• Chevron
• Exxon Mobil
• Sunoco

GAS Gift Card Denominations and point redemption values:

$25 Gas Card = 8,250 points (regularly 11,000 points)

• Redemption value = $3.03 per 1,000 points.

$50 Gas Card = 15,000 points (regularly 20,000 points)

• Redemption value = $3.33 per 1,000 points.

$100 Gas Card = 28,500 points (regularly 38,000 points)

• Redemption value = $3.51 per 1,000 points.

$200 Gas Card = 55,500 points (regularly 74,000 points)

• Redemption value = $3.60 per 1,000 points.

These redemption values are likely far less than you will get with a hotel room redemption where you are likely to get at least $5.00 to $6.00 or more per 1,000 points, but if you have plenty of Priority Club points and need to save cash on gas, then these values are reasonable redemption rates.

I redeemed 15,000 points for $500 in room savings this week when the new PointBreaks list came out for stays through July 31, 2012. That is $33.33 per 1,000 points redemption value for 10x the gas card rate.

I’ll pay $100 cash for my gas driving to my Priority Club PointBreaks hotel stay in July.

Priority Club Gas Cards

According to this WebFlyer post, other Priority Club retailer gift cards will be discounted each week through Labor Day weekend.

Oceania has not participated in some time and PointBreaks are offered at the InterContinental Fiji and Crowne Plaza Surfers Paradise, Australia.

There are a dozen InterContinental Hotels on this list with four in Africa including InterContinental Mauritius.

United States (link)

ALABAMA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES BIRMINGHAM

HOLIDAY INN MOBILE WEST – I-10

ARKANSAS

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL LITTLE ROCK

HOLIDAY INN LITTLE ROCK-PRESIDENTIAL-DWNTN

ARIZONA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL PHOENIX-AIRPORT

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES TUCSON AIRPORT-NORTH

CALIFORNIA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES GARDEN GROVE/ANAHEIM AREA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL LOS ANGELES HARBOR HOTEL

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES BARSTOW

STAYBRIDGE SUITES SAN DIEGO RANCHO BERNARDO AREA

CONNECTICUT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES HARTFORD CONVENTION CTR AREA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL DANBURY

FLORIDA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES CLEARWATER

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES TAMPA STADIUM AIRPORT AREA

HOTEL INDIGO MIAMI DADELAND

STAYBRIDGE SUITES JACKSONVILLE

GEORGIA

HOTEL INDIGO ATLANTA MIDTOWN

HOLIDAY INN ATLANTA-PERIMETER/DUNWOODY

IOWA

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES WEST DES MOINES-JORDAN CREEK

ILLINOIS

CANDLEWOOD SUITES CHICAGO/HOFFMAN ESTATES

HOLIDAY INN MOUNT PROSPECT – CHICAGO

STAYBRIDGE SUITES SCHAUMBURG

INDIANA

HOLIDAY INN LOUISVILLE-NORTH (CLARKSVILLE)

HOLIDAY INN TERRE HAUTE

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES COLUMBUS EDINBURGH

KANSAS

HOLIDAY INN OLATHE MEDICAL CENTER

KENTUCKY

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL LEXINGTON NEAR UK / KEENELAND

LOUISIANA

HOLIDAY INN BATON ROUGE COLLEGE DRIVE I-10

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES BOSSIER CITY – LOUISIANA DOWNS

MASSACHUSETTS

HOTEL INDIGO BOSTON-NEWTON RIVERSIDE

MARYLAND

HOLIDAY INN COLUMBIA

MAINE

HOLIDAY INN PORTLAND-BY THE BAY

MICHIGAN

CANDLEWOOD SUITES DETROIT-WARREN

MINNESOTA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL BLOOMINGTON MSP AIRPORT / MOA

MISSOURI

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ST. LOUIS AIRPORT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS ST. LOUIS AIRPORT- RIVERPORT

