24
Apr
U.S. Travel Association Daily Getaways offer for Wednesday April 25 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. Read More…
I periodically post hotel numbers to keep track of how many properties are in specific hotel brands and what is the ratio of hotels in the USA and outside the USA for the major hotel chains.
Hilton Worldwide At-A-Glance (December 31, 2011 data)
Hilton brand Embassy Suites has a Facebook Sweepstakes running daily through February 28, 2013. Each day one person will win two certificates valid for one free night at any Embassy Suites worldwide. One of the certificates may even be gifted to a friend through a Facebook app.
Facebook sweepstakes is open to residents of USA (50 states + DC), Puerto Rico and Canada (excluding Quebec). You are allowed to enter one time per day.
The video on the Facebook page is amusing. I recommend watching it to use up another two minutes of your day.
Embassy Suites 366 Days of More Facebook Sweepstakes link.
Facebook Sweepstakes terms
Hilton HHonors members can earn double points or double miles for stays from April 1 through June 30, 2012.
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.
Embassy Suites launched 366 Days of More Sweepstakes on February 29, 2012 through its Facebook page. Residents of the USA, D.C., Puerto Rico and Canada, excluding Quebec may register for the sweepstakes on the Embassy Suites Hotels Facebook page for 366 Days of More Sweepstakes.
I was in an Embassy Suites just this past week. As usual the swimming pool was loaded with children.
Enbassy Suites Internet Kiosk
The Connie Awards, named for Hilton Hotels’ founder Conrad Hilton, recognize the leading hotel in each brand of the Hilton Worldwide chain. These awards are more of internal corporate recognition, although I think a Connie Award winner is something to keep in mind when you are visiting these winning locations.
Here are recent winners I was able to locate in press releases. I couldn’t find a basic press release from Hilton listing winners from each brand.
Some Connie Award Winners from the past year:
Embassy Suites Omaha, Nebraska – La Vista / Hotel & Conference Center received the #1 ranking for the third consecutive year (HHonors category 4 – 30,000 points).
Hampton Inn, Okeechobee, Florida (HHonors category 3 – 25,000 points).
Hilton Garden Inn Salt Lake City/Downtown, Utah (HHonors category 4 – 30,000 points). HGI press release Feb7, 2012.
Hilton Phoenix/Chandler, Arizona (HHonors category 4 – 30,000 points).
Asia-Pacific
Hilton Lake Taupo, New Zealand (HHonors category 5 – 35,000 points).
Nice to know that the top hotels are not necessarily HHonors category 7 hotels.
Now I know that there is something to look forward to if my travels take me to Omaha.
Omaha, somewhere in middle America
Get right to the heart of matters
It’s the heart that matters more.Counting Crows – Omaha (1993)
Over the next few weeks I will compare aspects of different hotel loyalty programs. While it is easy to look at the different websites and compare member benefits, the proportion of hotel brands and their market segment as a proportion of hotels participating in a hotel loyalty program tends not to be as well known.
Hotel Chain Scales are used by hotel industry analysts at STR.com to segment hotel brands into luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy categories.
The largest hotel loyalty programs for the US are Hilton, Marriott and IHG in terms of the size and broad range of hotels in different market segments. Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges and Best Western Rewards are comparable megachain hotels, but there are far fewer hotels in the upscale to luxury segments in these three brands. Starwood (1,100 hotels) and Hyatt (500 hotels) have a high proportion of upscale to luxury hotel brands in their portfolios, however, the number of hotels are far fewer in these chains and not as useful for travelers needing wide geographic coverage.
Hotel Brands and Market Segments
What is a luxury hotel or an upper-upscale hotel?
Price is generally the defining line between hotel market segments. I do not work in the hotel industry and I am an amateur analyst interpreting numbers from hotel industry data. STRGlobal.com provides industry data reports and I gather statistical data about the hotel industry regularly from the free data provided online.
STR has a list of hotel brands in different chain scale segments based on the average room rate data for thousands of hotels worldwide.
This post uses the 2011 STR US Chain Scales along with the latest hotel properties data for each brand from the hotel chain’s websites to compare market segments for hotel brands of Hilton, IHG and Marriott.
