Let’s face it. Hilton and Marriott dominate the American landscape for business travelers due to the number of hotels around the country at a variety of market segments from upper midscale to luxury hotels. Each chain is poised to break the 4,000 hotels worldwide benchmark in the next couple of years.

HHonors members can double dip and earn points and miles for each hotel stay or 15 points/$1 as a Points & Points earner. Marriott Rewards has Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites properties which only earn 5 points/$1 compared to 10 points/$1 for other Marriott brands. Virtually all HHonors hotels earn 10 points/$1. The new Hilton brand Home2 Suites earns only 5 points/$1, but there are only a handful of these hotels currently in the 3,800+ Hilton Worldwide portfolio.

Bottom line is Hilton stays earn more points for HHonors members.

Earning is only 50% of the Loyalty Points Equation

Calculating points earned is relatively easy for Hilton HHonors and Marriott Rewards. Earning is a function of your hotel spend for stays and points earning partner activity. Estimate your spend and you have a base level for estimating the points you will earn. The unknown variable is amount of points earned from HHonors or Marriott Rewards promotions.

$2,000 in hotel spend Hilton HHonors = 30,000 points (Points & Points earner) + hotel stays promotion points + elite bonus points + partner activity bonus points.

$2,000 in hotel spend Marriott Rewards = 10,000 to 20,000 points, depending on how many Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites stays, + hotel stays promotion points + elite bonus points + partner activity bonus points.

But how much are 30,000 HHonors points compared to 20,000 Marriott Rewards points?

Redeeming Points

The point of earning hotel points is to redeem the hotel loyalty currency for hotel stays or other items of value like airline miles or tangible objects like a TV set.

30,000 Hilton HHonors points buys a category 4 hotel reward night at a Hilton brand hotel. Extended stay rewards (4 or more nights offer discount rates) and Points & Money rewards (50% points + cash) can stretch your points for even more reward nights or a higher category reward night.

20,000 Marriott Rewards points buys a category 4 hotel night at a Marriott brand hotel. Marriott does not have a Points + Cash option, although there are 5th night free rewards.

Forgetting the special reward rates, the primary question is what are the  category 4 hotel options in Hilton HHonors compared to category 4 hotels in Marriott Rewards?

Hotel Category Reassignment is the primary factor changing hotel point value.

Hotel points have no value until they are redeemed.

The reason I pay so much attention to hotel category reassignments each year is when a hotel shifts from one reward category to another, the value of hotel points changes for that hotel.

HHonors shifts a hotel from Category 2 to category 3 and the cost of a reward night changes from 12,500 points to 25,000 points. The reward night cost doubled, but the hotel room rate probably only changed by a few dollars per night.

A category 2 reward night at a hotel with a $100 room rate for 12,500 points is $8.00 per 1,000 points redemption value for my HHonors points. This same hotel at say $105 as a Category 3 hotel for 25,000 points gives a redemption value of  $4.20 per 1,000 points.

The problem with hotel loyalty points is the earning rate does not improve at anything close to the redemption rate devaluation. Most hotel loyalty programs have not altered earning rate for close to a decade. Starwood Preferred Guest made an earning rate adjustment for Super-Platinum members in 2012. This is the first adjustment SPG has made to the 2 base points and 1 elite point earning rate in over a decade.

Hilton HHonors and Marriott Rewards have not adjusted earning rates in years.

Yet, each hotel loyalty program has added new high-end reward categories in recent years.

Hotel Reward Category Shift

• Hyatt Category 5 – Dec 2006 18,000 points (20% increase)
• SPG Category 7 – March 2007 30,000 to 35,000 (50% increase)
• Priority Club tiered rewards – March 2007
• Holiday Inn/HI Express 10,000; 15,000; 25,000 (40% increase)
• InterContinental Hotels 30,000; 40,000 (33% increase)
• Marriott Category 8 - Jan 2009 40,000 points (12.5% increase)
• Marriott Extended Stay Discount Reward Tables for up to 7 night hotel stays changed to 5th Night Free Reward Stays – Jan 2009 (up to 60% increase)
• Marriott Vacation Club Awards - July 2009 (up to 85% increase)
• Hilton Category 7 - Jan 2010 (up to 29% increase)
• Hyatt Category 6 - June 2010 (22% increase)
• Ritz Carlton Rewards 2 Tiers to 5 Tiers – Sep 2010 (up to 68% increase)
• Priority Club tiered rewards: Jan 2012 higher tiers added for all brands (up to 40% increase)

Annual reassignment of hotels among reward categories tends to move average redemption rates higher across the program.

Here are some tables to illustrate how hotel reward category assignment and reassignment changes points redemption value.

Both Hilton HHonors and Marriott Rewards offer category 1 hotels for 7,500 points. The difference is there are only 35 HHonors category-1 reward hotels in the United States right now (up by another 9 hotels on April 30) compared to 227 category-1 hotels in the USA with Marriott Rewards.

April 2012 Hotel Reward Category Distribution for Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors in the USA

HHonors website allows a search of category hotels by country.

