A maximum 5,000 bonus British Airways miles may be earned from this promotion. 

Hilton HHonors now has three levels of miles earning among its hotel brands to complicate promotions. Here are the various earning rates for this British Airways promotion.

HHonors Fixed Miles:

• Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites earn 100 BA miles per stay + 250 bonus BA miles per stay.
• All other brands earn 500 BA miles per stay + 1,000 bonus BA miles per stay.
• Home2 Suites is not eligible for fixed miles. 

HHonors Variable Miles:

• All brands, except Home2 Suites earn 1 BA mile/$1 + 1,000 bonus BA miles per stay.
• Home2Suites earn 1 BA mile/$1 + 250 bonus BA miles per stay. Update April 28 – It appears Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites are only being credited with 250 bonus miles per stay. The original advice given in this post for earning 1,000 bonus BA miles on Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites stays appears to be incorrect.

Loyalty Traveler Advice: Choose Points & Variable Miles earning preference for stays at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. 

$80 hotel stay at Hampton Inn

• Fixed miles = 350 miles (250 bonus BA miles toward 5,000 miles maximum).
• Variable miles = 1,080 miles (1,000 bonus BA miles toward 5,000 miles maximum).

Related Post: Hilton HHonors 3,000 Virgin Atlantic miles per stay (March 29, 2011)

Another airline miles offer: Emirates Triple Miles per stay (April 1- June 30)

Readers: please add other airline partners in comments if you know links and I will add them to this post and the Loyalty traveler promotions page.

Just share your best frequent-flier success story — a true-life example of how you engineered a free ticket, upgrade, or other miles- or points-related victory against the odds. Tell us, in 200 words or less, what you got, how you got it, and the lesson that the rest of us can learn from it. The person with the best frequent-flier triumph and tip wins.

Post your comment on the Perrin Post by April 30 at 11:59pm Eastern time. Multiple entries are allowed.

The prize is 250,000 miles. You decide where you want to go and Steve Belkin will book mileage award tickets for you. The tickets must be booked by December 31, 2010 for travel before October 31, 2011.

Contest is open to legal residents 18 years and older of the USA and Canada, except Quebec. 

Official Comment posting site for this contest. (Only 90 comments so far) 

I have a few comments to write.

And it is magic when after 10 minutes waiting in the elite security line at the crowded airport, you barely get on your plane just before it taxies out of the gate. You reflect on the frazzled family who walked up to the elite check-in airport counter just in front of you, each parent cradling a crying toddler, with a hands-free wandering preschooler lagging behind dragging a backpack, a babystroller under Dad’s arm, two suitcases, two backpacks, and a purse.  You watched as you moved closer to the elite member check-in counter while the parents were steered away from the Star Alliance Gold members check-in line to the hopelessly long economy class general members’ line extending halfway down the terminal. They were supposed to depart on the same flight as you, but they hadn’t even arrived at the security zone as you passed through the detectors and rushed off to the gate. They are still waiting in some non-elite fliers’ line while you are comfortably seated in First Class as the plane heads toward the runway.

Elite level status has practical implications in the frequent flier world beyond upgrades and airport lounges.

I haven’t been on a plane in the past few months. I watched scenarios like I described here over a number of years when I traveled as a United Airlines Mileage Plus elite member. I flew over 100,000 miles a year for several years primarily as a means of flying comfortably and having the privilege to hang out at airport lounges during international flights.

Joe Sharkey has a piece posted this week on his blog, Joe Sharkey At Large, “Continental Airlines is the Latest Airline to Diss Lower-Level Elite-Status Customers”. His piece is about how Continental Airlines offers enhancements to the most frequent fliers in the 100,000 flight miles per year category and new super-tier called Presidential Platinum elite for the cream of the Platinum fliers.

Flying 100,000 miles is expensive for a leisure traveler. I held United 1K for a couple of years with less than $2,500 in spending on flights annually, but then there was another $1,500 or so for my wife’s flights. And then add another $4,000 to $5,000 for lodging, and then add daily expenses when traveling. 

$4,000 to $5,000 in airfare was one expense I had to cut back, about 30% of my annual travel budget, to have some money available to put into Loyalty Traveler business expenses. Loyalty Traveler was founded as a business for explaining the value of elite status with travel loyalty programs and ironically I had to give up elite status air travel to conserve resources for the business. I hope to get back to a much higher level of air travel in the next year or two.

Right now my focus is maintaining high elite status in a couple of hotel programs – Hyatt Gold Passport and Starwood Preferred Guest – for my hotel travel. I just suffer like the masses when I have to get on a plane.

