Patrick Sojka of FrequentFlyerBonuses.com or Superdawg on FlyerTalk posted a Marriott Rewards instant Gold elite upgrade on Friday, Nov 19. Air China Phoenix Miles members can receive Marriott Gold Elite instantly through February 28, 2011 with a one year membership extension to February 2012 after 12 nights at Marriott brand hotels within 90 days.

I signed up for an Air China Phoenix Miles account (Air China U.S. site link) on Friday.

Air China PhoenixMiles instant Marriott Rewards Gold Elite Offer Terms and Conditions:

• Gold Elite level status is awarded until 28 February 2011 during the promotion period, with an option to retain Gold Elite status until February 2012 once 12 nights have been completed within 90 days of enrolment. Thereafter members must stay at least 50 nights annually at participating Marriott brand hotels in order to quality for Gold Elite status. For a full list of the Gold Elite benefits, please visit http://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-benefits/gold.mi
• Earn 1,000 bonus miles (1,609 km) on the first stay, 1,500 bonus miles (2,413 km) on the second stay and 2,000 bonus miles (3,218 km) on the third stay up to 4,500 bonus miles (7,240 km) with Air China PhoenixMiles for stays completed between November 22, 2010 and February 28, 2011. Bonus miles offer is valid only for qualifying stays you personally make at participating Marriott International hotels. Bonus miles are awarded in addition to base miles, as listed below and will be converted into the equivalent kilometres before posting to members’ Air China PhoenixMiles accounts within 6 weeks of the promotion end date.
• Collect 2 Miles per US dollar on qualifying charges during the offer period at participating Marriott® Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott® Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance® Hotels, Autograph Collection, EDITION, and Marriott Vacation ClubSM International hotels worldwide. MVCI owner-occupied weeks are not eligible for credit.
• Collect 1 Mile per US dollar on qualifying charges during the offer period at a participating Courtyard by Marriott®, SpringHill Suites by Marriott®, Fairfield Inn by Marriott®, Residence Inn® by Marriott, TownePlace Suites by Marriott® hotels, and Marriott Executive Apartments worldwide.
• For details of qualifying charges and room rates see www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/earning.mi
• You must enrol in Marriott Rewards with enrolment code AN10 to be eligible for this offer. Bonus Mile credit toward the indicated Marriott Rewards/Air China promotion is given for stays with participating Marriott International hotels between November 22, 2010 and February 28, 2011.
• Nights spent while redeeming a Marriott Rewards award are not eligible for a stay credit. The details of this offer, including the number of stays needed to achieve your bonus, and the number of Bonus Miles awarded, are not transferable.
• A “stay” is defined as consecutive nights spent in the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity.
• All Marriott Rewards programme, including Elite membership, terms and conditions apply. Complete Marriott Rewards programme terms and conditions and privacy policy apply and can be found online at http://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/default.mi

Then I submitted my request for instant Marriott Rewards Gold elite.

 

Some Canadians are pissed off after foreigners ruined the Expedia.ca Las Vegas and New York Vacation Package deals over the weekend. Now let’s see if our Canadian friend from FFB inadvertently gets the Chinese pissed off too.

 

Marriott Rewards instant Gold elite and requalification with 8 nights in 90 Days

The second deal for HSBC Premier customers, enrollment code HP10, looks similar to the Air China offer, but with an even lower elite qualification threshold at 8 nights. TMtravel world posted this offer today on BoardingArea.com.

HSBC Premier member instant Marriott Rewards Gold Elite Offer Terms and Conditions: 

• You must enrol in Marriott Rewards with enrolment code HP10 either online at www.joinMarriottRewards.com/HSBC/ or via the Marriott Rewards service centre on 852 800 938 968 to be eligible for this offer.
• Enrolment must be made in advance of your stay in order to enjoy the benefits associated with Gold Elite membership. Please quote your membership number at the time of reservations.
• Gold Elite level status is awarded for a period of 90 days, with an option to retain Gold Elite status until February 2012 after 8 nights have been completed within 90 days of enrolment. Thereafter members must stay at least 50 nights annually at participating Marriott brand hotels in order to quality for Gold Elite status. For a full list of the Gold Elite benefits, please visit http://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-benefits/gold.mi
• Nights spent while redeeming a Marriott Rewards award are not eligible for a stay credit. The details of this offer, including the number of stays needed to achieve your bonus are not transferable.
• A “stay” is defined as consecutive nights spent in the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity.
• Must book the “Stay for Breakfast” rate on Marriott.com.cn with the promotional code D57 or call 400 888 5551 quoting XXBV to enjoy the 15% discount for weekend stays. Offer valid for stays between 15 November 2010 – 28 February 2011, with check-in on a Friday or Saturday at participating hotels in China and Hong Kong. Minimum stay of 2 consecutive weekend nights required. Tax is additional and rates may not be combined with any other offer or discount. Customers need to pay with their HSBC China Premier Debit Cards. Other restrictions apply.
• Programme terms and conditions apply. Complete Marriott Rewards programme terms and conditions and privacy policy can be found online at http://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/default.mi

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

Gold elite with Marriott is normally a 50-night affair so these offers of 8 and 12 nights within 90 days are true fast-track to Gold elite deals.

Marriott is one of the more difficult programs to earn elite status with only paid nights stayed during a calendar year considered for elite qualification. One of the nicer features of Marriott Gold elite is free internet, lounge access and breakfast on weekdays at full-service hotels.

Sign up soon since the terms may change to be more restrictive after being posted on FlyerTalk, TMtravelworld here and here, View from the Wing here and here, and One Mile at a Time.

Obviously the 8 nights to retain Gold elite through 2012 is the easier threshold.

My only reluctance with the HSBC Premier offer is whether there will be a check of Marriott Rewards members with HSBC Premier membership. There probably will not be a membership check. But if this offer goes viral there could always be a purge of members who are not affiliated with HSBC or Air China Phoenix Miles. 

Since I already signed up through the Air China link and my Marriott Rewards membership has been upgraded to Gold elite from that offer, the 8 night HSBC Premier deal is out for me anyway.

Anyone can enroll in a few minutes to be an Air China Phoenix Miles member.

Enjoy.

Expedia.ca 48-hour sale ends Sunday midnight Pacific time

Update: 13:00 Pacific time, Sat Nov 20.

Expedia has updated the SAVE300 voucher terms to state travel and transactions must originate in Canada.

This offer is effectively DEAD unless you are traveling from Canada.

[original post content]

Las Vegas including airfare from San Francisco on a package trip in a Vdara Suite for $44.

Or $41 for one night in a Premier Strip View at the Four Seasons Las Vegas normally priced at $259.

Or $120 for a night in a Strip View Suite at the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, normally priced at $425 per night.