Therefore, I created the tables of USA hotels by category for HHonors and Marriott Rewards for the USA as of April 12, 2012. These are fairly accurate tables.

The total count of hotels for Hilton HHonors in the table below is just an estimate since I did not check each country (about 80 countries to check) for each HHonors reward category to build an accurate count for international Hilton brand hotels. The Marriott hotel numbers in the table are more precise. The hotel numbers for Marriott Rewards categories 2-4 were quick counts, so close, but not quite accurate.

*Note the numbers in this table do not reflect the April 30 changes for HHonors reward category reassignment.

HHonors Reward Category 6 and 7 will grow by about 25% on April 30 when 27 more hotels become reward category 7 and 66 hotels are added to reward category 6.

The table below is one I created two years ago in 2010 based on precise data for all Marriott and Hilton hotels worldwide. The two tables when compared reflect changes over the past two years.

Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors Category Reassignment Trends

The trend over two years shows Marriott Rewards moving hotels upward and out of category 1 and 2 as the proportion of hotels in the two lowest categories has dropped from 34% of the chain to 28%. Many of these formerly category 1 and 2 hotels have likely gone to category 3, but the proportion of category 3 hotels has not changed much overall. As hotels moved into category 3 from lower categories, hotels have moved up from category 3 to higher categories.

The movement of hotels to category 4-7 has been a significant shift in category creep. In March 2010 there were 490 Marriott hotels in categories 5-8, fewer than 15% of Marriott hotels. Two years later that has increased to about 670 hotels; more than 18% of Marriott hotels.

Marriott rewards program still has a far higher proportion of hotels in categories 1-3 (62%) relative to Hilton HHonors categories 1-3 (44%).

Marriott Rewards has fewer hotels in category 5-8 (19%) than Hilton (23%). Hilton rewards for Waldorf Astoria Hotels are similar to Marriott’s Category 8. Ritz-Carlton reward tiers are not considered in this analysis. Hilton HHonors has around 900 hotels in categories 5-7 and Waldorf Astoria. Marriott has about 700 hotels in categories 5-8.

Conclusion

Marriott Rewards hotels tend to be in lower reward categories compared to the Hilton brand hotel in the same location. And the HHonors hotel reward category reassignments on April 30, 2012 do not help in this comparison. More hotels will be added to HHonors Category 6 and 7 at the end of the month to skew HHonors to even higher category hotel rewards.

HHonors members earn more points per dollar on hotel stays, but Marriott Rewards members have far more choice of hotels at lower reward rates compared to Hilton when it comes time to redeem your earnings for hotel stays.

HHonors Promotion registration is required. Promotion FAQ link.

HHonors Points & Points Earners with Double Points

Double points means 20 points per dollar for all brands except Home2 Suites where double points is 10 points per dollar. A Points & Points earner gets 25 points/$1 and elite bonuses are on top of that.

• HHonors Silver = 26.5 points/$1.
• HHonors Gold = 27.5 points/$1
• HHonors Diamond = 30 points/$1.

HHonors Points & Miles Earners with Double Miles

Most US airlines earn 500 miles per stay at most Hilton HHonors hotel brands for Points & Fixed Miles earners. Double miles is 1,000 miles per stay.

The main thing to remember with double miles is the low earning rate with most airlines for stays at Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites typically at 100 miles per stay for Points & Fixed Miles earners. You are not allowed to switch to Double Points once you have chosen Double Miles, so keep in mind that Double points are likely much higher value than Double Miles if your stays will be heavy on Hampton and Homewood.

There are some exceptions like bmi miles where members earn 1,000 miles per night for up to three nights. That can be 6,000 miles per stay. The problem is bmi airlines is in the process of being sold and there is uncertainty about the mileage program. I have not been following the bmi story closely, so I have no real insight into that issue.

Points & Variable Miles is usually the best miles earning preference for guests on extended stays.

HHonors airline partners and miles earn rate link.

Non-participating hotels are almost all in USA

This is a global Hilton HHonors promotion, however, there are about 325 non-participating hotels in the USA. There are only 6 hotels outside the USA opting out of double points/miles, so there is little concern for international travelers.

The number of hotels opting out of HHonors quarterly promotions has become a major issue with Hilton HHonors promotions in the past couple of years. 

My rough estimate indicates 325 hotels is more than 10% of all USA Hilton brand hotels. And with 100 or so Hampton Inns out of 1,800+ opting out of this promotion, then about 1 out of 6 hotels in all the other Hilton brands in the USA have opted out of this offer. That is a huge number of non-participating hotels.

SFO Airport Hotels  – only 4 of 9 hotels participate in Q2 promotion

The non-participating properties at San Francisco Airport include both Embassy Suites, both Hilton Garden Inns and the Hampton Inn SFO North. This leaves the Hilton, Doubletree and Hampton Inn in Burlingame, south of the airport out of five hotels and Homewood Suites north of the airport out of four Hilton brand hotels for a total of  4 out of 9 participating hotels in this promotion.

San Francisco Airport has five non-participating hotels for double points/miles while the entire list for all countries outside the US consists of six non-participating hotels.

