Hilton HHonors is far and away the biggest program for airline partnerships. That can be a major factor for a frequent guest earning miles from hotel stays in a frequent flyer program where there might be few opportunities to earn miles other than flying.

• Hilton HHonors = 57 airline partners
• IHG Priority Club = 43 airline partners
• Marriott Rewards = 36 airline partners
• Hyatt Gold Passport = 35 airline partners
• Starwood Preferred Guest = 34 airline partners

There are 8 airlines that only partner with one of these ten programs.

[click on image to see full-size in new window]

I will follow up this post with comments and details on airline miles differences in earning rates between different programs.

This seemed like a useful table to create as I work on my series of hotel points-to-miles exchange rates across loyalty programs for a selection of major airlines.

Loyalty Traveler – Airline Tables for Hotel Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates

United Mileage Plus hotel points-to-miles rates favor Marriott, Club Carlson, Wyndham(Feb 8, 2012)

Delta SkyMiles hotel points-to-miles rates in 9 hotel programs(Feb 7, 2012)

AAdvantage Miles for Hotel Elites with Credit Cards: SPG, Club Carlson, Wyndham and HHonors lead the pack(Feb 6, 2012)

American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared for 9 Hotel Programs (Feb 5, 2012)

Delta Skymiles members have an advantage over members of the other major U.S. airlines in that eight of nine major hotel loyalty programs allow points-to-miles transfers at each program’s best exchange rate.

Hilton HHonors members have a lower points-to-miles transfer rate at only 1,000 Skymiles for 10,000 points compared to American Airlines AAdvantage at 10,000 points = 1,500 miles. You are likely better off keeping the HHonors points for hotel stays rather than use points-to-miles exchanges for Delta Skymiles.

Most hotel stays earn only hotel points or only frequent flyer miles with the exception of Hilton HHonors ‘Double Dipping’ policy that allows members to earn both miles and points on the same hotel stay.

In general, earning points with hotel loyalty programs and transferring points-to-miles results in more miles compared to earning miles directly from a hotel stay.  Many hotel brands allow a member to earn 250 or 500 miles per hotel stay. Hilton HHonors is the exception to this general rule due to its low points-to-miles exchange rates. HHonors Points & Miles earners earn miles at a higher rate and HHonors runs regular bonus miles promotions to improve the rate of earning miles from hotel stays.

The methodology used to compare points-to-miles exchange rates in different hotel loyalty programs:

I have created three tables to compare points earned at set levels of hotel spend for three types of hotel loyalty members:

• hotel loyalty member has no elite status or hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status, but no hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status and the highest earning hotel program co-branded credit card.

TABLE 1 – Hotel program comparison of points-to-miles exchange rates for Delta Airlines using base points earning rate.

TABLE 2 – Hotel Top Tier Elite earner hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

TABLE 3 – Hotel Top Tier Elite Earner and Co-branded Credit Card member hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

Commentary:

Tables are set up in columns to show how many points are earned at set levels of spend for $1,000; $2,000; $3,000; $5,000; $7,000; $10,000 and $13,000 in hotel stays counting only points earned from hotel spend base points, top-tier elite bonus points and highest earning credit card bonus points for each program.

The hotel spend amount is not the important number in these tables. The dollar amounts are simply a way to align different hotel programs to make a comparison of points-to-miles rates.

When I show $10,000 earns 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, that is the maximum spend needed to earn 50,000 points. Actual spend to earn 50,000 Hyatt points will likely be far less than $10,000. I have shown in a recent post how a Hyatt Gold Passport member can earn over 50,000 points from real travel for under $1,250.

The hotel spend needed to earn points depends on the types of hotel promotions available, welcome amenity points, and other points earning offers and partner activity.

Observations on Table 1:

• Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Marriott Rewards have the best points-to-miles exchange rates.
• Wyndham Rewards has the highest earning fixed rate for hotel points-to-miles exchange. $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Rewards earns 3,200 Delta SkyMiles.
• At $1,000 in hotel spend the different programs are remarkably similar in points-to-miles exchange rates. Differentiation between programs comes at higher levels of spend. Most programs have a fixed points-to-miles exchange rate regardless of the number of points being transferred to miles.
• Variable points-to-miles exchange rates with Marriott Rewards and Club Carlson give a higher rate of miles at higher levels of points transfer. Starwood Preferred Guest (20,000 points) and Hyatt Gold Passport (50,000 points) both give 25% more miles at the specific transfer level shown here.
• Starwood Preferred Guest does not have a points-to-miles advantage to other programs based on its points-to-miles exchange rate giving a 25% bonus when transferring a block of 20,000 Starpoints. Wyndham, Marriott and Club Carlson have better points-to-miles exchange rates than SPG. The competitive advantage to SPG for miles earners is the 50% bonus for mid-tier Gold elite (10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year) is the highest elite bonus for the lowest level of hotel stays. SPG American Express credit card spend at Starwood Hotels earns 100% base points. Even more impressive is the high rate of earning points for everyday spend at $1 = 1 point = 1 mile in many frequent flyer programs. This rate exceeds all other hotel loyalty credit cards for miles earning rate, although Wyndham Rewards Visa is close to SPG with $1 = 2 points = 0.8 miles. Wyndham Rewards has fewer airline partners than SPG, but Visa is accepted in places where American Express will leave you stranded.

What about Residence Inn and Staybridge Suites and hotel brands that earn fewer base points per dollar?

