Comparing hotel rewards is one of the most technical aspects of hotel loyalty programs. The rate of earning points is different in each hotel loyalty program with Hilton members earning as many as 15 points per dollar for hotel spend while Marriott and IHG Priority Club earn as few as 5 points per dollar for certain hotel brands. Promotions offering bonus points also affect the rate of earning points in each program.

And even if the hotel loyalty member earns 10 points per dollar in each program, then is a 25,000 point hotel reward comparable in each program? How does one compare a Marriott Rewards category 5 reward night (25,000 points), Priority Club Crowne Plaza reward night (25,000 points) and a Hilton HHonors category 3 reward night (25,000 points)?

The logical way to compare hotel rewards across programs is to compare the published rate for the hotel night to the reward night cost in points. The problem is the reward cost is a fixed cost while the room rate fluctuates and might be $150 tonight and $250 tomorrow night for the same 25,000 points free night. The other variable is a 25,000 points hotel reward might save $100 at one Marriott Rewards category 5 hotel and save $250 at a different Marriott hotel.

The bottom line is hotel reward redemption value is dynamic and fluctuates depending on date and hotel. The best a member can do is try to use points in a way that maximizes their redemption value.

I have tackled this issue before and found Marriott Rewards to be the highest value points compared to the other two programs. This means 25,000 Marriott Rewards points tended to save more money than 25,000 points in Priority Club or Hilton HHonors. But I did not do many of these analyses in 2011.

Standard Hotel Rewards

IHG Priority Club

Priority Club changed its reward structure this week for the first time in several years. New tiers were added to each of the seven IHG hotel brands. Priority Club is different than other hotel loyalty programs by setting reward levels based on brand rather than categories where hotels in every brand are distributed based on average daily rate, reward demand and hotel occupancy. A Courtyard by Marriott property in New York City will be in a higher category reward level and cost more points than a Courtyard in Greenville, South Carolina. Priority Club had the problem that a Crowne Plaza in New York City with an average daily rate close to $300 was the same 25,000 points reward cost as the Crowne Plaza in Greenville, South Carolina with a much lower average room rate.

Rather than switching to hotel reward categories similar to other hotel loyalty programs where hotels are placed in categories typically based on average daily rates, Priority Club chose to add new tiers to each of the hotel brand rewards.

Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express formerly had three tiers for reward nights at 10,000 points, 15,000 points and 25,000 points. A new fourth tier was added at 20,000 points to fill in the gap. Regrettably, Priority Club chose to be intransparent regarding the new hotel reward tiers. They will not publish the changes of 2,000 or so hotels in new reward tiers as of this week, even though they state that you can request the lower tier reward level for bookings through March 18, 2012. You have to call Priority Club to find out if the hotel you are booking required fewer points prior to January 18 changes.

Each of the other five IHG brands added new higher reward tiers with Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites adding a tier at 5,000 more points and InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo adding a new tier at 10,000 more points. Hotels in the new higher tiers are 25% to 40% more points.

Priority Club has three reward types providing discounts to the standard reward rates shown in the table: PointBreaks, Points & Cash, Last Minute Reward Nights.

Priority Club PointBreaks

Undoubtedly the lowest cost hotel reward nights of any hotel loyalty program are Priority Club PointBreaks for 5,000 points per night. Even if you do not currently have any Priority Club points, members can purchase up to 50,000 points in a rolling 12-month period. The cost is $67.50 to buy 5,000 points and the rate drops to $11.50 per 1,000 points with a 20,000 points purchase reducing the cost of a PointBreaks reward night to $57.50.

Priority Club PointBreaks typically are a list of about 100 hotels among the 4,500 IHG hotels globally. PointBreaks hotels only offer these low reward rates for about two months from the time the list is published. PointBreaks hotels drop off the list once the capacity controlled rooms are booked. PointBreaks are a great value, but limited to those who are in the right places at the right time to take advantage of these bargain reward nights.

The current PointBreaks list was posted around November 22 and is valid for hotel stays through January 31, 2012. A new PointBreaks list will likely post sometime during the next four days.

Priority Club Points & Cash Rewards

One of the best features of Priority Club Rewards is the availability of Points & Cash Reward Nights as a potential discount on standard reward nights. Points & Cash Rewards allow the Priority Club member to buy 5,000 or 10,000 points at the time of booking a reward night.

• 5,000 points = $40 or
• 10,000 points = $60.

A Crowne Plaza Points & Cash hotel reward night at 25,000 points standard reward level can be purchased for:

• 15,000 points + $60 or
• 20,000 points + $40.

