Priority Club launches its summer 1,000 points per night, up to 20,000 points, for Facebook fans who register starting today, May 14, 2012. The promotion is still limited to 20,000 bonus points after 20 nights by September 3, 2012. The regular promotion registration with Priority Club does not begin until June 1 for this same offer. Facebook fans who register early can earn the bonus points or miles for the month of May. Everyone else will be offered the 20,000 bonus points promotion from June 1 – September 3, 2012. Read More…

Priority Club has a special offer of 20% to 50% bonus points for points purchases made online from March 30 – April 30, 2012. IHG Priority Club Platinum elite can be yours for $460 along with 60,000 points in your account through this sale offer. This offer allows a member to buy 75,000 points for $575. The normal limit for buying points is 50,000 points per year.

[April 2, 2012 Update: Daily Getaways is a travel sale offering the opportunity to buy up to 500,000 Priority Club points on Monday April 9.  This sale allows you to get 75,000 points for $461 and Priority Club Platinum status. My April 2 post in the link discusses strategies for buying points through the Daily Getaways flash sale.]

Earning 60,000 points in a calendar year means IHG Priority Club Platinum Status for the rest of 2012 and 2013. Read More…

The new list of Priority Club PointBreaks has been released for hotels stays through May 31, 2012 at 5,000 points per night. Read More…

PriorityClubRepresentative posted the official link for the Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles promotion from January 23-April 30, 2012. The promotion code 6673 is a different code than originally published in my January 13 Loyalty Traveler post.  I registered last week using the 2837 code and the new promotion registration page comes back with the message I am already registered for the offer.

The other piece of official news from the FlyerTalk thread is PriorityClubRepresentative states the X stays, for Y points promotion is stackable with this double points or double miles promotion.

Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles (Code 6673 registration page)

• Begins with second eligible IHG brand stay at any Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo, except for Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites earn double points or double miles beginning with first stay.
• No retroactive credit for hotel stays prior to promotion registration date.
• Promotion earns 20 points per dollar at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo.
• InterContinental Hotels will change earning rate during this promotion when IC hotels in North America, Caribbean and Latin America (about 50 hotels) begin earning 10 points per dollar on February 15, 2012. All other InterContinental Hotels worldwide (about 120 hotels) will maintain earning rate of 2,000 points per stay regardless of hotel spend. Double points will be either 4,000 points per stay or 20 points per dollar depending on date of stay and location.
• Staybridge and Candlewood brands earn 10 points per dollar with double points.
• Link to standard earn rates for IHG brands.

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, Delta, United and US Airways earn miles at these rates:

• 2 miles per $1 spend at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and beginning February 15, 2012 at InterContinental Hotels in North America, Caribbean and Latin America. 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 for all InterContinental Hotels worldwide prior to February 15, 2012. InterContinental Hotels in North America, Caribbean and Central America change to 2 miles/$1 February 15, 2012. There will be no change in miles earning rate for InterContinental Hotels in other regions.

Priority Club Double Points is stackable with quarterly stay bonus points offer.

*** InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards – Priority Club members may register for one of the quarterly stay promotions running January 1-March 31, 2012. You can only register for one offer so pick the target you are most likely to reach. Stay 3 nights = 5,000 bonus points. Stay 7 nights = 10,000 bonus points. Stay 15 nights = 15,000 bonus points.

Launching a double points promotion five days after devaluing Priority Club points with new higher reward tiers is not the strategy I would have applied to appease consumers. Priority Club Rewards promotion of double points or double miles is almost as repetitive as Marriott Rewards MegaBonus.  This identical offer ran from May 16 to August 15, 2011.

The new double points or miles Priority Club promotion applies to stays from January 23 to April 30, 2012. The main thing to know is registration is required before your stays. There will be no double credit for stays made during the promotion period before promotion registration. SPG is generous in this aspect of promotions in that eligible stays usually receive retroactive credit as long as the SPG member registers by the promotion deadline.

The disappointing aspect of this Priority Club promotion is the registration page is not fully ready even though this offer has been blogged about since the beginning of the week.

Priority Club Double Points 2012

This registration page looks all good until you click the registration link to be met with a page requiring a promotion code to be entered. I have stated several times over the past couple of months that my pet peeve is having a promotion announced, and in this case a registration page available to members, before the promotion registration links are ready.

