U.S. Travel Association Daily Getaways offer for Wednesday May 2 is Hilton HHonors points at a rate under $5.00 per 1,000 points. The regular purchase price for HHonors points is $10.00 per 1,000 points through the Hilton website.

Here is a recap of my post last week when the same deal was offered. The only thing I have changed is to add a section on HHonors American Express AXON 4-night reward stays for an even greater discount than HHonors VIP rewards for category 6 and 7 hotels. Read More…

The HHonors website fails to provide easy to find links to the HHonors reward charts. Here are the various HHonors reward charts with website links.

Hilton HHonors made major changes to its standard and VIP reward charts with the January 15, 2010 hotel category changes when about 83% of the 3,500 or so hotels in HHonors increased by one hotel reward category.

Hilton HHonors Standard Rewards Chart

link to HHonors reward charts

Hilton HHonors VIP Rewards Chart

HHonors VIP elite members (Silver, Gold, Diamond) have access to discounted rewards. The discount is a fixed rate for HHonors category 4, 5, 6 and 7 hotels.

4-nights VIP reward = 15% discount on standard nightly reward rate (HHonors is only program to discount 4-night stays)

5-nights VIP reward = 20% discount on standard nightly reward rate  (Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest also give a 20% points discount on 5-night rewards.)

6-nights or longer VIP reward = 25% discount on standard nightly reward rate (biggest standard discount for hotel loyalty programs)

link to HHonors VIP Rewards charts

Note on HHonors Category 3 hotel VIP rewards: Since category 3 uses same VIP rewards as category 4 hotels, there is a smaller discount when VIP rewards are used for category 3 hotels.

Category 3 hotels are shown as being the same VIP reward cost as Category 4 hotels. This actually changed in 2011 even though the chart was never changed to give the standard discount rate of 15% points on 4-night stays, 20% on 5-nights and 25% on 6 nights or more.

Category 3 VIP reward cost

• 25,000 points = Standard Reward rate
• 85,000 points = VIP 4-night reward
• 100,000 points = VIP 5-night reward
• 112,500 points = VIP 6-night reward.
• 18,750 points per night (25% discount) for 7 or more nights.

American Express AXON Rewards

(HHonors American Express card members have complimentary HHonors Silver VIP elite membership.)

Loyalty Traveler Chart for HHonors American Express AXON Rewards

The net effect of category shift in 2010 (category 6 hotels moving up to category 7 hotels) is zero for American Express card members. The AXON6 in 2009 cost 145,000 points. These same hotels are almost all category 7 hotels in 2010 and the AXON7 in 2010 still costs 145,000 points.

Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher Reward Chart

HHonors Point Stretcher rewards give a 40% discount on the standard reward rate. This reward option had faded out over the past couple of years and these rewards were unavailable for much of the past year. In September 2010 the participating hotels in the Point Stretcher reward list was the largest selection of hotels I recall seeing in several years with several hundred hotels.

link to HHonors reward charts

Hilton HHonors Waldorf Astoria Collection Rewards Chart

Waldorf Astoria Collection is Hilton’s fast growing luxury brand. There are currently 23 WAC properties. Most of these hotels use the same reward chart. Waldorf Astoria Park City, Utah; Beach House, Maldives; and Grand Wailea use different reward charts.

Las Casitas are WAC villas associated with the El Conquistador Resort in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. I am not sure where these fall in the 2010 reward chart. In 2009 the rates were listed as 125,000 points per night (2-bedroom ocean view); 150,000 points per night for 3-bedroom garden view and 180,000 points per night for 3-bedroom villa ocean view.

London Syon Park is opening in December 2010 adjacent to a historic manor house estate.

Qasr al Sharq in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is a Waldorf Astoria Hotel not shown in these reward charts. This hotel was listed at 120,000 points per night for a junior suite and 160,000 points per night for an executive suite in the 2009 charts and in this 2008 InsideFlyer article, however, I can’t find a current link to reward nights. Anyone else know?