Basically I want to see how the hotels in Hilton, IHG and Marriott segment out in each chain and compare to each other when looking at the number of luxury, upscale and midscale hotels in each hotel loyalty program.
Hilton Worldwide Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels
Marriott International Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels
InterContinental Hotels Group
I have some issue with the broad segmentation of Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree as Upscale rather than Upper Upscale for some locations and Holiday Inn as Upper Midscale for some locations where the Holiday Inn is more upscale. Keep in mind in the real world of travel there will be some Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree hotels that will be just as nice or better than the nearby Marriott, Hilton or Embassy Suites.
How the hotel chains stack up when brands are compared by market segment.
Luxury market segment
Upper Upscale market segment
Upscale market segment
Upper Midscale market segment
Midscale market segment
The key point here is to consider what market segment you desire for your travels. IHG Priority Club will tend to be lower room rates, but Priority Club does not offer frequent guest elite members the level of defined benefits provided by Hilton HHonors or Marriott Rewards to their md-tier and top-tier elite members.
Another point to add is the practice of placing branded hotels in the same chain adjacent to each other. This is really common with Marriott where Courtyard and Residence Inn are literally adjacent hotels in many places. I have seen three Marriott properties in the same location in places. Geographic coverage is not as extensive as you might think when all the locations with multiple properties are considered. On the other hand, the placement of hotels in the same chain next to each other makes hotel hopping for loyalty promotion stay credit an easy task when you want to earn free Marriott MegaBonus nights.
Comparison of hotel loyalty program benefits across these hotel brands will be discussed in future posts.
Hilton Worldwide has a December Sale available for booking through January 1, 2012 on stays from December 8 to January 8, 2012. These are prepaid, no changes and nonrefundable rates offering from 20% to 33% discount on Best Available Rate (BAR). The discount depends on the hotel brand and global region.
Hilton Rate Discounts by Hotel Brand and Region
North and South America
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Asia Pacific
Loyalty Traveler analysis
Rate comparisons for two San Francisco Hilton Hotels show a 25% discount on BAR. These hotels offered from 10% to 15% discount with AAA rates. The December Sale discount is the lowest rate I found for these two hotels. Keep in mind though that December Sale rates are prepaid at time of booking and nonrefundable.
December Sale rates apply to higher category rooms like junior suites and full suites.
Hilton Union Square San Francisco Dec 24-26, 2011
December Sale rate saves about $130 after tax for a two night stay in a one bedroom suite compared to AAA rate.
Hilton San Francisco Union Square Rate Comparison
Bed & Breakfast deals in EMEA region can be a significant savings compared to the normal cost to eat breakfast which often runs as high as US$30 per person at hotel restaurants.
Hilton London Euston Hotel Breakfast rate is only US$10.40 more per day.
Hilton HHonors members will no longer have the option to earn Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards points effective January 1, 2012. Members with Points & Miles earning preference set with Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards need to change earning to a different airline by January 1, 2012 or the account automatically reverts to Points & Points earning on January 1, 2012.
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.
Hilton Worldwide has a three day sale for 50,000 rooms beginning today for select hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa for weekend stays from October 14 to December 16, 2011. These rates qualify for Hilton’s Q4 promotion of a free night after four stays. Bookings must be made by Wednesday October 12.
Both room only rates and Bed & Breakfast discount rates are offered. FlyerTalk members report finding some good rate discounts with these prepaid, nonrefundable rates.
5,000 HHonors bonus points new member enrollment bonus for two night stay by Dec 31, 2011.
Non-participating hotels
Hilton HHonors has a promotion for Delta SkyMiles offering double miles and 250 Medallion elite status qualifying miles (MQM) for every stay of two nights or longer from October 1 to December 11, 2011. There is no list of nonparticipating hotels so this appears to be a worldwide offer across the Hilton Worldwide chain.
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)
Fixed Miles Earning (Regular earning rate = 250 miles per stay; double Skymiles = 500 miles per stay)
Variable Miles Earning (1 mile per U.S. Dollar; Double Skymiles = 2 miles per dollar.)
Double SkyMiles MQM
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.
