Hilton HHonors is far and away the biggest program for airline partnerships. That can be a major factor for a frequent guest earning miles from hotel stays in a frequent flyer program where there might be few opportunities to earn miles other than flying.

• Hilton HHonors = 57 airline partners
• IHG Priority Club = 43 airline partners
• Marriott Rewards = 36 airline partners
• Hyatt Gold Passport = 35 airline partners
• Starwood Preferred Guest = 34 airline partners

There are 8 airlines that only partner with one of these ten programs.

[click on image to see full-size in new window]

I will follow up this post with comments and details on airline miles differences in earning rates between different programs.

This seemed like a useful table to create as I work on my series of hotel points-to-miles exchange rates across loyalty programs for a selection of major airlines.

Loyalty Traveler – Airline Tables for Hotel Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates

United Mileage Plus hotel points-to-miles rates favor Marriott, Club Carlson, Wyndham(Feb 8, 2012)

Delta SkyMiles hotel points-to-miles rates in 9 hotel programs(Feb 7, 2012)

AAdvantage Miles for Hotel Elites with Credit Cards: SPG, Club Carlson, Wyndham and HHonors lead the pack(Feb 6, 2012)

American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared for 9 Hotel Programs (Feb 5, 2012)

Delta Skymiles members have an advantage over members of the other major U.S. airlines in that eight of nine major hotel loyalty programs allow points-to-miles transfers at each program’s best exchange rate.

Hilton HHonors members have a lower points-to-miles transfer rate at only 1,000 Skymiles for 10,000 points compared to American Airlines AAdvantage at 10,000 points = 1,500 miles. You are likely better off keeping the HHonors points for hotel stays rather than use points-to-miles exchanges for Delta Skymiles.

Most hotel stays earn only hotel points or only frequent flyer miles with the exception of Hilton HHonors ‘Double Dipping’ policy that allows members to earn both miles and points on the same hotel stay.

In general, earning points with hotel loyalty programs and transferring points-to-miles results in more miles compared to earning miles directly from a hotel stay.  Many hotel brands allow a member to earn 250 or 500 miles per hotel stay. Hilton HHonors is the exception to this general rule due to its low points-to-miles exchange rates. HHonors Points & Miles earners earn miles at a higher rate and HHonors runs regular bonus miles promotions to improve the rate of earning miles from hotel stays.

The methodology used to compare points-to-miles exchange rates in different hotel loyalty programs:

I have created three tables to compare points earned at set levels of hotel spend for three types of hotel loyalty members:

• hotel loyalty member has no elite status or hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status, but no hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status and the highest earning hotel program co-branded credit card.

TABLE 1 – Hotel program comparison of points-to-miles exchange rates for Delta Airlines using base points earning rate.

TABLE 2 – Hotel Top Tier Elite earner hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

TABLE 3 – Hotel Top Tier Elite Earner and Co-branded Credit Card member hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

Commentary:

Tables are set up in columns to show how many points are earned at set levels of spend for $1,000; $2,000; $3,000; $5,000; $7,000; $10,000 and $13,000 in hotel stays counting only points earned from hotel spend base points, top-tier elite bonus points and highest earning credit card bonus points for each program.

The hotel spend amount is not the important number in these tables. The dollar amounts are simply a way to align different hotel programs to make a comparison of points-to-miles rates.

When I show $10,000 earns 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, that is the maximum spend needed to earn 50,000 points. Actual spend to earn 50,000 Hyatt points will likely be far less than $10,000. I have shown in a recent post how a Hyatt Gold Passport member can earn over 50,000 points from real travel for under $1,250.

The hotel spend needed to earn points depends on the types of hotel promotions available, welcome amenity points, and other points earning offers and partner activity.