The Waldorf Astoria Reward Codes and Points (links go to hotel site pages)

1.  Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
2.  Boca Beach Club, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Boca Raton, Florida
3.  Boca Raton Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Boca Raton, Florida
4.  Casa Marina Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Key West, Florida
5.  Edgewater Beach Hotel | Naples, Florida
6.  El Conquistador Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Fajardo, Puerto Rico
7.  El San Juan Hotel & Casino, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | San Juan, Puerto Rico
8.  La Quinta Resort & Club | La Quinta, California (Palm Springs area)
9.  Naples Grande Beach Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Naples, Florida
10.  Rome Cavalieri | Rome, Italy
11.  The Bentley, London | London, UK
12.  The Boulders Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Scottsdale, Arizona
13. The Reach Resort, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | Key West, Florida
14.  The Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans, The Waldorf Astoria Collection | New Orleans, Louisiana
15.  The Waldorf=Astoria® | New York, New York
16. Trianon Palace Versailles, Waldorf Astoria Collection | Versailles, France
17. Waldorf Astoria Orlando | Orlando, Florida
18. Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund  | Shanghai, China

link to HHonors reward charts

19. Waldorf Astoria Park City | Park City, Utah

20. The Beach House Maldives, Manafaru Island, Maldives

link to HHonors reward charts

21. Grand Wailea, Waldorf Astoria Collection | Wailea, Maui, Hawaii

Waldorf Astoria Collection VIP Rewards

When the HHonors changes were first announced in October 2009 there was a link to the WAC rewards. The url for that page is still listed on the HHonors site, but now loads a blank page. Here is what the chart looked like before.

Group A should be the main group of hotels shown as #1-18 above. The VIP Reward discount for Waldorf Astoria Collection hotels is still 15% on 4-night VIP Rewards; 20% on 5-night rewards; 25% on 6-night or longer (up to 14 nights) rewards.

Group B was the Dakota Mountain Lodge in 2009, renamed in 2010 as the Waldorf Astoria Park City. The Beach House Maldives should also be in group B.

Group C was the Grand Wailea and the Bentley London in the original list. It looks like the Bentley London reduced its rates for 2010 and is now a Group A property.

High season dates need to be checked for each hotel. I do not see this information posted on HHonors or hotel pages.

Again, this WAC chart is from a Hilton webpage posted in October 2009 regarding the 2010 changes. The page was removed from the Hilton site and there does not appear to be a current link to a  Waldorf Astoria Collection VIP Rewards chart.

Hilton Grand Vacations Club

Hilton has a feature similar to Hyatt with the option to use reward nights for stays in timeshare resort rentals for less cost than a typical hotel reward. These Vacation Club properties are often located adjacent to hotel properties.

Hilton HHonors Standard/Point Stretcher/WAC/Vacation Club Reward Charts link

Hilton HHonors VIP Rewards chart link

Hilton HHonors Standard Hotel Rewards (only shows single night rate)

Hilton HHonors All-Inclusive Resorts (two resorts in Costa Rica and two in Egypt)

Hilton HHonors Reward Categories (HHonors requires search of specific hotels by country, and in the US the list can be narrowed down by state. Highly inefficient search engine compared to Hyatt, Marriott and SPG which allow all hotels globally in any specific category to be displayed in one list.)

Hilton’s 3^rd quarter promotion is double points or miles. Registration is required at www.hhonors.com/doublebonus. You must choose between earning double points or double miles for the duration of the promotion. You can’t change your choice once selected. I rate this as a 3-Key promotion offer – good value promotion. This offer is less lucrative than the free night promotion ended June 30, although this is a more accessible promotion for the masses with double points or miles available for every hotel stay beginning with your first stay.

If you register for Double Miles, then you need to set your HHonors earning preference to Points & Fixed Miles or Points and Variable Miles. You can change your earning preference between fixed miles and variable miles between stays, and you should change your earning preference during the promotion to maximize earning miles. 

Note: the registration page shows a website security certificate warning at this time for IE browser. Clicking through takes you to the registration page.

Choosing Double Points

Choosing Double Points is the easy choice for the HHonors member who does not want to manage her/his account for maximum miles. Double points is simply an additional 10 points per $1 in hotel spend for the HHonors hotel brands of Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Waldorf Astoria Collection, Conrad, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites.

Double points is probably the better choice for the member who frequents Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites. All Hilton brands earn 10 base points per US dollar. Choosing Points & Points earning with double points is 10 base points + 5 bonus points (Points & Points) + 10 bonus points (double points promotion) for a total of 25 points per US$1 for any Hilton stay. HHonors members earn 25 points per $1 with Points & Points during the double base points promotion.

Elite bonus points (1.5 to 5 points per $1) are additional and you can earn even more with Hilton American Express credit card points at 6 points/$1 or even 9 points/$1 with the HHonors AMEX Surpass card.