The Venetian in a Venezia Bella View Suite for $30 and breakfast buffet included.

And the deals go on for Wynn Tower rooms with $100 stay credits for under $100, Palazzo suites, Bellagio Lake View Suites and many other hotel deals in Las Vegas for trips in November and December.

Expedia.ca has a $300CAD discount voucher for Air + Hotel packages in Las Vegas. The rates are so low that many packages are actually less than $300CAD all-in. Room upgrades pushed the price of the hotel rooms listed above to over $300CAD for a one night trip on December 13, 2010 leaving SFO Monday morning and returning Tuesday evening.

This deal went viral yesterday with over 1,000 posts on FlyerTalk in less than 24 hours. This is one of the longest lasting high value travel deals I have seen in quite a while and still appears available as I write this post.

Who knows if Expedia will honor these rates or not?

The one thing I have learned from this offer is there are some incredible Las Vegas deals through Expedia Hotel + Air packages, even without a $300 CAD credit.

 

Update 12 noon Sat Nov 20:

I originally posted quickly this morning to let people know the extraordinary rates people are getting for Las Vegas vacations. I know this Expedia.ca deal also applies to New York and Cancun, but the Las Vegas hotel deals for travel from San Francisco have held my attention.

The numbers I quote in the previous text do not exactly go with the images since I calculated rates based on hotel searches I had made for Monday night December 13 and the images are from a variety of Expedia rate searches.

The Expedia Canada SAVE300 offers are deep discounts on some Las Vegas upgraded hotel rooms and suites in 5-star hotels.

Here is a more systematic picture of the deep discounts at Las Vegas 5-star hotels available with the ‘SAVE300′ voucher credit on the  Expedia.ca (Canada site) at 11am Pacific Sat Nov 20.

Monday December 13 – Thursday December 16, 2010

Prices shown are reduced by $300 when applying SAVE300 coupon for one person flying and staying in hotel for three nights.

Bellagio Hotel for three nights Dec 13-16 and airfare for one person from San Francisco is a total cost of $121 Canadian dollars after the Save300 voucher credit.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas with room rates normally in the $199 per night range is available for three nights at $376 CAD all-in with free airfare from San Francisco.

And you can upgrade your room. The Expedia Canada sale has been getting booked for over 24 hours and many suites are getting booked out. There were suite upgrade options for these dates just a couple of hours ago.

The new City Center Las Vegas  is one of the largest real estate development projects in the world at more than 8 billion dollars. Click the link just to get a great photo image of the complex on the Las Vegas Strip if you are not familiar with the property. Several luxury hotels are part of City Center Las Vegas including the new Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, Vdara, and Aria Resort.

Room rates at the hotels in City Center are probably 50% of what they were predicted to run when these hotels were planned. City Center opened about 12 months ago into the worst hotel market of modern times and the greatest slump in tourism Las Vegas has ever experienced.

And these Expedia Canada rates are a fraction of the current published rates for these hotels in December 2010.

The best value comes from a simple one night stay where the hotel rate opportunities for a cheap upgrade are phenomenal.

Monday, December 13

A roundtrip flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas and a room at the Wynn Resort for Dec 13 is free after the $300 CAD credit. You might as well upgrade:

Wynn Resort Deluxe Panoramic View King is $38.29CAD after applying $300CAD voucher credit.

Wynn Tower room is just $62 CAD for the night. Remember the SFO-LAS flights are included in this $62 luxury hotel night.

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas Hotel is actually free  when booking one night Air+Hotel Package for Monday Dec 13.

Why not upgrade to a suite at a rate you will likely never see again?

VancouverDealsBlog.com with step-by-step instructions for booking this deal (from Canada).

Related Posts:

Betting on Expedia.ca for a Vegas Suite Deal (Nov 20, 2010) [This post tells how I bought my flight to Las Vegas and an upgraded room at the Mandarin Oriental for $12.]

CityCenter Las Vegas – Art, Architecture and Space (Dec 16, 2010)

Hotel Detail – Aria Resort and Casino Las Vegas in HD (Dec 11, 2010)

Aria Resort Las Vegas – Pools, Spa and Dining (Dec 12, 2010)

Aria Resort Corner Suite and SkySuites (Dec 18, 2010) 

Aria Resort Las Vegas SkyVilla 19 (Dec 19, 2010)

Vdara Hotel, CityCenter Las Vegas (Dec 19, 2010)

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas (Dec 23, 2010)

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas (Dec 21, 2010) (The Cosmopolitan is next to Vdara Hotel, but not part of CityCenter complex. The Cosmopolitan is a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel.)

Embassy Suites is running a four-week Facebook Holiday Fun offer awarding the first 250 fans each week with a travel care package just for giving a holiday travel tip.   1,000 tipsters will receive a Holiday Travel Package from Embassy Suites.

Holiday Travel Package ($65 value) includes:

• Deluxe hanging amenity kit
• 60-minute personal concierge card valid for a variety of concierge services available by phone
• Bloom bath products
• Fold-away duffel bag

 

TO PARTICIPATE: You must first have a Facebook profile and “Like” Embassy Suites Hotels. Then, be one of the first 250 people to visit the “Holiday Fun” tab on the Embassy Suites Hotels Page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/EmbassySuitesHotels and post a holiday travel tip (the “Entry”) during one of the date periods set forth below (each an “Entry Period”) and you will receive a Package (as defined below). You must enter a valid email and mailing address before posting your tip. As soon as Sponsor has received 250 Entries for each Entry Period, Sponsor will announce that 250 Entries have been posted for the current Entry Period on the “Holiday Fun” custom tab and on the general Embassy Suites Facebook page wall.

The Entry Periods are as follows:

• 12:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (“EST”) on November 15, 2010 through 11:59 p.m. EST on November 21, 2010

• 12:00 a.m. EST on November 22, 2010 through 11:59 p.m. EST on November 28, 2010

• 12:00 a.m. EST on November 29, 2010 through 11:59 p.m. EST on December 5, 2010

• 12:00 a.m. EST on December 6, 2010 through 11:59 p.m. EST on December 12, 2010

Limited to residents of U.S., D.C. and Puerto Rico.

Limit of one entry during entire promotion period.

Embassy Suites will select top ten tips and post on Facebook page December 13, however, there are no additional prizes for being a Top 10 Tipper.

 

My little promotion complaint

The promotion terms state: As soon as Sponsor has received 250 Entries for each Entry Period, Sponsor will announce that 250 Entries have been posted for the current Entry Period on the “Holiday Fun” custom tab and on the general Embassy Suites Facebook page wall.  

