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

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.

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.

These 50% off rates are only available for booking through today Thursday, December 1. I am not sure what time zone the offer works on, but past experience tells me they will be unavailable for booking Friday.

There are 86 hotels listed. InterContinental Moorea in French Polynesia is only 20,000 points if you can be there this weekend .

Here is the list of hotels, but no geographical locator. Use this link to access Priority Club Last Minute Rewards and the sidebar for locating hotels by state and country.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts BANGKOK 20,000 pts.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts PLAYA BONITA RESORT & SPA 20,000 pts.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts RESORT AND SPA MOOREA 20,000 pts.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts CALI 15,000 pts.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts DAR AL TAWHID MAKKAH 15,000 pts.

Crowne Plaza ABU DHABI – YAS ISLAND 12,500 pts.

Crowne Plaza LOS ANGELES AIRPORT 12,500 pts.

Crowne Plaza MILAN – LINATE  12,500 pts.

Crowne Plaza MONTERREY 12,500 pts.

Crowne Plaza NEW ORLEANS-AIRPORT  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn ELMIRA-RIVERVIEW 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express CHARLESTON US HWY 17 & I-526 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express EXTON-LIONVILLE 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express NORTH PALM BEACH-OCEANVIEW 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express STATE COLLEGE @ WILLIAMSBURG SQ 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites ATHENS 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites CHARLOTTETOWN  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites CHEYENNE 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites CINCINNATI-N/SHARONVILLE 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites DFW-GRAPEVINE 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites KNOXVILLE-NORTH-I-75 EXIT 112  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites MOAB 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites MT PLEASANT-CHARLESTON 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites MURRELL’S INLET (MYRTLE BEACH)  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites N. MYRTLE BEACH-LITTLE RIVER  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites OMAHA AIRPORT 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites RICHMOND NORTH ASHLAND 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites SOUTH PORTLAND  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites WATERTOWN-THOUSAND ISLANDS 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn HELSINKI – WEST RUOHOLAHTI  12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn KEARNEY 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn MADRID 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn SPEARFISH-CONVENTION CENTER 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn ST. JOHN’S-GOVT CENTER 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Select MONTREAL CENTRE VILLE DOWNTOWN 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn VAIL 12,500 pts.

Holiday Inn WILMINGTON-MARKET ST. 12,500 pts.

Hotel Indigo BASKING RIDGE 12,500 pts.

Hotel Indigo LONG ISLAND – EAST END 12,500 pts.

Ana Hotels And Resorts NAGASAKI GLOVERHILL 10,000 pts.

Staybridge Suites CHATTANOOGA DWTN – CONV CTNR 10,000 pts.

Candlewood Suites CHICAGO/HOFFMAN ESTATES 7,500 pts.

Candlewood Suites CLEARWATER 7,500 pts.

Candlewood Suites PADUCAH 7,500 pts.

Candlewood Suites PORT ARTHUR/NEDERLAND 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn AMES CONFERENCE CENTER – ISU  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn BINGHAMTON-DWTN (HAWLEY ST) 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn COLUMBUS 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn DUBUQUE/GALENA 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express ADRIAN 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express BOSTON – MARLBORO 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express CHARLESTON-SUMMERVILLE 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express GREENVILLE 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express IRONDEQUOIT 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express KERNERSVILLE 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express MEDELLIN  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express WINSTON-SALEM  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites ALAMOGORDO HWY 54/70 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites CHATTANOOGA-HIXSON  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites COLUMBIA-I-20 @ CLEMSON RD 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites DENVER NORTHEAST – BRIGHTON 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites GOODLAND 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites GRAND RAPIDS AIRPORT 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites HARDEEVILLE-HILTON HEAD  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites LONGMONT  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites LOVELAND  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites MERIDIAN  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites NAMPA 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites OSHKOSH-SR 41  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites SANFORD  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites THE WOODLANDS  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites THORNBURG-S. FREDERICKSBURG  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites TULSA S BROKEN ARROW HWY 51  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn FREDERICK-CONF CTR AT FSK MALL 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites ALBUQUERQUE-NORTH I-25  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn SALEM (I-93 AT EXIT 2) 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn SAO PAULO PARQUE ANHEMBI 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn SHANGHAI DOWNTOWN  7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn ST. LOUIS-SOUTHWEST (VIKING) 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn WINCHESTER SE-HISTORIC GATEWAY 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn WINSTON-SALEM-UNIV PARKWAY 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn WUHAN RIVERSIDE 7,500 pts.

