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.

LHW properties are truly luxury properties with names like The Ritz London and The Ritz Paris. Several former Starwood Hotels rebranded and are currently LHW properties like BLUE Sydney- a Taj Hotel (formerly Starwood Hotels W Sydney), Langham Melbourne (formerly Luxury Collection Sheraton Towers Southgate) and Rayavadee, Thailand (formerly Luxury Collection).

My primary purpose in writing about Leaders Club Rewards is to share changes to the Leaders Club Rewards program. According to my post from April 2010, the last time I looked at LHW closely, the paid membership levels for Leaders Club have dropped substantially, but apparently the free membership option is gone. FlyerTalk members reported the free membership option had sketchy benefits anyway. All in all, it appears these changes actually may provide a better loyalty program for members.

Leaders Club Rewards Membership Levels

• Access = $100/year (April 2010 was $300)
• Unlimited = $1,200/year (April 2010 was $2,000)

Leaders Club Rewards Access Benefits = $100/year.

• A one-category room upgrade (subject to availability)
• The opportunity to earn complimentary nights at any Leading Hotel (5 stays = 1 free night)
• Complimentary continental breakfast for two (daily) [NEW benefit]
• Free Internet access (where available) [NEW benefit]
• Special rate privileges available only to Leaders Club members
• A unique welcome gift at each Leading Hotel
• Early check-in/late check-out considerations (subject to availability)
• Invitations to local Leaders Club events

Leaders Club Rewards Unlimited Benefits = $1,200/year.

• Guaranteed room upgrade at time of booking.
• Priority Pass membership for access to over 600 VIP airport lounges. (NEW)
• Global concierge service.

Loyalty Traveler analysis

One 2-night stay at any LHW property will likely have a full rebate in value-added benefits for the $100 annual Access membership fee with the benefits of free breakfast and internet. This is basically a $50+ daily benefit at most LHW hotels. And if you receive a room upgrade, then certainly the $100 annual fee will have been a worthwhile investment.

Another difference in 2011 is the free night earned after 5 LHW stays in a calendar year with stays in at least two different member hotels. This benefit is now only offered with a paid Leaders Club membership.

Free Night Certificate

Earning a free night:

• Free night certificate is earned for every 5 LHW stays,
• Must include at least two different LHW hotels.
• Reservations must be made through LHW sites at publicly available rates.

Redeeming a free night:

• Free night certificate is valid for one year.
• Free night certificate is valid for any LHW property.
• Only one certificate may be redeemed per stay.
• Free night certificate must be redeemed by Leaders Club member and is not transferrable.

These are straightforward rules with the primary downside being the restriction of just one free night certificate allowed per hotel stay. So either you have a free one night stay or you pay for additional nights.

I guess this is a smart move on the loyalty program’s side to prevent loyalty travelers from racking up 5 free nights at the lowest priced hotels and redeeming at the highest priced hotels which is a strategy I advocated in my April 2010 post. The one free night restriction is not too member friendly though.

Spending $1,200 for Leaders Club Unlimited membership is a hefty price to pay unless you are planning many nights at LHW properties. Priority Pass membership is a $100 to $400 value depending on what level of membership is provided and the LHW website does not state. Confirmed upgrades at time of booking is a valuable benefit, but whether there is an additional $1,100 value premium over the Access level will depend entirely on your hotel stay pattern. FlyerTalk members state Virtuoso has similar benefits.

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, California - LHW member hotel

Here is the update to the Current Hotel Loyalty Promotions page on Loyalty Traveler blog.

Sixty Second overview of current offers:

Choice Privileges has one of the best points reward offers with discount hotel partner rewards up to 50% off at Preferred Hotels Group properties for bookings through January 19, 2011.

Starwood Preferred Guest has a fast-track elite offer for the remainder of the year with Stays Count Double at their brands of Aloft, Element and Four Points Hotels through December 31.

Fast-track to SPG Gold elite with just four stays at these brands by January 31, 2011 with the other SPG offer. Elite status will last through February 2012.

Sheraton Club Lounges will remain open on weekends beginning in 2011. Will Marriott follow?

Priority Club Sweet Dilemma for a free night after two stays and Hyatt Gold Passport 10,000 points after 5 nights are the best points and free nights deals for hotel stays through December 31 in my opinion.

Priority Club has an instant platinum elite offer that could make Sweet Dilemma a suite opportunity. IHG also has a high value 2 nights for the price of 1 special rate offer for hotels in the UK and Europe through December 30, 2010.

Accor Hotels has more hotels in South America than most other hotel loyalty program chains put together and through the end of 2010 you can 4x Accor AClub points.

November 21 is the last night for 15,000 goldpoints with just one night at a Country Inn & Suites.

**************************************************

The frequent guest has the choice of many hotel loyalty promotions with little guidance to their relative value. Here is Loyalty Traveler’s summary of current hotel loyalty promotions and limited time rate offers for the frequent guest.

Newly added offers since the last October 18 update are marked with an asterisk (*).

***********************************************************************

Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of 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 a 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.

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.

*North America – Sofitel Hotels Triple Points 11/9 – 12/31

*UK – Mercure Hotels Triple Points Book 11/9 – 12/30 for stays through 2/28/2011.