MISSISSIPPI

HOLIDAY INN MERIDIAN E – I 20/I 59

MONTANA

HOLIDAY INN BOZEMAN

NORTH CAROLINA

HOTEL INDIGO RALEIGH DURHAM AIRPORT AT RTP

STAYBRIDGE SUITES CHARLOTTE-ARROWOOD

NORTH DAKOTA

STAYBRIDGE SUITES MINOT

NEBRASKA

STAYBRIDGE SUITES LINCOLN I-80

NEW HAMPSHIRE

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES NASHUA

NEW JERSEY

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MONROE SOUTH BRUNSWICK

HOLIDAY INN GW BRIDGE-FORT LEE NYC AREA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS WEST ATLANTIC CITY

NEW MEXICO

CANDLEWOOD SUITES ALBUQUERQUE

NEW YORK

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SYRACUSE

HOLIDAY INN ALBANY, NY – WOLF ROAD

HOTEL INDIGO ALBANY LATHAM

OHIO

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL CLEVELAND SOUTH – INDEPENDENCE

INTERCONTINENTAL CLEVELAND

STAYBRIDGE SUITES TOLEDO – MAUMEE

OKLAHOMA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES LAWTON FORT SILL

STAYBRIDGE SUITES OKLAHOMA CITY-QUAIL SPRINGS

OREGON

HOLIDAY INN PORTLAND-AIRPORT (I-205)

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS ROSEBURG

HOLIDAY INN RESORT THE LODGE AT RUNNING Y RANCH

SOUTH CAROLINA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL CHARLESTON AIRPORT – CONV CTR

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES COLUMBIA-AIRPORT

TENNESSEE

HOLIDAY INN OPRYLAND-ARPT (BRILEY PKWY)

STAYBRIDGE SUITES MEMPHIS-POPLAR AVE EAST

HOLIDAY INN CHATTANOOGA – HAMILTON PLACE

TEXAS

CANDLEWOOD SUITES HOUSTON IAH / BELTWAY 8

CANDLEWOOD SUITES DALLAS PARK CENTRAL

HOLIDAY INN HOUSTON-INTERCONTINENTAL ARPT

HOLIDAY INN CORPUS CHRISTI-EMERALD BEACH

INTERCONTINENTAL HOUSTON NEAR THE GALLERIA

STAYBRIDGE SUITES SAN ANTONIO – STONE OAK

UTAH

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES SALT LAKE CITY-AIRPORT WEST

VIRGINIA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES RICHMOND WEST END SHORT PUMP

HOLIDAY INN VIRGINIA BEACH – NORFOLK

WASHINGTON

HOLIDAY INN DOWNTOWN-EVERETT

STAYBRIDGE SUITES VANCOUVER-PORTLAND METRO

WYOMING

HOLIDAY INN ROCK SPRINGS

Canada link.

ALBERTA

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES WEST EDMONTON

BRITISH COLUMBIA

HOLIDAY INN VANCOUVER AIRPORT- RICHMOND

ONTARIO

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES OTTAWA-DOWNTOWN

QUEBEC

HOLIDAY INN SELECT MONTREAL CENTRE VILLE DOWNTOWN

Mexico

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MEXICALI-BAJA CALIFORNIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL TUXPAN

HOLIDAY INN QUERETARO-CENTRO HISTORICO

HOLIDAY INN MONTERREY-PARQUE FUNDIDORA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES MEXICO CITY AT THE WTC

INTERCONTINENTAL PRESIDENTE PUEBLA

Central & South America

ARGENTINA

INTERCONTINENTAL NORDELTA TIGRE – BUENOS AIRES

BRAZIL

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL BELEM

CHILE

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS IQUIQUE

ECUADOR

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS QUITO

EL SALVADOR

HOLIDAY INN SAN SALVADOR

GUATEMALA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL GUATEMALA

HONDURAS

INTERCONTINENTAL REAL TEGUCIGALPA

NICARAGUA

HOLIDAY INN MANAGUA – CONVENTION CENTER

Europe

ANDORRA

HOLIDAY INN ANDORRA

CYPRUS

INTERCONTINENTAL APHRODITE HILLS RESORT HOTEL

DENMARK

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL COPENHAGEN TOWERS

FRANCE

HOLIDAY INN LILLE – OUEST ENGLOS

GERMANY

HOLIDAY INN DÜSSELDORF AIRPORT – RATINGEN

ITALY

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL VERONA – FIERA

LITHUANIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL VILNIUS

POLAND

HOLIDAY INN KRAKOW CITY CENTRE

PORTUGAL

HOLIDAY INN PORTO – GAIA

ROMANIA

INTERCONTINENTAL BUCHAREST

RUSSIA

STAYBRIDGE SUITES ST. PETERSBURG

SLOVAKIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL BRATISLAVA

SPAIN

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ESTEPONA – COSTA DEL SOL

TURKEY

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ANTALYA

UNITED KINGDOM

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS EXETER M5, JCT. 29

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS NEWCASTLE – METRO CENTRE

HOLIDAY INN GLASGOW AIRPORT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS GLASGOW – CITY CTR RIVERSIDE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL LONDON – GATWICK AIRPORT

