Marriott Rewards offers a PointSavers discount whereby the rate for a free night using points is reduced by one category level for participating hotels. UK hotels are heavily featured for 2009. The PointSavers participating hotels list is up-to-date.

The PointSavers advertisement is up to 33% savings. This is true if you book a Marriott Rewards category 3 hotel participating in PointSavers. The regular rate of 15,000 points per night for a free night at a Category 3 hotel will be reduced by 33% to 10,000 points per night. In effect you can redeem 3 nights at a Category 3 hotel for the normal price of 2 nights.

33% is the maximum savings using PointSavers.

The savings is reduced as you go higher in category level using PointSavers.

Here is a table to show the savings by hotel category level for Marriott Rewards PointSavers.

Marriott Rewards feature of “Redeem 4 nights and get the 5^th night free” is applicable for PointSaver redemptions.

Ritz-Carlton PointSavers

Ritz-Carlton Hotels are part of the Marriott Hotels chain. You can redeem your Marriott Rewards points for Ritz-Carlton hotel stays, however, you do not earn Marriott Rewards points for Ritz-Carlton stays.

A great feature of Marriott Rewards is the participation of Ritz-Carlton Hotels in PointSavers. In fact, the advantage of Ritz-Carlton PointSavers is the per night rate for multi-night stays still decreases for longer stays just as the old Marriott Rewards chart did for Marriott brand hotels.

A free night using Marriott Rewards points for a Tier 2 Ritz-Carlton Hotel for a 1-night stay will cost 70,000 points regularly. A 7-night hotel stay will cost just over 35,000 points per night. The per night cost using points decreases by almost 50%.

There are four main Marriott Hotels in San Francisco all at Category 6 or 30,000 points per night. The 5^th night free award saves 30,000 points. A Marriott Rewards guest will spend 180,000 points for 7 nights on a regular award at one of these San Francisco hotels. None of these hotels are currently participating in PointSavers for discount award nights.

PointSavers for 7-nights reduces the cost for a free night at a higher level Ritz-Carlton Hotel to just over 27,000 points per night for a hotel like the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco and Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, 35 miles south of San Francisco. A Marriott Rewards guest will spend 190,000 points for a 7-night PointSavers stay available through September 30, 2009. An additional 10,000 points will upgrade the guest from a Marriott or Renaissance to a Ritz-Carlton in the San Francisco area.

Ritz-Carlton PointSavers Table

Ritz-Carlton Hotel stays are a great value for Marriott Rewards points.

Here is the link to the Summer 2009 participating hotels through September 30, 2009.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/ritzCarltonPointSavers.mi#summer2009pointsaversrewards

Ritz-Carlton San Francisco

Hey Marriott! PointSavers webpage update is overdue.

Marriott Rewards has not updated the PointSavers FAQ page. The webpage describing PointSavers has been out-of-date for all of 2009 since the Marriott Rewards program changes in January 2009. The FAQ provides an incorrect example for the first question:

“What type of value does PointSavers provide?

The PointSavers value is exceptional. Members may receive up to a 33% savings on point redemptions depending on the hotel category and number of nights requested.

Locations participating in PointSavers are discounted by one category in Marriott Rewards point requirements.*

For example, members can stay in a Category 5 hotel while redeeming points for a Category 4 hotel. So, to stay at a Category 5 hotel for two nights at a standard redemption would require 46,000 Marriott Rewards points. The same stay with PointSavers would be 38,000 points or a 21% savings.”

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/marriottRewardsPointSaversFAQs.mi

Using the current Marriott Rewards free night redemption table the example should read:

“For example, members can stay in a Category 5 hotel while redeeming points for a Category 4 hotel. So, to stay at a Category 5 hotel for two nights at a standard redemption would require 50,000 Marriott Rewards points. The same stay with PointSavers would be 40,000 points or a 20% savings.”

Hotel News Now published a story on “10 hotel booking trends” from a presentation at the inaugural Hotel Data Conference by Brian Ferguson, Expedia VP of Lodging Demand and Analysis. Hotel News Now is the newsletter publication of Smith Travel Research, a leader in hotel rate data and research for the hotel industry.

The consumer trend of the past year has been a swing in hotel bookings made through online third-party hotel reservation sites like Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz. The viewpoint of Expedia, expressed by Ferguson, is the increased volume in bookings does not directly increase profits for third party online travel agencies due to the lower revenue generated as a portion of lower room rates across all hotel market segments.

What I want to share is the “10 Booking Trends” discussed by Expedia’s Lodging Demand and Analysis VP. I am just a hotel consumer who tries to figure out how to get great value from hotel rates. Reading what the industry experts have to say helps me focus my Loyalty Traveler work on a targeted audience who will benefit from my reporting on hotel rate trends as a frequent guest.

1.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Exchange rates are shifting travel patterns.

Hotel rates in UK have dropped primarily due to the better exchange rate for Americans. Combine the exchange rate with promotions and the UK is a bargain.