What’s up Hilton?

Conclusion: This is a decent promotion for Hilton loyalists staying at participating hotels. Even non-elite members earning 25 points/$1 will earn 50,000 points after $2,000 in hotel spend; sufficient for a high-level category 7 hotel reward night that might have $400 per night rates.

HHonors Diamond member with a Surpass American Express card can earn 39 points/$1 with this promotion. That makes a significant rebate if you are staying at the participating hotels.

We should know soon enough what other chains have for frequent guests as the beginning of the year promotions expire soon for most major chains.

The first post in this series outlined the number of hotels in each chain’s brands and their brand market segments.

The primary competitive advantage of Marriott, IHG and Hilton in the hotel industry is their size with global geographic coverage as well as extensive coverage of the United States. Starwood, Hyatt and Carlson hotels will be compared in a separate series of posts for these hotel chains with 500 to 1,200 hotels globally. France-based Accor Hotels is another large global hotel chain with over 4,000 hotels worldwide, however, the chain has fewer than 20 hotels in the U.S. participating in the Accor loyalty program and is excluded from this survey.

Earning Points and Miles from Hotel Stays

Two factors differentiate hotel loyalty program stays from stays booked outside hotel loyalty programs on sites like Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity:

• complimentary hotel loyalty benefits received during the hotel stay like free room upgrades, free internet access, hotel executive lounge access, free fitness facilities access, free breakfast and late check-out.
• points and miles earned from hotel stay are a rebate on the purchase price for the hotel stay.

These two factors are the area of competition between the major hotel chain loyalty programs. This post compares points and miles earning in Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards. Separate posts will compare the hotel stay benefits of loyalty programs at different elite levels.

Earning Points

The rebate value of hotel loyalty programs is the factor that keeps many of us loyal to specific hotel chains. A good hotel loyalty promotion means the cost of a hotel stay is partially or fully rebated in the form of points earned from the stay.

Priority Club offered a Crack the Case promotion in August 2010 where I earned 102,000 bonus points for 10 paid nights at IHG properties by May 2011. Stackable promotions are the competitive advantage of Priority Club and I earned around 150,000 points with ten paid nights after all the promotion bonuses and regular points. That was enough points for 10 free nights at most Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express hotels where free nights are 15,000 points (at least until January 18, 2012 when new tier categories take effect).

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus offers a free category 1-4 hotel night for every two stays from February 1-April 30, 2012. This is a regularly offered promotion where two one-night stays earns a free night certificate that can easily be more than a 50% rebate on the cost of two paid hotel stays. Two nights at a Category 4 hotel is normally 40,000 points. The Marriott MegaBonus is essentially the opportunity to receive the equivalent of 40,000 points value with as few as two one-night stays.

Comparison of Points Earning Rates

Hilton HHonors members earn 10 base points per dollar at all hotel brands, except the newest Home2 Suites brand only earns 5 points/$1. This is a disappointing change in 2011 when HHonors introduced a lower earning rate for a specific hotel brand. There are currently only 6 hotels in the Home2 Suites brand so the effect is negligible for most members at this time.

Hilton HHonors is unique in the hotel loyalty world in offering members the choice to earn points and miles for the same hotel stay. In the past couple of years there have been several limited time miles promotion offers from Starwood Preferred Guest and Hyatt Gold Passport allowing members to earn both miles and points, but this was not common prior to 2009 and HHonors is the only program to offer points and miles as a standard hotel stay benefit they trademarked as “Double Dipping“.

Hilton HHonors Double Dipping gives members the choice of three earning preferences that can be changed with each hotel stay. Points & Points is the default earning mode unless you have set your HHonors account to earn miles.

1. HHonors Points & Points

Hilton HHonors member earns 10 base points/$1 and a bonus of 5 points/$1 = 15 points per US dollar.

Home2 Suites brand earns 5 base points and a bonus of 2.5 points/$1 = 7.5 points per US dollar.

Elite bonus points and promotion bonus points are additional. Elite members will sometimes see more than half their points earned from elite bonus points combined with promotion bonuses.

2. HHonors Points & Fixed Miles (link to HHonors 59 airline partner earning rates)

• Earn 10 base points per US$1 + 500 miles per stay with most airlines.

Miles Alert: Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites earn only 100 miles per stay.

56% of Hilton properties are Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites and these are almost all in the USA. You do not want to ignore your HHonors account earning rate setting and leave it on Points & Fixed Miles when staying at Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites or you may be losing out on a significant points earning opportunity. You earn 5 bonus points per dollar rather than 100 miles per stay by switching to Points & Points earning for stays at Hampton, Homewood and Home2 Suites. Or change from Points & Fixed Miles to Points & Variable Miles earning if your total spend will be over $100.

3. HHonors Points & Variable Miles (link to 44 HHonors Variable Miles Airline Partners)

• Earn 10 base points per US$1 + 1 mile per US dollar with most airlines.