Points & Cash Rewards saves points in your account balance while allowing the member to buy points at the discount rate of $6.00/1,000 points when buying 10,000 points for a reward. This is nearly 50% off the standard purchase rate ($11.50 to $13.50 per 1,000 points) and the 50,000 points annual purchase limit for Priority Club points does not apply to points bought for Points & Cash rewards. A member is limited to buying $240 in Points & Cash Reward points per day (40,000 points when buying 10,000 points on 4 reward stays).

Cheap Trick Cancellation

Points & Cash Reward stays require the member to buy 5,000 or 10,000 points during the reward stay booking process. When I book a Points & Cash Reward stay at a Crowne Plaza for a 25,000 points reward, my $60 buys 10,000 points instantly and only 15,000 points are removed from my account balance.

If I subsequently cancel the reward reservation, the entire 25,000 points are deposited back into my account. Basically, the cheap trick is a member can book a Points & Cash reward stays as a way to buy Priority Club points for $6 per 1,000 points. But you do not want to abuse this cheap trick or you may find your account flagged. Priority Club certainly knows members use this workaround to buy cheaper points, but no attempt has been made to change the rules in the past two years since Points & Cash Rewards were added to Priority Club. The primary changes to occur are the cost for 5,000 points increased from $30 to $40 and there is a $240 per day limit in purchase points through Points & Cash rewards.

One other thing to know about Points & Cash Rewards is the points purchased for these rewards are the only Priority Club points I know about that do not count as elite qualification points. All other points earned from hotel stays, partner activities and other promotion bonuses count for elite status with Gold elite at 20,000 points in a calendar year or Platinum elite for 60,000 points in a calendar year. Elite qualification on points is quite easy with Priority Club which is one reason why there are limited defined benefits with Priority Club elite status compared to Hilton and Marriott.

Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights

This 50% points discount reward has turned out to be probably the most useless hotel reward option in hotel loyalty programs since they debuted in May 2011. Hotels participating in Last Minute Reward Nights are only valid for stays during the first full weekend of the month for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There is supposed to be an email sent out on Monday before the Friday weekend, but I have never seen a Last Minute Reward Nights email.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler post with the January 2012 Last Minute Reward Nights list of 50% off InterContinental Hotels.  Normally I try to list all the hotels available each month. I wrote about Last Minute Reward hotels on Wednesday, January 4 when I first saw the list. These rewards were only available for the nights of Friday, January 6 to Sunday, January 8. That was a great deal if you happened to be in Frankfurt and got the InterContinental for 15,000 points. It will be 40,000 points per night after March 18. Seriously, how many people took advantage of InterContinental Moorea in the deep South Pacific at 50% off with just three days notice?

Bottom line: Jackpot if you are somewhere with a 50% off Last Minute Reward hotel available.  I have not used this Last Minute Reward yet due to limited locations. The January 2012 list was my best opportunity with two San Francisco Holiday Inn hotels available, but it was just too gorgeous to leave Monterey that weekend for city life.

Marriott Rewards

Marriott Rewards unquestionably had the best hotel rewards value until the program went to a 5th night free reward table in 2009. Prior to the changes hotel rewards were lower in cost for each additional night stayed. The discount was as high as 40% off reward nights for 7-night hotel stays. The trade-off for an across the board increase in all extended stay rewards other than 5 night stays was balanced by Marriott’s new “No Blackouts” policy for rewards.

Since 2009 Marriott spun off Ritz Carlton Rewards and tiered the hotel brand into five levels of hotel rewards from 30,000 points to 70,000 points per night with the 5th night free option.

Marriott Rewards competitive advantage over Hilton HHonors is a higher distribution of hotels in the Marriott Rewards lower hotel categories 1-4 in its eight category hotel reward structure.

Marriott Rewards hotel reward levels

• Category 1 = 7,500 points
• Category 2 = 10,000 points
• Category 3 = 15,000 points
• Category 4 = 20,000 points
• Category 5 = 25,000 points
• Category 6 = 30,000 points
• Category 7 = 35,000 points
• Category 8 = 40,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 1 = 30,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 2 = 40,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 3 = 50,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 4 = 60,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 5 = 70,000 points

All Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Standard and PointSavers Reward stays offer the fifth night free. Stay 5 nights and pay the points for four nights. Fifth night free stays may be combined.  A ten night stay gets two free nights. There are no discounts for extended stays of other lengths. A 9-night stay only gets one free night.

Marriott Rewards PointSavers

PointSavers are discount rewards reducing the hotel reward night cost at the participating hotel by one category level.

For example, a Category-6 PointSavers hotel reward is 25,000 points per night. PointSavers for Category-1 hotels are a 20% discount at 6,000 points.

The Marriott Rewards PointSavers list was updated in the past month with dozens of hotels offering PointSavers rates with dates primarily in January through March 2012.

