Rent with Avis worldwide for three or more days before December 31 and earn 9,000 Club Carlson Gold Points and a 25% car rental discount rate.

• Use Coupon #MUHA015 and enter Club Carlson number when making reservation.
• Use AWD #G639300 to save up to 25% on rental rate.
• Offer valid in Europe, US, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. (Isn’t that worldwide?).
• Club Carlson Avis promotion link.

Promotion Terms & Conditions:

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• Offer valid on a qualifying rental of three or more consecutive days at participating Avis locations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
• Mention coupon number MUHA015 to receive bonus points.
• Bonus Gold Points are in addition to the base points you receive each time you rent with Avis. 9,000 total Gold Points offer reflects 8,250 bonus points plus 750 base points earned.
• Provide your Club Carlson number at the time of reservation or rental.
• An advance reservation is required.
• Offer may not be used with any other coupon, promotion or offer except your AWD discount.
• The savings of up to 25% applies to the time-and-mileage charges only.
• Taxes, concession recovery fees, vehicle license recovery fee, customer facility charge ($10/contract in CA) and fuel charges are extra.
• Optional items such as LDW ($35.99/day or less) and other surcharges may apply and are extra.
• Offer is subject to vehicle availability at the time of rental and may not be available on some rates at some times, including some online rates at Avis.com.
• Car rental return restrictions may apply.
• Offer subject to change without notice.
• Holiday and other blackout periods may apply.
• Blackout dates for Australia: September 23-October 9 and December 22-31, 2011.
• Blackout dates for Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa: December 16-31, 2011.
• Blackout dates for Latin America, Mexico and the Caribbean: December 14-31, 2011.
• Blackout dates for New Zealand: December 21-31, 2011.
• Renter must meet Avis age, driver and credit requirements. Minimum rental age may vary by location.
  An additional daily surcharge may apply for renters under 25 years old.
• Points accrual structure subject to change.
• Rental must begin by December 31, 2011.

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

Club Carlson free nights start at 9,000 Gold Points. There are nearly 50 hotels worldwide in Category 1.

Club Carlson Points + Cash nights start at 5,000 points for a discounted reward night.

Alternatively, the free points can be transferred to airline miles with 20 airlines at the rate of 2,000 points = 250 miles for a bonus 1,000 frequent flyer miles with an 8,000 Gold Points transfer. Web page requires Club Carlson login to see exchange rates for points-to-miles transfer and airline partners.

Goldpoints plus has two promotions offering 10,000 bonus points for as little as a one night stay. Try Radisson Business Class for 10,000 bonus points and stay one night at Country Inn Sun-Thur for 10,000 bonus points. Together the bonuses will earn over 25,000 points for two paid nights. 25,000 points are redeemable for a free night at any one of hundreds of hotels globally.

Radisson Hotels ‘Experience the World of Business Class’ offer from January 20 – February 28 is a hotel room upsell sweetened with a 10,000 bonus points promotion.  This offer appears to only be valid for US and Canada. The 10,000 points Business Class bonus may only be earned one time during the promotion. These rates show up in a regular search of hotels.

Rate code for Radisson Business Class 10K bonus is WORQ111.

What is Radisson Business Class?

Radisson Business Class is an interesting value-added concept that reminds me of United Airlines Economy Plus, but with more benefits.

Radisson Business Class value-added amenities:

• Upgraded room (most likely one category room upgrade, but goldpoints elites might even do better; value depends on prevailing hotel rates.)
• Breakfast for one for each night of stay
• One drink voucher per night (LT estimate = $4 to $5 value)
• 1,000 bonus goldpoints per night (LT estimate $4 to $8 value depending on redemption choices)
• Complimentary internet (Curiously internet is not listed as a benefit in the details of the 10K promotion rate, yet internet is a standard benefit normally with Business Class rate? I assume it is still included in this 10K special offer.)
• Additional $15 to $20 per night on room rate adds one daily breakfast, one daily drink, additional robe/slippers, and one daily bottle of water (if you are traveling as two guests).

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Sample rates I checked for several hotels indicate this offer is $30 to $60 more than lowest rate available.  I wrote about the Radisson Business Class package in September 2010 for a $5 upgrade to Business Class special offer.

Radisson Hotel San Francisco Airport, Wednesday January 26

King Bed – basic room  = $149 or $166.97 after tax, (Jan 24 penalty-free cancellation policy).

• Goldpoints plus points = 1,000 online booking bonus + 2,980 base points for $149 rate = 3,980 points.
• Radisson Hotel stays earn 20 base points/$1 hotel spend. 

Experience Business Class Rate = $199 or $223.00 after tax. (Jan 24 penalty-free cancellation policy)

• Goldpoints plus points = 1,000 online booking bonus + 3,980 base points for $199 rate + 11,000 bonus points for Business Class rate and promo = 15,980 points.