*Latin America – Ibis, Mercure, Novotel, Sofitel, Pullman – 4x Points through 12/31 at over 150 hotels.

*Paris – Triple Points through 12/31/2010

*Australia – Double Points Dec 1- Feb 28, 2011

*Other Accor Hotels A-Club bonus offers

Best Western Hotels – Best Western Rewards

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

* Best Western Travel Card Purchase Bonus – 2,500 points or $10 gift card for every $100 Best Western Travel Card purchase transaction from November 5 – December 31, 2010. You want to make separate $100 transactions to maximize bonus.

3-key promotion – 1,250 miles with American Airlines or Air Canada Aeroplan after two stays Sep 12-Nov 21. Earn 750 bonus miles every second stay. There is no cap on the number of times this bonus may be earned, unlike the concurrent promotion for triple points. Registration is required and you need to set your BW account earning preference to miles to see these promotion offers.  LT promotion post (Aug 22)

2-key Promotion – Double or Triple Points, Sep 12 through Nov 21, 2010. Earn triple points (30 points/$1) on your second stay booked through Bestwestern.com. Earn double points if reservation not booked online. This bonus is earned only one time, except elite members also earn triple points on 4^th stay. Promotion code is FALL10 or for AAA BestWestern Preferred members AAAFALL10. Promotion registration required. LT promotion post (Aug 22)

Best Western Rewards Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010)

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 is designating 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).

Carlson Hotels – Goldpoints Plus

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

Country Inn & Suites -  October 3 – November 21, 2010; U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama

• 15,000 bonus points for one-night stay on a Sunday through Thursday. (Limit one bonus per member)
• 3-day advance reservation required. Promo code = 15000PTS.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/09/28/country-inn-suites-one-night-stay-for-15000-goldpoints/

Goldpoints Plus program change – elite members earn 2,000 points for online booking. This change doubles the regular 1,000 online booking bonus for goldpoints elite members. (LT post July 18)

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

*Preferred Hotels Group Reward Nights up to 50% off. Upper-upscale, luxury and boutique hotel room nights 20,000 to 30,000 points. Book between November 3, 2010 and January 19, 2011. (5-key promotion)

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)

Four Seasons Hotels

Four Seasons Special Offers website link

$100 dining/spa credit at six participating California hotels for using Gowalla. Visit three location recommendations from Four Seasons concierge through Gowalla location-based social media site during a stay of two or more nights through November 19 to earn a $100 credit.

Hilton Hotels – Hilton HHonors

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

* Sweepstakes for 200,000 HHonors points – Vote for American Airlines AmericanWay Road Warrior by November 30, 2010 for sweepstakes entry.

Hilton Double Points and 4x Sundays   October 12 – December 30, 2010

Stay Sunday night and the entire stay earns a bonus equivalent to quadruple base points. Elite base points are earned at regular rate of 10 points per $1. 4x Bonus ends up being 30 bonus points per $1. (LT post: Oct 8, 2010) 4-key promotion if including Sunday stay; 3-key if not.

HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards posted for hotels through December 2010. Point Stretchers require 40% fewer points than standard HHonors rewards. Use the drop-down menu to see participating hotels in different Hilton brands. This is the largest set of hotels I recall in several years offering Point Stretcher discount reward dates. (LT post Sep 9)

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 puts all the HHonors reward charts in one place. (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)

4-key promotion – up to 10,000 Delta Skymiles Medallion Qualifying Miles (MQM) for stays of two or more nights between September 1 and December 10, 2010.

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

Hyatt Hotels – Hyatt Gold Passport

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

* Hawaii Hyatt Hotels – 10,000 bonus points for 4 or more night stay, Dec 1 – Mar 31, 2011. Must book HI10K rate by Dec 31, 2010. (Nov 12)

* Hyatt Gold Passport Program Change – No elite status matches will be given for elite membership in another hotel program. Elite status trial offer is at the discretion of individual hotel properties.

4-key promotion – ‘Great 10K’ Fall 2010 offer awards 10,000 Gold Passport points for every 5 nights September 15 – December 15, 2010. Nights do not need to be consecutive nights. Stay every night in a Hyatt Hotel and you can earn 180,000 bonus points. Register online beginning September 15 at goldpassport.com/welcome10k. LT post Aug 25. This promotion may be combined with the 3,000 AA miles per stay offer below (60,000 AAdvantage miles).

Hyatt 5,000 points for two-night stays at 27 West Coast hotels.

• September 25 – December 30, 2010, use Special Offer Code 5000GP
• 5000GP rates are reasonable and do not appear to have a mark-up like most special offer rates.

Combinable with Great 10K offer for 10,000 bonus points every 5 nights. You can potentially earn 35,000 bonus points after 10 nights. This is a good deal. Two reward nights at high-end Category-5 hotels will cost 36,000 points. 35,000 points will get 7 free nights at a category-1 hotel. And unlike other hotel loyalty programs, you will find lots of Hyatt category-1 hotels 

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/07/hyatt-5000-points-for-2-night-stays-at-27-west-coast-hotels/

Program change: Hyatt Gold Passport hotel award categories increased for 25% of hotels as of June 4, 2010. Loyalty traveler post.

