More than 60 Starwood hotels in 12 countries from Mexico to Argentina and Chile are running a 20% discount on Best Available Rate offer when using MasterCard to pay for stays. Book by September 30, 2010 for hotel stays through December 15, 2010. This is the second year for Starwood hotels and MasterCard in this Latin America hotels promotion. Use SET/Corporate Account # 200654 to check rates or use this Starwood Hotels/MasterCard link.

Two additional benefits to the MasterCard rate are kids under 12 eat free and either two cocktails per person per stay or a welcome amenity gift like cheese and wine for your room. These should be value-added amenities whether traveling as a couple or a kid-toting family.

As always, you need to compare rates for your specific hotel and dates with AAA and other hotel special offers. In my search of hotels the MasterCard rate was the lowest rate found for Sheraton Colonia. The MasterCard rate is open for cancellation until 24 hours prior to arrival day.

Westin Los Cabos had a much lower rate offer using Starwood’s BirthYear promotion found through the hotel special offers link.

Loyalty Traveler analysis and rate tests:

Sheraton Colonia Golf & Spa Resort, Colonia, Uruguay

Starwood MasterCard Package Rate is lowest rate found for Sheraton Colonia 

The Sheraton Colonia is a one to two hour ride across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. The fast boat makes the journey across the river in around 45 minutes. This is one wide river separating Argentina from Uruguay.

Rio de la Plata view from space. Buenos Aires, AR is city at bottom right, Uruguay is on left

If you haven’t been to Buenos Aires, perhaps you are thinking this is a third world river crossing experience. You will be pleasantly surprised at the low fare and high quality accommodations. In June 2007 I spent the first five minutes on a large modern ferry ship struggling to find a seat among the hundreds of passengers in the lowest priced tier of a three tier ship. After paying an additional $5 to upgrade my fare, I moved up to the premier class level upstairs and sat in a bar room and café with three other passengers in a room designed to hold dozens. I had a full window view and relative quiet which seemed a relief after spending time wandering the streets of BA.

Duty free shopping and exclusive First Class ferry seating up top

Loyalty traveler’s hotel review of Sheraton Colonia from a visit in June 2007.

Westin Los Cabos, Mexico

Starwood BirthYear Rate is better deal for Westin Los Cabos

The MasterCard rate at the Westin Los Cabos is not the best deal for the dates I checked. Under the special offers link was the Starwood Hotels BirthYear rate which is good for two or three night stays. You pay a set rate for the first night and then your birthyear is the rate you pay for the second and third night.

I was born in 1960 so my rate is $60 per night after the first night. This rate offer works out to be $50 per night less than the AAA rate best deal for these dates.

 Even if you were born in 1985, the BirthYear rate is the best rate for these dates.

Starwood Pay Your BirthYear Special Rate Offer link

Starwood Resort Hotels 3rd Night Free and other MultiNight Stay Discount Links

Starwood Hotels 3rd Night Free and other MultiNight Stay Discount Links (Different hotel set than resort links)

Loyalty Traveler post on Starwood BirthYear rates

Best Western Rewards has a limited time offer for 315 hotels in the southeast states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to earn 2,000 bonus points per night, up to four nights for 8,000 bonus points for hotel stays between August 24 and September 26, 2010.  

Registration is required.

The lowest category Best Western hotels cost 8,000 points for a free night. Properties increase in points for seven higher levels from 12,000 to 36,000 points for a free night. 

6,000 points is sufficient for a $25 Best Western hotel credit. A $25 gas credit card is 6,500 points. A free night is likely the highest value exchange for points.

Best Western Rewards points are normally earned at the rate of 10 points per $1. This bonus is an equivalent number of points normally earned for a $200 hotel stay.

Best Western on the Beach, Gulf Shores, Alabama (free night = 24,000 points)

• Sep 8-10, 2010 (Wed-Fri) $108 per night for oceanfront room.
• $216 x 10 points/$1 = 2,160 points
• 2,000 points/night x 2 nights bonus = 4,000 points
• 6,160 total points for this two-night stay at the beach.

Loyalty traveler promotion rating = 3 keys of 5. Good rebate on hotel spend.