Marriott Rewards is probably the program most impacted by lower points earn rates at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites where stays earn only 5 base points/$1 compared to 10 base points/$1 used in table. The miles shown in these tables will be reduced by the proportion of hotel spend at lower earning hotel brands. About 25% of all Marriott hotels are Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites.

Marriott Rewards – Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earn 5 points/$1.

IHG Priority Club – Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites earn 5 points/$1.

Choice Privileges – Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge, Mainstay Suites, Staybridge Suites earn 5 points/$1. Other brands earn 10 points/$1.

Wyndham Rewards – Hawthorn Suites earn 5 points/$1.

The tables do not consider promotion bonus points. The idea is to keep these tables simple and evergreen (until the next program change). Hotel loyalty promotions are constantly changing.

Table 2: Commentary: Elite Status

Club Carlson, Marriott Rewards and now Starwood Preferred Guest have a 75-night top-tier elite. The points earned are high rates, but the loyalty required to reach that level of membership is a small portion of hotel travelers.

Club Carlson Concierge at 75% bonus points sets that program apart for miles earners. The advantage Club Carlson has over Marriott Rewards is a standard points earn rate across all its hotel brands. The miles shown for Marriott Rewards will drop with hotel stays at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earning a lower rate of base points.

Wyndham Rewards does not have elite tiers or elite bonus points and drops in ranking when elite bonus points are a factor. Most hotel programs offer 50% bonus points for top tier elite members. These elite bonus points increase the earning rate of hotel points and make other programs more attractive than Wyndham Rewards for points-to-miles exchanges as an elite member with loads of points. Still, it is nice to know that the budget traveler can pull in miles at rates comparable to the best elite programs even while sleeping at Days Inn.

Hyatt Gold Passport drops noticeably in rank compared to SPG when top-tier elite status is factored. Hyatt and Best Western only offer 30% bonus points for top tier elite hotel spend. SPG offers 50% bonus points for Gold and Platinum and 100% for Platinum-75 members as of March 1, 2012.

The elite tables do not factor welcome amenity points for top-tier elites typically earned on hotel stays.

Why are there no tables for low-tier and mid-tier hotel elite levels?

I have not created tables for mid-tier and low-tier elites due to the difficulty of comparing these elite levels across different programs. Are SPG Gold and Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum comparable elite levels?

These tables only show top-tier elite to allow a comparison of programs for the most frequent guests and highest earning members in each program.

I will likely add tables comparing credit card members and the associated elite status since most credit cards give some elite level of membership as a cardmember.

Table 3: The Credit Card Factor

One tip to share is my observation that rates for earning credit card bonus points are generally equivalent to the rate of earning bonus points as a top tier elite member.

Hyatt Gold Passport Visa, Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass, SPG American Express and Best Western MasterCard earn bonus points at an even higher rate per dollar than hotel stays as a top-tier hotel loyalty program member earning bonus points. In terms of earning points, members in these programs are better off having a cobranded credit card than being a top-tier elite member.

That is the sad state of the hotel industry that bank loyalty is more rewarding in hotel point bonuses than hotel stay loyalty. Of course most programs offer hotel stay benefits for their top-tier guests that are the primary value-added component for hotel loyalty members besides points.

Perhaps I’ll have to start promoting hotel loyalty program credit cards and pick up some referral cash. Or not.

Why Hilton HHonors is difficult to compare with other programs

The tables show the number of points earned based on hotel spend and then the miles earned from a points-to-miles transfer. Hilton HHonors is the exception since members can earn both points & miles for hotel stays.

Most hotel loyalty programs will earn more miles overall when the member earns points for a hotel stay and then makes a points-to-miles exchange into the frequent flyer program. Hilton HHonors has a low points-to-miles exchange rate compared to other hotel programs and the HHonors member will likely earn more miles choosing HHonors Points & Fixed Miles for hotel stays when the hotel spend is under $500 per stay.

I provide an estimate of miles earned for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles earner. This is a rough estimate based on an average hotel stay costing $200 and earning 500 miles.

Hilton HHonors Points & Variable miles is a more precise comparison of miles earning to other hotel programs, however, the member staying at Hilton brands other than Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn will earn more miles choosing Fixed Miles for any hotel stay under $500.

The miles shown for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles is likely at the high end of a typical traveler’s earning pattern since it excludes any stays at Hampton Inns. Also a person with an average stay rate over $200 will have a lower miles earning rate.

The precise miles earned for a Hilton HHonors member is likely between the Variable Miles earning rate at the low end and the Fixed Miles rate near the high end in these tables.

Related Posts:

American Airlines American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared for 9 Hotel Programs (Feb 5, 2012)

American Airlines AAdvantage Miles for Hotel Elites with Credit Cards: SPG, Club Carlson, Wyndham and HHonors lead the pack (Feb 6, 2012)

The next post in this series will look at United Airlines Mileage Plus miles earning rates across these nine hotel loyalty programs.

My Loyalty traveler series on hotel points-to-miles exchange rates for frequent flyer miles continues with a look at 9 major hotel loyalty programs and points-to-miles exchange rates. These tables look at the miles earned at set levels of hotel spend. Top-tier elite hotel status and the best earning hotel cobranded credit card for hotel stay payment are additional factors in the miles calculations.

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the actual exchange rate based on hotel spend for hotel stays. Credit cards and elite status are not considered.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows how top-tier elite membership earning rate alters the total number of points earned at each level of hotel spend.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the influence of top tier elite and credit card spend.

Basic Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared to Rate Points Earned from Hotel Spend without consideration of:

• Elite Status
• Cobranded Credit Card

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table was discussed in my Loyalty traveler post yesterday.