There was no message on the Holiday Fun tab stating 250 entries had been posted for this week. I went ahead and submitted my tip today. Then, when I looked at the Embassy Suites Facebook page wall I saw that a notice went up yesterday stating the 250 entries for this first week had already been received.

So did I blow my chance for an Embassy Suites Care Package by submitting my tip today?

My advice is wait until Monday (or 9:01pm Sunday night for all you Pacific time zone readers) before submitting your tip. Hopefully you will get an Embassy Suites care package.

Hyatt Place hotels have a 3-night stay special rate offer for hotel stays from November 19 through January 17, 2011 when booked from November 4 to January 15, 2011. This offer is valid for up to 9 consecutive nights.

Enter HOLID3 in the special offer code box on reservations to pull up rates for 3-night stays.

Conventional thinking would be 50% off the 3^rd night should be an overall discount a bit over 16% on the room rate (half of 33.33% = 16.66%). My samples indicate a 7% discount on AAA rates.

A good deal – YES.

Great?

Unfortunately, the rates used for extended stay discounts are rarely based on the otherwise lowest rates available at a hotel.

http://www.hyatt.com/hyatt/place/specials/holiday-promo.jsp

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

I sampled rates at three hotels around the U.S.

• Hyatt Place Silicon Valley Fremont, California
• Hyatt Place Downtown Atlanta, Georgia
• Hyatt Place Princeton, Princeton, New Jersey

 

Hyatt Place Silicon Valley Fremont, California

3-night stay: Monday, December 13 – Thursday, December 16, 2010

HOLID3 Rate = $297.50 (after discount at check-out); $357 before discount at $119 per night.

AAA rate = $321 room rate at $107 per night.

Cancellation policies are the same for both rates at 4pm Day of Arrival.

Total Savings = $23.50 or 7.3% savings on AAA rate for this three night stay. 

Hyatt Place Downtown Atlanta, Georgia

3-night stay: Monday, December 13 – Thursday, December 16, 2010

HOLID3 Rate = $347.50 (after discount at check-out); $417 before discount at $139 per night.

AAA rate = $375 room rate at $125 per night.

Cancellation policies: 3pm 24 hours before arrival for both rates.

Total Savings = $27.50 or 7.3% savings on AAA rate for this three night stay.

 

Hyatt Place Princeton, Princeton, New Jersey

3-night stay: Monday, December 13 – Thursday, December 16, 2010

HOLID3 Rate = $422.50 (after discount at check-out); $507 before discount at $169 per night.

AAA rate = $456 room rate at $152 per night.

Cancellation policies: 4pm day of arrival for both rates.

Total Savings = $33.50 or 7.4% savings on AAA rate for this three night stay.

 

Loyalty Traveler rate offer conclusion:

This 50% off 3^rd night special rate offer is a good deal if you need a three night stay between now and January 17, 2011 and the Hyatt Place rates are comparable to competitors. This rate is an overall discount, and an extra 7% savings on hotel rates comes with liberal cancellation policies.

This is even a better deal in combination with Hyatt Gold Passport Great 10K promotion offering 10,000 bonus points for every 5 hotel nights through December 15.

Great 10K registration link goldpassport.com/welcome10k

You can redeem two free nights with 10,000 points at the Hyatt Place Fremont or Hyatt Place Atlanta Downtown, both category 1 reward hotels for 5,000 points per night. Hyatt Place Princeton is actually a category 3 hotel for 12,000 points per night. I assume it is the hotel location since every Hyatt Place is nearly identical in design and layout of lobby, facilities and rooms.

Over the next three weeks win a 2-night stay with two rooms at one of 10 Luxury Collection Hotels in the U.S.  or a grand prize 4-night trip to The Royal Hawaiian Waikiki and airfare for two to Hawaii.

This promotion is open to U.S. and D.C. residents 21 and over.

Steps:

1. “Like” the Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection Facebook Page.

2. Register for the sweepstakes and you can invite up to 3 friends to participate on your team to earn more entries.

3. Each day a new trivia question is posted between 9am and midnight and if answered correctly then the team receives one sweepstakes entry for each prize drawing during the remainder of the promotion.

4. Entries are cumulative for each team member answering the trivia question correctly and the team receives one bonus entry for each question answered correctly by all team members.

5. Beginning Monday November 15 there are daily prize drawings for 2,000 Starpoints through December 12, 2010.

6. Four weekly prize drawings will be held with entry period from Monday through Sunday.

 

Grand Prize Drawing – December 12, 2010

Grand Prize: One team will win up to 2 (two) rooms for four (4) nights at The Royal Hawaiian, plus roundtrip coach air transportation from the major U.S. airport nearest winner’s residence for two (2) people. (ARV: $TBD).

Weekly Prizes:

Week 1

1. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at The US Grant, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

2. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at Palace Hotel, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

Week 2

1. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at Hotel Ivy, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

2. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at The Fairfax at Embassy Row, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

3. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at The Equinox, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

4. One team will win two rooms for two (2) nights at The Phoenician, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

Week 3

1. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at The Joule, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

2. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at SLS Hotel, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

3. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at The Ballantyne, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

4. One team will win up to two rooms for two (2) nights at The Nines, awarded in the form of up to two gift certificates. (ARV: $599 each)

Daily Prizes (28 – 1 per day): Each person on each Daily Prize winning team will receive 2,000 Starwood Preferred® Guest (SPG®) Starpoints (ARV: $50 each).

Points will be credited to the member’s SPG® account within 3-5 days from receipt of winner’s SPG® number.

If the winner does not have an SPG® Account they can create one for free at http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/index.html.

Loyalty Traveler comment: This sweepstakes is a pretty easy trivia entry. On a social media level I do not really care for the way these contests require you to open up your entire Facebook life and friends to any company offering a prize.  A phone call, an email, or a visit is how I connect with friends. Facebook is just my business tool and an occasional spout of thoughts into the ether.

And I see Starwood Hotels has also been putting sponsored content on HuffPost lately that looks just like all the other blogger content. Hotels are playing this social media game to attract guests with points and chances at free hotel nights. 

Las Vegas Holiday Inn has two special offer rates for 10,000 bonus points per stay including breakfast for two at the Forte Grill hotel restaurant or 15,000 bonus points per stay. The 15,000 bonus points rate is available for stays into November 2011 at rates about $50 more than the otherwise lowest available rate.

The 10,000 bonus points is actually the better deal with the breakfast benefit, but appears to be available only for the holiday season through December 2010.

There are no special rate codes to enter. These offers appear in general searches.

Thanksgiving weekend rates are $119 per night compared to an advance purchase rate of $97. An extra $22 for 10,000 Priority Club bonus points and a restaurant breakfast for two is an amazing deal.

The 15,000 points package rate for the same date is $25 more for the extra 5,000 points at $144 per night, however, no breakfast included.