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

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

* 5-key offer IHG Priority Club Instant Platinum Elite status and a $25 gift card after 5 nights within 90 days. (Nov 15) 

* IHG 2 nights for the Price of 1 in UK/Europe through December 30 – London for under $75 per night over the Christmas-New Year Holiday season. Suites under $300 per night.

* $50 flight credit for Friday, Saturday or Sunday night stay at any IHG brand hotel in the U.S. from November 5, 2010 to April 30, 2011 when you book by December 31, 2010.

* 15% points discount for retail and dining gift card Priority Club points rewards to November 30.

$50 gift cards = 17,000 points; $100 gift cards = 32,300 points

5-key promotion – Sweet Dilemma – Free night after two stays or double points/miles for stays between September 20 and December 31, 2010. Registration is required and member must choose to earn free nights or double points/miles. There is a limit of five free nights after ten stays. Free nights stays must be used between December 1, 2010 and May 31, 2011. Asia-Pacific region IHG hotels are not participating in free nights portion of this promotion. A big drawback to the free nights offer is members will not earn any base or elite points for the remainder of 2010, even if the free night offer is maxed out after ten stays. IHG loyalists may prefer double points or miles.

Priority Club PointBreaks through December 30, 2010 are probably the best hotel loyalty program reward night value available at 5,000 points for a free night. The current list favors the USA with 77 hotels and only 49 hotels for the rest of the world.

Some of these hotels will run over $200 per night on some dates. PointBreaks rewards reduce the reward cost for a 30,000 points per night InterContinental Hotel to just 5,000 points. That can be quite a points break for an extended stay.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/05/priority-club-pointbreaks-hotels-list-to-dec-30-2010/

Cheaper Hilton Reward nights using Priority Club points – this Loyalty Traveler analysis developed from the 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. (LT post Sep 17)

5-key offer Priority Club “Crack the Case” individually targeted promotion terms. My Crack the Case offer is a 5-key promotion, however, the best offers appear to be for Priority Club members who did not stay too frequently over the past year. Members who received this promotion have until May 31, 2011 to fulfill the tasks for bonus points. You need to already be a Priority Club member and check your email offer for your own Crack the Case promotion terms.

My offer was 162,000 points for five tasks and a 91,000 points bonus for completing four of the challenges: PC credit card enrollment 60,000 points; stay two Saturdays; stay in two brands, complete a hotel stay profile survey; stay 10 room nights. I can potentially receive 157,000 Priority Club points for just two Saturday hotel nights in two different brands over the next nine months.

3-key promotion – Sep 1-Dec 30 – Stay two consecutive weekend nights (Fri, Sat or Sun) at an IHG brand hotel in conjunction with a flight and get reimbursed for one roundtrip checked baggage fee up to $50. (Aug 17)

IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (through Dec 26, 2009)

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).

Joie de Vivre Hotels – Joy of Life Club (California Boutique hotels)

3-key promotion - Earn both Virgin America Elevate points and Joy of Life points for the remainder of 2010. LT post July 22.

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

3-key promotion – Earn 1 free night after every 5 hotel stays in 2010. Must stay in at least two different hotels. Bellagio in Las Vegas is LHW member. (April 13, 2010)

* LHW Hotels 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

* Marriott Gift Card purchases earn 10 points per US$1, up to 25,000 points through December 31, 2010. (Nov. 2)

* Earn 5,000 Delta miles for a Marriott stay and Delta flight between Nov. 1 – Jan. 31, 2011. One bonus per Delta ticket, so one-way tickets are way to maximize offer if the price is not much more than roundtrip. (LT post Nov 6)

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.

3-key promotion – Marriott Triple Airline Miles October 1-December 31, 2010. You need to set your Marriott Rewards earning preference to miles to register for this promotion. Marriott Rewards has 30 airline partners and miles are earned at the rate of 2 miles/$1 for full-service Marriott brands (3x miles = 6 miles/$1) and 1 mile per $1 for other Marriott brands (3x miles = 3 miles/$1). The Triple Miles promotion has just five participating airlines: Air Canada, Continental, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Jet Airways. Loyalty Traveler post Aug 26.

4-key promotion – Marriott MegaBonus (Sep 15-Jan 15, 2011) various targeted offers with the basic offer being one free night after two stays paid with Visa. Limit of two free nights during promotion. Free night valid only for Category 1 to category 4 hotels.

Active Marriott Rewards members may receive bonus points offers based on total nights stayed or 5,000 points for every two stays. There are several variations mentioned for 25,000 to 50,000 bonus points. 

1-Key offer – Marriott Rewards Instant Redemption Awards (March 24, 2010)

Ritz-Carlton Rewards

5-key promotion – New members to Ritz-Carlton Rewards earn one free night for two stays through December 31, 2010. Limit of two free nights after four stays. You are not eligible for this offer if you are a current or past member of Marriott Rewards. I provided a guide to how new members can get $2,500 in Ritz-Carlton Hotel rooms for under $1,000. (LT post Sep 18)

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.

* 4-Key promotion – Free weekend night after 3 stays paid with MasterCard in Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa.  Stay November 1, 2010 – January 31, 2011 at over 250 Starwood Hotels. Maximum one free night may be earned per member during this promotion. Great offer, but too bad limited to one free night.