Observations on Table 1:

• Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Marriott Rewards have the best points-to-miles exchange rates.
• Wyndham Rewards has the highest earning fixed rate for hotel points-to-miles exchange. $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Rewards earns 3,200 Delta SkyMiles.
• At $1,000 in hotel spend the different programs are remarkably similar in points-to-miles exchange rates. Differentiation between programs comes at higher levels of spend. Most programs have a fixed points-to-miles exchange rate regardless of the number of points being transferred to miles.
• Variable points-to-miles exchange rates with Marriott Rewards and Club Carlson give a higher rate of miles at higher levels of points transfer. Starwood Preferred Guest (20,000 points) and Hyatt Gold Passport (50,000 points) both give 25% more miles at the specific transfer level shown here.
• Starwood Preferred Guest does not have a points-to-miles advantage to other programs based on its points-to-miles exchange rate giving a 25% bonus when transferring a block of 20,000 Starpoints. Wyndham, Marriott and Club Carlson have better points-to-miles exchange rates than SPG. The competitive advantage to SPG for miles earners is the 50% bonus for mid-tier Gold elite (10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year) is the highest elite bonus for the lowest level of hotel stays. SPG American Express credit card spend at Starwood Hotels earns 100% base points. Even more impressive is the high rate of earning points for everyday spend at $1 = 1 point = 1 mile in many frequent flyer programs. This rate exceeds all other hotel loyalty credit cards for miles earning rate, although Wyndham Rewards Visa is close to SPG with $1 = 2 points = 0.8 miles. Wyndham Rewards has fewer airline partners than SPG, but Visa is accepted in places where American Express will leave you stranded.

What about Residence Inn and Staybridge Suites and hotel brands that earn fewer base points per dollar?

Marriott Rewards is probably the program most impacted by lower points earn rates at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites where stays earn only 5 base points/$1 compared to 10 base points/$1 used in table. The miles shown in these tables will be reduced by the proportion of hotel spend at lower earning hotel brands. About 25% of all Marriott hotels are Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites.

Marriott Rewards – Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earn 5 points/$1.

IHG Priority Club – Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites earn 5 points/$1.

Choice Privileges – Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge, Mainstay Suites, Staybridge Suites earn 5 points/$1. Other brands earn 10 points/$1.

Wyndham Rewards – Hawthorn Suites earn 5 points/$1.

The tables do not consider promotion bonus points. The idea is to keep these tables simple and evergreen (until the next program change). Hotel loyalty promotions are constantly changing.

Table 2: Commentary: Elite Status

Club Carlson, Marriott Rewards and now Starwood Preferred Guest have a 75-night top-tier elite. The points earned are high rates, but the loyalty required to reach that level of membership is a small portion of hotel travelers.

Club Carlson Concierge at 75% bonus points sets that program apart for miles earners. The advantage Club Carlson has over Marriott Rewards is a standard points earn rate across all its hotel brands. The miles shown for Marriott Rewards will drop with hotel stays at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earning a lower rate of base points.

Wyndham Rewards does not have elite tiers or elite bonus points and drops in ranking when elite bonus points are a factor. Most hotel programs offer 50% bonus points for top tier elite members. These elite bonus points increase the earning rate of hotel points and make other programs more attractive than Wyndham Rewards for points-to-miles exchanges as an elite member with loads of points. Still, it is nice to know that the budget traveler can pull in miles at rates comparable to the best elite programs even while sleeping at Days Inn.

Hyatt Gold Passport drops noticeably in rank compared to SPG when top-tier elite status is factored. Hyatt and Best Western only offer 30% bonus points for top tier elite hotel spend. SPG offers 50% bonus points for Gold and Platinum and 100% for Platinum-75 members as of March 1, 2012.

The elite tables do not factor welcome amenity points for top-tier elites typically earned on hotel stays.

Why are there no tables for low-tier and mid-tier hotel elite levels?

I have not created tables for mid-tier and low-tier elites due to the difficulty of comparing these elite levels across different programs. Are SPG Gold and Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum comparable elite levels?

These tables only show top-tier elite to allow a comparison of programs for the most frequent guests and highest earning members in each program.

I will likely add tables comparing credit card members and the associated elite status since most credit cards give some elite level of membership as a cardmember.

Table 3: The Credit Card Factor

One tip to share is my observation that rates for earning credit card bonus points are generally equivalent to the rate of earning bonus points as a top tier elite member.

Hyatt Gold Passport Visa, Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass, SPG American Express and Best Western MasterCard earn bonus points at an even higher rate per dollar than hotel stays as a top-tier hotel loyalty program member earning bonus points. In terms of earning points, members in these programs are better off having a cobranded credit card than being a top-tier elite member.

That is the sad state of the hotel industry that bank loyalty is more rewarding in hotel point bonuses than hotel stay loyalty. Of course most programs offer hotel stay benefits for their top-tier guests that are the primary value-added component for hotel loyalty members besides points.

Perhaps I’ll have to start promoting hotel loyalty program credit cards and pick up some referral cash. Or not.