The main point I’d like readers to see is Wyndham Rewards is a great program for earning small levels of points for points-to-miles exchange. Wyndham Rewards has a high rate of exchange at 10 points = 4 miles. The minimum transfer is 8,000 Wyndham Rewards points = 3,200 miles. This is $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Hotels.

Most programs take $1,000 in hotel spend to earn the minimum number of base points for a points-to-miles transfer.

Club Carlson is the minimum hotel spend leader for its ability of a base member (no elite status) to earn 2,000 points for the minimum points-to-miles transfer at 2,000 points = 250 miles after just $100 in hotel spend.

SPG Platinum members have no minimum exchange rate and even 1 Starpoint can be exchanged into 1 mile in several programs. This is useful for some promotion offers where partner activity earns a bonus and 1 Starpoint can be transferred into a frequent flyer program for that partner activity.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Table 2: Discussion

The numbers here do not factor additional points for online booking bonus (Club Carlson) or Welcome Amenity points earned per hotel stay in many of the programs.

Club Carlson is one of the top three highest standard points-to-miles exchange rates among the 9 leading hotel loyalty programs. Club Carlson has the second highest top tier elite bonus at 75% base points earning rate.

SPG Platinum-75 (sounds radioactive) earns 100% elite bonus points as of March 1, 2012 and moves up in ranking for this AAdvantage miles comparison.

SPG asterisk * in the $13,000 column for SPG Platinum/Gold elite is due to using $13,334 since this small $334 incremental hotel spend raises the points earned from 39,000 to 40,000 points and increases miles earned by 5,000 miles.

Hilton HHonors has so many earning variables that predicting how many AAdvantage miles you will earn after $5,000 in hotel spend is mind-boggling. But guaranteed Hilton is better than Marriott Rewards for earning AAdvantage miles. Marriott Rewards and American Airlines cut their ties in 2010 so you can’t earn any Advantage miles through Marriott hotel stays.

Choice Privileges and IHG Priority Club sit in the middle of the pack, but pale in comparison to the Club Carlson miles earner.

Hyatt Gold Passport and Best Western Rewards top-tier elites both suffer from the lowest elite bonus points percentage at just 30% when most programs are 50% and Club Carlson at 75% and SPG at 100% leap-frog ahead in points-earning ability.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Here is a comparison of major hotel loyalty programs for the fastest earning AAdvantage Miles from hotel stays for the high elite frequent guest using a hotel co-branded credit card to pay for hotel stays.

Non-hotel spend on the cobranded hotel credit card is not considered in this analysis. It is far easier to compare earning for non-hotel spend in isolation from hotel stays.

SPG jumps to the top for American Airlines AAdvantage miles when the credit card is added to the mix. Earning 2 points/$1 for Starwood Hotels spend is a 100% base points bonus and no other hotel program offers that high a proportion of base points as a credit card bonus for hotel spend.

Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass is close at 90% base points. Hyatt Visa is 60% base points. The other chains are 50% bonus for credit card spend at hotels.

Club Carlson is the only program without a co-branded credit card. Supposedly a credit card deal is in the works for 2012 and that will push Club Carlson higher in the ranking. Club Carlson still fares well against SPG considering the Club Carlson program does not even have a cobranded credit card to help its position in this race.

Concluding comments:

These tables tell me that American Airlines AAdvantage members seeking miles from hotel stays are in one of the best frequent flyer programs for maximizing miles earning.  Hilton HHonors looks impressive in this matchup, but lower points-to-miles transfer rates will lower its ranking for most other airlines. Marriott Rewards will take a top rank place for several other airline frequent flyer programs with its high points-to-miles exchange rates.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles can be earned at a high rate from hotel stays regardless of your market segment with Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Starwood Preferred Guest all offering high points-to-miles rates.

This series will continue with a look at Delta Airlines SkyMiles. This is a program where the rankings will change as Marriott Rewards shows its competitive edge and Hilton HHonors reveals its poor points-to-miles exchange rate for most frequent flier programs.

P.S. There is a load of data here. Hopefully no math errors. Please leave a comment if something doesn’t look correct.

Feel free to ask questions and carry on a discussion in the comments.

Registration is required by March 31.

Hyatt nights completed during the promotion period and prior to registration count as long as member registers by March 31.

Don’t delay. Sign up now!

Interesting to me is the main promotion page makes no mention of the 25% bonus points for being a Hyatt Visa card member that was referenced in last week’s informal announcement. The 25% bonus is being communicated privately to Hyatt Visa card members by email. This proved to be a contentious bonus based on FlyerTalk comments from international Hyatt Gold Passport members. The problem is the Hyatt Visa card is only available to residents of the U.S. 50 states and D.C.

Full-service Hyatt hotels outside the U.S. are typically far more expensive than Hyatt Place and HYATT House properties meaning this bonus is likely far costlier to earn for travelers staying at Hyatt properties outside the U.S.

Promotion Offer

• after 4 nights = 4,000 bonus points.
• after 8 nights = 8,000 more bonus points = 12,000 points total.
• after 12 nights = 12,000 more bonus points = 24,000 points total.
• after 16 nights = 20,000 more bonus points = 44,000 points total.

This promotion offers the potential of earning 44,000 bonus points after 16 nights or 55,000 bonus points for Hyatt Visa card members (25% more bonus points).

Loyalty Traveler Promotion Analysis

In my original post last week I called this Hyatt 44,000 bonus points promotion offer a 3-star value meaning I think it is good value, but not a high value or great offer for most members who do not regularly travel that frequently with Hyatt Hotels. 16 nights in 90 days is a high hotel stay pattern for the average traveler.

