• 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.

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.

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.

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.

These rates require 50% points per reward night for select hotels in seven brands: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites.

Reward reservations may be cancelled within the specific cancellation policies for the hotel and points will be returned to member’s account. Members can book multiple rooms, up to 10 rooms at the same hotel.

North Carolina, Colorado, New York and Texas have the most hotels in this weekend offer.

Last Minute Reward Nights (103)

• Brazil (1)
• Canada (4)
• China (People’s Republic) (3)
• Italy (1)
• Mexico (2)
• New Zealand (1)
• Poland (1)
• Portugal (1)
• United Arab Emirates (1)
• United Kingdom (2)

United States (86)

• California (2)
• Colorado (7)
• Florida (4)
• Idaho (1)
• Illinois (2)
• Indiana (3)
• Iowa (4)
• Kansas (2)
• Kentucky (1)
• Maine (1)
• Maryland (1)
• Massachusetts (2)
• Michigan (4)
• Minnesota (1)
• Nebraska (1)
• New Hampshire (2)
• New Mexico (2)
• New York (6)
• North Carolina (14)
• North Dakota (1)
• Ohio (1)
• Pennsylvania (3)
• South Carolina (4)
• South Dakota (2)
• Tennessee (1)
• Texas (6)
• Utah (1)
• Virginia (4)
• Wisconsin (1)
• Wyoming (2)

Friday, March 30 I published a way to buy 60,000 points and Priority Club Platinum status for $460. On Monday, April 9 you can buy 75,000 points and Priority Club Platinum status for about $451 through the Daily Getaways offers. Priority Club points purchased through the Daily Getaways offers are elite qualifying points. You can buy just 60,000 points and lower the cost of Platinum status to $361 if you want to take a gamble there will be availability to buy from two different Priority Club offers during the Daily Getaway sale.

It is possible to buy 500,000 points for $3,000 through the Monday April 9 Daily Getaways, but perhaps an unlikely probability that you can be fast enough to buy the maximum set of points from each of the four offers before they sell out.

Although Priority Club points in the past two years did not sell out as quickly as other hotel loyalty points that do not have backdoor options for cheap points purchases. I explained the Points & Cash procedure for buying 10,000 points for $60 in the March 30 post. Daily Getaways is a good opportunity to acquire a large number of Priority Club points, up to 500,000 points, at relatively low cost ($60 per 10,000 points) in perhaps a more acceptable method than booking and cancelling Priority Club Points & Cash reward stays to build your account balance.

Buy cheap Priority Club Rewards points at Daily Getaways April 9, 2012

There are four offers to buy points from Priority Club on the first day of this year’s Daily Getaways beginning at 1:00 pm eastern time April 9.

Presale starts at 12 noon ET. You only need to Like IHG Facebook to gain access to Presale where a specific number of sets of points are available.

4 Priority Club points offers. You may buy up to 5 sets from each offer. 

• Priority Club 10,000 points (generic offer) = $67.
• 650 sets and 130 presale sets.
• Priority Club 25,000 points (Holiday Inn offer)= $167.
• 420 sets and 90 presale sets.
• Priority Club 25,000 points (Crowne Plaza offer)= $167.
• 125 sets and 25 presale sets.
• Priority Club 40,000 points (InterContinental offer)= $267.
• 300 sets and 75 presale sets.

This Daily Getaways offer is advertised as “Stay 1 night at a Crowne Plaza for $167.” The sale is for 25,000 points and these points can be used for any Priority Club reward you choose. The points are valid for reward nights at 4,500+ hotels in all IHG brands: InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. Priority Club and other hotel loyalty programs selling points use the Daily Getaways to promote their hotel brands within the loyalty program

Presale Registration through Facebook Likes

A new feature of the Daily Getaways sales for 2012 is the opportunity to register for a Presale by liking the Facebook pages of participating vendors. This is really easy since the link is right on the sale page. The Presale offers begin at noon eastern time zone for one hour before the regular sale. There are a specific number of packages offered in the presale hour and the regular sale.

Priority Club Points Offer #1 – 10,000 points for $67 (AmEx = $60.30)

650 sets of points. 130 sets of points available during pre-sale.

Buy 10,000 points for $67 or AmEx $60.30. The price for all Daily Getaways offers is 10% less if payment is made with an American Express card.

You can buy up to 5 sets of points for 50,000 points with this offer.

Priority Club Holiday Inn Offer #2 – 25,000 points for $167 (AmEx = $150.30)

420 sets of points. 90 sets of points available during pre-sale.

The Holiday Inn sale has more sets of points so this is the best link if you want to buy a large quantity of points. You can buy 25, 50, 75, 100 or 125,000 points through this single offer. The Crowne Plaza deal below is the same offer and price, but fewer items for sale so your chances are better to try this link first, unless you want more than 125,000 points, in which case, you should try the offers with fewer items first and then come to this sale.

Priority Club Crowne Plaza Offer #3 – 25,000 points for $167 (AmEx = $150.30)

120 sets of points. 25 sets of points available during pre-sale.

This Crowne Plaza page sale has the fewest items for sale. Start here and buy fast if you want to maximize purchases and try to buy more points from the other offers. Remember you can use the points for any IHG brand hotel and there is no requirement to Crowne Plaza your hotel stay.