* 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)

* SPG American Express Facebook Sweepstakes – enter once each week’s prizes 21,000 Starpoints Nov 4-10; 30,000 Starpoints Nov 11-17; 36,000 Starpoints Nov 18-24; 60,000 Starpoints Nov 25-Dec 1.

Buy Starpoints at 20% discount. October 12 – December 31, 2010.  $14 per 500 points rather than $17.50.  Calendar year purchase limit is 20,000 points. $560 for 20,000 points. http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/16/buy-spg-starpoints-20-discount-oct-12-dec-31-2010/

SPG Nights and Stays Count Double at Starwood’s Four Points, Aloft and Element brand hotels.

• October 1 – December 31, 2010 

(This is basically the offer for fast-track Platinum or for an SPG member who is already just a couple of stays away from SPG Gold Elite since the other offer gives Gold elite after 4 stays.) 

SPG Fast-Track to Gold elite after 4 stays at Starwood’s Four Points, Aloft and Element brand hotels.

• October 1 – January 31, 2011 

There are about 200 hotels in these three Starwood brands, mostly in U.S.

Gold elite status good through February 2012 and earns a 50% elite bonus points. This is a great time to grab cheap elite with SPG.

 SPG Platinum members only – register for an extra Starpoint during stays from October 1-December 31. Platinum members will receive two elite bonus points for every $1 in hotel spend for stays completed after requalification for 2011 Platinum status (25 stays or 50 nights in 2010). (LT post Sep 16)

2-key promotion – Every Night Counts Double/Triple Points for stays from Sep 8-Dec 15, 2010. Earn double points beginning with your first night and triple points (applied retroactively) after10 nights during the promotion period. Registration is required by October 31, 2010. The FAQ state this promotion is combinable with other SPG promotions.

There are over 150 hotels globally not participating in this promotion, so check the list carefully. The list of non-participating Starwood properties are posted on FlyerTalk.

Every Night Counts does not thrill me as the primary Fall 2010 SPG promotional offer.  Spend $2,000 on 10 or more nights during the promotion and you will only earn 8,000 bonus points with triple points. That is nothing to get too excited about.

4-key promotion – Earn 10,000 bonus points at Starwood Resorts for a stay of four or more nights between Sep 1 and Dec 19, 2010 at any of 131 participating resorts globally. This bonus may be earned multiple times. Only stays after promotion registration are eligible for bonus. Register by Sep 30. 

4-Key Promotion – (through Dec 30) 3,000 Bonus Points for Sunday night stay at 11 NYC area Starwood Hotels through December 30. (Aug 13, 2010)

3-Key Promotion – (through Dec 31) 3^rd Night Free or Two Free nights on six-night stay in Europe, Africa, and Middle East when paying with MasterCard

SPG program change: Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards is new airline partner. Exchange rate for points-to-miles transfer is 1,500 Starpoints = 1 Rapid Rewards credit. Free roundtrip flight requires 16 credits. SPG members may also earn 0.5 credits per stay through SPG Airline Direct Deposit. (August 19, 2010)

4-Key Promotion – SPG Rewarding Returns offers members a choice after 5 stays by December 31, 2010. Promotion choices are 25% off an award up to five nights at any category 1 to 5 hotel for redemption by July 31, 2011. Discount may be combined with “5th night free award”. Other choices are $50 hotel credit certificate or 4,000 Starpoints. Loyalty Traveler post July 14.

There are variations of this offer including only requiring one stay by August 31 for targeted members. Points offer ranges from 2,000 to 8,000 points, and some members may have a free night choice. Offers are targeted.

Promotion registration is required at https://www.spgpromos.com/rewardingreturns/index.cfm.

3-key promotion SPG link: Pay Your Birthyear Rate (This promotion can be an incredible 5-key savings or no savings depending on the hotel and your birthyear.) LT post 4/28/2009

3-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)

Wyndham Worldwide –  Wyndham Rewards

Double miles with 11 airlines – October 1-December 31, 2010 

Participating airlines and travel partners are Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Amtrak, Continental, Delta, Midwest, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country, United and US Airways.

The catch is these promotions are hotel brand specific offers for most of the participating airlines, except Aeromexico and Air Canada Aeroplan.

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/10/06/wyndham-rewards-double-miles-with-11-airlines-oct-1-dec-31-2010/

Airline Bonuses:

* Qantas Airlines Sweepstakes – free flights for you and companion between Los Angeles and Adelaide for most of 2011. Enter by December 31, 2010.

* FareCompare Sweepstakes for a Rick Seaney designed Mileage Run. Enter by November 26, 2010.

Loyalty Traveler Research Articles

* The Promotion Variable in Hotel Loyalty Programs – Part 1 (Nov 8, 2010)

* The Promotion Variable in Hotel Loyalty Programs – Part 2 (Nov 8, 2010)

* The Promotion Variable – Part 3 – Hilton HHonors Case Study 2009-2010 (Nov 9, 2010)

Hotel Loyalty Credit Cards and the Value of Hotel Points

Hotel Rewards Credit Cards Comparison of Benefits (September 1) 

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

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

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

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-Q2 – 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. (Sep 14)

April 14, Loyalty Traveler Current Hotel Loyalty Promotions Guide

The frequent guest has the choice of many hotel loyalty promotions with little guidance to their relative value. Loyalty Traveler’s summary of current hotel loyalty promotions and limited time offers for the frequent guest are shown below.

