FlyerTalk member BlondeBomber has posted his spreadsheet of Hilton HHonors properties with 2010 category updates for all 3,500+ hotels. The spreadsheet can be viewed online and is available for download. The spreadsheet also shows HHonors hotel reward category levels from the past several years.  This has been an annual record maintained by BlondeBomber. There are several other good resources available through his links including Starwood and Marriott hotel award categories, and Star Alliance information.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13365657-post116.html

And if you didn’t already know, Loyalty Traveler and satori are one and the same person – me.

Here is a decent Westin Casuarina Las Vegas special rate offer for $109 Sunday-Thursday and $129 Friday and Saturday that includes a 1,500 Starpoints bonus. Book online using rate plan BONUS or call 1-866-716-8137 and ask for this rate. Must book by February 20 for hotel stays through May 27, 2010.

1,500 Starpoints is essentially a $50 future credit value if you use your Starpoints selectively for good hotel savings.

I have stayed at the Westin Casuarina several times. This is about the only Starwood Hotel I think I have never received an upgrade after multiple stays. The hotel has very few suites. There is a small casino in the lobby and a Starbucks café.

The major advantage of the Westin Casuarina Hotel over any hotel on the Strip is the swimming pool hours of 5am to 2am. Nearly every other pool at a Las Vegas casino hotel closes by 5pm or 6pm in the evening. Most of the pools do not open before 10am. When the temperature is 95 in April and the pool’s glistening beauty entices you for a swim (or you need to sober up with a full body splash after that fifth mojito), there is no greater let-down than to arrive at the pool entrance at 5pm stripped down to your swimming gear, and find the pool has just closed.

My other tip for someone staying at the Westin Casuarina is to check out Ellis Island Casino & Brewery across the street. This locals hangout has $1.50 pints of microbrew and a great meal of ribs and chicken. Sign up for your free casino card to get a meal discount. And if the barbecue line is too long a wait, the restaurant also has great meal deals.

Since Planet Hollywood on the Las Vegas Strip rebranded from Starwood Hotels, those $69 hotel stays for Starwood credit are gone. The only Starwood Hotel options in the Las Vegas area are the Westin Casuarina, one block off the Strip, and the new Element hotel, west of the city, in a business park directly off the freeway, in the suburb of Summerlin. The Element Hotel is an extended stay brand with all mod cons for cooking and relaxing and offers studio, one- and two-bedroom options. Summerlin is at the base of the mountains and a great location for families who can head west to the hiking trails in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Here are past Loyalty Traveler reviews:

Westin Casuarina (pictures) http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/08/24/starwood-hotels%e2%80%99-planet-hollywood-and-westin-casuarina-las-vegas/

Element Summerlin  - http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/08/16/element-las-vegas-in-hd/

I like to determine the relative value of hotel points. Most hotel loyalty program members have an idea of the approximate value of points in their primary hotel loyalty program. My question is how do hotel rewards in different programs compare to each other?

After ten years of loyalty points and miles analysis, I have found that the primary variables in determining the value of hotel points come down to two factors.

1. What is the member’s ability to earn points?

• This factor has a number of variables such as hotel stay pattern, hotel spend, loyalty promotions, elite status, credit card earning, and partner earning.

2. Where will hotel points be redeemed?

• Bora Bora, Bali, Charleston, SC, or Cleveland, OH makes quite a difference in the value of hotel redemptions. In general, a member will get more value in terms of dollars saved when redeeming for low category hotels vs. resort and major city locations.

The recent changes with Hilton HHonors has me looking more closely at how far points will go when looking at different locations for hotel stays using points. Hilton representatives stated room rate increases since 2003 in the neighborhood of 30% meant hotel reward categories needed adjusting to compensate for the increased points its members earn these days. The solution implemented by HHonors January 15, 2010 was to move 83% of hotels in the entire chain of 3,500+ hotels to a higher cost for rewards.

I found this rationale interesting since I predicted 15 months ago Marriott Rewards would likely have a large category shift upwards in 2009 to be better aligned with the Hilton HHonors hotel category placement. Marriott proved me wrong by not making a major category adjustment in 2009. To my amazement it was Hilton HHonors that decided its hotel category placement was too low in 2009 and they raised their hotels to even higher point levels for reward nights using points.

