First the bad news. This is an offer for new enrollees to Ritz-Carlton Rewards or existing RCR members and you are not eligible for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards free night offer if you are a Marriott Rewards member.

Members of The Ritz-Carlton Rewards program as of January 13, 2012 and new members who were not previously members of the Marriott Rewards® program are eligible to receive this offer.

And now the good news. Register for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards free night offer by March 1, 2012. Stay two times at participating Ritz-Carlton Hotels and earn one free night certificate valid for a Tier 1-3 Ritz-Carlton Hotel. You may earn up to two free night certificates during the promotion.

• Register for promotion by March 1.
• You must have been a member of Ritz-Carlton Rewards as of January 13, 2012 or a new member who has not been a member of Marriott Rewards to be eligible for this offer.
• Free night reward certificate is earned 3-5 days after second qualifying stay and is valid for one year from date of issuance.
• Free night certificate is not transferable and may not be gifted.

Read More…

2012 HELP SHEET #2 – Hotel Loyalty Promotions.

The major offers from each hotel loyalty program are listed first. The number of asterisks from 1-5 indicates my rating for this offer with 4 or 5 being the best value offers in my opinion.

January 30, 2012 Update (previous update Jan 9)

Main Q-1 2012 promotions from Top Ten hotel loyalty programs:

Accor A|Club – this Europe-based program offers a variety of global regional bonusesand rate discounts. There does not seem to be one major promotion for the winter quarter.

***** Best Western Rewards – February 6 – April 8, 2012 Free night after 3 stays. This offer is limited to one free night voucher after 3 stays. All hotels globally participate. Must register for promotion before stays. The free night voucher expires June 30, 2012 which is the biggest limitation for this offer. LT post January 23, 2012.

*** Choice Privileges – December 1 – February 29, 2012 2x points for stays or Points + Miles.

***** Club Carlson – January 10 – March 16, 2012 Triple Points for all hotels worldwide is 60 points/$1. Club Carlson already has the fastest earning program for free nights and triple points gets you there so much faster. The highest category hotel reward night requires about $800 in hotel spend. Most hotel loyalty programs will require $2,000 to $4,000+ for a free night at their top hotels – even with promotion bonuses. LT post January 11.

*** Hilton HHonors – January 1-March 31, 2012. HHonors More Points promotion offers 1,000 bonus points per night and 5,000 bonus points per two-night weekend stay with Thu-Fri, Fri-Sat or Sat-Sun.

**** Hilton HHonors – January 1-March 31, 2012. HHonors Bonus Miles with four airlines is stackable with the More Points promotion running concurrently:

• American Airlines = Double Miles
• Air Canada Aeroplan = Double Miles
• Delta SkyMiles = 2,012 Miles on 2-night or longer stays
• US Airways = Triple Miles

***** Hilton HHonors – December 1-April 30, 2012. Must book hotel stay by Jan 31, 2012. Resort Escapes offers one free night globally after 5 consecutive nights at participating Hilton Resorts December 1-April 30, 2012. Must book hotel stay by Jan 31, 2012. Maximum two free nights. LT post Dec 4, 2011.

***** Hilton HHonors 30% points rebate for Points & Money and Premium Room Rewards booked by January 31, 2012 for stays by June 30, 2012. LT post Dec 8.

**** Hyatt Gold Passport – February 1 – April 30, 2012 offers a progressive bonus every 4 nights starting at 4,000 bonus points after 4 nights; 8,000 more points after 8 nights (Total = 12,000 bonus points); 12,000 more points after 12 nights (Total = 24,000 bonus points); and 20,000 more points after 16 nights (Total = 44,000 bonus points).

Hyatt Visa card members earn 25% bonus each 4 nights for up to 11,000 additional points (Total = 55,000 points). You only need to be a Hyatt Visa card member for this bonus. You do not need to charge hotel stays to your Hyatt Visa to earn credit card 25% bonus points.

This is a 4-star promotion for credit card members and frequent guests going for 16 nights. 3-star offer if not going all-in to stay at Hyatt for full 16 nights bonus.

This is a high value deal if you go all in for 16 nights. This offer allows all types of travelers to benefit. This offer will earn at least two free nights at any top tier Hyatt Hotel (two category-6 hotel nights = 44,000 points for places like Maldives, Paris, London, New York). Regular points earned from hotel stays can put you in the 60,000+ points range.