Priority Club InterContinental Hotels Offer #4 – 40,000 points for $267 (AmEx = $240.30)

300 sets of points. 75 sets of points available during pre-sale.

This is a good offer if you want a quick 80,000 points and Priority Club Platinum elite without messing around in two Daily Getaways Priority Club sales. This is also the offer if you want to buy big at $1,200 and go for 200,000 points in a single purchase.

200,000 points is a nice safe deposit box of points for hotel stays. I generally recommend you have a plan in place when buying points. But since IHG Priority Club just increased the points needed for hundreds of hotels in January 2012, you can be fairly confident the points won’t devalue much this year. There are several hotels around the globe where 200,000 points will save far more than $1,200 on a 4 or 5 night stay.

Priority Club also regularly offers discount hotel reward nights at 50% and more off with PointBreaks, Last Minute Reward Nights, and the one day sales they tested in the past couple of months.

Here is the calendar that currently displays the first two weeks of Daily Getaways offers. I’ll blog about many of these offers over the next six weeks.

Strategies for the Daily Getaways sales:

The aspect of these sales I did not see mentioned in most of the blog posts this morning is how few people can take advantage of these deals. If there was a one item limit per person, then about 1,800 different people could buy some Priority Club points at a discount through the Daily Getaways.

The actual rules allow a single person to buy 5 sets of points from each of the four offers. Everyone trying to maximize these offers could result in fewer than 400 travelers buying these cheap points.

My point is you need a plan and be quick on the mouse when the sale starts if you want to get the best deals.

Last year when Hyatt points were on sale for $250 ($225AmEx) for 24,000 points, the sale was locked up within seconds and the points sold out within a minute. It then became a matter of reclicking and a few people got into the sale over the next few minutes while for most buyers the Hyatt Daily Getaways were over by 1:01pm.

Daily Getaways Strategy

1. My experience from the past two years suggests once you click on the Daily Getaway offer to purchase an item and you actually get into the purchase webpage, then you are locked in with the option to buy up to the maximum number of items for sale with the offer. Usually once you access the purchase page, then you can relax and breathe as you make your purchase, unless you are speed buying and planning to try and buy from more than one offer.

It appeared to me the past two years that getting access to the purchase page is the primary challenge, but once you are in, then at least one set of points is reserved for you while you enter your credit card payment information.

2. There are a limited number of points sets available and a maximum quantity limit for each offer. The number of items plays a strategic role for the buyer. If you want to maximize points purchases then try for the items with fewer sets for sale first and then go to the items with more sets. Some of these sales are gone within the first minute and you may find it difficult to buy the maximum number of items before they sell out.

3. Some offers suggest points are for a specific hotel brand like Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn or InterContinental Hotels. These are brand marketing efforts only and when you buy Priority Club points you are free to use the points for any hotel brand reward stay on points or other purpose you choose.

4. Daily Getaways prices are 10% less when payment uses American Express card, the travel sale co-sponsor.

Related Post:

Why are Daily Getaways Dealing Travel April 9-May 11? (April 2, 2012)

I am now looking at booking some 5-night stays for the price of a single night at Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels in the western states.

I love Pointbreaks.

Good time to buy Priority Club Points

You can normally buy up to 50,000 Priority Club points in a calendar year. The cost to buy 5,000 points is $67.50.

There is currently a special to buy Priority Club points with a 20% to 50% bonus points depending on the number of points purchased. You can buy up to 75,000 points with this special offer.

You can buy 60,000 points for $460 with this sale or 75,000 points for $575.

Buying points for PointBreaks can be a significant savings on published hotel rates.

Crowne Plaza Anchorage-Midtown, Alaska

$786.24 is the prepaid nonrefundable rate for these dates at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Anchorage–Midtown. Priority Club members can buy 15,600 points for $162.50 and book Pointbreaks rewards to save over $500 on a 3-night stay.

And these rewards may be cancelled and points returned if your plans change.

PointBreaks Hotels for stays through May 31, 2012

United States

Click on your choice of location below to make a reservation:

ALASKA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ANCHORAGE-MIDTOWN

ALABAMA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES EASTCHASE PARK

ARKANSAS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES VAN BUREN-FT SMITH AREA

ARIZONA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES SIERRA VISTA

CALIFORNIA

STAYBRIDGE SUITES CHATSWORTH

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES DANA POINT-HARBOR/DOHENY BEACH

HOLIDAY INN LA MIRADA

HOLIDAY INN LOS ANGELES-INTL AIRPORT

HOLIDAY INN SAN CLEMENTE (CAMP PENDLETON)

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS SIMI VALLEY

CANDLEWOOD SUITES TURLOCK

COLORADO

CANDLEWOOD SUITES MERIDIAN BUSINESS PARK

HOLIDAY INN SUMMIT COUNTY-FRISCO

STAYBRIDGE SUITES DENVER SOUTH-PARK MEADOWS

CONNECTICUT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES PLAINFIELD

DELAWARE

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES DOVER

FLORIDA

HOLIDAY INN CORAL GABLES – UNIVERSITY

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES DESTIN (MID BAY BRIDGE)

