InterContinental Ambassador members earn 10,000 bonus points for stays at four different InterContinental Hotels between September 1 and November 30, 2011. First IC hotel stay earns 2,000 bonus points as do stays at the second and third IC properties. The fourth InterContinental hotel earns a double bonus for a total 10,000 points with stays in four different InterContinental Hotels.

InterContinental Hotels normally earn 2,000 base points per stay.

InterContinental Hotels Promotion Bonus:

• One InterContinental Hotel = 2,000 bonus points.
• Two InterContinental Hotels = 4,000 bonus points.
• Three InterContinental Hotels = 6,000 bonus points.
• Four InterContinental Hotels = 10,000 bonus points.

Promotion registration is required. There is no retroactive stay credit for stays prior to promotion registration. Also this promotion only applies to new stays booked after promotion registration.

InterContinental Ambassador membership costs $200 to enroll ($100 annual renewal fee) or 32,000 Priority Club points.

Benefits include complimentary room upgrade, 5,000 Priority Club points with membership packet, and a free weekend night with Buy One Get One membership certificate. 4pm late checkout and a complimentary pay TV film per stay are additional hotel stay benefits.

This four different hotels promotion for 10,000 bonus points offers a good incentive for Priority Club members thinking about joining InterContinental Ambassador.

 

HELP SHEET #8 – updated July 7, 2011

This Loyalty Traveler post is the 8th update for 2011 hotel loyalty promotions  and includes about 25 new promotion offers since the June 7 list. Offers marked with an asterisk (*) were added since the last update June 7.

Accor Hotels -  A-Club

Hotel Brands: Sofitel, Pullman, M Gallery, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, Adagio, All Seasons, Thalassa Spa.

* Motel 6 is the primary Accor Hotels brand in USA, however, extremely limited A-Club hotel loyalty program participation. A|Club repeats last year’s promotion allowing redemption of A|Club vouchers for stays at North America Motel 6 hotels from June 1-October 31. LT post June 29.

Accor Hotels is the largest chain of hotel brands globally outside of the USA.

Accor 10^th Anniversary World Tour Giveaway – One monthly trip consisting of Round the World flights and hotel stays in 10 cities over 30 to 40 days. Ten prizes each month for a hotel stay. (11 prizes each month from March through December 2011). LT post March 30. 

Accor A|Club Global Promotion Offers List – link (This link allows searches by continent region)

Accor Hotels A|Club bonus offers

Best Western Hotels – Best Western Rewards 

Hotel Brand Tiers: Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier  

5-Key promotion – Best Western free night after three stays from June 19 to August 14, 2011. Limit one free night during promotion. Loyalty Traveler post June 4.

Best Western International Offers webpage link. The link provides a variety of promotions internationally for Best Western hotels.

Best Western Rewards Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010) This offer is ongoing and still available. Best Western is a particularly useful loyalty program when traveling outside the USA. Best Western and Accor A-Club have more hotels outside the USA than all the other major hotel programs combined including Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Starwood.

Program Change for Elites: Elite members earn 250 bonus points for stays in US/Canada or a welcome snack. (Aug 3, 2010)

Best Western Brand Tiers Change – Best Western has designated about 25% of the chain’s higher quality hotels in the 4,000+ hotel chain as Best Western Plus (about 800 hotels) and Best Western Premier (about 100 hotels, mostly outside U.S.).

 

Carlson Hotels – Club Carlson (formerly Goldpoints Plus loyalty program)

Hotel Brands: Radisson Blu, Radisson, Country Inn & Suites, Park Inn, Park Plaza 

* Club Carlson does not currently have a major bonus points promotion since the free night after two stays promotion ended June 15. There appear to be some good discount rates (35% off two day Radisson stays – book by July 12) and Park Inn 20% off two or three night weekend stays in North America through August 31.

There are also some good values with Club Carlson double points rates where members earn 40 points/$1 for room rate. This is an extra 2,500 points on a $125 room rate that may only be $10 more than otherwise lowest rates.

These Loyalty Traveler posts describe changes with Club Carlson launch March 31, 2011: 

 Club Carlson Hotel Category Reassignment Analysis – Overview and Category 1 Hotels (April 7) – This post has links to posts for each Club Carlson Hotel Reward category with tables showing the new Club Carlson reward category and the former Goldpoints Plus reward category.

Club Carlson Loyalty program Launches March 31 – Replaces goldpoints plus (Feb 14)

Club Carlson Reward Category Changes March 31, 2011 (Feb 18)

Club Carlson Hotel Reward Category Analysis (Feb 28) This post shows the number of hotels in each category and changes from 2010 level for different global regions.

Club Med resort credit for goldpoints. $100, $250 and $500 credit.  (March 10).

Club Carlson online booking bonus – Club Carlson general members earn 1,000 bonus points for online booking. Silver and Gold elite members earn 2,000 bonus points for online booking. Concierge elite members earn 3,000 points. Club Carlson Benefits table link.

Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges

Hotel Brands: Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, MainStay Suites, Suburban, EconoLodge, Rodeway Inn, Ascend Collection.

Hotel Reward Partners: Preferred Hotels Group, Barcelo Resorts 

Stay two times for 8,000 points May 19-August 11. This promotion awards members with 8,000 total points after two stays. Four brands require a two-night stay for this promotion ay Rodaeway Inn, EconoLodge, MainStay Suites and Suburban Suites. This offer is a variable bonus offer since two $60 stays that normally earn 1,200 points ($120 x 10 points/$1) receives 6,800 bonus points for 8,000 total points, yet two $300 hotel stays that earn 6,000 base points will result in 2,000 bonus points for 8,000 total points. This offer is best bonus on low cost hotel stays. Loyalty Traveler post May 16, 2011.

Choice Privileges reward night cost analysis. Using a spreadsheet of 2010 reward cost, I calculated the percentage of hotels in various reward levels worldwide from 6,000 points to 40,000 points. This is the only breakdown of hotel reward tiers I have ever seen for Choice Hotels. Loyalty Traveler post May 1, 2011.

Choice Privileges Program Changes for Elite Members effective January 1, 2011:

Program enhancements for elites. 

• Platinum elite qualification = 20 nights in a calendar year (formerly 25 nights).
• Diamond elite bonus increased to 50% base points (formerly 40%).

Reward night booking window extended for Choice Privileges elite members:

• Gold = 50 days (formerly 40 days)
• Platinum = 75 days (formerly 60 days)
• Diamond = 100 days (formerly 90 days) 

Nordic Choice Club hotel loyalty program covers 140 Choice hotels in Scandinavia and Baltic regions of Europe. Choice Privileges members currently do not earn points for hotel stays in Scandinavia, although hotel stays are available for points. Nordic Choice Club offers points and benefits for hotels in this region. Choice Privileges members planning frequent travel in Scandinavia may want to compare the benefits of Nordic Choice Club to Choice Privileges.    (LT post Sep 9, 2010)

 

Drury Hotels – Gold Key Club

* 1,000 bonus points for enrollment in Drury Gold Key Club.

 

Expedia Rewards –

Double Rewards points for Expedia Vacation Package paid with MasterCard through August 31. Registration required. 

Expedia’s new loyalty program earns points for air, hotel and travel package bookings. This is a gamechanger for online travel agencies. Booking airfare through Expedia is a no brainer method for earning additional travel rebates since frequent flyer benefits are unaffected. Hotels are a different matter though since no hotel loyalty points with programs like SPG, Marriott, Hilton and others are earned for Expedia bookings.

Main Expedia Rewards benefits are the ability to earn points when booking travel for other people like family members and friends. And Expedia vacation packages often allow a hotel night to be added for the same price as airfare alone; particularly when traveling to Las Vegas. Loyalty Traveler Analysis March 28.

 

Fairmont Hotels and Fairmont President’s Club

Tip: Sign up for Fairmont President’s Club to receive monthly special discount rates for Fairmont Hotels. 

Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Special Offers website link

 

Global Hotel Alliance – GHA Discovery – Hotel loyalty program alliance for 12 independent hotel brands including Omni Hotels, Pan Pacific, Kempinski, First Hotels, Mirvac, Anantara Resorts, Tivoli Hotels, The Doyle Collection, Marco Polo Hotels, Park Royal, The Leela Palaces, Shaza Hotels.

Overview of GHA Discovery, elite membership benefits and local experiences, Loyalty Traveler post January 30.

 

Hilton Hotels – Hilton HHonors

10 Hotel Brands: Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Conrad, Waldorf-Astoria Collection, Hampton Inn, and Home2Suites. 

* Double HHonors Points or Double Miles for stays worldwide from July 1-September 30, 2011. List of about 250 excluded hotels, mostly in U.S.. Promotion registration required. Loyalty traveler post June 24.

* HHonors Gold VIP elite after 4 stays or 9 nights in 90 days at U.S. hotels with Hilton HHonors MVP. Promotion registration required.

* Free HHonors Gold VIP elite  to August 31, 2011 for U.S. resident Visa Signature cardmembers. Complete three stays by August 31 to extend Gold VIP status through March 2013. Existing Gold and Diamond members receive 5,000 bonus points. Loyalty Traveler post June 10.

Great Getaway Hilton Summer Sale with discounts from 15% to 40%. Book May 13 to August 31 for hotel stays May 27 to Sep 5. Prepaid rates and must book 14 days in advance. Loyalty Traveler post May 19.

HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards posted for hotels through November 2011. Point Stretchers require 40% fewer points than standard HHonors rewards. Use the drop-down menu to see participating hotels in different Hilton brands. The Point Stretcher hotel awards were updated in early June.

HHonors Points & Money – Loyalty Traveler reward analysis indicates these are good value. Loyalty Traveler post May 9.

Home2Suites opens first hotel of Hilton’s new extended stay brand in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Unfortunately this new hotel brand becomes the first HHonors brand with a lower earn rate for points and miles. Loyalty Traveler post March 21.

HHonors Comprehensive Reward Charts – Members have difficulty locating the various reward charts on the Hilton HHonors sites, particularly VIP Rewards and Waldorf-Astoria rates. This Loyalty Traveler post places all the HHonors reward charts in one post. (LT post Sep 13, 2010)

Cheaper Hilton Reward nights using Priority Club points – this Loyalty Traveler analysis developed from the Priority Club Anywhere Challenge. Hotels Anywhere allows Priority Club members to spend points for hotels in other chains. My study shows there are numerous Hilton Hotels requiring fewer Priority Club points than Hilton HHonors charges its members in HHonors points for the same reward. (LT post Sep 17)

HHonors Program change: Gold and Diamond members receive complimentary internet at all Hilton Worldwide hotels beginning September 1, 2010. (Hilton – Aug 2 press release)

 

Hotels.com Welcome Rewards

Earn a free night for every 10 nights.

* Double points (up to 4 bonus points) through July 31 for new Welcome Rewards members.

Hyatt Hotels – Hyatt Gold Passport

Hotel Brands:  Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Vacation Club, Hyatt Resorts, Andaz, Hyatt Summerfield Suites

* 2,500 Aeroplan miles per Hyatt stay July 1-September 30. Maximum bonus is 25,000 miles after 10 stays.

* Welcome credit and 2,500 bonus points for stays paid with American Express at 75 international hotels. Loyalty Traveler post July 2. 3-key promotion.

Earn 19,000 Southwest points after 5 Hyatt stays June 1-August 31. Loyalty traveler post June 5.

Program Change – Hyatt Property Specific Bonuses: Jeff Zidell Hyatt VP, told me on March 8 the ‘property level bonus’ program is being evaluated and reinvented. We will probably only see regional hotel bonus offers until July. Specific property level bonuses that typically offered 1,000 to 2,000 points in G1, G2, and G3 offers may be gone for good. We’ll see.

 

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

Hotel Brands: InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, Hotel Indigo 

* Limited Time Rate Discount Europe – Up to 35% off for weekend stays in Europe through August 31. These rates are prepaid and nonrefundable with no changes allowed. T&C also state no points.

* Limited Time Rate Discount Europe – 2 nights for the Price of 1 – LT Note: Promotion page states this offer expired June 30, 2011, but I still found available 2-for-1 rates for August dates on July 7. This is a recurring rate promotion for several years and offers one of the greatest discounts on hotel rooms in Europe; particularly London. LT 5-key rate offer.

* Pack Your Points Tweetstakes July 1-July 31. Retweet @IHG_Deals daily message for entry. One entry per day. Prizes are 15,000 or 30,000 points for daily winners chosen in August. LT post July 4.

* IHG Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights are posted the week before the first weekend of the month. Hotels are only posted for a few days and must be booked by Thursday prior to the Friday through Sunday dates. LT post June 30.

$75 MasterCard Gift Card for 2-night weekend stay worldwide at any IHG hotel May 19-August 31, 2011. Limit of four cards per member. Only for U.S. residents. Loyalty Traveler post May 18. 4-key offer.

IHG Double Points or Double Miles (May 16 – August 15, 2011) – 2-key offer. LT post April 21.

InterContinental Hotels in Europe 5^th Night Free rate July 14 – Sep 11, 2011. These rates are about 20% off Best Flexible Rate and equivalent to Advance Purchase rate. Loyalty Traveler post March 16.

Priority Club PointBreaks through July 30, 2011 are probably the best hotel loyalty program reward night value available at 5,000 points for a free night. Many of the hotels are discounted 80% from their normal 25,000 points for a reward night. The current list had 133 hotels on May 9 and only 27 hotels on July 6. Look for a new list of hotels posting in July.  Loyalty Traveler post May 9. (5-key offer.)

Complimentary InterContinental Ambassador membership ($200 value) after three stays at InterContinental Hotels by July 31, 2011. My Loyalty Traveler post argues for spending 32,000 points or $200 for Ambassador membership and earning benefits on three stays.

IHG Priority Club relaunch previews new reward option for Last Minute Hotel Nights at 50% points of standard reward night. Other changes are primarily cosmetic with new mobile apps, card redesign and website changes. Loyalty traveler post March 29.

IHG Priority Club partnership with Las Vegas Resorts – The Venetian and The Palazzo become InterContinental Alliance hotel partners as of April 1, 2011. Priority Club points can be earned and burned (40,000 points per night) for hotel stays and InterContinental Ambassador benefits apply. Earn 6,000 bonus points for a three night stay booked by June 30 (Loyalty Traveler April 11 post).

InterContinental Ambassador Accelerator - 20,000 points after 15 nights at InterContinental Hotels. Registration required.

Priority Club Any Hotel Anywhere American Express gift cards.

      New Price for Any Hotel, Anywhere Cards  Loyalty Traveler post Jan 25.

• $100 = 33,000 points (formerly 29,000)
• $125 = 39,000 points (formerly 34,000)
• $150 = 45,000 points (formerly 39,000)
• $200 = 60,000 points (formerly 49,000)
• $250 = 72,000 points (formerly 59,000)

3-key offer IHG Sweetheart Deal – $100 Visa card rebate for a three-day or longer stay at any IHG hotel worldwide within 90 days of 2011 wedding in U.S. or Canada. (LT Jan 11)

Points & Cash Program Change:  Priority Club Points & Cash Reward nights increased the cost of 5,000 Priority Club points to $40 from $30. The cost to buy 10,000 points remains unchanged at $60. Loyalty Traveler post (Nov 19)

Cheaper Hilton Reward nights using Priority Club points – Hotels Anywhere allows Priority Club members to spend points for hotels in other chains. My study shows there are numerous Hilton Hotels requiring fewer Priority Club points than Hilton HHonors charges its members in HHonors points. (LT post Sep 17)

IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (Steve Sickel). Steve Sickel is senior Vice President Relationship Marketing for InterContinental Hotels Group. During the hotel recession of 2009 he offered this link to FlyerTalk members for booking discount friends and family rates. This link is still active. And we are all friends of Steve’s. Here is a FlyerTalk thread discussing this rate deal. The link in Steve Sickel’s name leads to the offer page for a voucher to complete. Some guests mention the hotel wants the completed voucher at check-in. These rates do not qualify for points or stay credit. One of the best features of this offer is the ability to book high category rooms at steep discount.

Program Change: Ambassador Annual Membership Fee Increased from $150 to $200 as of July 1, 2010. You can also buy Ambassador membership for 32,000 Priority Club Rewards points (formerly 24,000). Renewal fee is still $100.

Priority Club Points Exchange Value and Points.com – Loyalty traveler research (Jan 20) into the exchange value of Priority Club points into airline miles through Points.com

 

Kimpton Hotels – InTouch

* Kimpton “Summer Like a Local Rate” offer gives a $25 nightly dining credit for a rate $10 over BAR May 26-September 5.

Loyalty Traveler posted an outline of Kimpton’s InTouch program showing how 21 stays in 2011 can potentially earn 7 free nights at any Kimpton Hotel. (LT post Jan 11)

 

La Quinta Hotels – La Quinta Returns

Hotel chain and hotel loyalty program overview by Loyalty Traveler,  April 12.

* New La Quinta Returns members earn Gold elite after two nights within 60 days of enrollment. Two nights may be one stay. Gold elite promotion offer for new enrollments through August 31, but keep in mind these offers are sometimes withdrawn early.

 

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) – Leaders Club Rewards 

Leaders Club Rewards program changes: Membership fees for Leaders Club Rewards dropped to $100 annual for Access level. Access membership includes complimentary breakfast for two each day of stay and free internet. Unlimited membership is $1,200 annually. Loyalty traveler post Feb 3.

Earn a free night after every 5 stays with stays in at least two LHW properties by December 31, 2011.

LHW Hotel Special Offers link

 

Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards

Hotel Brands: Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, Residence Inn, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, SpringHill Suites, Edition, Autograph Collection, Marriott Vacation Club, AC Hotels. 

Marriott Rewards Earn one free night at a category 1 to 4 hotel reward after two hotel stays June 1-August 31. Registration deadline for this promotion was June 30, 2011. This offer may be earned two times during promotion. Active Marriott Rewards members may have a points offer based on 15 to 25 nights. Loyalty Traveler post May 16.

Marriott Rewards 4x miles for hotels stays June 1-August 31. Earn 8 miles per $1 or 4 miles per $1 with 13 participating airlines depending on Marriott hotel brand. Loyalty Traveler post May 27.

Program Change: All Marriott Rewards members receive complimentary internet at Asia-Pacific region hotels. Loyalty Traveler post May 2, 2011.