HOLIDAY INN OXFORD

HOLIDAY INN PORTSMOUTH

HOLIDAY INN STRATFORD UPON AVON

HOLIDAY INN TAUNTON M5, JCT.25

HOLIDAY INN LANCASTER

Africa

EGYPT

INTERCONTINENTAL CITYSTARS CAIRO

KENYA

INTERCONTINENTAL NAIROBI

MAURITIUS

INTERCONTINENTAL RESORT MAURITIUS

MOROCCO

HOLIDAY INN MARRAKECH – HOTEL DU GOLF

SOUTH AFRICA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS DURBAN – UMHLANGA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS PRETORIA – SUNNYPARK

ZAMBIA

INTERCONTINENTAL LUSAKA

ZIMBABWE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL HARARE-MONOMOTAPA

HOLIDAY INN BULAWAYO

Middle East

ISRAEL

HOLIDAY INN ASHKELON

JORDAN

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL AMMAN

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL DUBAI – DEIRA

Asia

CHINA-PEOPLES REPUBLIC

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ZHONGSHAN XIAOLAN

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SHENZHEN LONGGANG CITY CENTRE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL GUANGZHOU HUADU

HOLIDAY INN HANGZHOU CBD

HOLIDAY INN SHANGHAI SONGJIANG

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS SHANGHAI NANHUIZUI

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS SHANGDI BEIJING

HOTEL INDIGO SHANGHAI ON THE BUND

INTERCONTINENTAL WUXI

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL HEFEI

INDIA

HOLIDAY INN PUNE HINJEWADI

INDONESIA

HOLIDAY INN RESORT BATAM

MALAYSIA

INTERCONTINENTAL KUALA LUMPUR

TAIWAN

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS TAOYUAN

THAILAND

CROWNE PLAZA RESORT PHUKET PANWA BEACH RESORT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS BANGKOK SIAM

HOLIDAY INN RESORT REGENT BEACH CHA AM

VIETNAM

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL DANANG

Oceania

AUSTRALIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SURFERS PARADISE

FIJI ISLANDS

INTERCONTINENTAL FIJI GOLF RESORT & SPA

VANUATU

HOLIDAY INN RESORT VANUATU

I have my eyes set on a cheap multi-day stay in Oregon. A few days in the happiest place on earth in So Cal followed by a few days in the hoppiest place on earth up in Oregon seems like a good start to the first half of summer.

This post looks beyond the Points & Cash Reward nights to examine how Priority Club Reward Nights have increased by as much as 63% in the past six months using $7 per 1,000 points as the fair exchange rate for points. 

Priority Club Points & Cash Rewards

Points & Cash Rewards were added in 2009 as a Priority Club Rewards redemption option. The basic idea is a hotel like a Crowne Plaza at 25,000 points per night can be booked for fewer points by paying a cash supplement to buy 5,000 points for $40 or 10,000 points for $70 at the time of booking.

Points & Cash Rewards allow a member to conserve points in his/her account while buying points at a rate less than the lowest normal purchase price of $11.50 per 1,000 points.

Priority Club Rewards “Points & Cash” is an option for obtaining a Reward Night. You may choose to redeem Priority Club points for a Reward Night in three ways: using your existing points for all required points for the desired Reward Night; using your existing points and 5,000 points purchased for US $40 to total the required points; or using your existing points and 10,000 points purchased for US $70 to total the required points. The total purchase on any single day may not exceed $280 US.

Priority Club Rewards Membership Terms

There is no limit to the number of Points & Cash reservations a person can make in one year, although there is a limit of $280 in points that can be purchased for Points & Cash Rewards in a single day. This means you can only book a maximum four reward nights using the 10,000 points for $70 per night option or 7 nights using the 5,000 points for $40 option.

Of course, you can always buy more Points & Cash nights the next day.

Holiday Inn Express Van Nuys, California is 15,000 points for a standard reward night. Points & Cash reward nights are 5,000 points + $70. You can save 10,000 points in your account buying 10,000 points at time of booking for $70. The AAA rate is $142 after tax. 5,000 points saves $72 which is a good redemption value.