You pay $56 more for 11,000 additional points, breakfast and drink, internet and a room upgrade.

The room rates at Radisson SFO indicate a Bay view is a $15 add-on and Executive Tower room is $20 more than the basic King.

Room upgrade ($15) + breakfast ($15) + drink ($4) + 11,000 bonus points ($44-$88) = $78 to $118 added value for an additional $56. The value of points is variable and ultimately depends on your redemption choices when you spend points.

Loyalty Traveler plan for one free night after two paid nights in February 2011

Country Inn & Suites Ontario, California “COUNTRY” rate = $89.00: Thursday Jan 27

Country Inn & Suites stays earn 15 base points/$1.

1,335 base points + 1,000 booking bonus + 10,000 promotion bonus = 12,335 points for this night.

Radisson San Jose, California Business Class rate = $120.00 room rate: Friday Jan 28

Points earned for one night stay:

2,400 base points + 1,000 booking + 10,000 promotion bonus + 1,000 Business Class amenity points = 14,400 points for this night. 

• Total room rate spend for two nights = $209.00
• Total Points Earned for two paid nights = 26,735 goldpoints
• Free night: goldpoints plus category 2 reward night = 25,000 points 

55% to 67% hotel spend rebate

• Radisson Hotel Los Angeles West Side (goldpoints category 2 hotel): Wednesday March 16
• $138.60 AAA room rate on Jan 22 search, but also $115.50 advance purchase nonrefundable rate.

This hotel stay example shows two paid nights in San Francisco Bay Area/Silicon Valley and LA area in January can earn one free night in Los Angeles at the Radisson Westside for midweek in March.

A free $140 room on $209 spend  is a 67% rebate.

Bottom line:

Loyalty Traveler rated 4-key offer

Combine Radisson Business Class 10K with Country Inn 10 K promotion for January/February 2011.

These two 10K bonus offers combined allow a goldpoints member with no points to earn 25,000 to 30,000 total points after with just two paid nights at a Radisson and a Country Inn & Suites.

Goldpointsplus Free night hotel category links:

• Category 1 = 15,000 points
• Category 2 = 25,000 points
• Category 3 = 30,000 points
• Category 4 = 40,000 points
• Category 5 = 50,000 points
• Category 6 = 60,000 points 

Free night redemption at category 1 to 3 hotels will likely be $100 to $250 room night savings.

The total cost for a night at both a Radisson Hotel and a Country Inn is in the range of $200 to $300 for many hotels around the US and Canada.

Play these promotions right and you will get 50% to 100% rebate value on your free night after just two paid nights at Country Inn and Radisson.

Country Inn 10,000 Goldpoints for One Night Jan 2 – Feb 17, Loyalty traveler post Dec 31.

Radisson Hotels – Experience the World of Business Class webpage

Stay one night Sunday through Thursday from October 3 to November 21 at a Carlson Hotels Country Inn & Suites booked with promotional code 15000PTS at a participating hotel in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica or Panama and earn 15,000 bonus goldpoints. Promotion Link.

Minimum 3-day advance reservation required. Only one 15,000 points bonus may be earned during the promotion period.

Country Inn & Suites have complimentary high speed internet and breakfast included in the room rate. There are nearly 500 Country Inn & Suites, primarily in the U.S. and Canada.

Goldpoints members also receive 1,000 bonus points for online booking and 15 points per dollar for hotel spend. All in all, this offer works out to about 17,500 points for a $100 one-night stay. Free nights using goldpoints start at 15,000 points. And that gives you a choice of about 140 hotels in goldpoints reward category 1 including the Radisson Resort Kissimmee, Florida; Country Inn Savannah Airport; Radisson New Orleans Airport; Radisson Hotel Whittier, California; Radisson Plaza, La Paz, Bolivia; Park Inn Uppsala, Sweden; Phoenix Park Inn Resort, Goa, India and the Radisson Bangkok, Thailand.

For U.S. stays a TGI Friday’s coupon for a free appetizer with purchase of an adult entrée is also available at hotel check-in.

AAA rates were about $10 less at several hotels I checked. $10 for 15,000 points is a Loyalty Traveler rated 5-key promotional offer.

The tables in this post compare the best hotel points-to-miles exchange rates for nine hotel loyalty programs:

1. Best Western Rewards
2. Choice Privileges
3. Carlson Goldpoints Plus
4. Hilton HHonors
5. Hyatt Gold Passport
6. InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club (IHG)
7. Marriott Rewards
8. Starwood Preferred Guest  (SPG)
9. Wyndham Rewards

Points-to-Miles exchange rates shown below include seven U.S. based airlines:

1. Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
2. American Airlines AAdvantage
3. Continental Airlines OnePass
4. Delta/Northwest Skymiles
5. Southwest Airlines
6. United Mileage Plus
7. US Airways Dividend Miles

Columns are set to equivalent base spend across programs.