AC Hotels is Marriott’s newest hotel brand. AC Hotels are a Madrid-based hotel chain now partnered with Marriott and brings 90 new upscale hotels in Spain, Italy and Portugal into the Marriott Rewards system. This brand is projected to expand in Europe and Latin America. Loyalty Traveler post March 27.

Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Assignment Changes for 2011 (Loyalty Traveler March 2)

Marriott Rewards PointSavers –PointSavers reduce the points cost of a free night by one hotel category. For example, category 5 hotel requires only 20,000 points per night. 5^th night free applies to PointSavers rate. http://www.marriott.com/rewards/marriottRewardsPointSavers.mi

Marriott Points Redemption Strategy using $1,000 in Marriott Cheques. This post explains how Marriott elite members may buy $1,000 Marriott Cheques for 135,000 points. You can then pay for hotel stays and earn points and elite credit on paid stays you actually purchased indirectly with points. Loyalty Traveler post Jan 27.

Marriott Rewards Elite Rollover Nights extended for 2011. This is the third year Marriott Rewards offers elite rollover nights for elite qualifying nights over your earned elite membership. For example: Silver elite requires 10 nights in calendar year and Gold elite takes 50 nights. Stay 25 nights in 2011 and the 15 nights above Silver elite rollover to 2012 membership year. You will have earned Silver elite for 2013 from your 15 extra nights in 2011 rolled over to 2012. Confused? Don’t worry. This is a great benefit for elite members. (Loyalty Traveler 5-key offer. LT post Dec 23.)

Program change – Free internet worldwide for Gold and Platinum Marriott Rewards members beginning January 2011. This expands the complimentary internet benefit offered to elites for hotel stays in the Americas since May 2010.

 

Omni Hotels – Omni Select Guest

Member benefits include complimentary in-room Wi-Fi, shoe shine and morning beverage delivery.

Earn a free night after every 10 nights or earn 500 miles per hotel stay.

 

Preferred Hotels Group – I Prefer

I Prefer and Preferred Hotels Group special offers page.

 

Red Lion Hotels – 44 hotels in western U.S.

* Red Lion Double Points and Free Breakfast promotion code = RLDOUBLE (through Dec 31, 2011)

 

Ritz-Carlton Rewards

* Ritz-Carlton Rewards Visa – 50,000 points enrollment offer and Gold elite first year. Maintain Gold elite with $10,000 annual spending. Three confirmed Club level upgrades per year and other benefits. Loyalty Traveler post June 13.

Ritz-Carlton Rewards loyalty program launching Sep 15 (LT post Sep 14)

Reward Changes in new Ritz-Carlton Reward Tiers (LT post Sep 15)

Ritz-Carlton rewards Hotel + Air Packages Analysis (LT post Sep 16)

 

Starwood Hotels – Starwood Preferred Guest

Starwood Hotels brands: Sheraton, Westin, W Hotels, Le Meridien, Luxury Collection, St. Regis, Four Points, element, aloft. 

* $40 gas card for two-night or longer stays at Four Points, Aloft or Element hotels in North America through September 15. Must book hotel stay by July 31 using rate code SSBGAS. LT post July 6.

* Four Points $25,000 contest for best story submitted on Four Points Facebook page between June 15 and August 10. Contest open to US  and Canada (except Quebec). Also weekly prizes for two-night stay and $50 in beer credit. Contest Rules.

* 3x points for Starwood Hotels in Japan for stays and dining June 1-August 31. LT post June 26.

Starwood Preferred Guest – Stay 3 and get a free Starwood Resort hotel night from May 1-July 31, 2011. Note: Promotion registration ended June 30, 2011, so too late if you are not already registered. Free nights are good for over 200 Starwood Resorts including several category 6 and one category 7 resort. Free nights are valid until December 21.  LT post April 15. (5-key promotion)

FourSquare 250 bonus points for mobile check-in at Starwood Hotels May 1-July 31, 2011. Loyalty Traveler post May 12. Note: Most of these bonuses have quickly posted for me. I need to follow up on a couple of missing bonuses.

Starwood Preferred Guest Hotel Category reward assignment changes for 2011 took effect on March 1. My LT post (Feb 22) has a list ordered by city, state and country for changes.

Starwood Hotels data on number of hotels in each brand and average rates by brand and global region. Loyalty traveler post Feb 4.

Starwood hotels Website Enhancement – Website now allows comparison of four different rate types side-by-side for hotels in one location including promotion rates, AAA, breakfast rates, senior, government and reward nights. There are monthly calendars to locate days when Cash & Points nights are available at a specific hotel Loyalty Traveler post Nov 23, 2010. 

SPG Peak Season Rates Return for 2011. Category 5, 6 and 7 hotels relaunch peak season dates and a calendar of dates and participating hotels is posted here. Book by January 9 to lock in lower rates for your hotel stays. Loyalty traveler post Dec 6. 

Starwood Hotels Policy Change: Sheraton Hotel Club Lounges will be open 7 days a week in 2011.

Starwood Preferred Guest – American Express credit card changes effective October 14, 2010. The annual fee is increasing to $65 from $45 for renewals beginning Oct 14. Benefit changes include 5 elite nights and 2 elite stays credit each year. This will have no effect for members who qualify on stays. The SPG50 certificate will be discontinued in favor of a 3^rd night free offer at Sheraton Hotels. Loyalty traveler post (August 24); Sheraton 3^rd Night Free Analysis (Nov 12)

3-key or sometimes a 5-key promotion SPG link: Pay Your Birthyear Rate -This promotion has been extended through 2011. Rates can be an incredible 5-key savings or no savings depending on the hotel and your birthyear.   LT post 4/28/2009

3-key or sometimes a 5-key discount rates Starwood Hotel Rate Discount Codes for Multiple Night Stays.

These offers are for rate discounts on stays of 2 to 6 nights. Third night free tends to be one of the best discount rates. Important to check other rates (AAA, Senior, Special Offers) as these discounts are generally based on the Best Available Rate (BAR) and may not be the lowest overall rate for some hotels. 

Starpoints Airline Direct Deposit is Better for United, Continental, and Singapore miles (March 25, 2010)

 

Stash Hotel Rewards

Stash Hotel Rewards New Member Enrollment 1,000 bonus points link.

Stash Rewards is a one year old loyalty program for over 100 independent upscale hotels in the U.S. Loyalty Traveler post Jan 19. Loyalty Traveler has found the hotel partners with Stash Rewards in Monterey, Napa and Washington D.C. are great choices for hotel travelers. Stash Rewards offers points for many high quality independent hotels that previously had no loyalty program affiliation.

Stash Hotel Specials for Bonus Points and Low Redemption Rate Hotels

 

Voila Hotel Rewards

Loyalty Traveler profiled Voila Hotels program in light of the recent signing of two New York former Starwood W Hotels as the initial hotel members in the USA for this international loyalty program for 250 independent hotels.

* 2,500 Voila bonus points per stay through August 31 and entry into 500,000 points sweepstakes.

* Double elite credit for Voila member hotel stays through July 31. Registration required.

Wyndham Worldwide -  Wyndham Rewards

Wyndham Brands: Wyndham, Wingate, Hawthorn Suites, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Baymont Suites, Microtel, Knights Inn, Tryp.

1,000 bonus points per Wyndham stay from June 1 –September 5, 2011. Loyalty Traveler post June 2.

* European residents only – 15,000 bonus points for two hotel stays worldwide by September 30 at most Wyndham brands. Stays must be booked by August 31. Bonus may be earned four times for 60,000 points. Loyalty Traveler post July 6.

 

Loyalty Traveler Research Articles

* Room77.com hotel room views compared to my photos. Loyalty Traveler website analysis June 22.

Comparing the value of hotel program points - compares Hyatt, Priority Club and Hilton programs, then discusses how I am planning summer travel using free night promotions. (May 2, 2011)

Hotel Loyalty Credit Cards and the Value of Hotel Points

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of Hotel Rewards Credit Cards (March 19, 2011)

Elite Status Benefits with Hotel Loyalty Credit Cards (March 21, 2011)

Hotel Credit Cards Comparison by Value of Points (September 2, 2010) 

Hotel Credit Card Comparison using NerdWallet.com Value of Points (Sep 5, 2010) 

Loyalty Traveler’s Three Rules for the Value of Hotel Points (Sep 7, 2010)

 

Hotel Points to Airline Miles Conversion Tables

Hotel Points-to-Miles Conversion Tables for 9 hotel programs and 7 U.S. airlines (March 30, 2010)

Hotel Market Segments and Hotel Brand Profiles based on JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power Luxury Segment and luxury hotel brands  (Aug 11, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power Upscale Segment Hotel Brands (Aug 11)

Loyalty Traveler Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Brand Ratings (Aug 13, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Brands (August 15, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Brand Ratings (August 16, 2010)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

 

Hotel Rates Survey for USA States, Cities, and Average Hotel Rates Worldwide

Hotels.com 2010 – Full Year 2010 – Global Hotel Price Index – This is a great resource for finding where hotel rates are high and low around the world. There are tables of USA average hotel rates by state and major cities.

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

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

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

Three Keys = good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer

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

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

Rate discounts and loyalty program bonuses are two types of hotel chain incentives to consider when booking travel. 