HOTEL INDIGO JACKSONVILLE-DEERWOOD PARK

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

HOTEL INDIGO SARASOTA

HOLIDAY INN TALLAHASSEE CAPITAL CENTER

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES TAMPA/ROCKY POINT ISLAND

GEORGIA

HOLIDAY INN ATLANTA DWTN – CENTENNIAL PARK

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES ATLANTA / BUCKHEAD

HOLIDAY INN GWINNETT CENTER

IOWA

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES COUNCIL BLUFFS-I-29

CANDLEWOOD SUITES WATERLOO- CEDAR FALLS

IDAHO

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES IDAHO FALLS

ILLINOIS

CANDLEWOOD SUITES ELGIN NW-CHICAGO

STAYBRIDGE SUITES LINCOLNSHIRE

STAYBRIDGE SUITES ROCKFORD

HOTEL INDIGO CHICAGO-VERNON HILLS

INDIANA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES BEDFORD

HOTEL INDIGO INDIANAPOLIS FISHERS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS INDIANAPOLIS SOUTH

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS INDIANAPOLIS AIRPORT

KANSAS

CANDLEWOOD SUITES JUNCTION CITY/FT. RILEY

CANDLEWOOD SUITES CANDLEWOOD SUITES OLATHE

KENTUCKY

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES ELIZABETHTOWN

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES LONDON

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS RADCLIFF – FORT KNOX

LOUISIANA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES DENHAM SPRINGS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS MINDEN

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES SLIDELL

MARYLAND

STAYBRIDGE SUITES BALTIMORE-COLUMBIA

HOLIDAY INN CUMBERLAND-DOWNTOWN

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES HAGERSTOWN

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL BALTIMORE NORTH – HUNT VALLEY

MAINE

HOLIDAY INN BATH (BRUNSWICK AREA)

MICHIGAN

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL AUBURN HILLS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES ST. JOSEPH

MINNESOTA

CROWNE PLAZA SUITES MSP AIRPORT – MALL OF AMERICA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES EAGAN SW-MALL AND AIRPORT AREA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MINNEAPOLIS NORTH

MISSOURI

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SAINT LOUIS – CLAYTON

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES KANSAS CITY-LIBERTY (HWY 152)

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES SPRINGFIELD

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES ST CHARLES

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ST. LOUIS – DOWNTOWN

MISSISSIPPI

CANDLEWOOD SUITES VICKSBURG

NORTH CAROLINA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL CHARLOTTE UPTOWN

STAYBRIDGE SUITES RALEIGH-DURHAM APT-MORRISVILLE

CANDLEWOOD SUITES ROCKY MOUNT

CANDLEWOOD SUITES WILSON

NEBRASKA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES BELLEVUE

NEW HAMPSHIRE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL NASHUA

NEW JERSEY

HOTEL INDIGO BASKING RIDGE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL EDISON

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL NEWARK AIRPORT

NEW MEXICO

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS RUIDOSO

NEW YORK

HOLIDAY INN WESTBURY-LONG ISLAND

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES CHESTER-MONROE-GOSHEN

HOLIDAY INN PLAINVIEW-LONG ISLAND

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES SALAMANCA

OHIO

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES GAHANNA/COLUMBUS AIRPORT E

CANDLEWOOD SUITES PERRYSBURG

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS CINCINNATI-WEST CHESTER

OKLAHOMA

CANDLEWOOD SUITES BARTLESVILLE EAST

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES OKLAHOMA CITY-PENN SQUARE

STAYBRIDGE SUITES TULSA-WOODLAND HILLS

OREGON

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES ASHLAND

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES BEND

STAYBRIDGE SUITES PORTLAND – AIRPORT

PENNSYLVANIA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES CHAMBERSBURG

STAYBRIDGE SUITES MALVERN

CANDLEWOOD SUITES READING

RHODE ISLAND

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES WARWICK-PROVIDENCE (AIRPORT)

SOUTH DAKOTA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS RAPID CITY

HOLIDAY INN SIOUX FALLS-CITY CENTRE

TENNESSEE

CANDLEWOOD SUITES MEMPHIS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS NASHVILLE AIRPORT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES KNOXVILLE-NORTH-I-75 EXIT 112

TEXAS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES CLUTE – LAKE JACKSON

STAYBRIDGE SUITES DALLAS-ADDISON

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES GAINESVILLE

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES DFW-GRAPEVINE

CANDLEWOOD SUITES HOUSTON-CLEAR LAKE

CROWNE PLAZA SUITES HOUSTON RIVER OAKS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES MCALLEN (AIRPORT/LA PLAZA MALL

VIRGINIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL HAMPTON-MARINA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL DULLES AIRPORT

VERMONT

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES WHITE RIVER JUNCTION

WASHINGTON

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES TACOMA

WISCONSIN

CANDLEWOOD SUITES APPLETON

HOLIDAY INN HOTEL AND SUITES LA CROSSE

CANDLEWOOD SUITES MILWAUKEE AIRPORT-OAK CREEK

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES PLEASANT PRAIRIE / KENOSHA

