posts.

http://www.pitchengine.com/free-release.php?id=30001

Fairfield Inn is offering a $50 Smart Bucks Coupon for a future 2-night stay (valid any days of week) for completing a hotel stay including a Friday or Saturday night by December 13, 2009. A free Rand-McNally Atlas is also included in the deal while supplies last.

Promotion Offer: http://www.marriott.com/marriott.mi?page=travelbetter

Smart Bucks terms and conditions

 

To qualify for this promotion your Fairfield Inn Stay must meet these requirements:

• Book by November 22, 2009 (and complete stay by December 13).

• Use Promotional Code:                 OF4

• Stay must include a Friday or Saturday night (even a one night stay on Fri or Sat qualifies for $50 coupon)

• Offer valid at Fairfield Inns in USA and Canada

• One $50 Smart bucks coupon issued per room, per stay.

$50 Smart Bucks Coupon

                Valid for a future two-night stay at any Fairfield Inn in USA or Canada.

Only one coupon is valid per two-night stay (any days of week permitted for coupon redemption).

                Maximum of 3 coupons may be applied to a stay (would require 6 nights or longer stay).

Coupon is not valid toward any rate that requires ID or membership (so no AAA rate or AARP rate is an eligible two-night stay when redeeming coupon).

Coupon Expiration date??? (expiration date not mentioned in T&C)

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

In northern California I found rates around $79 to $89 for Fairfield Inn properties in the San Francisco Bay area for this weekend. I tried a couple of other cities and saw rates as low as $59 for Chicago area.

I assume there are some locations with even slightly lower rates. Since only a one-night stay is required to earn the $50 Smart Bucks, this deal is great for anyone who can benefit from a Fairfield Inn weekend night hotel stay and a two night follow-up stay over the next few months.

Fairfield Inn is a midscale hotel brand that provides complimentary internet and free hot breakfast.

The average daily rate for the nearly 600 Fairfield Inns in the Marriott chain was around $87 per night last winter. Rates have been dropping this past year. And with that many Fairfield Inn hotels in the USA there is a good chance there are several Fairfield Inns around most places you will travel.

New members of Marriott Rewards can also earn a free night certificate during the next month with just two hotel stays at any Marriott brand.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/09/26/marriott-rewards-new-members-free-night-after-two-stays/

Loyalty Traveler Promotion Key Ranking: 4 of 5 Keys (High value offer)

Residence Inn $50 Bonus Bucks Offer:

Marriott Rewards has also been running a Residence Inn $50 Bonus Bucks offer for almost all of 2009. Stay a Friday or Saturday night in USA or Canada at a Residence Inn through December 31, 2009. Use code RPN for booking. Receive $50 Bonus Bucks certificate for use on a two-night weekend stay at any Marriott brand hotel worldwide. 

http://www.marriott.com/marriott.mi?page=suiteweekend

A common question is “How much are hotel points worth?”

 

A frequent guest wants a variety of strategies for reducing the cost of a hotel stay. Your choices are dictated primarily by the investment of time you are willing to make to find the best deal. Traveling with a big picture view of your frequent hotel stay plan allows you to consider a variety of strategies to find lower hotel rates. Earning hotel loyalty points is the major strategy I discuss on this blog.

 

A knowledge base of the different ways to earn hotel points combined with knowing your options for hotel points redemption is the basis for understanding and applying Hotel Points Exchange Rate Theory.

 

Hotel Points Exchange Rate Theory

 

Principle #1

Hotel Points have real value only when redeemed, or exchanged for an item in lieu of cash.

 

Principle # 2

Hotel points sitting in an account only have potential value.

 

Principle #3

The potential value of your hotel points is not a constant value.

 

Hotel loyalty programs change throughout the membership year due to factors such as hotel category classification changes, hotel redemption changes or promotions, and special offers using hotel points. The fluctuation of hotel rates based on season, events, location, and special offers creates a dynamic potential value for hotel points that rises and falls as room rates, redemption exchange rates and hotel loyalty program conditions change.

