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)

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

• Hilton Worldwide has 3,712 hotels in this list, but this is only an estimate. New hotels open every few days.The percentage of hotels in each brand is listed in ( ).
• Conrad Hotels (luxury) = 18 hotels (<1%).
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (luxury) = 23 hotels (<1%).
• Hilton Hotels and Resorts (upper upscale) = 540 hotels (15%) in 78 countries including 70 Resorts.
• Embassy Suites (upper upscale) = 201 hotels (5%) with 193 in US and 8 international.
• Hilton Grand Vacations (upper upscale) = 50 properties (1%).
• DoubleTree by Hilton (upscale) = 250 hotels (7%) in 17 countries.
• Homewood Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 309 hotels (8%) in North America.
• Hilton Garden Inn (upscale) = 515 hotels (14%) with 130 in development.
• Hampton Inn (upper midscale) = 1,800 hotels (48%) with more than 1,700 in US and growing international expansion recently.
• Home2 Suites (upper midscale – extended stay) = 6 hotels (<1%).

Marriott International Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels

• 3,747 properties in 13 brands in 72 countries. This total does not include Marriott Executive Apartments which earn Marriott Rewards points, but are extended stay contracted properties and not a typical hotel stay.
• Ritz-Carlton (luxury) = 81 hotels (2%).
• JW Marriott (luxury) = 62 hotels (2%).
• Marriott Hotels & Resorts (upper upscale) = 521 hotels (14%).
• Renaissance (upper upscale) = 160 hotels (4%).
• Autograph Collection (upper upscale) = 29 hotels (<1%).
• Marriott Vacation Club (upper upscale) = 59 properties (2%).
• Marriott Conference Centers (upper upscale) = 7 hotels (<1%).
• Courtyard (upscale) = 926 hotels (25%).
• AC Hotels (upscale) = 82 hotels mostly in Spain (2%).
• SpringHill Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 299 hotels (8%).
• Residence Inn (upscale – extended stay) = 627 hotels (17%).
• Fairfield Inn (upper midscale) = 689 hotels (18%).
• TownePlace Suites (upper midscale – extended stay)= 205 hotels (5%).

InterContinental Hotels Group

• 4,452 hotels (as of September 2011)
• InterContinental Hotels (luxury) = 171 hotels (4%).
• Crowne Plaza (upscale) =  401 hotels (9%).
• Hotel Indigo (upscale) =  38 hotels (<1%).
• Staybridge Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 195 hotels (4%).
• Holiday Inn (upper midscale) = 1,238 hotels (28%).
• Holiday Inn Express (upper midscale) = 2,103 hotels (47%) with 1,866 in Americas.
• Candlewood Suites (midscale) = 300 hotels (7%).
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations = 6 properties (<1%).

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

• IHG = 171 hotels (InterContinental)
• Marriott = 143 hotels (Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott)
• Hilton = 41 hotels (Conrad, Waldorf Astoria)

Upper Upscale market segment

• Hilton = 791 hotels (Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations)
• Marriott = 776 hotels (Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection, Marriott Vacation Club)
• IHG = 0 hotels (based on STR chain scale rankings, but in reality many Crowne Plaza hotels are upper upscale).

Upscale market segment

• Marriott = 1,934 hotels (Courtyard, Residence Inn, AC Hotels)
• Hilton = 1,074 (Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, DoubleTree)
• IHG = 634 hotels (Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites)

Upper Midscale market segment

• IHG = 3,341 hotels (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express)
• Hilton = 1,806 (Hampton Inn)
• Marriott = 894 (Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites)

Midscale market segment

• IHG = 300 (Candlewood Suites)

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.

• Stay must be booked at least 7 days before arrival in Americas. Advance booking window may be less for hotels in other regions.
• Earn 1,000 bonus HHonors points for stays of at least two nights booked with this promotion offer. You can book one night stays, but no bonus points.

Hilton Rate Discounts by Hotel Brand and Region

North and South America

• 25% discount: Conrad, Doubletree, Hilton, Waldorf Astoria
• 20% discount: Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations, Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites.

Europe, Middle East and Africa

• 33% discount on BAR and Bed & Breakfast: Conrad, Doubletree, Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Waldorf Astoria.
• 20% discount BAR: Hampton Inn

Asia Pacific

• 33% discount on BAR: Conrad, Doubletree, Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Waldorf Astoria.
• 25% discount: Japan properties

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.

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.

Both room only rates and Bed & Breakfast discount rates are offered. FlyerTalk members report finding some good rate discounts with these prepaid, nonrefundable rates.

• Weekend = Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Europe.
• Weekend = Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Middle East and Africa as defined by local law.
• Rates are prepaid and nonrefundable. No changes allowed.
• Book by October 12 (UK time?)
• Terms & Conditions link.

