Marriott Rewards PointSavers Plus offers a rebate on discounted reward nights using points between September 9, 2009 and January 15, 2010. The title of this post is Marriott’s promotional phrase, not my original superlative phrase.

Register online by January 15, 2010 or call 1-801-468-4000. Stay eligibility is retroactive for PointSaver nights redeemed during the promotional period. You still get the points rebate if you booked a PointSaver stay before signing up for the promotion as long as you register by Jan 15, 2010.

Gold and Platinum Marriott Rewards elites = 15% Point Rebate on PointSaver nights.

All other Marriott Rewards members = 10%

PointSavers are a point discount of one category level for a hotel stay using Marriott Rewards points. A hotel listed as a Category 6 redemption hotel for Marriott Rewards free nights normally costs 30,000 points per night with a 5^th night free.

PointSavers reduces the cost of the Category 6 hotel to a Category 5 level for 25,000 points per night with a 5^th night free.

Dates and participating PointSaver hotels are variable.

LINK: Marriott List of Participating PointSavers Hotels and Dates 

Ritz-Carlton Hotels are available for Pointsavers, however, they are not eligible for this rebate offer.

Marriott Rewards PointStretcher and Standard Awards Table

Example PointSaver Savings and Rebate:

Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club, Kalapaki Beach, Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii

Marriott Category 6 Hotel

PointSaver Dates:

Sep 15 – Sep 30, 2009

Oct 8 – Nov 3, 2009

Nov 14 – Dec 24, 2009

Jan 3 – Jan 17, 2009

PointSavers Discount Table for General Members and Silver Elite Rebate on a Category 6 Hotel Stay

PointSavers Discount Table for Gold and Platinum Elite Members Rebate on a Category 6 Hotel Stay

The table above shows there are some significant savings on Category 6 PointSaver redemptions after the 15% rebate points for Gold and Platinum elites compared to the regular cost for a Marriott Rewards Category 6 Hotel.

Sample Category 6 Hotels Participating in PointSavers:

Chicago – The Blackstone, Renaissance Hotel

November 22-27, 2009

December 17-30, 2009

Aruba – Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino

February 1 – December 21, 2009

Category 5 Hotels:

Edinburgh Marriott Hotel, Edinburgh, Scotland

January 1 – December 31, 2009

Marriott Druids Glen, Ireland

January 1 – December 31, 2009

There are a couple of interesting terms and conditions for the PointSavers Rebate:

*Your membership year elite level will be determined by your December 31, 2009 qualification level. This means you could be Silver elite at the time you redeem PointSaver awards and receive a 15% point rebate in January if your membership level is Gold by December 31, 2009.

*A rebate can be earned on a multi-room stay if Marriott Rewards account is associated with the stay.

Link: Marriott PointSavers Plus promotion terms

Either you currently have Marriott Rewards points or you don’t. This is actually a clever incentive for increasing hotel stay and points earning activity with Marriott Rewards for the remainder of the year. Activities like shopping through Marriott Rewards web shopping portal, activating or using a Marriott Rewards credit card, and hotel stays will boost your account balance. Since this is a rebate promotion you will need the full amount of points required for the PointSavers award nights. The rebate of points based on your Dec 31, 2009 elite qualification will happen sometime in January through March 2010.

Another way to get Marriott Rewards points:

Diners Club Rewards

1,250 DC points = 1,500 Marriott rewards points

PointBreaks are one of the best hotel loyalty program discount room offers available. For just 5,000 points per reward night an InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club member can book a free night.  And even if you don’t have points, the cost to buy 5,000 points is as low as $57.50 to purchase directly from Priority Club. Within 24 hours you can have up to 40,000 points to book a room.

The primary condition to keep in mind with PointBreaks is the list of hotels dwindles down as the available rooms at properties are reserved and hotels are removed from the list.

This new list of properties went online on Monday and already the InterContinental Vienna has been removed from the list. Not surprising since this hotel offered a $200 per night savings with the PointsBreak free night. This is the first week the updated PointBreaks hotels have been posted, so more than 160 hotels are still available for reservations.

PointBreaks Links:

United States Hotels (88 hotels)

Canada (12 hotels)

Mexico (all IHG hotels in Mexico are 50% discount on free nights using points thru December 1, 2009)

Central and South America (7 hotels)

Europe  (27 hotels)

Africa/Middle East  (11 hotels)

Asia (10 hotels)

Oceania (6 hotels)

Priority Club Points Purchase link: https://priorityclub.points.com/purchase/index.jsp

Mexico Reward Nights are 50% points thru December 1, 2009

This PointBreaks offer has one different feature from past offers. All award nights in Mexico are offered as 50% off award nights for all IHG member hotels rather than the regular 5,000 points per night PointsBreak offers.

Mexico Reward Nights Points Discount

Many of the hotels in Mexico will be more than 5,000 points, however, all hotels in Mexico are available for a 50% free night redemption with points through December 1, 2009.

Priority Club 50% Off Mexico Reward Nights

Some notable IHG member hotels still on the list today:

InterContinental Mauritius – Balaclava Fort

Oct.12-17 room rate is 144€/night = $203/night. This hotel is available for a 5-night stay at 25,000 points =$1,015 USD room rate value.

InterContinental Fiji

October 12-17, 2009 $158USD per night, 25,000 points = $790 value

InterContinental Wellington, New Zealand

October 12-17, 2009 248NZD = $160USD per night. 25,000 points = $800 value.

These are probably not even the highest value hotels. They are just samples of the bargains available at upper-upscale and resort hotels in the list of more than 160 PointBreaks hotel offers currently listed.  Mexico is an additional offer with its 50% discount on free nights using points at all IHG hotels.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club has introduced Cash & Points award night options. This is one of the best overall consumer friendly changes in hotel loyalty programs for 2009. The savvy hotel rate shopper can use Cash & Points award nights to pay a portion of cash to buy points at a discount rate for each award night.