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 a significantly high-value return on hotel spend in terms of a 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 travel industry and hotel location.

Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of 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.

April 14 HELP Summary for Current Hotel Loyalty Promotions by Program 

Best Western Rewards 

3-key Promotion $50 gift card after two stays by May 30 (March 30, 2010)

Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010) FlyerTalk members are stating there is an accompanying offer for 5,000 bonus points after first stay.

Carlson Hotels – Goldpoints Plus

5-Key promotion: Award Nights On Sale through May 31: Radisson 50% off, Country Inn and Park Inn 25% off

4-Key promotion Country Inn & Suites Third Night Free is Truly a Free Night (March 18, 2010)

3-key promotion Up to Quadruple Points for stays through May 28, 2010 (March 31, 2010) This can be a 4-key or 5-key promotion if you have 4-night stays at a Radisson which combined with 50% free nights can be one or two free nights earned. 4x points is 80 points/$1. Top category hotel award at 50% discount is just 30,000 points. $800 on a 4-night stay will earn 65,000 points with online booking bonus.

Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges

3-key promotion Spring Promotion Stay Twice and Earn 8,000 points Feb 22-April 30

(good for free night at 1,500 hotels)

Hilton HHonors

4-key promotion Nine bonus airline miles promotions that may be combined with free night promotion (April 13, 2010)

4-key promotion Fast Ways to Free Stays (Earn a free night after every 4 stays or 10 nights through June 30) (April 7, 2010)

Hilton HHonors earn unlimited free nights through June 30 – Fast Ways to Free Stays promotion (April 4, 2010)

Hyatt Gold Passport

Limited Time Special Rate Sale US, Canada, and Caribbean (ends Wed. April 14, 11:59pm CST) Prepaid, nonrefundable rates for stays through July 5, 2010.

5-key promotion – Big Welcome Back promotion for one free night after every two stays March 26-June 30 (March 26, 2010)

5-key promotion – Hyatt Gold Passport Instant Platinum Elite and Diamond Elite Fast-track (Feb 21, 2010)

3-Key Limited Time Offer American Express Membership Rewards Hyatt $100 certificate for 2-night stay for 1,500 Membership Rewards points through May 31, 2010. Certificate valid in US, Canada, and Caribbean through December 30, 2010.

InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club

2-Key promotion Earn 200 miles or 1,000 points per night up to 20,000 points or 4,000 miles through April 30, 2010 (Dec 22, 2010)

Priority Club PointBreaks 5,000 points per night awards to June 30 (March 29, 2010)

IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (Dec 26, 2010)

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

3-key promotion – Earn 1 free night after every 5 hotel stays in 2010. Must stay in at least two different hotels. Bellagio in Las Vegas is LHW member. (April 13, 2010)

Marriott Rewards

5-Key promotion – May 1-July 31 New members of Marriott Rewards earn a free night after two stays  (April 5, 2010)

3-key promotion – $50 Gift card for weekend stays at Marriott to April 18 (Feb 24, 2010)

1-Key offer – Marriott Rewards Instant Redemption Awards (March 24, 2010)

Marriott Rewards Triple Airline Miles through April 30 (Feb 18, 2010)

Marriott Rewards 2010 MegaBonus Feb 1- April 30, 2010 (Dec 22, 2010)

Starwood Preferred Guest

4-key promotion $100 Amazon Gift Card for 2 Westin Stays in US/Canada by May 13 (Feb 20, 2010)

3-key promotion SPG link: Pay Your Birthyear Rate (This promotion can be an incredible savings or no savings depending on the hotel and your birthyear.) LT post 4/28/2009

3-key limited time offer Buy up to 20,000 Starpoints at 20% discount = $28/1,000 points. SPG link

2-key promotion SPG up to 4x points through April 15, 2010 (Dec 18, 2009)

1-key promotion Four Points Breakfast for a Buck (April 12, 2010)

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

Wyndham Rewards

2-key promotion Lufthansa Miles & More 1,000 miles per stay, up to 4,000 miles March 15-May 15.

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

Other Offers:

5-key offer – Condé Nast/Competitours - Condé Nast/Competitours 250,000 miles giveaway for 200 words by April 30   (LT post April 9, 2010)

Frequentflyerbonuses.com – Five Years, Five Ways to Win (2005-2010)

Frequentflyerbonuses.com 5^th Anniversary Contest – Prize is $250 Marriott Gift card or 10,000 Spirit Airlines miles

Congratulations to Patrick Sojka of FFB for five years. Loyalty Traveler had its four year anniversary this month.

The free night after 5 stays may very well be a continuing loyalty program benefit similar to Kimpton’s free night after 7 stays. But Kimpton continually counts stays across calendar years and the LHW benefit specifically states 5 stays in 2010 earn a free night.

I missed seeing this LHW 2010 loyalty program offer until now. When I searched for details I saw TMTravelWorld mentioned this offer on BoardingArea.com back in December.

The LHW Leaders Club Rewards Loyalty Deal (Leaders Club Rewards webpage link) 

Earn one free night at any Leading Hotel member after every five stays in 2010.