Ed Perkins wrote a piece on SmarterTravel.com, “Dollars Trump Miles as a Measure of Airline Loyalty”. Ed had an issue with upgrading a United flight using miles. He could not get an advance confirmation of the upgrade.

My experience of traveling around the world as a United 1K was a blast when I could buy a $600 ticket from California to Singapore, upgrade my ticket to a business class seat with a systemwide certificate (SWU), hang out at the international lounge in SFO before the flight, and then pop into the United Red Carpet Club at Narita Airport Tokyo for a free shower and a couple of glasses from the automatic beer dispenser. My cheap economy ticket also allowed me to earn 40,000 to 50,000 redeemable miles and 18,000 to 36,000 elite qualifying miles depending on promotions.

The problem with all that lovely treatment as a United 1K is that travel with my wife Kelley wasn’t always as fun. I’m not talking about a need for Tiger Woods entertainment without the wifey. I am talking about the fact that my United Airlines Mileage Plus elite status regularly provided upgrades for me, domestic and international. However, Kelley’s low level elite status, and sometimes even as a Premier Executive, frequently did not allow her to clear the upgrade list. We often traveled separately on the same plane to Europe with me in her assigned economy class seat and her in my upgraded Business Class seat.

Mom & Dad’s Florida Vacation

My parents have learned the value of Starwood Preferred Guest elite status – especially since they do not have it. This morning I received a call from my mom vacationing in Florida. Their hotel travel tally so far is three Starwoods and a Hilton in Florida. I asked them to take pictures of the view from each bedroom window at their hotels.

Hotel websites are generally good about photos of the hotel entrance, the lobby, restaurants, and pool.

Hotel websites rarely show a prospective guest the view from the less desirable side of the hotel. I am struck by the number of times I stay at a hotel and receive the preferred view and think this was a good deal. And I consider all those people I see coming out of their room located on the other side of the hallway and I wonder, “Do you feel like you’ve been cheated with this hotel stay?”

So my mom tells me they had a nice size room at a Sheraton in Fort Lauderdale, but faced the parking lot for the multi-night stay. Then, it was the Sheraton in Key West at a resort property on the beach, but their room was not facing the beach side of the hotel. Then, her description of the room in Coral Gables was “nicely furnished, but the room was miniscule.” She said the rooms are nothing like I get when I stay at Starwood Hotels.

“Elite Status” is my Two Word Response

Earning elite status with a hotel chain is really a much easier affair than airline frequent flier programs. Playing the 100,000 mile game with airlines is a matter of either several long-haul international trips or a whole lot of domestic flying. Hotel loyalty high-level elite-status is something many travelers can earn without even leaving town. You will appreciate your effort when you take that $3,000 beach resort vacation and spend the week looking at the beach from your hotel room window and balcony.

Here is the view from my room when I stayed at the Westin Mission Hills near Palm Springs, California.

Westin Mission Hills - Room with a View

I received an upgrade on my Cash & Points stay to a golf course view preferred room. A general member of SPG on the same rate would be more likely to have received a room with this type of view across the parking lot.

Westin Mission Hills Resort – the other side of the hotel

Stays Count Double through January 31, 2010 with Hyatt Gold Passport

(The Next Big Thing registration required)

Hyatt Gold Passport is offering double stay credit for elite status through January 31, 2010. Elite status is based on paid stays completed in a calendar year. This means you can earn Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum level elite membership with just 3 stays in January or Diamond elite with 13 stays. The elite status you earn with Hyatt Gold Passport in January 2010 during stays count double will remain valid for over two years through February 2012.

Between fast-track elite status and Costco Hyatt Check Certificates at a 20% discount, the cost to earn high elite Diamond status with Hyatt can readily be accomplished for under $1,000 in many places while earning free nights for a fantastic February or March 2010 resort vacation. Check out your local Hyatt Place hotel rates. You can even go upscale Hyatt at a bargain with low January rates in many locations. The Hyatt Regency San Francisco was over $250 per night for most of summer 2009 and is less than half that rate for most weekends in January 2010. San Diego hotels are an incredible bargain right now.

Starwood Preferred Guest instant SPG Gold elite for New Members

Starwood Preferred Guest has offered a “stays count double” promotion every year for the past several years. Take advantage of the offer if it comes around next year and you can set yourself up with high-level elite-status.

Seriously, when you are spending a couple of thousand dollars for a vacation, a little bit of annual hotel planning can put you in that beach resort hotel on the beach side of the hotel rather than the resort view of the parking lot.

