A reminder that you can win 25,000 Starpoints or 5,000 Priority Club points from Loyalty Traveler, but you only have today and tomorrow by noon California time remaining to enter these two Loyalty Traveler giveaways.

SPG American Express is sponsoring the 25,000 points giveaway as part of my 2-night staycation earlier this month at the St. Regis San Francisco.

Holiday Inn is sponsoring Loyalty Traveler for the 5,000 Priority Club points giveaway as part of their celebration of 60 years as a hotel brand.

Be sure to read Loyalty Traveler next week when I will finish off the SPG Amex Stars 2012 giveaways with a 60,000 points sweepstakes in celebration of my stay at Starwood’s St. Regis Bal Harbour, Miami Beach.

Cozy sea lions at Monterey Fisherman’s Wharf on the first day of winter 2012.

Passports with Purpose raised $110,000 from the 2012 travel blogger fundraiser through prizes and sponsor contributions to build five water wells in Haiti. Each water well provide clean water to about 370 people in Boucan Carre and Mirebalais.

The winner of the 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points is from Flushing, New York. Plans for 110,000 points are based around a trip to Park Hyatt Maldives in the near future. Congratulations on making that dream come true at a bargain rate with Hyatt Gold Passport points.

Park Hyatt Maldives – Paradise with an ocean view.

My sincere thanks to Hyatt Gold Passport for their generous contribution of 110,000 points to sponsor Loyalty Traveler blog for the 2012 fundraiser and help Passports with Purpose raise $110,000 for water wells in Haiti.

And the magic number is $110,000

Posted on | December 19, 2012 | No Comments

The confetti has settled on our fundraising efforts and we are happy to report that thousands of donors bid on one or more of the 110 fabulous prizes from November 28 to December 11, 2012. Through donations in $10 increments and the participation of more than 200 travel bloggers around the world, we surpassed our fundraising goal for the fourth year in a row, reaching $110,000 to help Water.org build wells in Haiti.

We hope the phrase “$10 increments” catches your eye, because as always we’re awed by the power of community to do great things. It’s the collective network of the travel-blogosphere that makes this fundraiser more than succeed year after year. Without the hard work and readership of all of these wonderful blogs, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.

We drew the winners for the 2012 prizes and have notified them via email on December 18, so make sure you check your inbox. But even if you didn’t win a prize, we hope you feel rewarded by knowing you played a role in helping bring clean water to people who need it so much in Haiti. Each well will serve an average of 370 people in Boucan Carre and Mirebalais; our goal to build five wells is part of Water.org’s 18-month program to build 20 wells, benefitting 20 communities. And just to make sure you understand why we consider everyone who participated to be a winner, we’ll leave you with this thought from Nicole Wickenhauser, senior development manager at Water.org.

“Congratulations and thank you so very much, on behalf of the entire Water.org team, for this amazing accomplishment! I know we’ve said it before, but we’re honored and humbled to be a part of this. You are doing an unspeakable kindness for the five communities in Haiti that will gain clean water for life – a whole new array of opportunities – as a result of this effort.”

PassportswithPurpose.org

Holiday Inn celebrated 60 years from 1952 to 2012 with two contests last summer, ‘Then & Now’ and ‘Celebrate Firsts’. These contests invited Priority Club members to submit photos. Loyalty Traveler blogged about these contests August 4: Holiday Inn 60 Free Nights Every Day in August Sweepstakes.

Photos from these contests have been used to create a picture mosaic at www.holidayinn60.com.

The mosaic is artistically cool with thousands of photos used to create an image of a hotel room.

Within the mosaic are 9 pieces to a puzzle that reveal additional facts. I played around with the puzzle and there does not appear to be any prize for finding the 9 pieces. Just the facts.

Did You Know..

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary, the Holiday Inn brand hid over $45,000 worth of diamonds in hotels across Europe for guests to find!

I certainly did not know that fact about Holiday Inn hotels in Europe to blog “look for diamonds” to Loyalty Traveler readers.