 

Principle # 3 is the focus of my hotel loyalty program work.

The potential value of hotel points is not a constant value. The potential value of hotel points is dependent on the exchange rate when you decide to use them. Hotel room rates, loyalty program promotions, and your account balance determine the potential value of your points.

 

My work involves keeping track of current exchange rates and sharing my analysis of the more favorable exchanges of your cash for hotel points and your hotel points for free nights.

 

Applying the Theory in Consumer Hotel Travel

 

What is an objective cash value for 20,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points?

 

The cost to buy 20,000 Starpoints is $700 or $35 per 1,000 points.

There is a 20,000 point purchase limit per calendar year.

 

20,000 points can be assigned a $700 value based on simple purchase price of points through SPG at a rate of $35 per 1,000 points. This is the elementary answer to the objective value of points.

 

What is the potential (subjective) value of 20,000 Starpoints?

 

The potential value of hotel points is a range of values depending on money saved at time of redemption.

 

20,000 hotel points will have no value if they are never redeemed and expire from member’s account. (This recently happened to me with Hilton HHonors inactivity. HHonors rules state a member’s account may be closed after 12 months of no activity. My account had been idle over two years.)

 

20,000 Starpoints may have a value of $1,000 or more if redeemed for hotel free nights with that purchase price using cash.

 

Real Hotel Example:

 

Let’s say I find myself in New York City desiring a room. W New York – The Court is a Category 6 hotel with a $479 room rate on October 21, 2009. One free night at an SPG Category 6 hotel requires 20,000 points.

 

After tax the W New York-The Court is a $553.15 room if I pay cash at the current room rate or

I can pay 20,000 Starpoints to check in and check-out with no charges to my credit card (assuming I have 20,000 points in my account).

 

While I stated in the beginning Starpoints have a value of $700 based on the SPG purchase price, the actual value upon redemption of 20,000 points in this example is only $553.15 for one night at the W New York – The Court.

 

$553/20,000 points.

Hotel Redemption Value = $27.65 per 1,000 points.

 

The individual member must decide if that is an acceptable exchange value for points. If you have to be in New York and the choice is spend $550 or 20,000 points, many of us would prefer to spend points.

 

[In Loyalty Traveler calculations I prefer to value points at the dollar amount per 1,000 points rather than dealing with cents and decimals. The results are less likely to have a math mistake and I think most of us can relate to a $10 value difference better than a 1 cent difference. Also, most loyalty programs price awards in 1,000s of points. Points purchases are generally required in increments of 1,000 points.]

 

Personally, I value my points too much for spending so many points for a single night at a Category 6 hotel. The occasion and circumstances need to be really special for me to blow 20,000+ points on a hotel night since I know there will be plenty of hotel night redemption opportunities that will offer better value for my points.

 

I earn very few points from credit card spending so I try and get the most value from the 30,000 to 40,000 points I earn each year from my hotel stays.

 

SPG Cash & Points Award Nights

 

InsideFlyer had a poll recently where 80% responded never having used a Cash & Points award. I find these awards to be the best value of my SPG points. when staying at hotels rated Category 3 and higher.

 

October 19 update: I see SPG has just changed the Cash & Points table adding Category 1 and 2 hotels in the US and Canada. Last week and for the past couple years SPG C&P awards were only allowed for Category 1 and 2 hotels in Asia Pacific.

So now there will be significantly more opportunities for SPG members to receive great value from C&P awards at Category 1 and 2 hotels in the US, Canada, and Asia-Pacific region.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/account/starpoints/redeem/cash_points.html

 

 

The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Florida has a room rate of $301.50 per night for a 4-night stay October 19-23. After tax the rate is $1,338.66 for a 4-night stay.

 

This hotel is a Category 5 hotel and available for the 4-night stay using 48,000 points. Using only points the member could also get a 5^th night free award for the same 48,000 points, but that doesn’t help when you only have four nights before your flight out of town.