How does one compare hotel rewards for Marriott, Hilton, and other hotel programs?

Here is my analysis using a scaled hotel reward value comparison. I adjusted the value of 1,000 hotel points across the different hotel chains of Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Starwood.

Here is my Hotel Reward Scaled Value chart I used to create an equivalent scale for 1,000 hotel points across the five hotel chain loyalty programs for Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Starwood.

The city of Greenville in upstate South Carolina is located halfway between Atlanta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina on Interstate 85. Here is a comparison of hotel rates and reward categories for Greenville, SC. I picked Greenville, SC at random without any idea of how the numbers would play out for the hotel chains. I wanted a city with hotels in several chains, but a city smaller than San Francisco or New York which I have used in earlier Loyalty Traveler hotel reward comparisons.

All the major chains have properties in Greenville allowing for a cross-comparison of rates and reward category for free nights among the different hotel chains of Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Starwood Hotels.

Comparative Hotel Reward based on a common scaled value for ranking hotels in Greenville, SC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observations from a comparison of hotel rewards across hotel loyalty programs.

1. Hyatt Gold Passport is the best deal in this town. A full service Hyatt Regency at 5,000 points. Hyatt Hotel G bonuses often earn 2,000 bonus points per stay. Gold Passport Diamond members earn 1,000 points for a full service Hyatt hotel stay. This reward is basically a free night after two hotel stays. Gold passport points go far in Greenville, SC.
2. Starwood Preferred Guest stacks up poorly at 7,000 points for a night. The property is historic, located in downtown, and the only Starwood property around. Cash & Points is a respectable redemption value.

• A comparison between hotel loyalty programs using base points earned is always going to place Starwood Hotels at a disadvantage.
• I’ll argue that SPG has the lowest ratio between points earned by base points over points earned by promotion bonuses. For example, $100 hotel spend is calculated as 200 points for SPG using 2 base points per $1. Hilton HHonors is calculated as 15 base points per $1 for 1,500 points.
• Hilton earns 7.5x more points per $1 in hotel spend than Starwood points.
• However, the typical bonus for SPG is 1,000 points per stay and Hilton is also typically 1,000 points per stay. I’ll even say Hilton HHonors stays average 2,000 bonus points per stay.
• With this earning adjustment, then $100 in hotel spend is 1,200 points with SPG and 3,500 points with Hilton. Now there is only a 3x separation between earning points in the two programs. Starwood ranks comparable to Hilton in real travel earning hotel points. By this same logic, Hyatt soars above the other programs for this city.

3.  Marriott looks comparatively good on a scaled value with all the other chains.

4. InterContinental Hotels Group fares worst value in this city comparison. Cash & Points award options would bring several of these hotels up to a better value. After IHG Priority Club ranking as the best value properties in NYC, the program does not look so competitive when in a relatively low room rate city.

The advantage of Priority Club is brand arbitrage using fixed reward rates to the member’s advantage. A Crowne Plaza is 25,000 points whether in London, New York, or Greenville, SC. Advice for Priority Club members is to take advantage of hotel brand reward value (Staybridge Suites, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza) for expensive locations and pay your way to earn points at inexpensive locations.

5. Hilton HHonors falls in the middle with redemption value comparable to the other hotel chains. Nothing too outrageously high and nothing too low. HHonors may feel just right for some hotel loyalty program members. Important to note: the value comparison is based on Points & Points earning preference. If you choose to Double Dip for Points & Miles, then the scaled value is reduced by 1/3 and HHonors property rankings drop significantly.

6. I have no personal knowledge of the hotels in Greenville, SC. The ranking here is entirely an objective view of hotel points and does not take into consideration the quality of these specific hotels in terms of facilities, TripAdvisor reviews, AAA hotel ranking, or location other than in Greenville, SC. I can say that Hyatt Regency Greenville is a good reward value, but I do not know if the hotel is comparable to the Marriott, Hilton, Westin, or Crowne Plaza.

Best Western throws out a promotion worth considering hotel stays and an opportunity for BW frequent guests to get a high value mileage rebate on the cost of rooms. Earn triple miles beginning with second stay for reservations booked online at bestwestern.com during the February 7 – March 28, 2010 promotion period. Only double miles are earned if stay is not booked online. This promotion is also good for triple points, or 30 points per $1.