Priority Club 5,000 points voucher giveaway

Priority Club is giving Loyalty Traveler readers the chance to win a Priority Club 5,000 points voucher.

Entry Rules for 5,000 points voucher giveaway

Since the purpose of this giveaway is to get eyes on the mosaic website I have come up with a method to enter the sweepstakes.

Each picture in the “Holiday Inn 60” mosaic includes the name of the person who submitted the photo when you click on one of the thousands of photos in the mosaic.

Leave the name of someone from a photo submission in the HolidayInn60 mosaic in the comments section of this Loyalty Traveler post (e.g. Kendal Jones).

You may enter once each day Tuesday, Dec 18 – Saturday Dec 22 for five possible entries.

Sweepstakes ends Sat Dec 22 at 12 noon PST, California time. 

Winner will be selected at random via random.org.

The voucher is an electronic code you enter into your Priority Club Rewards account to deposit the 5,000 points. Winner must be a member of Priority Club Rewards or join PCR (free) to deposit 5,000 points voucher.

Blogger Disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by the Holiday Inn® brand, who provided the 5,000 PCR points voucher. This post is solely my opinion and based on my experience and interests without outside influence.

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.

Last week I had the opportunity to stay two nights at the St. Regis San Francisco courtesy of SPG American Express and the SPG Amex Stars blogger program for 2012. San Francisco was my staycation destination.

25,000 Starpoints Sweepstakes

As part of the SPG Amex Stars staycation opportunity at the St. Regis San Francisco, I have also been authorized to run a Loyalty Traveler 25,000 Starpoints sweepstakes courtesy of SPG American Express. The winning reader will receive 25,000 Starpoints to redeem for a stay at a Starwood hotel or miles or whatever you choose to do with 25,000 Starpoints.

Sweepstakes entry:

To enter the 25,000 Starpoints giveaway please leave a comment on this blog post about which Starwood Hotel you would choose for a staycation in San Francisco or anywhere else you might be.

You may enter once each calendar day from Monday, December 17 to Saturday, December 22 at 12 noon California time when the sweepstakes entry period will end.

Winner will be chosen at random from eligible entries.

While my stay specifically was at the St. Regis San Francisco, this post will share views of the city  with photos I have taken over the past few years from rooms in each of the seven Starwood Hotels in San Francisco.

Westin Market Street San Francisco, SPG category 5

View down Third Street to AT&T Ball Park on the waterfront, home of the San Francisco Giants MLB team. Moscone Convention Center and Yerba Buena Park are right foreground, San Francisco MOMA Museum of Modern Art is left foreground with W San Francisco the tall white building at left.

The Palace Hotel San Francisco, Starwood Luxury Collection

SPG category 5

The Pied Piper of Hamlin is a 1909 Maxfield Parrish painting in the Pied Piper Bar of the Palace Hotel. Most rooms at The Palace Hotel do not have much of a scenic vista view of the city outside with the historic 9-story hotel dwarfed by newer skyscrapers all around.

The charm of the Palace is its interior.

The Garden Court stained glass dome, The Palace Hotel, San Francisco.

W Hotel San Francisco, SPG category 5

San Francisco Bay and AT&T Ball Park seen from W San Francisco Hotel.

WET at the W San Francisco offers 24 hour swimming. Nightswimming is one of the pleasures I enjoy at the W.

The W Hotel and the St. Regis are located on the same city block separated by the San Francisco MOMA. The two hotels have many of the same views.

Looking west across the city at night from W San Francisco.

St. Regis San Francisco, SPG category 6

View at Sunrise from St. Regis San Francisco.

Westin St. Francis, SPG category 5

Union Square view at night during the holiday season. Westin St. Francis is another historic hotel originally opened in 1904 and restored in 1907 after the great quake with the 12 story old building and the 32 story Pacific Tower.

One of my great delights was seeing a rare peregrine falcon on the ledge outside our window during a stay in 2008.

Le Meridien San Francisco, SPG category 5

San Francisco Bay Bridge seen from Le Meridien San Francisco.