 

Free Hotel Stay Using Points:

$1,339 cash saved/48,000 points spent.

Points redemption value is $27.90 per 1,000 points.

 

 

 

Cash & Points option for this category 5 hotel at $90 per night + 4,800 points is an even better value.

 

Paying $360 ($400 after tax) + 19,200 points increases the redemption value of the points. The cash cost is only 30% of the fully paid room rate ($400/$1,339) and conserves 28,800 points for future award nights.

 

Actual redemption value of points for this Cash & Points award stay:

 

$1,339 (fully paid room rate) – $400 (Cash portion of Cash & Points) = $939 saved with Cash & Points nights.

 

19,200 points saves $939 in cash.

$939/19,200 points = .0489 or $48.90 per 1,000 points redeemed.

Points Redemption Value = $48.90 per 1,000 points.

 

 

Cash & Points award redemption for the 4-night Westin Diplomat hotel stay increased the value of my points from $27.88 per 1,000 points using only points to $48.90 per 1,000 points.

 

The Cash & Points redemption value in this example is even higher than the cost to buy 19,200 points for the hotel stay for a member who does not already have sufficient points for this option. SPG members can purchase 20,000 points in a calendar year at $35 per 1,000 points.

A member with no points in account can buy 20,000 points ($700) and redeem for a Cash & Points award costing just an additional $400. $1,100 all-in compared to $1,339 for the cash rate.

 

Keep in mind that free nights using points or Cash & Points award nights do not earn points, night or stay credit for promotions, or elite stay credit. These are factors that influence the redemption value of points to the extent that a paid stay would have more future stay benefits than an award stay.

For example, the Westin Diplomat room only rate (no points are earned for tax portion of hotel stay) of $1,206 would earn 2,412 or 3,618 (SPG elite member) base points. And there is nearly always a promotion worth an additional 1,000 bonus points per hotel stay.

The real comparison needs to be $939 cash savings using Cash & Points nights to 19,200 points used for C&P + 3,400 – 4,600 points not earned from a paid stay.

$939/23,800 points = $39.45 per 1,000 points which is still a good redemption value with an exchange rate higher than the cost to buy points directly from SPG ($35 per 1,000 points).

Bottom line: Cash & Points awards will often provide the highest value for your SPG points redemptions.

How does the 2010 HHonors VIP Redemption Chart compare to the Current HHonors VIP Rewards chart?

October 26 Update: I linked to this post in a FlyerTalk thread. There was criticism that this post was misleading and wrong. This table is simply showing the change in points for a HHonors VIP Reward based on any specific HHonors hotel redemption category.

This table does not take into account that most hotels in the HHonors chain will likely increase by one category level in placement of hotels for the 2010 HHonors categories 1 to 7.

It may very well be that every Category 4 hotel in 2009 will be a Category 5 hotel in 2010. A Category 5 HHonors 4-night VIP reward at 119,000 points in 2010 will not be a 15% reduction in points for a specific hotel that was a Category 4 hotel in 2009. The 2009 HHonors category 4 hotel requiring 120,000 points for a 4-night stay in 2009 that becomes a 2010 HHonors category 5 hotel will require <1% fewer points in 2010.

A Category 5 hotel requiring 150,000 points in 2009 for a 6-night VIP reward will cost 180,000 points for a 6-night HHonors VIP reward in 2010 if it is redesignated a Category 6 hotel. This is a 20% increase.

This table is accurate for the points changes shown between 2009 and 2010 VIP rewards within any particular HHonors category. This table does not address the variable of hotels changing categories for 2010. HHonors plans to release the annual placement of hotels in HHonors redemption categories in late December or early January.

 October 26 Loyalty Traveler post “HHonors Members Angry Over Category Step Up” shows the effect on VIP rewards for hotels increasing by one category level in 2010.