The 10,000 bonus points package if staying in 2010 is the better value.

 

Rate Rules Fine Print

These rates have lenient cancellation policies at 24 hours advance notice for dates I checked.

Rate rules for these 10K and 15K packages state no other points promotions can apply on top of this package such as a PC Postcard Mailer. I really do not know what this means exactly, but I do not think it applies to the current Sweet Dilemma offer for a free night after two stays.

Please correct me readers if you find I am wrong about the Sweet Dilemma offer and this Las Vegas bonus points offer.

Location

The hotel is located at Paradise Road and Flamingo, two long blocks east of the Strip, near the UNLV campus.

One of the best features of this hotel over most hotels on the Las Vegas Strip is a complimentary shuttle service between LAS airport and the hotel. Hotel shuttle service is rare in Las Vegas and a taxi will run $15 to $25 depending on how much traffic you hit (or your driver can find).

10K Rates

Priority Club offers these 10,000 bonus points packages at a variety of hotels around the country. Locating them is kind of hit or miss. Priority Club has a webpage showing hotels offering bonus points rates, but these 10,000 points hotels are not shown. And 15,000 bonus points per stay is the highest rate I have seen.

To compare: Through Points & Cash it will cost $90 to buy 15,000 points. Through Priority Club “Buy Points” link it will cost $187.50 to buy 15,000 points.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts have a 72-hour sale for a few select properties across the U.S. and even Panama with some hotels up to 50% off.

I found great rates for the Wyndham Orange County Costa Mesa at $69 per night next week using this 72-hour sale. The rate for a suite is $119 per night using this 72-hour rate sale, but drops to only $83 per night for a 3-night stay in a suite.

Eligible travel dates using these rates vary by property. Wyndham Orange County allows Nov 17 – January 9. Milwaukee Wisconsin is valid for travel dates through June 1, 2011.

Save 50% in Glen Allen, Virginia

Wyndham Virginia Crossings Hotel & Conference Center  From $49 / night

Save 50% in Costa Mesa, California

Wyndham Orange County  From $69 / night

Save 45% in Indianapolis, Indiana

Wyndham Indianapolis West  From $59 / night

Save 40% in Irving, Texas

Wyndham Las Colinas From $62 / night 

Save 40% in Reunion, Florida 

Reunion Resort and Club Wyndham Grand Resort From $179 / night

Save 40% in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wyndham Milwaukee Airport and Convention Center
From $78 / night

Save 35% in Panama City, Panama

Veneto – A Wyndham Grand Hotel From $98 / night

Save 30% in Lake Buena Vista, Florida 

Wyndham Lake Buena Vista Resort From $62 / night

Save 25% in Nashville, Tennessee 

Union Station – A Wyndham Grand Hotel From $156 / night

Save 25% in St. Louis, Missouri 

The Roberts Mayfair – A Wyndham Historic Hotel
From $75 / night

Save 25% in San Francisco, California

Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco – Union Square

From $179 / night

The $179 San Francisco rate does not impress me for the Parc 55 unless you get that rate during a regular business weekday. Weekend rates will typically be lower than that in San Francisco.

Related Link: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/11/07/wyndham-rewards-and-wyndham-byrequest-overview/

Buy a $100 Best Western Travel Card and earn 2,500 bonus points or a $10 bonus Travel card for Best Western Hotels or a $10 gift card for other merchants: Walmart, Amazon, Home Depot or Carrabas, Flemings & Outback. Best Western Travel Card Promotion link.

Offer available for Best Western Travel Card purchases November 5 through December 31, 2010. This is an online promotion only and limited to residents of U.S., Canada and Caribbean.

There is a promotion limit of one bonus per transaction, but you can earn one bonus for each separate $100 Best Western Travel Card purchase transaction.

Best Western Travel Cards are valid at over 4,000 Best Western Hotels worldwide.

Anyone can use the Travel Card which makes this offer good for gifting a room to someone while putting points into your own account.

Link to Best Western Travel Card FAQ

 

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

Essentially you get a 10% bonus on a $100 gift card purchase or you can potentially get even more value, $10 to $25+ in redemption value from 2,500 Best Western Rewards points when redeemed for a free hotel night.

$1,000 in gift cards (made in ten separate $100 purchase transactions to earn 10 gift card or points bonuses) will earn 25,000 points, sufficient for a free night or two at most of the 4,000 Best Western hotel locations. Best Western reward nights start at 8,000 points and go as high as 36,000 points. The vast majority of Best Western hotels are 24,000 points or less. You need to be logged in as a best Western Rewards member to look up how many points are needed at any specific hotel for a free night reward.

This is a great deal for the Best Western Rewards frequent guest and a bonus offer even for the guest planning a one time Best Western stay.

Starting today is a five day 50% off rate sale at more than 50 hotels operated by Sage Hotels for stays from December 1 through January 9, 2011. Sage Hospitality is a major U.S. hotel management company that operates hotels across several hotel chains including Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Radisson and IHG.

Book between November 17-21 for hotels stays from December 1 through January 9, 2011 to receive 50% discount rates.

There is no special rate code to enter. Finding the sale rates is hit and miss. I have had many more search misses than hits. But there are some deals. These hotels book through the hotel branded website so loyalty program credit will be applicable for these bookings.

Westin Westminster, Colorado is generally one of the more expensive Starwood Hotels in the Denver area. Rates at $69 (Dec 10) are the lowest I have ever seen for this property.

Hilton San Diego Del Mar $65 Dec 4-7. Prepaid and nonrefundable.

The Nines, Starwood Luxury Collection, Portland Oregon $99 Jan 3, 2011. Prepaid, nonrefundable.

Try your luck and maybe you will score an incredible deal in a place you want to stay.

Sage Hotels participating in 50% sale

Alabama
Courtyard Mobile Spanish Fort/Eastern Shore

Fairfield Inn & Suites Mobile Spanish Fort/Eastern Shore

Arizona
Sheraton Airport Hotel Tempe in Tempe, Ariz.

Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites in Tucson, Ariz.