However, Points & Cash reward nights do not earn points for your stay. That may be a significant factor to consider if there are good Priority Club promotions.

2009/2010 rate for Points & Cash Rewards

• Buy 5,000 points for $30
• Buy 10,000 points for $60

In November 2010 the rate increased to $40 to buy 5,000 points. The price to buy 10,000 points remained unchanged at $60 until May 2012 when the rate went to $70.

2011 rate for Points & Cash Rewards

• Buy 5,000 points for $40
• Buy 10,000 points for $60

May 2012 rate for Points & Cash Rewards

• Buy 5,000 points for $40
• Buy 10,000 points for $70

Priority Club Points & Cash rewards have always been a sort of hit or miss value depending on the published rates of the hotel.

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza – The Hamilton in Washington D.C. last year for 15,000 points + $60 when the hotel rate was about $300 after tax. That was a great deal. I could have redeemed 25,000 points and got a redemption value of $12 in hotel savings for every 1,000 points I spent. The Points & Cash reward improved my redemption value by letting me spend only 15,000 points + $60 and saving $240. My redemption value improved to $240/15,000 for $16 per 1,000 points. And it only cost me $6 per 1,000 points to buy the 10,000 points for my reward night. This example is still a great deal even at the current price of $70 to buy 10,000 points.

[A side note for all you “Advanced Redeemers” who might point out that paying for a room night also earns points and the actual redemption value is actually less than I have shown. That is true, but more complicated.

My argument is that figuring the points you could earn is not a necessary factor to consider in most redemptions. At some time you need to spend points to get any value from loyalty points. Not all of us have the cash to pay for every room night instead of using points, so there is no need to consider points you would earn paying a $300 room rate when that is not even an option for your budget.]

Points & Cash are not always a good deal though when the redemption rate is less than $70 per 10,000 points.

For example, assume a Holiday Inn hotel is $135 per night or 25,000 points. After tax the room is $150. This is a redemption value of $6 saved per 1,000 points spent for a 25,000 points reward night.

Paying $70 to buy 10,000 points means you only need to spend 15,000 points, but now the 15,000 points is only saving $80 compared to paying $150 for the room night.

$80/15,000 points is  a redemption value of $5.33 per 1,000 points. Paying $7 per 1,000 points and redeeming you points for $5.33 means you are buying points at a higher rate than you are redeeming. Plus Points & Cash rewards do not earn points or promotion credit so you are getting even less value from your points.

Priority Club’s Points & Cash Loophole

An aspect of Points & Cash that is sometimes referred to as the “travel hack” is the ability to book a Points & Cash reward, buy points at $70 for 10,000 points, and then keep the points if you cancel the Points & Cash reservation.

Essentially a Priority Club member can buy points for $70 per 10,000 points without needing to stay in hotels to earn points. I do not advocate overusing this method, but it works as a way to get more Priority Club points. This loophole does not seem to be affected by the increase in cost to $70 per 10,000 points for Points & Cash Reward nights.

The reason why most bloggers have valued Priority Club points at $6 per 1,000 points is due to the ability to buy points at that rate.

Is $7 per 1,000 points the new Priority Club normal value?

The recent change now pushes up the cost to $7 per 1,000 points.

So does that mean the value of Priority Club points has gone up to $7 per 1,000 points from $6 per 1,000 points?

I don’t think so in most cases. I actually thought $6 per 1,000 points was a reasonable valuation for Priority Club points, yet even that value was hard to find at many hotels compared to the standard reward rate; especially since Priority Club added higher reward tiers for most brands in January 2012.

For example, many Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels are 25,000 points per night. That meant the hotel needed to have a rate of $150 after tax to get $6 per 1,000 points redemption value using the Points & Cash purchase rate for buying points.

Now that same hotel would have to be $175 after tax to get a $7 per 1,000 points redemption value using the Points & Cash loophole.

The combination of adding higher reward night tiers in January 2012 and increasing the rate to buy points using Points & Cash Rewards to $70 for 10,000 points in May 2012 means hundreds of hotels cost significantly more per reward night than they did six months ago. 2012 has seen a significant points devaluation for Priority Club.

Here are tables to show what I mean when it comes to redeeming Priority Club points for hotel nights.

December 2011 Priority Club reward night values

In 2011 when the hotel rate after tax exceeded the amount shown in the $6/1,000 points table, then a person could buy Priority Club points through the Points & Cash loophole and save money on the cost of the hotel night.