HHonors VIP Comparison of 4-Night, 5-night, and 6-Night Awards in 2009 and 2010 for Category 3 to Category 7 Hotels
HHonors VIP Rewards	4 nights @ Category 3 hotel	5 nights @ Category 3 hotel	6 nights @ Category 3 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	100,000	125,000	150,000
2010 VIP Rewards	102,000 2% more	120,000 4% less	135,000 10% less
HHonors VIP Rewards	4 nights @ Category 4 hotel	5 nights @ Category 4 hotel	6 nights @ Category 4 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	120,000	150,000	150,000
2010 VIP Rewards	102,000 (15% less)	120,000 (20% less)	135,000 (10% less)
	4 nights @ Category 5 hotel	5 nights @ Category 5 hotel	6 nights @ Category 5 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	140,000  (HHonors American Express members AXON5 award is 125,000 points)	150,000	150,000
2010 VIP Rewards	119,000 (15% less)	140,000 (7% less)	157.500 (5% more)
	4 nights @ Category 6 hotel	5 nights @ Category 6 hotel	6 nights @ Category 6 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	160,000   (HHonors American Express members AXON6 award is 145,000 points)	175,000	175,000
2010 VIP Rewards	136,000 (15% less)	160,000 (9% less)	180,000 (3% more)
Category 7 (assume Category 6 hotels moving up)	4 nights @ Category 7 hotel	5 nights @ Category 7 hotel	6 nights @ Category 7 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards (based on 2009 Category 6 hotels)	160,000	175,000	175,000
2010 VIP Rewards	170,000  (6% more)	200,000 (14% more)	225,000 (29% more)
HHonors VIP Comparison of 7-Night, 8-night, and 9-Night Awards in 2009 and 2010 for Category 3 to Category 7 Hotels
HHonors VIP Rewards	7 nights @ Category 3 hotel	8 nights @ Category 3 hotel	9 nights @ Category 3 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	155,000	175,000	195,000
2010 VIP Rewards	157,500 (<2% more)	180,000 (3% more)	202,500 (4% more)
HHonors VIP Rewards	7 nights @ Category 4 hotel	8 nights @ Category 4 hotel	9 nights @ Category 4 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	155,000	175,000	195,000
2010 VIP Rewards	157,500 (<2% more)	180,000 (3% more)	202,500 (4% more)
	7 nights @ Category 5 hotel	8 nights @ Category 5 hotel	9 nights @ Category 5 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	175,000	200,000	225,000
2010 VIP Rewards	183,750 (5% more)	210,000 (5% more)	236,250 (5% more)
	7 nights @ Category 6 hotel	8 nights @ Category 6 hotel	9 nights @ Category 6 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards	205,000	235,000	265,000
2010 VIP Rewards	210,000 (2% more)	240,000 (2% more)	270,000 (<2% more)
Category 7 (assume Category 6 hotels moving up)	7 nights @ Category 7 hotel	8 nights @ Category 7 hotel	9 nights @ Category 7 hotel
2009 VIP Rewards (based on 2009 Category 6 hotels)	205,000	235,000	265,000
2010 VIP Rewards	262,500 (28% more)	300,000 (28% more)	337,500 (27% more)

 

 

 

 

 

Hilton HHonors has released a change in the category structure for HHonors free night redemption using points and a restructured VIP Reward Table for January 15, 2010.

 

The positive change in the hotel VIP rewards is the opportunity to redeem for 4 and 5 night awards at a discount. This is a huge change and benefits many members who seldom had the opportunity to redeem hotel stays of 6 or more nights. 

The HHonors VIP four night reward stay is a competitive advantage against Starwood and Marriott’s 5th night free awards. Currently, 4 night HHonors award stays are available at a 15,000 points discount to HHonors American Express card members as the AXON5 award for Category 5 hotels (125,000 points) and AXON6 award for Category 6 hotels (145,000 points).

 

VIP Rewards are available to all HHonors elite members (Silver VIP requires 4 stays in a calendar year.)

 

How does the 2010 HHonors VIP Redemption Chart compare to the Current HHonors VIP Rewards chart?