[ Update Jan 18 2:54pm Pacific Time: The Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles Registration Links in this post changed to registration link posted by PriorityClubRepresentative on FlyerTalk today, the company representative.

Update Friday, Jan 13 - 9:37am Pacific time: Priority Club has changed the promotion registration webpage in the past hour and code 2837 no longer seems to work. I assume they are getting the page redesigned for automatic registration with no need to enter a promotion code.]

BarbiJKM posted code 2837 yesterday on FlyerTalk that appears to work. When I registered using 2837 I received this confirmation message.

Priority Club Rewards 2012 confirmation message using code 2837.

Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles (registration page)

• Begins with second eligible IHG brand stay at any Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo, except for Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites earn double points or double miles beginning with first stay.
• No retroactive credit for hotel stays prior to promotion registration date.
• Promotion earns 20 points per dollar at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo.
• InterContinental Hotels will change earning rate during this promotion when IC hotels in North America, Caribbean and Latin America (about 50 hotels) begin earning 10 points per dollar on February 15, 2012. All other InterContinental Hotels worldwide (about 120 hotels) will maintain earning rate of 2,000 points per stay regardless of hotel spend. Double points will be either 4,000 points per stay or 20 points per dollar depending on date of stay and location.
• Staybridge and Candlewood brands earn 10 points per dollar with double points.
• Link to standard earn rates for IHG brands.

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, Delta, United and US Airways earn miles at these rates:

• 2 miles per $1 spend at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and beginning February 15, 2012 at InterContinental Hotels in North America, Caribbean and Latin America. 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 for all InterContinental Hotels worldwide prior to February 15, 2012. InterContinental Hotels in North America, Caribbean and Central America change to 2 miles/$1 February 15, 2012. There will be no change in miles earning rate for InterContinental Hotels in other regions.

Priority Club Double Points is stackable with quarterly stay bonus points offer.

*** InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards – Priority Club members may register for one of the quarterly stay promotions running January 1-March 31, 2012. You can only register for one offer so pick the target you are most likely to reach. Stay 3 nights = 5,000 bonus points. Stay 7 nights = 10,000 bonus points. Stay 15 nights = 15,000 bonus points.

Priority Club Rewards has a promotion ending today November 30 for 20% bonus points when you buy Priority Club points. Priority Club Rewards members can buy up to 50,000 points per calendar year. There is a variable price rate when buying points.

• 1,000 to 10,000 points = $13.50 per 1,000 points
• 11,000 to 25,000 points = $12.50 per 1,000 points
• 26,000 to 50,000 points = $11.50 per 1,000 points
• Must buy in 1,000 points increments.
• Priority Club Rewards members may buy up to 50,000 points per calendar year and receive up to 50,000 points per calendar year.

Loyalty Traveler analysis

The variable rate for Priority Club points purchases means it actually costs less money to buy 26,000 points at $11.50 per 1,000 points ($299) than 25,000 points at $12.50 per 1,000 points ($312.50).

20% bonus if you purchase today means you will receive 31,200 points when buying 26,000 points for US$299.

This might be a good deal if you have a definite plan for points, but it is not a great deal. There are ways to get lower cost Priority Club points.

20% bonus on Priority Club points purchases made November 30.

InterContinental Alliance Resorts The Venetian and The Palazzo on the Las Vegas Strip offer 25,000 bonus points for a 4-night or longer stay before December 15, 2011 when booked by October 31. The stay must be booked through an IHG channel and Priority Club members need to register for promotion code 2518 for this 25K bonus points offer. Bonus points are not available for direct bookings through The Venetian or The Palazzo own hotel websites.

At this late date there are limited dates with four consecutive nights where the rates are the same. Friday and Saturday weekend night rates are typically double Sunday through Thursday weekday rates.

My quick check of the Palazzo shows lowest 4-night rates during Thanksgiving week and the first two weeks of December with rates at $149.

I checked rates using Travelocity flexible dates feature. This is the tool I use when trying to find lowest rates over a period of weeks or months. After checking Travelocity rates which are typically the same as Best Flexible Rate (BAR) for a hotel property, then I look for rate discounts through the hotel’s own site. Though in this case that means the IHG site for The Palazzo and not the non-IHG website The Palazzo maintains as an independent hotel.