Ritz-Carlton PointSavers offer 10,000 points per night savings. Since 2009 I have seen few PointSavers at Ritz-Carlton hotels posted on the website. Members are directed to phone reservations to request PointSavers.

Marriott Travel Packages (Hotel + Air)

These are high-priced, high-value rewards starting at 200,000 points that offer a 7-night hotel stay available at any hotel category level and from 35,000 miles, up to 120,000 miles. The cost of these rewards ranges from 200,000 to 540,000 points. I will discuss Marriott Travel Package rewards further when comparing points-to-miles exchanges in these hotel loyalty programs in a future post.

Hilton HHonors Rewards

Hilton HHonors restructured its reward chart at the beginning of 2010 when it added Category 7 hotel rewards at 50,000 points, eliminated Opportunity Hotels, and shifted the cost of Category 1 and category 2 hotels down. Bottom line is more than 80% of the hotels worldwide increased in cost for a reward night.

Hilton HHonors Standard Reward Levels

• Category 1 = 7,500 points
• Category 2 = 12,500 points
• Category 3 = 25,000 points
• Category 4 = 30,000 points
• Category 5 = 35,000 points
• Category 6 = 40,000 points
• Category 7 = 50,000 points
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels = 50,000 to 80,000 points

One of the tasks I see I need to update is a hotel rewards distribution comparison for Hilton and Marriott to backup my claim that Marriott has more hotels in the lower categories. I did not do this analysis in 2011, so here is a comparison from tables I created two years ago.  Once the 2012 hotel category shifts are published I will update the distribution of hotels in each reward category for Hilton and Marriott with 2011 and 2012 data.

The table shows that fewer than 15% of Marriott brand hotel rewards were more than 20,000 points in 2010 compared to nearly 60% of Hilton brand hotels being more than 30,000 points in 2010. Hilton HHonors charges far more on average for hotel rewards, even considering Hilton Points & Points earners earn 15 points per dollar compared to 10 points per dollar for Marriott stays. The extra points needed for Hilton hotel rewards negates the extra points earned from Hilton hotel stays. In Hilton’s favor is the easier route to HHonors Diamond elite and 50% bonus points compared to Marriott Rewards Platinum elite for 50% bonus points.

HHonors Extended Stay Discounts

The competitive advantage for Hilton HHonors is the best discount for extended stays using points at hotels in Category 3 to Category 7. HHonors provides a discount on reward stays four nights or longer for members with at least HHonors Silver elite status (4 stays or 10 nights in a calendar year or HHonors credit card member).

HHonors VIP Elite Extended Stay Reward Discounts

• 4-night VIP Reward = 15% discount off standard reward rate.
• 5-night VIP Reward = 20% discount off standard reward rate. This matches the Marriott Rewards 5th Night free discount. Five nights at a category-4 hotel normally 30,000 points per night is 120,000 points.
• 6-night or longer = 25% discount off standard reward rate. This exceeds the discount offered by any other hotel loyalty program. A category 7 hotel reward for six nights at 50,000 points per night is only 225,000 points rather than 300,000 points.
• Amazingly, Hilton HHonors VIP reward chart has not been updated to separate the category 3 rewards from category 4. Category 3 hotels receive the same 15% to 25% discount shown below for other category hotels, but the HHonors reward chart does not display the discount rates for Category 3 hotels. FlyerTalk member Beltway created the table below showing the discount rate for VIP Rewards.

The chart shown above is from Post #3 on this FlyerTalk thread providing a comprehensive list of Hilton HHonors rewards.

AXON 4-Night Rewards

AXON rewards are available to HHonors American Express cardmembers for a discount on 4-night stays that is even greater than the VIP 15% reward discount.

• Category 6: 125,000 points  (VIP Reward = 136,000 points)
• Category 7: 145,000 points  (VIP Reward = 170,000 points)

Points & Money Rewards

• Category 1: not applicable
• Category 2: 6,250 points + US$30
• Category 3: 12,250 points + US$40
• Category 4: 15,000 points + US$50
• Category 5: 17,500 points + US$60
• Category 6: 20,000 points + US$70
• Category 7: 25,000 points + US$85
• Waldorf-Astoria: 30,000 points + US$100
• The data shown here was removed from the Hilton website soon after I published the table in my analysis of Points & Money Rewards on Loyalty Traveler in October 2011. These amounts are currently the amounts still used for Points & Money Rewards, however, Hilton has left open the possibility to change these levels at anytime with this wording in the Hilton HHonors FAQ.

What are Points & Money Rewards™?
If you don’t have enough Hilton HHonors™ points to book a room using Standard Room Rewards, or simply if you prefer to use fewer points, you can combine points with money to book a standard room. This is a great option if you need just a few hundred more points to achieve a reward stay. Availability of Points & Money Rewards varies by participating hotels and stay dates at the time of booking. The number of points required to redeem Points & Money Rewards varies by room, hotel, and booking date.