Loyalty Traveler: I totally agree, but the window appears to be closing on the exchange rate issue. Winter 2009 offered some of the best deals in years for UK and Europe due to the combination of a much better exchange rate for the US Dollar and hotel loyalty program promotions. The dollar has been losing ground as the stock market goes up. Anyone thinking Wall Street inflation?

2 nights for the price of 1 has been an ongoing deal for the past couple of years to entice travelers to the major chain hotels in Europe and Asia.

2.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Consumers are looking for a deal. Bookings made with promotions are increasing as a share of total hotel reservations.

Loyalty Traveler: I’ll take some credit for this one. I take the time to analyze hotel promotions for readers. Loyalty Traveler rarely books a room without a promotion offer. “Hotel value for the frequent guest” is the Loyalty Traveler motto. 10,000+ unique visitors a month are reading Loyalty Traveler to learn more about hotel loyalty program promotions.

3.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Promotions matter more than ever.

Loyalty Traveler: I get a chuckle out of all the news articles showing how to get better value from your spending in all segments of consumer purchases from groceries to hair cuts to travel.

I had an oil change yesterday for 25% off. The coupon took two minutes to locate on the internet. All the other people at Jiffy Lube paid full price.

Friends have commented I am a cheap ass when I pull out a 2-for-1 dining coupon. I rarely eat out for more than half-price.

I frequently stay in hotels for less than half-price. Promotions matter if you want more money for life’s other necessities and pleasures.

4.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Promotions are getting more creative. It used to be about cutting rates and now hotels add free nights and value-added incentives.

Loyalty Traveler: Promotions are more creative and take more time to analyze for this Loyalty Traveler. I’m looking for the deal whether it is a bargain rate now (free parking, free breakfast) or will result in a bargain hotel rate in the future (free hotel night).

5.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Customers who book online are trading up. Four and five star hotels are getting more affordable.

Loyalty Traveler: I have stayed in some of San Francisco’s finest hotels this year and only once paid over $125. And I received a $500 per night suite for that stay. 2009 is a leisure traveler’s hotel dream.

6.       Expedia VP Ferguson: There are massive swings in online market share.

Loyalty Traveler: No real comment to make here. I haven’t tried the phone call reservation this year. I’ve read articles on Hotel Chatter and Budget Travel about people getting a much better deal through the phone. I’ve been an online customer for 10 years and my experience has rarely been to find a better deal over the phone. I do recall my mother getting good phone rates when my mom and the hotel reservationist could not locate the online promotion I was telling her to book.

7.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Booking compression. People are waiting closer to stay date to book.

Loyalty Traveler: I reported in several posts that my rate analysis of San Francisco hotels revealed the lowest rates typically are found between 7 and 14 days before the stay date. Smart shoppers wait (or at least go with a rate allowing cancellation in case a better rate appears).

8.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Leisure rates went down first and are going down more.

Loyalty Traveler: My hotel rate focus is geared for the leisure traveler. I don’t stay in San Francisco on paid rates when a convention is in town and the hotels go up to $300+ per night. The same hotel room is around $100 per night, a 50% decrease from average leisure rates a year ago, during weeks when business travel is light. And getting an upgrade is much easier when there are not corporate executives buying up the suites.

9.       Expedia VP Ferguson: Increased use of rate fences in packages.

Loyalty Traveler: I am not a marketing person and I need to study this concept since I have been seeing it more frequently lately. Basically it seems the concept is to hide the room rate in a package of bundled services such as airfare, rental car, or hotel amenities like champagne and spa treatments.

I generally find these to be a poor value for a hotel when the components are broken down. Packages are convenient and there are some great deals if you need the car or the airfare. I think this is generally a better strategy for reducing high-cost airfare rather than getting a better value on a hotel room.

10.   Expedia VP Ferguson: Opaque channels are growing faster than non-opaque channels.

Loyalty Traveler: Opaque channels are hotel reservation sites like Priceline and Hotwire where you get a really low rate for an unspecified hotel. Opaque channels are the way to go when hotels are priced at high nightly rates. I opt for Priceline when the alternative is a $200+ night room.

My basic loyalty traveler argument is over the course of the year when traveling and staying 20 to 50 nights in hotels, the hotel loyalty program strategy can be used as effectively as Priceline to pay for rooms when they are relatively low priced and redeem points for high priced rooms.

I have saved a couple thousand dollars in past years using Priceline for trips when the chain hotels were high priced.

2009 has seen incredible promotions from hotel loyalty programs. My Starwood Hotels stays in May averaged less than $60 per room night at upscale hotels, frequently in suites, while allowing me to book $500 per night rooms with the free nights I earned.

Try doing that with Priceline.

St. Regis San Francisco "Priceline may be cheap, but this room was free"

Double Points or Miles continues in 2009 beginning September 15, 2009. Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotel stays start earning the double points or miles with the first hotel stay. Other IHG brands: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, HI Express begin earning double points or miles with the second hotel stay.