HHonors VIP Rewards as of October 13, 2009

 

 

 

 

Currently, Category 5 hotels are 150,000 points for 6 nights and the VIP reward saves nearly 29% on the single night rate of 35,000 points. One issue with HHonors is there is currently no discount on points for stays of fewer than 6 nights unless you are an American Express card member eligible for AXON 4 night reward stays. And PointStretcher discount awards disappeared this summer.

 

Marriott went the other way in 2009 with the 5th night free redemption change. Previously Marriott Rewards offered a discount on points per night for any multi-night stay beginning with a 2-night reward stay with increasing savings for up to a 40% discount for 7 night award stays. Now there is only a discount on points with a 5 night or longer stay. The cost increased for almost all hotel rewards booked with Marriott Rewards points in 2009. The changes reduced the potential value of many members’ points who favored Marriott hotel stays of 2 to 4 or 6 to 7 nights.

 

I created comparative graphs of the Hilton HHonors category distribution and Marriott Rewards distribution in October 2008. I was wrong in my prediction last year that Marriott Rewards would see a major category shift in 2009. I based my prediction on the higher proportion of HHonors hotels in higher categories compared to Marriott. Fortunately for consumers the Marriott category shift did not happen to create a double hit devaluing members’ points in 2009.  

Hilton HHonors Rewards Chart (per night), current for October 13, 2009

 

There will be a category shift of some properties currently in Category 6 into the new Category 7 redemption.

What remains to be seen is how widespread is the shift from other lower categories to higher categories, e.g. how many Category 3 hotels will move to Category 4 and how many category 4 hotels will move up to Category 5?

This could be a small movement across the 3,200 properties with only a few luxury and really high-demand hotels shifting to the new category 7. Minor shuffling among the other redemption categories could leave most of the 3,200 Hilton brand hotels in their current 2009 category. Some hotels may even move down a redemption category.

On the other hand, the new Category 7 could be accompanied by a wide scale shift upwards in redemption hotel category among the 3,200 hotels, perhaps even involving 25% or more of the properties.

During the years from 2003 to 2007 there was a large shift of hotels upward that created a significant reduction in the overall proportion of hotels in the lower categories of HHonors. Currently, the lower HHonors redemption categories of Opportunity and category 1 are pretty vacant while the categories of 2 and 3 are stuffed.

 

 

 

The 2010 changes could see system-wide recategorization of the 3,200 hotels and may provide a major redistribution of hotels among the 7 hotel categories.

Unfortunately, I predict there will be a shift upwards for a large number of Category 2 and 3 hotels.

Omni Hotels Select Guest currently has a promotion for triple airline miles with either United Airlines or American Airlines, which is 1,500 miles per hotel stay. Promotion registration is required.

American Airlines Triple Miles Promotion Registration

United Airlines Triple Miles Promotion

Terms and Conditions:  Guest must pay a qualifying rate on at least one night of each stay in order to earn triple miles (1,500 miles).  All stays must occur between 3/1/09 – 12/31/09 with a departure on or before 12/31/09.  Registration for this promotion is required prior to arrival.  Guest must be a member of the Omni Select Guest program and include an active frequent flyer membership number on the Select Guest member profile prior to arrival.

 

Omni Select Guest Members Must Choose to Earn Airline Miles or Free Night Credit

Omni Hotels offers its Select Guest loyalty program members the choice of 500 airline miles per stay or credit towards a free night after 10 paid eligible nights at Omni Hotels. Members who choose to earn airline miles will not receive credit toward a free night after 10 nights. You can change your earning preference with each stay. Unlike most hotel loyalty programs, Omni Select Guest free nights earned by the member are not transferrable to others.

Multi-night hotel stays favor crediting your nights towards earning a free night, but a single night stay may offer more value credited to airline miles. Omni Select Guest has 13 airline partners, mostly international airlines, and Amtrak for crediting points and miles.

