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/

InterContinental Hotels Group has a Great Asia Sale this week.  Loyalty traveler is passing on the sale news a little late, but better than never. There is still 24 hours for booking these slight room rate savings for 11 participating hotels in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta for stays through October 31, 2009.

IHG Great Asia Sale Promotion link.

The current sale was five days and ends Friday, August 21 at 11:59pm GMT+8. That is 11:59 noon on Friday, August 21 New York time or 8:59am Friday, San Francisco time. I used to travel to Asia every year and I could keep track of the time zones in my head. These days I have to look it up on an international clock.

Check back Sunday, August 23 at 12 noon NY time or 9am California time for the next Great Asia Sale offer for the cities of Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Phnom Penh.

www.ihg.com/asiasale

The Great Asia Sale is more like a good AAA discount rate rather than a full-blown great deal. The rates shown in the advertisement are not the rates I found in several rate checks today. In fact, there were lower rates than the Great Asia Sale rate available for the IC Singapore for the two dates I checked.

 

Great Asia Sale Terms: Rate is prepaid and nonrefundable and no cancellation allowed. InterContinental Ambassadors are not allowed to use the “Buy One Night Get One Free” certificate with the Great Asia Sale rate.

InterContinental Singapore	Great Asia Sale	Advance Purchase	Better Rate
Wed. Sep 23	SGD $244 USD $168.83 Deluxe Room	SGD $228.75 USD$158.31 Deluxe Room	Advance Purchase Save USD $10.52
	SGD $316 USD $218.70 Club InterContinental	SGD $296.25 USD$205.03 Club InterContinental	Advance Purchase Save USD $13.67
Fri. Oct 2	SGD $200 USD $138.43 Deluxe Room	SGD $212.50 USD $147.08 Deluxe Room	Great Asia Sale Save USD $8.65
	SGD $272 USD $188.26 Club InterContinental	SGD $289 USD $199.97 Club InterContinental	Great Asia Sale Save USD $11.71
Holiday Inn Park View Singapore	Great Asia Sale	Advance Purchase	Better Rate
Wed. Sep 23	SGD $185.61 USD $128.46 Deluxe Room	SGD $215.20 USD $148.94 Deluxe Room	Great Asia Sale Save USD $20.48
	SGD $225.63 USD $156.17 Club Room	SGD $261.60 USD $181.03 Club Room	Great Asia Sale Save USD $24.86
Fri. Oct. 2	SGD $159.00 USD $110.01 Deluxe Room	SGD $180.20 USD $124.68 Deluxe Room	Great Asia Sale Save USD $13.67   Weekend Special rate includes breakfast for two SGD $190 USD $131.49
	SGD $202.50 USD $140.15 Club Room	SGD $229.50 USD $158.83 Club Room	Great Asia Sale Save USD $18.68

 

The Great Asia Sale offers greater savings for the Holiday Inn Park View Singapore (around 15%) than for the InterContinental Singapore (around 5 to 6 %). The InterContinental Singapore actually had lower rates using the advance purchase for the weekday rates sample.

The Weekend Special rate includes breakfast for two for the Singapore Holiday Inn Park View. This rate might be a better value to start the day with breakfast at the hotel for an extra USD $21 and earn additional Priority Club points.

The Holiday Inn Park View is located just off Orchard Road, Singapore’s main shopping street. Just outside the hotel is an alley with restaurants and beer gardens. I passed through the HI Park View on my last trip to Singapore and the lobby is one of the nicest I have seen in a Holiday Inn. The road outside the front entrance is extremely busy with car traffic. A pedestrian overpass had some interesting signage. The SGD $1000 fines for riding a bicycle on a pedestrian bridge make the hotel rates seem downright cheap in comparison.

Conclusion: The IHG Great Asia Sale is a discount in most cases, albeit a relatively small one in the rates for dates I checked. I wouldn’t exactly call it a “great sale” discount. This promotional sale is nothing to be too upset about if you miss the current “Great Asia Sale”.

 

A recently published hotel guest survey by J.D. Power and Associates states hotel guest satisfaction is up over the past year. 

Embassy Suites came out on top of the guest satisfaction survey for the upscale hotel market segment for the third year in a row.

Here are my reasons why I think the Embassy Suites brand is so popular.

1.       Larger rooms – these rooms will hold a family. The abundance of kids is what I consider the major detraction of Embassy Suites, but if I had kids I would be much more inclined to stay.