Read More…

SPG Birth Year rates are probably one of the lesser known rate discounts with the potential to cut your Starwood Hotel stay rate in half. The basic deal is you pay a generally higher than Best Flexible rate for the first night, then pay your birth year for the second night, and third night at some hotels. I was born in 1960 so my rate is $60 per night for the second and third nights. Even better is the flexible cancellation policy for these rates. Many hotels allow day before arrival or day of arrival cancellation with no penalty.

I have been writing about the birth year rate offer since 2009 and SPG has extended this offer for stays through 2012 at participating hotels.

Some changes I noticed in my recent review of these rates:

Read More…

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes promotion offers a free night certificate after five consecutive nights at a participating Hilton resort from December 1, 2011 through April 30, 2012. This is one of the best hotel loyalty program offers of the past year.

Hilton resort bookings must be made by January 31 for this promotion. Two free nights may be earned during the promotion period.

Promotion registration is required by Jan 31.

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes Promotion

• Booking Period: by January 31, 2012
• Hotel Stay Period: December 1, 2011 – April 30, 2012
• HHonors members must complete a minimum stay of five (5) consecutive nights at participating hotel(s) to receive one (1) free night certificate.
• Limit two (2) free night certificates per HHonors member.
• Certificates may be earned by completing two (2) separate minimum five (5) night stays or one (1) minimum ten (10) night stay.
• Free night certificate will be delivered within 6 weeks of completion of stay.
• Free night certificate is valid at participating hotels in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio for six (6) months after the date of issuance, as noted on the certificate.

Hilton HHonors Resort Escapes Dec 1-April 30, 2012 free night promotion.

Loyalty Traveler analysis

Read More…

The Inn at Spanish Bay is a Pebble Beach golf course resort built near the Pacific Grove town line. A public access boardwalk from Sunset Drive runs along the sand dunes above Asilomar State Beach to Spanish Bay. 17-Mile Drive and Sunset Drive form the road boundaries of Spanish Bay Resort on the Monterey Peninsula.

Google Maps showing Spanish Bay Resort, Pebble Beach at lower left of image. [click on image to open full-size].

This is not a hotel review of The Inn at Spanish Bay. This is another post in my Loyalty Traveler series “At Home He’s a Tourist” where I share the sights of the Monterey Peninsula from my walks around local communities near my home.

Walking to Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach

Asilomar State Beach and Sunset Drive see a steady stream of cars on any evening with clear skies as locals, workers, tourists, surfers and stoners come down to the wild western coastline to watch sunset.

Pebble Beach has a $9.25 car fee to enter the gates into the private residential lands of this scenic and exclusive southwestern point of the Monterey Peninsula. The famous Lodge at Pebble Beach can be seen from Carmel Beach, but natural barriers make it difficult to access the Lodge walking along the coastline. And climbing up the bluffs to the Pebble Beach Golf Course is certainly frowned upon.

The Inn at Spanish Bay is easily approached by foot or bicycle and there is no entry fee required into Pebble Beach for walkers and cyclists. Spanish Bay Resort was developed in the late 1980s during the years my wife and I lived away from the Monterey Peninsula while going to college and working as teachers in small fishing villages in Maine and north coast California in Humboldt County.

Resort development in Pebble Beach is tough to get through environmental impact reviews. Just recently a project to expand The Lodge at Pebble Beach, the Inn at Spanish Bay and a new build hotel resort for Cypress Point have made headway.

Read More…

Westin Charlotte Facebook wall posted an offer for 250 Starpoints by signing up for Charlotte Insider eClub by February 1.

This offer is listed on the Westin Charlotte Facebook wall. There is no place to insert your SPG number when signing up for the Westin Charlotte Insiders email list. Westin Charlotte states SPG members will be contacted for their SPG membership number February 1 and 250 points will be awarded by March 1.

The Westin Charlotte Good question!  We will be sending out an email to request everyone’s SPG number on February 1st at the end of the contest.  Thank you for being a fan of The Westin Charlotte on facebook!

DealsWeLike posted this last night and One Mile at a Time picked up the offer too. Sign up fast since this offer may get pulled early once they realize on Monday morning that BoardingArea readers have created 8,000 new email subscribers and the hotel needs to pay out 2,000,000 points.

Club Carlson offers 2-for-1 and 4-for-2 paid night weekend special rates at hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for members with Gold elite status (35 nights or 20 stays in a calendar year).