Choice Privileges promotion advertises “Stay two separate times, earn a free night at over 1,500 Choice Hotels.” The bonus is actually 8,000 total points for two hotel stays at Choice Hotels brands including Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites and Ascend Collection during the promotion period from Thursday, August 26 through Wednesday, November 3, 2010.

The promotion bonus may be earned four times during the promotion period for 32,000 points after 8 hotel stays. There is no earning limit for Choice Privileges Platinum and Diamond elite members. Platinum and Diamond elites may also choose an alternative offer for triple points for every stay starting with your second stay.

Normally you earn 10 points per $1 with Choice Privileges for stays at these hotel brands. This promotion takes your total earned points from two stays and adds bonus points to match 8,000 total points.

Sample Hotel Rates:

Clarion Oakland City Center, Oakland, California – Friday, Oct. 1, 2010

• $69.15

Villa Montes Hotel, Ascend Collection, San Bruno, California – Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010

• $89.10

Sample Points Earning:

• Clarion Oakland = 691 points
• Villa Montes, San Bruno = 891 points
• 1,582 base points earned for $158.25 in hotel charges.
• 1,582 base points + 6,418 promotion bonus points =

 8,000 points hotel stay promotion bonus for two stays.

Choice Privileges Award Night Cost

The two lowest hotel reward categories in Choice Privileges are 6,000 points and 8,000 points per night. A top level hotel in Choice Privileges can be 35,000 points, or even 75,000 points per night in Australia. This offer is capped at four bonuses or 32,000 points after 8 stays for general members. Choice Privileges elite platinum (25 nights) and diamond members (40 nights) can earn unlimited bonus points with this offer.

Interesting facets of Choice Privileges: Rewards nights count and peak season rates

One of the better features of Choice Privileges is reward nights count towards elite status qualification. Hilton HHonors is the only other loyalty program that counts reward nights for elite qualification.

Another unique aspect of Choice Hotels is variable peak-season reward rates. Choice Privileges only publishes the reward category level for a five or six month period at a time. Reward levels do not fluctuate too greatly in Choice Privileges.

Villa Montes Hotel peak season reward night rates

Most hotel loyalty programs place a hotel in a reward category and the hotel category placement determines loyalty points needed for a free night. Starwood Preferred Guest has a peak season reward surcharge for upper category hotels, but the peak season dates have been eliminated for the past two years. Hilton HHonors has peak season dates for the 20 or so Waldorf-Astoria Collection luxury class hotels.

A huge drawback of Choice Privileges is you can only book reward stays 30 days in advance as a general member and up to 90 days in advance as a top elite Choice Privileges Diamond member.

Perhaps Hyatt Gold Passport should have advertised their “Great 10K” promotion as “Stay 5 nights and earn two free nights at 25% of Hyatt Hotels globally” to get better promotion feedback.

Choice Privileges 8,000 points Fall 2010 promotion rating = 3 of 5 keys (4 keys for platinum/diamond elites)

Choice Privileges Double Points Promotion

Choice Privileges economy/budget hotel brands EconoLodge, MainStay Suites, Rodeway Inn and Suburban Extended Stay  have  a double points promotion for every stay during the same period of August 26-November 3, 2010.

The fall 2010 Priority Club promotion title Sweet Dilemma probably encapsulates the feelings of many members for this offer. Promotion registration is required by December 20, 2010. You must register for either free nights or double miles/points.

The good news:

• You can earn one free night after two stays, up to five free nights during the promotion period September 20-December 31, 2010.
• You can redeem free nights beginning November 1, 2010 for hotel stays from December 1, 2010 through May 31, 2011. Free nights can be booked at http://www.priorityclub.com/bookfreenights
• Sweet Dilemma free nights offer appears to be combinable with the Crack the Case promotion.