 

In 2011 Hilton HHonors introduced Points & Money Rewards offering hotel rewards for 50% points and a cash supplement. This new reward option replaces PointStretcher Rewards that have been eliminated for 2012. PointStretcher Rewards offered a 40% discount off standard reward points at select hotels on select dates. Points & Money offer a greater points discount, but also require cash.

I think Points & Money will be a better program feature as long as this reward choice is commonly available at hotels in many places. There were few hotels and very restricted date availability for PointStretcher Rewards over the past several years. Paying a cash supplement and 50% points is a good hotel reward option for HHonors members. The Points & Money Rewards option is still too new and too scarce to determine if this is a better replacement to PointStretchers.

HHonors Premium Room Rewards will be discussed in a separate post on suite upgrades.

The follow-up post to this “Hotel Rewards Comparison” will be to show a couple of locations and compare the reward cost in Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards hotel stay rewards and calculate the point value in each program based on the room rates for hotels in the same location and similar market segment.

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

1. Hilton, Marriott and IHG Hotel Brand Market Segments(Jan 15, 2012) – 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(Jan 17, 2012).

3. Making Elite with Marriott, IHG, Hilton(Jan 18, 2012) – Discussion of elite qualification requirements, elite status challenges and status matches.

4. Hotel Rewards Comparison: IHG, Marriott and Hilton (Jan 21, 2012)

“The are currently no Point Stretcher Reward options available. “ 

HHonors even looks like they outsourced the grammar for the webpage announcement.

The Point Stretcher thread on FlyerTalk had some discussion the past week on the lack of any hotel list update. Long-time FlyerTalk member Kempis reports this response from the HHonors Diamond agent:

With the recent launch of Points & Money Rewards the Point Stretcher rewards have been discontinued. Our new Points & Money Rewards option lets you get away faster than ever using fewer HHonors points.

Points & Money might actually be a more favorable reward opportunity as long as the Points & Money Rewards are expanded throughout the system. Point Stretcher Rewards were so restricted by date in most properties offering these rewards that their usefulness was limited.

Some of my best Hilton stays were on Point Stretcher Rewards in places like Rotterdam, Singapore and Budapest.

RIP HHonors Point Stretcher. I enjoyed using you.

Related Loyalty Traveler post: Hilton HHonors Points & Money Rewards Analysis (October 3, 2011)

I have to wonder if there is really any point in Point Stretcher rewards anymore now HHonors offers Points & Money rewards. Point Stretcher rewards are discounted 40% from standard reward levels. Category 7 hotels at 50,000 points per night go for 30,000 points with a Point Stretcher.

Points & Money reward for a category 7 hotel will be 25,000 points + $85. Obviously Hilton HHonors Points & Money Rewards are a better deal for Hilton’s profit margin than Point Stretcher rewards.

Hilton HHonors current Points & Money Reward 30% rebate promotion for hotels booked by January 31, 2012 for stays through June 30, 2012 reduces the category 7 hotel reward from 25,000 points + $85 down to 17,500 points +$85. That is sort of a win-win for the HHonors member and Hilton Worldwide compared to a Point Stretcher reward that would be 30,000 points. The member gets the reward night for 12,500 fewer points in exchange for $85.

This post is basically speculative. What do you think? Will we see another batch of HHonors Point Stretcher rewards for January-June 2012?

The reward dates at most properties give the appearance of Point Stretcher rewards being a weekend stay discount program. Most hotels offer these rewards only for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

New Zealand caught my attention as a location offering full months of Point Stretcher availability for their winter months at the Hilton Queenstown, Kawarau Hotel in Queenstown on the South Island and Hilton Lake Taupo on the North Island. June, July and August are winter days and nights in New Zealand.

Hilton Cape Town City Centre South Africa also has full month Point Stretcher dates for June through August. I read a travel piece a couple years back by a writer who hung out in Cape Town during the winter and described the tranquility of the off-season while working on a book and the terrific storms that hit the Cape.

Point Stretchers are great value rewards for one to three night stays where no other discount option is available. HHonors VIP elites have regular access to VIP Rewards for 15% discount on 4-night stays, 20% on 5-night stays, and 25% on stays of 6 to 14 nights.

American Express cardmembers also have the option of Hilton AXON reward stays of 4 nights at category 6 and 7 hotels.

AXON category 6 reward = 125,000 points (regular cost = 160,000 points) = 21.9% discount.

AXON category 7 reward = 145,000 points (regular cost = 200,000 points) = 27.5% discount.