Select Guest Airline Partners:

• AmericanAirlines

• United Mileage Plus

• Amtrak Guest Rewards

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue 

• ANA Mileage Club 

• British Airways Executive Club

• China Eastern Airlines Eastern Miles

• Emirates Skywards

• Etihad Guest

• Jet Airways Jet Privilege

• Lufthansa Miles and More   

• Qatar Privilege Club

• Singapore Air KrisFlyer

• Thai Air Royal Orchid Plus

About Omni Hotels and Select Guest

Omni Hotels is a small hotel chain with just 43 upper upscale and luxury hotels in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Inside Flyer reviewed the Omni Hotels Select Guest loyalty program in the June 2009 issue.

Omni Hotels Select Guest loyalty program new members are registered in Gold level membership. Benefits begin with your first stay and include complimentary wi-fi, clothes pressing, morning beverage service, newspaper, and exclusive member offers.

Select Guest has a relatively low entry qualification for elite status starting at just 3 stays or 6 nights in a calendar year to earn Platinum elite. Additional benefits include nightly complimentary bottled water, possibility of complimentary room upgrade at check-in, 3pm late checkout (one of my favorite benefits), and a local welcome amenity gift.

20 nights or 11 stays in a calendar year qualifies the Select guest member for Black Level elite status. This membership level includes 5pm late check-out, 10am check-in, unlimited complimentary clothes pressing ( a great benefit when your suit has been folded in the luggage for a day or two) , confirmed room upgrades 24 hours before arrival, and suite upgrades when redeeming free nights.

Personally I have only been to the Omni San Francisco, located at the base of Nob Hill, across from the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton. I enjoy the large lobby with fine furnishings and comfortable couches. The Omni San Francisco hotel property has had some great bargain rates this past year with some nights available for as low as $100.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are locations of Omni Hotels:

United States

Arizona   Omni Tucson National Resort Tucson, Arizona

California   Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza Los Angeles, California   Omni San Diego Hotel San Diego, California   Omni San Francisco Hotel San Francisco, California

Colorado   Omni Interlocken Resort Denver (Broomfield), Colorado

Connecticut   Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale New Haven, Connecticut

District of Columbia   Omni Shoreham Hotel Washington, District of Columbia

Florida   Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate ChampionsGate, Florida   Omni Jacksonville Hotel Jacksonville, Florida

Georgia   Omni Hotel at CNN Center Atlanta, Georgia

Illinois   Omni Chicago Hotel Chicago, Illinois

Indiana   Omni Severin Hotel Indianapolis, Indiana

Louisiana   Omni Royal Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana   Omni Royal Crescent Hotel New Orleans, Louisiana

Massachusetts   Omni Parker House Boston, Massachusetts

Michigan   Omni Detroit Hotel at River Place Detroit, Michigan

Missouri   Omni Majestic Hotel St. Louis, Missouri

New Hampshire   Omni Mount Washington Resort Bretton Woods, New Hampshire   Omni Bretton Arms Inn Bretton Woods, New Hampshire

New York   Omni Berkshire Place New York, New York

North Carolina   Omni Charlotte Hotel Charlotte, North Carolina

Pennsylvania   Omni Bedford Springs Resort Bedford, Pennsylvania   Omni Hotel at Independence Park Philadelphia, Pennsylvania   Omni William Penn Hotel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Texas   Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark Austin, Texas   Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Austin, Texas   Omni Corpus Christi Hotel Marina Tower Corpus Christi, Texas   Omni Corpus Christi Hotel Bayfront Tower Corpus Christi, Texas   Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West Dallas, Texas   Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel Dallas, Texas   Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas Dallas (Irving), Texas   Omni Fort Worth Hotel Fort Worth, Texas   Omni Houston Hotel at Westside Houston, Texas   Omni Houston Hotel Houston, Texas Watermark Hotel & Spa San Antonio, Texas   Omni San Antonio Hotel San Antonio, Texas   Omni La Mansión del Rio San Antonio, Texas

Virginia   Omni Charlottesville Hotel Charlottesville, Virginia   Omni Newport News Hotel Newport News, Virginia   Omni Richmond Hotel Richmond, Virginia

 

Canada

Omni Mont-Royal

Montreal, Quebec

 

 

 

 

Mexico

Omni Cancun Hotel & Villas

Cancun, Quintana Roo

 

Omni Puerto Aventuras Beach Resort

Puerto Aventuras, Quintana Roo

 

 

 

Signing up for a promotion that was not directly targeted to me is something I have done many times in the past.