Maximum of three bonuses after four Best Western hotel stays for general members.

Best Western Rewards elite members may earn unlimited triple miles bonus rewards through March 28. Best Western Rewards members who become elite during the promotion period (Gold elite = 10 nights) may also earn unlimited rewards.

Must be a Best Western Rewards member residing in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean Islands, South America, South Africa, Asia, Israel, Egypt or Ukraine.

Set your member profile earning preference to airline miles. Request airline miles and provide your frequent flier number at check-in.

Promotion registration is required before first stay. Registration and promotion page link.

Best Western Triple Miles Promotion Terms & Conditions link.

Best Western Rewards Airline Partners

Best Western Rewards has 16 airline partners and the AirMiles program. The best miles earning ratios are with Lufthansa Miles & More at 500 miles per stay and Southwest Airlines earns 0.5 credit per stay. Triple miles are 1,500 miles or 1.5 credit, respectively.

All other 14 airline partners earn 250 miles per stay; 750 miles for triple miles per stay with second stay.

Airline partners include:

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air Berlin TopBonus
• Air France/KLM Flying Blue
• Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
• Alitalia Millemiglia
• American Airlines AAdvantage
• Asiana Club
• China Southern Sky Pearl Club
• Continental OnePass
• Czech Airlines OK Plus
• Delta/Northwest Skymiles
• Hainan Airlines
• LanPass
• Luthansa Miles & More (also Swiss, Austrian, LOT Polish)
• Southwest Airlines
• US Airways Dividend Miles

AirMiles program normally earns 20 miles per hotel stay. Triple miles = 60 miles per stay.

Best Value Miles 

Miles & More frequent flier miles are the same program used for Lufthansa, Swiss, LOT Polish, and Austrian Airlines. Miles are good for any Star Alliance airline including United, US Airways, and Continental. Each stay will earn 1,500 miles. A Miles & More intra-Europe flight or intra-North America is 30,000 miles in economy class.

Miles & More Award Chart

Southwest Rapid Rewards frequent fliers normally earn ½ credit per hotel stay. This triple miles promotion earns 1.5 Rapid Rewards credits per eligible Best Western stay through March 28, 2010.

Southwest flights earn 1.0 credit per one-way flight. A free Southwest reward ticket is earned upon accruing 16 credits within 24 months. Southwest Airlines Free Award Ticket link.

A free Southwest Airlines ticket could be yours after 12 Best Western stays by March 28.

Hyatt Gold Passport is allowing members who earned Faster Free Nights during the Next Big Thing promotion from October 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010 the opportunity to redeem free nights past the original promotion date of March 31, 2010.

You must call Hyatt Customer Service prior to February 28 to request an extension of your earned free night awards at 1-800-304-9288.

New Redemption Deadlines:

• April 30, 2010 Hyatt Gold Passport General members
• May 31, 2010 Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum members
• June 30, 2010 Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members

Remember – you must call to request the free night redemption extension before February 28 at 1-800-304-9288.

Source: Gold Passport Concierge FlyerTalk post

Redemption opportunity: I just called to check on free nights for Hyatt Highlands Inn in Carmel. Rooms were available for free night redemption for 5 nights next week from Monday, February 15 through Friday, February 19. Loyalty Traveler’s Hyatt Highlands Inn photo album on Picasa.

Paid Stay Opportunity: Hyatt San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf

Special offer rate $99 + 1,500 bonus points + $25 Food & Beverage credit for stays Feb 1-28, 2010.

$119 per night for stays March 1 to April 30.

Book by March 17, 2010.

Request Special Offer Code SOLOGP.

February 28, 2010 is the last day I can refer new members to Starwood Preferred Guest for an instant upgrade to Gold elite membership. In addition to the benefits of Gold elite through February 2011, the new SPG member will receive 1,000 bonus points for every night stayed through March 31, 2010.

This offer has been around since November. For every new member I refer who stays at a Starwood Hotel by March 31, 2010 I will receive 1,000 bonus points.

So far I have received 11,000 points after referring over 200 members. Looks like I have earned sufficient points for one night at the Walt Disney Resort Dolphin after three months of referrals.  