Still there were plenty of hotels in the 4,500 IHG hotel chain where room rates were lower than the rate shown in the $6 table. I frequently found Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels cost 25,000 points when rates were well below $150 after tax. The Points & Cash loophole had little value for hotel rate savings at many hotels even when it cost $60 to buy 10,000 points.

May 2012 Priority Club Reward Night Values ($7/1,000 points)

Crowne Plaza Hotels up 63% in reward points cost.

Six months ago all Crowne Plaza hotels worldwide were 25,000 points per night. Any Crowne Plaza that cost more than $150 after tax per room night could be obtained for $150 buying points through the Points & Cash loophole.

Now all the Crowne Plaza hotels that went up to 35,000 points per night in January 2012 will cost $245 to buy through the Points & Cash loophole.

That is an increase of $95 per night or 63% more in points cost than six months ago.

That is a significant devaluation in the Priority Club Rewards program for 2012.

InterContinental Hotels up 46% in reward points cost.

An InterContinental that was 40,000 points in 2011 could be booked for $240 per night through the Points & Cash loophole for buying points.

In May 2012 the cost of an InterContinental Hotel at 50,000 points will be equivalent to a $350 room night. That is $110 more per night to buy points or a 46% increase for the cost of a reward night using the Points & Cash loophole. That is a significant devaluation in the Priority Club Rewards program for 2012.

Bottom line: Priority Club has left the Points & Cash loophole open to buy points for $70 per 10,000 points. This may be a cheap avenue to more points for some members.

But I don’t think that the value of Priority Club points has increased to $7 per 1,000 points.

The opportunity to save cash on hotel room nights buying points through the Points & Cash loophole has diminished. The points redemption deals with Priority Club Rewards have lessened in the past six months.

These changes definitely devalue the Priority Club program on the points redemption side.

At least Priority Club still offers great points earning potential by allowing stackable bonus offers on hotel stays and PointBreaks are still the hotel loyalty industry’s best bargain at 5,000 points per night.

Links to my Loyalty Traveler posts provide more detail and promotion analysis for each offer.

Most hotel loyalty promotions are two to four months in duration.

The easiest way to quickly see a list of all hotel loyalty promotions discussed on Loyalty Traveler is to check my Loyalty Traveler Facebook page. All Loyalty Traveler post links feed into Twitter and all my tweets feed into Loyalty Traveler Facebook.

Summer 2012 hotel loyalty promotions

Le Club Accor - this Europe-based program officially changed its name from A|Club to Le Club Accor on March 28, 2012. Accor Hotels offers a variety of global regional bonusesand rate discounts. The program tends to have regionalized rate and bonus points promotions.

Until May 31, 2012 earn 1,000 miles per stay with Delta or Aeroplan.

Best Western Rewards – April 15 – June 3, 2012

Earn a $50 Best Western Travel Card after 3 stays. Elite members earn 1,000 bonus points for each stay, up to 3,000 bonus points.

Best Western FMJUMP12 promotion registration required.

• Best Western Jump Start to Summer Promotion 2012 FAQ.
• Best Western Jump Start to Summer Promotion 2012 T&C.
• Loyalty traveler post April 4, 2012.

Facebook Fans: Best Western runs weekly promotions on its Facebook page. Any Best Western frequent guest should check out Best Western Facebook.

Choice Privileges 

May 17 – August 15, 2012. Choice’s new offer is 2 stays for 8,000 points or a $50 gift card. Choice Privileges Summer Promotion registration link. There is no limit to the number of times this bonus can be earned. The value of this offer is dependent on where you can redeem points. This March 26, 2012 Loyalty Traveler post shows the value of 8,000 Choice privileges points in Paris can be quite the hotel savings.

Club Carlson

***** Club Carlson – Radisson Big Night Giveaway May 15-July 15, 2012. Club Carlson repeats the late-2011 promotion letting the first 100,000 members to register earn 50,000 bonus points after staying one night at a Radisson worldwide.

***** Club Carlson – Country Inns & Suites Big Night Giveaway May 15-July 15, 2012.First 35,000 members to register beginning May 15 earn 44,000 points after staying one night in a Country Inn & Suites.

***** Club Carlson – Park Inn Big Night Giveaway May 22-July 22, 2012.First 20,000 members to register beginning May 15 earn 44,000 points after staying one night in a Park Inn.