Loyalty Traveler argues the option to purchase discounted Priority Club points for award night redemption along with the option to purchase bonus points at a discount in conjunction with paid stays is a high-value strategy and highly competitive hotel loyalty program offer.

IHG Cash & Points Post Objectives:

- Discuss details of new Priority Club Cash & Points award nights offers.

- Show how the purchase of Bonus Points when offered in hotel rate options along with the use of Cash & Points is a cheap way to accumulate points for free award nights.  This strategy is useful for Priority Club members without excessive account balances. The member earns more points on paid stays and conserves points when redeeming for free nights. The alternative method of buying points from Priority Club at $11.50 per 1,000 points to accumulate extra points (up to 40,000 points per calendar year) costs about twice as much.

Priority Club Award Night Cash and Points Options:

Priority Club follows the lead of Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) with their own unique version of Cash & Points award nights.

Priority Club is now offering Cash & Points awards for hotels. The twist is that a member must purchase points to be added to the member’s account with the Cash portion of the award rate.

SPG is different from IC Hotels Group in how Cash & Points awards work.

The difference with IC Hotels Group Cash & Points is the Priority Club member is actually making a nonrefundable purchase of Priority Club points at a discount rate ($6 per 1,000 points) to be added to the member’s account balance. The Priority Club member can use the Cash & Points option to buy discounted points at the rate of $6 per 1,000 points and thereby conserve the points redeemed from the account for free hotel nights.

Example: InterContinental Amstel, Amsterdam, Netherlands

(Award Night Redemption: Monday, July 6, 2009)

Lowest Paid Rate: 425€ for King Bed Executive City View on Best Flexible Rate or amazingly the Penthouse Suite is going for 500€ on a nonrefundable rate.

Cash & Points Award Night is available at the following rates:

·         40,000 points for award night

·         35,000 points + $30

·         30,000 points + $60

Assume: Priority Club member has 100,000 points. This used to only be sufficient for 2 nights at the IC Amstel in Amsterdam at a cost of 80,000 points.

Cash & Points now makes a 3-night stay possible at the cost of 90,000 points + $180. Considering the single night cost for the IC Amstel is near $600USD, the option to get 3 nights for 90,000 points + $180 is a fantastic alternative to just two free nights at the hotel.

And the 30,000 points purchased for the three Cash & Points nights may count for elite status qualification if that option is not officially blocked by Priority Club. Discussion on FlyerTalk indicates the purchased points for Cash & Points free nights do count for elite status, at least up to 40,000 points in a calendar year.

Priority Club points purchased through Points & Cash awards do not count toward Priority Club elite status.

FlyerTalk discussion on Cash & Points

One of the primary talking points in the discussion of Priority Club Cash & Points awards on FlyerTalk is whether the Cash & Points award points purchases count towards Priority Club elite status. This point is testing the parameters of the IHG Priority Club loyalty program.

The issue creating confusion is the ability to purchase Priority Club points in two different ways.

1.      Buy points directly from Priority Club, up to 40,000 points in a calendar year.

2.      Buy points when redeeming Cash & Points award nights

At the present time purchases of points from Priority Club do count towards Priority Club elite qualification, up to the 40,000 points per calendar year limit. A person can buy Gold elite membership in Priority Club for $50 or earn Gold elite with the purchase of 20,000 Priority Club points for $230. Points purchases through the Buy Points link are a totally separate transaction type from the Cash & Points awards.

The debate on FlyerTalk this past week has been whether the points purchased for Cash & Points awards also count towards annual elite qualification. It appears these points may count towards status, but only up to the 40,000 points annual purchase limit. Points purchased for Points & Cash awards do not qualify for elite membership credit for Priority Club.

Cash & Points Award Nights Strategy

The value of the Cash & Points award night option is the strategy to purchase points at nearly 50% off the regular points purchase route (10,000 points =$60 for a Cash and Points award whereas 20,000 points = $230 using the Buy Points option).

Priority Club Points Purchase Options:

There are now 3 easy ways to accumulate Priority Club points.

1.      Buy Bonus Points during stays (about $6 to $9 per 1,000 points)

2.      Buy points during free night redemption ($6.00 per 1,000 points)

3.      Buy Points from Priority Club ($11.50 to $13.50 per 1,000 points)

The first two options cost about 50% of the direct purchase of points. 

Example of Purchasing Bonus Points with a Paid Hotel Rate

InterContinental San Francisco

Hotel Rates for one night on Monday, June 22

·         $151.05 AAA Queen Bed ($174.46 after tax) is lowest available rate.

·         $159 Best Flexible Rate

·         $159 California Staycation rate includes breakfast and parking (must be CA resident)

·         $164 Plus 1000 Bonus Points ($13 for 1,000 points)

·         $169 Plus 2000 Bonus Points ($18 for 2000 points)

·         $174 Plus 4,000 Bonus Points ($23 for 4,000 points) [This is a great price at $5.75 per 1000 points compared to purchasing points from Priority Club for $11.50 per 1000 points.]

·         $189 Plus Breakfast for Two ($38 premium on AAA rate for two breakfasts)

·         Valet Parking is additional $55.86 per night.

The best value here is the value added California Staycation package, but assume that isn’t an option.

Points earned on $174 rate for 4,000 bonus points.

Priority Club general member earns 2,000 points for an InterContinental Hotel stay, plus 4,000 points for this rate. The points premium charge of $23 for  4,000 points works out to about $6.50/1,000 points after tax. This is an earning rate of about 150 points per $1 in hotel bonus points spending compared to the regular earning of about 11 points per dollar for the $174 hotel rate spending at the InterContinental.

The economic value of points purchases is quite easy to show:

InterContinental Hotels (top-tier) = 40,000 points per night.

InterContinental Hotels (lower-tier) = 30,000 points per night.

Crowne Plaza Hotels = 25,000 points per night.