California

Courtyard Los Angeles Pasadena/Monrovia – Monrovia
(Not Available Dec. 30 – Jan. 1)

Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown – San Diego
(Not Available Dec. 3-4, 10-11 and Jan. 7-9)

Homewood Suites by Hilton SFO Airport North – Brisbane
(Not Available Dec. 31)

San Diego Del Mar Hilton – Del Mar
(Not Available Dec. 26-31and Jan. 7-9)

Colorado

The Curtis, a Doubletree Hotel – Denver
(Not Available Dec. 3-4, 12, Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 2-9)

Courtyard by Marriott Denver Downtown – Denver

(Not Available Dec. 3-4, Dec. 31, and Jan. 6-8)

Hilton Garden Inn Denver South/Meridian – Englewood

JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek – Denver

The Oxford Hotel – Denver
(Not Available Dec. 3-5, 12, Dec. 30-31, and Jan. 2-9)

Pueblo Marriott at the Convention Center – Pueblo
(Not Available Dec. 31)

Denver Airport Marriott at Gateway Park – Denver

Residence Inn by Marriott Denver City Center – Denver

(Not Available Dec. 30-31 and Jan. 6-7)

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Boulder Broomfield – Broomfield

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Colorado Springss –Colorado Springs

TownePlace Suites by Marriott
Denver Downtown – Denver

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver Southeast – Denver
(Not Available Dec. 20-22,27-29, and Jan. 3-5)

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Littleton Southwest – Littleton

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver Tech Center – Englewood

TownePlace Suites by Marriott Denver West Federal Center- Golden

The Westin Westminster- Westminster

Florida
Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld International Center – Orlando
(Not Available Dec. 3-5, Dec. 26-31, Jan. 1-2)

Georgia
Doubletree Hotel Northlake- Atlanta

Hilton Garden Inn Atlanta Perimeter Center- Atlanta
(Not Available Dec. 28 – Jan. 1, 3-6)

The Glenn Hotel-Atlanta
(Not Available Dec. 3-4, 26-27, Dec. 31 – Jan. 3)

Illinois

Renaissance Blackstone Chicago Hotel — Chicago

Hilton Garden Inn Hoffman Estates – Hoffman Estates

Michigan
Courtyard by Marriott– Brighton

Courtyard by Marriott– Lansing

The Baronette – Novi
(Not Available Dec. 31) Minnesota

Fairfield Inn by Marriott – Duluth
(Not Available Dec. 3-11, 17- 18)

Mississippi
Courtyard Biloxi North/D’lberville – D’lberville

Nevada
Fairfield Inn by Marriott Las Vegas Airport – Las Vegas
(Not Available Dec. 30 – Jan. 1, 4-8)

North Carolina
Charlotte Marriott Executive Park – Charlotte
(Not Available Jan. 7-8)

Ohio

The Crowne Plaza Cleveland City Centre – Cleveland
(Not Available Dec. 3-4, 25-26 and Jan. 1-2)

Oregon

The Nines, The Luxury Collection, Starwood Hotel & Resorts – Portland

Courtyard by Marriott – Portland City Center – Portland
(Not Available Dec.31)
Pennsylvania
Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel – Pittsburgh

(Not Available Dec. 3-23, Dec. 31 – Jan. 6 and Jan. 9)

Rhode Island
Renaissance Providence Hotel – Providence
(Not Available Dec. 31)

Tennessee
Radisson Hotel Memphis Airport – Memphis

Texas
Hilton College Station and Conference Center – College Station
(Not Available Dec. 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 27-28 and Jan. 3-9)

Hampton Inn Six Flags – San Antonio

Houston Holiday Inn South Loop – Houston

Utah
Marriott Ogden Hotel – Ogden
(Not Available Dec. 31)

Washington
Courtyard Seattle – Seattle

Holiday Inn Renton – Renton

Hawthorn Suites – Kent

Wisconsin

Residence Inn by Marriott Milwaukee Downtown- Milwaukee

Current Hotel Loyalty Promotions and News – updated November 16, 2010

Here is the update to the Current Hotel Loyalty Promotions page on Loyalty Traveler blog.

Sixty Second overview of current offers:

Choice Privileges has one of the best points reward offers with discount hotel partner rewards up to 50% off at Preferred Hotels Group properties for bookings through January 19, 2011.

Starwood Preferred Guest has a fast-track elite offer for the remainder of the year with Stays Count Double at their brands of Aloft, Element and Four Points Hotels through December 31.

Fast-track to SPG Gold elite with just four stays at these brands by January 31, 2011 with the other SPG offer. Elite status will last through February 2012.

Sheraton Club Lounges will remain open on weekends beginning in 2011. Will Marriott follow?

Priority Club Sweet Dilemma for a free night after two stays and Hyatt Gold Passport 10,000 points after 5 nights are the best points and free nights deals for hotel stays through December 31 in my opinion.

Priority Club has an instant platinum elite offer that could make Sweet Dilemma a suite opportunity. IHG also has a high value 2 nights for the price of 1 special rate offer for hotels in the UK and Europe through December 30, 2010.

Accor Hotels has more hotels in South America than most other hotel loyalty program chains put together and through the end of 2010 you can 4x Accor AClub points.

November 21 is the last night for 15,000 goldpoints with just one night at a Country Inn & Suites.

**************************************************

The frequent guest has the choice of many hotel loyalty promotions with little guidance to their relative value. Here is Loyalty Traveler’s summary of current hotel loyalty promotions and limited time rate offers for the frequent guest.

Newly added offers since the last October 18 update are marked with an asterisk (*).

***********************************************************************

Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of hotel loyalty promotions on a Five Key Scale.

Five Keys = one of the best hotel loyalty promotions of the year.

Four Keys = high value rebate on the cost of hotel stays.

Three Keys = good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer

Two Keys = a bonus value if you play, but not necessarily worth going out of your way.

One Key = There is limited or no value. You are likely paying more than the bonus value.

Rate discounts and loyalty program bonuses are two types of hotel chain incentives to consider when booking travel. 

Rankings are subjective and subject to change. Your specific travel pattern may result in some promotions ranking more favorably for you. When assigning a key rank I take into consideration the following factors and probably more: 

• The opportunity for significantly high-value return on hotel spend in terms of a future hotel rebate in free nights and discounted hotel nights. 
• Current loyalty program promotions and offers from other hotel chains.
• Past loyalty program offers and rates for the specific hotel chain and loyalty program.
• Current economic conditions in the hotel location and travel industry.

 

Accor Hotels -  A-Club

Hotel Brands: Sofitel, Pullman, M Gallery, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Adagio, All Seasons, Thalassa Spa.

Motel 6 is the primary Accor Hotels brand in USA, however, extremely limited A-Club hotel loyalty program participation.

 

*North America – Sofitel Hotels Triple Points 11/9 – 12/31

*UK – Mercure Hotels Triple Points Book 11/9 – 12/30 for stays through 2/28/2011.

*Latin America – Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel, Pullman – 4x Points through 12/31 at over 150 hotels.

*Paris – Triple Points through 12/31/2010

*Australia – Double Points Dec 1- Feb 28, 2011

*Other Accor Hotels A-Club bonus offers

 

Best Western Hotels – Best Western Rewards

Hotel Brand Tiers: Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier 

* Best Western Travel Card Purchase Bonus – 2,500 points or $10 gift card for every $100 Best Western Travel Card purchase transaction from November 5 – December 31, 2010. You want to make separate $100 transactions to maximize bonus.