WYOMING

HOLIDAY INN SHERIDAN-CONVENTION CENTER

Canada

ONTARIO

HOLIDAY INN GUELPH HOTEL & CONFERENCE CTR

NEW BRUNSWICK

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MONCTON DOWNTOWN

QUEBEC

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS AND SUITES MONTREAL CENTRE-VILLE DOWNTOWN

ONTARIO

STAYBRIDGE SUITES OAKVILLE-BURLINGTON

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL TORONTO AIRPORT

Mexico

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS GUANAJUATO

HOLIDAY INN IXTAPA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL LEON, GTO

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL TOLUCA-LANCASTER

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL MONTERREY AEROPUERTO

HOLIDAY INN MEXICO TOREO-SATELITE

HOLIDAY INN REYNOSA-INDUSTRIAL PONIENTE

Central & South America

COLOMBIA

INTERCONTINENTAL CALI

COSTA RICA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SAN JOSE COROBICI

HONDURAS

INTERCONTINENTAL REAL SAN PEDRO SULA

Europe

CZECH REPUBLIC

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL PRAGUE

FINLAND

HOLIDAY INN HELSINKI – WEST RUOHOLAHTI

GERMANY

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS FRANKFURT – MESSE

GREECE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL ATHENS – CITY CENTRE

HUNGARY

HOLIDAY INN BUDAPEST – BUDAÖRS

IRELAND

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL DUNDALK

ITALY

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL VENICE EAST – QUARTO D’ALTINO

NETHERLANDS (HOLLAND)

HOLIDAY INN IJMUIDEN – SEAPORT BEACH

SPAIN

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS BARCELONA – MOLINS DE REI

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS MADRID AIRPORT

INTERCONTINENTAL MAR MENOR GOLF RESORT & SPA

UNITED KINGDOM

HOLIDAY INN BELFAST

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL HEYTHROP PARK – OXFORD

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL GLASGOW

HOLIDAY INN IPSWICH

HOLIDAY INN MAIDSTONE – SEVENOAKS

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS SWINDON – WEST M4, JCT.16

Africa

KENYA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL NAIROBI

SOUTH AFRICA

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS CAPE TOWN CITY CENTRE

Middle East

ISRAEL

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL EILAT

SAUDI ARABIA

INTERCONTINENTAL DAR AL HIJRA MADINAH

Asia

CHINA-PEOPLES REPUBLIC

HOLIDAY INN BEIJING CHANG AN WEST

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS CHENGDU GULOU

HOLIDAY INN DATONG CITY CENTRE

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL HANGZHOU GRAND CANAL

INTERCONTINENTAL QINGDAO

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL CENTURY PARK SHANGHAI

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL SHENYANG PARKVIEW

HOLIDAY INN EXPRESS TIANJIN CITY CENTER

INDIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL BENGALURU ELECTRONICS CITY

INDONESIA

CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL JAKARTA

KOREA-REPUBLIC OF

INTERCONTINENTAL ALPENSIA PYEONGCHANG RESORT

PHILIPPINES

INTERCONTINENTAL MANILA

THAILAND

HOLIDAY INN HOLIDAY INN BANGKOK

VIETNAM

INTERCONTINENTAL ASIANA SAIGON

Oceania

There are no properties available at this time.

Offer and participating hotels are subject to change at any time, valid for booking through May 31, 2012. Reward night terms and conditions apply.

Loyalty Traveler post -  Buy 60,000 Points for $460 and Platinum Elite Status (March 30, 2012) – this post explains the advantage of paying $77 for 10,000 points rather than $60 for 10,000 points through Points & Cash cancellations.

Priority Club 24 hour sale link.

USA

• Fairfield, California – Staybridge Suites (2/24 – 3/10) = 5,000 points.
• Latham, New York – Hotel Indigo (2/26- 3/23) = 10,000 points.
• Raleigh, North Carolina – Candelwood Suites (3/15-3/28) = 5,000 points.
• Brookhollow (Houston), Texas – Holiday Inn Express (3/15-3/28) = 5,000 points.

Canada

• Toronto – Holiday Inn Downtown Centre (3/3-3/16) = 7,500 points.

Australia

• New Castle Crowne Plaza (3/2-4/6) = 12,500 points.

China

• Beijing Crowne Plaza Sun Palace (3/10-3/29) = 10,000 points.

France

• Paris Auteuil Holiday Inn (3/10-3/23) = 10,000 points.

Mexico

• Crowne Plaza Guadalajara-Zapopan (3/10-4/6) = 10,000 points.

Panama

• Panama City InterContinental Playa Bonita Resort & Spa (2/24-4/6) = 12,500 points.

Saudi Arabia

• Al Khobar Holiday Inn Resort Halfmoon Bay (3/10-4/6) = 10,000 points.

South Africa

• InterContinental Johannesburg Sandton Towers (2/24-4/13) = 15,000 points.

These discount rewards represent from 50% to 75% off the standard reward rates. I actually prefer this format over the Last Minute Reward Nights offered for stays on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the first full weekend of the month at 50% points. Last Minute Reward Nights have a three day booking window, but also only a three day stay window.