If you are new to Starwood Preferred Guest and you would like to receive instant SPG Gold elite membership, valid through February 2011, then just send me an email ricgarridolt@gmail.com. With my SPG Platinum member referral, you can be registered for 1,000 bonus points per night ($35 value) at Starwood Hotels through March 31, 2010 and you will receive an instant upgrade to SPG Gold Elite membership. And I get 1,000 points if you actually stay in a Starwood Hotel by March 31. A win-win-win deal for you, me, and Starwood.

Hotel Loyalty Program Links:

Hyatt Gold Passport “The Next Big Thing” Promotion

Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum elite benefits (lower-tier elite)

Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite benefits (higher-tier)

Starwood Preferred Guest Gold elite benefits

Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum elite benefits

Loyalty Traveler posts:

Passports with Purpose Win 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points

Earn 2,500 airline miles with every two nights at Hyatt brand hotels (Oct. 5, 2009)

Hyatt Faster Free Nights + Stays Count Double promotion analysis Oct.1 – Jan 31, 2010 (Sep 19, 2009)

Hyatt Gold Passport Enhancements – And they really are enhancements (April 2, 2009)

When grandma wants to see her grandkids for the summer vacation, a handful of airline tickets may have more benefit than a week in a luxury hotel room. Travelers have different needs.

Hotel points to miles exchanges allow a hotel loyalty program member to convert hotel points into frequent flier miles.  Major hotel loyalty programs including Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards, Marriott Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest offer this option for points-to-miles conversion. In general, you can only transfer hotel points to a frequent flyer account where both accounts are in your same name. You cannot move your points into another person’s frequent flyer account.

Marriott Rewards offers the best exchange ratio for points-to-miles conversion across a broad spectrum of airlines when compared to other hotel loyalty programs, particularly with its Hotel + Air packages where the hotel points-to-miles ratio is an even 1:1 conversion.  Hyatt Gold Passport shows the next best overall points-to-miles exchange program.

Exchange rates differ between hotel loyalty programs for points-to-miles exchanges, although, as seen in the tables there is a cluster of similar exchange rates for Hyatt, IHG, and Starwood. The conversion rates for Hyatt and Starwood remain remarkably close, even up to both programs offering 25% bonus miles when converting large blocks of points-to-miles.

Hotel-points-to-airline-miles is one-way exchange route.

Hotel-points-to-airline-miles is a one-way exchange route. Conversions are not allowed in the reverse direction from airline-miles-to-hotel-points.

Hilton HHonors has the competitive edge of the five hotel loyalty programs compared in these tables in being the only hotel loyalty program to offer a conversion of airline-miles-to-hotel-points with a relatively good rate of exchange for several airline partners; American Airlines being the most prominent transfer partner among the major US airlines.

The international airline tables I have put together for hotel-points-to-airline-miles conversion shows a higher degree of variability than the domestic airlines. Some prominent international airlines do not partner with one or more of the hotel programs. Several international airlines available for points-to-miles conversion with one of more of the major hotel loyalty programs have not been included in the tables for this post.

I have included an explanation regarding Hilton HHonors at the end of this post to address the Points & Miles feature of the HHonors program. The tables below show HHonors at or near the bottom for the poorest exchange ratio in points-to-miles transfers with nearly every airline. Hilton HHonors members have the ability to earn miles through hotel stays in addition to points in real hotel travel, but the strict conversion of points-to-miles is not a favorable rate when compared to the other major hotel loyalty programs.

My Loyalty Traveler advice for Hilton HHonors members is earn your miles from hotel stays and save your HHonors points for better value opportunities.

Hotel Loyalty Program Points-to-Miles Links

Hyatt Gold Passport – Airline Partners. Lufthansa is a Hyatt airline partner for earning miles, however, the Terms & Conditions for Hyatt Gold Passport Points-to-Miles Terms and Conditions specifically excludes Lufthansa and airline partners in Miles & More from points-to-miles participation.

Hilton HHonors – Points for Miles

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club – Points to Miles

Marriott Rewards – Air Mileage Rewards

Starwood Preferred Guest – Transfer Starpoints to Miles

The Loyalty Traveler tables shown are informational only and before conducting a transfer between programs you should contact the programs directly for the most up-to-date guidelines and restrictions, as information is subject to change at any time. 