This is a better value offer if you are elite with another program and decide to go for a Hyatt Diamond Challenge requiring 12 nights in 60 days. The Diamond Challenge will match you to Diamond status immediately and if you complete the 12 nights in 60 days your status will continue through February 2013. Read last week’s Loyalty Traveler post to learn more about combining this promotion with a Hyatt Gold passport Diamond Challenge.

Diamonds may want to go for the points

I do not recommend frequent guests of any hotel chain stay 16 nights in a cheap Hyatt hotel just to earn the 44,000 points bonus. Instead the numbers show me a Diamond member staying 8 or more nights anyway during the February 1-April 30 promotion period should consider buying extra Hyatt hotel nights if you have proximity to a cheap Hyatt and you want to earn cheap points and even a little padding for your elite membership requalification in 2012.

The analysis I provide here is a more detailed look at the numbers for actual hotel stays showing 16 nights is possible at the Hyatt Place Fremont for $1,250 all-in where weekend rates are $64 to $71 per night. There are some other places in the USA with hotels under $75 per night and even full-service Hyatt regency hotels at under $85 per night.

Hyatt Gold Passport is a program with two distinct property tiers. Hyatt Place and HYATT House (extended-stay) are limited service hotels. The main benefits of Hyatt Diamond are complimentary full restaurant breakfast and room upgrade potential (without using upgrade certificate) and 2,500 bonus points for Regency Club closure which happens on weekends at many business hotel locations. These are not benefits that typically apply to Hyatt Place and Hyatt House properties.

While Hyatt Place and HYATT House are likely to be the lowest rate hotels, these are not the kind of hotels that will get you thrilled about being a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member. Elite status does not offer much at these two Hyatt brands.

Diamond Challenge and 16 Nights Bonus by the numbers

– 8 Friday-Saturday stays

My regional go to cheap Hyatt stay is Hyatt Place Fremont, California.

Hotel rates over the next 8 weekends in this Silicon Valley hotel nestled up against Interstate 880 has weekend rates from $64 to $71. The AAA rate is $71 and may be canceled up to 4pm day of arrival.

Assume Diamond elite membership already or starting a Diamond Challenge.

Weekend stay = $71 Friday and $71 Saturday. 10% tax rate.

Two night weekend = $142 + $14.20 = $156.20.

Points earned per weekend 2-night weekend stay at Hyatt Place Fremont:

• 710 base points = $142 x 5 base points/$1.
• 213 bonus points = Diamond elite 30% bonus points.
• 500 bonus points = Diamond welcome gift per Hyatt Place stay.
• Total Points = 1,423 per $156.20 2-night weekend stay.

Project this data with a hotel rate of $71/night over 16 nights with the 4 night bonuses of the Hyatt Gold passport promotion.

Hyatt Promotion Bonus

First Round of 4 nights

4 nights  = $312.40 total hotel rate.

• 4,000 points = 4 nights Promotion bonus.
• 2,846 points = 4 nights at Hyatt Place Fremont.
• 6,846 Gold Passport total points after 4 nights.

Second Round of 4 nights

8 nights = $624.80 total hotel rate.

• 8,000 points = 8 nights Promotion bonus.
• 2,846 points = 4 nights at Hyatt Place Fremont.
• 17,692 Gold Passport total points = 10,846 (Round 2) + 6,846 (Round 1)

Third Round of 4 nights

12 nights = $937.20 total hotel rate.

• 12,000 points = 12 nights Promotion bonus.
• 2,846 points = 4 nights at Hyatt Place Fremont.
• 32,538 Gold Passport total points = 14,846 (Round 3) +17,692 (rounds 1,2)

Fourth Round of 4 nights

16 nights = $1,249.60 total hotel rate.

• 20,000 points = 16 nights Promotion bonus.
• 2,846 points = 4 nights at Hyatt Place Fremont.
• 55,384 Gold Passport total points = 22,846 (Round 4) + 32,538 (Round 1,2,3)

Spending $1,250 for 55,384 points is equivalent to buying points from Gold Passport for about $22.57 per 1,000 points. Hyatt Gold Passport normally charges $24 per 1,000 points.

My primary point being this is a cheap way to pick up Gold Passport points and earn plenty of nights for 2012 Diamond renewal or meet a Diamond challenge. One-night stays is better if you plan to qualify on hotel stays, but in the San Francisco Bay Area the hotel rates are only low on Friday and Saturday nights.

Hyatt Place Fremont is just one example of a Hyatt hotel where cheap rates make this a good value promotion.

Strategy for the Gold Passport member with only 8 nights planned during the promotion.

Using the outline above the Diamond member who has 8 nights planned can use a similar strategy to pick up the bigger bonus points earned from 12 and 16 nights during the promotion period.

Find a cheap Hyatt hotel where you can buy nights for less than $75 per night. My example with Hyatt Place Fremont is $312 for 4 nights.

A Diamond member buying 8 additional nights for $625 (and up to 8 hotel stays for elite credit)  earns an additional 37,692 points. This brings the cost of points down to $16.59 per 1,000 points.

This is a strategy you may want to consider if you have Hyatt stays planned, but you will not be staying 16 nights. This offer gets better if you need to buy fewer than 8 nights to reach the maximum bonus points.

If you just need 5 additional nights to reach 16 nights then the cost of points drops down to really low levels.

$400 for 5 additional nights earns about 36,000 points and the rate of earning points drops to $11.11 per 1,000 points. Buying points at a rate that low is a good investment in Gold Passport points.

