While I don’t consider this to be an exceptional purchase opportunity for everyone, there is no doubt that some HHonors members can find hotel rate savings with these offers. In this post I will show examples of where I think this buy is a great deal.

The Hilton HHonors Daily Getaways sale happens at 1:00pm eastern time. There are no pre-sale sets of points with this offer.

HHonors members can purchase 1 set of points from each set of offers for up to 500,000 HHonors points if you can grab all three sets before they sell out. Grabbing all three sets looks to be a difficult task due to the popularity of Daily Getaways this year. Play the game and get some trusted relatives and friends to help you buy as soon as the sale opens.

100,000 HHonors points

• $550 without Amex ($5.50 per 1,000 points),
• $495 with American Express credit card payment ($4.95 per 1,000 points).
• 80 sets of points available for sale.
• Maximum purchase = 1 set of points.

150,000 HHonors points

• $825 without Amex ($5.50 per 1,000 points),
• $742.50 with American Express credit card payment ($4.95 per 1,000 points).
• 100 sets of points available for sale.
• Maximum purchase = 1 set of points.

250,000 HHonors points

• $1,375 without Amex ($5.50 per 1,000 points)
• $1,237.50 with American Express credit card payment ($4.95 per 1,000 points). 
• 100 sets of points available for sale.
• Maximum purchase = 1 set of points.

The value of Hilton HHonors points purchased at these rates

Hilton HHonors uses seven primary hotel reward categories for pricing reward nights.

• Category 1 = 7,500 points ($41.25 / $37.13)
• Category 2 = 12,500 points ($68.75 / $61.88)
• Category 3 = 25,000 points ($137.50 / $123.75)
• Category 4 = 30,000 points ($165.00 / $148.50)
• Category 5 = 35,000 points ($192.50 / $173.25)
• Category 6 = 40,000 points ($220.00 / $198.00)
• Category 7 = 50,000 points ($275.00 / $247.50)
• Waldorf-Astoria (low season) = 50,000 points ($275.00 / $247.50)
• Waldorf-Astoria (high season) = 60,000 points (330.00 / $297.00)

FlyerTalk thread showing HHonors reward tables and a variety of discount rewards.

Analysis of HHonors reward chart:

In general, I think almost all category 1 and 2 hotel rewards will be a good deal when buying points at these rates.

Category 3-6 will be dependent on the property and the normal room rates. I think most category 6 and 7 hotels will not normally have room rates higher than the cost to buy points if you are looking at a one-night stay.

The problem with HHonors hotel reward assignment is there are numerous hotels in category 6 and 7 that will likely have average hotel rates in the $150 to $175 range for most nights of the year.

The deals with Hilton HHonors are to be found in the select category 7 hotels where rates are typically over $300 per night in certain places like the South Pacific, Europe and Asia.

Hilton New York redemption value = $9.50 per 1,000 points.

Hilton Bora Bora Nui Resort = US$650 before taxes.

DoubleTree Amsterdam = US$289 or $8.25 per 1,000 points redemption value.

The hotels shown here offer substantial savings when using points purchased in the $5 per 1,000 points offers through these Daily Getaways.

Another thing to keep in mind is the extended stay discounts for VIP members and Points & Money discounts where only half the points are required with a cash supplement.

VIP Discounts available to HHonors Silver, Gold and Diamond elites offer:

• 15% fewer points on 4-night reward stays.
• 20% fewer points on 5-night reward stays.
• 25% fewer points on 6-night or longer reward stays.

The value of reward stays for the examples shown above improve when staying four or more nights and make the Daily Getaways offer even better for HHonors points. Silver status is earned with just 4 hotel stays in a calendar year or instantly if you are a HHonors credit card member.

Bottom line: HHonors points are a good deal at these Daily Getaways rates if you have a plan to use them for high value hotel reward stays. These sets in the 100,000 to 250,000 points quantities are sufficient for getting VIP extended stay rewards or several Points & Money reward nights.

Keep in mind that HHonors is probably the strictest hotel loyalty program for deleting points when a member has no earning or redemption activity for a year or more.

Good luck and be ready to buy exactly when the points go on sale Wednesday April 25 at 1:00pm eastern. 280 sets of points will likely sell out within a minute.

Hilton Worldwide At-A-Glance (December 31, 2011 data)

• 3,843 Hotels
• 633,238 Rooms
• 88 countries

USA

• 3,326 hotels in USA
• 86% of Hilton Worldwide global properties are in USA
• 650 hotels planned for next five years; primarily in Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites and Home2 Suites

Americas

• 3,473 Hotels (including 3,326 in USA)
• Plan to open 50 hotels in Canada in next five years and 20 hotels in Mexico.

Asia Pacific

• 84 hotels
• Plan to open 130 hotels in next five years.
• China has 25 hotels and plan to grow to 110 hotels in five years.
• India has 8 hotels and plan to grow to 50 hotels in five years.

Latin America

• 40 hotels
• Plan to open hotels in more countries in next five years including Panama. Doubletree is already open in Panama.

Europe

• 230 hotels
• Plan to grow by more than 50% (115+ hotels) in five years.

Middle East and Africa

• 56 hotels
• Plan to sign more than 100 hotels in these regions in next five years.