I was kind of hoping for 5 nights at the Prince de Galles, Paris so my wife will forgive me for putting us up at the Marriott Courtyard Airport that December trip when we visited Disney Paris in the pouring rain and only managed to make it on one ride after a day of standing in lines in the cold rain. She has not walked through the Louvre. She never had the opportunity to see the inside of Notre Dame cathedral. I am not even religious, but something touched me and brought tears to my eyes when I stood in that 800 year old cathedral a decade ago.

Anyway, this is a great opportunity for new members to Starwood Preferred Guest.

Here is my November post with all the details for this offer:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/11/20/my-midas-touch-gives-new-spg-members-starwood-preferred-guest-gold-elite/

Approximately 82% of Hilton Worldwide hotels, around 2,900 hotels, require more HHonors points for a free night after the January 15, 2010 changes. I recently analyzed the 3,500+ Hilton Worldwide hotels and HHonors reward category placement and shifts and present some of the data here.

An individual hotel’s reward category determines how many points are required for a free night. HHonors revised the global hotel chain’s reward system by shifting the former 7 hotel categories ranked from Opportunity to Category 6 up one step.  Reports of a 20% devaluation in HHonors points only tells part of the story, and not a particularly relevant aspect of the whole story for the HHonors member.

Barbara De Lollis of USA Today published a December 15, 2009 article in her Hotel Check-in blog stating Jeff Diskin, Hilton Worldwide  Senior Vice President of Customer Marketing, told her in an interview that 74% of 3,476 Hilton properties would stay in the same category, 547 properties would move into a cheaper points category, and 354 hotels would move into a pricier category. These changes would come on top of the 20% increase required for a free night’s stay across Hilton’s system.

This didn’t make any sense to me. The 20% increase statement was confusing to me. What exactly is changing 20%?

A 2009 category-1 hotel shifting to a 2010 category-2 is a 25% increase from 10,000 points per night to 12,500 points per night.

A 2009 category-6 hotel shifting to a 2010 category-7 hotel is a 25% increase  from 40,000 points per night to 50,000 points per night.

A 2009 Category-5 hotel moving to category-6 is a 16.7% increase.

Some readers of my blog stated the 20% changes were based on all hotels shifting up one category. A category-3 hotel would by default be a category-4 hotel in the new 2010 system and then some of these new category-4 hotels would remain in category-4, some would increase again to a higher category, and some would go back down to category-3.  This turned out to be a mostly correct interpretation of the January 15, 2010 changes.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of HHonors Hotel Reward Category Shift for 2010

Most Hilton brand hotels were unchanged in reward category for many years with 2005 being the last year with heightened activity in shifting hotel placement upward in HHonors reward categories. Between 2005 and 2008 hotels experienced large increases in average daily room rates. Many cities experienced double digit rate increases several years.

Since late 2008 hotel rates have experienced unprecedented global declines for the modern hotel industry with the USA being the hardest hit region. During the boom years HHonors selectively moved a relatively small proportion of properties up in hotel reward category. I have not calculated precise numbers, but I think about 10% of hotels increased in hotel reward category over the past few years.

Approximately 88% of Hilton brand hotels are located in the USA.

Stating there is a 20% devaluation in HHonors points is a mathematical construct that doesn’t reflect real travel. My earlier analysis showed there was about a 20% increase in the cost of hotel stays systemwide based on the points it would have taken in 2009 for one free night at every Hilton Worldwide property compared to the points in 2010. But nobody is going to redeem points for every Hilton brand hotel worldwide.

Real travelers are not staying in every Hilton property across the globe. Frequent guests are typically looking at only a few dozen hotels around the world for reward stays and the vast majority of travelers will only redeem one reward, maybe two, or at just a few hotels in the entire 3,500+ Hilton hotel system during the course of this next year or any year.

The Hilton HHonors points devaluation effect of hotel reward category changes is more apparent when individual hotels and hotel groupings are looked at closely for category changes.

I’d like to show HHonors members a different way to look at the changes to HHonors rewards after the January 15, 2010 changes in hotel category placement.