Point Stretcher rewards can be a great value. The best hotel room upgrade Kelley and I ever had with Hilton was on a Point Stretcher stay in July 2002 at the Hilton Budapest in the King Duna Suite overlooking the Danube River.

Hilton Budapest is on the current Point Stretcher list. Pack your coat though since dates are only available for November 2011 stays at 21,000 points per night for this category 5 HHonors hotel.

Hilton Budapest view (this photo is lifted from Hilton website since I didn't bring a camera on our trip with the spectacular room views).

Hilton Budapest hotel photos. 

Related Post: Loyalty Traveler’s Hilton HHonors Comprehensive Reward Charts for HHonors Standard Rewards, HHonors VIP rewards, Waldorf Astoria Collection rewards, Hilton Grand Vacations rewards, American Express AXON rewards, and Point Stretcher rewards. (September 13, 2010)

A shift of one week in hotel stay dates results in 32,000 points savings on a normally 80,000 points two-night reward stay. Even a three night Point Stretcher stay requires just 72,000 points for the HHonors hotel category 6 Conrad Brussels.

I burned over 2 million Hilton HHonors points in the past 12 years. More than 90% of those reward nights were reduced points rewards – either Point Stretcher nights or HHonors VIP discounted 6-night rewards. Singapore, Germany, Spain, Ireland, and Belgium are a few of the locations I stayed on Point Stretcher nights. These discounts allowed me to stay about 50 more nights at Hilton properties than if I had redeemed using standard rewards like 40,000 points for the HHonors category 6 Conrad Brussels.

Discount Hotel Rewards

Several hotel programs offer discount hotel reward nights. Marriott Rewards calls them PointSavers, Hilton HHonors trademarked Point Stretcher and Priority Club has PointBreaks.

Starwood Preferred Guest has Cash & Points and a similar reduced points and cash component offer is available for Priority Club at IHG properties and Goldpoints Plus for Carlson Hotels’ Radisson and Country Inn.

There are differences in each of these program’s offers. Here is a summary of how each offer works and what you can reasonably expect to find.

Three categories of hotel reward discounts.

Limited Date Discounts

• IHG PointBreaks = 5,000 points per free reward night. (IHG reward nights are normally 10,000 to 40,000 points per night.)
• Marriott Rewards PointSavers = discount to next lower hotel category reward level; for example, category 5 hotel (25,000 points/night) requires category 4 points (20,000 points/night) for free nights. 5^th night free does apply to PointSavers rate.
• Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher  = Pay 60% of standard reward points per night (40% discount); for example, category 6 hotel at 40,000 points is 24,000 points per night with PointStretchers. HHonors VIP Extended stay discount (4 or more nights) does not apply to Point Stretcher rewards. 

Extended Stay Reward Discounts

• Marriott Rewards =  5^th night free (pay hotel category level points for four nights)
• Starwood Preferred Guest =  5^th night free (pay hotel category level points for four nights)
• HHonors VIP rewards for stays 4 nights (15% discount); 5 nights (20% discount); 6 to 14 nights (25% discount). VIP discount rewards are restricted to HHonors elite members Silver and higher.
• Goldpoints plus = 10% fewer points for additional reward nights after first night.

Cash and Points Rewards

• Starwood Preferred Guest Cash and Points nights require 40% normal points and cash portion ranging from $15 to $150 depending on SPG hotel category level from 1 to 6. Not applicable to SPG category 7 hotels. Cash & Points have the potential for very high savings and points value. There are opportunities to save more than $200 on published room rates and receive a very high redemption value for your points, particularly at the category 4 ($60 + 4,000 points) and category 5 ($90 + 4,800 points) award level.
• SPG Cash & Points awards are capacity controlled.   

SPG Cash & Points chart

• Category 1 = $25 + 1,200 points (only in U.S., Canada, Asia-Pacific)
• Category 2 = $30 + 1,600 points (only in U.S., Canada, Asia-Pacific)
• Category 3 = $45 + 2,800 points
• Category 4 = $60 + 4,000 points
• Category 5 = $90 + 4,800 points
• Category 6 = $150 + 8,000 points
• Category 7 = N/A

Priority Club – Points + Cash is a system for buying points to complete a hotel reward stay booking. Two options: Pay $40 for 5,000 points or $60 for 10,000 points. This option is available even if you have sufficient points for the hotel reward stay. This is a way to buy points at a huge discount and save Priority Club points for more hotel free nights. Buying points directly from Priority Club costs $230 for 20,000 points.

Goldpoints Plus Cash & Points offers the option to pay a cash supplement for reduced points reward nights. Category 1 to 3 hotels require 5,000 points and category 4 to 6 hotels require 10,000 points. Cash portion determined at time of hotel booking.  

Important to Remember: Reward stays, including Cash and Points rewards, do not earn hotel stay credit for annual elite qualification, with the exception of Hilton HHonors and Choice Privileges where reward stays earn elite qualification credit.