IHG Priority Club Rewards  – Earning Points in Priority Club (Priority Club Earning Points link)

• 10 points per US$1 is the base points earning rate for most IHG brands including Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hotel Indigo. InterContinental Hotels in the Americas will follow this earning rate as of February 15, 2012.
• 5 base points per dollar for Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites extended stay hotels. These two brands have about 500 hotels or 11% of IHG hotels globally.
• 2,000 base points fixed rate for InterContinental Hotels regardless of total spend. The Feb. 15 change to 10 points per dollar applies only to InterContinental Hotels in the Americas.

The main thing to know about Priority Club is the ability to stack promotions. Frequent guests will run through many of the stackable promotions quickly, but infrequent guests potentially can earn three or more bonuses with stays. Over the past two years  I averaged about 5,000 points per $100 stay, excluding the Crack the Case 102,000 bonus points.

Where to find these stackable Priority Club bonus offers:

• FlyerTalk Priority Club Master Promotion Thread 2012.
• PriorityClubInsider.com

Earning Miles in Priority Club

Priority Club has 15 different earning rates for airlines. This post only shows the two primary earning rates applicable to the majority of U.S. airlines and some international members of major alliances.

2 airline miles per dollar at Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo (and InterContinental Hotels in Americas as of Feb 15, 2012).

1 airline mile per dollar at Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

500 miles per stay at InterContinental Hotels (IC Hotels in Americas change to 2 miles/$1 Feb 15, 2012.

• Aeromexico
• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• LAN
• Delta Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways

500 Airline Miles per stay at any IHG brand

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• AirBerlin TopBonus
• All Nippon Airways
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• Asiana Airlines
• China Airlines
• Etihad Airways
• EVA Airways
• Emirates
• Gulf Air
• Japan Airlines
• Jet Airways
• Korean Air
• Lufthansa Miles & More
• Saudi Arabian Airlines
• Singapore Airlines
• South African Airways
• TAP Portugal
• Thai Airways

Check the Priority Club miles earning link for other airline partner rates.

The ability to earn 500 miles per stay with several major airline alliance members is an earning opportunity for Priority Club members with frequent low cost stays. You need to spend at least $250 per stay to match 500 miles per stay when you have a major US airline as your earning preference.

Earning Points with Marriott Rewards (Marriott link)

All hotel brands earn 10 base points per dollar, except extended stay brands Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earn 5 points/$1.

Hilton HHonors has a distinct advantage over Marriott in earning 15 points per dollar or Points and Miles. Priority Club has a similar earning rate to Marriott Rewards with its extended stay brands earning only 5 points per dollar. The difference with Marriott though is the two brands of Residence Inn with 627 hotels and TownePlace Suites at 205 hotels comprise 22% of total Marriott properties globally. Priority Club has only 11% of hotels earning 5 points/$1 and Hilton HHonors is far less than 1% of hotels (only six Home2 Suites hotels currently) with a lower earning rate of base points.

Earning Miles with Marriott Rewards

2 miles per dollar at Marriott Hotels, Renaissance, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Autograph Collection, Edition and Marriott Vacation Club.

1 mile per dollar at these Marriott brands: Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, AC Hotels.

Miles earning is less lucrative with Marriott Rewards than Hilton HHonors for low spend stays. Marriott full-service stays at 2 miles per $1 can be a better earning rate than Hilton HHonors for big spenders. Marriott Rewards stays earn a maximum 2 miles per $1.  Several hotel brands earning 10 points/$1 only earn 50% miles at the rate of 1 mile per dollar.

It is even more important to monitor your miles earning setting with Marriott Rewards since points can be more valuable than miles through points-to-miles exchanges. Marriott Rewards allows members to exchange 10,000 points = 2,000 miles for most US airlines or 1,500 miles with many major international airlines. You will likely get more miles overall by earning points at the majority of hotel brands and exchanging points for miles. The rate improves at higher point levels to max out at 125,000 Marriott Rewards points = 50,000 miles for US airlines or 35,000 miles for many international airlines.

Marriott Rewards 34 Airline Partners for earning miles:

• AeroMexico – Club Premier
• Air Berlin – TopBonus
• Air Canada – Aeroplan
• Air China – Phoenix Miles
• Air France/KLM – Flying Blue
• Alaska Airlines – Mileage Plan
• Alitalia – MilleMiglia
• ANA – Mileage Club
• Asiana Airlines – Asiana Club
• Avianca-Taca – LifeMiles
• British Airways – Executive Club
• Cathay Pacific – Asia Miles
• China Eastern Airlines
• China Southern – Sky Pearl Club
• Continental – Mileage Plus
• Delta – SkyMiles
• Frontier Airlines – Early Returns
• Gol/Varig – Smiles
• Hawaiian Airlines – Hawaiian Miles
• Japan Airlines JAL – Mileage bank
• JetBlue – TrueBlue
• Jet Airways – JetPrivilege
• Kingfisher Airlines – King Club
• LAN – LanPass
• Lufthansa – Miles & More (Swiss, Austrian, LOT Polish)
• Qantas – Frequent Flyer
• Qatar – Privilege Club
• Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer
• Southwest Airlines – Rapid Returns
• TAP Portugal – Victoria
• United Airlines – Mileage Plus
• US Airways -Dividend Miles
• Virgin America – Elevate
• Virgin Atlantic – Flying Club

Comparative advantages for Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards and IHG Priority Club:

Hilton HHonors is the best program when it comes to earning points and miles for hotel stays. This program has the best overall earning rate in base points or base miles among the three programs.