An HHonors diamond elite with an Amex Surpass card can be pulling in an incredible 39 points per $1. Category 7 hotel awards at 50,000 points drop to a mere $1,259 in spend for a free night.

Choosing Double Miles

Hilton HHonors has more airline frequent flier partners (nearly 60 airlines) than any other hotel loyalty program. Hilton has become a serious source of miles for so inclined HHonors members.

One of the main restrictions to keep in mind when going for HHonors miles for hotel stays is to be aware of airlines that exclude either Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites stays, or exclude both brands for miles.

HHonors has a relatively poor exchange rate for points-to-miles which favors earning Points & Miles from hotel stays rather than exchanging points to miles if miles are your ultimate goal.

Not all airline partners earn miles at the same rate.

HHonors Points & Miles strategies

HHonors members need to actively manage earning preference between Points & Fixed Miles or Points & Variable Miles to maximize miles earning. 

Points & Fixed Miles

Most airline partners earn 500 miles per stay for all brands, except Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. Double miles is 1,000 miles per stay with Points & Fixed Miles for all the major airlines like United, Delta, and American when in the full service brands. Double miles earns 1 credit per stay with Southwest Airlines.

Bmi airlines is the clear frequent flier program winner for most miles from a stay with the ability to earn 1,000 miles per night at any Hilton brand hotel including Hampton Inns and Homewood Suites with a three night limit. Double miles can earn 2,000 miles per night, up to 6,000 miles per 3-night stay.

FinnAir is the only other airline program offering miles per night rather than per stay. Earn 500 Finnair points per night up to 5 nights for any Hilton brand stay except Hampton Inn stays. A 5-night stay at a Doubletree can earn 5,000 Finnair points with double miles.

Watch out for Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites stays

Point to Remember: most airlines give only 20% miles for Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites stays.

These airline programs offer no miles for Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites stays

• Air Berlin TopBonus
• Air New Zealand
• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
• El Al Israel
• Varig Smiles
• Japan Airlines
• Miles & More
• Qantas
• Thai Airways
• Virgin Blue Velocity

These airline programs offer no miles for Hampton Inn stays

• Emirates
• FinnAir

These airline programs offer no miles for Homewood Suites stays

• Air Canada Aeroplan
• Air China
• Alitalia
• China Eastern
• GlobalPass
• Gulf Air
• Kuwait Airways
• Turkish

HHonors Points & Variable Miles

(1 mile per US$1 spent for most airlines and 2 miles/US$1 during Double Miles promotion.)

Link to HHonors variable miles airline partners

Airlines earning other than 1 mile per $1 spent

• Air Miles (Canada) = 1 mile per US$10 spent (Double miles = 1/US$5)
• Air New Zealand = 1 point per US$25 spent (Double miles = 1/US$12.50)
• Deutsche Bahn = 1 points per US$2 spent (Double miles = 1/US$1)
• El Al = 1 point per US$40 spent (Double miles = 1/US$20)
• Iberia = 1 points per US$10 spent (Double miles = 1/US$5)
• JetBlue = 1 TrueBlue point per US$2 spent (Double miles = 1/US$1)
• LanPass = 2 km per US$1 (Double miles = 4km/US$1)
• Virgin America Elevate = 1 point per US$2 spent (Double miles = 1/US$1)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club = 2 miles per US$1 (Double miles = 4 miles/US$1)

Loyalty rewards and elite status can be earned at a quicker pace if you have a loyalty program branded credit card to accompany your hotel stays with Marriott or Hilton. I rarely write about credit cards, but I took a look at the current offers recently when comparing Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors.

Heavy spenders may favor the Hilton Surpass American Express card for its instant Diamond elite membership offer if you are in a position to spend $40,000 per year.

Marriott Rewards Premier VISA Credit Card from Chase offers 15 nights toward elite status conferring instant Silver elite and reducing the annual elite qualification threshold for Marriott Rewards Gold to 35 nights and Platinum to 60 nights. This card is only available to US residents in the 50 states and District of Columbia.

One feature of the Hilton-branded American Express card is access to discount 4-night awards for 125,000 points at Category 5 hotels (AXON5) and 145,000 points at Category 6 hotels (AXON6). These American Express award offers will likely be amended for January 2010 since the current American Express member awards for Category 5 and 6 hotels will actually be offered at a lower rate to all HHonors members in the new HHonors Rewards chart in 2010. It seems HHonors and American Express will likely offer a discounted AXON6 and AXON 7 reward in 2010.