This offer provides a stay window from two to seven weeks. I only need a few minutes to book a hotel room, but I like a longer window for more possibilities of working the discount reward hotel stay into my travel plans.

I’ll be interested to see if this type of flash sale continues with Priority Club.

Hat Tip to Gary and Lucky.

Comparing hotel rewards is one of the most technical aspects of hotel loyalty programs. The rate of earning points is different in each hotel loyalty program with Hilton members earning as many as 15 points per dollar for hotel spend while Marriott and IHG Priority Club earn as few as 5 points per dollar for certain hotel brands. Promotions offering bonus points also affect the rate of earning points in each program.

And even if the hotel loyalty member earns 10 points per dollar in each program, then is a 25,000 point hotel reward comparable in each program? How does one compare a Marriott Rewards category 5 reward night (25,000 points), Priority Club Crowne Plaza reward night (25,000 points) and a Hilton HHonors category 3 reward night (25,000 points)?

The logical way to compare hotel rewards across programs is to compare the published rate for the hotel night to the reward night cost in points. The problem is the reward cost is a fixed cost while the room rate fluctuates and might be $150 tonight and $250 tomorrow night for the same 25,000 points free night. The other variable is a 25,000 points hotel reward might save $100 at one Marriott Rewards category 5 hotel and save $250 at a different Marriott hotel.

The bottom line is hotel reward redemption value is dynamic and fluctuates depending on date and hotel. The best a member can do is try to use points in a way that maximizes their redemption value.

I have tackled this issue before and found Marriott Rewards to be the highest value points compared to the other two programs. This means 25,000 Marriott Rewards points tended to save more money than 25,000 points in Priority Club or Hilton HHonors. But I did not do many of these analyses in 2011.

Standard Hotel Rewards

IHG Priority Club

Priority Club changed its reward structure this week for the first time in several years. New tiers were added to each of the seven IHG hotel brands. Priority Club is different than other hotel loyalty programs by setting reward levels based on brand rather than categories where hotels in every brand are distributed based on average daily rate, reward demand and hotel occupancy. A Courtyard by Marriott property in New York City will be in a higher category reward level and cost more points than a Courtyard in Greenville, South Carolina. Priority Club had the problem that a Crowne Plaza in New York City with an average daily rate close to $300 was the same 25,000 points reward cost as the Crowne Plaza in Greenville, South Carolina with a much lower average room rate.

Rather than switching to hotel reward categories similar to other hotel loyalty programs where hotels are placed in categories typically based on average daily rates, Priority Club chose to add new tiers to each of the hotel brand rewards.

Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express formerly had three tiers for reward nights at 10,000 points, 15,000 points and 25,000 points. A new fourth tier was added at 20,000 points to fill in the gap. Regrettably, Priority Club chose to be intransparent regarding the new hotel reward tiers. They will not publish the changes of 2,000 or so hotels in new reward tiers as of this week, even though they state that you can request the lower tier reward level for bookings through March 18, 2012. You have to call Priority Club to find out if the hotel you are booking required fewer points prior to January 18 changes.

Each of the other five IHG brands added new higher reward tiers with Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites adding a tier at 5,000 more points and InterContinental Hotels, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo adding a new tier at 10,000 more points. Hotels in the new higher tiers are 25% to 40% more points.

Priority Club has three reward types providing discounts to the standard reward rates shown in the table: PointBreaks, Points & Cash, Last Minute Reward Nights.

Priority Club PointBreaks

Undoubtedly the lowest cost hotel reward nights of any hotel loyalty program are Priority Club PointBreaks for 5,000 points per night. Even if you do not currently have any Priority Club points, members can purchase up to 50,000 points in a rolling 12-month period. The cost is $67.50 to buy 5,000 points and the rate drops to $11.50 per 1,000 points with a 20,000 points purchase reducing the cost of a PointBreaks reward night to $57.50.

Priority Club PointBreaks typically are a list of about 100 hotels among the 4,500 IHG hotels globally. PointBreaks hotels only offer these low reward rates for about two months from the time the list is published. PointBreaks hotels drop off the list once the capacity controlled rooms are booked. PointBreaks are a great value, but limited to those who are in the right places at the right time to take advantage of these bargain reward nights.

The current PointBreaks list was posted around November 22 and is valid for hotel stays through January 31, 2012. A new PointBreaks list will likely post sometime during the next four days.

Priority Club Points & Cash Rewards

One of the best features of Priority Club Rewards is the availability of Points & Cash Reward Nights as a potential discount on standard reward nights. Points & Cash Rewards allow the Priority Club member to buy 5,000 or 10,000 points at the time of booking a reward night.

• 5,000 points = $40 or
• 10,000 points = $60.

A Crowne Plaza Points & Cash hotel reward night at 25,000 points standard reward level can be purchased for:

• 15,000 points + $60 or
• 20,000 points + $40.

Points & Cash Rewards saves points in your account balance while allowing the member to buy points at the discount rate of $6.00/1,000 points when buying 10,000 points for a reward. This is nearly 50% off the standard purchase rate ($11.50 to $13.50 per 1,000 points) and the 50,000 points annual purchase limit for Priority Club points does not apply to points bought for Points & Cash rewards. A member is limited to buying $240 in Points & Cash Reward points per day (40,000 points when buying 10,000 points on 4 reward stays).