Rankings are subjective and subject to change. Your specific travel pattern may result in some promotions ranking more favorably for you. When assigning a key rank I take into consideration the following factors and probably more: 

• The opportunity for significantly high-value return on hotel spend in terms of future hotel rebate in free nights and discounted hotel nights. 
• Current loyalty program promotions and offers from other hotel chains.
• Past loyalty program offers and rates for the specific hotel chain and loyalty program.
• Current economic conditions in the hotel location and travel industry.

IHG Priority Club offers members around the globe various targeted promotions. The primary global Priority Club promotion currently is double points or double miles from May 16-August 15, 2011.

The unique aspect of Priority Club is a member like me can register for many other targeted promotions and receive bonus points. The promotion code is all that is needed.

Where do I find these promotion codes?

Two places are great resources for finding Priority Club promotion codes easily.

PriorityClubInsider.com lists the major promotion offers for Priority Club and also includes links to discount hotel rates.

The FlyerTalk IC Master Promo Thread 2011 is an even more comprehensive resource for locating dozens of promotion codes that may or may not apply for your stays. This is a thread with 119 posts in 2011 where people list email offers and registration codes and the FlyerTalk moderator updates a master list every couple of weeks in the first post of the thread.

There are promotions for:

• the number of hotel stays you have in three months,
• free InterContinental Ambassador status with 3 InterContinental Hotel stays,
• 300 bonus points for completing a survey,
• Asia-Pacific region member sweepstakes for 480,000 Priority Club points,
• next stay bonuses,
• online booking bonuses.

My personal experience is most stays with Priority Club hotels earn 5,000 or more points when I would expect to earn only 1,000 to 2,000 points based on hotel rate and a primary global promotion like Double Points. These points add up big time for me, often approaching or even exceeding 50 points/$1, for several of my Priority Club stays each year.

Europe, Middle East and Africa hotel specific bonus points.

 

Asia Pacific Residents (excluding Japan) 480,000 Points Sweepstakes.

• Enter sweepstakes by registering for double points promotion before August 15, 2011 at this link. One entry into sweepstakes just for registration.
• Code 8560 – Grand prize of 480,000 points.
• Sweepstakes Terms.

 

Stay X Nights, Earn Y Bonus Points

Priority Club offers targeted quarterly bonuses for hotel nights. These codes are offers members received as an email promotion. While I personally do not recall ever receiving one of these targeted offers, my experience and anecdotal evidence from many other members indicate Priority Club members can sign up for one of these offers and receive the bonus points.

These stay X nights, Get Y Bonus Points offers only apply to the first offer the member registers among these and other codes.

Valid July 1 to September 30, 2011

Stay 3, Get 5,000 – Code 3567
Stay 4, Get 5,000 – Code 1555
Stay 7, Get 10,000 – Code 8564
Stay 8, Get 10,000 – Code 6565
Stay 10, Get 10,000 – Code 3568
Stay 12, Get 10,000 – Code 1563
Stay 15, Get 15,000 – Code 8565
Stay 18, Get 15,000 – Code 9549

Go for the best offer you think you can reach. I picked a 7 nights offer this past quarter and I am one night short for 10,000 points. I don’t need a hotel night by June 30 and the cost of a hotel night is not worth 10,000 bonus points to me. I should have signed up for Stay 3 nights, get 5,000 points which I completed in May.

Tutorial on Registering for Multiple Priority Club Promotions

Here is a concise description of the registration process in this FlyerTalk post:

Points FAQ
Q: “How do I register for a promo?”
A: All promotions with a promo code can be reached through this link followed by typing in the promo code manually (or cut and pasting in your browser):
priorityclub.com/register

Q: “Can I register for all these promos?”
A: It’s up to each person to see if they are eligible for the various promotions and you should only register if you’re happy that it will not have any effect on your account. Basically if you have any doubts then either ask or don’t register.

Q: “Can I register more than one code?”
A: Yes – except for Stay “X” nights Get “X” Points/Miles

Q: “I’ve successfully registered but nothing is appearing in my offers?”
A-1) It sometimes takes a day or two for the offers to show up under your offers
A-2) Some of them will show up, but others will never show up
A-3) Some will post
A-4) Others will not post

Double points or miles is the primary promotion for Priority Club for the next three months from May 16 through August 15. Double points or miles begins with your second stay during the promotion period for most brands, except your first stay counts double if Candlewood Suites or Staybridge Suites.

Advance promotion registration is required for Priority Club Double Points or Miles 2011-Q2 promotion. No retroactive points or miles for stays prior to registration.

Earning Double Points with Priority Club

Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites are the extended stay brands of InterContinental Hotels Group. These two brands earn just 5 base points/$1. Double points means 5 bonus points per $1 for a total 10 points/$1.

InterContinental Hotels earn 2,000 points per stay. Double points is 2,000 bonus points for a total 4,000 points per hotel stay at InterContinental Hotels.

All other IHG brands earn 10 points per dollar and these brands include Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hotel Indigo. Double points = 20 points/$1.

Earning Double Miles with Priority Club

Priority Club has over 40 airline partners for earning miles. There are many earning structures depending on airline and hotel brand. The miles earning rates are shown here.

The US-based airlines of Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, United and US Airways earn miles at these rates:

• 2 miles per $1 spend at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Hotel Indigo. (Double miles = 4 miles/$1.
• 1 mile per $1 spend at Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites. Double miles = 2 miles/$1.
• 500 miles per stay at InterContinental Hotels. Double miles = 1,000 miles/stay.

 

Loyalty Traveler analysis:

This is an underwhelming offer. There is not much analysis required for this simple offer.

The more important consideration is what other programs offer at this same time period. Starwood Preferred Guest has a free night for every 3 stays from May 1-July 31 with no earning limit. Hyatt Gold Passport has 10,000 points for 5 nights through June 30 and an additional 5,000 points for every two additional nights. Club Carlson earns one free night for two stays with a limit of one free night through June 15.

Hilton HHonors offers 3,000 Virgin Atlantic miles per stay through June 30.

Keep in mind that your ability to earn bonus Priority Club points can be greatly enhanced by registering for a variety of additional promotion offers. I am writing this from a Holiday Inn Express that is my first paid IHG stay for 2011. I registered for nine different Priority Club promotions yesterday. The base rate I paid should earn 1,030 base points for this hotel stay and 515 Platinum elite bonus points.

I anticipate earning at least an additional 5,000 points from this stay through the nine promotions I signed up for yesterday. These are targetted promotions and not all of them will apply to this stay. But some of them will likely add a load of bonus points to this hotel stay. Most of my paid stays earn over 5,000 Priority Club points. I will update this post with the exact number of bonus points once they post.

How did I sign up for so many bonus offers? Priority Club Insider Current Offers page.

The additional promotion offers should generate a far larger bonus than I would receive if this stay qualified only for double points. That would only be an additional 1,030 bonus points. Double points and miles begins May 15, 2011.

Update Tuesday, April 26: My Holiday Inn Express stay posted yesterday with 8,500 bonus points from 4 of the 9 promotional bonus offers. A $1o3 base rate hotel night after tax was $111 and earned a total 10,045 points in Priority Club. This same hotel requires 15,000 points for a free night.

I Guess I’m Not Ready for an InterContinental Life

Aside: I signed up for InterContinental Ambassador April 2, 2011 and paid for my membership with 32,000 Priority Club points. I have been waiting for my Ambassador membership kit. Yesterday I noticed the 32,000 Priority Club points are back in my account and I am not listed as an InterContinental Ambassador.

Was I rejected from InterContinental Ambassador membership?

Update April 22: Ambassador customer service says they were having website problems earlier this month and they have no record of my enrolling in InterContinental Ambassador on April 2.

I have my Ambassador Congratulations Mr. Garrido screenshot and I actually posted an image of my InterContinental Platinum Ambassador card on this blog.

I am quite disappointed in the customer service response when I called to inquire about the issue today.  I was looking forward to paid stays at the Venetian and Palazzo this weekend. My cash is going elsewhere.

The newly branded InterContinental Alliance Resorts in Las Vegas – The Venetian and The Palazzo – have an introductory “6,000 Bonus Point Package” rate offer for hotel stays of three nights or more. Bonus Priority Club points are in addition to the 2,000 points normally earned for InterContinental Hotel stays for 8,000 points total per stay (about a $50 value). InterContinental Ambassador members receive benefits at these properties.

Book your stay by June 30 and receive these additional rate benefits:

• 20% off Breakfast or Brunch provided by Morels
• $30 off a bill of $60 or more provided by Zine
• $35 off 50-min Massage or Facial provided by Canyon Ranch SpaClub
• Complimentary line pass and admission provided by LAVO Nightclub
• 2-for-1 well drinks provided by Salute Lounge

This offer requires first night deposit at time of booking and is fully refundable for cancellations at least 72 hours in advance.

Rates I checked for the 6,000 Bonus Point Package were $10 per night over the Best Flexible Rate.

Tip for finding the lowest hotel rates:  

Travelocity.com has a nice feature for seeing hotel rate information for the next 90 days by using the Flexible Dates feature. Simply look up any date for Las Vegas and click on the rate for the Venetian or the Palazzo. Travelocity has a Flexible Dates tab at the top of the page that shows the hotel rates for 90 days. This is much quicker than random date checks on IHG websites for finding low rate dates over a 3-day period and avoiding high rate dates when planning your trip.