Why Hilton HHonors is difficult to compare with other programs

The tables show the number of points earned based on hotel spend and then the miles earned from a points-to-miles transfer. Hilton HHonors is the exception since members can earn both points & miles for hotel stays.

Most hotel loyalty programs will earn more miles overall when the member earns points for a hotel stay and then makes a points-to-miles exchange into the frequent flyer program. Hilton HHonors has a low points-to-miles exchange rate compared to other hotel programs and the HHonors member will likely earn more miles choosing HHonors Points & Fixed Miles for hotel stays when the hotel spend is under $500 per stay.

I provide an estimate of miles earned for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles earner. This is a rough estimate based on an average hotel stay costing $200 and earning 500 miles.

Hilton HHonors Points & Variable miles is a more precise comparison of miles earning to other hotel programs, however, the member staying at Hilton brands other than Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn will earn more miles choosing Fixed Miles for any hotel stay under $500.

The miles shown for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles is likely at the high end of a typical traveler’s earning pattern since it excludes any stays at Hampton Inns. Also a person with an average stay rate over $200 will have a lower miles earning rate.

The precise miles earned for a Hilton HHonors member is likely between the Variable Miles earning rate at the low end and the Fixed Miles rate near the high end in these tables.

Related Posts:

American Airlines American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared for 9 Hotel Programs (Feb 5, 2012)

American Airlines AAdvantage Miles for Hotel Elites with Credit Cards: SPG, Club Carlson, Wyndham and HHonors lead the pack (Feb 6, 2012)

The next post in this series will look at United Airlines Mileage Plus miles earning rates across these nine hotel loyalty programs.

My Loyalty traveler series on hotel points-to-miles exchange rates for frequent flyer miles continues with a look at 9 major hotel loyalty programs and points-to-miles exchange rates. These tables look at the miles earned at set levels of hotel spend. Top-tier elite hotel status and the best earning hotel cobranded credit card for hotel stay payment are additional factors in the miles calculations.

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the actual exchange rate based on hotel spend for hotel stays. Credit cards and elite status are not considered.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows how top-tier elite membership earning rate alters the total number of points earned at each level of hotel spend.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the influence of top tier elite and credit card spend.

Basic Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared to Rate Points Earned from Hotel Spend without consideration of:

• Elite Status
• Cobranded Credit Card

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table was discussed in my Loyalty traveler post yesterday.

The main point I’d like readers to see is Wyndham Rewards is a great program for earning small levels of points for points-to-miles exchange. Wyndham Rewards has a high rate of exchange at 10 points = 4 miles. The minimum transfer is 8,000 Wyndham Rewards points = 3,200 miles. This is $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Hotels.

Most programs take $1,000 in hotel spend to earn the minimum number of base points for a points-to-miles transfer.

Club Carlson is the minimum hotel spend leader for its ability of a base member (no elite status) to earn 2,000 points for the minimum points-to-miles transfer at 2,000 points = 250 miles after just $100 in hotel spend.

SPG Platinum members have no minimum exchange rate and even 1 Starpoint can be exchanged into 1 mile in several programs. This is useful for some promotion offers where partner activity earns a bonus and 1 Starpoint can be transferred into a frequent flyer program for that partner activity.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Table 2: Discussion

The numbers here do not factor additional points for online booking bonus (Club Carlson) or Welcome Amenity points earned per hotel stay in many of the programs.

Club Carlson is one of the top three highest standard points-to-miles exchange rates among the 9 leading hotel loyalty programs. Club Carlson has the second highest top tier elite bonus at 75% base points earning rate.

SPG Platinum-75 (sounds radioactive) earns 100% elite bonus points as of March 1, 2012 and moves up in ranking for this AAdvantage miles comparison.

SPG asterisk * in the $13,000 column for SPG Platinum/Gold elite is due to using $13,334 since this small $334 incremental hotel spend raises the points earned from 39,000 to 40,000 points and increases miles earned by 5,000 miles.

Hilton HHonors has so many earning variables that predicting how many AAdvantage miles you will earn after $5,000 in hotel spend is mind-boggling. But guaranteed Hilton is better than Marriott Rewards for earning AAdvantage miles. Marriott Rewards and American Airlines cut their ties in 2010 so you can’t earn any Advantage miles through Marriott hotel stays.