Cheap Trick Cancellation

Points & Cash Reward stays require the member to buy 5,000 or 10,000 points during the reward stay booking process. When I book a Points & Cash Reward stay at a Crowne Plaza for a 25,000 points reward, my $60 buys 10,000 points instantly and only 15,000 points are removed from my account balance.

If I subsequently cancel the reward reservation, the entire 25,000 points are deposited back into my account. Basically, the cheap trick is a member can book a Points & Cash reward stays as a way to buy Priority Club points for $6 per 1,000 points. But you do not want to abuse this cheap trick or you may find your account flagged. Priority Club certainly knows members use this workaround to buy cheaper points, but no attempt has been made to change the rules in the past two years since Points & Cash Rewards were added to Priority Club. The primary changes to occur are the cost for 5,000 points increased from $30 to $40 and there is a $240 per day limit in purchase points through Points & Cash rewards.

One other thing to know about Points & Cash Rewards is the points purchased for these rewards are the only Priority Club points I know about that do not count as elite qualification points. All other points earned from hotel stays, partner activities and other promotion bonuses count for elite status with Gold elite at 20,000 points in a calendar year or Platinum elite for 60,000 points in a calendar year. Elite qualification on points is quite easy with Priority Club which is one reason why there are limited defined benefits with Priority Club elite status compared to Hilton and Marriott.

Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights

This 50% points discount reward has turned out to be probably the most useless hotel reward option in hotel loyalty programs since they debuted in May 2011. Hotels participating in Last Minute Reward Nights are only valid for stays during the first full weekend of the month for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There is supposed to be an email sent out on Monday before the Friday weekend, but I have never seen a Last Minute Reward Nights email.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler post with the January 2012 Last Minute Reward Nights list of 50% off InterContinental Hotels.  Normally I try to list all the hotels available each month. I wrote about Last Minute Reward hotels on Wednesday, January 4 when I first saw the list. These rewards were only available for the nights of Friday, January 6 to Sunday, January 8. That was a great deal if you happened to be in Frankfurt and got the InterContinental for 15,000 points. It will be 40,000 points per night after March 18. Seriously, how many people took advantage of InterContinental Moorea in the deep South Pacific at 50% off with just three days notice?

Bottom line: Jackpot if you are somewhere with a 50% off Last Minute Reward hotel available.  I have not used this Last Minute Reward yet due to limited locations. The January 2012 list was my best opportunity with two San Francisco Holiday Inn hotels available, but it was just too gorgeous to leave Monterey that weekend for city life.

Marriott Rewards

Marriott Rewards unquestionably had the best hotel rewards value until the program went to a 5th night free reward table in 2009. Prior to the changes hotel rewards were lower in cost for each additional night stayed. The discount was as high as 40% off reward nights for 7-night hotel stays. The trade-off for an across the board increase in all extended stay rewards other than 5 night stays was balanced by Marriott’s new “No Blackouts” policy for rewards.

Since 2009 Marriott spun off Ritz Carlton Rewards and tiered the hotel brand into five levels of hotel rewards from 30,000 points to 70,000 points per night with the 5th night free option.

Marriott Rewards competitive advantage over Hilton HHonors is a higher distribution of hotels in the Marriott Rewards lower hotel categories 1-4 in its eight category hotel reward structure.

Marriott Rewards hotel reward levels

• Category 1 = 7,500 points
• Category 2 = 10,000 points
• Category 3 = 15,000 points
• Category 4 = 20,000 points
• Category 5 = 25,000 points
• Category 6 = 30,000 points
• Category 7 = 35,000 points
• Category 8 = 40,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 1 = 30,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 2 = 40,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 3 = 50,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 4 = 60,000 points
• Ritz-Carlton Tier 5 = 70,000 points

All Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Standard and PointSavers Reward stays offer the fifth night free. Stay 5 nights and pay the points for four nights. Fifth night free stays may be combined.  A ten night stay gets two free nights. There are no discounts for extended stays of other lengths. A 9-night stay only gets one free night.

Marriott Rewards PointSavers

PointSavers are discount rewards reducing the hotel reward night cost at the participating hotel by one category level.

For example, a Category-6 PointSavers hotel reward is 25,000 points per night. PointSavers for Category-1 hotels are a 20% discount at 6,000 points.

The Marriott Rewards PointSavers list was updated in the past month with dozens of hotels offering PointSavers rates with dates primarily in January through March 2012.

Ritz-Carlton PointSavers offer 10,000 points per night savings. Since 2009 I have seen few PointSavers at Ritz-Carlton hotels posted on the website. Members are directed to phone reservations to request PointSavers.

Marriott Travel Packages (Hotel + Air)

These are high-priced, high-value rewards starting at 200,000 points that offer a 7-night hotel stay available at any hotel category level and from 35,000 miles, up to 120,000 miles. The cost of these rewards ranges from 200,000 to 540,000 points. I will discuss Marriott Travel Package rewards further when comparing points-to-miles exchanges in these hotel loyalty programs in a future post.