Earned points per dollar from hotel spend base points are used to align different programs in the tables below in each column:

• Best Western                                  10 points per dollar
• Carlson goldpoints plus               20 points per dollar
• Choice Privileges                            10 points per dollar
• Hilton HHonors                   *10 points per dollar (Points & Miles)
• Hyatt Gold Passport                         5 points per dollar
• IHG Priority Club                            10 points per dollar        
• Marriott Rewards                            10 points per dollar
• Starwood Preferred Guest             2 points per dollar
• Wyndham Rewards                        10 points per dollar

* Points & Miles base rate at 10 points per dollar is shown for Hilton HHonors since members will usually earn far more miles overall with a combination of points transfers and miles earned from hotel stays.  100,000 HHonors points = 15,000 American AAdvantage miles is the actual HHonors points-to-miles exchange rate.

However, the column for 100,000 points assumes 10 base points per dollar earned with Points & Miles preference, equivalent to $10,000 in base spend when comparing HHonors to other programs. The columns are not aligned correctly for HHonors  Points & Points earner getting 15 base points per dollar. In this case the 100,000 points column would actually be $6,667 in base spend. 100,000 points shown in table columns is equivalent to $10,000 in hotel spend for programs earning 10 base points per dollar. $10,000 in hotel spend with Hyatt earns 50,000 base points and 20,000 points in Starwood Preferred Guest or 200,000 points for Radisson stays in goldpoints plus.

Important Note: The exchange rates shown in the tables are adjusted for comparative purposes across programs and may not actually be set to eligible transfer increments for a specific program. For example, 20,000 Choice points is shown in the table as converting into 5 Southwest credits, but the actual eligible tranfer increment for Choice Priivileges points to Southwest Airlines is 6,000 points = 1.5 credits. So while 20,000 Choice points is equivalent to 5 Southwest credits, the actual Choice Privileges points transfer would have to be either 18,000 points for 4.5 credits or 24,000 points for 6.0 credits.

Yellow rows show hotel points to be exchanged.

White rows are miles exchange rate for hotel points and accurate for any individual program.

Columns are set to equivalent base spend across programs.

Limitations of these tables

Comparing hotel points-to-miles rates across hotel loyalty programs requires placement of different programs with different points earning systems on a similar scale.

Each hotel chain rewards members with a base rate for earning points per dollar spend and this is the scale used to compare points-to-miles exchange rates across programs. Base points earning rates range from Starwood Preferred Guest members earning 2 points per dollar at any brand to Goldpoints plus members earn 20 points per dollar at some hotel brands in some parts of the world. Most programs use 10 points per dollar.

The complexity of comparing exchange rates across hotel programs is due in part to the different rates of earning points across hotel brands even within the same hotel chain.

For example, Marriott Rewards members earn only 5 points per $1 for hotel spend in Marriott’s  Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites hotels. Members of the same Marriott Rewards program earn 10 points per $1 in hotel spend if all stays are in other Marriott brands like Courtyard, Marriott and Renaissance. The average base spend points earned for a Marriott Rewards member will be dependent on the proportion of lower earning hotel stays.

Hilton HHonors members earn 15 points per dollar with Points & Points at any Hilton Worldwide brand hotel. Some members earn 10 points per dollar and miles with each hotel stay by choosing to Double Dip for Points & Miles.

InterContinental Hotels Group  Priority Club members earn 10 points per dollar for hotel brands Holiday Inn, HI Express, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo. Staybridge and Candlewood Suites stays earn 5 points per dollar. InterContinental Hotels earn 2,000 points per stay.

Carlson Hotels Goldpoints Plus has two tiers of hotels for earning points. Radisson brands earn 20 points per dollar or euro. The currency differences between the euro and dollar make earning rates lower for Americans staying in Europe.  The lower tier brands earning 15 points per dollar or euro are Country Inn & Suites and Park Inn.

Choice Privileges has 11 hotel brands with most brands earning 10 points per dollar, however extended stay brands Mainstay Suites and Suburban and economy brands EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn earn just 5 points per dollar.

Best Western, Hyatt, Starwood and Wyndham are the only four programs of the nine surveyed to give the same rate of points earned per dollar spend at all hotel brands in the loyalty program.

Comparing points-to-miles exchange rates across hotel programs is simplified by comparing only the highest earning per base spend rate per program.

For example the Marriott Rewards data in the tables assume members earn 10 points per dollar. However, the Marriott Rewards member who primarily stays at Residence Inn and regularly earns 5 base points per dollar will not be aligned correctly in the table columns with the Hilton member who always earns 15 points per dollar at any brand. The tables are based on the Marriott Rewards member earning 10 points per dollar and the HHonors member earning 10 points per dollar with Points & Miles earning preference.