Another tip for Las Vegas – Travel packages for airline + hotel often drop the hotel rate down to about $100 or less for the first night or two at many of the fine hotels in Las Vegas like Wynn, Encore, Bellagio, Mandarin Oriental, Venetian and Palazzo.

The hotel rate savings might be worth more than the points.

**Be sure to go back to the IHG website to make your hotel booking since Travelocity bookings do not earn Priority Club points.

Priority Club members can earn InterContinental Ambassador status after three stays at InterContinental Hotels by July 31, 2011.

Free InterContinental Ambassador status promotion link.

But, 32,000 points for InterContinental Ambassador is a Better Deal.

InterContinental Ambassador membership costs $200 or 32,000 Priority Club points for new members. Membership year is 12 months after you enroll and expires last day of enrollment month.

A new InterContinental Ambassador member on May 10, 2011 enrollment has a membership period ending May 31, 2012.

Annual renewal is reduced to $100 per year.

I favor the 32,000 points payment for immediate InterContinental Ambassador status rather than making three InterContinental Hotel stays for free status. The net cost to buy Ambassador with points is 27,000 points since you get 5,000 points back in a coupon included with your Ambassador membership packet. This is a point value of $7.40 per 1,000 points ($200/27,000 points) which is as good as most hotel night redemptions.

Completing three stays at InterContinental Hotels to earn free Ambassador status with this promotion will mean a minimum of three paid nights stayed without receiving Ambassador benefits.

• No confirmed room upgrade on three InterContinental Hotel stays (likely more than $200 value).
• Nights stayed at InterContinental Hotels before you are Ambassador will not count towards the Ambassador Accelerator promotion for 20,000 bonus points after 15 nights. You miss out earning 1,333 bonus points per night or a minimum 4,000 points when staying at least three nights at InterContinental Hotels without Ambassador status. You can also think of the Ambassador Accelerator points earned as reducing the cost to buy Ambassador membership with points by at least another 4,000 points making the net cost 23,000 points or less if you simply pay 32,000 Priority Club points for Ambassador membership rather than going for Stay 3, Ambassador free.
• Missing the opportunity to use the BOGO free weekend night certificate available as an InterContinental Ambassador when you pay for the first night. The paid night for the BOGO weekend counts for Priority Club elite status and points.

Important to note: InterContinental Ambassador status is a membership program specific to InterContinental Hotels brand and Ambassador membership has minimal benefit for hotel stays at all other hotel brands of InterContinental Hotels Group.

InterContinental Ambassador Hotel Stay benefits

• Guaranteed room upgrade to superior room.
• Fresh fruit and daily water.
• 4pm late checkout.
• Complimentary pay TV film per stay.
• Welcome gift.
• 20,000 bonus points every 15 nights at InterContinental Hotels (registration required)
• Note: Incidental spend at InterContinental Hotels does not earn additional base points. 2,000 points per stay is it.
• Complimentary Club access (hotel executive lounge) is not a benefit of Ambassador membership, although some hotels offer discounted Club access upgrade rate to Ambassadors.
• Free breakfast is only an Ambassador benefit if given Club access upgrade.
• Free internet for Ambassadors is only a benefit at these few InterContinental Hotels.
• InterContinental Hotels with hotel stay bonuses including bonus points, breakfast, etc. For example, InterContinental Montreal offers 4,000 points, free breakfast and free internet (1 Dec 2010 – 30 April 2011). 

 

InterContinental Ambassador Membership Packet benefits

• Complimentary weekend night with Buy One, Get One Free membership certificate. Second night is free on weekend stay at an InterContinental Hotel or Resort. Free night valid on Friday and Saturday night stay or Saturday and Sunday night stay. In Middle East Thursday and Friday or Friday and Saturday. The paid night is the rate for first night only, not an average of two nights. Valid for 12 months and expires on last day of enrollment month.  You must book the ‘Ambassador Certificate’ rate (IBAMB), which is usually equivalent to the Best Flexible Rate.
• Complimentary Gold elite status (10% bonus points on all IHG stays is only real benefit).
• Membership packet has 5,000 Priority Club points certificate with code. You can add these points to your own account or gift the voucher code to another Priority Club member.

InterContinental Ambassador FAQ

InterContinental Royal Ambassador is an invitational elite status with additional privileges.

• Top 1% of Ambassador members are invited to Royal Ambassador membership.
• Royal Ambassadors receive a referral certificate for each year of RA membership. The RA Referral allows member to gift RA membership to another person. RA referral certificate is the route to Royal Ambassador on less than 50 IHG nights. These certificates sell on eBay for $600-$1,000 (although Ebay and IHG rules forbid these transactions).
• Royal Ambassadors receive complimentary Priority Club Platinum elite status.
• Membership year expires on Ambassador membership expiration date. Renewal is dependent on total hotel stay pattern.
• Referred members who become Royal Ambassador through referral certificate do not receive a Royal Ambassador referral certificate in membership packet. 

InterContinental Royal Ambassador qualification criteria are unpublished, but anecdotal evidence indicates Ambassador member needs 50 to 60 nights at any IHG hotels (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites) with at least 3 hotel stays at InterContinental Hotels during the Ambassador membership year. Some Ambassador members with 50 nights and 3 stays do not get Royal Ambassador invitations and some people get invited on less. Again the actual criteria are unpublished except to say

How do I achieve Royal Ambassador status?

Royal Ambassador status is extended by invitation only to a small percentage of InterContinental Ambassador guests, based on the number of nights they have stayed during the past year.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/ambassador/faq

 

Royal Ambassador Benefits

• Typically a two-category guaranteed room upgrade to Executive Room or even a Suite. This does not necessarily apply when booking suites like a guaranteed upgrade from paid full-suite to Presidential Suite.
• Complimentary in-room mini-bar. Some hotels may not have complimentary snacks in mini-bar. Check first. Mini-bar should be refilled daily.
• Guaranteed 8am check-in.
• 3,000 points per stay (additional 1,000 points over other members).
• Benefits like Club access, early check-in and complimentary mini-bar are not guaranteed for award stays.
• Club access is not guaranteed. Free breakfast only if given Club access.

Downgrading Royal Ambassador Elite Status in Steps

This FlyerTalk thread and posts by member Raffles (Ambassador and Royal Ambassador) are source for most of this information.  I have updated the dates in Raffles description of Royal Ambassador downgrade process.

What happens if I lose RA status?

You drop down to Ambassador, and receive a free year of Ambassador, saving the usual $100 renewal fee. You will then drop down to Priority Club Gold if you do not pay your Ambassador fee the following year.

You will also retain your Priority Club Platinum status for the remainder of the calendar year following your demotion. So … in January 2011 you may be a ‘Platinum Royal Ambassador’. If you lose RA status in March 2011, you will drop to ‘Platinum Ambassador’ until December 2011. From Jan-March 2012 you will be ‘Gold Ambassador’ (assuming you don’t earn 60,000 points to retain Plat) and from March 2012 onwards (assuming you don’t pay $100 to retain Ambassador) you will be a simple ‘Gold’ member until December 2012. If you don’t retain Gold you then drop to ‘Club’ member in January 2013.

In conclusion:

I followed my own advice during the writing of this post and enrolled as an InterContinental Ambassador member using 32,000 points. I have wanted to try Ambassador for several years, particularly since the InterContinental Clement Monterey is a couple miles from home and two IC properties are nearby in San Francisco. And the new partnership with the Venetian and Palazzo will expand my Las Vegas Strip options when visiting family in Sin City.

Now a quest for making a friend with a Royal Ambassador referral! 

Links: PriorityClubInsider.com – good blog for Priority Club promotions and additional descriptions of Ambassador/Royal Ambassador.

FlyerTalk – Please post your Royal Ambassador experiences (Thread is 279 pages to date).

New RA Qualifying Limits Since June 2009 (Thread is 50 pages long and RA members typically publish their qualifying  stay activity with hotel nights and brands.)

Please post your Priority Club elite experiences (Thread is 174 pages to date).

Milepoint.com – Royal Ambassador Qualification Helpful tips

The interesting facet of the luxury segment is just seven luxury hotel brands are ranked in the North America survey. There is no rank for Park Hyatt, Starwood brands St. Regis, Luxury Collection and Le Meridien, Accor’s Sofitel, and Hilton’s Conrad or Waldorf-Astoria Collection brand. There truly are not many luxury properties in the US with the major hotel chains.

JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study link.

JD Power Luxury Segment Satisfaction link.

The JD Power luxury segment chart led me to estimate the number of properties for each luxury hotel brand. The result shows luxury hotel brands are a small population in the overall hotel market in North America.  

Here are 15 luxury hotel brands ranked by number of properties in North America. The number of hotels was estimated by a simple count and may include some hotels scheduled to open this year. Links to property locations are included for each brand.

Ritz Carlton (Marriott Rewards redemption) = about 45 hotels in US, Mexico and Caribbean. Hotel Locations.

Four Seasons (no published loyalty program) = about 35 hotels in North America. Four Seasons  Hotel Locations. 

InterContinental Hotels (IHG Priority Club and Ambassador Club) has about 37 hotels in North America. InterContinental Hotel locations. 

Fairmont (Fairmont President’s Club) about 30 hotels.  Fairmont Hotel locations.

W Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest) has about 20 hotels in North America. W Hotel locations.