 The bad news:

• Asia-Pacific region IHG hotels are not participating in the free nights portion of this Priority Club promotion. You cannot earn free night credit or redeem free nights in Asia-Pacific hotels. Stays in Asia-Pacific region are eligible only for double points or miles portion of this promotion offer.
• If you register for free nights, then you will not earn any base or elite points or miles during the promotion period from September 20 through December 31, 2010, even after you maximize the free night offer of five nights. So if you complete 10 IHG hotel stays by October 1, you will earn five free nights but you will be ineligible for earning base points and elite points on all your paid stays for the remainder of 2010.
• Free night reservations may not be cancelled without forfeiting free night credit.
• Double points or miles begins with second stay at any IHG hotel worldwide.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

Two stays at a Holiday Inn and you can have a free night at an InterContinental Hotel. Most Priority Club members will likely get the best value from free nights. A free night is worth 30,000 or 40,000 points for an InterContinental Hotel. This promotion is potentially worth an equivalent 200,000 points for someone who maximizes the use of free nights at upper tier InterContinental Hotels.

The general consensus among Priority Club members on the value of points is $6 per 1,000 points. The five free nights offer has a potential $1,200 promotion bonus value. Redeeming your free night for a $240+ InterContinental Hotel night is likely an easy exchange to find considering the high cost of luxury class InterContinental Hotels.  Just remember that you cannot use free nights for Asia-Pacific region hotels.

I see this IHG offer as a low entry promotion given the easy access to over 3,000 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels with rates under $100 per night. Earning a high value luxury class hotel night for two stays costing under $200 is a great value promotion opportunity.

Earning five free nights for under $1,000 over the next few months is a way to meet your hotel needs this fall while earning enough nights for a high-value vacation in 2011. Five nights at a hotel like the InterContinental Amstel in Amsterdam next spring can easily be a $2,000 value.

I recommend throwing as many short hotel stays to Priority Club as your top alternative to your primary hotel program. And if Priority Club is your primary hotel program, then you may want to get your five free nights and shift some hotel stays over to another hotel program for extra bonuses this fall. The exclusion of base and elite points through December 31, 2010 for all stays completed after maximizing the free nights offer is a real drawback for high frequency Priority Club members.

You may have a not so sweet dilemma if Priority Club is your main program. Choosing free nights as a Priority Club platinum member means forgoing 25 points per $1 for your stays from Sep 20-Dec 31, 2010. It will take you $6,000 to $8,000 in hotel spend to reach the equivalent value of 150,000 to 200,000 points you will receive with free nights.

This IHG fall 2010 promotion announcement leaves only Hilton HHonors left to announce its major fall 2010 promotion. Starwood went with double base points based on nights and triple base points with 10 or more nights. Hyatt has 10,000 points per 5 nights. Marriott has MegaBonus offers for up to two free nights, but the free nights are only valid for the lowest 4 of 8 hotel award categories. Marriott also has triple miles. Compared to the other bonuses this is a high-value, low hurdle to earn promotion offer from IHG Priority Club.

Loyalty Traveler promotion rating = 5 keys (one of best promotions of 2010)

Links: IHG Priority Club Sweet Dilemma Promotion

Sweet Dilemma FAQ

Terms & Conditions clause shows combinability of Sweet Dilemma with Crack the Case promotion offer:

14. Frequency Credits:

(a) During Free Nights Promotion Period: Once registered for the Free Nights Promotion and during the Promotion Period, Members will not earn base or elite Priority Club points, airline miles, or any other frequency credit earning preference Members have chosen (“Frequency Credits”) for the room rate, food and beverage charges or any other incidental charges for any stays at any IHG hotel (except at hotels in those countries in which the Promotion is void), whether pursuant to this Promotion or otherwise, even if the Member has previously registered for, or is otherwise qualified for, another promotion and even if the Member has already earned the maximum of five Free Nights during the Promotion Period. In other words, participation in this Free Nights Promotion excludes the receipt of base and elite Frequency Credits for stays from the date of registration for this Free Nights Promotion until December 31, 2010. Bonus Frequency Credits, however, will be awarded pursuant to the terms of any other promotion in which Member is participating.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Sweet Dilemma Fall 2010 Promotion

It is another weekend in Monterey, California.  I never know what to expect when I walk down to the waterfront in Monterey.

Yesterday I saw the “A” anchored in Monterey Bay. The mega-yacht owned by Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko has been cruising up and down the California coast this month. The Philippe Starck designed 390-foot yacht is a $300 million dollar floating palace built just two years ago. The unique submarine style shape makes this ship design one of the most talked about yachts of the seas. The opening in the rear of the ship is actually the garage.

