Priority Club Rewards has posted new category assignments at 4,500+ InterContinental Hotels Group properties worldwide. Supposedly 30% of hotels went down. Those hotels apparently are not in my neighborhood and much of California has seen a deleterious devaluation of Priority Club points with numerous hotels rising by 40% in reward night cost.
I primarily travel the coastal corridor of California along Highways 1 and 101 in central coast and north coast California, and Interstate 405 and 5 in southern California. Looks to me like any IHG hotel within 10 miles of the Pacific Ocean coast went up in points required for a reward night. Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn hotels in California seem to be the biggest devaluation with many hotels rising from 25,000 points to 35,000 points per reward night.
I am thankful I had the opportunity to clean out my Priority Club points balance this week on great value hotel reward stays at InterContinental and Crowne Plaza hotels for 2013 stays.
San Francisco, California area is one of the Unluckiest Losers
This “Lost Nights” chart is one I recreated in HHonor of the Priority Club Luckiest Loser promotional campaign launched by Priority Club in February 2010 in response to Hilton HHonors January 2010 hotel category reassignment and points devaluation.
The new Priority Club Rewards hotel reward nights are based on a nine category hotel assignment system from 10,000 to 50,000 points per night.
New Priority Club Reward Nights system effective Jan 18, 2013.
- Category 1 = 10,000 points
- Category 2 = 15,000 points
- Category 3 = 20,000 points
- Category 4 = 25,000 points
- Category 5 = 30,000 points
- Category 6 = 35,000 points
- Category 7 = 40,000 points
- Category 8 = 45,000 points
- Category 9 = 50,000 points
The former system priced reward nights by hotel brand and just one year ago today on Jan 18, 2012 Priority Club Rewards added tiers to many of the brands that previously had been one price point regardless of hotel location or average daily rate.
Priority Club Reward Nights with brand tiers launched one year ago today on Jan 18, 2012.
Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express
- 10,000
- 15,000
- 20,000
- 25,000
Candlewood Suites
- 15,000
- 20,000
Staybridge Suites
- 20,000
- 25,000
Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo
- 25,000
- 35,000
Holiday Inn Club Vacations
- 27,500
InterContinental Hotels
- 30,000
- 40,000
- 50,000
In 2011 and up to Jan. 18, 2012 the Priority Club Reward Nights chart looked like this:
Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express
- 10,000
- 15,000
- 20,000
- 25,000
Candlewood Suites
- 15,000
- 20,000
Staybridge Suites
- 20,000
- 25,000
Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo
- 25,000
- 35,000
Holiday Inn Club Vacations
- 27,500
InterContinental Hotels
- 30,000
- 40,000
- 50,000
In February 2010 Priority Club ran a major global promotion called “The Luckiest Loser” aimed at Hilton HHonors points devaluation when the loyalty program restructured award charts and the reassignment of hotels resulted in hotels worldwide increasing by 20% in reward cost.
This chart was created by Priority Club illustrating the devaluation of Hilton HHonors points in January 2010 when Hilton introduced category 7 award nights and reassigned nearly every hotel in the global chain to a higher reward night category costing more points.
In fairness to Priority Club’s new Reward Nights categories, I did find a hotel in California that actually dropped in points cost:
Crowne Plaza Concord dropped from 25,000 to 20,000 points.
And one hotel I recommend as a good deal at the 10,000 points category 1 level is The Lodge at Running Y Ranch Klamath Falls, Oregon for a summer getaway destination and launch point for Crater Lake National Park visits.
The Lodge at Running Y Ranch Loyalty Traveler review July 23, 2012.
Crater Lake National Park Rim Drive and Dip – LT post July 24, 2012.
I am happy I had the opportunity to redeem all my Priority Club points three days ago when several hotels that were 35,000 and 40,000 points were available for less than 24 hours Monday to Tuesday morning at 15,000 points. Apparently those reward rates were a website mistake rate glitch.
LoyaltyLobby blog re-posted a list of the former Priority Club Reward Nights rates on his blog today. You can compare rates on Priority Club’s site to LoyaltyLobby’s list to see Priority Club Reward Night rate increases in effect as of today.
The good news out of all this is Priority Club members can book hotel stays at the former Priority Club Reward Nights cost through March 18, 2013 by calling Priority Club and requesting the lower reward points rate.
The Reward Night chart above is effective January 18, 2013. If the hotel that you originally planned to book now requires more points, simply call the Priority Club Service Center to reserve your Reward Night and ask for the original point price. This offer is valid through March 18, 2013.
Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.
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