Two options to purchase points in the $6 per 1,000 points price range means a simple table can be used for determining when you will gain value from a free night redemption compared to a paid night.

When you purchase points at $6 per 1,000 through bonus points on paid stays and purchased points on award stays, then you are essentially buying free nights at the price you pay for all the points purchases you make.

Anytime the total room rate after tax is more than these values, then you will save redeeming points for an award.  As always, consider the lost value in promotion offers when redeeming an award vs. a paid stay.

Loyalty Traveler advice: Buy points at $6/1,000 whenever possible in conjunction with paid stays and award stays and you will be able to book a high-priced InterContinental Hotel or Crowne Plaza at a bargain rate and frequently save on the cost of hotel rooms by redeeming your Priority Club points when room rates are too high.

The ability to easily acquire large amounts of low-cost points in Priority Club is its competitive advantage in Cash and Points over Starwood Hotels C&P offers.  The economic rationale of buying points for an award stay may not be appealing to someone already saturated with Priority Club points, but most of us travelers fortunately do not fall into that category. The option of buying low-cost points for award travel is a welcome opportunity for hotel rate savings to the travel consumer.

InterContinental Bangkok

Marriott Rewards has hotel redemption offers exclusively for elite members.  The changes to Marriott Rewards is prompting many elite members with 150,000 points or more to take advantage of high value elite redemptions with regional hotel sampler rewards before the 2009 calendar date change.

Marriott Rewards elite members (Silver, Gold, Platinum) have the option to purchase 7-night multiple hotel stay Sampler rewards called Hawaii Hopper or Europe Hopper for 150,000 points.  These Marriott Rewards hotel redemption certificates are issued as three paper certificates for 2-night, 2-night, and 3-night combination of hotels and are valid for 12-months from issue date for any participating Marriott hotel within the Marriott-defined region of Europe or Hawaii.  There are also Sampler Rewards for Florida and UK/Ireland. 

Marriott Rewards elite members have the opportunity to redeem Europe or Hawaii Hopper awards under the 2008 award rules and benefit from the “No Blackouts” rules changes in effect January 15, 2009.  The Hopper does not require advance reservations and is valid for any Marriott Rewards category of hotel redemption, including the soon to be Category 8 hotels. 

The Marriott Rewards member can order these certificates (Europe Hopper must be ordered by December 31; Hawaii by January 14, 2009) before the 2009 change at the low rate of 21,429 points per night.  2009 per night redemption rates will be 30,000 for a Category 6 hotel; 35,000 points for Category 7; and 40,000 points for Category 8 hotels with a 5^th night free on longer hotel stays.

There are 14 Marriott Hotels listed for the new Category 8 redemption level beginning January 15, 2009.  Nine of these hotels are in Europe (none in Hawaii):

List of Category 8 Hotels: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/lra-faq.mi#question16

Category 8 Hotels in Europe

• Paris Marriott Hotel Champs Elysees
• Renaissance Paris Vendome
• JW Marriott Capri Tiberio Palace Resort & Spa
• Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora
• London Marriott Hotel County Hall
• London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square
• London Marriott Hotel Marble Arch
• London Marriott Hotel Park Lane
• Renaissance Chancery Court London

Marriott Rewards Elite:  Europe Hopper 7-Night Reward  

Elite members of Marriott Rewards can redeem 150,000 points for a Europe Hopper 7-night award with three paper certificates issued for 2-, 2-, and 3-night hotel stays at any participating Marriott in Europe.  (Russia and Turkey are not participating hotels for this award.)  The value of this redemption is the savings in Marriott Rewards points for hotels in 2009 by having Europe Hopper certificates once the hotels in London, Paris, and Rome are established in a new redemption Category 8 hotel for 40,000 points per night. 

The Europe Hopper award must be ordered by December 31, 2008 and the award will be valid for 12 months for any European participating hotel, according to posts by Marriott Concierge (Marriott Rewards representative) on FlyerTalk.  Current Category 7 hotels joining the new Category 8 will still be available for new reservations after January 15, 2009, if using the Europe Hopper certificates.  Beginning January 15, when the new Marriott Rewards rules take effect, the cost for a Category 8 hotel night using points will be 40,000 points.  The new 5^th night free option will mean 7 nights at category 8 hotels will cost 240,000 points. 

Redeeming 150,000 points now for 2009 Europe hotel stays can potentially save 90,000 Marriott Rewards points on a trip including Marriott Hotels in London, Paris, or Rome.  Any combination of Category 6, 7, or 8 hotel redemptions using the Europe Hopper certificates will save points compared to the upcoming 2009 redemption changes for standard awards and 5^th night free.

A shout-out to FlyerTalk member GrizShel who put together a detailed FlyerTalk thread to assist Marriott Rewards members with consolidated information from a Marriott Hotels representative and included analysis on the Marriott Rewards changes that will impact members hotel redemptions in 2009.  This thread also contains useful information about redeeming for Marriott Rewards Air and Hotel Packages before January 15, 2009.

Credit Card Fast-Track to Marriott Rewards Status

Marriott low level elite starts at Silver based on 10 nights of Marriott hotel brand stays in a calendar year.  The Marriott Rewards Visa Signature credit card gives Silver Elite membership through an annual 10 nights credit towards Marriott Rewards elite status as long as you maintain card membership in good standing.

Priority Club Rewards Buy Points 10% bonus

Buying points is a good way to top off the points in your hotel loyalty account for that free hotel stay award.  Until November 6, 2008 Priority Club will add a 10% points bonus to all purchases.  Priority Club raised the price of points this past year to $11.50 per 1,000 points on purchases of 20,000 to 40,000 points. 

Priority Club points purchase link and rules:

Points must be purchased in 1,000 point increments

·         Only 40,000 points may be purchased in a rolling 12-month period (this favors buying points sooner rather than later if you plan to buy 40,000 points so you can repeat purchase in another 12 months).