“A” is not the largest private yacht in the world. In fact, the Blohm + Voss built yacht currently ranks 12th in length. Apparently Blohm + Voss or Lurssen, both German manufacturers,  are the builders of premier mega-yachts these days.

Here is a 4-minute video tour of the “A” yacht from a Wall Street Journal piece reposted in the LA Times.

My photos of the yacht were taken from the working wharf in Monterey. The tourist Fisherman’s Wharf is loaded with restaurants and trinket shops. That is where you go to eat restaurant fish and take a whale watching tour. The working wharf is the location to buy fresh fish in Monterey.

And just to add a little hotel info to this post I have included the view of downtown Monterey from the Monterey wharf showing the Marriott Monterey.

Two 3-day passes to the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival and a free night at any Super 8 motel can be yours by entering the Super 8 Sweepstakes by September 5, 2010. You need to fill out the entry form on the Super 8 Facebook page found under the Sweepstakes tab.  One entry is allowed per day. Winner may choose $500 cash in lieu of the music festival tickets.

The Super 8 Music Festival Sweepstakes is open only to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years of age at the time of entry. 

Prize winner will be selected September 6. 

Austin City Limits Music Festival Prize:  One Winner will receive two 3-Day Wristband Passes to the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival (ACL)  at Zilker Park in Austin, Texas. Passes are valid for Friday, October 8 through Sunday, October 10, 2010, allowing festival entrance and exit throughout the weekend and access to all activities offered to ACL attendees.  Prize also includes one free night stay (one room; single or double occupancy) at a Super 8 location of winner’s choice in the U.S., subject to availability. Total Approximate Retail Value:  $590.00.

How to Enter: During the Promotion Period, click on the “Sweepstakes” tab on the Super 8 Facebook page. This will link you to the Super 8 Music Festival Sweepstakes entry page. Participants in the Promotion will be required to complete an online entry form, providing full legal name, valid e-mail address, complete home address (street address only; P.O. Boxes are not permitted) and date of birth. Completing and submitting an online sweepstakes entry form is the only means of participating in the Promotion.

Links: Super 8 Sweepstakes Official Rules

Super 8 Facebook Page – Sweepstakes tab on Facebook page has entry form link.

Super 8 is a Wyndham brand and member of Wyndham Rewards hotel loyalty program.

Marriott has a new offer of triple airline miles for fall 2010 travel from October 1 through December 31, 2010. You will find this offer when you set your Marriott Rewards account earning preference to miles instead of points. Registration is required.

Only five airlines are participating in this Marriott 3x miles promotion:

• Continental
• Air Canada
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Jet Airways

Triple miles begin with your second stay. This offer applies to all Marriott properties and brands worldwide.

Triple Miles Promotion terms and conditions.

Marriott Rewards members may earn miles with 30 airlines, but this promotion only applies to the five airlines listed above.

The regular earning rate is 2 miles per US$1 on all qualifying charges at Marriott Hotels, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection and Marriott Vacation Club. This means your room service, restaurant purchases, spa services and such will count for miles. Earn 6 miles per $1 with the “Triple Miles” promotion this fall.

Other Marriott brands earn 1 mile per US$1 spent on room rate only. Earn 3 miles per $1 with the Triple Miles promotion at Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites and Marriott Executive Apartments. These six Marriott brands do not earn any miles for food and incidentals hotel spend.

So don’t count your miles when you order that fine bottle of wine at the Napa SpringHill Suites.

SpringHill Suites Napa, California

Stay 5 nights at any Hyatt brand hotel worldwide between September 15 and December 15, 2010 and earn 10,000 bonus points. This is a good and straightforward deal. You can earn up to 180,000 bonus points from this offer if you spend every night in a Hyatt Hotel during the promotion period.

No double/triple points threshold of 10 nights like Starwood Preferred Guest. No ridiculous 30 Saturdays or 75 nights like some IHG Priority Club members received. No targeted Hilton HHonors Diamond member bonus that could be either a free night anywhere or just 25,000 bonus points after ten nights this fall. No exclusive credit card tie-in like the Marriott Rewards MegaBonus offers requiring Visa payment.