Choice Privileges and IHG Priority Club sit in the middle of the pack, but pale in comparison to the Club Carlson miles earner.

Hyatt Gold Passport and Best Western Rewards top-tier elites both suffer from the lowest elite bonus points percentage at just 30% when most programs are 50% and Club Carlson at 75% and SPG at 100% leap-frog ahead in points-earning ability.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Here is a comparison of major hotel loyalty programs for the fastest earning AAdvantage Miles from hotel stays for the high elite frequent guest using a hotel co-branded credit card to pay for hotel stays.

Non-hotel spend on the cobranded hotel credit card is not considered in this analysis. It is far easier to compare earning for non-hotel spend in isolation from hotel stays.

SPG jumps to the top for American Airlines AAdvantage miles when the credit card is added to the mix. Earning 2 points/$1 for Starwood Hotels spend is a 100% base points bonus and no other hotel program offers that high a proportion of base points as a credit card bonus for hotel spend.

Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass is close at 90% base points. Hyatt Visa is 60% base points. The other chains are 50% bonus for credit card spend at hotels.

Club Carlson is the only program without a co-branded credit card. Supposedly a credit card deal is in the works for 2012 and that will push Club Carlson higher in the ranking. Club Carlson still fares well against SPG considering the Club Carlson program does not even have a cobranded credit card to help its position in this race.

Concluding comments:

These tables tell me that American Airlines AAdvantage members seeking miles from hotel stays are in one of the best frequent flyer programs for maximizing miles earning.  Hilton HHonors looks impressive in this matchup, but lower points-to-miles transfer rates will lower its ranking for most other airlines. Marriott Rewards will take a top rank place for several other airline frequent flyer programs with its high points-to-miles exchange rates.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles can be earned at a high rate from hotel stays regardless of your market segment with Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Starwood Preferred Guest all offering high points-to-miles rates.

This series will continue with a look at Delta Airlines SkyMiles. This is a program where the rankings will change as Marriott Rewards shows its competitive edge and Hilton HHonors reveals its poor points-to-miles exchange rate for most frequent flier programs.

P.S. There is a load of data here. Hopefully no math errors. Please leave a comment if something doesn’t look correct.

Feel free to ask questions and carry on a discussion in the comments.

There are around 200 participating Choice brand hotels in these six metropolitan areas and the promotion fine print states hotels within 50 miles of the city center participate in the promotion:

• Dallas, TX
• Detroit, MI
• Las Vegas, NV
• New Orleans, LA
• Phoenix, AZ
• Salt Lake City, UT

Restaurant Gift Card is valid for:

• Red Lobster
• Olive Garden
• Longhorn Steakhouse
• Bahama Breeze
• The Capital Grille
• Seasons 52

You must return this rebate form to earn your gift card.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

The rebate form process is tedious and I don’t like promotions requiring mail-in rebates, but this $50 gift card offer is a great offer for someone already needing a 3-night hotel stay in one of these locations.

The restaurant gift card offer looks to be stackable with Choice Privileges main promotion for double points or points & miles for stays through February 29. You must register for the promotion to earn double points.

The restaurant gift card requires a 3-night stay and miles are per stay, so the higher value is likely to be earning double points.

This is a good deal for someone on a 3-night stay around one of these cities.

Assume $70 per night rate at a Comfort Inn on a 3-night stay.

$210 x 20 points/$1 (2x points promo) = 4,200 points + $50 restaurant gift certificate.

Choice Privileges has over 1,500 hotels where reward nights are 6,000 or 8,000 points. Choice Privileges points are valued at $8/1,000 points by NerdWallet.com based on the rate points are earned compared to redemption cost of Choice Hotels using Choice Privileges points in several cities. 4,200 points is about $32 rebate value.

$210 for 3 nights at a Comfort Inn earns a rebate around $82 or about 40% with 4,200 points and the $50 restaurant card.

This is a solid 3-star promotion offer from Choice Privileges in my calculations.

Loyalty Traveler researched the major hotel programs for points purchase rules. There are eight hotel loyalty programs allowing the purchase of hotel points and I will compare and contrast the features of six different programs with some tables. (Choice Privileges sells up to 20,000 points per year. Best Western Rewards allows members to buy points at $10 per 1,000 points. I left these two programs out of this analysis).