Travelocity Flexible Dates tool for The Palazzo Las Vegas is systematic way to check for lowest rates.

The $149 rate is the same on the IHG InterContinental Alliance Resort booking page for the Palazzo.

The Palazzo room rates for Sunday-Thursday December 4-8, 2011.

There is also a $159 rate code for 6,000 bonus points on a three night stay. An extra $40 + tax is a decent premium for an additional 6,000 points.

Looks to me like a Priority Club member can earn at least 33,000 points on a 4-night stay at $159/night + tax + resort fee:

• 2,000 base points for InterContinental hotel stay.
• 6,000 bonus points for promotional rate on three-night stay.
• 25,000 bonus points promotion offer on four-night stay.

Related Loyalty Traveler Posts:

April 27, 2011 The Palazzo Las Vegas Bella Suite Part 1

April 28, 2011 The Palazzo Las Vegas Part 2 – Pools

Priority Club’s “Up to 4x More” promotion started this week and runs from September 15 through December 31, 2011. The basic offer allows points earners to receive 500 bonus points per night and miles earners to receive 100 bonus miles per night for up to 40 nights during the 15 week promotion period. The maximum bonus is 80,000 points or 16,000 miles during the promotion. Bonus points or miles are in addition to regular earning for Priority Club stays.

Registration Page for ‘Up to 4x More’ 80,000 Points Fall Promotion.

Registration Page for ‘Up to 4x More’ 16,000 Miles Fall Promotion.

• No retroactive bonus points or miles are permitted for stays completed before promotion registration.
• Only one room per member per night will count for this promotion.

Up to 4x More refers to the ability to double, triple or quadruple the nightly bonus points or miles with stays in two, three or four different IHG brands during the promotion.

• Bonus Level 1 = 500 points or 100 miles per night, up to 40 nights from September 15-December 31.
• Bonus Level 2 = 1,000 points or 200 miles per night with stays in two different IHG brands.
• Bonus Level 3 = 1,500 points or 300 miles per night with stays in three different IHG brands.
• Bonus Level 4 = 2,000 points or 400 miles per night with stays in four different IHG brands.

Priority Club members registered for the promotion earn 500 bonus points or 100 bonus miles per night for stays through December 31, 2011. In January 2012 the number of different brands stayed will determine the multiplier and bonus points or miles will post in January.

Priority Club represents eight IHG brands:

• InterContinental Hotels – luxury hotel market segment
• Crowne Plaza – upscale hotel market segment
• Hotel Indigo – upscale hotel market segment
• Holiday Inn – upper midscale hotel market segment
• Holiday Inn Express – upper midscale hotel market segment
• Staybridge Suites – upscale extended stay hotel market segment
• Candlewood Suites – midscale extended stay hotel market segment
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations are six U.S. timeshare resort destinations. (The link web page states this is newest IHG brand.)

Market segment classification is based on 2011 STR U.S. Hotel Chain Scale.

The Priority Club Rewards Elite Qualification Factor

Priority Club Rewards counts all points earned as elite qualifying points with very few exceptions like points purchased for a Points + Cash reward. The ‘Up to 4x More’ bonus points multiplier happens in January 2012 and provides an elite status jumpstart for Priority Club members when these bonus points post in January. This is one reason to go for points rather than miles since the bonus miles for different brand stays posting in January will do nothing for Priority Club elite status qualification.

Brand multiplier bonus points posting in January 2012 count for 2012 Priority Club elite qualification.

20,000 points earns Gold elite for 2012 and 2013. Stay 14 nights in four different IHG brands and you earn 21,000 Brand Multiplier bonus points in Janary 2012 and two years of Gold elite. Max out this promotion for 40 nights with four different brand stays and the January 2012 posting of Brand Multiplier Bonus Points for 60,000 points earns Platinum elite for 2012 and 2013.

Earning Points at IHG brands

IHG Priority Club Rewards has three different earning rates for points depending on IHG hotel brand.

• InterContinental Hotels = 2,000 points per stay.
• Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn Club Vacations earn 10 points per US$1.
• Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites earn 5 points per US$1.