Hyatt Gold Passport Great10K registration is required.

ELIGIBILITY/HOW TO REGISTER: To participate in this Promotion, you must be a Hyatt Gold Passport member and register for this promotion. Current member registration begins August 24, 2010 by calling 1-800-228-3360 or you’re nearest Hyatt Worldwide Reservation Centre.

Current member online registration is available beginning September 15, 2010 by visiting goldpassport.com/welcome10K. New member enrollments between September 15, 2010 and December 15, 2010 will be automatically registered for the promotion.

Hyatt Gold Passport follows the Promotion Nights Trend

The Hyatt Great 10K promotion rewards nights rather than stays, following the pattern for most of the hotel loyalty program promotions running this fall.

The advantage of a promotion based on nights is you have the ability to fulfill the promotion requirements with extended stays. Technically an extended stay is defined as four or more nights according to some document I saw last week. Promotions counting nights like the Hyatt Great 10K allow you to go to Hawaii for five or seven nights and still earn 10,000 bonus points tacked on to your regular stay points and other bonuses.

Many Gold Passport members were hoping for another few months of Hyatt’s Stay two times and earn a free night promotion. Hyatt Gold Passport marketing probably felt the time was right for a cease and desist of the free night offer after having run the free night offer for more than 11 months of the past 24 months. I suspect Hyatt Gold Passport needs to save some promotion firepower in reserve for a good roll-out promotion with the new Hyatt Visa credit card coming this fall.

A free night after two stays offer encourages hotel hopping as a strategy to maximize the free nights bonus. Free nights is a good game for those of us with highly flexible hotel arrangements, yet leaves some of the more profitable customers with multi-night stays feeling a little cheated when the $3,000 week-long Hawaii vacation does not earn a single Hyatt free night while someone hopping around Hyatt Place hotels picks up three free nights to use anywhere in the world, even Hawaii, for under $500.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of Hyatt Great 10K Promotion

10,000 points after five nights is an additional 2,000 bonus points per night on top of base points, ‘G’ bonuses and elite bonus points if applicable. The Great 10K can still earn quite a few bonus points even for the one-night stand kind of traveler.

Sample Hyatt Stay itinerary:

Sep 17 Grand Hyatt San Francisco $175.20 (G Bonus = 2,000 points)

Sep 18: Hyatt Regency Santa Clara $84.15 (G Bonus = 1,000 points)

Sep 21: Hyatt Vineyard Creek Santa Rosa $151.20 (G Bonus 1,500 points)

Oct 8-10: Hyatt Regency Chicago $592.20  (G Bonus 2,000 points)

$1,002.75 base rate for 5 Hyatt hotel nights 

(Remember this is just an example. I could have just as easily pieced together five nights for under $400 staying at Hyatt Place hotels.)

$1,002 x 5 points/$1 = 5,010 base points + 6,500 G bonus points + 10,000 Great 10K bonus points

21,510 Gold Passport points earned for five nights.

If you are elite, then you also receive 750 bonus points as a Platinum elite (15% base points) or 1,500 bonus points as a Diamond elite member (30% base points).

You should be an elite member of Hyatt Gold Passport unless you are new to the Hyatt Gold Passport program or you squandered your opportunity for maintaining complimentary elite status since Hyatt Gold passport gave free elite membership to anyone who asked from mid-2009 to May 2010. Five stays at Hyatt and you will receive Platinum elite and its benefit of complimentary internet.

Hyatt Gold Passport Hotel Reward Categories

Hyatt has the majority of its 400+ hotel properties in the lower half of the Gold Passport free night award hotel categories in Category 1 = 5,000 points; category 2 = 8,000 points; and category 3 = 12,000 points. The upper tier properties are category 4 = 15,000 points; category 5 = 18,000 points and category 6 = 22,000 points.

In the example itinerary above the elite Gold Passport member earns enough points in 5 nights for a free night at any Hyatt in the world.

Earning Miles with Hyatt’s Great 10K promotion

Hyatt Hotels extends its generosity by allowing Gold Passport members who want miles to double dip with the Great 10K points bonus. There are some high value miles promotions concurrently running with the Great 10K offer.