5,000 HHonors bonus points new member enrollment bonus for two night stay by Dec 31, 2011.

• New HHonors members who enroll with this link and complete a two night stay by December 31, 2011 will receive 5,000 bonus HHonors points.

Non-participating hotels

• Hilton Frankfurt Airport,
• Hilton Garden Inn Frankfurt Airport,
• Hilton Garden Inn Perm,
• Doubletree by Hilton Milton Keynes,
• Hilton Doha,
• Hilton Garden Inn Lecce,
• Hilton Bursa,
• Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor,
• Hilton Garden Inn Mardin,
• Hilton Dalaman Resort & Spa,
• Hilton Bodrum Turkbuku Resort & Spa,
• Hilton Coylumbridge, Aviemore,
• Hilton Brighton Metropole,
• Doubletree by Hilton Cambridge,
• Hilton London Kensington,
• Hilton London Olympia,
• Hilton Blackpool,
• Hilton York.

HHonors-Delta Skymiles Registration is required here.

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

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

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

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

What does Double SkyMiles mean with Hilton HHonors?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Double SkyMiles MQM

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

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

Members must choose between earning free nights or an alternate promotion earning double points. There are about 270 properties opting out of this promotion, almost all in the U.S.

HHonors Fast Ways to Free Stays promotion registration is required.

Free Nights or Double Points?

HHonors Fast Ways to Free Stays 2011-Q4 promotion offers the choice of double points or a free night every 4 stays or 10 nights.

Double points is only a better offer if you think you will not qualify for a free night during the promotion period or perhaps you are a really big spender. Considering a person needs to spend $5,000 to earn 50,000 bonus points with the double points offer, most HHonors members will likely have four stays or ten nights and earn a free night certificate long before spending $5,000.

HHonors ‘Fast Ways to Free Stays’ Basics

• Promotion period = October 1-December 31, 2011
• Promotion available for HHonors members worldwide
• About 270 hotels opted out promotion among 3,700 hotels worldwide. Almost all hotels opting out are located in U.S.
• List of non-participating Hilton Hotels.
• Member must select either double points or free nights version of promotion.
• No changing promotion preference from double points or free nights after member registers.
• Double points = 10 bonus points per $1 above regular earning rate for Points & Points or Points & Miles earners.
• Free Night certificate may be redeemed at any Hilton brand property worldwide (even the hotels that have opted out of the promotion for earning free nights.)
• Ten nights qualification does not need to be consecutive nights.
• HHonors members earn regular points and miles during this promotion.
• HHonors reward stays do not count for free night qualification.
• HHonors free night certificates expire 6 months after issuance. (Assuming all certificates are issued by January 31, 2012, this means that the latest date is likely July 2012 for redeeming free nights.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

This is a 5-key promotion and the most lucrative offer for 2011-Q4 hotel stays.

Hotel hopping for one-night stays means this offer is like getting 12,500 to 15,000 or even 20,000 bonus points per hotel stay when a free night certificate is redeemed for a category 7 HHonors hotel reward night or Waldorf-Astoria Collection where reward nights can be as high as 80,000 points per night.

I am definitely looking to take advantage of this HHonors ‘Fast Ways to Free Stays’ offer as my primary high value rebate for hotel stays over the next three months.

HHonors 2011-Q4 Fast Ways to Free Stays

Hilton HHonors Promotion non-participating hotels 

The only reason I am writing about this offer is due to an email I received from a PR person representing Embassy Suites after my post on Four Points, Aloft, Element offering a $40 gas card for a two night stay. She provided a list of 40 participating Embassy Suites hotels offering the gas card promotion; approximately 20% of the chain.

After an hour analyzing this offer at numerous hotels, I have to say that this is basically a 1-key offer. Most hotels will charge a higher rate over Best Available. Most hotels I checked required a higher rate that completely negates the value of the gas card.

Why pay $25 more per night for a $25 gas card? After hotel taxes, the higher rate ends up being more than the value of the gas card for most hotels I checked.

Value-added package rates are hotel rates I find most annoying. Generally the value-added component for meals, spa credit, or a tour offer is negated by the higher rate code. Aside from extended parking rates, I rarely find a good value offer with value-added packages, unless you were already planning to have a spa treatment or golf or dine during your hotel stay.

I read a Cornell Hospitality Research report a couple of years ago that encouraged hotel revenue managers to create bundled packages as a method for getting higher rates out of travelers who would be unlikely to compare the cost of the package components.

The Embassy Suites gas card seems to be one of these offers designed to steer guests into paying a higher room rate.

There are some hotels where this gas card rate might work out to be a $5 to $10 gas card value per hotel night. But my general advice is not to waste too much time on this offer.

I did.

Loyalty Traveler 1-key offer.