 

3-key promotion – 1,250 miles with American Airlines or Air Canada Aeroplan after two stays Sep 12-Nov 21. Earn 750 bonus miles every second stay. There is no cap on the number of times this bonus may be earned, unlike the concurrent promotion for triple points. Registration is required and you need to set your BW account earning preference to miles to see these promotion offers.  LT promotion post (Aug 22)

2-key Promotion – Double or Triple Points, Sep 12 through Nov 21, 2010. Earn triple points (30 points/$1) on your second stay booked through Bestwestern.com. Earn double points if reservation not booked online. This bonus is earned only one time, except elite members also earn triple points on 4^th stay. Promotion code is FALL10 or for AAA BestWestern Preferred members AAAFALL10. Promotion registration required. LT promotion post (Aug 22)

Best Western Rewards Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010)

Program Change for Elites: Elite members earn 250 bonus points for stays in US/Canada or a welcome snack. (Aug 3, 2010)

* Best Western Brand Tiers Change – Best Western is designating about 25% of the chain’s higher quality hotels in the 4,000+ hotel chain as Best Western Plus (about 800 hotels) and Best Western Premier (about 100 hotels).

 

Carlson Hotels – Goldpoints Plus

Hotel Brands: Radisson Blu, Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza

Country Inn & Suites -  October 3 – November 21, 2010; U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama

• 15,000 bonus points for one-night stay on a Sunday through Thursday. (Limit one bonus per member)
• 3-day advance reservation required. Promo code = 15000PTS.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/09/28/country-inn-suites-one-night-stay-for-15000-goldpoints/

Goldpoints Plus program change – elite members earn 2,000 points for online booking. This change doubles the regular 1,000 online booking bonus for goldpoints elite members. (LT post July 18)

 

Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges

Hotel Brands: Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban, EconoLodge, Rodeway Inn, Ascend Collection.

Hotel Reward Partners: Preferred Hotels Group, Barcelo Resorts

*Preferred Hotels Group Reward Nights up to 50% off. Upper-upscale, luxury and boutique hotel room nights 20,000 to 30,000 points. Book between November 3, 2010 and January 19, 2011. (5-key promotion)

Nordic Choice Club hotel loyalty program covers 140 Choice hotels in Scandinavia and Baltic regions of Europe. Choice Privileges members currently do not earn points for hotel stays in Scandinavia, although hotel stays are available for points. Nordic Choice Club offers points and benefits for hotels in this region. Choice Privileges members planning frequent travel in Scandinavia may want to compare the benefits of Nordic Choice Club to Choice Privileges.    (LT post Sep 9)

 

Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Special Offers website link

$100 dining/spa credit at six participating California hotels for using Gowalla. Visit three location recommendations from Four Seasons concierge through Gowalla location-based social media site during a stay of two or more nights through November 19 to earn a $100 credit.

 

Hilton Hotels – Hilton HHonors

Hotel Brands: Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Conrad, Waldorf-Astoria Collection, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Home2Suites.

 

* Sweepstakes for 200,000 HHonors points – Vote for American Airlines AmericanWay Road Warrior by November 30, 2010 for sweepstakes entry.

 

Hilton Double Points and 4x Sundays   October 12 – December 30, 2010

Stay Sunday night and the entire stay earns a bonus equivalent to quadruple base points. Elite base points are earned at regular rate of 10 points per $1. 4x Bonus ends up being 30 bonus points per $1. (LT post: Oct 8, 2010) 4-key promotion if including Sunday stay; 3-key if not.

HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards posted for hotels through December 2010. Point Stretchers require 40% fewer points than standard HHonors rewards. Use the drop-down menu to see participating hotels in different Hilton brands. This is the largest set of hotels I recall in several years offering Point Stretcher discount reward dates. (LT post Sep 9)

HHonors Comprehensive Reward Charts – Members have difficulty locating the various reward charts on the Hilton HHonors sites, particularly VIP Rewards and Waldorf-Astoria rates. This Loyalty Traveler post puts all the HHonors reward charts in one place. (LT post Sep 13, 2010)

Cheaper Hilton Reward nights using Priority Club points – this Loyalty Traveler analysis developed from the Priority Club Anywhere Challenge. Hotels Anywhere allows Priority Club members to spend points for hotels in other chains. My study shows there are numerous Hilton Hotels requiring fewer Priority Club points than Hilton HHonors charges its members in HHonors points for the same reward. (LT post Sep 17)

4-key promotion – up to 10,000 Delta Skymiles Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM) for stays of two or more nights between September 1 and December 10, 2010.

HHonors Program change: Gold and Diamond members receive complimentary internet at all Hilton Worldwide hotels beginning September 1, 2010. (Hilton – Aug 2 press release)

 

Hyatt Hotels – Hyatt Gold Passport

Hotel Brands:  Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Vacation Club, Hyatt Resorts, Andaz, Hyatt Summerfield Suites

* Hawaii Hyatt Hotels – 10,000 bonus points for 4 or more night stay, Dec 1 – Mar 31, 2011. Must book HI10K rate by Dec 31, 2010. (Nov 12)

* Hyatt Gold Passport Program Change – No elite status matches will be given for elite membership in another hotel program. Elite status trial offer is at the discretion of individual hotel properties.

4-key promotion – ‘Great 10K’ Fall 2010 offer awards 10,000 Gold Passport points for every 5 nights September 15 – December 15, 2010. Nights do not need to be consecutive nights. Stay every night in a Hyatt Hotel and you can earn 180,000 bonus points. Register online beginning September 15 at goldpassport.com/welcome10k. LT post Aug 25. This promotion may be combined with the 3,000 AA miles per stay offer below (60,000 AAdvantage miles).

Hyatt 5,000 points for two-night stays at 27 West Coast hotels.

• September 25 – December 30, 2010, use Special Offer Code 5000GP
• 5000GP rates are reasonable and do not appear to have a mark-up like most special offer rates.

Combinable with Great 10K offer for 10,000 bonus points every 5 nights. You can potentially earn 35,000 bonus points after 10 nights. This is a good deal. Two reward nights at high-end Category-5 hotels will cost 36,000 points. 35,000 points will get 7 free nights at a category-1 hotel. And unlike other hotel loyalty programs, you will find lots of Hyatt category-1 hotels 

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/07/hyatt-5000-points-for-2-night-stays-at-27-west-coast-hotels/

Program change: Hyatt Gold Passport hotel award categories increased for 25% of hotels as of June 4, 2010. Loyalty traveler post.