Gold Passport Concierge posted Great 10K promotion FAQ on FlyerTalk. It says members who are earning miles rather than points will still be eligible to earn the Great 10K bonus of 10,000 points after five nights. 

Great 10K offer is combinable with current airline miles bonus offers

Hyatt currently has high value bonus mile offers for at least ten airlines. There is the American Airlines 60,000 miles bonus for 3,000 miles each stay through October 15, 2010. There is also the 1,000 miles per night promotion running through September 30 with a choice of nine airlines. 

Choosing miles means you are not eligible for Gold Passport base points or G bonus points offers. Some G bonus offers are actually for double miles so be sure to check. Basically you get the registered promotion miles bonuses and the 10,000 Gold Passport points bonus after five nights.

In the California and Chicago itinerary shown above, the Gold Passport earning AA miles would receive these bonuses:

$1,002 spent on 4 Hyatt stays (AA promotion stays must be by October 15, 2010)

• 12,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles
• 10,000 Gold Passport points

or

$1,002 spent on 5 Hyatt nights with the 1,000 miles per night promotion (assume 5 nights for this promotion completed by Sep 30).

• 5,000 United Mileage Plus miles (or 5,000 miles in any other participating airline for 1,000 miles/night promotion through Sep 30)
• 10,000 Gold Passport points in Great 10K bonus

Hyatt Gold Passport’s Great 10K may not be as easy for some members to earn free nights as the Big Welcome Back promotion of spring 2010, but this is one of the best hotel loyalty promotions currently available for fall 2010. And if you actually need extended stays at Hyatt Hotels, then this is your opportunity to rack up more points than you could with the Big Welcome Back offer last spring for 5,000 points after every two stays.

Loyalty Traveler Post-Analysis:  

While many Gold Passport members were hoping for free nights and feel disappointment, there were eleven months in the past 24 months with the promotion for a free Hyatt hotel night after two stays. Hyatt was basically the only hotel loyalty program with a recurrent high value, low stay requirement free night offer open for general Gold Passport members these past two years.

The worst hotel recession since the Great Depression spawned free night offers across the spectrum of hotel loyalty programs for the past 16 months. These high value free night offers were an aberration in hotel loyalty program marketing in my ten plus years of following hotel loyalty programs. Hyatt Hotels is the standard-bearer in free night promotions and I suspect we will see another free night offer before too long.

Past Promotions for Hyatt Gold Passport Free Nights

Spring 2010 Big Welcome Back

Loyalty Traveler post, March 20, 2010

• Earn: March 26 – June 30 2010
• Redeem: April 1-Aug 31, 2010

Fall 2009 Hyatt Gold Passport Faster Free Nights Promotion and combined promotion offers

Loyalty Traveler promotion post , (Oct 1, 2009)

• Earn Oct 1, 2009 – Jan 31, 2010
• Redeem: March 31, but extended to April 30 general members, May 31 Platinum, June 30 for Diamond

Fall 2008 Faster Free Nights

Loyalty Traveler post, Aug 22, 2008

• Earn: Sep 1, 2008 – Dec 30, 2008;
• Redeem: Sep 15, 2008 – Feb 28, 2009

Marriott Rewards has shifted some properties in hotel categories since the major March 2010 shift of 600 hotels when slightly more hotels moved down one category than up one category.

This FlyerTalk thread shows 26 hotel changes since March 2010. 

Autograph Collection, Marriott’s new hotel brand of independent hotels, accounts for three of the hotel category shifts. Two hotels shifted down from category 6 at 30,000 points per night to category 5 at 25,000 points per night.

The Bohemian Hotel Celebration in Celebration, Florida is a DisneyWorld vicinity, Orlando-area Marriott Rewards category 5 hotel.  El Monte Sagrado is located in Taos, New Mexico. Since both of these Autograph Collection destinations are the kind of hotels where a five night stay may be your desire, the cost of Marriott Rewards 5^th night free 5-night reward is 100,000 points. These two hotels dropped since March 2010 when they required 120,000 points as category 6 hotels for a 5-night reward stay.