Conclusion

This promotion is a good opportunity for trying the Hyatt Diamond Challenge. This is also a promotion value worth considering additional low-cost nights at Hyatt hotels if you are Hyatt Diamond and you need only 3 to 6 more nights to reach 16 nights during the Feb 1-April 30 promotion period. The bonus points earned for reaching 16 nights by April 30 can be considered a good discount rate for buying points.

There is even a 25% bonus for stays paid with the Hyatt Visa credit card members. [update: Jan27, 4:00pm Pacific - Gold Passport Concierge posted on FlyerTalk that all Hyatt Visa card members earn bonus. There is no need to pay for the hotel stays with the Hyatt Visa.]

Register by March 31 for Hyatt Promotion.

• after 4 nights = 4,000 bonus points (1,000 more points if Hyatt Visa payment).
• after 8 nights = 8,000 more bonus points for 12,000 points total (2,000 more bonus points with Hyatt Visa).
• after 12 nights = 12,000 more bonus points for 24,000 points total (3,000 more bonus points with Hyatt Visa).
• after 16 nights = 20,000 more bonus points for 44,000 points total (5,000 more bonus points with Hyatt Visa).

This promotion offers the potential of earning 44,000 bonus points after 16 nights or 55,000 bonus points for Hyatt Visa card members.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

This promotion provides incentive for staying more nights in February, March and April. The more you stay the bigger the bonuses.

A few months ago when Jeff Zidell, VP of Hyatt Gold Passport, held a chat on Milepoint.com I made a comment that Hyatt is ‘whale’ hunting and this promotion seems to be another example of that kind of hotel loyalty marketing. Whales are what the high roller gamblers are called who are quite profitable for the casino industry when they blow loads of cash.

Hyatt seeks frequent guest whales.

44,000 points is a good bonus opportunity, but 16 nights in a 90 day period is a very high threshold of hotel stays. That exceeds the level of nights needed for Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond at 50 nights per year. I would like to have seen the bonus increments at 3, 6, 9 and 12 to be more in line with quarterly stays needed annually to reach Diamond elite level.

Basically this offer is best for Hyatt Diamond members or those seeking to be Hyatt Diamond. This is a good time to go for a Gold Passport Diamond challenge if you are looking at Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond membership for 2012 and 2013. The challenge requires 12 nights in 60 days and you will earn Diamond elite status through February 2013 and a good run on Gold Passport points. Here is the FlyerTalk Hyatt Challenge link with discussion by people who started challenges this month. The good thing about Hyatt is the Diamond status is instantly granted at the time you start the challenge so you will have the benefits, including suite upgrades, while completing the hotel nights.

I am currently Hyatt Diamond and the best use of this promotion for me would be two 6-night stays where I can have a confirmed suite using the four Gold Passport suite upgrades for Diamond elite members. That would earn three levels of the bonus while staying a week in a suite with complimentary daily breakfast and internet. Two vacation stays or a total 12 nights would earn 24,000 bonus points (30,000 bonus points if Hyatt Visa payment).

Assume $150 per night x 12 nights = $1,800 in Hyatt hotel spend.

• $1,800 x 5 points/$1 = 9,000 points
• Diamond elite 30% bonus = 2,700 points
• Hyatt more nights bonus = 24,000 points
• Hyatt Visa bonus 3 points/$1 = 5,400 points
• Hyatt Visa More Nights bonus = 6,000 points

Hyatt Diamond member with 12 nights and $1,800 in spend earns 35,700 points or 47,100 points if payment is made with Hyatt Visa. That is quite an additional bonus for using Hyatt Visa.

Completing more than 8 nights in February to April is unlikely for me. This offer looks like a potential 12,000 bonus points and I don’t view that as anything really significant. SPG, Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club also have mediocre 3-star promotions this quarter.

I still favor Marriott’s MegaBonus for a free night after two stays and Best Western for a free night after three stays for the highest earning promotions on fewest hotel nights.

Hopefully there will be more enticing offers in the next round of hotel loyalty promotions in April.

Perhaps Hyatt Gold passport will run a promotion to promote its new HYATT house brand created from the former Summerfield Suites and Sierra Hotels.  Hyatt Gold Passport has run brand specific promotions in the past for Summerfield Suites and Hyatt Place.

I’ll post this more nights, more points Hyatt Gold Passport offer again when the official promotion registration page is available.

P.S. Update 9:00am Pacific -  I should add that the title 3-star promotion and the reference to the other hotel loyalty promotions as 3-star offers means I think this is a “good value” hotel loyalty promotion. I am just not convinced it is a high value promotion for this Hyatt offer unless you go in all the way for 16 nights.

I’ll follow up this post with a look at the value of bonus points for someone with lots of one-night stays.

Loyalty Traveler Five ***** Promotion Scale

Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of some hotel loyalty promotions on a Five ***** Scale.

Five ***** = one of the best hotel loyalty promotions of the year.

Four **** = high value rebate on the cost of hotel stays.

Three *** = good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer.

Two ** = a bonus value if you play, but not necessarily worth going out of your way.

One * = There is limited or no value. You are likely paying more than the bonus value.

• 1,000 – 9,000 points = 10% bonus points; reducing rate from $24/1,000 points to $21.82 per 1,000 points.
• 10,000 to 29,000 points = 20% bonus points; reducing rate to $20 per 1,000 points.
• 30,000 to 40,000 points = 30% bonus points; reducing rate to $18.46 per 1,000 points.
• Points must be purchased in increments of 1,000 points.
• Maximum annual purchase for Hyatt Gold Passport points is normally 40,000 points and this sale offer allows members to buy up to 52,000 points in 2012.