Participating Airlines for Miles Earners

Miles earning base rates vary between hotel brand and airline partner. Check the Priority Club link for miles earning structure. International airlines tend to have a higher earning base rate for members spending less than $250 per hotel stay.

• American Airlines
• Aeromexico
• Aeroplan (Air Canada)
• AIR MILES Reward Program
• AirTran
• Alaska Airlines
• American Airlines
• Continental Airlines
• Delta
• Lanchile
• United Airlines
• US Airways
• Varig Brasil
• Asia Pacific Airlines
• Air China
• Air New Zealand – Airpoints
• All Nippon Airways
• Asia Miles (Cathay Pacific)
• Asiana Airlines
• China Airlines
• China Eastern
• China Southern
• Eva Air
• Hainan Airlines
• Japan Airlines
• Jet Airways
• Korean Airways
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas Airways Limited
• Singapore Airlines
• Thai Airways International

Europe, Middle East and Africa airline partners are not participating in Up to 4x More promotion.

Priority Club announced its main promotion for up to 80,000 bonus points or 16,000 miles for hotel stays from September 15 through December 31, 2011. The points promotion is 500 points per night. Stay in 2, 3 or 4 different InterContinental Hotels Group brands to earn double, triple, or quadruple points.

• Earn 500 Priority Club bonus points per night.
• Stay in two different IHG brands during promotion and earn 1,000 bonus points per night.
• Stay in three different IHG brands during promotion and earn 1,500 bonus points per night.
• Stay in four different IHG brands during promotion and earn 2,000 points points per night.
• A maximum 80,000 bonus points may be earned after 40 nights.
• 500 points per night will be earned at time of stay and the 2x, 3x or 4x bonus points will post after the end of the promotion in January 2012.
• Miles earners can choose 100 bonus miles per night and receive the 2x, 3x, 4x bonus for miles, up to 400 miles per night and a maximum 16,000 bonus miles for the promotion.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Stay 4 nights in one Holiday Inn Express at $100 per night as a base Priority Club member during this promotion:

•  4 nights x 500 bonus points per night = 2,000 bonus points
•  4 nights at $100 night x 10 points/$1 = 4,000 base points.
•  $400 in hotel spend earns 6,000 total Priority Club points.

Stay 1 night with average spend of $100/night in four of the seven different IHG brands from Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, InterContinental Hotels, Staybridge Suites or Candlewood Suites.

• 4 nights x 2,000 bonus points per night if four different IHG brands = 8,000 points.
• 3 nights at $100 night x 10 points/$1 = 3,000 base points (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza).
• 1 night at $100 night x 5 points/$1 = 500 base points (Candlewood Suites).
• $400 spend earns 11,500 points.
• Platinum member earns additional 1,750 elite bonus points = 13,250 points.

The Value of Priority Club points

Priority Club points are typically valued at about $6 per 1,000 points. In my example above with stays in four brands for 4x points, the value of Priority Club points is about $70 on $400 in spend. That is not a particularly attractive rebate when using $6/1,000 points valuation.

Standard rewards like 25,000 points for Crowne Plaza or 30,000 points for InterContinental will often be around $6/1,000 points redemption value when the Crowne Plaza is $150 night room rate or the IC $180 night room rate. Often you can get higher redemption value since these hotels can be much higher priced. Unfortunately the reward rate of 25,000 points for many Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels with a $100 per night rate lowers the redemption value of some hotels to less than $6 per 1,000 points.

One of the most attractive features of Priority Club is its discount reward night specials with PointBreaks and Last Minute Rewards where it is often possible to get $20 per 1,000 points redemption value. These types of rewards mean 11,500 points a base member can earn in this promotion with four stays in four IHG brands at a cost of $400 can offer a hotel rebate of $230.

That is a good value rebate through this Priority Club promotion.

There are more than 2,500 hotel properties in Priority Club available at 15,000 points in the Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Candlewood Suites brands.

Last Minute Rewards for the first weekend of each month brings the cost of nearly all participating hotels to 12,500 points or less per reward night.

Last month I altered my hotel reservations to take advantage of two hotels with $100 per night rates on the Priority Club PointBreaks list for 5,000 Priority Club points per reward night.