A great resource for checking conversion rates between more than 70 hotel, airline, credit card and other loyalty programs is through Randy Petersen’s WebFlyer Mileage Converter. I haven’t checked all my tables through the Mileage Converter, but the dozen or so I checked matched up. That is good news for both of us since the results were independently derived. The tables I have made are good for comparative data across hotel chains. The Mileage Converter is better for accurate conversions between any two loyalty programs and also provides the user with several options for points and miles exchange conversion routes.

Domestic Airline Conversion tables are in Part 1 for Alaska, American, Continental, Delta/Northwest Skymiles, Southwest, United Airlines, and US Airways.

International Airlines Hotel-Points-to-Frequent-Flier-Miles Conversion Tables

• Aeromexico

• Air Canada Aeroplan

• Air France/KLM Flying Blue

• Air New Zealand Airpoints

• ANA – All Nippon Airways Mileage Club

• British Airways Executive Club

• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

• Emirates Skywards

• LAN Airlines LanPass

• Miles & More (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, LOT Polish)

• Qantas Airways

• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

• South Africa Airways Voyager

• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotel Loyalty Program Conversion Points-to-Miles with Aeromexico

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors

Air Canada Aeroplan

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with Air Canada Aeroplan

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors

Air France/KLM Flying Blue

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors

Air New Zealand Airpoints

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion for Air New Zealand

1. Starwood Preferred Guest

2. IHG Priority Club

3. Hilton HHonors

4. Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriott Rewards are not Air New Zealand points-to-miles airline partners

ANA – Al Nippon Airways Mileage Club

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with All Nippon Airways-ANA Mileage Club

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors

British Airways Executive Club

Hotle loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with British Airways

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors

Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with Cathay Pacific Asia Miles

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors

Emirates Skywards

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with Emirates Skywards

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport; Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors (Emirates is not an HHonors airline partner)

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with LAN LanPass

1. Starwood Preferred Guest
2. Hyatt Gold passport
3. Marriott Rewards
4. Hilton HHonors
5. IHG Priority Club

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion table for Miles & More (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, and LOT Polish)

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Starwood Preferred Guest
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Hilton HHonors
5. Hyatt Gold Passport (Miles & More is  hotel stay earning partner, but does not participate in points-to-miles)

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with Qantas

1. Hyatt Gold Passport
2. Marriott Rewards
3. Hilton HHonors
4. IHG Priority Club and Starwood Preferred Guest are not partners with Qantas.

Hotel loyalty prgrams points-to-miles conversion with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport
3. IHG Priority Club
4. Starwood Preferred Guest
5. Hilton HHonors

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with South African Airways

1. Hyatt Gold Passport
2. IHG Priority Club
3. Hilton HHonors
4. Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest do not partner with South African Airways

Hotel loyalty program points-to-miles conversion with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

1. Marriott Rewards
2. Hyatt Gold Passport
3. Starwood Preferred Guest
4. Hilton HHonors
5. IHG Priority Club does not partner with Virgin Atlantic

The Hilton Conversion Issue in the Loyalty Traveler tables for HHonors members.

Hilton HHonors is problematic in these tables due to the different earning mechanism with HHonors hotel stays. Hilton HHonors has “Double Dip”, their registered term for the member option to earn both hotel points and miles during a single hotel stay.

Hyatt Gold Passport, IHG Priority Club, Marriott Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) all allow a member to earn miles with hotel stays, however, the member earns airline miles or hotel points. As a general rule a member in programs besides Hilton HHonors cannot earn both miles and points from a hotel stay. Both Hyatt Gold Passport (promotion still ongoing through Jan 31) and Starwood Preferred Guest (ended July 31) had promotional exceptions in 2009 where members earned both airline miles and points, but Hilton HHonors is the only chain offering both miles and points as a standard earning option.

Hilton HHonors ranks at the bottom in nearly all the hotel-points-to-airline-miles conversion tables.  The tables are designed to be an objective look at conversion rates. Hilton HHonors may be a good hotel loyalty program members wanting to earn miles with hotel stays, but has a poor hotel-points-to-airline-miles conversion program for its members.

In real travel a Hilton HHonors member has the ability to earn thousands of airline miles while also earning HHonors points.

1.       The tables do not reflect the added earning potential for a Hilton HHonors member earning 500 miles per hotel stay or 1 mile per $1 in hotel spending.

2.       The hotel point levels used in the tables show Hilton, IHG, and Marriott at 10,000 points while Hyatt is 5,000 points and Starwood 2,000 points as the basis for equivalent quantities of points used for miles conversion comparisons. I could have increased Hilton HHonors by 50% to 15,000 which accounts for Points and Points earning preference with HHonors. Rather than playing with the variables I opted to present Hilton HHonors in a strictly objective conversion table without factoring in the potential for added miles from hotel stays.