Priority Club has a competitive edge in permitting members to stack multiple promotions and earn bonus points from several offers for the same stay. This can result in substantial points bonuses on stays that far exceed the 10 base points per $1. In my experience I have earned 40 to 50 points per dollar on several stays after bonus points post from different promotions.

Marriott Rewards has the highest proportion of hotels earning less than the standard 10 points per dollar with about 1 in 3 hotels in the U.S. earning only 5 points/$1 for stays at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites. Marriott Rewards has not offered members an opportunity to combine earning miles and points for the same stay in the promotions of recent years. This is Hilton’s competitive edge. Starwood and Hyatt have offered limited time promotional earning opportunities for both miles and points in the past two years.

Base earning rates shown in this post are really only one part of multiple factors to consider when comparing hotel loyalty programs. Every loyalty program has a base earning rate and this rate has been the most stable aspect of hotel loyalty programs over the past decade.

Hotel loyalty promotion offers are another major component to consider when comparing the earning rates in points and miles for hotel stays in different hotel programs. Promotions are variable and some are better earning opportunities than others. Your travel style determines what kind of promotions are most beneficial.

Elite status is the third major factor in your ability to earn more points and miles on hotel stays.

The hotel loyalty program’s burn rate - the cost of hotel reward free nights using points is the other side of the equation when comparing hotel loyalty programs.  Earning rate by itself has no relevance to a consumer until compared to the cost of rewards in the hotel loyalty program.

100,000 points in my hotel loyalty account – whether Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club or Marriott Rewards – have no value until I spend them. In the case of Hilton they can be permanently lost if I go one year with no account activity.

The cost of reward nights at hotels and other reward options at the time points are redeemed set a value to hotel loyalty points.

These other hotel loyalty program factors will be compared in Loyalty Traveler posts in this series.

Loyalty Traveler series: Comparison of Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards and IHG Priority Club

1. Hilton, Marriott and IHG Hotel Brand Market Segments – this post lists the different hotel brands, number of hotels in the brand, percentage of hotels in each brand and brand’s hotel market segment.

2. Hilton, IHG Marriott: Earning Base Points and Miles.

This series will continue with a look at the redemption options using points and comparative analysis of these three programs.

IHG Priority Club has major changes taking effect in reward tiers for free nights January 18, 2012. I will compare reward cost for Hilton, Marriott and IHG free nights after the Priority Club changes are published and the new higher rates are in effect.

The removal of Southwest Airlines as a Hilton earning partner is a loss for members who spend lots of nights at Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites where 600 Rapid Rewards points are earned per stay, the same rate as all other Hilton brands.

HHonors airline miles table Southwest shows *See important notice below.

*Effective January 1, 2012, the Hilton HHonors program will no longer offer Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards® Points for stays at hotels & resorts within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio.

Most airlines earn only 20% miles at Hampton and Homewood compared to stays completed at other Hilton brands. Fixed miles earners typically receive 500 miles per stay at all Hilton brands, and only 100 miles per stay for Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites.

JetBlue is the only other US carrier offering full points/miles for stays at these lower miles earning Hilton brands.

HHonors Points & Miles vs. Points & Points Earning

500 miles per Hilton stay is a convenient way to build up frequent flyer account mileage balances. 30 stays per year can earn 15,000 additional miles with most airlines at 500 miles earned per stay at Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Conrad, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Grand Vacations.

Assume an HHonors member spends $6,000 per year on 30 stays and a Points & Points earners will receive 30,000 bonus points compared to a Points & Fixed Miles earner who can pick up 15,000 miles instead. The value of 15,000 miles might exceed the value of 30,000 points for someone who probably earns 100,000+ points already as a Points & Miles earner.

The HHonors Brand Determines the Miles Factor

The miles factor is dependent on which of the ten HHonors hotel brands you stay. There is a two-tier earning system for most airlines when collecting Points & Fixed Miles. Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Conrad, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Hilton Garden Inn and Hilton Grand Vacations offer 500 miles per stay with most airlines.

The value of miles is reduced greatly if you frequent Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites where the earn rate is only 100 miles per stay for most airlines. That 15,000 miles is reduced by 80% if you have 30 stays at Hampton Inn and earn only 3,000 miles with American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta Skymiles, or United Mileage Plus.

I’d take 30,000 HHonors points as a Points & Points earner rather than 6,000 miles as a Points and Variable Miles earner.

The value of Southwest Airlines is 30 Hampton Inn stays earns 18,000 points and enough for a free flight on Southwest Airlines. That is a comparable value to 30,000 HHonors points and likely a better deal than 6,000 miles in another airline.

bmi, British Midland International (Star Alliance partner)

There is a decent alternative for earning miles when staying at Hampton Inns, Homewood Suites and Home2Suites.

bmi airlines, a Star Alliance partner, earns 1,000 miles per night at Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites for a maximum three nights per stay. 3,000 miles is a good haul and applies to stays at all Hilton brands except Home2 Suites where the earning limit is 1,000 miles per stay.