·         Price:    

o   $13.50 per 1,000 points for 1,000 to 9,000 points

o   $12.50 per 1,000 points for 10,000 to 19,000 points

o   $11.50 per 1,000 points for 20,000 to 40,000 points

·         Points will appear in account within 48 hours.

The current promotional bonus deal allows the Priority Club member to purchase 44,000 points for $460.  And if you think buying 44,000 points seems like a waste of money, keep reading.

Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco

Buying points can be a great hotel cost savings

No other program offers the opportunity to get a high value room for so few points as InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards with their PointBreaks for 5,000 points award nights.  The challenge with PointBreaks is getting your reservation in as soon as new hotels are listed.  The list changes every couple of months and as hotel reservations are booked the PointBreaks hotel list dwindles in size.

Current offers for PointBreaks are valid for hotel stays through November 30, 2008. 

Consider the Hotel Indigo Columbus Architectural Center in Columbus, Indiana, one of the new boutique brand hotels of IHG.  (I realized there is a Columbus, Indiana after several minutes searching for this hotel in Ohio.) 

A four night stay at the Hotel Indigo Architectural Center from Monday, November 3 to Friday, November 7, 2008 will cost 20,000 points using the PointBreaks special offer.  A Priority Club member can buy 22,000 points with the current bonus points promotion and book this four night stay for $230.

This same hotel stay will run $153 per night + 12% tax for a nonrefundable room rate of $171 per night.  A four night fully paid stay will cost $684. 

Just buying Priority Club Rewards points and booking a PointBreaks stay will reduce the four night hotel stay at the Hotel Indigo, Columbus, Indiana by $450.

 Now that is a discount!

Marriott Rewards Advantage is Free Nights Redemption Chart

Marriott Rewards competitive advantage over Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, IHG Priority Club, and Starwood Preferred Guest is their “Free Nights Redemption Chart” which offers a progressively increasing per night discount for multiple night hotel stays using points. The difference with the Marriott Rewards table is the points per night cost decreases for every extra night of a hotel stay using points beginning with 2-night stays.

 Marriott San Francisco 

Savings Example Using Marriott Rewards Points for a Multiple Night Stay:

Marriott Rewards Category 5 Hotels cost 25,000 points for one room night using points. 

2-night stay = 46,000 points.   Per night rate drops to 23,000 points for a free night when you book a two-night stay using points.  Spending 46,000 points for two nights is an 8% discount from 50,000 points.

Important Difference of Marriott Rewards — The other major hotel programs do not discount the per night cost for a two-night stay.

A Crowne Plaza stay at 25,000 points  for one night will cost 50,000 points for two nights using hotel points.

A 5-night stay at a Marriott Rewards Category 5 hotel using points costs 95,000 points.  The cost per night on a 5-night Marriott Rewards Category 5 hotel = 19,000 points per free night.  This is a 24% savings on the per night cost for a five night hotel stay.

The higher category Marriott Rewards hotels, Category 5, 6, and 7 hotels, for longer stays of five to seven nights provide a per night discount over 30% and some reward stays approach a 40% discount when using points.  This is one of the highest discounts in the hotel industry for upscale and luxury high-end hotel properties when using hotel points for free stays.

Starwood Preferred Guest has the 5th Night Free Award Stay which gives a 20% discount on the per night rate, but SPG does not have discounted point rates for stays less than five nights using hotel points.

Marriott Rewards Redemption Chart 

source: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/hotelrew.mi  

Marriott Rewards – Points per Night for a Multiple Night Stay 

Color codes show the relative per night discounts for longer stays. 

Percentages shown are per night discounts for an award stay based on per night cost for a 1-night award.  The larger percentages indicate more savings in points when booking a multi-night award using Marriott Rewards hotel points.

Marriott Rewards discounts the per night rate by 30% or more for cat 5, 6, and 7 hotels on 6-night and 7-night award reservations.

Marriott Rewards discounts are 20% to 27% on per night rates for Category 5, 6, and 7 hotels when booking 4-night or 5-night award stays using points.

Other Hotel chains are not as generous as Marriott Rewards for shorter hotel stays using points.

Hilton HHonors requires a minimum 6-night stay before any discount kicks in on the per night redemption rate using points.  VIP-only awards for 6-night or longer hotel stays are available to Hilton HHonors elite members.  Elite membership is a relatively small hurdle to qualify for Silver elite status and access to VIP-Only Reward stays.  Hilton HHonors Silver VIP requires just four Hilton-family hotel stays per year.

HHonors Category 6 hotel is 40,000 points per night.  A 6-night VIP award for a Category 6 hotel is 175,000 points, a 27% points discount.  Marriott’s comparable 6-night, Category 6 award is only 120,000 points and offers a 33% discount on the per night rate.  Hilton allows the member to earn 15 points per $1 hotel spending with Points&Points earning preference.  These awards will take about the same amount of hotel spending to earn the award.

HHonors Category 6 hotel is 40,000 points per night.  A 4-night award for a HHonors Category 6 hotel is 160,000 points, no discount on the per night points for a four-night HHonors stay.

Marriott Rewards Category 6 hotel for a four-night stay is 95,000 points.

The Marriott Rewards member is likely to earn a four night stay with less overall spending.  Hilton HHonors Diamond elites will have more equally matched earning power due to HHonors 50% elite bonus for Diamonds compared to only a 30% elite bonus for Marriott Rewards Platinum members.

Update Oct. 4, 2008:  HHonors American Express credit card HHonors 4-night AXON award discount.  An astute reader pointed out the option for Hilton HHonors members with a co-branded American Express HHonors credit card to redeem HHonors points for a 4-night AXON award at HHonors Category 5 or Category 6 hotels for 125,000 points. 

I overlooked the AXON hotel stay option in this analysis.  I have a post from May 15, 2008 about the HHonors American Express AXON awards.  The HHonors American Express card, along with SPG AmEx, also came out on top in earning potential in my analysis of hotel co-branded credit cards in this post “Comparison of Hotel Loyalty Program Affinity Credit Cards“.