Hotel Programs selling hotel points

• Best Western Rewards
• Club Carlson
• Choice Privileges
• Hilton HHonors
• Hyatt Gold Passport
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards
• Marriott Rewards
• Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)

Accor A|Club and Wyndham Rewards do not sell hotel loyalty points to members through their websites.

There are limitations to buying points explained in this post and there are some disadvantages like reward stays do not count for promotions in most cases and reward stays do not qualify for elite status credit with most programs. Hilton, Choice and Starwood do count reward stays for calendar year elite qualifying stays and nights.

Background

Last week Club Carlson announced it launched the option for members to buy Club Carlson hotel points. Looking over the cost of hotel points in Club Carlson revealed a good purchase rate for consumers in my opinion. As I created a table for Club Carlson hotel reward categories I thought about the relationship between the cost of points and hotel categories across different programs.

There are several factors that come into play when evaluating the value of buying hotel points.

Hotel rates are dynamic. A hotel that may have room rates at $150 one night might charge $400 the next night. Rates fluctuate and change depending on day of week, holidays, conferences and many other factors. Hotel programs factor the cost of points and price points high enough that it is typically not cost efficient or even allowed by program rules to buy points for repeatedly redeeming hotel rewards stays using purchased points.

Hotel Reward Rates are mostly a fixed standard reward cost. Major hotel loyalty programs group hotels into categories for redemption purposes.

• Hyatt has six categories, from 5,000 points to 22,000 points per night.
• Hilton has seven categories and higher end Waldorf Astoria hotels from 7,500 to 80,000 points per night.
• SPG has seven categories and higher reward rate hotels in category 7 from 2,000 to 70,000+per night.
• Marriott has eight categories in Marriott brands and five tiers in Ritz-Carlton from 7,500 to 70,000 points per night.
• Club Carlson has six categories of rewards from 9,000 to 50,000 points per night.
• IHG Priority Club groups award level by hotel brand with some brands having tiered levels from 10,000 to 40,000 points per night.

Hilton HHonors Premium Room Rewards are a major move into dynamic reward price for hotel rewards. The cost for these new HHonors rewards are tied to the published room rate for the stay. Unfortunately the exchange rate for points-to-cash-savings is not that good for many HHonors Premium Rewards. Redemption value tends to be $3 to $6 per 1,000 points. The 30% rebate on Premium rewards booked by January 31, 2012 is a major promotion offer for better redemption rate for Premium Room rewards for Points & Money and Premium Room reward hotel stays.

Discount Hotel Rewards – Fewer Points

Most hotel loyalty programs offer some discount reward rates for selected hotels.

• Club Carlson Points + Cash
• Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards (Dec. 5 – I do not see any PS dates listed after Dec 2011)
• HHonors Points & Money and
• HHonors Premium Room Rewards for more points.
• HHonors VIP Rewards (15% to 25% discount)
• IHG Priority Club Rewards PointBreaks
• IHG Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights (Loyalty Traveler Dec 1 post)
• IHG Priority Club Points & Cash
• Marriott Rewards 5th night free
• Marriott Rewards PointSavers (reward cost is one category less and 5th night free applies to PointSavers too)
• Marriott Hotel+Air Travel Package
• SPG Cash & Points
• SPG 5th Night Free
• SPG Nights and Flights
• SPG 50% off rack rate (1,000 points = $35)

The fact that hotel published room rates are dynamic pricing and reward redemption rates are fixed pricing means there are nights with opportunities to get better value by redeeming hotel points than paying the published rate. Hotel room rates change rate nightly, yet the cost for a free night using points remains the same. You may be able to book the hotel for less money buying points and redeeming an award night at a hotel when hotel rates are high.

Cost to Buy Points for Reward Nights Tables

The tables below show the cost of buying points for a hotel night at the different category levels in each hotel loyalty program selling points (except Choice Privileges).

Loyalty Traveler’s Summary of Hotel Loyalty Program Rules to Buy, Receive and Transfer Points

Buy Points

Each program shows the Calendar Year Maximum Purchase Limit and Cost to Buy Points

Club Carlson = 40,000 points ($7 per 1,000 points).

Hilton HHonors = 40,000 points ($10 per 1,000 points) NOTE: member may buy unlimited points for immediate reward stay redemption at time of booking.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points ($24 per 1,000 points).

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points ($11.50 per 1,000 points).

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($12.50 per 1,000 points).