This is a good opportunity to load up on Hyatt Gold Passport points if you have specific plans for using the points in 2012. I could show you loads of hotels where this is a great deal compared to the published rate, but suffice to say this can be a route to discounted hotel rooms. DealsWeLike blog showed a couple of examples where buying points saves major cash outlay at a couple of resort hotels.

Assume you purchase 52,000 points for $960. Here is the table to showing room rate to reward rate equivalent after buying points at $18.46 per 1,000 points.

Hyatt Gold Passport Reward Nights  (Hyatt link to free night rewards)

• Category 1 hotels at 5,000 points = $92.30
• Category 2 hotels at 8,000 points = $147.68
• Category 3 hotels at 12,000 points = $221.52
• Category 4 hotels at 15,000 points = $276.90
• Category 5 hotels at 18,000 points = $332.28
• Category 6 hotels at 22,000 points = $406.12

This table shows the cost or reward nights at each hotel reward level when buying points with the 30% bonus. If the published rate after tax is more than the rate shown here, then the points option is cheaper. Keep in mind though that a Hyatt reward stay does not earn points or elite credit and for Diamond members, confirmed suite upgrades are not applicable to reward stays.

Buy and Transfer Points for Bigger Hotel Rewards is the column I wrote for InsideFlyer January 2012 issue showing the rules for buying and transferring points across the major hotel loyalty programs. The piece shares some strategies and opportunities available to members who may want to buy points for a hotel reward as a cheaper alternative to the published room rates.

One of the features of Hyatt Gold Passport is the free transfer of points between any two members to reach the level needed for a reward stay redemption. This gives a couple the opportunity to purchase and combine 104,000 points with this current Hyatt Gold Passport promotion.

You may only have as few as 6,000 points in your account today and tomorrow you could have 110,000 points after combining points with another member (spouse, parent, traveling companion). Five nights at a Category 6 Hyatt Hotel for $1,920 in points purchases can potentially be a huge discount at some Hyatt Resorts and aspirational properties.

Passports with Purpose 2011 Statistics

• Fundraising Goal was $80,000. Actual funds raised = $89,699.
• 137 bloggers signed up for 2011 PwP.
• Nearly 1,000 donors contributed 54% of the total $89,699 for chances to win 89 prizes.

Here is a message from Pam, Debbie, Michelle, Beth and Meg:

We raised a grand total of $89699.00 for Room to Read. That’s $9699 over our initial goal of 80k. We are continually honored and totally blown away by your support and participation in this initiative. We are so proud to work with you on PwP and more than that, we love it. We freaking love it. We love that it takes everything we do — traveling, telling stories, blogging, social media, making connections around the world — and creates something that makes the world a better place. Those libraries in Zambia, they’re yours and they are a lasting gift to those who will learn to read and write and share their own stories and make their own connections.

Hyatt Gold Passport 110,000 Points prize winner.

I asked the prize winner of the Hyatt points if he would care to share some information about himself for Loyalty Traveler readers. While I will keep his identity undisclosed, the winner is no stranger to Hyatt Gold Passport.

Here is a brief description of the winner’s travel style. He also asks for suggestions about where to spend those 110,000 points?

Although I’ve stayed at a few Hyatts, I’d been dividing my loyalty beween SPG and Hilton due mainly to their large number of properties. However, the Hyatt Chase offer brought me into the fold. I got one in early 2011 followed by another for my wife. Shortly after that, I surprisingly scored both 69,000 points for $778.00 and 24,000 points for $250.00 in the DiscoverAmerica giveaway.

We’ve stayed at The Churchill in London twice, had a fabulous suite at the Park Hyatt in Chicago, stayed a few days at the Clearwater Beach Property and enjoy both the Andaz properties in NYC. We used to live by the South Street Seaport so usually make the Andaz Wall Street our base of operations when in town.

Winning the 110k points is very exciting. Also timely, as I’m reclaiming my Executive Platinum AA status in January with a number of Mileage Runs that will involve several stays at the Hyatt at DFW. My wife has always wanted to visit Italy, so we’re planning a trip there on miles & points in November.

I’d love to hear any suggestions from your readers on places to stay. Definitely looking at Hawaii as well, so I’d also be interested in the consensus on the best Hyatt there.

Can anyone comment on some of the Tier 1 properties? I see a couple in Asia that might be interesting at such a low point cost.

Please leave a comment on this post if you would like to make some Hyatt hotel stay suggestions for spending 110,000 points.

Thank you to all who donated for a chance to win the Hyatt Gold Passport 110,000 points prize and the other prizes offered through the 2011 Passports with Purpose raffle.

Big thanks to Hyatt Gold Passport for the generous donation of 110,000 Gold Passport points to sponsor Loyalty Traveler for the 2011 Passports with Purpose fundraiser. There is no disclosure about the amount of money individual prizes earn, but it was indicated to me that the Hyatt prize was very popular.

And a big thanks to corporate sponsors of PwP who contributed greatly to reaching this year’s $80,000 goal.

• RTW with Us,
• Traveller’s Point
• HomeAway.

Earning points for dining at a Hyatt Hotel restaurant when not staying at the hotel as a guest is a welcome benefit that matches Starwood Preferred Guest. I take visitors to the Hyatt Carmel Highlands Inn throughout the year as a beautiful setting for socializing and drinks. Unfortunately I now have a good reason for paying the whole tab to earn points.