IHG PointBreaks

These are the cheapest hotels available in hotel loyalty world at 5,000 Priority Club points per night, but I am wondering if Prioity Club members have seen the best days pass for this incredible reward discount. The last two PointBreaks lists may indicate a new pattern for PointBreaks with mid-month release in December and January for hotel stays through the end of the following month. The list released this week does not include a single InterContinental Hotel which I hope does not become a new trend.

June 7, 2010 – 118 hotels (79 US, 39 international) – stay through August 30, 2010.

August 2, 2010 – 130 hotels (79 US, 51 international) – stay through October 30, 2010.

October 4, 2010 – 126 hotels (77 US, 49 international) – stay through December 30, 2010.

December 13, 2010 – 35 hotels (15 US, 20 international) – stay through January 30, 2011.

January 24, 2011 – 55 hotels (31 US, 24 international) – stay through February 28, 2011.

The deal here is any hotel on the list is available for 5,000 points. All Crowne Plaza hotels have a standard reward cost of 25,000 points per night. A PointBreaks reward night for a hotel like Crowne Plaza Denver International Airport is an 80% discount.

InterContinental Hotels have standard rates at 30,000 points or 40,000 points per night. Landing a PointBreaks vacation at an InterContinental Hotel like IC Budapest (October 2010 PointBreaks hotel) means your 40,000 points can put you in a hotel room for an eight night Pointbreaks vacation rather than just a one night stay using a standard 40,000 points reward.

PointBreaks reward nights were an 87.5% discount at the normally 40,000 points per night InterContinental Budapest luxury hotel for stays October through December 2010.

Marriott Rewards PointSavers (Loyalty Traveler post 1/26 Marriott PointSavers)

Marriott Rewards PointSavers reduce the cost of an award night by one category level. A great feature of these rewards is the 5^th night free is still offered with PointSavers. A category 6 hotel reward is normally 30,000 points per night or five nights for 120,000 points. PointSavers reduce the nightly cost of a category 6 reward down to the rate for a category 5 reward at 25,000 points per night or 100,000 points for five nights.

Biggest savings is 33% and results at Marriott category 3 level where a 15,000 points per night reward is just 10,000 points when paying the category 2 hotel reward rate. Five nights at a category 3 hotel for 40,000 points with a PointSavers reservation will likely have a high redemption value for your points in excess of $10 per 1,000 points (this occurs when the published rate of the hotel is more than $80 per night or $400 for five nights).

Marriott Rewards PointSavers Chart

PointSavers Free Nights

• Category 1 – Standard =  7,500 points; PointSavers = 6,000
• Category 2 – Standard = 10,000 points; PointSavers = 7,500
• Category 3 – Standard = 15,000 points; PointSavers = 10,000
• Category 4 – Standard = 20,000 points; PointSavers = 15,000
• Category 5 – Standard = 25,000 points; PointSavers = 20,000
• Category 6 – Standard = 30,000 points; PointSavers = 25,000
• Category 7 – Standard = 35,000 points; PointSavers = 30,000
• Category 8 – Standard = 40,000 points; PointSavers = 35,000

PointSavers are also available for select Ritz-Carlton Hotels offering 10,000 points per night discount. 

Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher (Loyalty traveler Dec 3 post HHonors Point Stretcher)

Hilton HHonors published a long list of hotels in early December offering Point Stretcher reward dates through May 2011. This is a welcome change for a program feature that languished a couple of years with very weak offerings. The hundreds of hotels on the current Point Stretcher list make Marriott Rewards, at just 25 hotels currently posted as PointSavers, look like the Hilton HHonors of old.

But don’t count on finding a Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher Category 1 Reward anytime soon.

Point Stretcher Free Nights Chart

• Category 1 – Standard =  7,500 points; Point Stretcher = 4,500
• Category 2 – Standard = 12,500 points; Point Stretcher = 7,500
• Category 3 – Standard = 25,000 points; Point Stretcher = 15,000
• Category 4 – Standard = 30,000 points; Point Stretcher = 18,000
• Category 5 – Standard = 35,000 points; Point Stretcher = 21,000
• Category 6 – Standard = 40,000 points; Point Stretcher = 24,000
• Category 7 – Standard = 50,000 points; Point Stretcher = 30,000

Extended Hotel Stay Rewards

Carlson Hotels goldpoints plus (Radisson, Park Inn and Country Inn) discount every reward night after the first night by 10%. This is the best standard discount available for two or three night stays in hotel loyalty world.

Four night stays: Hilton HHonors steps in with a 15% total points discount available as an elite member VIP reward.