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($35 per 1,000 points. Current sale is 20% discount through Dec 31, 2011 $28 per 1,000 points).

Receive Points (gifted)

Club Carlson = 40,000 points (buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hilton HHonors = member may receive unlimited points transferred from any other member at rate of $25 per 10,000 points.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points, member may receive maximum 40,000 points as gift and buy 40,000 points for self.)

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points, member may receive maximum 50,000 points as gift and buy 50,000 points for self.)

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hyatt and IHG Priority Club are only two hotel programs allowing a member to buy maximum annual limit of points for own account and also receive maximum annual limit as a gift from another member.

Transfer Points

Club Carlson =  unlimited and free through Member Services.

Hilton HHonors = any member is allowed to transfer points to another member for a fee, $25 per 10,000 points, except any single member is allowed free transfers for additional points gifted and transferred after 200,000 points ($500 in fees) in a calendar year. Point transfers must be in 10,000 point blocks.

Hyatt Gold Passport = may transfer between any two members the minimum points needed for a reward
redemption. Two members must sign transfer request.

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points in a calendar year at $5.00 per 1,000 points.

Marriott Rewards = may transfer between two spouses/domestic partners the minimum points needed for a reward redemption, rounded to nearest 1,000 points.

Starwood Preferred Guest = free transfer between members with same residential address for at least 30 days. SVO Vacation members may transfer points between accounts regardless of address.

There is more variability in rules for the “point transfer between members” aspect of hotel programs. Club Carlson has liberal policy of free transfers between any two members. SPG has a less restrictive policy than most programs if you share the same address. Hyatt is a fair policy allowing any two members to transfer the minimum points needed for a reward stay. Marriott Rewards terms state transfers are limited to spouses/domestic partners and only the minimum level for a reward redemption. Priority Club has the most restrictive policy with a relatively high fee and an annual transfer limit any member may give or receive.

Hilton HHonors appears to have a restrictive policy in charging a $25 fee for transferring 10,000 points. The advantage to HHonors is the rule allowing a member to receive unlimited points and for a member to gift/transfer unlimited points. Basically a person with 1,000,000 HHonors points can transfer them all to someone else for $500. That would be a lucky recipient.

A more commonly useful strategy is crowdsourcing a network of friends to score a nice HHonors getaway. Set up a gift registry with HHonors for something like a college graduation present or wedding honeymoon and gifts of 10,000 HHonors points can be transferred for $25. Get a response from 20 to 50 HHonors members and that HHonors account can be filled with 200,000 to 500,000 points for $500 to $1,250 distributed among a large group of people. Your friends and family don’t have to think too hard about a gift and a week of free hotel rooms is a nice gift to receive.

This kind of opportunity is only matched by Club Carlson and they currently allow you to do it for free.

Part Two of this study into buying and transferring hotel points will look at real examples of how to apply these points purchase and transfer rules to hotel stay rewards.

Promotion Registration is required before your stay to earn bonus. This offer is limited to Choice Privileges members with U.S. and Canada addresses. You cannot change your earning preference during the promotion period once you register for Double Points or Miles + Points.

I favor 2x points personally and that is how I registered.

About Choice Privileges

Most Choice Hotels brands earn 10 points per US$1 including Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites and Ascend Collection. Extended stay brands MainStay Suites and Suburban earn 5 points per US$1. Budget hotel brands Rodeway Inn and Econolodge earn 5 points per US$1.

Double Points with the winter promotion earns either 10 or 20 points per $1, depending on hotel brand.

Choice Hotels has the second largest number of hotels globally of any hotel loyalty program with about 6,100 hotels. Only Wyndham Rewards has more hotels globally with over 7,000 properties.

One of the best values in Choice Privileges are hotel partner rewards with Preferred Hotel Group and Barcelo Resorts.

Airline Miles and Points

Choice Privileges has ten North America airline partners and most stays earn 250 miles per stay. This is half the miles earned for stays with Hyatt and Hilton, but your typical hotel will likely be at least half the rate of the upscale chain hotels. Southwest points are a good value at 600 points per stay. This is comparable to other hotel programs.

Amtrak Guest Rewards are also included in this promotion offer for Miles + Points.

Chocie Privileges North American Airline Partners

The international airline partner selection is modest.

Choice Privileges International Airline Partners as of 11-30-11.