EMEA – 2 for 1 generally requires arrival Thursday, Friday or Saturday night.

http://www.clubcarlson.com/2for1

EMEA – 4 for 2 generally requires arrival Wednesday or Thursday night.

http://www.clubcarlson.com/4for2

Basic Rules for these discount rates:

• Must book 2 days in advance.
• Guest must present Club Carlson Gold Tier card at check-in.
• Maximum 2 rooms per ID and Gold member must be one of the guests.
• Rates earn Gold Points.
• Flexible hotel cancellation policies, up to day of arrival with no penalty.

Read More…

My favorite European hotel promotion for the past several years has been the IHG “2 nights for the price of 1” for hotel discounts in the UK and Europe. This offer brings the rate of many hotels in central London to around $100 per night.

The main thing to know with these discount rates is they are prepaid, nonrefundable hotel room reservations.  The terms also state no Priority Club points are earned. This offer is not good for hotel promotions and points, but at these room rate discounts the points may not really matter. Just be aware that you forfeit the entire prepaid amount if you need to cancel your reservation.

The “2-for-1” and “3-for-2” rates are special offers available through this UK link and discounts are based on the Best Flexible Rate. The default page is set to search “IHG Weekend Breaks” in the UK for 35% off Best Flexible Rate.

Use the bullet menu on the right to change rate from 35% off weekend rates to the “2-for-1” or “3-for-2” rates.

Read More…

Hilton claims it has the fastest hotel growth of the major hotel companies over the past five years with 29% room growth and 950 hotels added to its portfolio since June 2007. The hotel chain has a current piepline of another 860 hotels in development.

Hilton opened 170 hotels in 2011. Hilton has more hotel rooms in U.S. than any other chain. It seems to me like Hampton Inns are popping up on street corners like Starbucks.

Hilton Worldwide Facts:

• HHonors reached 30 million members in 2011.
• 3.5 million members joined HHonors in 2011.
• 633,000 rooms globally makes Hilton the world’s largest hotel chain by rooms. This was previously InterContinental Hotels Group as I recall.

I like the statements about Hilton’s energy and water efficiency efforts. I live in the compact area of the Monterey Peninsula with over 200 hotels and several communities with water supply issues. This is an area where the water shortage of the 1970s led to restrictions of 50 gallons of water per day for household residents while hotels did not have those kinds of restrictions on guests. Every effort made to conserve energy and water in hotels helps the bottom line cost of the hotels as well as benefit the community.

Read More…

Hilton HHonors revised the list of elite benefits for Hilton, Doubletree, Conrad and Waldorf Astoria hotel stays. For Diamond members it appears to be an upgrade. Hilton HHonors Gold elites are less assured the changes are an enhancement to the former room upgrade policy.

Basically the wording states Gold and Diamond members will receive an upgrade if available for the entire stay to at least the next higher category room, but the type of upgrade is solely at the discretion of the hotel. Diamond members have the word “suite” as a room type possibility, but there is no language compelling a hotel to give a member a suite.

New HHonors Diamond Elite Benefits Policy:

Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts and DoubleTree by Hilton™ Benefits

All Hilton HHonors Diamond guests will receive each of the following:

Read More…

Hyatt Gold Passport informally announced its next loyalty promotion to the attendees of the Oneworld MegaDo in Dallas, Texas last night according to several attendees like ThePointsGuy. The promotion earns bonus points at 4-night increments, up to 16 nights. The nights do not need to be consecutive.

There is even a 25% bonus for stays paid with the Hyatt Visa credit card members. [update: Jan27, 4:00pm Pacific - Gold Passport Concierge posted on FlyerTalk that all Hyatt Visa card members earn bonus. There is no need to pay for the hotel stays with the Hyatt Visa.]

Register by March 31 for Hyatt Promotion.

• after 4 nights = 4,000 bonus points (1,000 more points if Hyatt Visa payment).
• after 8 nights = 8,000 more bonus points for 12,000 points total (2,000 more bonus points with Hyatt Visa).
• after 12 nights = 12,000 more bonus points for 24,000 points total (3,000 more bonus points with Hyatt Visa).
• after 16 nights = 20,000 more bonus points for 44,000 points total (5,000 more bonus points with Hyatt Visa).

This promotion offers the potential of earning 44,000 bonus points after 16 nights or 55,000 bonus points for Hyatt Visa card members.

Read More…