Redeeming Points

The ability to redeem points for a cash credit on dining and spa charges at Hyatt Hotels is a good option to have, but the exchange rate is not a particularly attractive value. The exchange rate starts at $5.00 per 1,000 points. You can redeem 10,000 Gold Passport points for $50 in hotel dining or spa credit. Most Hyatt Gold Passport hotel redemptions will provide $10 to $20 value per 1,000 points.

These new points redemption options and earning points for dining and spa charges when not a registered guest at the hotel will roll out globally throughout 2012 and anticipated to be available systemwide by August 2012. Participating locations will be listed here or www.hyatt.com/diningandspa which does not seem to be an active link yet at time of this post.

The earning points benefit on dining and spa for Hyatt Gold Passport members when not registered guests is a great enhancement. The points for cash credit is less useful due to the relatively low exchange rate unless you are absolutely loaded with Hyatt Gold Passport points and do not need them for room nights.

Hyatt Gold Passport Dining and Spa Award Chart.

Hyatt Gold Passport Dining & Spa FAQ.

Hyatt Gold Passport Dining & Spa Benefits.

8100 Mountainside Bar & Grill, Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Colorado

HYATT House – I just noticed that all the hotels formerly called Summerfield Suites and Hotel Sierra are now shown as HYATT House on the Hyatt websites.

Hyatt House

Passports with Purpose reminder: Raffle ends December 16 so there is only one more day to buy a $10 raffle ticket for the 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport prize.

With your help we can reach our goal of $80,000 tomorrow. We are so close!

Highway 1 runs by my house in Monterey and becomes the Big Sur coast road just about five miles south once past Carmel. Highway 1 Big Sur driving can be 100 miles of highway bliss or hell, mostly depending on the weather.

California rainy season is generally October through April. 90% of the annual rainfall occurs in these months. You do not want to drive Highway 1 along the Big Sur coast during a Pacific winter storm. When we get one to two inches of rain in Monterey, the Santa Lucia Mountains of Big Sur generally get four to ten inches of rain. The cliff-hanging Highway 1 pavement has a tendency to wash into the sea when heavy downpours mix with the roadside sandstone. There were several weeks in 2011 when the road between Carmel and Big Sur 37 miles south was closed for repairs.

The best thing about the central coast California rainy season is the beautiful weather when it is not raining. Days usually reach a high near 60 degrees. Summer months are about ten degrees warmer along the coast and it is entirely possible to drive the Big Sur coast and not see anything but gray fog when you visit in August.

Highway 1 Big Sur

Ninety miles south of Monterey-Carmel is Hearst Castle. The Hearst Ranch is 82,000 acres of forest and cattle range land in operation since 1865. Hearst Castle is a 165-room estate designed by architect Julia Morgan from 1919 to 1947 for all around wealthy guy and newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. The estate is now part of Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument. This place tends to be crowded and guided tours at $25 per adult are required to see the estate grounds.

Hearst Castle on the hill seen from Highway 1.

I actually drove up to the visitor center only to learn the next available tour was a two hour wait on a weekday in November. Highway 1 turns inland from the coast about thirty miles south of Hearst Castle at Morro Bay and only skirts the coast briefly one more time at Pismo Beach for the next 80 miles. Vandenberg Air Force Base is a major Pacific region missile base that controls and restricts public access to a huge section of coastline in northern Santa Barbara County.

Google maps - Highway 1 goes mostly inland from Morro Bay to Gaviota State Beach

I continued south to Santa Barbara and my reservation at the Hotel Mar Monte.

Hyatt Mar Monte, Santa Barbara

Hyatt Santa Barbara

Hotel Mar Monte was acquired by Hyatt in 2010 and there was remodeling going on while I was there. I haven’t been back in 2011. Pictures of the guest rooms on the hotel website indicated the room furnishings may have changed, but my photos look quite similar to the photos The Points Guy showed in his post from a stay last month.

The roof was being retiled during my stay in November 2010. The lobby in the Hyatt Santa Barbara website photos looks upgraded.

The Room Dilemma – Should I Stay or Should I Go (and ask for a different room)

This was one of the few times where I went back to the front desk twice to ask for a better room. The first room given to me overlooked the construction waste dumpsite. The room actually had a decent view of the ocean, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the parking lot garbage patch.

The front desk then told me they had a room with a balcony and since I was a diamond member I could take that room upgrade. Great I thought. Turned out though the balcony room did not face the ocean and provided a nice view of the parking lot and Motel 6 across the street.

Hyatt Mar Monte balcony rooms.

Mountain view room and Motel 6 across street from Hotel Mar Monte.

Back to the desk for the third time and I received a room that was to my liking. I generally don’t complain too much about the rooms I am given, but I felt I needed an ocean view room when staying as a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member at an uncrowded hotel across the street from the beach. Although, I still received the only room in the wing without a balcony.

Hyatt Santa Barbara sunrise.

The room itself was a standard room with a comfortable bed and all modern conveniences.

Hyatt Santa Barbara

Hyatt Santa Barbara - TV, microwave and refrigerator in cabinet.

Hyatt Santa Barbara is a historic beachfront hotel built in 1931 in a Spanish Colonial style.

Hyatt Santa Barbara exhibits many Spanish Colonial architectural elements.

Hallway to Bistro 1111 at Hyatt Santa Barbara.

Hyatt Santa Barbara Bistro 1111.

The pool is a nice feature of the hotel. The roadside location can mean a bit of street noise at times.

Hyatt Santa Barbara pool.

Hyatt Santa Barbara is across the street from the beach.