Here is a table of the features for Marriott Rewards Premier Credit Card from Chase Bank and the Hilton Surpass from American Express. While Hilton has a larger sign-up bonus and better earning on hotel and everyday spending, Marriott Rewards offers a free night every year of membership that equates to a 25,000 points annual bonus.

Marriott Rewards Premier Visa and Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass

Starwood Preferred Guest

New Members Offer for Instant SPG Gold Elite through February 2011 (normally requires 10 hotel stays or 25 nights in a calendar year), plus 1,000 bonus points per night through March 31, 2010.

Details:  http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/11/20/my-midas-touch-gives-new-spg-members-starwood-preferred-guest-gold-elite/

Hilton HHonors has released a change in the category structure for HHonors free night redemption using points and a restructured VIP Reward Table for January 15, 2010.

The positive change in the hotel VIP rewards is the opportunity to redeem for 4 and 5 night awards at a discount. This is a huge change and benefits many members who seldom had the opportunity to redeem hotel stays of 6 or more nights. 

The HHonors VIP four night reward stay is a competitive advantage against Starwood and Marriott’s 5th night free awards. Currently, 4 night HHonors award stays are available at a 15,000 points discount to HHonors American Express card members as the AXON5 award for Category 5 hotels (125,000 points) and AXON6 award for Category 6 hotels (145,000 points).

VIP Rewards are available to all HHonors elite members (Silver VIP requires 4 stays in a calendar year.)

HHonors VIP Awards as of January 15, 2010

How does the 2010 HHonors VIP Redemption Chart compare to the Current HHonors VIP Rewards chart?

HHonors VIP Rewards as of October 13, 2009

 

 

Currently, Category 5 hotels are 150,000 points for 6 nights and the VIP reward saves nearly 29% on the single night rate of 35,000 points. One issue with HHonors is there is currently no discount on points for stays of fewer than 6 nights unless you are an American Express card member eligible for AXON 4 night reward stays. And PointStretcher discount awards disappeared this summer.

Marriott went the other way in 2009 with the 5th night free redemption change. Previously Marriott Rewards offered a discount on points per night for any multi-night stay beginning with a 2-night reward stay with increasing savings for up to a 40% discount for 7 night award stays. Now there is only a discount on points with a 5 night or longer stay. The cost increased for almost all hotel rewards booked with Marriott Rewards points in 2009. The changes reduced the potential value of many members’ points who favored Marriott hotel stays of 2 to 4 or 6 to 7 nights.

I created comparative graphs of the Hilton HHonors category distribution and Marriott Rewards distribution in October 2008. I was wrong in my prediction last year that Marriott Rewards would see a major category shift in 2009. I based my prediction on the higher proportion of HHonors hotels in higher categories compared to Marriott. Fortunately for consumers the Marriott category shift did not happen to create a double hit devaluing members’ points in 2009.  

Hilton HHonors Rewards Chart (per night), current for October 13, 2009

There will be a category shift of some properties currently in Category 6 into the new Category 7 redemption.

What remains to be seen is how widespread is the shift from other lower categories to higher categories, e.g. how many Category 3 hotels will move to Category 4 and how many category 4 hotels will move up to Category 5?

This could be a small movement across the 3,200 properties with only a few luxury and really high-demand hotels shifting to the new category 7. Minor shuffling among the other redemption categories could leave most of the 3,200 Hilton brand hotels in their current 2009 category. Some hotels may even move down a redemption category.

On the other hand, the new Category 7 could be accompanied by a wide scale shift upwards in redemption hotel category among the 3,200 hotels, perhaps even involving 25% or more of the properties.

During the years from 2003 to 2007 there was a large shift of hotels upward that created a significant reduction in the overall proportion of hotels in the lower categories of HHonors. Currently, the lower HHonors redemption categories of Opportunity and category 1 are pretty vacant while the categories of 2 and 3 are stuffed.

Graph of category distribution for HHonors October 2008

The 2010 changes could see system-wide recategorization of the 3,200 hotels and may provide a major redistribution of hotels among the 7 hotel categories.

Unfortunately, I predict there will be a shift upwards for a large number of Category 2 and 3 hotels.