Top of Le Meridien Hotel reveals its close proximity to San Francisco’s iconic TransAmerica Pyramid skyscraper in the financial district of the city.

Sheraton San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf, SPG category 5

Most rooms in the four story Sheraton do not have much of a view. Iconic Coit Tower can be seen from a few locations around the hotel. This is the only Starwood Hotel in San Francisco with an outdoor pool. W Hotel, St. Regis and The Palace have indoor pools.

The real advantage of this tourist location at Fisherman’s Wharf is the room rates are typically lower on weekdays November to May than all other San Francisco Starwood Hotels. The hotel is one block away from the waterfront, yet the proximity of the hotel to the Alcatraz Island Prison cruise and tours from the Fisherman’s Wharf area is another feature of this hotel.

Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

Starwood Hotels offer many choices in San Francisco.

Several people have asked me about good hotel deals over the New Year’s holiday period. In city after city the Hilton Holiday Season Sale for stays from December 14 through January 7, 2013 is by far the best hotel rate deal happening.

Full-service hotels like Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Conrad, Waldorf-Astoria and Hilton Grand Vacations are 50% off. Other Hilton brands of Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites are 30% off.

These rate discounts are not available December 31.

The discount rates are even available for high category rooms, including suites at many participating hotels.

For many hotels I checked the cancellation policy is generally day before arrival with no penalty.

http://hhonors3.hilton.com/en/offers/100040020.htm

Related Post:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2012/12/10/hilton-thank-you-50-sale-is-real-deal/

The winner of 50,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points from my SPG Amex sponsored giveaway in conjunction with my stay at the St. Regis Princeville, Kauai last week is Betsy Wuebker. She and Pete also happen to be part of the blogger community with their website Passing Thru. 

Betsy and Pete Wuebker write about making a living with location independence by working through the internet. I asked Betsy to share a little more about her site in the hope some Loyalty Traveler readers might benefit from a bit more online business knowledge and strategies.

Betsy and Pete Wuebker

Wow! Words can barely express how exciting it is to win the Loyalty Traveler 50,000 SPG giveaway! When Ric’s email came, I responded with so many goofy exclamations that he must’ve thought I was nuts! But it IS exciting! SPG has about the coolest of everything! Now I can start scheming about just what to do with all these points! Thank you ever so much!

Ric was also kind enough to offer space here at Loyalty Traveler to introduce ourselves. We are Betsy and Pete Wuebker, and we started our blog, PassingThru, in 2008.

“Travel, Simplicity and Independence in Work and Life.” Over the past five years, we’ve created a combination of online business activities. We’ve said “sayonara” to traditional employment by integrating work with life. Now we can work from anywhere there is a web connection.

People think “work-life balance” deals with modern-day stress: commute, corporate environment, and economic insecurity. And most people keep themselves on the employment treadmill to feed a lifestyle: house, mortgage, stuff, schools, car, etc. We did, and we were exhausted.

The dirty little secret: it’s impossible to achieve work-life balance!

We were always taking from one to give to the other, teeter tottering back and forth, getting nowhere. Instead, we decided on a better approach (Work Life Balance – Forget It: Focus on Work Life Integration). “Work-life integration” means the ability to work when we want, where we want, and how we want.

We also focused long-term (Make Money Online: Be the Tortoise, Not the Hare): no get-rich-quick schemes, no cheesy scams, just day-in, day-out strategic, disciplined creation. Anyone can do this! In fact, Pete has written a couple of e-books about how to get going (they’re in our blog’s sidebar).

Now we have online businesses that provide diversified income. We’ve got far less economic vulnerability and maximum personal freedom. This has paved the way for lots more travel! We’re posting about all this over at PassingThru. Come visit and follow us along as we anticipate our upcoming move to Kauai!

Much appreciation to Ric and SPG for this awesome giveaway! – Betsy and Pete Wuebker

Betsy and Pete are relocating to Kauai in 2013. I am sure they will find good use for 50,000 SPG points.