JW Marriott (Marriott Rewards) 19 hotels in North America. JW Marriott hotel locations.

Loews (You First) has hotels in 17 cities. Loews hotel locations.

Waldorf-Astoria Collection (Hilton HHonors) 17 Hotels in North America. Several of these properties opened in the past year. I suspect WAC brand will be included in the JD Power luxury list for 2011. Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotel locations.

The Luxury Collection (Starwood Preferred Guest) 18 Properties, although three properties are in one location at The Phoenician Scottsdale. The Luxury Collection Hotel locations.

Millennium Hotels (M&C Loyalty Club) = 13 hotels in North America. Millennium Hotel locations. This brand is prevalent in New Zealand/Australia. 

Le Meridien (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 10 hotels in North America Le Meridien Hotel locations. 

St. Regis (Starwood Preferred Guest) = 8 hotels in North America.  St. Regis Hotel locations. 

Sofitel (Accor A-Club)= 9 hotels in North America.  Sofitel Hotel locations.

Park Hyatt (Hyatt Gold Passport) has only 5 North America locations. Park Hyatt Hotel locations.

Conrad Hotels (Hilton HHonors) has 5 hotels in North America. Conrad Hotel locations.

Globally the largest luxury brands in this selection are InterContinental Hotels (about 175 hotels), Le Meridien (about 100 hotels) and Sofitel (131 hotels). These brands have the vast majority of their hotels outside North America. These three brands, two of which do not rank in the JD Power luxury hotel brands for North America, surpass Ritz-Carlton (80 hotels) or Four Seasons (85 hotels) global portfolio in number of hotels.

Ritz-Carlton is a Marriott brand that partially participates in Marriott Rewards. You do not earn Marriott points for paid stays at Ritz-Carlton hotels, but you can use points for free nights at Ritz-Carlton Hotels. Marriott changed their award chart this past year to go to a 5^th night free redemption program for all their hotel brands, except Ritz-Carlton hotel awards are still progressively discounted for longer stays. The longer you stay the less Marriott points per night needed. A Tier 1 Ritz-Carlton Hotel costs 45,000 points for a one night stay, but only 25,000 points per night at 175,000 points for a seven night stay. This is a substantial savings on a seven night points stay at a Ritz-Carlton.  

One of the best values in the Marriott Rewards points catalog is PointSavers discounts for Ritz-Carlton stays.

Noticeably absent from the JD Power list of North America luxury brands is Hilton Worldwide’s Waldorf Astoria Collection. The rapid expansion of the Waldorf-Astoria Collection this past year now places the brand at 24 hotels globally with 17 in North America. These numbers will likely place Hilton’s luxury brand on the JD Power list in the next year or two. Conrad Hotels are still limited to just five locations in North America and 19 hotels worldwide.

InterContinental, W Hotels, and Loews are rated two JDPower circles. I am not too familiar with Loews having only been to two locations. I really like the Loews Lake Las Vegas (formerly a Park Hyatt), but I wonder if that property will survive with the closing of the Ritz-Carlton Lake Las Vegas a few months ago?

W Hotels are trendy but not what I consider a luxury hotel brand in terms of service and facilities. I like the hotels for their ambience, but the typically small room size is a big detractor for the typically high price. When I am paying for a luxury hotel I want at least 500+ square feet of room space to lounge around in and the typical W Hotel room is well short of that size.

InterContinental Hotels are a better loyalty program value if you buy in to Ambassador membership for the extra benefits. The annual rate for new members increased in July to $200 or 32,000 Priority Club points.

Fairmont Hotels are great if you travel across Canada and the west coast. Fairmont President’s Club only requires ten stays for top elite membership with some nice benefits. You should sign up for FPC membership just to receive the monthly special rate offers even if you are not positioned for earning elite status.  There are some high value rate discounts for loyalty members sent each month in email.

 

Loyalty Traveler related post: August 10 Overview of JD Power North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Loyalty Traveler Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Brand Ratings (Aug 11, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Brand Ratings (Aug 13, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Brands (August 15, 2010)

Loyalty Traveler comments on JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Brand Ratings (August 16, 2010)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

The frequent guest has the choice of many hotel loyalty promotions with little guidance to their relative value. Here is Loyalty Traveler’s summary of current hotel loyalty promotions and limited time rate offers for the frequent guest. Newly added offers since the last may 19 update are marked with an asterisk (*).

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

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

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

Three Keys = good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer

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

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

 

Accor A-Club

*Limited Time Offer: June 10-16 Hotel Rate Discount – Accor Hotels has a “Crazy Summer” 50% off sale for 800 hotels worldwide. There are no US hotels participating in this offer.

*Limited Time Offer: Motel 6 is accepting A-Club $60 vouchers at over 1,000 North America hotels for stays from June 1-October 31.

Best Western Rewards 

*5-key Promotion One Free Night in US or Canada after two stays between June 20 and August 15, 2010. Limit of One free night during promotion unless Best Western rewards elite member, then limit is two free nights. (See elite status match offer.) Registration is required and limited to residents of USA, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands. Free night voucher expires December 25, 2010. (June 1)

Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010)

 

Carlson Hotels – Goldpoints Plus

*5-Key promotion: June 1-August 31 Stay two times at any Carlson Hotel (Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inn & Suites) and earn one free night at any property. Earn limit is seven free nights. Redeem nights at any Carlson Hotel September 1 – February 28, 2011. Registration is required. (May 25)

3-Key promotion: Radisson Hotels – Earn 5,000 AAdvantage bonus miles and get a sixth night free with a five night stay at a Radisson Hotel in the Caribbean by June 15.

 

Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges

*3-key promotion Earn 8,000 points for two stays between May 20 and August 5, 2010. After two stays points will be added to your account up to 8,000 total points. Choice Privileges members normally earn 10 points per $1 at most brands. Spend $75 for each hotel night and the 1,500 base points ($150 @ 10 points /$1) will be boosted up to 8,000 points. This promotion favors the low spender. A general member who spends $400 for a five night stay will earn 4,000 points for the stay. Two stays like that and you do not earn a bonus at all. Keep this promotion in mind for those $50 one night stays. 

The Choice Privileges advertisement is for a Chili’s card, but you will receive points in your account for spending on whatever you choose. And 8,000 points is good for a free night at over 1,000 Choice Hotel members.

 

Hilton HHonors

4-key promotion Nine bonus airline miles promotions that may be combined with free night promotion (April 13, 2010) [Note: most airline offers end June 30, some go to July 15 or 31, and some longer.]

4-key promotion Fast Ways to Free Stays (Earn a free night after every 4 stays or 10 nights through June 30) (April 7, 2010)

Hilton HHonors earn unlimited free nights through June 30 – Fast Ways to Free Stays promotion (April 4, 2010)

Hyatt Gold Passport

Alert: Hyatt Gold Passport hotel award categories went up for 25% of hotels as of June 4, 2010.  Loyalty traveler post.

5-key promotion – Big Welcome Back promotion for one free night after every two stays March 26-June 30 (March 26, 2010)

4-Key promotion – Earn up to 25,000 American AAdvantage miles with 5 Hyatt stays May 3 – July 5 (May 3) – Earn 3,000 miles per Hyatt stay and 10,000 bonus miles after 5 Hyatt stays between May 3 and July 5.  You must set earning preference to miles. This offer is combinable with the Big Welcome Back offer for one free night after every two stays or 5,000 points after every two stays.

3-key offer: $100 in Hyatt gift certificates for $80 at Costco. Many Costco stores carry these. Two $50 certificates cost $79.99. These certificates do not provide change. Effectively these certificates save up to 20% on room rates, but are not good on prepaid rates.  

3-key offer: Hyatt offers a COSTCO discount rate (use Group/Corporate # 13365) that is equivalent or even better than AAA rate for many hotels. The Costco discount rate is up to 25% for North America hotels. Bookings must be made between May 7 – September 9 for stays from May 7 through September 12.

There are several different codes being tossed around for this offer.

Inserting 13365 in the Group/Corporate # has worked best for me in retrieving the $25 per night credit rate and the rate tends to match the prepaid rate, but with cancellation policies equivalent to AAA rates. For a one night stay the AAA full breakfast rate may be a better deal. Compare prices.

• North American Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, and Andaz up to 25% + $25 nightly stay credit.
• Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites up to 15% discount.
• International Hyatt properties – up to 10% discount.