3.       For example: Hilton HHonors points-to-miles conversion for 130,000 points with Air France = 13,000 miles. This is less than 50% of the miles for any of the other four hotel loyalty programs.

But consider if the Hilton member spent $13,000 to earn 130,000 points during 40 hotel stays in 2009. This HHonors member with 40 stays and an earning preference of Points & Fixed Miles could have earned 500 Flying Blue miles per stay. The member could have earned 20,000 Flying Blue miles from hotel stays, In addition to 13,000 miles from points.

33,000 miles places Hilton HHonors right back in the pack when it comes to miles earned.

4.       For example: The Hilton HHonors member could have sprung for a four week honeymoon divided between two Hilton resorts and spent $13,000. Earning Points & Fixed miles would only earn 1,000 miles from two Hilton stays. The member with an earning preference of Points & Variable Miles (1 mile per $1) would earn 13,000 miles.

5.       For example: HHonors member could have chosen Points & Points and earned 195,000 points and no miles. (I’m ignoring elite points as these are just more variables to complicate the issue.)

Unfortunately, all this is conjecture and highly variable, dependent on the member’s hotel stay pattern and earning preference.  Therefore, the tables do not necessarily reflect the earning potential of miles with the Hilton HHonors program for a frequent guest of Hilton.

The tables do accurately show the conversion rates for HHonors points-to-miles conversions on a scale aligned with the four other hotel loyalty programs.

www.spg.com/starpointpurchase

Some reasons why you might consider purchasing Starpoints are if you need additional points for:

Cash & Points night,

5^th night free award,  

Nights and Flights award  which includes 50,000 airline miles and 5 nights at a Category 3 hotel (60,000 points) or 5 nights at a Category 4 hotel (70,000 points). This is basically a way to get a 5-night Category 3 hotel stay for 20,000 points or Category 4 hotel stay for just 30,000 points in combination with the 40,000 starpoints exchanged into 50,000 airline miles.  

Starpoints exchange 1-to-1 with most SPG airline partners. Members receive a 5,000 points transfer bonus when exchanging a 20,000 mile block of Starpoints to a frequent flyer program.

20,000 Starpoints can be exchanged into 25,000 airline miles with about 20 frequent flyer programs.

Continental, United, and Singapore have a poor exchange rate at 20,000 Starpoints = 12,500 miles.

Buying 25,000 miles for $560 is probably not a good deal for economy class domestic travel, but this is likely a lower cost route to miles than a purchase through most airline programs if you plan to top off a frequent flyer account and redeem miles for a premium award airline ticket or upgrade to business or first class.

SPG members with accounts registered at the same address can transfer Starpoints between accounts to combine points for awards. This is one way around the 20,000 points calendar year limit if you have multiple SPG accounts in one household.

Last week I posted tables for excellent SPG hotel award value. The tables were based on the purchase price of $35 per 1,000 points needed for Cash & Points awards, free night awards, and 5^th night free awards. These awards are even a better bargain at lower room rates than shown in the tables with the 20% discount SPG points purchase option for the member needing more Starpoints to buy a great hotel stay value.

Offer: Earn one Delta or Northwest elite qualifying mile (EQM) and one bonus mile for every fixed or variable mile earned with minimum 2-night stay July 15 thru October 15, 2009 at Hilton brand hotels worldwide.

Registration is required. There are different registration links depending on whether you choose Delta or Northwest miles.

Promotion link: https://www.hiltonhhonors.com/processLanding2.aspx?lp=deltanorthwest&cid=OM,HN,deltanorthwest,Q309

Got it? So what does this actually mean for the miles collector? Loyalty traveler will take a stab at interpreting the terms of the promotion.

HHonors has three Double-Dipping earning preferences a member can choose:

a.       Points & Points, (must change your earning preference to points & miles for this promotion)

b.      Points & Fixed Miles, (Earn 500 EQM = 500 bonus miles per hotel stay, but only 100 EQM and 100 Bonus miles for eligible stays at Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites)

c.       Points & Variable Miles (Earn 1 EQM + 1 bonus mile for every US$1 spent on eligible hotel stays regardless of hotel brand. This option limits EQM earning to a maximum 5,000 EQMs).

The rules cap the variable miles earning to 5,000 EQM. I guess this is to keep someone from earning Delta super elite status on one $100,000 hotel stay. I would think Delta wants an elite member who can spend $100,000 on hotel stays.