Good Value Promotion for the Casual Traveler and Decent for the Road Warrior too 

You may be an IHG Road Warrior and have 40 nights during this promotion as a real possibility. A maximum 80,000 bonus points after 40 nights may seem like a small bonus when viewed as two free InterContinental Hotel nights.

For the casual traveler the opportunity to earn 1,500 to 2,000 bonus points per hotel night is a good value bonus for single night stays or extended stays. These are not large bonuses compared to free night offers of the past couple years across major chains, but this is a decent promotion and the first one out of the block among the major hotel loyalty programs for the last quarter 2011.

One final point to keep in mind is the promotion states the 2x to 4x bonus points will post after December 31. That means these bonus points will post in 2012 and count for 2013 Priority Club elite status.

Someone like me who already has qualified for 2012 Platinum elite will start 2012 with bonus points. Priority Club confers Gold elite (10% bonus points) after earning 20,000 points in a calendar year. My simple four nights in four IHG hotel brands example earns 6,000 bonus points posting in 2012. Platinum elite takes 60,000 points. This promotion can be a jumpstart to 2013 Priority Club elite membership.

IHG Promotion Registration link.

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

Pool room at InterContinental Chicago

DiscoverAmerica.com Daily Getaways offer at 12 noon ET today April 27, 2011 is for sets of Priority Club points. A member may purchase up to 5 sets in each of the four offers for up to 20 total sets. It is possible to buy 500,000 points in this sale.

• 10,000 points for $67 ($60.30 if payment is American Express), 650 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member.
• 25,000 points for $167 ($150.30 if payment is American Express), 120 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member.
• 25,000 points for $167 ($150.30 if payment is American Express), 420 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member. (There are two separate sales for sets of 25,000 points).
• 40,000 points = $267 ($240.30 if payment is American Express), 300 sets for sale. Maximum purchase is 5 sets per member.

There are two good reasons for making a Priority Club points purchase today.

1. Purchased points from this sale count for elite status. Priority Club requires 20,000 points earned in a calendar year for Gold elite or 60,000 points for Platinum elite. These points purchases from DiscoverAmerica count for elite qualification, whereas points purchased through Points & Cash rewards do not count for elite qualification. You can buy your way to Platinum elite for $361 with the purchase of 60,000 points today.
2. If you do not have any Priority Club points, then a purchase today puts you in play for taking advantage of Points & Cash reward nights where the price of a reward is discounted by 10,000 points for $60. All hotels are available for Points & Cash rewards. Crowne Plaza hotels cost 25,000 points per night. Points & Cash takes 15,000 points + $60. Purchasing points for $60 per 10,000 points through this DiscoverAmerica sale drops the price of a Crowne Plaza hotel to $150 to pay with points. Any Crowne Plaza hotel night more than $150 will be cheaper to pay with points.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards hotel brand reward nights:

InterContinental Hotels = 40,000 points (high tier) or 30,000 points per night (low tier). There are slightly more hotels at the 30,000 points level.

Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo= 25,000 points per night.

Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express = 10,000 points or 15,000 points or 25,000 points. Most hotels are in the 15,000 points tier. About 200 of 3,000 hotels globally are in the 10,000 points tier.

Staybridge Suites = 20,000 points per night.

Candlewood Suites = 15,000 points per night.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations = 27,500 per night.

Another way to buy Priority Club points at a discount

Buying Priority Club points at $60 is a fair market value, but not necessarily a deep discount. Priority Club members can actually buy 10,000 points for $60 through Points & Cash reward nights by making a booking for a hotel, buying 10,000 points and later canceling the booking before the stay.

The way Points & Cash rewards are structured requires the member to buy either 5,000 or 10,000 points prior to booking the reward night. 5,000 points cost $40 or 10,000 points cost $60. The points purchased are added to your Priority Club account instantly. The points purchase is nonrefundable so if you end up canceling the reward night the points remain in your account.

There really seems to be no limit to making points purchases through this method. The primary reason the DiscoverAmerica.com sale is better is points purchased through the sale count for elite qualification. But that is irrelevant if you already have Priority Club Platinum elite status and plan to requalify in 2011 anyway.

DiscoverAmerica.com Daily Getaways has travel sales every weekday through May 13. Here is the calendar for upcoming sales.