 

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

*Europe IHG Rate Discount: 2 nights for the price of 1 for hotel stays through September 27, 2010. The InterContinental Budapest was available for $83 per night when I first posted this offer. These rates are prepaid and nonrefundable, but there are some fantastic savings if you want to prepay your hotel stay. (May 25)

*5-key offer Priority Club PointBreaks 5,000 points per night awards to August 30 (June 7, 2010)

*4-Key Promotion Priority Club $50 gift card for any IHG brand hotel stay worldwide including a Friday or Saturday night. Gift card offer is valid with second hotel stay between May 14 and July 31. There is a maximum earn limit of $500 in gift cards. Registration is required. This offer is mutually exclusive from the Double Points or Double Miles offer listed below. (May 21)

3-Key promotion Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles May 14-August 31 (April 15)

3-key promotion Ambassador members receive up to 10,000 points after stays in four different InterContinental Hotels. May 10-July 31. Registration required. (May 11)

2-key promotion: Ambassador members receive 25,000 points for a two-night stay at participating InterContinental Hotels (June 1-September 30). Unfortunately most hotels are asking a significantly higher rate ($50 to $100 per night over lowest available) for this offer. Bonus may be earned three times for 75,000 points.  (May 11)

IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (Dec 26, 2010)

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) – Leaders Club Rewards 

3-key promotion – Earn 1 free night after every 5 hotel stays in 2010. Must stay in at least two different hotels. Bellagio in Las Vegas is LHW member. (April 13, 2010)

Marriott Rewards

5-Key promotion – May 1-July 31 New members of Marriott Rewards earn a free night after two stays  (April 5, 2010)

4-key promotion – MegaBonus Offer: One free Marriott Category 1 to 4 hotel night after three stays June 1 – August 31. The main drawback of this offer is the lower category limit for the free night. Marriott has an 8 category award system. There are some nice Category 4 hotels, however, most major tourist cities have full scale hotel properties in the category 5 or 6 level.

The free night offer is targeted and available to most Marriott Rewards members. Marriott Rewards elite members are likely to have received a points offer based on nights for their MegaBonus.

Alternate Points offer #1: Earn 20,000 points after 15 nights or 30,000 points after 20 nights.

Alternate Points offer #2: Earn 25,000 points after 20 nights or 40,000 points after 25 nights.

4-key promotion – Up to 60,000 Delta Skymiles. Earn 5,000 Skymiles per stay beginning with your second stay from May 1 through September 6, 2010. Registration required. Note: Your Marriott Rewards account earning preference must be set to miles for this offer to load correctly on your web browser.

1-Key offer – Marriott Rewards Instant Redemption Awards (March 24, 2010)

Starwood Preferred Guest

5-key promotion – Earn a free weekend night after every three stays (May 1-July 31)

4-Key promotion – Earn 1,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every stay with Sheraton Hotels in North America (US, Canada, and Caribbean) through July 31. No limit. This offer may be combined with the stay three earn a free weekend night.

3-key promotion SPG link: Pay Your Birthyear Rate (This promotion can be an incredible savings or no savings depending on the hotel and your birthyear.) LT post 4/28/2009

*Starwood Hotel Rate Discount Codes for Multiple Night Stays - Check out the rates using these Starwood Hotel discount links for stays from two to six nights and savings from 20% to 33%. These rates do not always offer the lowest rate option since the discount is based on the Best Available Rate and AAA rates often discount the BAR rate by more than 20 or 30%. Other times these rates save hundreds of dollars on otherwise lowest rate. This offer is particulalry good for booking hotel suites at a discount.

1-key promotion Four Points Breakfast for a Buck (April 12, 2010)

Starpoints Airline Direct Deposit is Better for United, Continental, and Singapore miles (March 25, 2010)

Wyndham Rewards

4-Key promotion: Earn up to 25,000 American AAdvantage miles after 9 stays from April 30 to September 30, 2010.

*Wyndham Hotels Game Prizes: Wyndham Mission: Save Summer campaign offering gift card prizes and a five night Wyndham Hotel stay. Register and play weekly for a chance to win prizes. There are also discount rate links for most Wyndham Hotel brands in this thread.

Hotel Points-to-Miles Conversion Tables for 9 hotel programs and 7 U.S. airlines (March 30, 2010)

Over the next four months, from June 1 to September 30, 2010, Ambassador members receive 25,000 bonus points for a 2-night stay at participating InterContinental Hotels. There are only 29 participating hotels and just 9 hotels in the USA, but if you find yourself in Cleveland this could be a great deal ($139 night at IC Cleveland June 4-6). This promotion may be earned three times for 75,000 points.

USA InterContinental Hotels participating in 25,000 points bonus for 2-night stays June 1-Sep 30

InterContinental Atlanta Buckhead
InterContinental Boston
InterContinental Cleveland
InterContinental Cleveland Suites
InterContinental Century City Los Angeles
InterContinental Miami
InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa
InterContinental New Orleans
Willard InterContinental Washington

Other Participating InterContinental Hotels:

MEXICO
Presidente InterContinental Puerto Vallarta

CARIBBEAN

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
InterContinental V Centenario Santo Domingo

SOUTH AMERICA

ARGENTINA
InterContinental Buenos Aires
BRAZIL
InterContinental Rio
COSTA RICA
Real InterContinental Hotel & Club Tower
VENEZUELA
InterContinental Tacarigua Valencia

EUROPE

ENGLAND
InterContinental London Park Lane
FRANCE
InterContinental Paris – Avenue Marceau
GERMANY
InterContinental Cologne
GREECE
Atheneaum InterContinental Athens
TURKEY
Ceylan InterContinental Istanbul

MIDDLE EAST

EGYPT
InterContinental Cairo CityStars
Semiramis InterContinental Cairo
LEBANON
InterContinental Mzaar Lebanon Mountain Resort & Spa

ASIA PACIFIC

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
InterContinental Beijing Beichen
InterContinental Dalian
InterContinental Hong Kong
InterContinental Shanghai Pudong
InterContinental Shanghai Puxi

AUSTRALIA & OCEANIA

FIJI
InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa

Another InterContinental Ambassador promotion awards up to 10,000 points for stays in 4 different InterContinental Hotels between May 10 and July 31. Registration is required before your first stay counts.

• 2,000 bonus points when you stay at one property
• 4,000 bonus points when you stay at two
• 6,000 bonus points when you stay at three
• 10,000 bonus points when you stay at 4 or more

InterContinental Ambassador is the paid membership loyalty program for InterContinental Hotels. The initial annual membership fee is $150 or 24,000 Priority Club points. Membership includes instant Priority Club Gold elite membership with its 10% bonus points.

These are quite the  bonus offers considering the normal rate for earning points at InterContinental Hotels is 2,000 points per stay.  The bonus offers available over the next few months essentially cover the cost of membership and the added hotel stay perks as an Ambassador make this the perfect time to splurge on an InterContinental Ambassador membership if you are not already a member.

Ambassador members receive free internet at about 25% of the InterContinental Hotels.

InterContinental Ambassador FAQ link.

IC Ambassador Benefits:

• Guaranteed room upgrade
• Fresh fruit and mineral water
• Complimentary weekend night – Members receive a Buy One, Get One Free (BOGO) coupon for a free weekend night on a two-night stay. (Weekend nights are defined as Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, except Middle East Thursday, Friday, Saturday). You can take that $400 per night room down to $200 per night on a two-night weekend stay.
• Membership packet includes a 5,000 Priority Club points voucher.
• 4PM late check-out
• Complimentary Pay TV film per stay
• Ambassador Accelerator 20,000 bonus points for 15 paid nights. (Registration required for this offer, so sign up as soon as you join and before your first stay.)

All in all, Ambassador membership and 4 hotel stays in different hotels, with at least three being 2-night stays in one of the participating hotels for the 25,000 point bonus will earn 75,000 bonus points + 10,000 bonus points for four stays in different hotels + 8,000 stay points for 93,000 points. Most of the hotels I checked run $250 per night which makes Cleveland look pretty good on the hotel rate front if you just want to maximize the two-night stays for 75,000 points.

Do you lead an InterContinental life?

This is a good time to be an InterContinental Ambassador.

The official 2010 1^st Quarter Priority Club promo for 1,000 points or 200 miles per night is just one offer of many currently available to Priority Club members. The ability to combine bonus points offers make Priority Club one of the most generous hotel loyalty programs available to frequent guests.

There are three good sources for learning about the different promotional opportunities available to Priority Club members: FlyerTalk, PriorityClubInsider.com, and Priority Club Connect.

FlyerTalk has a forum section for InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club and InterContinental Ambassador. There is a master thread for promotions placed as a sticky near the top of the forum – “IC Master Promo Thread 2010”. This master thread was updated just a few days ago by Radioman and summarizes a number of points earning opportunities and includes a mini-tutorial on signing up for Priority Club promotions.

Two of the most lucrative promotions are the “Celebration” offer, Code 5005, for 5,000 points with a two-night weekend stay for Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday within 90 days of promotion registration.

The other offer is the recurring quarterly promotion based on a specific number of IHG hotel stays. These promotions range from 5,000 bonus points after 4 nights to 10,000 bonus points for 2 stays, and up to 15,000 bonus points for as few as five nights or as many as 18 nights.

The catch is a Priority Club member can only earn one of the night-based bonus offers from among the dozen or so mutually exclusive offers currently available. The uncertainty factor with the “Stay X Nights, Earn X Points” promotions is the inability to know in advance which promotion you will be able to successfully register to your account, if any.

The general guideline is to sign up for the most favorable offer based on your anticipated hotel stay pattern. Keep trying other offers if you are unsuccessful in registering for your favorite choice.

PriorityClubInsider.com is an independent website detailing Priority Club promotions. Most of this information is also found on the FlyerTalk threads, however, I find the blog format much easier to browse for bonus points promotions than FlyerTalk. Here is the blog post regarding the 2010 1^st quarter bonus point offers for stays with registration links.

This website also has FAQ regarding the Priority Club program in the right hand side of the webpage for a basic tutorial on Priority Club and InterContinental Ambassador.