Holiday Inn CD. OBREGON  5,000 pts.

Holiday Inn Express and Suites KINSTON  5,000 pts.

• 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.

Twitter followers of @PriorityClub (currently at 3,495 followers at the time of this post) enter the contest with a tweet answering the question ”What would you do with a free night?” 

Today is Day 1 of the contest and there are still a few hours left to enter for the Tuesday, September 20 giveaway of 50 free room nights. Read the rules carefully before submitting your tweet to improve your chances of winning 40,000 points and the value of those points if you redeem your free night for a top tier InterContinental Hotel.

IHG launched a new Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) policy today that offers the first night free with an approved claim for a same room, same terms, lower rate  found on a third party online travel agency site. I’ll write up the BRG policy in a post tomorrow. The Twitter contest is simply a PR promotion for the new BRG policy and a good odds opportunity for winning a free hotel night.

Link to Priority Club Contest description.

Link to detailed Twitter Contest Terms and Conditions.

• Contest runs as five separate days of giveaways for 50 room nights each 24 hour period.
• Day 1 is Tuesday September 20 12:00am ET and ends September 20 11:59pm ET. The contest continues for each day through Saturday, September 24.
• Follow @PriorityClub on Twitter.
• Tweet a response in English to the question “What would you do with a free night?”
• You may enter once each day of the contest.
• This is a contest. Tweets will be judged on originality (50%), Creativity (40%) and Enthusiasm (10%).
• Winners will be notified by Twitter Direct Message.
• Read the rules yourself before making a submission as these are just some of the rules I thought relevant to readers.
• The short rules state you must add “#bestrateguarantee” to the end of the tweet and the detailed rules state you must have #BestPriceGuarantee http://bit.ly/rulesihg  at the end of the tweet.   I added the rules link just to be sure the submission is eligible, but that shortens the available characters for a question response in the 140 character Twitter limit for the total message.

This Twitter contest is open to residents of the U.S.  (including D.C.), the U.K (excluding Northern Ireland) and Canada (excluding Quebec).

Priority Club Tweet-to-Win Contest Sep 20-24, 2011

Hat tip to AJ, a new BoardingArea blogger with Live from a Lounge.

Note: This post was updated September 21 to reflect the fact that Priority Club Tweet-to-Win prize winners receive 40,000 points rather than a free night credit.

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.

PointBreaks hotels only remain on the list for 5,000 points until the allotted room nights are booked and then the hotel drops off the list. Book these quickly if you think you can use one of the locations.

United States

Canada

Mexico

Central & South America

Europe

Africa

TANZANIA
HOLIDAY INN DAR ES SALAAM CITY CENTRE

Asia

Oceania 

No participating hotels.

Seems to me like Oceania hotels have been sitting out of PointBreaks offers for most of 2011.

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

Accor Hotels -  A-Club

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

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

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

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

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

Accor Hotels A|Club bonus offers

Best Western Hotels – Best Western Rewards 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges

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

Hotel Reward Partners: Preferred Hotels Group, Barcelo Resorts 

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

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

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

Program enhancements for elites. 

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

Reward night booking window extended for Choice Privileges elite members:

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

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

Drury Hotels – Gold Key Club

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

Expedia Rewards –

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

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

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

Fairmont Hotels and Fairmont President’s Club

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

Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Special Offers website link

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

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

Hilton Hotels – Hilton HHonors

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hotels.com Welcome Rewards

Earn a free night for every 10 nights.

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

Hyatt Hotels – Hyatt Gold Passport

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

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

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

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

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

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Priority Club Any Hotel Anywhere American Express gift cards.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kimpton Hotels – InTouch

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

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

La Quinta Hotels – La Quinta Returns

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

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

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

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

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

LHW Hotel Special Offers link

Marriott Hotels – Marriott Rewards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Omni Hotels – Omni Select Guest

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

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

Preferred Hotels Group – I Prefer

I Prefer and Preferred Hotels Group special offers page.

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

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

Ritz-Carlton Rewards

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

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

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

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

Starwood Hotels – Starwood Preferred Guest

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stash Hotel Rewards

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

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

Stash Hotel Specials for Bonus Points and Low Redemption Rate Hotels

Voila Hotel Rewards

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

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

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

Wyndham Worldwide -  Wyndham Rewards

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

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

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

Loyalty Traveler Research Articles

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

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

Hotel Loyalty Credit Cards and the Value of Hotel Points

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

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

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

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

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

Hotel Points to Airline Miles Conversion Tables

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Three Keys = good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer

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

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

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

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

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