Hilton HHonors VIP Rewards and American Express HHonors AXON Awards

Hilton American Express cardmembers have access to a four night discount award for an HHonors Category 5 or 6 hotel. The AXON5 award at 125,000 points or AXON6 award at 145,000 points save 15,000 points on the HHonors rate for a 4-night award.

HHonors VIP Rewards

Category 3 hotels are regularly 25,000 points per night, therefore, a discount using a GLON2 reward for a Category 3 hotel only kicks in for a 7-night or longer stay.

HHonors Category 3 hotel = 155,000 points / 7 nights = 22,142 points/night compared to the regular 25,000 points per night.

GLON2, Category 4 = 150,000 points per night / 6 nights = 25,000 points per night. This is a 17% discount on the regular Category reward night at 30,000 points. One of the best HHonors reward values is a 7-night GLON2, Category 4 reward stay for 155,000 points.  The per night discount increases to 26%. Additional nights are 20,000 points per night for GLON2, Category 4 reward stays longer than 7 nights.   

HHonors American Express membership offers a route to discounted four night stays. HHonors VIP reward discounts do not kick in until at least a 6-night hotel stay at 150,000 points for a Category 5 hotel or 175,000 points for a Category 6 hotel.   

 Hilton HHonors VIP elite rewards and Hilton HHonors American Express cardmember discounts

 VIP Rewards do not offer a per night discount for hotels below Category3.

Comparison of Hotel Loyalty Program Affinity Credit Cards

Over the years in my conversations with travelers it seems to me that many people develop hotel loyalty based initially on their acquisition of a hotel loyalty program affinity credit card.  I frequently state that I don’t consider credit card earnings in my analysis of hotel stay promotions. 

Loyalty Traveler took a look at hotel loyalty credit cards for the major upscale hotel programs of Hilton HHonors, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards, Marriott Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest.  The new card member bonuses and interest rates are based on the affinity card offer presently shown on the hotel loyalty program website on 8-22-08.

My analysis shows American Express affinity cards for Hilton HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest have the greatest earning power based on a sample scenario of $15,000 in annual spending.  The Hilton HHonors American Express card has the best earning power for non-hotel spending as it awards a generous 5 points per $1 for restaurants, wireless phone payments, groceries, and gas.

Hilton HHonors VISA  (no annual fee)  Signature card (14.99%); Gold Card (16.99%)

Automatic upgrade to HHonors silver elite membership

·         Earn 6 HHonors points for every dollar spent at Hilton Family hotels.

·         3 HHonors points for purchases made at grocery stores, drugstores, and gas stations.

·         2 HHonors points for purchases made at other sites.

·         Enrollment bonus of 15,000 points for a purchase within two months of card membership.

Hilton HHonors American Express (no annual fee) (14.99%)

Automatic upgrade to HHonors silver elite membership and cardholder will be upgraded to Gold membership if $20,000 is charged to card in calendar year.

·         Earn 5 HHonors points for every dollar spent at Hilton Family hotels.

·         5 HHonors points for purchases made at grocery stores, drugstores, gas stations, restaurants, US postal service, and wireless phone bills.

·         3 HHonors points for purchases made at other sites.

·         Earn 500 points online booking bonus when booking your stay on a Hilton website with your HHonors American Express.

·         10,000 points bonus for first purchase within the first year of card membership.

·         2,500 points bonus for each of first four Hilton Family hotel stays paid with Hilton HHonors American Express card.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards VISA (12.99%)

·         $29 per year after no-fee first year

·         Earn 3 points per $1 spent at IHG hotels

·         Earn 1 point per $1 spent at other locations.

·         Receive a 10,000 points bonus for first purchase made after spending $15,000 or more in the card member’s year.  [LT note: The card member’s annual year is based on the enrollment date as a card member and subsequent anniversary dates – not the calendar year.]

·         One-time upgrade to Gold membership (a $50 value) through December of the year after the year of card member activation.  [LT note: This rule favors waiting until the beginning of a calendar year for maximizing the length of complimentary elite status.]

·         One-time bonus offer of 30,000 points after first purchase for first-time card members with new accounts.

·         One-time $20 credit on statement after first card purchase.

·         Priority Club VISA Business Card has same earning power except the spending bonus is 15,000 points bonus for first purchase made after spending $20,000 or more in the card member’s year. 

Marriott Rewards VISA (14.99%)

·         $30 per year after no-fee first year

·         Earn 3 points per $1 spent at Marriott Family hotels

·         Earn 1 point per $1 spent elsewhere.