 

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

Hotel Brands: InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Hotel Indigo

* 5-key offer IHG Priority Club Instant Platinum Elite status and a $25 gift card after 5 nights within 90 days. (Nov 15) 

* IHG 2 nights for the Price of 1 in UK/Europe through December 30 – London for under $75 per night over the Christmas-New Year Holiday season. Suites under $300 per night.

* $50 flight credit for Friday, Saturday or Sunday night stay at any IHG brand hotel in the U.S. from November 5, 2010 to April 30, 2011 when you book by December 31, 2010.

* 15% points discount for retail and dining gift card Priority Club points rewards to November 30.

$50 gift cards = 17,000 points; $100 gift cards = 32,300 points

 

5-key promotion – Sweet Dilemma – Free night after two stays or double points/miles for stays between September 20 and December 31, 2010. Registration is required and member must choose to earn free nights or double points/miles. There is a limit of five free nights after ten stays. Free nights stays must be used between December 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. Asia-Pacific region IHG hotels are not participating in free nights portion of this promotion. A big drawback to the free nights offer is members will not earn any base or elite points for the remainder of 2010, even if the free night offer is maxed out after ten stays. IHG loyalists may prefer double points or miles.

Priority Club PointBreaks through December 30, 2010 are probably the best hotel loyalty program reward night value available at 5,000 points for a free night. The current list favors the USA with 77 hotels and only 49 hotels for the rest of the world.

Some of these hotels will run over $200 per night on some dates. PointBreaks rewards reduce the reward cost for a 30,000 points per night InterContinental Hotel to just 5,000 points. That can be quite a points break for an extended stay.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/05/priority-club-pointbreaks-hotels-list-to-dec-30-2010/

Cheaper Hilton Reward nights using Priority Club points – this Loyalty Traveler analysis developed from the Anywhere Challenge. Hotels Anywhere allows Priority Club members to spend points for hotels in other chains. My study shows there are numerous Hilton Hotels requiring fewer Priority Club points than Hilton HHonors charges its members in HHonors points. (LT post Sep 17)

5-key offer Priority Club “Crack the Case” individually targeted promotion terms. My Crack the Case offer is a 5-key promotion, however, the best offers appear to be for Priority Club members who did not stay too frequently over the past year. Members who received this promotion have until May 31, 2011 to fulfill the tasks for bonus points. You need to already be a Priority Club member and check your email offer for your own Crack the Case promotion terms.

My offer was 162,000 points for five tasks and a 91,000 points bonus for completing four of the challenges: PC credit card enrollment 60,000 points; stay two Saturdays; stay in two brands, complete a hotel stay profile survey; stay 10 room nights. I can potentially receive 157,000 Priority Club points for just two Saturday hotel nights in two different brands over the next nine months.

3-key promotion – Sep 1-Dec 30 – Stay two consecutive weekend nights (Fri, Sat or Sun) at an IHG brand hotel in conjunction with a flight and get reimbursed for one roundtrip checked baggage fee up to $50. (Aug 17)

IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (through Dec 26, 2009)

Program Change: Ambassador Annual Membership Fee Increased from $150 to $200 as of July 1, 2010. You can also buy Ambassador membership for 32,000 Priority Club Rewards points (formerly 24,000).

 

Joie de Vivre Hotels – Joy of Life Club (California Boutique hotels)

3-key promotion - Earn both Virgin America Elevate points and Joy of Life points for the remainder of 2010. LT post July 22.

 

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) – Leaders Club Rewards 

3-key promotion – Earn 1 free night after every 5 hotel stays in 2010. Must stay in at least two different hotels. Bellagio in Las Vegas is LHW member. (April 13, 2010)

* LHW Hotels Special Offers link

 

Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards

Hotel Brands: Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, Residence Inn, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, SpringHill Suites, Edition, Autograph Collection, Marriott Vacation Club

* Marriott Gift Card purchases earn 10 points per US$1, up to 25,000 points through December 31, 2010. (Nov. 2)

* Earn 5,000 Delta miles for a Marriott stay and Delta flight between Nov. 1 – Jan. 31, 2011. One bonus per Delta ticket, so one-way tickets are way to maximize offer if the price is not much more than roundtrip. (LT post Nov 6)

 

Program change – Free internet worldwide for Gold and Platinum Marriott Rewards members beginning January 2011. This expands the complimentary internet benefit offered to elites for hotel stays in the Americas since May 2010.

3-key promotion – Marriott Triple Airline Miles October 1-December 31, 2010. You need to set your Marriott Rewards earning preference to miles to register for this promotion. Marriott Rewards has 30 airline partners and miles are earned at the rate of 2 miles/$1 for full-service Marriott brands (3x miles = 6 miles/$1) and 1 mile per $1 for other Marriott brands (3x miles = 3 miles/$1). The Triple Miles promotion has just five participating airlines: Air Canada, Continental, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Jet Airways. Loyalty Traveler post Aug 26.

4-key promotion – Marriott MegaBonus (Sep 15-Jan 15, 2011) various targeted offers with the basic offer being one free night after two stays paid with Visa. Limit of two free nights during promotion. Free night valid only for Category 1 to category 4 hotels.

Active Marriott Rewards members may receive bonus points offers based on total nights stayed or 5,000 points for every two stays. There are several variations mentioned for 25,000 to 50,000 bonus points. 

1-Key offer – Marriott Rewards Instant Redemption Awards (March 24, 2010)

 

Ritz-Carlton Rewards

5-key promotion – New members to Ritz-Carlton Rewards earn one free night for two stays through December 31, 2010. Limit of two free nights after four stays. You are not eligible for this offer if you are a current or past member of Marriott Rewards. I provided a guide to how new members can get $2,500 in Ritz-Carlton Hotel rooms for under $1,000. (LT post Sep 18)

Ritz-Carlton Rewards loyalty program launching Sep 15 (LT post Sep 14)

Reward Changes in new Ritz-Carlton Reward Tiers (LT post Sep 15)

Ritz-Carlton rewards Hotel + Air Packages Analysis (LT post Sep 16)

 

Starwood Hotels – Starwood Preferred Guest

Starwood Hotels brands: Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, St. Regis, Four Points, element, aloft.

* 4-Key promotion – Free weekend night after 3 stays paid with MasterCard in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.  Stay November 1, 2010 – January 31, 2011 at over 250 Starwood Hotels. Maximum one free night may be earned per member during this promotion. Great offer, but too bad limited to one free night.

* Starwood Hotels Policy Change: Sheraton Hotel Club Lounges will be open 7 days a week in 2011.