Home2 Suites is Hilton’s newest brand and I have to give a big thumbs down to HHonors this year when setting a  precedent of reduced points earning for stays at Home2 Suites. Stays at this newest brand of Hilton HHonors earn only 5 points per dollar. All other Hilton brands earn 10 points per dollar. Hilton points earning link.

Many airlines, including Southwest Airlines, do not earn any miles for stays at Home2 Suites. Most airline partners allow a maximum 100 miles or points for a stay at Home2 Suites. bmi airlines at 1,000 miles per stay at Home2 Suites looks like a great deal.

I seem to recall some issues about redeeming miles for new members to bmi who have not had a bmi flight. Perhaps someone with up-to-date knowledge on that aspect of bmi can comment to remind me of any restrictions on using bmi miles.

bmi airlines earns most miles of any airline for Hampton Inn, Homewood and Home2 Suites brand stays.

HHonors-Delta Skymiles Registration is required here.

The best part is this offer may be combined with probably the most lucrative hotel loyalty promotion for this quarter with a free night at any Hilton Worldwide hotel after four stays or ten nights at any participating Hilton Worldwide hotel brand. There are over 200 hotels in the U.S. not participating so be sure to check the non-participating hotels list for the free night offer.

Hilton also has a promotion with United Mileage Plus for 1,000 bonus miles for two-night stays in same period (UA promo is redeemable miles only and not elite qualifying miles) that I posted yesterday. And this offer is combinable with HHonors Free Nights offer. You can only earn frequent flyer miles with one airline per hotel stay, so no UA bonus and DL bonus for same hotel stays.

Please leave a comment on this post if you see other Hilton HHonors airline partners offering a bonus during this same promotion period and I will share the information in a blog post.

HHonors Delta SkyMiles 250 MQM and Double miles Oct 1-Dec 11, 2011

What does Double SkyMiles mean with Hilton HHonors?

Hilton HHonors has a complicated system for miles earning that factors in hotel brand and HHonors member earning preference of Fixed Miles or Variable Miles.

Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 500 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 1,000 miles per stay)

• Hilton
• DoubleTree
• Hilton Garden Inn
• Hilton Grand Vacations
• Embassy Suites
• Conrad
• Waldorf Astoria Collection

Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 250 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 500 miles per stay)

• Hampton Inn
• Homewood Suites
• Note: Home2 Suites only allows HHonors Points & Variable Miles earning.

Variable Miles Earning (1 mile per U.S. Dollar; Double Skymiles = 2 miles per dollar.)

• All Hilton Worldwide brands earn 1 mile per U.S. Dollar.
• Home2 Suites  has 100 miles per stay maximum limit; double Skymiles = 200 miles max.

Double SkyMiles MQM

• a two-night or longer stay at any Hilton brand from October 1 and December 11, 2011 after promotion registration earns 250 Medallion Qualifying Miles.

Bonus Skymiles and Medallion Qualifying Miles will be added after the end of the promotion. I assume these MQM will post and apply to 2011 MQM total for 2012 Medallion qualification.

This bonus may be earned five times for 5,000 bonus miles in Mileage Plus in addition to normal miles earned as a Points & Fixed Miles or Points & Variable Miles earner.

The promotion terms seem a little vague, but I assume these are 1,000 bonus miles per stay in addition to the standard miles earned for each hotel stay since the bonus miles post after the promotion ends.

Registration required at www.hhonors.com/mileageplus

HHonors United Mileage Plus Promotion T&C

To be eligible for this offer, you must (1) select United Airlines as your preferred Double Dip® Points & Miles Partner in your Hilton HHonors™ account profile, (2) complete a minimum 2-night stay at a participating hotel or resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio from October 1, 2011 through December 11, 2011, and (3) register online at www.HHonors.com/MileagePlus prior to check-out. You must be a Hilton HHonors member to earn points and miles for hotel stays. Bonus United Mileage (Both Fixed & Variable Miles Members): Earn 1,000 bonus miles per qualifying stay of 2-nights or more, for a maximum of 5 stays or 5,000 miles. Allow up to six weeks after qualification, and after promotion has ended, for bonus miles to be credited to your account. Miles accrued, awards issued and bonus offers are subject to the rules of the United Mileage Plus program. Hilton HHonors membership, earning of Points & Miles™ and redemption of points are subject to HHonors Terms and Conditions.

Hilton HHonors and United Mileage Plus 5,000 bonus miles Oct 1-Dec 11, 2011

Redeeming Hotel Points for Hotel Stays more popular than redeeming Hotel Points for Airline Miles 

Laura poses two reasons for why there might be less interest in redeeming hotel points for airline miles.

• Travelers see better value in free hotel rooms.
• Airline miles are not as easy to use as hotel points.

I agree with both of these reasons, although I think there is a simpler reason for less interest in exchanging Hilton HHonors points into airline miles.