Choice Privileges Airline Partners.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Double points looks like the best deal here. 20 points per $1 in hotel spend can pick up a significant number of bonus points. Reward nights start at 6,000 to 8,000 points and the website now has a list of these properties. Most hotels in my area of California are more like 16,000 to 20,000 points.

Choice Privileges periodically runs discounts on Preferred Hotel Group and Barcelo Resort awards. 20,000 points can be a free resort night for just $1,000 in hotel spend. Less money if you have elite status and earn points faster.

Choice Privileges Dec 1, 2011-Feb 29, 2012 Double Points or Miles + Points

Choice Hotels mobile apps Promotion link.

Choice Hotels brands:

• Comfort Inn®,
• Comfort Suites®,
• Quality®,
• Sleep Inn®,
• Clarion®,
• Cambria Suites®,
• MainStay Suites®,
• Suburban Extended Stay®,
• Econo Lodge®,
• Rodeway Inn®
• Ascend Collection®

Choice Hotels fall 2011 promotion is 4x points per stay offering 40 points per $1 at most brands or 20 points per $1 for Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Rodeway Inn and Econo Lodge through November 3. These bonuses may be combined.

Participating Cities for this promotion include over 100 hotels:

• San Francisco, California
• San Mateo, California
• Jacksonville, Florida
• St. Louis, Missouri
• Dallas, Texas
• San Antonio, Texas
• Madison, Wisconsin

The promotion requires submission of a rebate form pdf. The completed rebate form must be postmarked by October 31, 2011.

1. Book 3-night or longer hotel stay by Sep 14 and complete stay by October 15, 2011.

2. Submit promotion rebate form and hotel receipt by October 31.

3. $50 Walmart gift card will be shipped in about 4 to 6 weeks.

4. This promotion looks like it can be combined with Choice Privileges 4x points promotion from August 25 to November 3, 2011 for a good points rebate in addition to the Walmart card.

Basically this offer is a $50 rebate on a 3-night or longer stay. Since all Choice Hotels brands are eligible in these cities there is potential for receiving about a 33% rebate at a hotel with a $50 per night rate.

Suburban Extended Stay in Dallas shows a Best Available rate of $48 per night for Sep 23-26, 2011 and the AAA rate is even lower.

Choice Hotels Walmart promotion link.

Amtrak points will get you a train ticket starting at 1,000 points, but typically 5,500 points for a one zone coach ticket. A sleeper bedroom with toilet and shower and meals included for 20,000 Amtrak points can be a much better deal than earning air miles for that 25,000 mile plane ticket from your hotel stays.

Amtrak Guest Rewards Hotel Partners

• Choice Privileges = 250 Amtrak Guest Rewards points per stay.
• Hilton HHonors Points and Fixed Miles = 500 points per stay, except Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites earn 100 points per stay.  Home2Suites does not offer Points and Fixed Miles earning option.
• Hilton HHonors Points and Variable Miles = 1 point per $1 in hotel spend. Home2 Suites earn a maximum limit of 100 points per stay.
• Hyatt Gold Passport = 500 points per stay.
• La Quinta Inns & Suites = 250 points per stay.
• La Quinta Inns & Suites Promotion Special June 1-September 30, 2011 = 750 points/stay.
• Omni Hotels & Resorts = 500 points per stay. (Omni offered a promotion from March 21-Sep 5, 2011 for 5,000 bonus points after three stays.)
• Starwood Preferred Guest = Direct Deposit conversion of Starpoints to Amtrak Guest Rewards points on 1:1 basis is an option. Note that this is not a good option as SPG points have better value in my opinion. SPG members can convert Starpoints 1:1 to Amtrak points with transfers required to be in 5,000 point blocks, however, this option does not include a 25% bonus given with airline miles for 20,000 Starpoints transfer.
• Wyndham Rewards = 2 points per dollar at Ramada^®, Days Inn^®, Super 8^®, Wingate^® by Wyndham, Baymont Inns and Suites^®, Microtel Inns & Suites^®, Howard Johnson^®, Travelodge^® (US hotels only) and Knights Inn^®.  Stays at Wyndham Hotels earn 500 points per stay.

Best Western Rewards, Club Carlson, IHG Priority Club Rewards and Marriott Rewards do not have travel partner agreements with Amtrak Guest Rewards.

Related posts:

Amtrak Guest Rewards 50% bonus on purchased points Sep 1-30 (Loyalty Traveler Sep 2, 2011).