I would like to acknowledge the effort of FlyerTalk member Blondebomber who has maintained a Hilton HHonors hotel reward category spreadsheet for the past decade. I have tallied the current hotel category placement across the global system based on the HHonors website since the January 15 changes and compared categories with Blondebomber’s 2009 spreadsheet to analyze the category shift across the Hilton Worldwide system.

Results:

354 hotels increased by two or more category levels from 2009. This same exact number was reported in the December 15 Barbara DeLollis Hotel Check-in column as the number of hotels that would move into a pricier column.

Now look at the numbers this way. The category shift is based on 3,436 same hotels with 2009 category placement data. There are 96 hotels currently with a category placement, mostly new properties in 2009, for which I did not have 2009 category placement data. These numbers may not be exact, but they are fairly precise.

• 2,845 hotels, or 82.8% globally, require more points for one free night hotel reward in 2010 than they did in 2009.
• Only 34 hotels, or just 1.0% globally, require fewer points for one free night reward in 2010 than they did in 2009.
•  557 hotels, or 16.2% globally, require the same points for a hotel reward night in 2010 after the changes.

 

There are 13 days left in this 30 day contest for a free night at Hotel Indigo Chelsea in New York City. Hotel Indigo is the luxury boutique brand of Intercontinental Hotels Group. I don’t know anything personally about this hotel. New York City is unfamiliar ground to me.

Sign up for the promotion and register a password. This is a marketing profile giveaway. Provide your name, email, address, and age.

One entry is allowed each day and you must be a resident of the U.S. or Canada to enter sweepstakes.

Relevant sweepstakes fine print that I noticed:

 Daily prize of one room. 30 prizes are to be given away over 30 days.

Contest ends February 17, 2010.

The hotel has discretion on available dates for using free night.

Sweepstakes Registration: Hotel Indigo New York City-Chelsea Free Night Entry registration link

Sweepstakes Rules: Hotel Indigo New York City-Chelsea 2010 Official Contest Rules link

This was going to be a quick post until I read juliana’s Hotel Chatter pieces “Break Out Your Dolla Bills: Hotel Indigo Opens in Chelsea for $349 a Night” – Oct 13, 2009  and “Hotel Inidgo Chelsea is Giving Away a Free Room” – Jan 29, 2010.

Her free room piece posted last week stated rates had dropped to $153 from the $349 opening price at the Hotel Indigo Chelsea.  That is a precipitous descent in 100 days of opening in October 2009.

I decided to check Hotel Indigo NYC-Chelsea  rates for the last weekend in February. I went to the Hotel Indigo New York City-Chelsea website. There is a quick reservations box on the left side.  

The calendar icon automatically opened for February when I clicked it. If I had had a full night’s sleep I might have noticed a clue that something was amiss with a Friday, February 28 check-in and Sunday, March 1 checkout.

The rate search came back with an error message that the hotel could not book rooms so far in advance.

Come on!

I entered February 28 and March 1 using the onscreen calendar. That is less than 4 weeks away.

I take another look at the dates.

Saturday, February 29.

2010 is not a leap year.

WTF!

The year is 2020.

The calendar icons grayed out when trying to move before the default month of February 2020. This room booking avenue on the Hotel Indigo Chelsea site was useless.

Fortunately, there was another reservation icon.

The rates are still $153 for the weekend of February 26-28, 2010 using AAA rate. Best part is the rate may be cancelled until 6pm day of arrival.

So after room taxes the free room giveaway is worth $179 at a minimum.

Of course the room rates could always drop another 50% in the next four months.

Gold Points Plus loyalty program for Carlson Hotels made major consumer-friendly points reductions to high-end hotel rewards this week. The cost for a free night reward in the top three categories of their six hotel reward tiers has dropped. Over 300 hotels at the top of the Carlson hotel chain require fewer points for free night rewards.

The highest Gold Points Plus category-6 rewards were 90,000 points for a free night and are now only 60,000 points. In addition to lowering points at the high end categories, the program has eliminated FlexNights which were a 50% premium for peak demand rewards.

To repeat: Top tier hotels have dropped from as high as 135,000 points for one free night to 60,000 points for a free night. This is certainly a move in the right direction for loyalty travelers. All you Hilton HHonors people looking for loyalty love may want to check out what Carlson Hotels and Gold Points Plus offer.