 

I have earned tens of thousands of points and miles over the years signing up for offers that were not necessarily meant for me, yet allowed me to register. Even when I thought there was a slim possibility I would qualify for the bonus I sometimes registered for offers.

 

There have also been many bonus offers over the years that never posted to my accounts. That is what I expected for some offers I signed up to earn.

 

The hotel or airline loyalty program may choose to include me with the target audience or reject me as not part of the target audience and deny me the promotion bonus. All I can do is make an attempt to earn bonuses when I see offers and believe I might qualify. Terms and conditions are often not clear or misleading for loyalty promotion bonuses.

 

The decision to award the bonus is up to the hotel or airline loyalty program.

 

In the past ten years I have seen a number of promotional offers that were extended to loyalty members who registered and were not part of the intended or specified target audience for the bonus. Sometimes the rules were subsequently clarified, altered, restricted, or expanded.  Other times the rules were plainly vague.

 

Several times the saying “early bird gets the worm” applied when I registered for a promotion that was later made more restrictive in its eligibility. Those of us who registered before rule changes or term clarifications received the original bonus offer for which we were not the actual targeted members or the bonus was not represented correctly in the original terms.

 

An example of rules changes after the fact was a United Mileage Plus triple miles bonus in 2004 that actually was worded in the original terms and conditions to read a bonus of triple base miles.

 

Mileage Plus rewrote the terms of the promotion to the effect the promotion was triple miles including the base miles. The change of wording came after many members had already registered and booked flights.

 

Those of us who registered early received the original offer of four times miles from Mileage Plus. As a 1K member at the time I received some 85,000 redeemable miles, 5x miles, as a United 1K flyer with a 100% elite miles bonus on top of the promotion bonus on a single $550 ticket to Bangkok. I flew my wife to Europe in Business Class two weeks later on an award ticket.

 

In my experience there is no major downside to signing up for every conceivable promotion that you are allowed to register your account number.

 

5,000 United Airlines Mileage Plus Miles per Hyatt Stay for United 1K

 

Hyatt Gold Passport United 1K bonus for stays from September 1 – October 31 was a targeted promotion for United 1K members.

The promotion announcement reads:

“United Airlines Mileage Plus 1K members are invited to join the Hyatt Gold Passport Global loyalty program and earn 5,000 Mileage Plus bonus miles per stay at any Hyatt worldwide.”

 

The terms and conditions of the offer state:

“To participate in this promotion you must join Hyatt Gold Passport via url www.goldpassport.com/united1K and stay between September 1, 2009 and October 31, 2009 at any Hyatt Hotel & Resort™, Hyatt Place™, Hyatt Summerfield Suites™ or Andaz™ worldwide.”

 

The United Airlines Mileage Plus 5,000 miles per Hyatt stay promotion registration page, along with the terms and conditions page, indicate this promotion targeted Mileage Plus 1K members who register as new members of Hyatt Gold Passport.

This promotion may not have been meant to actually apply to United Airlines Mileage Plus 1K members who were already members of Hyatt Gold Passport.

 

As it turned out Mileage Plus 1K members who are existing members of Hyatt Gold Passport Plus and registered on the promotion page earned 5,000 miles bonus per stay.

 

I signed up for the promotion. I am not a United Mileage Plus 1K member.

I simply entered my Gold Passport number in the registration box and I received a registration confirmation.