St. Regis Princeville, Kauai

Stay tuned next week for my 25,000 SPG points giveaway in conjunction with a stay Kelley and I had this week at St. Regis San Francisco sponsored by SPG American Express as part of the SPG Amex Stars program for 2012.

Winter days and nights may be colder and bring periodic showers in coastal California, but the days between rain offer the clearest skies of the year. Summer is frequently fog city and not so great for photography. I have some fantastic photos of San Francisco scenery taken on perfectly crystal clear sky days in the city to share with readers from my staycation Starwood Hotel stay in San Francisco.

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.

Choice Privileges triple points starting with your second stay at any Choice Hotels brand worldwide for members in USA, US territories and Canada on stays from December 13 to February 20, 2013. There is a limit of 50,000 bonus points, but at 20 bonus points per dollar that is at least $2,500 in spend and will not be a concern for most travelers.

Choice Privileges Triple Points registration is required.

Seven Choice Hotels brands earn 30 points per dollar with triple points promotion (10 base points per dollar + 20 bonus points per dollar).

• Comfort Inn
• Comfort Suites
• Quality Inn
• Clarion
• Sleep Inn
• Cambria Suites
• Ascend Collection

Four Choice Hotels brands earn 15 points per dollar with triple points promotion (5 base points per dollar + 10 bonus points per dollar).

• MainStay Suites
• Suburban Suites
• EconoLodge
• Rodeway Inn

Elite Platinum and Diamond members earn an additional 100 bonus points per stay booked through ChoiceHotels.com. These bonus points do not count toward the 50,000 bonus points promotion limit.

Eligible bookings include stays booked at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE.

Members may also book through a travel agent or corporate online booking system.

Analysis:

This can be a good value promotion for either the extended stay guest or the frequent stay guest. The main thing is to be sure and book a cheap first stay if your travel plans will take you to a hotel where you will have a few hundred dollars in spend.

There are some desirable vacation properties in the Ascend Collection and Choice Hotels with over 5,000 properties in the USA, has more hotels in the USA than any brand except Wyndham Hotels. Choice Privileges is a program to keep in mind if you are taking a road trip and need roadside lodging.

Assume you have a stay at a Clarion where you expect to spend $800. In this case you should book a $50 to $60 hotel night at a Choice Hotels brand prior to your high spend stay.

Clarion $800 stay earns 8,000 points normally.

Spend $60 for a first stay so the $800 Clarion stay earns triple points.

Stay 1: Quality Inn $60 earns 600 points. Check in and leave. You do not even need to stay the night to make this a qualifying stay if you check-in.

Stay 2: Clarion stay at $800 earns 24,000 points.

16,600 points for $60 is a good investment since this is sufficient for two low season hotel nights in Paris, London and many international locations where rooms rates run $200 per night.

Bottom line: Choice Privileges triple points is a good promotion for midscale and budget hotels. The recurring 8,000 points for two stays Choice Privileges promotion is a great deal for hotel one-nighters. This triple points offer has more benefit for the extended stay and higher spending guest.

Passports with Purpose is an annual travel blogger fundraiser to finance an international humanitarian aid project. Haiti water wells is the project for 2012. The goal to raise $100,000 in two weeks is within sight. The prize raffle ends at midnight tonight eastern time and the fundraiser meter is at $90,000.

Each $10 donation gives you a chance to win a travel prize.

Hyatt Gold Passport donated 110,000 points to sponsor Loyalty Traveler in this year’s Passports with Purpose fundraiser. That is a huge prize that can be worth as many as 22 free nights at category 1 Hyatt Hotels across the globe.

Other BoardingArea.com bloggers are participating in the PwP fundraiser including Points, Miles & Martinis with a prize for two weekend nights at W Atlanta Downtown, Live from a Lounge with a weekend stay at Four Seasons Mumbai, and Lufthansa Flyer with a Tom Bihn suitcase.

For each $10 donation you can enter one raffle ticket into the prize of your choice. There are over one hundred prizes in the raffle, including many fabulous hotel stays.