Hilton HHonors Rewards

Hilton HHonors restructured its reward chart at the beginning of 2010 when it added Category 7 hotel rewards at 50,000 points, eliminated Opportunity Hotels, and shifted the cost of Category 1 and category 2 hotels down. Bottom line is more than 80% of the hotels worldwide increased in cost for a reward night.

Hilton HHonors Standard Reward Levels

• Category 1 = 7,500 points
• Category 2 = 12,500 points
• Category 3 = 25,000 points
• Category 4 = 30,000 points
• Category 5 = 35,000 points
• Category 6 = 40,000 points
• Category 7 = 50,000 points
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels = 50,000 to 80,000 points

One of the tasks I see I need to update is a hotel rewards distribution comparison for Hilton and Marriott to backup my claim that Marriott has more hotels in the lower categories. I did not do this analysis in 2011, so here is a comparison from tables I created two years ago.  Once the 2012 hotel category shifts are published I will update the distribution of hotels in each reward category for Hilton and Marriott with 2011 and 2012 data.

The table shows that fewer than 15% of Marriott brand hotel rewards were more than 20,000 points in 2010 compared to nearly 60% of Hilton brand hotels being more than 30,000 points in 2010. Hilton HHonors charges far more on average for hotel rewards, even considering Hilton Points & Points earners earn 15 points per dollar compared to 10 points per dollar for Marriott stays. The extra points needed for Hilton hotel rewards negates the extra points earned from Hilton hotel stays. In Hilton’s favor is the easier route to HHonors Diamond elite and 50% bonus points compared to Marriott Rewards Platinum elite for 50% bonus points.

HHonors Extended Stay Discounts

The competitive advantage for Hilton HHonors is the best discount for extended stays using points at hotels in Category 3 to Category 7. HHonors provides a discount on reward stays four nights or longer for members with at least HHonors Silver elite status (4 stays or 10 nights in a calendar year or HHonors credit card member).

HHonors VIP Elite Extended Stay Reward Discounts

• 4-night VIP Reward = 15% discount off standard reward rate.
• 5-night VIP Reward = 20% discount off standard reward rate. This matches the Marriott Rewards 5th Night free discount. Five nights at a category-4 hotel normally 30,000 points per night is 120,000 points.
• 6-night or longer = 25% discount off standard reward rate. This exceeds the discount offered by any other hotel loyalty program. A category 7 hotel reward for six nights at 50,000 points per night is only 225,000 points rather than 300,000 points.
• Amazingly, Hilton HHonors VIP reward chart has not been updated to separate the category 3 rewards from category 4. Category 3 hotels receive the same 15% to 25% discount shown below for other category hotels, but the HHonors reward chart does not display the discount rates for Category 3 hotels. FlyerTalk member Beltway created the table below showing the discount rate for VIP Rewards.

The chart shown above is from Post #3 on this FlyerTalk thread providing a comprehensive list of Hilton HHonors rewards.

AXON 4-Night Rewards

AXON rewards are available to HHonors American Express cardmembers for a discount on 4-night stays that is even greater than the VIP 15% reward discount.

• Category 6: 125,000 points  (VIP Reward = 136,000 points)
• Category 7: 145,000 points  (VIP Reward = 170,000 points)

Points & Money Rewards

• Category 1: not applicable
• Category 2: 6,250 points + US$30
• Category 3: 12,250 points + US$40
• Category 4: 15,000 points + US$50
• Category 5: 17,500 points + US$60
• Category 6: 20,000 points + US$70
• Category 7: 25,000 points + US$85
• Waldorf-Astoria: 30,000 points + US$100
• The data shown here was removed from the Hilton website soon after I published the table in my analysis of Points & Money Rewards on Loyalty Traveler in October 2011. These amounts are currently the amounts still used for Points & Money Rewards, however, Hilton has left open the possibility to change these levels at anytime with this wording in the Hilton HHonors FAQ.

What are Points & Money Rewards™?
If you don’t have enough Hilton HHonors™ points to book a room using Standard Room Rewards, or simply if you prefer to use fewer points, you can combine points with money to book a standard room. This is a great option if you need just a few hundred more points to achieve a reward stay. Availability of Points & Money Rewards varies by participating hotels and stay dates at the time of booking. The number of points required to redeem Points & Money Rewards varies by room, hotel, and booking date.

 

In 2011 Hilton HHonors introduced Points & Money Rewards offering hotel rewards for 50% points and a cash supplement. This new reward option replaces PointStretcher Rewards that have been eliminated for 2012. PointStretcher Rewards offered a 40% discount off standard reward points at select hotels on select dates. Points & Money offer a greater points discount, but also require cash.

I think Points & Money will be a better program feature as long as this reward choice is commonly available at hotels in many places. There were few hotels and very restricted date availability for PointStretcher Rewards over the past several years. Paying a cash supplement and 50% points is a good hotel reward option for HHonors members. The Points & Money Rewards option is still too new and too scarce to determine if this is a better replacement to PointStretchers.

HHonors Premium Room Rewards will be discussed in a separate post on suite upgrades.

The follow-up post to this “Hotel Rewards Comparison” will be to show a couple of locations and compare the reward cost in Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club and Marriott Rewards hotel stay rewards and calculate the point value in each program based on the room rates for hotels in the same location and similar market segment.