 

I have not heard of any Mileage Plus members receiving the 5,000 Mileage Plus bonus miles who are not Mileage Plus 1K members.

 

 

Is it wrong that I signed up for this promotion when I am not a United Mileage Plus 1K member?

 

In my opinion it is up to Hyatt Gold Passport and United Airlines Mileage Plus to decide who deserves the promotion. The rules do not explicitly state a Mileage Plus 1K member who is already a Gold Passport member is eligible for the 5,000 miles per stay bonus. The promotion terms do not state a United Mileage Plus member who is not a 1K member is excluded from earning the bonus.

 

Website registration only asks for a Hyatt Gold Passport number to register. There is not even a place to enter a Mileage Plus frequent flyer number when registering for this promotion.

 

No harm in trying and see if the promotion is extended to Mileage Plus members who are not 1K members.

 

Then, wait and see which bonuses are actually applied to the account.

 

To repeat: I have not seen any anecdotes of people who were not Mileage Plus 1K members earning the 5,000 miles per stay in September and October. It seems like a simple enough process for Mileage Plus to verify member status in their frequent flyer program before awarding miles to the Mileage Plus member’s account.

October 12 Update: The terms and conditions for this promotion have been changed and now there is an additional statement “United Mileage Plus 1K membership will be validated to receive the bonus.” 

United 5,000 Miles per Stay Promotion link

Hyatt Gold Passport has a 2,500 bonus miles per every 2 nights promotion with a variety of airline travel partners through December 31, 2009 with registration open to all frequent flyer program members in more than a dozen airlines. Loyalty Traveler post link for 2,500 Airline Miles with Hyatt.

There is a tutorial for Getting Hyatt Points by SanDiego1K on FlyerTalk for members who are new to Hyatt Gold Passport or not entirely familiar with the program. This is a good tutorial for members looking at earning miles over the next few months or seeking to maximize Gold Passport points.

 

Loyalty Program Fraudulent Behavior

 

Last month I wrote about signing up my wife as a new member of the Accor A-Club hotel loyalty program to receive 2,000 bonus points during their 1 year Happy Birthday promotion in September. I don’t think I had even read about this offer on FlyerTalk yet (although it had already been posted there) when I first wrote about the offer on Loyalty Traveler.

 

I saw the offer on the Accor website and I knew that 2,000 points is sufficient for a US$60 hotel voucher that works like cash credit. And I knew these certificates are combinable. I had just written about the A-Club loyalty program for a column in InsideFlyer October 2009.

 

Then, Friday Oct. 9 on Lucky’s One Mile at a Time blog post I read about people who registered for numerous new member accounts. I read the FlyerTalk thread where someone stated opening up 300 new member accounts. There was a reference in the thread about A-Club vouchers appearing on e-bay. When I searched the net I found an Australian website that had posted this A-Club voucher offer more than a week before I wrote about it and some greedy behavior was exhibited there. This was a viral offer that was overused in Europe, Australia, and the USA.

 

Accor A-Club ended the Happy Birthday promotion early.

 

The final thought I’d like to leave with readers is your loyalty program behavior is up to you.

I have lines I don’t cross. I avoid posting hotel Best Rate Guarantee fares I find. If I happen to get a deal when I am actively searching hotel rates that is great for me and within the rationale for having a BRG offer from hotel chains. My one discounted room rate should not really be much of a burden on a hotel. If a hotel is booked out by hundreds of people costing the hotel substantial lost revenue then that is a business hardship I don’t want to be a party to creating for the hotel.

My boundaries fall between signing up for loyalty program promotions that were not necessarily targeted to me, but may possibly include me if I am accepted by the loyalty program as an eligible member for a bonus.

The line I don’t cross is to lie when filling out forms or assume multiple identities to earn rewards that I do not deserve by the published rules or the application of the rules for the loyalty promotion.

There are grey areas in the loyalty program world we run into when playing this game and it is up to each member to decide the appropriate steps and boundaries for your actions and activity.