Gary Leff wrote about the best bonus points offer he has seen from HHonors American Express on his “View from the Wing” blog in this October 4, 2008 post .

Hyatt Gold Passport

Wanted: Affordable Luxury Hotel Vacation

Solution: Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Cash and Points Awards

Last April I took a road trip from Monterey, California to Phoenix, Arizona and booked two of my hotel stays using Starwood Preferred Guest’s Cash & Points option for resorts in the Palm Springs and Scottsdale area.   In Palm Springs I stayed at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage and posted about the experience here, in “Wanted: Room with a View”.  In Scottsdale I was upgraded to a suite at the Westin Kierland Resort on my Cash & Points award stay.  I had a great view at the Westin Mission Hills, but I suspect there are hundreds of people every year disappointed with their parking lot view rooms.  A hotel loyalty plan for travel could prevent that let-down.

Cash and Points is a type of hotel loyalty program award allowing the frequent guest member to substitute a fixed amount of cash for a portion of the hotel points normally required for a free hotel stay.  This payment strategy can be one of the highest value ways to use your hard-earned hotel points.

Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

SPG Category 5 Hotel

Payment Option 1 – Best Available Rate: $479 per night ($538 per night with 12.27% taxes)

Payment Option 2 – Free Night Using Points: 12,000 Starpoints per night

Payment Option 3 – SPG Cash & Points award: $90 + 4,800 Starpoints per night

All Cash Payment:  Out of the three payment options for the Westin Kierland I toss option 1 out at first glance as it is $479/night.  That is the lowest rate, nonrefundable, and another 12.27% tax is on top of the $479 base room rate to reach $538 per night. 

All Points Payment: Payment option 2 using 12,000 points for a free night is commonly the only other choice for a one night hotel stay.  An advantage of the Starwood hotel loyalty program is the easy redemption of points when and where you want to stay.  You can even buy 12,000 Starpoints from the SPG website for $35/1,000 points or $420 for 12,000 points if you needed to stay at the Westin Kierland.  The all points option will save $118 compared to the fully paid rate if you have to buy all 12,000 points.  Awards on points generally do not have additional taxes, which is a significant savings to consider. 

Cash & Points Payment:  Payment Option 3 uses a combination of $90 cash + 12.27% tax ($11.05), plus 4,800 points.  Cash & Points Hotel Night costs 4,800 points + $101.05 per night.

I feel much more comfortable parting with 4,800 Starpoints rather than 12,000 points for a hotel stay.  And financially the Cash & Points award is a fantastic savings on the nightly rate.

Purchasing Starpoints from SPG (link to SPG)

Assume you have zero Starpoints.  You can enroll for free in Starwood Preferred Guest if you are not a current member.  As soon as you are a member you can buy Starpoints.

You simply purchase 5,000 Starpoints for $175 from the SPG website link shown above.

Total cost for the Westin Kierland has been reduced from $538 for a fully paid one night stay down to $276.05 per night for a Cash & Points award stay. 

You can book a two-night stay using the SPG Cash & Points option for just a few dollars more than a one-night fully paid cash stay. 

SPG Cash & Points is one of the best hotel discount strategies available.

Another Sample Hotel Cash & Points Savings

W Mexico City, November 10-13

SPG Category 5

Lowest nightly rate: $394 (+17% tax) = $466.83/night or $1,400.49 for 3-night stay.

Cash & Points $90 + 4,800 points  = $105.30 (after tax) + 4,800 points per night.

You can purchase 15,000 Starpoints for $525 and the cash portion of the 3-night award stay will be $315.90 for a total cost of $840.90 at the Starwood Hotels W Mexico City.

W Mexico City, a 3-night stay will be at least $560 less using Cash & Points Award nights compared to the regular paid rate for the sample date searched.  And if you have SPG elite status you can anticipate an upgrade to an even better category room.

Important to remember

Cash&Points awards are capacity controlled and many Starwood hotels will not have this award option during peak seasons. 

I searched a couple of weekends in San Diego for October 2008 and there were no Cash & Points options for any of the San Diego area Starwood hotels. 

I did not see any Cash & Points options for New York City hotels over several dates I searched. 

Starwood Preferred Guest Category 5 and 6 hotels, the properties that trend toward a luxury and resort clientele, generally will have the high average room rates to make Cash & Points a lucrative savings opportunity. 

Cash & Points are a hotel savings strategy to consider when you want a luxury getaway at an affordable price.

Fall 2008 PointBreaks List Currently Available for IHG Priority Club Rewards Reservations for Stays through November 30, 2008

PointBreaks are one of the best available hotel loyalty deals for the traveler.  The new list of participating hotels in the InterContinental Hotels Group for Priority Club Rewards PointBreaks is out and contains nearly 140 hotels around the world available for just 5,000 points per reward night.

·         Middle East = 5 hotels in Egypt, Eritrea, Israel, Lebanon, and Yemen

·         Asia = 21 hotels in China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka

·         Oceania = 4 hotels in Australia and Fiji

·         Europe = 20 hotels in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.

·         Central and South America = 6 hotels in Brazil, El Salvador, and Guatemala

·         Mexico = 6 hotels

·         Canada = 11 hotels in 6 provinces

·         USA = 65 hotels in 17 states

In Fall 2007 there were 49 hotels in Europe on the PointBreaks list and this year there are only 20 hotels in the Fall 2008 PointBreaks offer.  Still, although the participating hotels are fewer, there are great savings to be had if one of the properties matches your destination.

Haifa, Israel has a Crowne Plaza hotel where I saw 6 nights availability for 30,000 points in October using Pointbreaks.  The lowest available rate for the Crowne Plaza Haifa during the dates checked for Pointbreaks availability was $156US/night. 