Arizona 

• Phoenix-Scottsdale, AZ: $50 Gas Gift Card per stay (applies even if stay is just one night) 
• Tucson-Paloma, AZ: $50 Gas Gift Card for two-night stay for any weekend
• Phoenix North, AZ: $25 Gas Gift Card per night
• Flagstaff, AZ: $20 Gas Gift Card per night 

California

• Walnut Creek, CA : $20 Gas Gift Card per night
• Temecula, CA: $15 Gas Gift Card per two-night stay
• Lompoc, CA: $10 Gas Gift Card per night (Limit, up to three nights)
• San Luis Obispo, CA: $10 Gas Gift Card per night (Limit, up to three nights)

 SoCal Cluster (18 hotels): $10 Gas Gift Card per night (Limit, up to three nights)

• Embassy Suites Valencia
• Embassy Suites Mandalay Beach Hotel & Resort
• Embassy Suites Los Angeles – Glendale
• Embassy Suites Los Angeles Airport/North
• Embassy Suites Arcadia – Pasadena
• Embassy Suites Los Angeles – Downey
• Embassy Suites Anaheim – South
• Embassy Suites Anaheim – North
• Embassy Suites Irvine – Orange County Airport
• Embassy Suites Santa Ana – Orange County Airport
• Embassy Suites Brea – North
• Embassy Suites Palm Desert
• Embassy Suites La Quinta Hotel & Spa
• Embassy Suites Temecula
• Embassy Suites San Diego – La Jolla
• Embassy Suites San Diego Bay – Downtown
• Embassy Suites LAX South
• Embassy Suites Ontario Airport

Colorado 

• Denver International Airport, CO: $15 per night (Limit, up to three nights)
• Denver Tech Center, CO: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay

Georgia 

• Alpharetta, GA: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Massachusetts 

• Boston Logan Airport, MA: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Nevada 

• Las Vegas Convention Center, NV: $25 Gas Gift Card per night
• Las Vegas, NV: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

North Carolina

• Charlotte: $25 Gas Gift Card per night (max: 2)  

Ohio 

• Cleveland Rockside, OH: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay
• Columbus Dublin, OH: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Texas

• Dallas Park Central, TX: $50 Gas Gift Card per two-night stay
• Dallas Galleria, TX: $20 Gas Gift Card per night
• Houston – Energy Corridor, TX: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay
• San Antonio Downtown Riverwalk, TX: $25 Gas Gift Card per stay 

Washington 

• Seattle – Bellevue, WA: $25 Gas Gift Card per night 
• Seattle-North Lynnwood, WA: $20 Gas Gift Card per night

Embassy Suites $10 Gas Card Rate at Valencia is $62.45 more than AAA

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

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

Earning with Hilton HHonors

HHonors Points & Points

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

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

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

HHonors Points & Miles

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fixed or Variable Miles?

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

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

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

Highest HHonors Earning Airline Partners

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

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

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

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

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

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

Changing Your HHonors Earning Preference:

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

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

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

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

Tour of California 2011

The Tour of California provides the opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest cyclists up close. I spent much of the morning as a groupie around the Leopard Trek bus hoping to meet Andy Schleck and Jens Voigt.

Team Leopard Trek bicycles outside Tour bus

Andy Schleck is from Luxembourg and he came in second in the 2010 Tour de France.

Andy Schleck - Seaside - Tour of California 2011

Jens Voigt is German and in the 2009 Tour de France he took the hardest fall I ever saw in a mountain descent where he was knocked out with a concussion and fractured his cheek bone. Jens is the oldest guy in the race, and he was the friendliest guy for the crowd waiting around the bus. These guys were in the race zone.

Jens Voigt - Seaside - Tour of California 2011

Update: Jens dropped out after Stage 5. Turns out he rode the day with a broken wrist suffered in a fall during Stage 4. One tough guy. Wishing Jens a full recovery in time for Tour de France starting July 2.

The race was routed to head down the coast on Highway 1 to Big Sur, but the road washed into the sea in March and still hasn’t been fully repaired. Yesterday’s stage went through the hills of Carmel Valley instead to Paso Robles.

Levi Leipheimer - 3-time winner of Tour of California riding for Radio Shack

The morning was typical fog, then the good sunny weather returned to Seaside-Monterey soon after the riders left. No worry for the riders though as the sun was out with perfect 70s in Carmel Valley already.

Tour of California 2011 - May 19 - Stage 5 start in Seaside, California

So what does any of this have to do with hotels? Well, I parked at the Embassy Suites Seaside, the closest hotel to the starting line of Stage 5 of the 2011 Tour of California eight-day cycling race. Actually only 7 days this year since the Lake Tahoe stage was cancelled due to the snow storm that hit the Sierra and shortened my Yosemite/Kings Canyon National Parks trip last weekend.

Embassy Suites, Seaside, California