Priority Club Registration link

InterContinental Hotel stays regularly earn 2,000 points per stay. Double points earns 4,000 points per stay.

Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites regularly earn 5 points per US$1 and will earn 10 points per US$1.

Other IHG brands regularly earn 10 points per US$1 and will earn 20 points per US$1 for eligible stays during the promotion period.

Priority Club has nearly 50 airline partners for earning frequent flyer miles. There are different earning levels for different airlines. Hotel brand also impacts the miles earned.

Here is the link to the miles earning terms for USA Priority Club members.

Hilton HHonors Delta-Northwest EQM Promotion for two-night stays

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. 

Hilton has a free night offer for 166 hotels in 44 different countries running through the summer months for participating hotels in Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia/Pacific regions.

Hotels in North America, Caribbean, Central and South America are excluded from this offer.

Offer:  Valid 7 days a week from for stays from May 1 thru September 30, 2009.

Rates include breakfast.

1 free night on a 3-night stay or

2 free nights on a 5-night stay or

3 free nights on a 7-night stay.

Free nights are valid for actual booked stay and do not carry-over to another stay.

Link to Hilton Extra Nights Free offer.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

I’ve been searching Paris Hotel rates for someone planning a week in the city of lights. I checked this Hilton Hotels offer to see if the free nights is actually a discount rate. While the free nights rate was not available at all the Hilton Hotels in Paris for dates I checked, I am happy to report that where I did find the special offer rate I found the free nights rate to be a rate discount for Hilton Hotels in Paris.

The problem with many free night offers is the discounted nights are based on purchasing a rack rate or some rate substantially higher than rates otherwise available. About half the time I analyze free night offers I discover they are not the best deal available.

Case Study: Paris, France 7-night hotel stay for September 7-14

Hilton Paris La Defense is not participating in the Extra Free Nights rate.

Hilton Arc de Triomphe does provide a savings on the nightly room rate for dates I checked.                            

Based on the offer of 3 free nights with a 7 night stay a guest would expect to save about 3/7 or 43% on the hotel rate. Unfortunately, the standard practice for hotel free night offers is to base the free nights on higher rates than otherwise available. When calculating actual savings with a special offer the hotel guest should base savings on the otherwise lowest rate available for the hotel stay.

The Extra Nights free offer does provide a substantial discount, but the discount in this sample is far less than the 43% one might assume with a Pay 4 Nights, Get 3 Nights Free offer.

The savings are greater as one buys up to higher category rooms. This is a good offer to keep in mind when searching international hotel rates.

Loyalty Traveler Promotion Rating for Hilton Extra Nights Offer = 3 of 5 hotel keys.

PointBreaks are one of the best hotel loyalty program discount room offers available. For just 5,000 points per reward night an InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club member can book a free night.  And even if you don’t have points, the cost to buy 5,000 points is as low as $57.50 to purchase directly from Priority Club. Within 24 hours you can have up to 40,000 points to book a room.

The primary condition to keep in mind with PointBreaks is the list of hotels dwindles down as the available rooms at properties are reserved and hotels are removed from the list.

This new list of properties went online on Monday and already the InterContinental Vienna has been removed from the list. Not surprising since this hotel offered a $200 per night savings with the PointsBreak free night. This is the first week the updated PointBreaks hotels have been posted, so more than 160 hotels are still available for reservations.

PointBreaks Links:

United States Hotels (88 hotels)

Canada (12 hotels)

Mexico (all IHG hotels in Mexico are 50% discount on free nights using points thru December 1, 2009)

Central and South America (7 hotels)

Europe  (27 hotels)

Africa/Middle East  (11 hotels)

Asia (10 hotels)

Oceania (6 hotels)

Priority Club Points Purchase link: https://priorityclub.points.com/purchase/index.jsp

Mexico Reward Nights are 50% points thru December 1, 2009

This PointBreaks offer has one different feature from past offers. All award nights in Mexico are offered as 50% off award nights for all IHG member hotels rather than the regular 5,000 points per night PointsBreak offers.

Mexico Reward Nights Points Discount

Many of the hotels in Mexico will be more than 5,000 points, however, all hotels in Mexico are available for a 50% free night redemption with points through December 1, 2009.

Priority Club 50% Off Mexico Reward Nights

Some notable IHG member hotels still on the list today:

InterContinental Mauritius – Balaclava Fort

Oct.12-17 room rate is 144€/night = $203/night. This hotel is available for a 5-night stay at 25,000 points =$1,015 USD room rate value.

InterContinental Fiji

October 12-17, 2009 $158USD per night, 25,000 points = $790 value

InterContinental Wellington, New Zealand

October 12-17, 2009 248NZD = $160USD per night. 25,000 points = $800 value.

These are probably not even the highest value hotels. They are just samples of the bargains available at upper-upscale and resort hotels in the list of more than 160 PointBreaks hotel offers currently listed.  Mexico is an additional offer with its 50% discount on free nights using points at all IHG hotels.