For a traveler planning to stay in Haifa for six nights the choice becomes 30,000 points or $936?  If you are paying the bill with your own funds, consider 30,000 Priority Club Rewards points can be purchased for $345 online on the Priority Club Rewards website.

I tried a dozen dates for the Crowne Plaza Milan, Italy and could not find any availability using PointBreaks.  With room rates in the 150-200 Euro per night range, the PointBreaks would be quite valuable at this location if you can locate availability.

October 14-17, 2008 sample dates for 3-night hotel stay searches:

Crowne Plaza Hannover, Germany had availability for a 3-night stay in October on my first date search.  The lowest available room rate for these dates was a nonrefundable 117€/night ($1.47/€ = $172US/night).  15,000 Priority Club points would save $516 on this stay.

Holiday Inn Jaipur, India had availability for a 3-night stay in October for 15,000 points using PointBreaks.  The lowest available rate was 6,750 Indian Rupees ($158US) or $474US for a 3-night stay.

Hotel Indigo Fishers Indy’s Uptown, Fishers, Indiana, USA

3-night stay will cost 15,000 Priority Club Rewards points or $159 (+ 12% tax)/night or $534.24 for a 3-night stay at a Hotel Indigo in Indiana.

Priority Club Points Purchase when used for PointBreaks Award Nights.  Members can purchase up to 40,000 points in a 12-month period.

5,000 points = $67.50  at $13.50 per 1,000 points. 

1-night PointBreaks award costs $67.50.

15,000 points = $187.50 ($12.50 per 1,000 points.

3-night PointBreaks reward costs $62.50/night.

25,000 points = $287.50 ($11.50 per 1,000 points.

5-night PointBreaks reward costs $57.50/night.

Priority Club has a real treat for the savvy consumer who can fit Pointbreaks Reward nights into your travel itinerary.

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The hotel frequent guest promotions were flying out of the internet this week as I was busy helping my wife move from one classroom to her new kindergarten classroom (the amount of classroom stuff she has is equivalent to moving our household).

And then there are the Beijing 2008 Olympics.  I watched the opening ceremonies online Friday morning, August 8, on Russian and German TV.  I watched Michael Phelps win his first gold medal live over the internet on Saudi TV.  And each day as I learned of new sites for online viewing access, the sites were made inaccessible to viewers in the USA.  Big brother is squeezing the internet and the American viewers suffer through this Olympics.  Some of us more than others.  At least east coast USA is seeing some of the Olympics live, particularly Michael Phelps swimming races.  I have been spending 8 to 9 pm every evening online picking up the posted times and scores of the races here in California while running a verbal rant against the corporate idiots who subject American viewers to tape-delay sports while simultaneously blocking access to live video feeds of the Olympic events over the internet. 

Roger Federer and the Williams sisters should have considered sleeping in a Beijing Holiday Inn Express.  The Tennis US Open is just around the corner and unfortunately the new IHG Priority Club PointBreaks list for Fall stays does not include Beijing, California, or New York for those of us finished watching tennis breakpoints. 

Ric’s Note: The past week I have posted overviews of Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges, and Best Western Gold Crown Club (Randy Petersen reports the rumor that a name change to Best Western Rewards is in the works). I was actually writing these in the spirit of budget travel. Then, I come across a FlyerTalk thread mentioning hotels in Europe are available at 50% off standard redemption rates for Radisson. I’m reminded of a Radisson Gold Points advertisement I kept seeing in May on FlyerTalk making a claim to being the easiest hotel program to earn free nights or some such bold statement (sorry, I don’t remember the ad wording and I didn’t ever get a screen shot. Send me an email if you know the wording of the Radisson ad I am taking about).

These blog posts are not comprehensive analyses of the hotel loyalty programs. I have written quick basic informational overviews and report some of my findings as I navigated the hotel loyalty program and corporate websites for a particular chain. The primary issue for me as a hotel loyalty program analyst focused on the consumer is user-friendliness and function for both the frequent guest program and the loyalty program and reservations websites.

*****

Radisson Hotels – GoldPoints Plus

The Radisson Hotels and Resorts websites were terrific for ease of navigation and locating relevant information about the loyalty program, points required for a free night, and elite member benefits.

Carlson Hotel Family – 985 hotels worldwide in five hotel brands in 71 countries. The first Radisson hotel was opened in 1909 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Radisson Hotels and Resorts is one of the hotel brands of Carlson Hotels Worldwide. Headquarters: Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Radisson Hotels and Resorts (USA) – mid-scale to upscale lodging segment with about 400 full-service hotels in the flagship brand in 64 countries
Radisson SAS Hotels and Resorts (international) upscale lodging segment
Radisson Edwardian Hotels (UK and London) – 13 hotels in upscale lodging segment

Regent Hotels and Resorts (luxury lodging segment) – 9 hotels with several more in construction. These luxury hotels were part of Four Seasons when bought by Carlson in 1997.

Park Plaza – (mid-scale to upscale lodging sector) about 40 hotels and many international locations

Country Inns and Suites – (mid-scale lodging sector) over 450 hotels in North America, Europe, Latin America and India

Park Inn – (mid-scale lodging sector) about 100 hotels worldwide

Earning GoldPoints

20 Gold Points per $1 US or Euro in eligible hotel spending at Radisson Hotels and Resorts, Regent Hotels, and Park Plaza hotels.

15 Gold Points per $1 US or Euro in eligible hotel spending at Country Inns and Suites and Park Inn hotels.

500 bonus points for booking online. (Most major hotel programs eliminated online booking bonuses years ago.)

The points earnings are biased against Euro currency. This is certainly not as good a deal for the hotel stay purchases made in Europe when the Euro is worth 50% more than the dollar. How are points calculated for a European member staying in the Middle East on a currency different from USD or EUR?

Redeeming Points for Free Nights

The GoldPoints website offers every hotel member redemption rate for a free night using GoldPoints on a single webpage.