• Leaders Club member must stay in at least two different hotels.
• Reservations must be made through Leading Hotels of the World booking channels. http://www.lhw.com/
• Reservations made directly with hotel do not qualify. Must use LHW booking channel.

Redeem free night at any member hotel.

• All LHW hotels participate in Leaders Club Rewards.
• Free night certificate is valid for one year from date of issue.
• Award certificates are not transferrable.
• There is no limit on free nights earned.
• Some hotels have some blackout dates for award nights.
• Only one room will receive stay credit per hotel stay even if booking multiple rooms.

I will do some hotel searches and a cost/benefit analysis in a later post. There must be some great leverage opportunities with this offer. The trick is to find the $100 hotel rooms for earning (are there any?) and the $500 hotel rooms for burning (there must be some)! 

Leaders Club basic membership is free. One of the published benefits is a one category room upgrade for members. Early and late departure and an arrival gift are other published benefits.

There are also two paid membership levels at $300 annually for Leaders Club Access membership and a staggering $2,000 annual fee for Leaders Club Unlimited membership. It is a mystery to me what the benefits exactly entail for the paid memberships. I searched the web and did not find any enlightening anecdotes from members.

Remembering 1928

You may recall Leading Hotels of the World as the hotel company behind the disastrous $19.28 room night promotion back in October 2008. The LHW Computer Says No post on October 1, 2008 is still the biggest single day readership Loyalty Traveler blog has had.

• October 1, 2008 LHW 1928 Sale – Computer Says No
• October 2, 2008 LHW Promotion Saga – LHW Response
• October 19, 2008 LHW 1928 Luxury Hotel $19.28 Room Sale October 23
• October 30, 2008 LHW 1928 RIP

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, Monterey County, California - LHW member hotel

The rate for a 7-night condo stay has only changed from $195 per week to $295 per week since I successfully bid for a one week condo at Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine through SkyAuction back in 2000.  Many of the condo offers are successful auction wins at a bid of less than $10 and after the service fee and tax of $295 in many cases, the timeshare condo is yours for less than $325 for a week at resorts where the nightly rate would run $200+ to book directly. 

Loyalty Traveler Trip Tip:  Check reviews for hotels and condos if you have never heard of the place.  Some hotel advertisements look great and the cost might be really low.  A quick check to TripAdvisor may have you reconsidering your bid options.

SkyAuction.com Hotel Offers that Caught My Eye This Week

Some properties have minimum bids, but most of the hotels shown here did not have that restriction.  Generally, hotel auctions on Skyauction.com have per night service fee and taxes of either $32 or $49 per night in addition to your successful bid price for the hotel.

Most of the hotels listed below had average daily rates at $200+ for a good portion this past year.

San Diego Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection U.S. Grant Hotel $99 per night. The fine print says tax can be as high as $75 taking most of the good value out of this deal.  Looks like tax may be on standard rack rate of $600? 

The U.S. Grant made the Forbes Top 400 Hotels of the World list.

Palm Springs/Palm Desert area, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort, with a bid of $22 and a daily service fee of $49.  This hotel is one of the nicest properties in the Palm Springs area and quite a bargain at under $100 per night.

 JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort, Palm Desert, California has lagoon gondola boat rides from lobby

Westin San Diego is currently bid too high at $140 per night to be a deal, but the property is pushing rooms on SkyAuction and future offers may have lower bids.

The Lodge at Sonoma, a Renaissance Resort is currently sitting at $6 per night and after the service fee and tax of $49 per night is a northern California wine country getaway budget vacation for $55 per night.

The Huntington Hotel, Nob Hill, San Francisco is across from the Fairmont San Francisco and the InterContinental Mark Hopkins.  Current bid of $50 would make this hotel a steal at $99 per night.  Sample rate check on the Huntington Hotel website for July 10-15, 2009 shows $275 per night + 14% city tax.  The auction allows reservations through August 31 for up to a 7-night stay.  Bidding ends at 4:00pm EST Friday, December 5. 

Omni San Francisco is another upscale hotel property near the Ritz Carlton San Francisco and currently sitting at less than $70 per night.

 Omni Hotel San Francisco

Mexico City, Marquis Reforma Hotel & Spa, a Leading Hotels of the World member is as low as $125 night at the current bid.

Vancouver, British Columbia – Marriott Pinnacle looks like it could win with a $21/night bid.  After taxes the daily rate is $53 for a top rated hotel in downtown Vancouver.  The winning bidder can choose a stay up to 10 nights and hotel reservations for summer 2009 are allowed.  Rates may continue to drop in Vancouver, but you will be unlikely to get anything as good as $53 per night for a Vancouver upscale hotel in summer 2009.  Marriott Vancouver http://www.skyauction.com/action/offer/1468407

Marriott Pinnacle, Vancouver, British Columbia

The Good News: Some people got the $19.28 rate for a luxury hotel during the revamped 1928 promotion last Thursday.

The Bad News: I wasn’t among the lucky.  Although Lucky, BoardingArea.com blogger of “One Mile at a Time,” was successful.  His online name fits.