[Registration Links Note:the details for these three Club Carlson promotion will be available May 15. Registration for Radisson and Country Inn at 1am Tuesday May 15 eastern; 10pm Monday May 14 pacific time zones. Park Inn registration begins May 22.]

RadissonBigNightGiveaway.com

SOGOCountry.com

ParkInnOnePlusOne.com

Loyalty Traveler posts:

May 10 – Radisson, Country Inn and Park Inn brand promotions May to July.

May 8 –  Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway Summer Travel Promotions

Hilton HHonors

*** Hilton HHonors – April 1 – June 30, 2012 – Double Points or Double Miles. Registration required. Loyalty traveler post March 21, 2012.

Hyatt Gold Passport

**** Hyatt 3rd Night Free Rate is a rate discount for bookings through November 30, 2012 for stays by December 30, 2012. Rate includes breakfast for two and 2pm late checkout. My Loyalty Traveler rate analysis March 21showed this is a good value and usually lower than AAA rates.

Gold Passport Diamond Challenge- Most beneficial perhaps is to tie this offer into a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond Challenge for 12 nights in 60 days (normally 25 stays or 50 nights in calendar year). As Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond for 2012 you also will receive 4 confirmed suite upgrades. Start the Gold Passport Diamond Challenge first and then get the credit card once you have Diamond status to get confirmed suite upgrades for your credit card free nights. FlyerTalk discussion threadon Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond challenge.

*** Hyatt bonus miles May 1 – August 31, 2012,

24,500 airline miles with 11 stays with choice of 11 airline partners.

• 500 miles is normal earning rate for first stay.
• 2,000 total miles (4x) for hotel stays 2 to 4.
• 2,500 total miles (5x) for hotel stays 5 to 11.
• Loyalty Traveler post May 1, 2012

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards

*** IHG Priority Club 1,000 bonus points or 200 bonus miles per night May 14-Sep 3. Maximum 20,000 bonus points or 4,000 bonus miles after 20 nights. Loyalty Traveler post May 14.

**** IHG Priority Club 2012 Quarter 2 Stay promotions – Priority Club members may register for one of the quarterly stay promotions running April 1-June 30, 2012. You can only register for one offer, so pick the target you are most likely to reach. Loyalty Traveler post March 16, 2012.

• Stay 3 nights = 5,000 bonus points.
• Stay 7 nights = 10,000 bonus points.
• Stay 15 nights = 15,000 bonus points.

***** IHG Priority Club PointBreaks hotel rewards to May 31. These are hotels for 5,000 points. Priority Club points are only $30 through Daily Getaways sale April 9. Priority Club also has discount rates for buying points through April 30. Loyalty Traveler post March 30.

Marriott Rewards

***** Marriott Rewards – Summer Bonus 2012: June 1 – August 31, 2012. Earn one free night certificate at a category 1-4 hotel every two stays; maximum 3 free nights.  Free night certificate is valid for 12 months from issuance. Some members may have been targeted with a different bonus points offer. Loyalty Traveler post May 7, 2012.

Note to Marriott Rewards members: You must have your Marriott Rewards account earning preference set to miles in order to see Marriott Rewards miles promotions.

Starwood Preferred Guest

*** SPG Nice Choice (May 1 – Sep 30)

You choose the 3 month period you want and the offer you want from double points, triple points, free nights, discount rewards and more.

Loyalty Traveler post – SPG Nice Choice May 1, 2012.

*** Sheraton Club Lounge bookings earn 1,000 bonus points when paid with any American Express card for stays February 21 to May 31, 2012. LT post February 24, 2012.

Wyndham Rewards

*** March 29-July 8, 2012 – Double Points or double miles for first four stays and movie tickets. This offer is for members in US, Canada and Mexico. Loyalty Traveler post April 1, 2012.

**** March 29-July 8, 2012 – Wyndham Rewards 10,000 points every 2 stays, up to 30,000 bonus points after 6 stays. This is a better promotion offer for members who do not reside in US, Canada and Mexico. Loyalty Traveler post April 3, 2012.

5-Star Promotion Scale

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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.
• Past loyalty program offers and rates for the specific hotel chain and loyalty program.

Loyalty Traveler Update Note: the expanded promotions page April 2012 update will be updated later this week. Today I am busy with Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race Stage 2: San Francisco – Santa Cruz (Aptos).

Readers: Please leave a comment with any promotion links you think should be in the expanded hotel loyalty promotions guide for May to Summer 2012.