Loyalty Traveler series: Comparison of Hilton HHonors, Marriott Rewards and IHG Priority Club hotel loyalty programs

1. Hilton, Marriott and IHG Hotel Brand Market Segments(Jan 15, 2012) – this post lists the different hotel brands, number of hotels in the brand, percentage of hotels in each brand and brand’s hotel market segment.

2. Hilton, IHG Marriott: Earning Base Points and Miles(Jan 17, 2012).

3. Making Elite with Marriott, IHG, Hilton(Jan 18, 2012) – Discussion of elite qualification requirements, elite status challenges and status matches.

4. Hotel Rewards Comparison: IHG, Marriott and Hilton (Jan 21, 2012)

Here are observations I made concerning the changes to InterContinental Hotel reward tiers.

InterContinental Hotels in the USA (25 hotels in 50 states and Puerto Rico).

• None of the 8 InterContinental Hotels formerly at 30,000 points increased tier. They are still 30,000 points. Atlanta Buckhead is the only hotel in the USA to decrease from 40,000 to 30,000 points tier.
• In contrast, 7 of 17 hotels in USA and Puerto Rico increased from 40,000 points to 50,000 points. This means 41% of the hotels in the USA that were 40,000 points per night increase 25% in reward night cost. Austin, Boston, Chicago, New York (2 hotels), Scottsdale, Arizona and San Juan Puerto Rico are now in top tier.
• In total 1 of 25 (4%) InterContinental Hotels in the USA decreased by 25% and 7 of 25 (28%) InterContinental Hotels increased 25% in reward cost for US properties.

Global Changes

InterContinental Perth is the only hotel to jump from 30,000 points to 50,000 points for a 67% increase in reward cost. InterContinental Sydney is one of only 10 hotels outside the US to increase to 50,000 points.

Australia in general has seen all hotel chains raise reward tiers. Currency exchange rates are a major factor in the increase in Australia hotel reward rates.  Since January 2003 the USD dropped from US$1.00 = AUD$1.70 to the current exchange rate of USD$1 = AUD$0.95. The huge devaluation of the dollar is detrimental to hotel point values which are based on the US dollar exchange rate.

And if you think hotel rates are bad, check out the price of beer in Australia after exchanging US dollars.

Other hotels rising to the 50,000 points reward tier are limited to a few key locations like Bora Bora (2 hotels), Paris (2 hotels), Cannes (1 hotel), Rome (1 hotel), Tokyo (2 hotels) and Hong Kong (1 hotel).

• 19 hotels are currently in 50,000 points reward tier. Only one hotel, InterContinental Ixtapa Resort in Mexico was 50,000 points prior to the new tiers of Jan 18, 2012.
• 11 hotels outside the USA increased to 50,000 points reward tier. 7 hotels in USA and Puerto Rico increased to 50,000 points.
• 19 international hotels decreased from 40K to 30K (27% of formerly 40,000 points hotels).

Formerly 40,000 points reward tier InterContinental Hotels (68 hotels)

• 18 hotels increased from 40K to 50K (26%). About 25% of InterContinental Hotels worldwide formerly at 40,000 points jumped to 50,000 points tier.
• 31 hotels remain at 40K (46%).
• 19 hotels decreased from 40K to 30K (28%).
• 19 hotels now at 50,000 points. 6 hotels in USA, 1 Puerto Rico and 12 international hotels.
• 1 hotel (Perth, Australia) increased from 30,000 to 50,000 points (67% jump).
• 7 hotels in USA and Puerto Rico increased from 40,000 points to 50,000 points per night (7 of 17 hotels or 41% of hotels in USA formerly at 40,000 points went up.)

Formerly 30,000 points reward tier (99 hotels)

• 99 hotels were 30,000 points before changes.
• 108 hotels or 10% more hotels are 30,000 points on Jan 20, 2012.
• 9 international hotels increased from 30,000 to 40,000 points (9% of 30K hotels). One of these hotels is InterContinental Geneva which had just dropped from 40K to 30K in 2010-2011.
• 1 international hotel (1%) increased from 30,000 to 50,000 points InterContinental Perth.
• All 8 IC hotels in USA previously at 30,000 points remained at 30,000 points.
• In all, 89 hotels at 30,000 points before remain at 30,000 points now (90%).
• 19 additional hotels were lowered to 30,000 points from 40,000 points.

Distribution January 15, 2012 among 168 hotels:

• 99 hotels (59%) = 30,000 points
• 68 hotels (41%) = 40,000 points
• 1 hotel (<1%) = 50,000 points

Distribution  with new reward tier levels on January 20, 2012 among 168 hotels:

• 108 hotels (64%) = 30,000 points
• 41 hotels (25%) = 40,000 points
• 19 hotels (11%) = 50,000 points

InterContinental Hotel Reward Tiers

The spreadsheet image below shows the former tiers of 168 InterContinental Hotels at 30,000 points in blue and 40,000 points in yellow in the first column. The hotels were shifted to the new 30K, 40K and 50K tiers to illustrate by color and position the former and current tiers.

Click on spreadsheet image to open full size in a new window.

New 2012 InterContinental Hotel Reward Tiers - Loyalty traveler