Loyalty traveler promotion rating = 3 hotel keys out of 5.

Loyalty traveler analysis:

Stays at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites will earn more by switching earning preference to points and variable miles since fixed miles are capped at 100 EQM. You are likely to spend more than $100 for a two-night stay in these brands so earning 1 EQM per $1 will be better than the 100 EQM with points and fixed miles.

Fixed miles will be a better value with stays at other Hilton brands unless you plan to spend more than $500 for your hotel stay. 500 EQM and 500 bonus miles is a good bonus. A two-night stay will earn 500EQM and 1,000 redeemable frequent flyer miles. 2009 has been the year of hotel frequent flyer giveaways. Those airlines just keep churning miles out and Hilton HHonors is the premier mileage earning hotel program.

An expensive hotel stay like a week at the Hilton Waikoloa Village will earn more miles using Variable Miles earning preference since you will likely spend well over $500 for a multi-night hotel stay in Hawaii. A $1,500 eligible hotel stay with variable miles earning will earn 1,500 EQM with Delta or Northwest and 3,000 redeemable frequent flyer miles compared to only 500 EQM and 1,000 redeemable miles if you have your HHonors earning preference set to Fixed Miles.

Earning Preference Guidelines:

1.       Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites hotel stays – choose Variable Miles and Points

2.       Other Hilton brands when stay is less than $500 – choose Fixed miles and Points

3.       Any stay where spending is greater than $500 – choose Variable miles and Points

You can change your earning preference to maximize your miles for different types of stays.

Hilton Hotel brands include Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Conrad Hotels, and Waldorf-Astoria Collection. 

Hyatt Hotel brands: Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Place, Summerfield Suites, Andaz

Participating Airlines: Most airlines normally earn 500 miles per Hyatt stay, except Virgin Atlantic earns 750 miles per stay and Southwest earns 0.5 credits per stay. This promotion is 6x miles, so 3,000 miles for all these participating airlines, except 4,500 miles with Virgin Atlantic and 3 credits with Southwest Airlines for a minimum two-night stay.

·         Air Canada

·         Alaska

·         American

·         Amtrak

·         Continental

·         Delta

·         Midwest

·         Northwest

·         Southwest

·         Turkish

·         United

·         US Airways

·         Virgin Atlantic (750 miles x 6)

Registration Links:

Air Canada

http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=AC6X

Alaska

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=AL6X

American

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=AA6X

Amtrak 

http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=2V6X

Continental

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=CO6X

Delta

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=DL6X

Midwest

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=MW6X

Northwest

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=NW6X

Southwest

http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=WN6X

Turkish  

http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=TK307

United

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=UA6X

US Airways

http://goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer4.jsp?me02_mbr_src=US6X

Virgin Atlantic (750 miles x 6)

http://www.goldpassport.com/gp/en/aa/offer1.jsp?me02_mbr_src=VS334

Terms for the American Airlines offer page: (All other airlines show similar terms specific to airline)

EARN SIX TIMES THE MILES WITH HYATT

You must be a Hyatt Gold Passport™ member and register for promotion to participate. To register or enroll in Hyatt Gold Passport visit url goldpassport.com/american. Receive 2,500 American Airlines® AAdvantage® bonus miles on eligible stays between May 1, 2009 and August 31, 2009 at any Hyatt Hotel & Resort™, Hyatt Place™, Hyatt Summerfield Suites™ or Andaz™ worldwide. Stays at AmeriSuites™ are not eligible toward this promotion. You must stay a minimum of two nights, provide your Hyatt Gold Passport and American Airlines AAdvantage account number at time of check-in, choose miles for your stay and pay an Eligible rate. Hyatt Gold Passport will track all stays in which Hyatt Gold Passport and American AAdvantage account numbers are provided.

“Eligible Rate” is any hotel published room rate, including, but not limited to rates found on hyatt.com, hyattplace.com, hyattsummerfiedsuites.com, prevailing rack rate, BAR, volume, AAA and senior citizen rates, etc. “Ineligible Rates” are discounted rates, including, but not limited to, any free night stays, Internet wholesale rates (such as priceline.com, hotels.com, etc.), traditional wholesale rates (such as GOGO Worldwide Vacations, Pleasant Holidays, etc.), airline crew rates, airline employee rates, travel agency employee rates, Club at the Hyatt discount certificate stays, Hyatt Vacation Club stays, Hyatt employee or employee family discount rates, airline interrupted-trip vouchers or contracted rooms (a contract room is a room that has been reserved pursuant to a written and executed agreement between a hotel and a corporation, government agency or individual for a negotiated room rate in exchange for an agreed upon number of rooms to be rented for an extended period of time).