The fact that HHonors members are showing a preference for using points for hotel stays rather than airline miles is not surprising to me. HHonors is near the bottom in points-to-miles exchange rates when compared to other hotel loyalty programs.

Hilton is one of the best programs for earning miles from hotel stays with its Double Dip policy allowing HHonors members to earn both airline miles and hotel points for the same hotel stay. Picking up 500 miles per stay in most Hilton brands earns miles far more quickly than redeeming HHonors points for airline miles.

HHonors exchange rate for most airlines is fixed at 10,000 HHonors points = 1,000 miles. Programs like American AAdvantage, Frontier, Hawaiian, South African Airways and Virgin Atlantic exchange at a rate of 10,000 HHonors points = 1,500 miles.

HHonors Diamond members:

• earn 20 points/$1 with Points & Points earning or
• 15 points/$1 and 500 miles/stay with Points & Fixed Miles earning (Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites only 100 miles/stay for most airline partners).

Assume $4,000 in hotel spend for 20 hotel stays and a preference for United Mileage Plus miles

HHonors member can earn 10,000 United Mileage Plus airline miles as a Points & Miles earner with 20 hotel stays.

Choosing Points & Points instead earns an additional $4,000 x 5 points/$1 = 20,000 points. Converting the extra 20,000 points into miles nets only 2,000 United Mileage Plus miles compared to 10,000 miles earned with Points & Fixed Miles or 4,000 miles earned with Points & Variable miles.

HHonors Poor Points-to-Miles Exchange Rate for United Mileage Plus

• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 80,000 HHonors points for HHonors Diamond member = 8,000 United Mileage Plus miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 60,000 Marriott Rewards points for Platinum member = 17,000 United Mileage Plus miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 40,000 Wyndham Reward points (no elite program in Wyndham) = 16,000 United Mileage Plus miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 12,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points for Gold/Platinum members = 6,000 United Mileage Plus miles. Most airline partners with SPG have 1:1 points-to-miles exchange rate, except United, Continental and US Airways. SPG members could use SPG Airline Direct Deposit and earn 1 UA Mileage Plus mile for every Starpoint and earn 12,000 UA miles in this example.

HHonors Better Exchange Rate with American AAdvantage still not so great

• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 80,000 HHonors points for HHonors Diamond member = 12,000 American AAdvantage miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 12,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points for Gold/Platinum members = 12,000 American AAdvantage miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 40,000 Wyndham Reward points (no elite program in Wyndham) = 16,000 American AAdvantage miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 140,000 Club Carlson points for Concierge member = 23,000 American AAdvantage miles.
• $4,000 in hotel spend earns 60,000 Marriott Rewards points for Platinum member = AA is no longer a Marriott Rewards airline partner as of July 1, 2011.

A more interesting data point is whether HHonors is seeing a higher percentage of members choose an earning preference of Points & Points rather than Points & Miles when compared to previous years?

If the trend line is showing HHonors members prefer to earn Points & Points more than Points & Miles for Double Dipping compared to previous years, then there is an insightful data point showing hotel points are gaining in popularity over airline miles in Hilton HHonors.

The high bonus miles offers for co-branded credit cards may also have reduced the desire for members to redeem HHonors points for airline miles. Picking up 50,000 to 100,000 bonus miles for a new credit card enrollment certainly looks like a better deal than exchanging 500,000 to one million HHonors points to accrue the same number of airline miles.

• Register for “Double Your HHonors” promotion before your first stay.
• Choose earning preference of Points & Points to earn Double Points. Only 10 base points per $1 count for double points. Elite bonuses are not doubled.
• Choose either Points & Fixed Miles or Points & Variable Miles to earn Double Miles.
• Reservations may be booked before promotion registration.
• Promotion registration during an eligible stay will make the entire stay eligible for double points/miles if registered before checkout and entire stay is within promotion dates.
• Offer applies for up to two rooms per stay.
• Reward stays are only eligible for Double Points for incidental spend, except at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. No double miles will be earned on reward stays.

Hilton HHonors Double Points or Double Miles Promotion July 1-Sep 30, 2011.

Earning with Hilton HHonors

HHonors Points & Points

Usually I favor HHonors Points & Points where a general non-elite HHonors member will earn 25 points per $1 with this double points promotion and a Diamond elite member can earn 30 points/$1.

Reward stays are eligible for double points on incidental spend which might be a consideration for choosing Double Points this summer if you are planning a high spend reward stay.

• Double Points = 25 points/$1 at most hotels (10 base points + 10 double points + 5 Points & Points preference).
• $200 hotel stay = 5,000 HHonors points.

HHonors Points & Miles

Points & Miles is a good value offer that may exceed the value of collecting only HHonors points if stays put you close to a frequent flyer award ticket or upgrade.

Double Miles with Points & Fixed Miles spending $200 at a Hilton Garden Inn and earning American Airlines:

• Points & Double Miles = 10 base points/$1 + 1,000 miles (double fixed miles).
• $200 hotel stay = 2,000 HHonors points + 1,000 AAdvantage miles.