Hilton Worldwide Hotel Brands by the Numbers

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (luxury)

• 21 hotels
• 8 countries
• Plan to open in Panama, Greece and Canada

Conrad Hotels & Resorts (luxury)

• 17 hotels
• 13 countries
• Plan to open in Fiji, India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Portugal and United Arab Emirates.

Hilton Hotels & Resorts (upper upscale)

• 553 hotels
• 77 countries
• Plans to open 50 hotels in China and 5 in India

Embassy Suites Hotels (upper upscale)

• 212 hotels
• 7 countries
• Plans to expand in Latin America and Caribbean, including Costa Rica

DoubleTree by Hilton (upscale)

• 281 hotels
• 24 countries
• Plans to open more than 80 hotels; mostly outside the USA.

Hilton Garden Inn (upscale)

• 538 hotels
• 13 countries
• Plans to expand internationally with more than 50 hotels including 10 in Russia, 5 in India and the first HGI in China.

Hampton Hotels (upper midscale)

• 1,847 hotels (almost all in US)
• 10 countries
• Plans to continue expansion in the US and open more than 60 hotels outside the US.

Homewood Suites by Hilton (upscale extended stay)

• 310 hotels
• 3 countries
• Plans to open 6 hotels in Canada

Home 2 Suites by Hilton (upper midscale extended stay)

• 7 hotels
• 1 country
• Plans to open 100 hotels by end 2015 in US, Canada and Mexico

Hilton Grand Vacations (timeshare properties)

• 37 properties
• 5 countries (USA, Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Scotland)
• 176,000 members

Source: Hilton Worldwide Brands Fact Sheet 2012

Hotel market segment data from 2012 STR US Chain Scales.

HHonors Promotion registration is required. Promotion FAQ link.

HHonors Points & Points Earners with Double Points

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

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

HHonors Points & Miles Earners with Double Miles

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

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

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

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

HHonors airline partners and miles earn rate link.

Non-participating hotels are almost all in USA

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s up Hilton?

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

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

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

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.

Promotion Code = TIN

The Hollywood Movie Money® certificate will be emailed to you a few weeks after the stay with redemption instructions. The certificate may only be redeemed at participating theaters from December 21 – January 22, 2012.

Hampton Inn Tin movie special offer for stays through December 31, 2011.

European Vacation Sweepstakes 

An additional benefit of booking your Hampton stay using the TIN movie rate is an entry into a sweepstakes for a European vacation in London or Paris with a prize value over US$6,000. Prize includes roundtrip coach airfare from US and two rooms for four nights in London or Paris.

Now I am all for oatmeal. I cook a cup of old-fashioned or steel cut oatmeal five days a week, and since it is semi-fluid nutrition Kelley can eat her breakfast from a cup while driving 40 miles to work.

Hampton’s Innovation Process

According to the Hotel News Now article, Hampton’s innovation process is a multi-step process.

Kurt Smith, VP of product quality and innovation for Hilton’s focused-service brands, described Hampton’s innovation process. The steps:

1. listen,
2. ideate,
3. generate,
4. test,
5. evaluate,
6. refine,
7. launch
8. measure.

I have to wonder if we are currently at Stage 8 with Premium Rewards when it seems like there was little adjustment made to the new reward option for Steps 5, 6 and 7, except perhaps to devalue HHonors points even further after six months of trial period Premium Room Rewards between April and October 2011.

I’ll just leave you with this quote from the HNN article by Phil Cordell, global head of focused service and Hampton brand management for Hilton Worldwide.

“We realized the roadside driver that is willing to pay (US)$139 along the roadside also is willing to pay (US)$600 in midtown Manhattan,” Cordell said. “So we have a significant opportunity in urban markets.”

That brings back memories of 2007 when I felt hotel rates were quickly rising to unsustainable levels for the vast majority of the traveling public.

Look out your hotel doors Hilton executives! The 99%ers are occupying and sleeping on the roadside for free in their tents. Perhaps you can market to the 1% willing to pay $600 in midtown Manhattan.

At 40,000 points per night those Manhattan Hampton Inns are a good value on HHonors points when the rate is $400 per night. But expect to pay about 120,000 points per night for that Hampton Inn if only Premium Room Upgrade Rewards are available.

And expect all those Manhattan Hampton Inn hotels to become Category 7 hotels (or higher) if rates actually do hit $600.

Just look on the bright side and remember that Hilton Worldwide listens to its guests.

You can count on a free breakfast of oatmeal with a choice of 12 toppings at Hampton Inn, regardless of the rate you pay.

Related Loyalty Traveler posts: 

Hilton HHonors Rate Analysis for Points & Money and Premium Room Rewards (May 9, 2011) Premium Room Reward points value was $6.00 per 1,000 points.

HHonors Premium Room Rewards Impacting Diamond Reservations Guarantee (June 20, 2011) Premium Room Reward points value is as low as $2,56 per 1,000 points in rate searches.

HHonors Premium Room Rewards Analysis and Flexible Dates search tool (October 10, 2011)

Do Premium Room Rewards Prevent Going Global GLON and American Express AXON extended stay rewards at some Hilton Resorts? (October 13, 2011)

HHonors Representative responds to hotels offering only Premium Room Rewards issue. (October 14, 2011) Value for Premium Room Rewards is about $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points at U.S. properties and US$4.29 per 1,000 points at international properties. Quite a drop from the $6.00 value calculated in May 2011 in first post during the trial period for these new HHonors rewards.

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.