A qualifying stay means one or more consecutive nights at any participating hotel or resort when paying an eligible rate, whether or not the guest checks out and back in during such period; award stays do not qualify. Only one bonus will be given per member, per stay, regardless of the number of rooms.

All hotel reservations are subject to availability and must be made in advance. Allow 6 to 8 weeks for bonus miles to be posted to your account. Miles are subject to the terms and conditions of the American Airlines® AAdvantage™ frequent flyer program. This promotion is subject to the complete terms and conditions of the Hyatt Gold Passport program. For complete terms and conditions of the Hyatt Gold Passport program, please visit www.goldpassport.com. Hyatt reserves the right to alter or withdraw this program at any time without notice. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts® encompasses hotels managed, franchised or leased by subsidiaries and affiliates of Global Hyatt Corporation. The trademarks Hyatt™, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts™, Park Hyatt™, Andaz™, Grand Hyatt™, Hyatt Regency™, Hyatt Place™, Hyatt Summerfield Suites™, Hyatt Gold Passport™, and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation. © 2009 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved.

Joe Brancatelli has a great read from the Washington Post on the long term outlook for air travel.  He predicts the economics of premium cabin extreme makeovers these past few years will result in higher economy class fares for the leisure traveler coming soon as the profitable premium-class flyers dwindle.

When it comes to hotels the Early Bird gets Hosed

Sarah Nassauer had a piece in the Wall Street Journal March 31, “Travelers find it pays to wait for late deals”.  The article cites data from Travelocity’s senior editor, Genevieve Shaw Brown, indicating hotel guests received average room rates 20% lower within 30 days of travel compared to reservations made more than 60 days before travel.

My observations for San Francisco over the past year show the lowest rates typically occur between 7 and 14 days prior to travel for upscale San Francisco hotels.

Cool Hotel Websites

Adam Kirby, associate editor of Hotelsmag.com, had a visually stimulating piece “Web Designers Name Favorite Hotel Sites”.  I liked seeing what designers like in a web site.

I really do intend to put LoyaltyTraveler.com back online this year and I was looking for ideas.  The capital Catch-22 for a small business is you need money to make money. I’ve been in short supply.

Europe Hotel Rates Decline but Brits are Still Too Broke

The Telegraph, a British paper had an April 6 article by Charles Starmer-Smith “European Hotels Cut Rates” showing the steep decline in European hotel rates of 10% to 25% since November 2008. The impact of the Sterling’s value dropping 20% against the Euro during the same period means hotel rooms are still more expensive for Brits traveling to the continent.

Hawaii Hotel Rates Near Record Decline

USA Today published a piece by Jaymes Song, AP writer, “Hawaii Hotels have worst February in 18 Years”.  Hawaii had its worst hotel room occupancy for February in 18 years since Gulf War # 1. Apparently February is normally the busiest month of the year in Hawaii. Occupancy varies across the islands with Oahu doing the best at 78% and the Big Island Hawaii down to 64%.  Rates were down across the board, but after several years of huge annual increases the hotel rates are still no bargain. The average daily rate is still $187 per night after a 12% decline over the past year. 

Hotels are crying about revenue, but at Hawaii RevPar $140 in this downturn compared to $74 in late 2001, I say that still looks like some impressive growth – something like 10% per year average since 2001. I am not a hotel economist so perhaps the data is worse than it appears to me.

Does Priceline help the local economy?

Tom Belden had a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Winging It: Bad business climate means good hotel rates”. This article cites PKF Hospitality Research saying the decline in hotel profits, about 30% in 2009, will be the greatest one year decline since the 1930s. Interesting that the article mentions hotel stays as a frugal and civic minded way to help your local community. In the end the writer books a $65 Priceline stay at the Sheraton City Center. 

As Loyalty Traveler I advocate local hotel stays as a frugal and civic minded staycation strategy to reach elite status that pays off on the real out-of-town vacations.  But I advocate booking through the hotel’s website.  

Does Priceline help the local economy? I guess so, since the hotel guest will likely spend money at businesses in the vicinity of the hotel.  A direct booking with the hotel probably helps more.

Tim Winship  - Commandeering  the campaign for more frequent flier awards, temporarily at least

“Survey finds no improvement in frequent flyer awards” – Tim Winship

548 people have spoken to Smarter Travel and Frequentflier.com. Award tickets to Europe are easier to get these days. 