Earned points per dollar are used to align different programs in the tables below:

• Best Western                                  10 points per dollar
• Carlson goldpoints plus               20 points per dollar
• Choice Privileges                            10 points per dollar
• Hilton HHonors                   10 points per dollar (Points & Miles)
• Hyatt Gold Passport                         5 points per dollar
• IHG Priority Club                            10 points per dollar        
• Marriott Rewards                            10 points per dollar
• Starwood Preferred Guest             2 points per dollar
• Wyndham Rewards                        10 points per dollar

Elite and Promotion Bonus Points

Finally, these tables do not account for the rate of earning points from promotions and elite status. Hyatt, IHG and SPG have a high proportion of points earned from promotions and elite status compared to base spend. These charts are only aligned on base spend at high earning hotel brands within each program and your hotel stay pattern may lead to a faster rate of earning in one program compared to another.

The goal of the frequent guest is to earn far more than base points from hotel spend. The objective of Loyalty Traveler blog is to explain how to exceed base points earning from your hotel spend.

The reality of hotel loyalty programs is most frequent guests will earn 20,000 Starpoints or 50,000 Hyatt points or 100,000 Marriott points for far less than $10,000 in hotel spend. Elite bonus points, promotion bonus points and partner activity bonus points will reduce the cost of earning $10,000 worth of base points to a much lower spend level.

Qualitative Ranking of Best Hotel Loyalty Programs for Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates

5 Key

• Marriott
• Wyndham
• Goldpoints plus
• Choice (5-key program only for Southwest Airlines)

4 Key

• Hyatt
• Starwood Preferred Guest

3 Key

• Priority Club
• Best Western
• Choice (5-key program for Southwest Airlines)
• Hilton (3-key for American Airlines)

2 Key

• Hilton (most airline programs)
• SPG (Continental, United, Singapore)

Enroll as a new member by September 6 in Goldpoints Plus using promotion code GPX2010 and receive 1,000 bonus points. Carlson Hotels Goldpoints Plus loyalty program covers the 1,000+ hotels in Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn and Country Inn & Suites hotel brands. Goldpoints plus new member registration link.

This offer is only valid for new members without an existing account.

Goldpoints Plus has lowest minimum transfer for airline miles

Goldpoints plus is a useful program for small mileage transfers. 2,000 goldpoints exchange into 250 miles with a variety of programs.

Goldpoints plus has the lowest minimum transfer rate for points-to-miles exchanges for a general member among the major programs (SPG Platinum members have no minimum transfer level):

• Hilton = 10,000 point block = 1,000 miles (1,500 AA miles)
• Marriott = 10,000 points minimum = 2,000 miles
• Priority Club = 10,000 point block = 2,000 miles
• Wyndham Rewards = 8,000 points minimum = 3,200 miles
• Hyatt = 5,000 points block = 2,000 miles
• Best Western = 5,000 points block = 1,000 miles
• Choice Privileges = 5,000 points block= 1,000 miles
• SPG = 2,500 points minimum transfer (non-elite members) = 2,500 miles
• Goldpoints Plus = 2,000 points = 250 miles

Goldpoints plus may not look like a great exchange at the 2,000 points rate compared to other programs. Keep in mind that you earn 20 points per US$1/1€ for Radisson hotel stays and 15 points per US$ for Country Inn & Suites. The points-to-miles exchange rate is variable and improves greatly with higher transfer levels.

At the 100,000 points = 18,000 miles rate, you will find Goldpoints Plus is consistently the best exchange rate among hotel loyalty programs with only Marriott Rewards offering a better exchange rate at its high transfer level of 125,000 points for 50,000 miles.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler post showing exchange rates for different hotel programs for U.S. airlines at various transfer levels.

Goldpoints plus also awards 1,000 bonus points for an online reservation.  After one stay in a Carlson Hotel booked online, you will have enough points for a points-to-miles transfer. This is a convenient way to keep airline frequent flier accounts active without flying.

Related links: Click on the categories link for Goldpoints Plus on the left side of Loyalty traveler blog and you will find a dozen or so articles on Goldpoints plus promotions and Carlson Hotels. This program slashed award night cost this past year, offered some high value bonuses and probably has made more program changes for the better than any other hotel loyalty program in 2010.

Goldpoints Plus is a good program for new members to check out. Perhaps you will find yourself checking in more frequently at Carlson Hotels.

Earn 1,500 bonus Air Canada Aeroplan miles when converting hotel points from nine hotel loyalty programs for at least 10,000 miles. This offer is available through September 20, 2010. This bonus may be earned once for each hotel partner program.

Aeroplan Promotion link.

Here is the number of points necessary to convert into 10,000 Aeroplan miles from each hotel program.