Five night stays: Hilton, Marriott and Starwood all discount five night stays by 20%. Hilton restricts all VIP discount rewards to elite members.

Hilton HHonors unquestionably wins the biggest discount contest with 25% off the reward cost for stays of 6 to 14 nights. Marriott Rewards was the best discount until they went to 5^th night free in 2009. That being said, there is still competitiveness for Marriott with Hilton in that the hotel category reward distribution is much more skewed to lower categories for Marriott than Hilton. For example, there are many places where Marriott Rewards category 4 and 5 hotels are the same hotel market segment class as Hilton HHonors category 5, 6 and 7 hotels.

Marriott Rewards category 5 = 25,000 points per night or 7 nights = 150,000 points (5^th night free).

Hilton HHonors category 6 = 40,000 points or 7 nights = 210,000 points (25% discount).

HHonors Points & Points earner at 15 points/$1 compared to Marriott Rewards at 10 points/$1 makes these two rewards nearly comparable in points cost for the respective programs. The promotions make all the difference for the member (or credit card earning).

Hilton, Marriott, SPG and goldpoints have the advantage over all the other hotel loyalty programs offering no discount for extended night hotel stays.

Conclusion: The value of your points increases when you take advantage of discount rewards. There are many hotels offering discount reward rates at any given time.

But then again, this is Hilton HHonors so just ignore the message that states “No Point Stretcher Dates available for Hilton Family Hotels” when you click the Point Stretchers link and select a hotel brand to actually see the hotels and dates for Point Stretcher Rewards.

There are even four Conrad Hotels listed. Although Belgium in February may not be the best weather, the Conrad Brussels will give you a fine place to stay in from the cold.

Hilton Scotts Valley/Santa Cruz is about ten miles from the beach in redwood country above Monterey Bay, but at least there is a good chance of getting a 75-degree beach day at some point during December and January when this hotel is available for 24,000 points per night booking a Point Stretcher reward, rather than the normal 40,000 points as an HHonors Category 6 reward.

The Drake Hotel and Palmer House in Chicago have Point Stretcher dates this winter reducing these 50,000 point Category 7 hotels down to 30,000 points per night.  I posted my impressions of these hotels on Loyalty Traveler blog a couple of weeks ago.

Drake Hotel and Palmer House Chicago Points Stretcher Reward Dates-January 2011

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.)

There have been special Gulf Coast Point Stretcher Reward dates for July through September at about 50 hotels in Florida and one hotel in Louisiana.

Conrad Istanbul, Turkey illustrates the value of Point Stretcher rewards.

Conrad Istanbul - HHonors Category 6 - Point Stretcher Reward 24,000 points per night

xe.com currency conversion

Conrad Istanbul on a two-night Point Stretcher Reward for 48,000 points saves $603 for the stay.

$603/48,000 = $12.56/1,000 points. That is a high value Hilton redemption considering most hotel rewards fall in the $3 to $7 range for Hilton HHonors. And you can buy 40,000 HHonors points in a calendar year for $400.

Hilton HHonors, the loyalty program for Hilton Worldwide’s portfolio of brands, is now offering members the opportunity to redeem 40 percent fewer points at participating hotels worldwide. This special opportunity is available to HHonors members at more than 580 participating hotels through June 30, 2010 across multiple brands including Conrad hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, and Hampton Hotels.

The Point Stretcher Rewards promotion offers HHonors members the chance to make a little go a long way,” said Jeff Diskin, Senior Vice President, Global Customer Marketing, Hilton Worldwide. “Now, members of any tier can treat themselves to a getaway – faster.

Members can visit HHonors.com/pointstretcher to view the participating hotels and make reservations. A selection of participating hotels includes:

• Embassy Suites by Hilton Mexico City – Reforma – A stunning new boutique hotel, the Embassy Suites Mexico City – Reforma hotel is located in the heart of the financial, business, government and cultural center of Mexico City and is offering redemptions for a free night for only 18,000 points per night during the Point Stretcher Rewards promotion. Down from the Standard Rewards rate of 30,000 points per nights, Point Stretcher Rewards for the hotel are available today through June 30, 2010.
• Hampton Inn & Suites Millington – During a visit to the charming town of Millington, Tenn. just north of Memphis, guests can redeem 40 percent fewer points per night until April 30, 2010 at Hampton Inn & Suites Millington. The Point Stretcher Rewards promotion offers rooms for 15,000 points per night, rather than the Standard Rewards rate of 25,000 points per night.
• Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa – On the lush banks of the Nile, the newly renovated Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa in Egypt is offering redemptions for a free night for only 21,000 points per night during the Point Stretcher Rewards promotion, down from the Standard Rewards rate of 35,000 points per night. Point Stretcher Rewards for the property are available today through June 30, 2010.
• Homewood Suites by Hilton Dover – Rockaway – Just 35 miles west from New York City and 20 miles east from the Delaware Water Gap, the Homewood Suites by Hilton Dover is offering redemptions for a free night for only 21,000 points per night during the Point Stretcher Rewards promotion from May 1 through June 30, 2010. Standard Rewards for the hotel are 35,000 points per night.