For miles earners the offer is 200 bonus miles per night, up to a maximum 4,000 bonus miles for the promotion.

Priority Club Facebook.

Priority Club Facebook promotion registration (active May 14).

Priority Club website promotion registration page (will become active June 1).

“Must be a Priority Club® Rewards Facebook “Fan,” a Priority Club® Rewards member, and must register member number in advance to participate in this promotion.”

This term on the Facebook page implies no bonus credit will be given for hotel stays May 14 – May 31 for hotel stays completed prior to Facebook promotion registration.

This offer applies to stays at IHG brands worldwide:

• InterContinental Hotels
• Crowne Plaza
• Hotel Indigo
• Holiday Inn
• Holiday Inn Express
• Staybridge Suites
• Candlewood Suites

Participating Airlines for Miles Earners

Americas Airlines

• United Airlines
• American Airlines
• Alaska Airlines
• US Airways
• Delta Airlines
• Aeromexico
• Lanchile
• Varig Brasil
• Continental Airlines
• Air Canada
• AIR MILES Reward Program

Asia Pacific Airlines

• Air China
• Asia Miles
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• China Southern
• Eva Air
• Air New Zealand* (5 Air New Zealand Airpoints up to 100 Airpoints)
• All Nippon Airways
• Japan Airlines
• Jet Airways
• Korean Airways
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas Airways Limited
• Singapore Airlines
• Thai Airways International
• Virgin Blue Velocity
• Asiana Airlines

Europe, Middle East and Africa Airlines

• Etihad Airways
• Emirates
• Gulf Air
• Jet Airways
• Saudi Arabian Airlines
• South African Airways
• Air Berlin
• Air France/KLM
• British Airways
• Virgin Atlantic

LOYALTY TRAVELER ADVICE: A general piece of advice for any hotel loyalty program fan of promotions is to “LIKE” all the hotel program pages. A program like Best Western runs far more promotions for its Facebook fans than you will see on the Best Western websites.

There is a twist to this offer for Priority Club Facebook fans who “Like” the Priority Club page. Members can register for this offer beginning Monday, May 14 through Facebook and start earning bonus points for stays in May, two weeks before the official promotion launch. 

I think the promotion limit is still 20,000 points for Facebook fans starting early, but we will need to see the exact terms to know the real deal.

I received advance notice from the Priority Club PR firm for this offer. One of the other details mentions 250 bonus points for booking reservations online through any IHG websites.

The Priority Club Summer 20,000 promotion registration page is not active yet www.priorityclub.com/bonus20000.

I’ll post more promotion details when they come around.

Another Offer is 25,000 bonus points for Holiday Inn Club Vacation.

Another promotion that I missed for the past few weeks since it has been running is 25,000 bonus points for a 4-night Holiday Inn Club Vacation through May 25.  There is little time left to take advantage of this offer, but it might help some of you travelers. I have not analyzed this offer to check rates.

• Only Sunday-Thursday nights June 10-June 30.
• Any night of week July 1-August 16.

The thing about Las Vegas is the hotel rates shoot up about $60 per night for Friday and Saturday for these casino resorts on the Strip.

25,000 points is basically $150 per night if you bought points through Daily Getaways or Points & Cash cancellations. These two hotels charge a $20 per night resort fee which includes pool access, local calls, complimentary internet and access to Canyon Suites fitness center.

Loyalty Traveler review of The Palazzo Las Vegas April 2011

I stayed at The Palazzo last year as a Priority Club Platinum member and I received a complimentary upgrade to a Las Vegas Boulevard view room.

Here are my hotel reviews from April 2011 of The Palazzo Bella Suite room (Part 1) and Palazzo pools and Canyon Suites Fitness Center (Part 2).

Weekday and Weekend room rate difference

Here is the difference between rates on a weekday and weekend in July.

Tue July 10 – Thur July 12 = $179 (King bed) to $209 (Two Queen beds) per night. 12% tax and $20 per night resort fee additional. That is $200 per night for a King Luxury Suite and $234 for two queens in a Bella Suite after tax.

The $20 per night resort fee is additional whether a paid stay or using points for a reward stay.

Fri July 13 – Sun July 15, 2012

• $239 King Luxury Suite or $268 after tax for Best Available Rates with 72-hour before arrival no penalty cancellation.
• $269 Two Queens Bella Suite or $301 after tax.
• $191 King Luxury prepaid, nonrefundable rate or $214 after tax.