If you are a frequent traveler in the US and Europe and Carlson Hotels are not on your radar, Gold Points Plus warrants another look for hotel loyalty value.

Carlson Hotels and Gold Points Plus Primer

Carlson Hotels consist of the Radisson hotel brands, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inn & Suites, and Regent Hotels & Resorts. Carlson Hotels has over 1,000 hotels, slightly more than Starwood Hotels. There are over 400 hotels internationally outside of USA and Canada, comparable to Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood. Carlson Hotels’ coverage exceeds most major hotel chains for several countries in Europe. India also has a number of properties.

Earning Points with Gold Points Plus:

• Earn 20 points per US$1/Euro at Regent, Radisson, and Park Plaza brands.
• Earn 15 points per US$1/Euro at Country Inns & Suites or Park Inn

The earning differential is definitely biased towards the US$1.

Members earn 500 points for every hotel stay booked online.

 

Redeeming Points and hotel geographic distribution

1,060 Carlson brand hotels = 612 US; 39 Canada; 409 international

Reward nights for multi-night stays are reduced by 10% for every night after the first night.

Click on the category level below to link to hotel list for each category.

Category 1 = 15,000 points (114 hotels US; 2 Canada; 25 international) 

Category 2 = 25,000 points (365 hotels US; 16 Canada; 33 international)

Category 3 = 30,000 points (114 US; 10 Canada; 80 international)

Category 4* = 40,000 points (16 US; 9 Canada; 89 international)

Category 5* = 50,000 points (1 US; 2 Canada; 125 international)

Category 6* = 60,000 points (2 US; 57 international)

*Prior to February 1, 2010 reward levels were:

• Category-4 = 45,000 points
• Category-5 = 60,000 points
• Category 6 = 90,000 points 

Carlson Hotels and goldpoints plus has certainly become a value player in the hotel loyalty game after these changes.

Links:

Carlson Hotels – http://www.carlsonhotels.com/

Gold Points Plus – https://www.goldpointsplus.com/home.do

Redeem Points – https://www.goldpointsplus.com/fgp/redeem/home.do

Earn Points – https://www.goldpointsplus.com/fgp/earn/home.do

Priority Club’s “Luckiest Loser” promotion offers Priority Club members who were also HHonors members as of January 31, 2010 an instant 1,000 points for registering and providing hotel stay data.

The 20,000 HHonors members with the highest account balances will be rewarded 20,000 Priority Club Rewards points or points equal to 20% of their HHonors points balance, whichever is smaller.

The “Luckiest Loser”, the HHonors member with the highest verifiable account balance, will earn 2,000,000 Priority Club Rewards points. That is sufficient for 50 nights at top tier InterContinental Hotels or at least 80 nights at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and other InterContinental Hotel Group brands like Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Hotel Indigo, and Holiday Inn Express.

The competition runs through February 28, 2010.

Entry http://www.pointsloser.priorityclub.com

The first thing that caught my attention was the choice of hotels and the redemption value placed on hotel stays in the promotional ad copy.

 

 

http://pointsloser.priorityclub.com/frequently-asked-questions

Loyalty Traveler Keeping it Real for Priority Club Calculations of Hilton HHonors Reward Nights

The Doubletree Hotel Denver used to be one of my regular hotel stopovers. I don’t recall if I ever redeemed points there since the rates were usually so low. This hotel shifted from category 2 at 20,000 points to category 3 for 25,000 points.

A better example would have been the Hampton Inn Denver West Federal Center that went from 10,000 points to 25,000 points. The HHonors member with 40,000 points could have redeemed 4 reward nights before the changes and only 1 after the change.

There are five Hilton Garden Inn Chicago locations, but only the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown/ Magnificent Mile is actually in the city of Chicago. This hotel was a Category 5 that shifted to Category 6. This can’t be the hotel in the Priority Club list. There are four other hotels that do fit the profile of a category 3 to category 4 shift.

• Hilton Garden Inn Chicago/Midway Airport, Bedford Park

• Hilton Garden Inn Chicago North Shore/Evanston

• Hilton Garden Inn Chicago/O’Hare Airport, Des Plaines

• Hilton Garden Inn Chicago/Oakbrook Terrace, Oakbrook Terrace

100,000 points for the Hampton Inn & Suites Orlando shows a 2009 category 2 hotel that increased to category 3. There are hundreds of hotels that made the jump from category 2 to category 3. There were 1,159 hotels in category 2 before the changes. Now there are 118 hotels left in category 2. I really thought HHonors would leave a much higher proportion of hotels in Category 2 to mitigate the increases in category points for hotel rewards at the higher levels. Hilton proved me wrong.