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) promoted their October 1, 2008 online 80-minute sale heavily in September.  The hype was so widely promoted that their reservations system crashed.  Three weeks later the sale was back on.

Thursday, October 23, 2008 I logged on 7am and dutifully filled out the form for only two hotels, although the option for four choices was available.  The deal was good, but no so good that I would fly across the country or to another country just for a two-day cheap stay at a luxury hotel.

My primary objective was to get a night at the Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley so I could create a review for my future CarmelTraveler.com website.  $400 per night is above my economic comfort level, even though it can be a business write-off in my case.  I don’t make the kind of money with Loyalty Traveler (yet) to be throwing down $400+ per hotel night.

My second choice was Sedona’s Enchantment Resort and Spa and I picked dates when I knew I would be able to drive to Arizona for the stay.

I submitted my reservation request in minute 4 of the 80 minute time frame.  From what I have read on FlyerTalk, there does not appear to be anyone, or very few, who had a successful request from minute 4 to minute 80 of the promotion.  It truly was a speed event.

Even more unfortunate to those of us who actually planned viable hotel stays was the LHW hotel request option to receive any hotel reservation at the discretion of LHW.  Several persons posted in the FlyerTalk thread that the LHW hotel and/or dates given are not a viable option and the guest has no intention of using the successful $19.28 hotel reservation.

I held out hope for a discount room until today, a week after submitting my hotel request, and I received the following email from LHW:

Dear Richard Garrido,Thank you for participating in The Leading Hotels of the World’s 80th anniversary USD 19.28 Sale. We are sorry to inform you that we were unable to fulfill your travel request.

We appreciate your support and interest in our brand, and hope to bring you more celebratory offers in the future. As previously promised, all personal information obtained from you with regard to this promotion will be removed from our database. Should you wish to receive updates and news from The Leading Hotels of the World, please feel free to sign up for our e-newsletter at www.lhw.com.

Thank you again!
The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Congratulations to all the successful guests. 

As for this Loyalty Traveler – LHW 1928 – Rest in Peace.

My prior post on the LHW 1928 promotion has links to the earlier Loyalty Traveler LHW 1928 posts or you can link to all the LHW posts using the Categories links on the left side of page through Category “Leading Hotels of the World”.

Primary Details for Leading Hotels of the World $19.28 sale:

1.      The promotion will be held on Thursday, October 23 at 10 am Eastern time, 7 am Pacific time in the USA.

2.      The promotion will last for 80 minutes as originally planned through this website: http://www.lhw.com/1928status.

3.      The new promotional sale is open to everyone.  Earlier updates from LHW stated the promotion would only be available to persons who had initially registered for the October 1, 2008 sale.

4.      LHW will require submission of a reservation request form listing the properties you are interested in booking and dates.

5.      Promotional rate is still limited to one hotel stay with a maximum of two nights at the $19.28 rate.

6.      The promotional rate is only for 6,000 rooms, first-come, first-serve, and limited to one hotel stay per household.

Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) had a corporate promotion melt-down when trying to sell 6,000 rooms at the ultra-low price of $19.28 per night earlier this month.  The original promotion scheduled on October 1, 2008 for 80 minutes only was a total fiasco.  The terms of the promotion required registration and apparently 150,000 or so people trying to log into the LHW reservations simultaneously crashed the hardware capabilities of their system.

In our 21^st century environment of social media communication the realization that nobody was able to book rooms at the $19.28 price became apparent when hundreds of would-be poverty jet setters failed to even access the website during the 80 minutes promotion timeframe.

And social media with websites like FlyerTalk were used by LHW management to disseminate the message around the world that the promotion which had been widely publicized in the news and on the internet had been a technical failure in the implementation of distributing the $19.28 per night luxury hotel rooms. 

The email communications from LHW reached me concerning all the updates to the promotional sale through the email address I used for the initial promotion registration.  Apparently, according to reports on FlyerTalk, some of the other initial registrants have not been as fortunate to receive updates for the LHW promotion.

Please read through my first post regarding the LHW 1928 promotion for more details on the value of this opportunity.

At least this Thursday I won’t have to be setting my alarm clock so early as the October 1 sale which started at 5am in California.  7am is the normal start of my work-day.  I hope it is a lucky day.  And best of luck to everyone who wants a little bit of luxuriating on the cheap.  Loyalty Traveler makes a business on that sentiment.

Bernardus Lodge, Carmel Valley, California – Leading Hotels of the World member

Related Links:

Loyalty Traveler post Sep 28: Leading Hotels of the World $19.28 Promotion for 80 Minutes on Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Loyalty Traveler post Oct 1: LHW 1928 Sale – Computer Says No

Loyalty Traveler post Oct 2: LHW 1928 Promotion Saga – LHW Emails Respond to Promotion Disaster

Loyalty Traveler post Oct 12: Leading Hotels of the World – LHW1928 Update

Alex Bainbridge blog – Would your CEO apologise for a marketing mistake? [LHW 1928]:

Friday, October 3rd, 2008  

This is an interesting blog post with suggestions for how LHW should have improved communication with their post-promotion disaster customer relations.

Text of the latest email from LHW CEO and President Ted Teng:

“WELCOME TO THE 80th ANNIVERSARY USD 19.28 SALE STATUS PAGE

Thank you for your continued interest in The Leading Hotels of the World’s USD 19.28 Sale. We have created this dedicated site to keep you informed of all the latest developments relating to this 80th anniversary offer.