Amtrak Guest Rewards Fall Double Points Promotion September 7-November 23, 2011.

The cost of Amtrak points is reduced to $18.33 per 1,000 points.

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

Amtrak Guest Rewards is a program I have read about for years as a versatile tool in loyalty program points and miles exchanges, but I personally took my first Amtrak train trip June 2011 between Seattle and Vancouver, Canada. The round trip ticket was about US$40 and since I was staying four nights at the Sheraton Wall Centre in downtown Vancouver I saved over $100 in hotel parking fees by taking the train.

Reading the Amtrak Guest Rewards forum on FlyerTalk indicates frequent Amtrak travelers, particularly in the northeast U.S. find Amtrak Guest Rewards points often have a redemption value in the range of 5 to 10 cents a point. That is $50 to $100 per 1,000 points. Paying $275 for points that could be worth more than $750 in train travel.

Train travel offers a minimum 100 points per segment or 2 points per US$1 for Amtrak travel purchases.

Transferring Amtrak Guest Rewards points to Choice Privileges, Hilton HHonors  or Continental Airlines

Reviewing the Amtrak Guest Rewards website burn options for points shows the loyalty value for exchanges into Continental Airline miles, Choice Privileges and Hilton HHonors.

• 5,000 Amtrak points = 15,000 Choice Privileges points.
• 5,000 Amtrak points = 10,000 Hilton HHonors points.
• 5,000 Amtrak points = 5,000 Continental miles.
• 5,000 Continental miles = 5,000 Amtrak points.

Choice Privileges points can be a good value with a $275 purchase of 15,000 points exchanging into 45,000 Choice Privileges points. Four months ago I published a Choice Privileges hotel reward category breakdown of more than 5,000 Choice Hotels globally to show relative proportion in each reward category from 6,000 points to 75,000 points per night. Some Choice Hotels in the 8,000 points range provide a redemption value of $10 to $15 per 1,000 points. This places the value of 45,000 Choice Privileges points at $450 – $675.

Hilton HHonors points allows an Amtrak credit card member or elite member who purchases 15,000 Amtrak points to exchange to 30,000 HHonors points. Paying $275 for 15,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points with this 50% bonus points purchase promotion and exchanging into 30,000 HHonors points is a lower cost than buying 30,000 HHonors points directly from Hilton ($300). This is also a way to get more HHonors points in your account if you already reached the 40,000 points annual purchase limit with HHonors.

The Roadblock for Amtrak Transfers

The rules of Amtrak Guest Rewards limit the benefit of transfers from Amtrak points to other loyalty program points and miles to elite members designated Select and Select Plus members or Amtrak Guest Rewards World MasterCard members.

Chase Amtrak Guest Rewards World Mastercard (no annual card fee and 5% point rebate on Amtrak travel redemptions) allows cardmembers who spend at least $200 per year on Amtrak travel the benefit of Amtrak point transfers to Choice Privileges, Hilton HHonors and Continental Airlines. There is also the option of transferring 5,000 Continental miles to 5,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards points.

• Amtrak Mastercard members may transfer up to 25,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards out of the program annually.
• Select and Select Plus elite members may transfer up to 50,000 Amtrak Guest Rewards out of the program annually.

Amtrak Guest Rewards Select member benefits.

• Select elite status requires 5,000 earned Amtrak Guest Rewards base points in a calendar year for Amtrak travel where your membership number is used. This seems like it takes $2,500 in Amtrak travel to earn this status at 2 points per $1, but the 100 points per segment minimum earn rate means a $10 ticket can earn 100 points and 5,000 points can be earned for $500 to $1,000 in some locations with numerous segments of low fare ticket travel over the course of the year.
• Bonus points and promotion points do not count for elite qualification.
• Select member benefit is a fast-track option for HHonors Gold elite.
• Select members earn 25% bonus points.

Amtrak Guest Rewards Select Plus member benefits

• Select Plus members earn 50% bonus points.
• Access to Continental President’s Club.
• Unlimited access to all ClubAcela^®, Amtrak’s Metropolitan Lounge^®, and First class lounges for immediate family members traveling with you or one non-family guest.

Amtrak Guest Rewards follow-up posts to come:

• Earning Amtrak points for Hotel Stays (Sep 3, 2011).
• Amtrak Guest Rewards Fall Double Points Promotion September 7-November 23, 2011.