Bottom line is this one day discount reward rate is a good value for The Venetian or The Palazzo. 25,000 Priority Club points per night is a good rate for staying at one of these Las Vegas hotels this summer.

Thanks to Gary Leff for posting this one-day Priority Club offer.

About a dozen items, mostly flights, that were ending bids yesterday have now been extended to tomorrow for bids.

Thank you for your patience as we restored our 2012 auction. We apologize for the inconvenience this afternoon as we resolved unforeseen technical issues caused by an overwhelming number of bids. The bids were received at a much higher volume than in previous years. Please note, all auction items affected by the earlier problems are being extended. Bids will be accepted for an additional 24 hours and new close times have been posted next to each affected item. All other items will close as originally scheduled.

Global Traveler Silent Auction 2012

Here are some of the auction leading bids at this time 3:00pm Pacific Thursday May 3.

Travel Products

Flights

Hotel Auctions ending Thursday May 3 in the next three hours:

Hotel auctions ending Friday May 4

The hotel deals are the best value in my opinion.

Here is my previous post Instant Karma got me at the Global Traveler Silent Auction 2012.

Instant karma got me today at the Global Traveler Silent Auction 2012.

The Global Traveler auction site crashed in the ten minutes before some of the highest value items were ending two months of bids today around noon pacific time and I missed out on some spectacular prices for flights and hotels.

In retrospect I feel bad knowing that I could have probably brought thousands of additional dollars to this charity auction for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by just publishing a single post on the Global Traveler Silent Auction 2012 in the past two months.

All of you would have suffered from the same computer server overload and malfunction that beset my efforts in the final minutes. But if this auction had been publicized in the travel deals blogosphere initiated by a post on Loyalty Traveler, I am sure there would have been bids in place, cumulatively totaling thousands of dollars more for these travel items well before the server crash at the end of the auction. I got greedy and did not share the opportunities.

Here is an example of some of the auction item bids before the crash.

7 minutes before this auction closed, the leading bid for 1,000,000 Priority Club points was $3,810 and just about the time of the Global Traveler auction system crash. I was willing to go up to $4,010 in my value analysis.

Here were some of the airline bids for auctions ending within two hours of the Global Traveler server crashed preventing access to the auction.

Philippine Airlines – One round-trip economy-class ticket to Manila

360.00 USD

Etihad Airways – Two round-trip Coral economy-class tickets from JFK or ORD to any destination on the Etihad Airways network.

860.00 USD

EVA Airways – One round-trip economy-class ticket to Taipei

310.00 USD

Qatar Airways – Two round-trip economy-class tickets system-wide from USA

885.00 USD

Singapore Airlines – Two round-trip business-class tickets from JFK to FRA on the A380

2,850.00 USD

South African Airways – Two round-trip Premium business-class tickets

4,260.00 USD

Southwest Airlines – Two round-trip tickets

560.00 USD

Swiss International Air Lines – Two round-trip business-class tickets to Zürich or Geneva

3,010.00 USD

TAP Portugal – Two round-trip business-class tickets to Portugal

1,575.00 USD

TAM Airlines – Two round-trip business-class tickets to one Brazilian destination

1,900.00 USD

Turkish Airlines – Two round-trip business-class tickets from LAX to IST

1,950.00 USD

As it turns out I didn’t benefit personally from holding back the deals from Global Traveler Silent Auction 2012 and some of you might have scored a fantastic vacation deal and helped the Leukemia charity earn more money from the Silent Auction 2012.

Lesson I think I learned today was share the knowledge.

Instant Karma’s gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Every one you meet
Why in the world are we here?
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there?
When you’re everywhere
Come and get your share

But we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
And we all shine on
Come on and on and on on on

John Lennon – Instant Karma

Keep an eye out for Global Traveler Silent Auction 2013. I bet next year this auction receives much more attention. And there are still some auctions ending bids on Thursday and Friday if the Global Traveler website comes back online. Delta and El Al have auctions still going.

There are eight InterContinental Hotels on the list including Foshan China, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Tahiti and Caracas.

Crowne Plaza St. Paul, Minnesota appears to be the premier property offered in the USA.

Book through Thursday for a reward stay this Friday May 4, Saturday May 5 and/or Sunday May 6.

And when is Priority Club going to expand this offer to other weeks besides one weekend a month? This seems like a nice promotion with severely limited dates for use.