But you will need to pay 5,000 points more per night for the recategorized Category 6 Autograph Collection Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville in North Carolina. That tacks on a 20%  points increase with 120,000 points needed for a five night vacation using the 5^th night free reward.

The Algonquin Hotel in midtown Manhattan New York, another Autograph Collection hotel being added to Marriott Rewards in September 2010 adds to the highly select trophy travel properties in Marriott Rewards category 8.

(Click the hotel name links and the hotel photos tell the story of why you might want to linger on these stays.)

Here are 13 hotels in the top half Marriott rewards hotel categories of 5 through 8 with changes and initial category level for new hotels .

Category  8 – 40,000 points per night (160,000 points 5^th night free award)

New York- Algonquin Hotel, Autograph Collection  (new Marriott Rewards property)

Category  7 – 35,000 points per night (140,000 points 5^th night free award)

Miami, Florida – Hotel Beaux Arts Miami (new Marriott Rewards property – opening Oct 2010) 

Honolulu, Hawaii - The Waikiki EDITION  (new Marriott Rewards property – opening Sep 2010. This will be the first hotel of the newest Marriott brand.)

Category 6 – 30,000 points per night (120,000 points 5^th night free award)

Miami, Florida – JW Marriott Marquis Miami  (new Marriott Rewards property – opening Oct 2010) 

Orlando, Florida – Marriott’s Lakeshore Reserve (Marriott Vacation Club property)

Chicago, Illinois – JW Marriott Chicago (new Marriott Rewards property – opening Oct 2010)

Asheville, North Carolina – Grand Bohemian Hotel Asheville, Autograph Collection (increase from category 5)

San Antonio, Texas – JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa (increase from category 5) 

St Croix, US Virgin Islands – Renaissance St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort & Spa  (new Marriott Rewards property – opening Sep 2010)

Category 5 – 25,000 points per night (100,000 points 5^th night free award)

4 hotels dropped from category 6 to category 5 since March. 

Celebration, Florida – Bohemian Hotel Celebration, Autograph Collection

Miami, Florida – JW Marriott Hotel Miami  

Hyannis, Massachusetts – Courtyard Cape Cod Hyannis  

Taos, New Mexico – El Monte Sagrado, Autograph Collection

Priority Club’s Crack the Case is a fantastic promotion for me. You will have to check your own email offer to decide the promotion value for yourself. There are so many variations to this email offer that I can only explain mine as an example of the Crack the Case promotion released today.

Crack the Case 162,000 Bonus Points Offer for Ric Garrido

I will earn bonus points for completing each of five tasks called “latches”.  I need to complete or “open the latch” for only four of the five latches to earn my “Crack the Case” bonus of 91,000 bonus points. The timeframe for accomplishing the tasks of this promotion is through May 31, 2011.

My five latches to open (fulfilling four of these five tasks earns an additional 91,000 bonus points)

• Stay 10 room nights = 5,000 points
• Stay at 2 brands = 2,200 points
• Stay 2 Saturdays = 3,300 points
• Priority Club Select Visa = 60,000 points
• Take a Survey = 500 points

FlyerTalk thread shows wide range of ‘Crack the Case’ offers

This FlyerTalk thread details dozens of individualized offers. Some members have high hurdles and others, like me, have easily manageable, relatively low cost latches to open for a huge overall bonus.

The tasks are similar for the various targeted promotions, however, the quantities needed to fulfill the tasks and the bonus points earned for each task are the main variables differentiating individual offers.

For example, one FlyerTalker stated the survey earns 2,000 points in his case; 68 room nights required to earn 12,800 points; and 38 hotels to earn 21,700 points.

68 room nights and 38 different hotels is quite a higher hurdle than 10 room nights and 2 brands for earning the “Crack the Case” bonus.

Another FlyerTalker states a Crack the Case potential bonus of 467,700 points, but to fulfill the requirements will take either 108 nights or 68 properties by May 31, 2011. Perhaps that is not insurmountable for this particular Priority Club member, but I would be highly unlikely to reach that level of hotel stays – even with half a million points incentive.

It appears that Priority Club members with infrequent stays received the low threshold, high bonus  offers. I had a few IHG brand hotel stays last summer and fall, but no IHG hotel stays so far in 2010.