There are 6 tiers of hotels for free night reward redemption starting at 15,000 GoldPoints for a Tier 1 free night and rising to 90,000 GoldPoints for a free night at a Tier 6 hotel (Gold Elite members earn 50% bonus points or 30 points/$1 so 90,000 points for a free night at a Tier 6 hotel is equivalent to $3,000 in eligible hotel spending).

While the points earning rate for GoldPoints is double the rate for Marriott or IHG Priority Club and even exceeds Hilton HHonors earnings using Points and Points preference (15 points per $1), the redemption level for a free night is more than double the number of points for any of the comparable major hotel loyalty programs of Marriott, Hilton, IHG, or Hyatt. Only SPG seems to look worse for earning redeemable nights (3 Starpoints/$1 earned for SPG Platinum compared to 30 GoldPoints/$1 earned) at the high end hotels (30,000 Starpoints per free night at Starwood Preferred Guest Category 7 hotel = $10,000 spending).

With hotel programs the mid-tier redemption category hotels tend to be better values as few lowest-tier hotels exist in most hotel loyalty programs. And high-tier properties are either resorts or extremely high demand locations where a member will often find better value by paying cash than redeeming points.

Free Nights Using GoldPoints

GoldPoints free night awards cost 10% less points for each additional night after the first night. (Except for Tier 4 hotels which are only a 9% discount on points due to rounding in GoldPoints favor rather than the frequent guest. )

Tier 1 hotels = 15,000 points for the first night, and 13,500 points for each additional night.
Tier 2 = 25,000 points for the first night, and 22,500 points for each additional night.
Tier 3 = 30,000 points for the first night, and 27,000 points for each additional night.
Tier 4 = 45,000 points for the first night, and 41,000 points for each additional night.
(Should be 40,500 points if the 10% reduction pattern were followed in all hotel tiers).
Tier 5 = 60,000 points for the first night, and 54,000 points for each additional night.
Tier 6 = 90,000 points for the first night, and 81,000 points for each additional night.

Flexible rewards are available for periods with no standard hotel free night award availability at a cost of 50% more for the first night.

The flex night discount for extended stays with additional nights using points is not a simple percentage reduction like standard awards.

Tier 1 = 22,500 points for the first night, and 19,500 points for each additional night.
(13% discount for additional nights.)
Tier 2 = 37,500 points for the first night, and 33,000 points for each additional night.
(12% discount for additional nights.)
Tier 3 = 45,000 points for the first night, and 39,000 points for each additional night.
(13% discount for additional nights.)
Tier 4 = 67,500 points for the first night, and 60,000 points for each additional night.
(11% discount for additional nights.)
Tier 5 = 90,000 points for the first night, and 78,750 points for each additional night.
(12.5% discount for additional nights.)
Tier 6 = 135,000 points for the first night, and 121,500 points for each additional night.
(10% discount for additional nights.)

The lowest discount on points needed for additional free hotel nights is on the highest tier hotels. In contrast, Marriott Rewards offers their greatest free nights discount on top-tier, multi-night stays and it amount to about 40% savings in points for a 7-night stay in a Category 7 hotel using points.

Sample Hotels in each free night using points redemption tier:
Tier 1:
Knoxville, Tennessee – Country Inn and Suites, Knoxville East;
Park Inn, Milpitas, California;
Park Plaza, Toronto Airport;
Radisson Hotel and Suites, Guatemala City, Guatemala ( I stayed at this hotel during the LatinPass mileage run back in 2000 and the hotel guest services representative picked me up at the airport and rode the taxi back to the hotel with me. He was a young man who grew up in the Mission District of San Francisco. The hotel was large and seemed rather luxurious to me for the price I paid.)

Tier 2:
Park Inn, Mainz, Germany
Park Inn, Greenmarket Square, Cape Town, South Africa

Tier 3:
Radisson Hotel, LAX, Los Angeles, California
Country Inn and Suites, Holyoke, Massachusetts

Tier 4:
Radisson SAS Seaside Hotel, Helsinki, Finland
Radisson Ambassador Plaza Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Tier 5:
Radisson SAS Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Radisson Plaza Resort, Tahiti, French Polynesia
Radisson Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel, London, UK

Tier 6:
Radisson Lexington Hotel, New York, New York
Radisson Edwardian Mountbatten Hotel, London, UK
Regent Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France

GoldPoints Plus Elite Membership:

Silver elite for 15 nights or 10 stays in a calendar year.
Benefits include:
25% points bonus (25 points per $1 at Radisson, Park Plaza, and Regent)
Late check-out
Best available room in category booked
10% off weekend rates in Europe, Asia, and Middle East

Gold elite for 35 nights or 20 stays in a calendar year.
Benefits include:
50% points bonus (30 points per $1 at Radisson, Park Plaza, and Regent)
Early check-in and Late check-out
Best available room in category booked
10% off weekend rates in Europe, Asia, and Middle East
Flex night redemption at base award night rate.
Weekend Extend – get 2-for-1 nights or 4-for-2 nights on weekends

The flex night redemption at base award rate actually sounds like the member has the ability to use points essentially without blackouts. This is a huge benefit of top elite status with GoldPoints Plus. The qualification standard of 35 nights or 20 stays for top elite status is a lower standard than the other major upscale programs of Hyatt (25 stays/50 nights), Starwood (25 stays/50 nights), Hilton (28 stays/60 nights), IHG Priority Club (50 nights), and Marriott (75 nights).

Overall: GoldPoints Plus has made great strides in developing a traveler-friendly hotel loyalty program that rewards frequent guests with the opportunity for free hotel nights comparably with the other major hotel loyalty programs.

Current GoldPoints Promotion for 100,000 Bonus Points

Summer 2008 Radisson Hotels and Resorts Points To Go Promotion, June 1- August 31, 2008
Earn up to 100,000 GoldPoints this summer with stays at any of the five Carlson Hotel brands of Radisson, Regent, Park Plaza, Park Inn, and Country Inn and Suites.