Minimum Points Transfer for 10,000 Aeroplan Miles 

Best Western Rewards: 50,000 points = 10,000 miles

Choice Privileges: 50,000 points = 10,000 miles

Carlson goldpoints plus: 66,000 points = 10,000 miles (100,000 points = 18,000 miles)

Hilton HHonors: 100,000 points = 10,000 miles

Hyatt Gold Passport: 25,000 points = 10,000 miles (50,000 points = 25,000 miles)

IHG Priority Club Rewards: 50,000 points = 10,000 miles

Marriott Rewards: 30,000 points = 10,000 miles (125,000 points = 50,000 miles)

Starwood Preferred Guest: 10,000 points = 10,000 miles (20,000 points = 25,000 miles)

Wyndham Rewards: 25,500 points = 10,200 miles

1,500 bonus Aeroplan miles will be added to your account when you convert enough hotel points to earn 10,000 Aeroplan miles.

In general, your best value in hotel points-to-miles exchanges are with Carlson goldpoints plus, Marriott Rewards, and Wyndham Rewards. SPG and Hyatt are good at the optimal level when 25% bonus miles are added to the exchange, although I consider the hotel points to have greater value for hotels than airline miles.  

Carlson Goldpoints Plus, Hyatt Gold Passport, Marriott Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) are hotel programs with a better exchange rate at an optimal level. The optimal level for the best points-to-miles exchange rate is shown in parentheses for these programs. The other hotel programs use a static exchange rate with no bonus offers or different exchange rate level. 

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles links:

Best Western International® – Best Western Rewards™ 

Carlson(SM) Hotels Worldwide – Goldpoints Plus(SM) (requires user log-in to see points-to-miles charts)  

Choice Hotels International® – Privileges Choice Privileges® 

Hilton Worldwide® – Hilton HHonors®

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts® – Hyatt Gold Passport™

InterContinental® Hotels Group – Priority Club® Rewards 

Marriott® International – Marriott Rewards®  

Starwood Hotels & Resorts – Starwood Preferred Guest®  

Wyndham® Worldwide – Wyndham Rewards®

Loyalty Traveler related posts:

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

Hotel Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for AA, AS, CO, DL, UA, US, WN (March 28, 2010)

Carlson Hotels Goldpoints Plus has a rare benefit in the hotel loyalty program world these days in giving bonus points for online bookings. The booking bonus of 1,000 points for any hotel reservation made online is available to any goldpoints plus member. And recently the online booking bonus was raised to 2,000 points for Goldpoints Plus Silver and Gold elite members.

Goldpoints plus Silver elite requires 10 stays or 15 nights in a calendar year. Silver elite members receive a 25% bonus on base points.

Gold elite membership takes 20 stays or 35 nights in a calendar year. Gold elites receive a 50% bonus on base points.

Goldpoints plus members normally earn 20 points per US$1 in the Americas or Asia-Pacific or 20 points per 1€ in Europe, Africa and the Middle East at Radisson Hotels or Park Plaza Hotels. Country Inn and Suites or Park Inn hotel stays earn 15 points per US$1 or 1€ in these regions.

Spend $150 at a Radisson Hotel in the USA and earn 3,000 base points + 1,000 online booking bonus points for 4,000 total points as a general goldpoints plus member. Silver elite member earns 5,750 total points. Gold elite earns 6,500 points.

Free nights with goldpoints plus start at 15,000 points for a Category 1 award night and go up to 60,000 points per night for a top level category 6 hotel award. A benefit of goldpoints plus in recent years is a periodic promotion for 50% off award nights. This promotion happened earlier in 2010 and hopefully will return later this year or in 2011.

A regular redemption benefit of Goldpoints plus are Cash + Points award nights starting at 5,000 points for category 1-3 hotels and a cash supplement.

Members seeking miles from hotel stays will find Goldpoints Plus has one of the best points-to-miles exchange rates of all hotel loyalty programs. Only Marriott Rewards tends to be better at higher transfer levels, but goldpoints plus has the advantage of allowing points-to-miles transfers starting at just 2,000 points for 250 miles with more than 20 different airlines. The rate improves to 18,000 miles when exchanging 100,000 points.

The current Goldpoints Plus promotion running through August 31 offers a free night at any Carlson Hotel worldwide with two stays at any Carlson Hotel worldwide. This is about the best deal currently available for travelers seeking to leverage paid hotel stays over the next six weeks into free nights you can use from September 1 through February 28, 2011.  

If you are wondering where the best hotel loyalty program deal is for hotel travel over the next several weeks, Carlson Hotels and goldpoints plus may be your best match. There are more than 1,000 Carlson Hotels globally with over 500 Country Inn & Suites properties in the USA alone.

The opportunity to earn a SPG Free Weekend Night with every three stays goes through July 31, 2010, however, you must register by Wednesday, June 30. It is a good thing to check and be sure you are registered if you have not started this promotion and plan July travel.

SPG free nights are valid for redemption on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through December 19. The opportunity to redeem free nights at Category 6 hotels, normally 20,000 points per night, is the real value in this promotion. Many category 6 hotels run $400+ per night and the room rate savings makes three $100 stays to earn the free night a true luxury bargain. Four nights for less than the price of one.