I plan to Crack My Case

My offer will earn 102,000 bonus points without even bothering to take on a Priority Club credit card. If I choose the credit card offer, then I could get 157,000 bonus points after just two hotel nights in two different IHG brands between now and May 31, 2011.

For me, this a 5-key Priority Club promotion offer that will entice me to Crack the Case.

Is “Crack the Case” a good promotion for you?

Check your email to find out the individual latches you need to open in order to crack your case for Priority Club bonus points.

Fee increase to $65. No big deal.

Sheraton 3^rd night free offer. No big deal.

Five nights elite credit per year. No big deal.

Elimination of SPG50 annual certificate. No big deal.

The July 30 announcement on FlyerTalk by Starwood Lurker (Starwood Hotels employee) of two exciting new benefits pointed out changes coming to the SPG credit card from American Express. To date there have been 28 pages with over 400 responses on the SPG-AMEX changes.

All in all I find the changes to be no big deal and nothing too exciting.

Fee Increase

The $20 fee increase is a drag, but this is really only equivalent to about 500 starpoints lost for the year. When you stay at Starwood Hotels you receive 2 points/$1 when you use your SPG American Express card. Points for $250 in hotel room stays is neutralized with the annual fee increase.

Sheraton 3^rd Night Free Benefit

The Sheraton 3^rd night free offer is not clearly a new benefit as of yet. The restrictions for the ZHA or ZRA are the same as for the current 3^rd night free offers. Room is prepaid and you must arrive Thursday through Saturday. The fact that you must use your SPG-AMEX card is even more restrictive than the long available 3^rd night free Z3H/Z3R rates.

The 3^rd night free benefit will actually be an enhancement only if there is hotel availability using ZHA/ZRA codes for hotels unavailable using the Z3H/Z3R codes. The current 3^rd night free offers are available for Sheraton Hotels – as well as Westin, W Hotels, and Four Points.

Starwood Hotels 3^rd Night Free link

Starwood Resorts 3^rd Night Free link

Five Nights Elite Credit

I am in the camp who sees little personal benefit from this enhancement. I have never qualified for SPG elite status on nights.

Gold elite requires 25 nights at Starwood Hotels in a calendar year. The SPG-AMEX benefit reduces this threshold to just 20 nights.

But you only need 10 stays in a calendar year for Gold status. A person can earn SPG Gold elite with as few as 10 one-night stays in a year, or a total of 10 nights.

How many SPG-AMEX cardmembers stay 20 to 24 nights in a year, with fewer than 10 stays? Cardmembers who finish the year with 20 to 24 paid nights and fewer than 10 hotel stays are the only Gold elite recipients of this SPG-AMEX enhancement.

Platinum elite requires 25 stays or 50 nights in a calendar year. The five nights elite credit only makes a difference if you are in the subset of SPG-AMEX cardmembers who stay 45 to 49 nights in a calendar year without 25 stays.

The five nights elite benefit affects a small subset of cardmembers.

50% off award discontinued as annual benefit.

The SPG50 certificate is 50% off the rack rate for a hotel stay up to five nights. Most of my annual certificates have gone unused. I have only found a lower rate using SPG50 twice and the last time was in 2008. There is almost always a lower rate available. And I avoid prepaid rates whenever possible.

But any SPG member still has the same 50% rack rate option available for just 1,000 starpoints and there is no requirement to use an SPG-AMEX card.

If you regularly used your SPG50 certificate, then the changes are equivalent to losing another 1,000 points per year.

Conclusion:

Some SPG-AMEX cardmembers lost an equivalent value of 1,500 Starpoints with the annual card fee increase and loss of the SPG50 certificate.

For some cardmembers the five nights elite credit may be the difference between general SPG membership and Gold elite. Some frequent guests will find the 20 night threshold will be easier to reach than 10 stays for Gold elite.

For most Platinum elite members I do not see the five nights credit having any impact unless you are in a very select group of cardmembers having 45 to 49 paid nights and less than 25 stays.

October 14, 2010 we will see if the Sheraton 3^rd night free ZHA/ZRA offer is actually an enhancement to the SPG American Express card.