Change this selection to the Hilton Brisbane or Parmelia Hilton Perth and you see the real devaluation of Hilton HHonors points. These HHonors category 6 hotels at 40,000 points were category 3 hotels at 25,000 points last month. Your 4 nights in Australia dropped to two nights after the changes. That hardly makes it worth a flight from Sydney to Perth.

Doubletree Suites Charleston is one of the 22 hotels that made the leap from category 5 at 35,000 points to the new category 7 at 50,000 points for a free night. A member with 140,000 points needs 10,000 more points for 3 nights, but only 30,000 more points for a 4 night stay with the new 4-night VIP reward at 170,000 points for a Category 7 hotel.

175,000 points would buy 5 nights at the Las Vegas Hilton in 2009 for this category 5 hotel. When I attended BlogWorld2009 in October the hotel room rates were $49 per night and the post-conference party took place at the pool deck of the Las Vegas Hilton hotel. This place is now a category 6 hotel! Las Vegas is rarely a good use of hotel points in my opinion unless you can land a room when rates are skyhigh.

Courthouse Doubletree London is another hotel making the double category jump from 5 to 7. In 2009 the category 5 VIP award for 8 nights was just 200,000 points for two extra nights. This differs from the table.

The 5-night category-7 VIP award is 200,000 points as long as you are HHonors silver elite (4 stays or 10 nights in a year or a HHonors American Express cardmember). Priority Club’s table shows only 4 nights available at the standard nightly rate of 50,000 points per night or 200,000 points.

A member with 280,000 points would still get 7 nights at the Hilton Hawaiian Village with the new Category 7 VIP reward at 37,500 points per night or 262,500 points. The 9-night VIP reward in 2009 for a category 6 hotel was only 265,000 points.  The 2010 9-night VIP reward for a Category 7 hotel like the Hilton Hawaiian Village is now 337,500 points, a 27% increase.

This was a popular topic on BoardingArea.com blogs today.

Gary Leff –View from the Wing – Priority Club Throwdown, At Least 1,000 Free Priority Club Points

The Gate – Priority Club: “Take That, Hilton HHonors!!!”

The Wandering Aramean – Priority Club attacking HHonors – the gloves come off

TMtravelworld – Free 1000 Priority Club Points

Lucky – One Mile at a Time – Priority Club’s “Luckiest Loser” promotion 

Related posts:

Loyalty Traveler – January 15, 2010 – HHonors 2010 Hotel Category Shift – It is Bad!

Loyalty Traveler October 27, 2009 – HHonors members Angry over Category Step Up (tables show both 2009 and 2010 VIP reward levels)

Loyalty Traveler October 13, 2009 – Hilton HHonors VIP Reward Changes and Category 7 Hotels

Loyalty Traveler December 17, 2009 – Confused by HHonors Hotel Category Changes Previewed in USA Today

Loyalty Traveler November 29, 2009 – Response to Hilton HHonors Jeff Diskin USA Today interview

 

I was busy earlier today tackling Hilton HHonors from another angle with my March InsideFlyer column.

My question is why did HHonors withhold the changes to hotel reward categories until the new levels went into effect?

Hilton did not provide an opportunity for members to see the extent of the category shift among the 3,500 Hilton brand hotels. Time to evaluate the category changes for specific hotels and a window to book reward stays prior to the devaluation would have just been common courtesy to HHonors members.