Apparently the frequent flier programs are lining up the miles for paying customers with all the ongoing double and triple elite miles offers. When it comes time to spend your miles earned from all those flights that made you an Executive-1KChairman-Platinum elite flyer, the airlines are still being stingy.

Tim thinks the airline’s are missing a great opportunity for customer relations by holding back award seat inventory in this economic climate.

Kimpton Hotels Had a Birthday and I missed it

Last week was a bad time to miss out on emails. I missed the Kimpton Hotels $81 sale .  The basic deal was $81 per night for a two-night stay at nearly any Kimpton. Reservations were accepted from Thursday April 2 to Sunday, April 6, 3pm Pacific time. By Saturday, April 4, two days into the sale there were few properties left.  There were still some rooms at three or four San Francisco Kimptons when I finally saw the Kimpton sale.  

Hilton HHonors announced their HHonors second quarter promotion for 1,000 points per night.

www.hiltonhhonors.com/1000bonuspoints The offer runs from April 13 to June 30 and registration is required.

On a Personal Note:

The past two weeks I have seen project deadlines, relative visitors, and the flu – first for K and then for me.

We did work in a stay at the Hyatt Highlands Inn in Carmel and had another wonderful visit in our wannabe home away from home where the mountains meet the sea. The irony was our stay in the Carmel Highlands was the only day with fog for the entire week. 

K started chemotherapy this week for her rectal cancer and I feel like I acquired “chemo brain”.  

Really – it is a published side effect of mental fog for cancer patients (and based on my experience chemo brain is contagious like the flu). Perhaps this week, now that the fog has temporarily lifted, I will get back to writing on hotel loyalty program developments.

Sunset view from Highlands Drive (above Hyatt Highlands Inn), Carmel, California

One of the often touted features of Hilton HHonors is the ability to earn both hotel points and airline miles for your hotel stays.  All other major hotel loyalty programs give either points or miles.  And choosing miles is generally a lower value proposition as a hotel loyalty program reward.

Hilton HHonors and Delta Airlines turn that notion around.  Hilton hotel brand stays will earn six times the Delta Airline Skymiles normally awarded for hotel stays through February 2009. Stays must be 2 nights or more to earn the 6x Delta miles bonus.

Register for this promotion here at HiltonHHonors.com/sixtimesthemiles

Not all Hilton brand properties are participating.  Check the Six Times the Miles participating hotels list.

Hilton HHonors My Way Double Dip Earning Style

Hilton HHonors members can select from three HHonors earning preferences for hotel stays:

1.    Points & Points

2.    Points and Fixed Miles*

3.    Points and Variable Miles*

*HHonors member must designate a preferred airline frequent flyer program among the HHonors partner airlines for mileage deposits.

HHonors Points and Points earners receive 15 HHonors points per $1US in hotel spending.  (Earn 10 points per dollar regular earning and an additional 5 points per dollar bonus.)  

HHonors members with a Points and Points preference will not qualify for the Delta promotion.  You can change your HHonors profile online to select one of the two Points & Miles Double Dip earning options to earn the Delta miles bonus.

HHonors Points and Fixed Miles (57 fixed miles partners)

Fixed Miles Earned Per Hotel Stay, normally = 500 miles awarded per hotel stay, except for Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites earn only 100 miles per hotel stay.

Delta 6x Bonus Miles Promotion = 3,000 miles per Hilton brand hotel stay, except Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites earn only 600 miles per hotel stay.

Don’t waste this promotion on Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites stays for only 600 miles. 

3,000 miles is quite an incentive to pay a little more to stay in another Hilton brand like Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Conrad, or Hilton.  The miles can have $50 in future value on tickets using miles, however, the recent adoption of a three tier redemption rate for Delta Airline tickets using miles may prove to give Delta miles a lower than 2 cents/mile future value in many cases.

HHonors Points and Variable Miles (43 variable miles partners)

Delta 6x Bonus Miles Promotion = 6 miles earned per $1US in hotel spending.

Variable Miles Earned per Hotel Stay, normally = 1 mile earned per $1US in hotel spending.

For a Homewood Suites or Hampton Inn hotel stay with a total projected spending in excess of $100 you will earn more with a Variable Miles preference rather than Fixed Miles, (remember taxes and fees do not count for base hotel spending).  For all other brands you would need to spend more than $500 for your hotel stay to earn more with the Variable Miles earning option.

You have the option of changing your miles earning preference between hotel stays.

Hilton HHonors Check-In Desk, Hilton Singapore (2006)