For more information on the Point Stretcher Rewards program or to make a reservation at a hotel in Hilton Worldwide’s portfolio of brands please visit HHonors.com/pointstretcher. 

Loyalty Traveler loves this new Point Stretcher reward feature of HHonors. It is so much like the old Point Stretcher rewards feature of HHonors. Although considering the cost for hotel nights at more than 80% of the 3,500 Hilton brand hotels worldwide increased by 17% to 25% earlier this year, the 40% Point Stretcher award discount seems more like a 25% discount to me.

The Embassy Suites Mexico City Reforma is one of the 34 hotels that actually dropped in award category level with the 2010 changes. This category 4 hotel at 18,000 points is almost 50% fewer points on a Point Stretcher award than the standard award night cost just six months ago. But remember, this is one of only 34 hotels to go down in award category this year. Over 2,800 hotels increased one or more category levels in the January 2010 HHonors award changes.

Hampton Inn & Suites Millington, TN is one of those hotels that increased 25% in January from a 20,000 points HHonors category 2 award to a category 3 award at 25,000 points. The Point Stretcher reduces the award cost to 15,000 points.

Almost every Hilton Hotel in Egypt increased one hotel award category level in January. The Hilton Luxor Resort & Spa was one of two hotels in Egypt that did not increase in category level.

Remember the rationale for shifting almost all Hilton brand hotels systemwide up in category level was the fact that no major changes had been made to hotel categoires since 2003?

In 2005 the Hilton Luxor was a category 2 hotel award for 20,000 points per night. In 2006 it became a category 3 HHonors award at 25,000 points per night. In 2009 this hotel increased again to its current category 5 hotel award at 35,000 points per night. But with a Point Stretcher award this hotel drops back to near its 2005 standard award rate at just 21,000 points per night!

Homewood Suites, Dover NJ is a category 5 hotel that increased from category 4 in the January shift. The 21,000 points for a Point Stretcher award is a 40% savings on the current standard rate, but just a 30% savings on the former 30,000 point award level. Still, any savings is good savings. And this property has two solid months of Point Stretcher availability. It’s a Homewood Suites. Take the family.

Hilton HHonors actually posted this Point Stretchers press release on April Fool’s Day.

How appropriate!

TMtravelworld also points out the PointStretcher rate shows up as a 25% discount. I did a sample booking and the award amount for a 30,000 point Category 4 hotel showed as 22,500 points for a night (25% off). HHonors Representative posted February 26 on FlyerTalk that the award should be 40% off and there is a technical glitch to be corrected. So you should be credited back the point difference if overcharged on a Point Stretcher.

The rest of my post is apparently irrelevant, except for the fact that Hilton’s website navigation for Point Stretcher awards still does not take you to the link shown at the beginning of this post,  two days after the list has officially been posted on the HHonors site. The HHonors rewards page link goes to a page stating “Point Stretcher dates are currently unavailable.”

[my original, and out-of-date before it was  posted content, is below]

After more than seven months missing in action the Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher is back. You just can’t see them online yet. HHonors Representative, who appears to have joined FlyerTalk around the time the message appeared on the HHonors website stating “Point Stretcher Dates are currently unavailable,” has announced over 500 hotels have Point Stretcher award dates currently available through the phone reservation system for stays through June 30, 2010. Point Stretchers offer a 40% discount on the normal award cost.

The problem though is availability over the phone doesn’t do you much good unless you already have a location and dates in mind to ask. In the past Point Stretcher dates were generally scattered with just a few days or perhaps a week in any month. Some hotels may only have a single week or less over a several month period. So trying to locate a hotel and date over the phone is a tall order or a very lucky coincidence.

The 40% savings make these high value awards. 24,000 points for a category 6 hotel works out to be fewer points per night than a standard category 3 award at 25,000 points. The good news is that 500 hotels sounds like the number of participating hotels will make this a more viable award offer in 2010. Hopefully the hotels will be posted online soon. Here is the Hilton Point Stretcher web page to check.

Another encouraging sign is the comment that awards for July 1 to December 31 will be posted in late spring 2010. I guess this could technically mean around June 19, but that would at least be better than the former pattern of posting point stretcher dates for the second half of the year in late July and finding many of the best offers have already past.

Then again, the last official word way back in August 2009 said Point Stretcher award dates would appear again in September 2009.

The phrase that aptly fits HHonors the past couple of years is “Seeing is believing”.