*****

Priority Club Rewards Press Release

IHG’s Priority Club® REWARDS To “GIVE BACK” UP TO 400 Million LOYALTY POINTS in WORLDWIDE “luckiest loser” competition

IHG Offers Priority Club® Rewards Members a Chance to Recoup Points they “Lost” with the Recent Devaluation of HHonors® Points

 

 

Atlanta (Feb. 3, 2010) – IHG’s (InterContinental Hotels Group) Priority Club® Rewards, the world’s largest hotel loyalty program, today launches its worldwide “Luckiest Loser” competition. In response to the recent increases in the Hilton HHonors®  hotel rewards rates, which effectively devalued HHonors members’ points by about 20 percent, Priority Club Rewards is offering consumers a chance to gain back their “lost” loyalty points. The Priority Club Rewards member who has the highest verified Hilton HHonors points balance will be the “Luckiest Loser” and gain two million Priority Club points; enough to redeem for about 80 free hotel nights at more than 4,000 of IHG’s hotels across the globe. Another 20,000 “Lucky Losers” will be awarded up to 400 million total Priority Club points to help compensate for what they are “losing” with Hilton HHonors.

 

“If you want your loyal customers to stick with you during tough times, it’s vital to show you appreciate them and give them more value, not less.  So it’s no wonder there was such a negative reaction to Hilton devaluing their points program,” said Tom Seddon, chief marketing officer, IHG.  “Some of our customers, particularly ones we’re talking to on social networking sites, asked us if there was anything we could do to help – so we’re offering to replace their lost Hilton HHonors points with Priority Club points, giving them the opportunity to stay for free at any one of our 4,400 hotels around the world.”

 

The current loyalty market is arguably as crowded and competitive as it has ever been, and savvy travelers are taking notice. In fact, during 2009, Priority Club Rewards members redeemed 10 percent more points than in 2008, making the most of new reward options such as Flights AnywhereTM and Points & Cash to maximize the value and versatility of their points for everything from travel expenses to everyday purchases such as gas, groceries and holiday gifts.

 

“We know from research that the value of loyalty points is paramount to members,” said Don Berg, vice president, Loyalty Programs, IHG.  “Travelers depend on their rewards to help them cover the costs of their summer vacations and weekend-getaways, and they don’t expect their points to suddenly lose value overnight.”

 

To enter the competition, participants must also be registered Priority Club Rewards members as of Jan. 31, 2010 and follow the verification process.

 

-      Simply supply their Hilton HHonors points balance at www.priorityclub.com/luckiestloser

-      Each qualified participant will automatically get 1,000 Priority Club® points just for entering

-      The top 20,000 “Lucky Losers” will each “gain back” up to 20 percent of their current HHonors balance in Priority Club points (up to 20,000 points each)

-      The “Luckiest Loser” will win two million Priority Club points – enough to stay with IHG hotels for free for almost three months!

 

The competition will run through Feb. 28, and is exclusive to current members of both Priority Club Rewards and HHonors programs as of Jan. 31, 2010.

 

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Loyalty Traveler commentary on HHonors

Two aspects of hotel loyalty programs appeal to frequent guests – hospitality and rewards.

Most hotels, particularly high-end hotels, cater to their most valued customers through added benefits during hotel stays. From the “paying for luxury” guest at a Four Seasons to the weekly visitor at a local Days Inn, hotel staff can make a guest feel special. That is what hospitality is all about in the hotel world.

When I spent over 100 nights a year in hotels on business travel I had little loyalty. I wasn’t paying the bills.

I make budget decisions everyday to get good value in business transactions. Hotel stays are a business transaction and hotel loyalty programs bind frequent guests and hotel chains in a win-win agreement beneficial to both.

I remember vividly one of my first hotel stays as a HHonors Gold member at the Doubletree Sonoma Wine Country and I was upgraded to a room with a spa tub big enough for four. Receiving elite status recognition and benefits when I traveled to new places and stayed in Hilton Hotels in South America and Europe provided a memorable travel experience, comfort, and security I desired. Hilton earned my loyalty. HHonors was my gateway to a better room, and frequently a better hotel experience than I would have received without loyalty program membership.

I expressed my loyalty by booking hotel rooms with Hilton Corporation, a hotel company I felt appreciated me. I stopped bouncing around from hotel to hotel seeking the best deal. Sometimes I even went out of my way to stay at a Hilton brand hotel despite similarly priced comparable hotels in better locations for my trip.

The other hotel loyalty program appeal is paid hotel stays earn rewards for free or discounted future stays. This is a prominent feature of points-based hotel loyalty programs for most of the major hotel chains.

Points are a rebate on the cost of hotel stays.

Points have potential cash value.

But points only have value when redeemed.