The bad thing about waiting a year to write up a hotel stay is remembering details. I had two gorgeous photos of the pool and lobby, but then remembered that these were actually photos I took at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort which is just north of Hyatt Santa Barbara. I didn’t even realize I had walked over to the Doubletree Resort until I jogged my memory writing this post and realizing the pool and lobby photos were a different hotel.

Fess Parker's Doubletree Resort pool at night.

Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort Santa Barbara lobby.

Hyatt Santa Barbara Fitness Room

Hyatt Santa Barbara Fitness Room.

There actually wasn’t that much to the grounds of the Hyatt Santa Barbara with most of the landscaping gardens located alongside the beach road. The interior area was mostly parking lot when I stayed at the hotel.

Hyatt Santa Barbara ocean view balcony rooms.

Hyatt Santa Barbara garden bench across from beach.

Parking

Brian Kelly mentioned a $20 valet/$15 self-parking fee to park at the hotel in Nov 2011. This is another hotel where I scored free parking on the street next to the hotel during my Nov 2010 stay. I don’t know if the parking regulations have changed since 2010. The rules during my stay were unrestricted parking except for 1-3pm Mondays when street sweeper comes through the road.

Unmetered parking on block with Hyatt Santa Barbara entrance if you are lucky.

Passports with Purpose: There are still two days left to enter the Passports with Purpose raffle for a chance to win 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points with a $10 donation to Passports with Purpose by Friday, December 16. We are trying to raise $80,000 within the Travel Blog community to build libraries in Zambia with the organization Room to Read.

Hyatt Stay Certificate Levels and Price Chart - Dec 13, 2011.

A property like my local Hyatt Carmel Highlands is available at the $249 per night Elite level certificate. These are capacity controlled certificates so you will need to check for room availability using the certificate. I can tell you though that Carmel Highlands Inn is rarely below $249 after tax and any night when you can redeem a $249 Elite certificate is probably going to save $100 or more per night.

Hyatt Stay Certificates are valid for most hotels worldwide. There are excluded properties, mostly Park Hyatt and Hyatt Vacation Club properties.

Hyatt Weekend Stay Certificates are valid only for participating continental U.S. resorts for two or three nights on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights. These certificates come in two levels and include breakfast for two.

Hyatt Weekend Stay Certificate price chart - 12-13-2011.

The default price shown in the chart is for a two night stay. Three nights increases the cost by 50%.

• Three night Select Weekend certificate is $447.
• Three night Prestige Weekend certificate is $627.

You can combine Weekend and Stay certificates and even Gift Cards for Hyatt stays. Weekend certificates are only available as two or three night certificates. Hyatt Stay certificates are available as one, two, three or five night certificates. In general, you have the most flexibility purchasing one night Hyatt Stay certificates and combining them as needed.

Update Dec 14: A helpful comment from Deals We Like added the Certificate Codes.

You can use the following gift certificate codes when searching for availability:
- Classic: HSCLN1
- Choice: HSCHN1
- Premier: HSPRN1
- Elite: HSELN1
- Inspire: HSINN1
- Select Two Night Weekend: HWSEN2
- Prestige Two Night Weekend: HWPSN2
- Select Three Night Weekend: HWSEN3
- Prestige Three Night Weekend: HWPSN3

These are for 1 nights. For 2 or 3 nights, change the “1″ at the end of the code to “2″ or “3″ to correspond with your selection.

Participating Hyatt Locations for Hyatt Stay and Weekend Certificates.

In January 2011 I wrote about Hyatt Stay Certificates and simply provided a link to the participating properties. There are periodic adjustments to the level of Hyatt Stay and Hyatt Weekend certificates hotels will accept, just like there are periodic adjustments to the hotel category for reward nights. This post contains the complete table of hotels globally for these Stay Certificates as a record of what is available now and a resource for documenting future changes to Hyatt Certificates.

Use the link below to go to Hyatt’s site for easier viewing of the tables.

Hyatt Participating Properties for Stay and Weekend Certificates link.

Hyatt Stay Certificate Terms and Conditions.

Hyatt Stay Certificate FAQ.

Note that the tables below includes a Stay Certificate level called “Exclusive”. A FlyerTalk thread started today on this new Hyatt Stay Certificate level prompted this post.  Gold Passport Concierge responded to the FlyerTalk thread:

Exclusive Stay Certificates are only available through certain programs and at this time are not publicly available.

No indication as to what kind of programs offer these certificates. The reason this new level is interesting is that it includes Park Hyatt and Hyatt Vacation Club properties previously unavailable with Stay Certificates and currently not available at any other level of certificate.

• Park Hyatt Milan
• Park Hyatt Zurich
• Park Hyatt Paris Vendome
• HVC – Northstar Lodge
• HVC – The Residences at Park Hyatt Beaver Creek
• HVC – Hyatt Siesta Key Beach
• HVC – High Sierra Lodge – Tahoe
• Hyatt 48 Lex
• Park Hyatt Tokyo
• Park Hyatt Seoul

Hopefully the FlyerTalk thread will shed more insight into these elusive ‘certain programs’.

Hyatt Participating Properties Chart for Stay and Weekend Certificates

[click on image to view full size in separate window]

USA (363 hotels)

Canada (5 hotels)

Mexico (3 hotels)

South America (4 hotels)

Europe, Middle East and Africa (37 hotels)

Asia Pacific Hotels (51 hotels)

And if you made it this far in the post you should check out Passports with Purpose for a chance to win 110,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points for as little as a $10 donation to help build libraries in Zambia. There are many other prizes being raffled. Raffle ends Friday December 16 at 11:59pm.