I have friends taking an Alaska cruise out of Seattle in August. The prices of Starwood Hotels in Seattle are skyhigh. The Sheraton Seattle and Westin Seattle are priced like Manhattan hotels.

If three stays is too many, then you might want to check out Best Western’s “Two stays earns One free night” promotion from June 20 through August 15, 2010. There is a one free night limit unless you are elite and then you may earn two free nights during the promotion.  Free night vouchers expire December 25, 2010. Here is the Loyalty Traveler post on the Best Western offer.

Carlson Hotels comprised of the Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn, and Country Inn & Suites hotel brands and the goldpoints plus loyalty program also have a two stays earn one free night promotion through August 31. Free nights are limited to seven nights earned. Free nights may be used from September 1 through February 28, 2011.

Free night promotion earning period ends June 30 for Hyatt Gold Passport and Hilton HHonors members.

Select Carlson Hotels are offering triple point rates through July 31 at about 30% of the global properties.

Radisson and Park Plaza brands normally earn 20 base points per US$1 in the Americas or Asia-Pacific regions or 20 base points per 1€ for EMEA region of Europe, Middle East and Africa. Country Inn & Suites or Park Inn stays earn 15 base points per US$1 or 1€ for these same regions. Triple points mean 60 points per $/€ for Radisson/Park Plaza stays and 45 points for other brands.

The luxury Regent Hotel brand was sold by Carlson Hotels and left the goldpoints plus loyalty program as of June 15, 2010.

Analysis:

Triple points is a special rate offer and results in a higher nightly room rate than some other rate options. The member will need to decide if the points differential is worth the extra cost.

Triple points rates appear to be combinable with the stay two and earn one free night promotion.

Radisson Suite Hotel, Huntsville, Alabama

• Saturday, June 19
• Triple Points Rate = $102.35 or $115.63 after tax.
• 3x points rate earns 6,141 points.
• AAA rate = $80.10 and $90.71 after tax.
• AAA rate earns 1,602 base points. 

Triple Points rate net gain is 4,539 points for $24.92.

(3x earn rate = $5.49 per 1,000 points)

Radisson Suite Hotel Huntsville is a category 2 goldpoints plus hotel redemption for 25,000 points per night. The extra points earned are equivalent to $137 cost for a free night at the Radisson Huntsville. This is not a good value for this hotel compared to the current prevailing rates, but the use of the extra points for a Points + Cash Award Night or another hotel might give a better value for points.

Country Inn & Suites, Sunnyvale, California

• Wednesday, July 7
• Triple Points rate = $174.80 Guest Room ($190.53 after tax)
• 7,866 points (3x rate)
• AAA rate = $136.80 ($149.11 after tax)
• 2,052 points (AAA rate)

5,814 additional points with Triple Points rate for $41.42.

(3x earn rate = $7.12 per 1,000 points)

Loyalty Traveler Triple Points Offer Conclusion: Triple points is a route to accelerated goldpoints earning, however, the higher rates for earning triple points mitigates the value of this offer. This is a good offer if the earning rate is less than $5.00 per 1,000 points when paying higher triple points rates. 

Overall, the triple points offer is not particularly lucrative unless you have an immediate specific plan for using points or you plan to hold points until the next offer for 50% off hotel awards which seems to be a regular periodic offer of goldpoints plus.  

Loyalty traveler key rank for goldpoints plus triple points = 2 of 5 keys.

Keep in mind the two stays for one free night promotion from June 1 – August 31 is a 5-key offer and one of the best opportunities available these next few months for frequent travelers in the hotel loyalty program world.

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 may 19 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.

Accor A-Club

*Limited Time Offer: June 10-16 Hotel Rate Discount – Accor Hotels has a “Crazy Summer” 50% off sale for 800 hotels worldwide. There are no US hotels participating in this offer.

*Limited Time Offer: Motel 6 is accepting A-Club $60 vouchers at over 1,000 North America hotels for stays from June 1-October 31.

Best Western Rewards 

*5-key Promotion One Free Night in US or Canada after two stays between June 20 and August 15, 2010. Limit of One free night during promotion unless Best Western rewards elite member, then limit is two free nights. (See elite status match offer.) Registration is required and limited to residents of USA, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands. Free night voucher expires December 25, 2010. (June 1)

Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010)

Carlson Hotels – Goldpoints Plus

*5-Key promotion: June 1-August 31 Stay two times at any Carlson Hotel (Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inn & Suites) and earn one free night at any property. Earn limit is seven free nights. Redeem nights at any Carlson Hotel September 1 – February 28, 2011. Registration is required. (May 25)

3-Key promotion: Radisson Hotels – Earn 5,000 AAdvantage bonus miles and get a sixth night free with a five night stay at a Radisson Hotel in the Caribbean by June 15.

Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges

*3-key promotion Earn 8,000 points for two stays between May 20 and August 5, 2010. After two stays points will be added to your account up to 8,000 total points. Choice Privileges members normally earn 10 points per $1 at most brands. Spend $75 for each hotel night and the 1,500 base points ($150 @ 10 points /$1) will be boosted up to 8,000 points. This promotion favors the low spender. A general member who spends $400 for a five night stay will earn 4,000 points for the stay. Two stays like that and you do not earn a bonus at all. Keep this promotion in mind for those $50 one night stays. 

The Choice Privileges advertisement is for a Chili’s card, but you will receive points in your account for spending on whatever you choose. And 8,000 points is good for a free night at over 1,000 Choice Hotel members.

Hilton HHonors

4-key promotion Nine bonus airline miles promotions that may be combined with free night promotion (April 13, 2010) [Note: most airline offers end June 30, some go to July 15 or 31, and some longer.]

4-key promotion Fast Ways to Free Stays (Earn a free night after every 4 stays or 10 nights through June 30) (April 7, 2010)

Hilton HHonors earn unlimited free nights through June 30 – Fast Ways to Free Stays promotion (April 4, 2010)

Hyatt Gold Passport

Alert: Hyatt Gold Passport hotel award categories went up for 25% of hotels as of June 4, 2010.  Loyalty traveler post.

5-key promotion – Big Welcome Back promotion for one free night after every two stays March 26-June 30 (March 26, 2010)

4-Key promotion – Earn up to 25,000 American AAdvantage miles with 5 Hyatt stays May 3 – July 5 (May 3) – Earn 3,000 miles per Hyatt stay and 10,000 bonus miles after 5 Hyatt stays between May 3 and July 5.  You must set earning preference to miles. This offer is combinable with the Big Welcome Back offer for one free night after every two stays or 5,000 points after every two stays.

3-key offer: $100 in Hyatt gift certificates for $80 at Costco. Many Costco stores carry these. Two $50 certificates cost $79.99. These certificates do not provide change. Effectively these certificates save up to 20% on room rates, but are not good on prepaid rates.  

3-key offer: Hyatt offers a COSTCO discount rate (use Group/Corporate # 13365) that is equivalent or even better than AAA rate for many hotels. The Costco discount rate is up to 25% for North America hotels. Bookings must be made between May 7 – September 9 for stays from May 7 through September 12.

There are several different codes being tossed around for this offer.

Inserting 13365 in the Group/Corporate # has worked best for me in retrieving the $25 per night credit rate and the rate tends to match the prepaid rate, but with cancellation policies equivalent to AAA rates. For a one night stay the AAA full breakfast rate may be a better deal. Compare prices.

• North American Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, and Andaz up to 25% + $25 nightly stay credit.
• Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites up to 15% discount.
• International Hyatt properties – up to 10% discount.

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

*Europe IHG Rate Discount: 2 nights for the price of 1 for hotel stays through September 27, 2010. The InterContinental Budapest was available for $83 per night when I first posted this offer. These rates are prepaid and nonrefundable, but there are some fantastic savings if you want to prepay your hotel stay. (May 25)

*5-key offer Priority Club PointBreaks 5,000 points per night awards to August 30 (June 7, 2010)

*4-Key Promotion Priority Club $50 gift card for any IHG brand hotel stay worldwide including a Friday or Saturday night. Gift card offer is valid with second hotel stay between May 14 and July 31. There is a maximum earn limit of $500 in gift cards. Registration is required. This offer is mutually exclusive from the Double Points or Double Miles offer listed below. (May 21)

3-Key promotion Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles May 14-August 31 (April 15)

3-key promotion Ambassador members receive up to 10,000 points after stays in four different InterContinental Hotels. May 10-July 31. Registration required. (May 11)

2-key promotion: Ambassador members receive 25,000 points for a two-night stay at participating InterContinental Hotels (June 1-September 30). Unfortunately most hotels are asking a significantly higher rate ($50 to $100 per night over lowest available) for this offer. Bonus may be earned three times for 75,000 points.  (May 11)

IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (Dec 26, 2010)

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)

Marriott Rewards

5-Key promotion – May 1-July 31 New members of Marriott Rewards earn a free night after two stays  (April 5, 2010)

4-key promotion – MegaBonus Offer: One free Marriott Category 1 to 4 hotel night after three stays June 1 – August 31. The main drawback of this offer is the lower category limit for the free night. Marriott has an 8 category award system. There are some nice Category 4 hotels, however, most major tourist cities have full scale hotel properties in the category 5 or 6 level.

The free night offer is targeted and available to most Marriott Rewards members. Marriott Rewards elite members are likely to have received a points offer based on nights for their MegaBonus.

Alternate Points offer #1: Earn 20,000 points after 15 nights or 30,000 points after 20 nights.

Alternate Points offer #2: Earn 25,000 points after 20 nights or 40,000 points after 25 nights.