PriorityClub.Connect is the official IHG hotel chain sponsored bulletin board. Priority Club members can register, read, and contribute. Unlike the MarriottRewardsInsiders.com forums, a websurfer does not need to be signed in to read PriorityClub.Connect. There are plenty of active participants creating a dynamic forum discussion on many aspects of InterContinental Hotels Group and the loyalty programs. This is definitely a site to check out if you are active in Priority Club or an IC Ambassador. Here is a link to the Priority Club section of the bulletin board.

[updated links October 3, 2010 when I tried them and saw the web addresses changed. Hey readers, let me know if the links stop working in the future. This is a low-tech manual gig. Please help!]

 

I should have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night (for bonus points)

In Part 2 of the hotel mega-chain comparisons I look at elite membership in Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club and IC Ambassador, and Marriott Rewards.

Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards were all rated by WebFlyer.com in 2007 and side-by-side ratings can be viewed here. The interesting statistic for me are the high ratings Marriott Rewards members give to their program. Marriott’s ratings far surpass member ratings for the other two programs with about 500 voting participants in each loyalty group. But two years is a long time in loyalty programs and changes have been made in each program since then.

Marriott Rewards restructured their strongest competitive advantage in 2009 with the change in reward tables from a per night discount for any multiple night stay  to a basic 5th night free redemption program.   

Hilton HHonors has the highly popular Points & Miles earning preference for members to accrue both hotel loyalty points and airline miles with a hotel stay.

Priority Club is the program for promotion junkies into amassing points. The ability to earn 30 points per $1 spent on hotel stays is likely and even 50 points per $1 is reported by some promotion savvy members.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler blog post from February 2009 with a comparison of elite levels in Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott, and Starwood, along with a list of reasons FlyerTalk members state they like Hilton HHonors or Marriott Rewards.

This post focuses more on published elite member benefits. Marriott Rewards has a table comparing the benefits of their different Rewards elite levels.

Marriott Rewards Silver Elite = 10 nights in a calendar year to qualify

• 20% elite bonus points

• 10% discount on Friday or Saturday nights at Courtyard and SpringHill Suites (AAA should be just as good or better rate)

• 10% discount at Marriott-operated gift shops

• Elite-only rewards and special offers

• Late check out 

 

 

Hilton HHonors Silver VIP = 10 nights or 4 stays in a calendar year to qualify

• 15% elite bonus points

• Benefits

• complimentary fitness center/health club access (Marriott makes no reference to this type of benefit)

• access to VIP reward multi-night stay discounts using points

 

IHG Priority Club Gold = $50 or 15 nights or earn 20,000 points in a calendar year or join Ambassador Club ($150)

• 10% Bonus Points

 

Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco Airport

 

 

 

 

 

Marriott Rewards Gold Elite = 50 nights in a calendar year to qualify

• 25% elite bonus points (10 base points per US$1 + 2.5 points elite bonus for 12.5 points per $1) 

• Room upgrade 

• Lounge access at Marriott, JW Marriott, and Renaissance hotels with lounges and complimentary breakfast.  

• Complimentary breakfast Mon-Fri at Marriott and Renaissance hotels without a lounge. 

• Free local phone and 15 pages FAX at Courtyard, SPringHill Suites, and Fairfield Inn 

• Room type guarantee in USA (Gold members are eligible to receive the Room Type Guarantee at any Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn or Suite, SpringHill Suite or TownePlace Suite property located in North America.)

 

 

 

 

Hilton Gold VIP = 16 stays, 36 nights, or 60,000 base points earned in calendar year.

 

5 published routes to Gold elite qualification. (Hilton has easier qualification than Marriott Rewards gold elite.)

1.       New first-year Surpass credit card member receives one year complimentary Gold elite)

2.       60,000 base points = $6,000 Hilton hotel stay spend which may be easier qualification bar than $20,000 in credit card spend for some members or stays and nights.

3.       16 Hilton brand hotel stays. HHonors counts award stays towards elite qualification.

4.       36 nights

5.       Hilton also runs periodic promotions for Gold elite typically with 4 stays in 90 days.

 

HHonors Gold VIP members earn 25% elite bonus points. A person selecting Points & Points earning preference receives 10 points per US$1 + 5 points (Points & Points bonus) + 2.5 points Gold elite bonus for 17.5 points per $1.

 

 

HHonors elite benefits vary with brands: Conrad, Hilton, Doubletree

 

• Room upgrade

• Complimentary continental breakfast for member and one guest, even if not provided lounge access for stay.

• Complimentary internet

• If upgraded to Executive Floor room, lounge access guaranteed [lounge access is not guaranteed for Gold member who does not get upgraded to Executive Floor; hotel’s discretion.]

• 1,000 bonus points

 

Embassy Suites Benefits:

500 bonus points or complimentary internet or choice of sodas, fruit, water

 

Hampton Inn Benefits: 250 points and two bottles of water

 

Hilton Garden Inn Benefits: 750 points and full American breakfast for member and one registered guest.

 

Hilton Grand Vacations benefits: two bottles of water per stay and 1,000 bonus points

 

Waldorf Astoria Collection benefits: one category room upgrade and either 1,000 bonus points or free movie. Two bottles of water per stay. Welcome beverage for member and guest. Late checkout.

 

 

IHG Platinum Elite = 50 nights per calendar year or earn 60,000 points

• 50% elite bonus points (10 base points per US$1 + 5 elite points for 15 points per $1.

• Complimentary room upgrades (subject to availability)

• Guaranteed room availability (72 hours in advance)

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Marriott Platinum = 75 nights

• 50% elite bonus points (10 base points + 5 elite points per US$1 = 15 points per $1)

• Platinum Arrival Gift bonus points = 500 points at Marriott, Renaissance, Marriott Vacation Clubs

• 250 points at Courtyard outside US

• 200 points in USA at Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites

• (Members earning miles will not earn platinum amenity points) 

• Room type guarantee worldwide

• “Platinum members are eligible to receive the Room Type Guarantee at any Marriott Hotels & Resorts, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn & Suite, SpringHill Suites or TownePlace Suites property worldwide.”

• 48 hour reservation guarantee

 

 

 

HHonors Diamond VIP = 60 nights or 28 stays or 100,000 base points or HHonors American Express Surpass $40,000 per year credit card spend.

 

• 50% bonus points (Points & Points 10 base points + 5 Points & Points bonus + 5 elite points = 20 points per $1. Points & Miles earns 15 points per $1 + variable or fixed miles.)

• Guaranteed reservation when made by midnight hotel local time 48 hours before day of arrival. (check Marriott)

• Complimentary continental breakfast for elite member and one guest each morning of stay.

• Lounge access is guaranteed for Diamond member even if not upgraded to Executive Floor.

 

 

Hilton HHonors Executive Lounge Access Policy

If you select a space-available room upgrade as your on-property VIP benefit, the following policy will apply effective August 15, 2008, at all Hilton®, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts and Doubletree® hotels:

If you are a Gold VIP, you’ll be given access to the Executive Floor lounge when you receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor. If an Executive Floor room upgrade is unavailable, you’ll still receive daily complimentary Continental breakfast in lieu of lounge access.

If you are a Diamond VIP, you’ll enjoy access to the Executive Floor lounge, even if you don’t receive a room upgrade to the Executive Floor, including daily complimentary Continental breakfast.

At hotels without Executive Floor lounges, Gold and Diamond VIPs will receive complimentary Continental breakfast for themselves and up to one additional registered hotel guest each day. If breakfast is included in the room rate, you’ll receive an alternate welcome amenity that varies by hotel.

Hilton Executive Lounge policy: http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/about/gold.do

 

 

InterContinental Ambassador $150 annual fee (also confers Priority Club Gold elite membership).

Benefits at InterContinental Hotel brand:

 

• Guaranteed room upgrade

• Fresh fruit and mineral water

• Certificate for complimentary weekend night on two-night stay

• 4pm late checkout

• Complimentary pay TV film per stay

• Earn 20,000 bonus points every 15 nights at InterContinental Hotels in calendar year.

 

InterContinental Royal Ambassador – by invitation only for top 1% of Ambassador members offers expanded benefits considered by many frequent guests to be the best hotel loyalty program elite status. FlyerTalk members state minimum criteria appears to be at least 50 IHG brand hotel nights and 3 different InterContinental Hotel stays per year.

 

 

Loyalty Traveler’s take on InterContinental Ambassador: Buy your way to elite recognition for a small fee that is rebated with a single certificate for a free weekend night. Most InterContinental Hotels are over $150 per night and the free night can be worth over $300 in many locations. This is a great deal for anyone planning any stays at an InterContinental Hotel.

 

 

This is simply an overview of elite membership and by no means a comprehensive or thorough analysis.  Please comment if there are other aspects, benefits, or limitations of elite membership with these programs. I will edit the post to include or clarify items I neglected to mention. The goal here is to have a quick one-post comparison for Loyalty travelers.

 

Bottom line for loyalty travelers is the program that best meets your needs will depend on your hotel preferences, travel spending pattern, and benefits most desired for your stays.

Starwood Preferred Guest

New Members Offer for Instant SPG Gold Elite through February 2011 (normally requires 10 hotel stays or 25 nights in a calendar year), plus 1,000 bonus points per night through March 31, 2010.

Details:  http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2009/11/20/my-midas-touch-gives-new-spg-members-starwood-preferred-guest-gold-elite/