Double Miles with Points & Variable Miles spending $200 at Hampton Inn and earning United Mileage Plus miles:

• Points & Double Miles = 10 base points/$1 + 400 miles (double variable miles = 2 miles/$1).
• $200 hotel stay = 2,000 HHonors points + 400 United Mileage Plus miles.

HHonors offers a comparatively low exchange rate for HHonors points-to-miles transfers compared with other hotel loyalty programs at 10,000 points = 1,000 miles for most airlines or 10,000 points = 1,500 miles for American and a select few airline partners.

1,000 miles is generally a $15 to $20 rebate value on a frequent flyer award ticket. 10,000 points will generally have more value when used for hotel stays.

Fixed or Variable Miles?

Choosing Points & Fixed Miles is generally the best option for low spend stays.

7 of the 10 Hilton hotel brands earn 500 miles per stay with most airline partners. Double miles are 1,000 frequent flyer miles per stay. Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites offer only 20% miles with most airline partners.

Points & Variable Miles earns more miles when spending more than $500 during a single hotel stay or more than $100 at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites where most airlines limit fixed earn miles to 100 miles per stay.

Highest HHonors Earning Airline Partners

The most favorable airlines for Points & Fixed Miles when staying at a Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites are bmi, FinnAir, Olympic and Southwest where there is no reduction in earning for these hotel brands.

Virgin Atlantic = 1,000 miles per stay is normal earn rate with 2,000 miles per stay for double fixed miles for all brands except Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites.

British Midland International (bmi) = 1,000 miles per night (up to 3 nights) at any brand, except Home2 Suites is 1,000 miles per stay. Double miles mean 2,000 miles per night or up to 6,000 miles per 3-night stay at Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites when earning bmi miles.

FinnAir = 500 points per night regularly (up to 5 nights) at any brand, except Home2Suites earns 500 points per stay. Double miles mean 1000 points per night, up to 5,000 points per stay at all brands except Home2 Suites.

Southwest Airlines is one of the best airlines for HHonors miles earning since Rapid Rewards points are earned at the same rate regardless of Hilton hotel brand, except for Home2 Suites stays are not eligible for Rapid Rewards points. It is hard to be a Hilton HHonors frequent guest and avoid Hampton Inn. Either HHonors points or Southwest Rapid Rewards points are good earner options for Hampton Inn stays for the person who prefers to collect airline miles since 100 miles per stay (200 miles during double miles) for Points & Fixed Miles earners is a low value rebate when collecting miles in another program.

Loyalty Traveler Note: It is disappointing to see Hilton HHonors launch its new 10^th hotel brand Home2 Suites in 2011 with diminished Hilton HHonors benefits for the HHonors member.

Changing Your HHonors Earning Preference:

You can change your preferred HHonors airline partner for earning airline miles between HHonors hotel stays to maximize the best airline earning option for each hotel stay.

The FAQ state you can’t register for both double miles and double points.

The option you choose during promotion registration is set for the duration of this promotion, so choosing miles mean all your hotel stays will be for double miles and you will not be able to earn double points, even if your earning preference is changed to points over the summer.

Personally I advise going for the high value free night offers this summer from Starwood Preferred Guest (to July 31: 3 stays = 1 resort night), Marriott Rewards (to August 31: 2 stays = 1 free night) and Best Western Rewards (to Aug 14: 3 stays = 1 free night) for the best value hotel stay rebates. This is a decent offer from Hilton HHonors, but there are better promotions available.

Here are 6 other airlines offering triple miles through June 30. You must set your HHonors earning preference to Points and Fixed Miles (1,500 miles per stay for most airlines and brands) or Points & Variable Miles (3 miles per $1 for most airlines and brands) for these bonus miles offers.

Alitalia (Skyteam) 600 base miles + 1,200 bonus miles. Hampton Inn = 120 base miles + 240 bonus miles. Homewood Suites stays are ineligible for Alitalia miles. Alitalia only allows Points & Fixed Miles. Registration page in Italian.

Air France/KLM Flying Blue (Skyteam) (1,500 miles per stay or 3 miles per $1 for most brands)

British Airways (oneworld) – earn up to 5,000 bonus miles (1,500 miles per stay or 3 miles per $1 for most brands). 1,000 bonus miles per stay allows bonus on 5 stays.

Emirates Skywards – 1,500 miles per stay or 3 miles per $1 for most brands. Homewood Suites earn 100 base miles and 200 bonus miles for Fixed Miles. Hampton Inn stays are not eligible for earning Emirates miles.

Miles & More (Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, LOT Polish – Star Alliance) – 1,500 miles per stay. Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites stays are ineligible for miles. Miles & More only allows Points & Fixed Miles. Registration page in German.

Olympic Air  – Registration page is in Greek.

Turkish Airlines – (Star Alliance) – 1,500 miles per stay for most brands. Hampton Inn earns 300 miles per stay. Homewood Suites stays are ineligible for miles. Miles & Smiles only allows Points & Fixed Miles.

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club  – 3,000 miles or 6 miles/$1 per stay for most brands. Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites earn 600 fixed miles or 6 miles/$1 per stay.

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.