 

2.       Cooked breakfast is complimentary. Most of the midrange priced hotels offer complimentary breakfast, but few have cooked-to-order service. Few upscale hotels offer complimentary cooked-to-order breakfast unless you are high-level elite.

 

3.       Happy hour reception. I sat in an Embassy Suites recently and watched the bar go through a keg of beer and a couple of cases of wine during the two hour manager’s reception. Considering the bar tab would have been $50 for many of the guests and they could get a big buzz for about $5 in tips is a high value proposition for many guests. The pool was a zoo at this time with all the kids.

Embassy Suites provides value for many types of guests and thus the brand ranks high in guest satisfaction.

The J.D. Power survey also finds increasing guest desire for comfort and value-related amenities like pillow choices (feather pillow for me thanks); free parking ($60 to park? I only paid $89 for the room); and complimentary internet.

One of the big trends of the past year is free internet. InterContinental Hotels Group is giving free internet to Ambassador members  beginning August 1 thru October 31 at more than 80 properties worldwide. Hyatt Hotels began offering free internet this year to elite members. And Hyatt Hotels is giving complimentary elite status to anyone who asks.

The interesting aspect of the J.D. Power survey is the finding that overall guest satisfaction is up this year across most hotel market segments while guest satisfaction with the hotel room declined across all hotel market segments.

Hotel guests are satisfied with the great deals, but I think many are missing out on the room upgrades available to elite frequent guests.

InterContinental Hotels Group = 4,202 Hotels as of March 2009.

InterContinental Hotels Group IHG Brands	Number of Hotels (3-09) 4,202 hotels	Market Segment	Rooms per brand - 621,696 globally	HotelsMag.com Ranking in World Top 50 Brands (by rooms)
Holiday Inn	1,342	Midscale to Upscale	245,080	2
Holiday Inn Express	1,958	Midscale	176,828	5
Crowne Plaza	349	Upscale to Upper Upscale	96,188	16
InterContinental Hotels	158	Upper Upscale to Luxury	53,976	25
Staybridge Suites	157	Extended Stay	17,247	Not in Top 50
Candlewood Suites	213	Extended Stay	21,499	Not in Top 50
Hotel Indigo	25	Upscale	2,939	Not in Top 50

 

Holiday Inn is generally a midscale brand for most US properties despite a $1 billion makeover in the past year. A billion dollars doesn’t go that far when divided among 1,300 hotels. One new upper upscale hotel property can easily cost over $100 million.  Holiday Inns in international locations tend to be more upscale, on the level of USA Crowne Plaza properties, which is why I placed the brand in the midscale to upscale range.

Holiday Inn Express is everywhere in the USA. The fastest growing IHG brand is coming to a highway near you sometime soon. A comfortable room with free internet and breakfast is all most travelers desire.

InterContinental Hotels has Ambassador Club, a separate loyalty program from Priority Club with a first year membership fee of $150 per year and includes Priority Club Gold membership (normally $50). The membership value is rebated through a Buy One Get One weekend night free certificate for an InterContinental Hotel included with membership. InterContinental Hotels were originally established as Pan Am Airlines global hotel chain. Today these hotels rank in the high-end hotel segment in cities around the world.

Hotel Indigo is the newest brand. There are no properties yet in northern California, so I am still waiting to see a sample of the brand.

InterContinental Hotels Group source: http://www.ihgplc.com/files/results/results09Q1/downloads/slides09Q1.pdf

Hotels Magazine annual survey has number of hotels at 4,186 hotels globally and total rooms at 619,851 rooms. Top 50 Brand Rankings are based on Hotels Magazine data.

Hotels Magazine Source: http://www.hotelsmag.com/article/CA6667503.html

World’s Largest Hotel Companies: Corporate 300 Chart

Offer: Stay two nights at any IC Hotels Group brand hotel from Tuesday, May 4 to July 3, 2009 and earn one free night. Nights do not need to be consecutive nights or even at the same hotel.

Promotion Registration is required at www.priorityclub.com/register4FreeNights

and registration is necessary before making your paid hotel night reservations in order for them to be qualifying nights for the free night promotion. Qualifying nights are any InterContinental Hotels Group hotel in the brands: InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites, and Candlewood Suites. Hotels in Japan are excluded from this offer.

Free night may be redeemed from July 3 through December 26, 2009 and free night is valid for any IC Hotels Group hotel, except for hotels in Japan. There are no other hotels specifically excluded from free night redemption, however, capacity controls may effectively limit some hotels from redemption once allotted rooms have been redeemed.