4-key promotion – Up to 60,000 Delta Skymiles. Earn 5,000 Skymiles per stay beginning with your second stay from May 1 through September 6, 2010. Registration required. Note: Your Marriott Rewards account earning preference must be set to miles for this offer to load correctly on your web browser.

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

Starwood Preferred Guest

5-key promotion – Earn a free weekend night after every three stays (May 1-July 31)

4-Key promotion – Earn 1,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every stay with Sheraton Hotels in North America (US, Canada, and Caribbean) through July 31. No limit. This offer may be combined with the stay three earn a free weekend night.

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

*Starwood Hotel Rate Discount Codes for Multiple Night Stays - Check out the rates using these Starwood Hotel discount links for stays from two to six nights and savings from 20% to 33%. These rates do not always offer the lowest rate option since the discount is based on the Best Available Rate and AAA rates often discount the BAR rate by more than 20 or 30%. Other times these rates save hundreds of dollars on otherwise lowest rate. This offer is particulalry good for booking hotel suites at a discount.

1-key promotion Four Points Breakfast for a Buck (April 12, 2010)

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

Wyndham Rewards

4-Key promotion: Earn up to 25,000 American AAdvantage miles after 9 stays from April 30 to September 30, 2010.

*Wyndham Hotels Game Prizes: Wyndham Mission: Save Summer campaign offering gift card prizes and a five night Wyndham Hotel stay. Register and play weekly for a chance to win prizes. There are also discount rate links for most Wyndham Hotel brands in this thread.

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

Goldpoints plus, the hotel loyalty program for the Carlson Hotels chain, has jumped on the free night promotion bandwagon for summer hotel stays from June 1 through August 31. Two hotel stays at any Carlson Hotels brand of Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn and Country Inn & Suites earns one free night for any of more than 1,000+ hotels in the worldwide Carlson Hotel network.

Goldpoints plus promotion registration is required.

In the USA there are 500 midscale hotels in the Country Inn and Suites and Park Inn hotels to earn free nights with two stays. Around the world there are hundreds more upper upscale Radisson, Radisson Blu and Park Plaza hotels to redeem free nights. Carlson’s Regent Hotels are not listed as a participating brand for this promotion. The luxury Regent brand was sold to Taiwan based Formosa International last month.

The difference in this promotion from the other free night promotions for summer 2010 is the redemption period for using free nights does not overlap with the earning period. You can earn up to seven (7) free nights with June to August hotel stays, but you can only redeem the free nights beginning July 15 with bookings for stays scheduled between September 1 and February 28, 2011.

The six month redemption period is a long window for using free nights. The earning limit of seven free nights may be an unwelcome restriction for some members, but should not affect most members who will not accrue 14 stays at Carlson Hotels over the summer to max out the offer.

Goldpoints plus is offering the easiest qualification for free nights along with Hyatt Gold Passport and the two promotions only overlap in the month of June. Hyatt’s free nights must be used by August 31, so there is no overlap in the free night redemption periods between Hyatt Gold Passport and Carlson goldpoints plus for these two promotions offering a free night after two hotel stays.

Starwood’s free night after three stays ends July 31 and redemption period goes to December 19, 2010.

Goldpoints plus allows free night credits to be earned for stays throughout the summer months. The August period for earning free nights should be a big draw for European travelers.

This hotel stay example shows the leverage opportunity of the two stays earns one free night promotion.

• Richmond, Virginia
• June 4, 2010
• Country Inn & Suites Richmond I-95 South
• $71.60 (AAA rate)

My checks around the country showed many Country Inn & Suites offer rates around $80 per night.

Radisson Hotels in Europe and other regions of the world tend to be more upscale than the typical US Radisson Hotel. One of the major efforts Carlson Hotels revealed in its five year plan at the global summit in March is a major investment to upgrade Radisson Hotels in the USA. The Radisson brand is one of the top brands for its market segment in European consumer ratings.

• London, UK –  The Mayfair Hotel
• September 6-10, four nights
• 234 £ per night = US$336/night x 4 nights = $1,344.

Stay eight times in Carlson brand hotels from June 1 to August 31 and you will earn four free nights. 

Assume $80 for a one night stay at a Country Inn & Suites. 8 x $80 = $640.

Hypothetically, you can spend $640 to $800 for 8 stays during summer and redeem your four free nights for a $1,344 hotel room in London.

Even if you average $150 per night and spend $1,200 for 8 stays, you can potentially redeem your four free nights for an equivalent value at an upper upscale hotel anytime during the six months from September 1, 2010 to February 28, 2011.

Heather Passe, Carlson’s VP directing goldpoints plus told me the loyalty program would launch some high value promotions in 2010. Goldpoints plus “This Way to a Free Stay” summer 2010 offer supports that declaration. 

This promotion is a 5-key offer (the highest Loyalty Traveler promotion rating).