Related Post: Haiti, Water and 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport Points (Nov 27)

Hilton Thank You Sale offers 50% off Best Flexible Rate at participating full-service Hilton brand hotels worldwide for stays from December 14-January 7. December 31 is a blackout date for this sale.

I just booked several nights using this sale. The hotels I booked have a no penalty policy for cancellation up to one day before arrival.

Hilton Thank You Sale link:

Save up to 50% off the Best Available Rate at participating hotels and resorts throughout the Hilton Worldwide portfolio. All stays are eligible to earn Hilton HHonors™ Points. Whether you’re traveling near or far, make this the best holiday yet by booking a room for yourself or your loved ones.

Save 50% at these participating hotels and resorts:

• Waldorf Astoria
• Conrad
• Hilton
• DoubleTree by Hilton
• Embassy Suites 
• Hilton Grand Vacations

Save 30% at these participating hotels and resorts:

• Hilton Garden Inn
• Hampton
• Homewood Suites
• Home2 Suites

Help us spread the light and warmth of hospitality this holiday season by sharing this special offer with your friends and family.

Offer available exclusively through this webpage.

*Offer not available on December 31, 2012.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Thank You Rate is valid at participating hotels worldwide for stays booked between December 5, 2012 and January 7, 2013, and completed between December 14, 2012 and January 7, 2013. Rates are subject to availability and are not available on December 31, 2012. Be sure to review the hotel’s cancellation/change policy at time of booking. This offer may not be combined with other select promotions, offer or discounts and is not valid for existing reservations or groups. All reservations for this rate must be made on the website.

Analysis:

This is the best Hilton sale I have seen in some time that also coincided with my need for hotel rooms in San Francisco, Las Vegas and Miami over the next month.

Sample Rates:

San Francisco Friday Dec 14

San Francisco Tuesday Dec 18

Under $100 for downtown San Francisco on a weeknight are insanely low rates for 2012.

Las Vegas January 3 Hilton Grand Vacations Suites on the Strip $64.

Conrad Miami at $114 during December 2012 holiday week. Hilton Miami at $84.

Remember that high category rooms like suites are also 50% off Best Flexible Rates with this sale. I even applied for low cost Nor1 e-upgrades on my bookings to get a shot at discounted upgrades for the stays.

Earn 1,000 Starpoints for your first Le Meridien hotel stay and then 2,000 bonus Starpoints for each additional stay at any of 11 Le Meridien hotels in USA (8), Canada (1) and French Polynesia (2) from December 3, to February 28, 2013. There is no promotion limit for this offer as indicated by the promotion name: “Limitless Earnings with Le Meridien Hotels and Resorts”.

This offer requires SPG promotion registration by January 15, 2013. Bonus points credit will be given retroactively for eligible stays within the promotion period. This offer may be combined with other SPG promotions.

SPG free night award stays and Cash & Points stays do not count for this offer. Any stay including an award night will not earn the bonus points.

Le Meridien Participating Hotels

United States

California

• Palm Springs Le Parker Méridien Palm Springs
• San Francisco Le Méridien San Francisco

Massachusetts

• Cambridge Le Méridien Cambridge-MIT

Minnesota

• Minneapolis Le Méridien Chambers Minneapolis

New York

• New York Le Parker Méridien New York

Pennsylvania

• Philadelphia Le Méridien Philadelphia

Texas

• Dallas Le Méridien Dallas by the Galleria

Virginia

• Arlington Le Méridien Arlington

Canada

Quebec

• Montreal Le Méridien Versailles

French Polynesia

• Bora Bora Le Méridien Bora Bora
• Tahiti Le Méridien Tahiti

Analysis

2,000 starpoints is equivalent to about $50 in points value. That is a significant bonus consideration on Le Meridien hotel stays for this promotion that does not require a special rate offer to earn the bonus points.

One of my favorite drinking pubs in San Francisco, Elephant & Castle is across the street from Le Meridien. Le Meridien San Francisco is one of my favorite hotels in the city and one of the few skyscraper hotels with rooms offering a balcony.