·         10 nights credit toward elite status every year of card membership.

·         One-time bonus offer of 20,000 points after first purchase or balance transfer for first-time card members with new accounts.

·         One-time bonus offer of 5,000 points after first purchase for first-time card members with new accounts.

·         One-time free night certificate valid for a Category 1 to Category 4 hotel property.

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express (14.99%)

·         $45 per year after no-fee first year

·         Earn 2 points per $1 spent at Starwood brand hotels

·         Earn 1 point per $1 spent elsewhere.

·         One-time bonus offer of 10,000 points after first purchase during first year of card membership for first-time card members with new accounts.

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Comparison of hotel points earned annually by a new cardmember

Assume annual spending includes $3,000 at the hotel chain, $6,000 at grocery stores, drugstores, and gas stations, and $6,000 elsewhere during the membership year.

Hilton HHonors VISA

63,000 points for new member; ($630 value based on $10/1,000 points)

48,000 points without new member bonuses ($480 value)

New member bonus = 15,000 points

Hotel stays = $3,000 x 6 points = 18,000 points

Groceries and gas = $6,000 x 3 points = 18,000 points

Other charges = $6,000 x 2 points = 12,000 points

Hilton HHonors American Express

89,000 points for new member;  ($890 value based on $10/1,000 points)

69,000 points without new member bonuses ($690 value)

New member bonus = 10,000 points

Hotel stays = $3,000 x 5 points = 15,000 points

Groceries, gas, restaurants, wireless phone bill = $9,000 x 5 points = 45,000 points

Other charges = $3,000 x 3 points = 9,000 points

First four Hilton Family hotel stays = 10,000 points

Priority Club VISA

61,000 points for new member;  ($610 value based on $10/1,000 points)

31,000 points without new member bonus and spending $15,000+ annually  ($310 value)

21,000 points without bonuses for $15,000 in spending ($210 value)

New member bonus = 30,000 points

Hotel stays = $3,000 x 3 points = 9,000 points

Other charges = $12,000 x 1 points = 12,000 points

Bonus points for $15,000+ spending = 10,000 points

Marriott Rewards VISA

66,000 points for new member ($660 value based on $10/1,000 points)

21,000 points without new member bonuses ($210 value)

New member bonus = 25,000 points

Hotel stays = $3,000 x 3 points = 9,000 points

Other charges = $12,000 x 1 points = 12,000 points

One-time free night at Category 4 hotel = equivalent to 20,000 points

10 nights elite credit may or may not have significant value depending on member’s hotel lifestyle.  Mid-tier elite status requires 50 nights for Marriott Rewards Gold membership.

Starwood Preferred Guest American Express

28,000 points for new member ($980 value based on $35/1,000 points)

18,000 points without new member bonuses ($630 value)

New member bonus = 10,000 points

Hotel stays = $3,000 x 2 points = 6,000 points

Other charges = $12,000 x 1 points = 12,000 points

This is a simple analysis of the different affinity cards currently being offered through links on the hotel loyalty program websites.  Please provide comments to enlighten the Loyalty Traveler readers to other considerations not addressed in this summary.

Hilton Auckland, New Zealand, an HHonors Category 6 Hotel

A feature of the Hilton HHonors co-branded American Express Platinum card is the ability to redeem 125,000 points for an AXON 4-night hotel award in a HHonors Category 5 or Category 6 hotel.

Normally, a category 6 hotel will cost 40,000 points per night. HHonors VIP members can get a 6 night or longer award at 175,000 points/6-nights. A VIP 6-night award saves over 11,000 points per night. A category 5 hotel is 35,000 points per night or 150,000 points per 6 nights, a 10,000 points per night savings.

American Express HHonors Platinum card members are automatically enrolled as a Silver elite HHonors member. Silver status is normally earned after 4 stays or 10 nights in a 12-month period. (Periodic offers make Gold elite status a free or low stay special promotion throughout the year).

The problem for many travelers is the desire for an award at less than six nights and this is the value of the HHonors American Express Platinum card and the AXON award available to cardholders.

The AXON award for a 4-night stay at 125,000 points shaves 35,000 points off an otherwise 160,000 point stay for a Category 6 hotel. The savings of 15,000 for a 4-night Category 5 award is not as great, but it is a savings.

Charges to the American Express card earn from 3 to 5 HHonors points per $1 in spending depending on purchase item.