* Starwood Preferred Guest – American Express credit card changes effective October 14, 2010. The annual fee is increasing to $65 from $45 for renewals beginning Oct 14. Benefit changes include 5 elite nights and 2 elite stays credit each year. This will have no effect for members who qualify on stays. The SPG50 certificate will be discontinued in favor of a 3^rd night free offer at Sheraton Hotels. Loyalty traveler post (August 24); Sheraton 3^rd Night Free Analysis (Nov 12)

* SPG American Express Facebook Sweepstakes – enter once each week’s prizes 21,000 Starpoints Nov 4-10; 30,000 Starpoints Nov 11-17; 36,000 Starpoints Nov 18-24; 60,000 Starpoints Nov 25-Dec 1.

Buy Starpoints at 20% discount. October 12 – December 31, 2010.  $14 per 500 points rather than $17.50.  Calendar year purchase limit is 20,000 points. $560 for 20,000 points. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/16/buy-spg-starpoints-20-discount-oct-12-dec-31-2010/

SPG Nights and Stays Count Double at Starwood’s Four Points, Aloft and Element brand hotels.

• October 1 – December 31, 2010 

(This is basically the offer for fast-track Platinum or for an SPG member who is already just a couple of stays away from SPG Gold Elite since the other offer gives Gold elite after 4 stays.) 

SPG Fast-Track to Gold elite after 4 stays at Starwood’s Four Points, Aloft and Element brand hotels.

• October 1 – January 31, 2011 

There are about 200 hotels in these three Starwood brands, mostly in U.S.

Gold elite status good through February 2012 and earns a 50% elite bonus points. This is a great time to grab cheap elite with SPG.

 SPG Platinum members only – register for an extra Starpoint during stays from October 1-December 31. Platinum members will receive two elite bonus points for every $1 in hotel spend for stays completed after requalification for 2011 Platinum status (25 stays or 50 nights in 2010). (LT post Sep 16)

2-key promotion – Every Night Counts Double/Triple Points for stays from Sep 8-Dec 15, 2010. Earn double points beginning with your first night and triple points (applied retroactively) after10 nights during the promotion period. Registration is required by October 31, 2010. The FAQ state this promotion is combinable with other SPG promotions.

There are over 150 hotels globally not participating in this promotion, so check the list carefully. The list of non-participating Starwood properties are posted on FlyerTalk.

Every Night Counts does not thrill me as the primary Fall 2010 SPG promotional offer.  Spend $2,000 on 10 or more nights during the promotion and you will only earn 8,000 bonus points with triple points. That is nothing to get too excited about.

4-key promotion – Earn 10,000 bonus points at Starwood Resorts for a stay of four or more nights between Sep 1 and Dec 19, 2010 at any of 131 participating resorts globally. This bonus may be earned multiple times. Only stays after promotion registration are eligible for bonus. Register by Sep 30. 

4-Key Promotion – (through Dec 30) 3,000 Bonus Points for Sunday night stay at 11 NYC area Starwood Hotels through December 30. (Aug 13, 2010)

3-Key Promotion – (through Dec 31) 3^rd Night Free or Two Free nights on six-night stay in Europe, Africa, and Middle East when paying with MasterCard

SPG program change: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards is new airline partner. Exchange rate for points-to-miles transfer is 1,500 Starpoints = 1 Rapid Rewards credit. Free roundtrip flight requires 16 credits. SPG members may also earn 0.5 credits per stay through SPG Airline Direct Deposit. (August 19, 2010)

4-Key Promotion – SPG Rewarding Returns offers members a choice after 5 stays by December 31, 2010. Promotion choices are 25% off an award up to five nights at any category 1 to 5 hotel for redemption by July 31, 2011. Discount may be combined with “5th night free award”. Other choices are $50 hotel credit certificate or 4,000 Starpoints. Loyalty Traveler post July 14.

There are variations of this offer including only requiring one stay by August 31 for targeted members. Points offer ranges from 2,000 to 8,000 points, and some members may have a free night choice. Offers are targeted.

Promotion registration is required at https://www.spgpromos.com/rewardingreturns/index.cfm.

3-key promotion SPG link: Pay Your Birthyear Rate (This promotion can be an incredible 5-key savings or no savings depending on the hotel and your birthyear.) LT post 4/28/2009

3-key discount rates Starwood Hotel Rate Discount Codes for Multiple Night Stays

These offers are for rate discounts on stays of 2 to 6 nights. Third night free tends to be one of the best discount rates. Important to check other rates (AAA, Senior, Special Offers) as these discounts are generally based on the Best Available Rate (BAR) and may not be the lowest overall rate for some hotels. 

Starpoints Airline Direct Deposit is Better for United, Continental, and Singapore miles (March 25, 2010)

 

Wyndham Worldwide –  Wyndham Rewards

Double miles with 11 airlines – October 1-December 31, 2010 

Participating airlines and travel partners are Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Amtrak, Continental, Delta, Midwest, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country, United and US Airways.

The catch is these promotions are hotel brand specific offers for most of the participating airlines, except Aeromexico and Air Canada Aeroplan.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/06/wyndham-rewards-double-miles-with-11-airlines-oct-1-dec-31-2010/

 

Airline Bonuses:

* Qantas Airlines Sweepstakes – free flights for you and companion between Los Angeles and Adelaide for most of 2011. Enter by December 31, 2010.

* FareCompare Sweepstakes for a Rick Seaney designed Mileage Run. Enter by November 26, 2010.

 

Loyalty Traveler Research Articles

* The Promotion Variable in Hotel Loyalty Programs – Part 1 (Nov 8, 2010)

* The Promotion Variable in Hotel Loyalty Programs – Part 2 (Nov 8, 2010)

* The Promotion Variable – Part 3 – Hilton HHonors Case Study 2009-2010 (Nov 9, 2010)

Hotel Loyalty Credit Cards and the Value of Hotel Points

Hotel Rewards Credit Cards Comparison of Benefits (September 1) 

Hotel Credit Cards Comparison by Value of Points (September 2) 

Hotel Credit Card Comparison using NerdWallet.com Value of Points (Sep 5) 

Loyalty Traveler’s Three Rules for the Value of Hotel Points (Sep 7)

 

Hotel Points to Airline Miles Conversion Tables

Hotel Points-to-Miles Conversion Tables for 9 hotel programs and 7 U.S. airlines (March 30, 2010)

 

Hotel Market Segments and Hotel Brand Profiles based on JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power Luxury Segment and luxury hotel brands  (Aug 11, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power Upscale Segment Hotel Brands (Aug 11)

Loyalty Traveler Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Brand Ratings (Aug 13, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Brands (August 15, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Brand Ratings (August 16, 2010)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

 

Hotel Rates Survey for USA States, Cities, and Average Hotel Rates Worldwide

Hotels.com 2010-Q2 – Global Hotel Price Index – This is a great resource for finding where hotel rates are high and low around the world. There are tables of USA average hotel rates by state and major cities. (Sep 14)