Maximum free nights a Priority Club member may earn is capped at 4 nights after 8 paid nights within the promotion period of May 4 and July 3. If you have a travel partner/spouse, then you can readily earn an additional 4 free nights and have 8 free nights for 2009 between the two of you.

The terms of the promotion state room upgrade benefits for elite members do not apply to free nights redeemed with this promotion so theoretically elite status should not result in a room upgrade. In practice I think this will depend on the specific hotel and guest. An elite guest who has stayed at a particular hotel numerous times in the past and been upgraded as an elite member will likely still receive hotel recognition. But the rules do state an upgrade does not have to be given to elites.

Free night notifications will begin around May 22.  You should receive notification of free night award around 14 days after qualifying activity.

My advice is to book free room nights as soon as possible if you are planning to stay at a high demand hotel such as New York City, Hawaii, a beach resort or expensive InterContinental hotel. Wait too long, like into July or August before booking your reservation and the allotment of free rooms at your desired hotel may already be gone for the year.  

Just remember that your free night reservation can’t be modified – only cancelled and forfeited. Be sure you book an ironclad reservation date.

Free Night may be redeemed only at www.priorityclub.com/bookfreenights.

 

 

Holiday Inn Santa Clara

Turn your hotel stay at the lower priced Holiday Inn into another hotel stay here at the higher priced InterContinental San Francisco.

InterContinental San Francisco

InterContinental Hotels Group 2 Nights Earn a Free Night Promotion Terms:

·         Promotion registration is required prior to stay for eligibility towards free nights. Reservations made within 48 hours prior to Free Nights promotion registration will count towards free nights.

·         Paid nights during promotional period earn elite qualification credit. Free nights do not.

·         Registration for the free nights promotion restricts the member’s earning of base and elite loyalty program points for the duration of the promotion even if the maximum number of free nights has already been earned. (For this reason some members planning numerous nights in May and June may choose to register for double points instead).

·         Members may still earn bonus points for hotel stays as part of room rate offers and paid nights will count towards Ambassador Accelerator for InterContinental Ambassador members. Ambassador Accelerator awards 20,000 points for 15 InterContinental Hotel nights during the calendar year.

·         Hotels in Japan are excluded from this offer.

·         Only one room per member per night is eligible for free night offer.

·         Member may redeem earned promotional free nights individually or for up to a 4-night consecutive nights stay

·         Warning: Hotel Reservations for free nights may not be modified. A reservation cancellation forfeits the free night. Free night credit will not be redeposited to account.

·         Free Nights are not transferable. Account Member must be guest on file.

 The trend this past month has been to soft launch hotel loyalty program promotions on FlyerTalk. SPG announced their promotion on FlyerTalk to rave responses. InterContinental Hotels Group and Marriott Rewards released their promotions and hotel loyalty program members cried out for better terms. Marriott released a double elite nights promotion and then pulled it last week while it is still being fine tuned.

This IC Hotels Group promotion also disappeared for a few days and came back slightly altered. The promotion term of no base or elite points during the two month period of the free nights promotion received a negative response on FlyerTalk. IC Hotels Group added an alternate promotion of Double Points or Double Miles for the two month promotional period in lieu of the free nights offer.

You will have to make a choice between two promotions when you register for the free nights promotion. Your selection cancels out the other offer in your account during the May-June promotional period.

Free nights works out to a much better deal for most Priority Club members. A free night at an InterContinental Hotel  will cost either 30,000 or 40,000 points per night. Paris, London, or Amsterdam free nights are worth 40,000 points each. Bora Bora, if you can get a free room reservation, is a $500 to $800 per night hotel you might get for free after two nights at the Holiday Inn Express in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Double Points would mean up to 25 points per $1 for a Platinum member. Two nights earns the equivalent of 40,000 points if used for an InterContinental Hotel free night.  The free nights promotion caps you at 4 free nights equivalent to 160,000 points.  A Priority Club platinum member who will spend over $6,400 during the two month promotional period will earn more in points using the double points promotion.

InterContinental Hotel stays earn 2,000 points per stay and a stay pattern with InterContinental stays needs to be evaluated separately.

Unless you have a track record of earning 60,000+ points per month, then you are better off going with free nights for the two months of this promotion as long as you have the ability to get good value from a hotel stay using the free nights in 2009.