5 nights = 5,000 bonus GoldPoints
10 nights = 10,000 bonus GoldPoints
15 nights = 25,000 bonus GoldPoints
20 nights = 50,000 bonus GoldPoints
25 nights = 100,000 bonus GoldPoints

Nights do not need to be consecutive. Nights, not stays, are counted for promotion.

By the numbers:
Park Inn, Milpitas, California room rate check for Sat., June 7 shows $65/night. Assume I could find rates throughout the summer in similar range at various hotels.
Extrapolate to 25 nights over summer = $1,625 for 25 hotel nights.

A frequent guest GoldPoints Plus member earns 15 points per $1 (Park Inn) for 15 nights and 18.75 points per $1 for 10 nights after earning Silver elite membership. (15 points x $65 x 15 nights + 18.75 points x $65 x 10 nights) = 14,625 + 12,187 = 26,812 points.

100,000 points bonus + 26, 812 points as a new member completing promotion over summer 2008 = 126,812 points and possibly Gold elite status if stays are planned to earn elite status along with bonus points for Points to Go promotion. Additional points (500 points per reservation) can be earned through online booking of hotel nights. Points earned are enough for 8 free nights at a Tier 1 hotel ($500-800 value at many locations) or for two free nights using points at a Category 4 hotel (potentially a $400 to $600 value at many locations).

Hotel loyalty elite status has the primary benefit of a “room with a view”. Last week I stayed two nights at Westin Hotel resorts and one night at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. A day in Palm Springs and two days in Phoenix gave me time to see about 14 other hotel resort properties in these two winter havens.

The Palm Springs area of Coachella Valley is a string of resort towns built on the valley desert flatland at the base of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains. Palm Springs merges into Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, and Indian Wells. The valley is a patchwork of long straight roads with frequent and quick-changing traffic lights. I ran more lights in 24 hours trying to drive around the valley towns looking for streets like Frank Sinatra than I have in 24 years. Shopping centers, schools, public parks, and gated communities coexist with golf courses, hotel resorts, and Indian gaming casinos.

The single most prevalent observation I made in Palm Springs was the probability of being booked in a room with an undesirable location within the resort. Paying $300 per night and looking out the room window to someone’s Cadillac in the parking lot is not my idea of resort vacationing. The view of the high mountain peaks of the San Jacinto Mountains towering above the valley with the highest peak at nearly 11,000 feet is an incredible sight and the surrounding mountains are a beautiful view to behold.

San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Mountains form a picturesque backdrop to the resort

My first hotel stay was the Westin Mission Hills Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage, about 10 miles from downtown Palm Springs. The hotel portion of the resort is a series of 16 two-story guest buildings. The odd-numbered rooms are ground floor and even-numbered rooms are upstairs. There are no building elevators so top floor rooms are handicap inaccessible.
Adjacent to the Guest Buildings are the Westin Mission Hills Vacation Villas located in 11 buildings to the east of the hotel buildings. The Villas are available for rent and tend to be lower priced than the hotel rooms much of the time, but this portion of the property has limited participation in the Starwood Preferred Guest program and no Starpoints will be awarded.

Fountain outside Guest Building 6, Hibiscus, near Las Brisas main pool.

My room was located above the foilage arch on the second floor of Joshua Building #8.

Golf Course View from my room #814

As a Starwood Preferred Guest platinum elite, at check-in I received a coupon for complimentary drinks for two at the lobby bar. A quick glance at the menu and $12 cocktail prices gave this amenity a $25 added value. I noticed the misspelling “Starwood Preffered” on this coupon. I also received a coupon for 15% off breakfast at the Restaurant Bella Vista, 20% off a spa treatment, and $15 off a Westin Kids Club session.

Mission Hills lobby bar

Outdoor dining at Bella Vista restaurant

About half the buildings are located adjacent to the golf course and the other buildings are situated around the three resort swimming pools. Unfortunately, most of the buildings have about half their rooms facing the resort parking lots. Each ground floor room has a patio and the rooms facing the parking lot tend to have thick bushes surrounding the patio. These rooms would have a bedroom view of a bush with a car just on the other side of the bush. The upstairs rooms have an unobstructed view of the parking lots.

My room faced the golf course and being a second floor room had the attribute of a high sloping ceiling that peaked at about 14 feet. The high ceiling gave the room a feeling of additional space.
A large part of the resort lobby was dedicated to vacation property sales and this seemed to be a common feature of the resorts in this area and Phoenix/Scottsdale.

Sunrise view from my room

The two main pools, Las Brisas and Las Hadas were in good use for the afternoon with the temperature in the mid-90s. La Paloma is a smaller adults only pool to the east of the lobby and this pool was deserted at 5:00pm when I walked by.

Las Brisas pool

All in all, the Westin Mission Hills is a pleasant resort with plenty of water activities, tennis and golf. I must complain about the $20/day resort fee. I just don’t get it when a property charges $260/night and then feels the need to tack on another $20 as a resort fee. Why not just make the price $280/night?

My words of advice are to be sure and secure a golf course or pool view room. Golf course view rooms are likely to be much quieter. I would have a difficult time enjoying myself at this resort when trying to quell the feeling I was ripped off if I were in a room staring out to a bush and the parking lots.

An all too common view for this resort.

Westin Mission Hills, Rancho Mirage (Starwood website hotel page)
Starwood Category 4 hotel; 10,000 points for a free night.
AAA 3-diamond rating
TripAdvisor Reviews #3 of 7 Rancho Mirage hotels Average price $248/night
TripAdvisor photos

I used a Starwood Preferred Guest Cash & Points award for this stay.
$60 + 4,000 Starpoints. The $20 resort fee was added to the rate and my total cost was $87/night.

The lowest available paid rate for my stay would have been $259 +10.07% tax + $20 resort fee = $305/night. (Midweek rates appear to have dropped about $50 night for May bookings. Palm Springs area has peak rates on weekends.)