We are pleased to confirm that the USD 19.28 promotion will take place on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at www.lhw.com/1928. The sale will begin at 2:00 p.m. GMT (10 a.m. in New York, 7:00 a.m. in Los Angeles, 3:00 p.m. in London, and 11:00 p.m. in Tokyo) and will last for a total of 80 minutes. The above URL will become active 24 hours prior to the launch. Should you try to visit the URL before then, you will be redirected to this status page.

In order to help you prepare for the event, we would like to give you some helpful information on the format of the sale:

1. When you arrive at the dedicated site, you will not be asked to register or log-in. For legal reasons and in adherence to the original Terms & Conditions, we are unable to restrict any individuals from participating in this global offer.
2. Participants will be required to complete a travel request form, available exclusively at the dedicated site. Submission of this online form within the 80-minute promotion interval is the only way to potentially secure one of the 6,000 room nights that are available at the USD 19.28 rate.
3. Forms will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Your requests will be fulfilled based on availability. Please remember that rooms and available dates vary among participating hotels.
4. We will only accept and process one travel request form per household (rooms are based on double-occupancy); duplicate forms will be disqualified and discarded.
5. Within seven days, you will be notified via email whether or not your reservation request was fulfilled. If your reservation has been secured, you will receive an automatically-generated confirmation from The Leading Hotels of the World. Please print a copy of this confirmation as you will need to present it to reception upon your arrival at the hotel along with proof of identity.

Things To Know In Advance Of The Sale About The Travel Request Form:

• You will be asked for your contact information including name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. At no point will you be asked to provide credit card information.
• You will have a chance to submit your top three hotel choices with two possible arrival dates for each. In order to familiarize yourself with the participating hotels, please peruse the list below.
• You will be required to review and accept the sale’s Terms & Conditions, highlighted prominently on the travel request form, prior to submitting your travel request.”

www.lhw.com/1928status will go live on Monday, October 13 and provide promotion updates.  Only previously registered participants are being sent the email.

The new promotion details will be announced by Friday, October 17, 2008 and the promotion should happen sometime the following week, October 20-24.  Sale details will be posted at least 48 hours before the new promotion begins.

Email sounds like original promotion will still go as 6,000 rooms for 80 minutes.

Good luck.

And the site was up Monday morning:

“WELCOME TO THE 80th ANNIVERSARY USD 19.28 SALE STATUS PAGE

Thank you for your continued interest in The Leading Hotels of the World’s USD 19.28 Sale. We have created this dedicated site to keep you informed of all the latest developments relating to this 80th anniversary offer.

On Friday, October 10, we engaged Akamai Technologies, Inc., the world premier web content delivery network, to provide the technology solution for this endeavor. Together we are working diligently to finalize a technologically redesigned promotion whereby you will have a chance to secure one of the originally allotted 6,000 room nights available at the rate of USD 19.28.

The proposed solution maintains some of the same elements of the previous sale; however, it will follow a different format. Those elements include:

• The promotion will take place exclusively online at a dedicated time and will last for 80 minutes.
• All of the participating hotels (nearly 100 Leading Hotels) remain the same.
• Requests for accommodations will be fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Travel dates are strictly between the promotional time period of November 1 to December 15, 2008.
• The number of rooms and the available dates for travel vary among the participating hotels.

We plan to announce the details and instructions of the new USD 19.28 promotion no later than Friday, October 17, 2008. In the meantime, please check back here for related news at your leisure. Any updates will indicate the date and time of posting. Details of the promotion will be posted at least 48 hours before the sale begins.

Last updated: Monday October 13 2008, 00:01 AM GMT”

The power of a social network site was demonstrated with the rapid fire posting of information yesterday on the FlyerTalk LHW 1928 thread (page 51 is when LHW responds to promotion meltdown).  Interspersed between the whines and calls for lawyers were cogent posts from an LHW representative proactively providing information to the FlyerTalk thread readers.  I learned about the rescheduled email promotion from an LHW representative posting on FlyerTalk a couple of hours before I actually received the email to my inbox.

Yesterday I received two emails from LHW regarding the 1928 promotion.

The first email provided a form for resubmitting a request for a reservation with space for up to 3 LHW hotels.  I was asked to submit the form during an 80 minute window beginning at 5am California time on Thursday, October 2, 2008.

The text of the email is shown here:

“Dear Ric Garrido,

We are deeply sorry for today’s disruption of the USD 19.28 sale. Demand for this promotion far surpassed our expectations, and due to the exorbitant amount of traffic to www.lhw.com/1928, we were unable to accommodate travel requests. Nonetheless, we intend on making every effort to honor the offer on a first come, first serve basis, and have devised a plan to enable you to apply for the USD 19.28 rate. (The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. makes no representation or guarantee that it will be able to fulfill your request.)

Please click here to download the form for details. As a reminder, below is a complete list of the hotels participating in this promotion.

Thank You,

The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd. “

And this is the form:

Approximately four hours later a second email from Ted Teng, Leading Hotels of the World President and CEO, arrived stating the October 2 email promotion is suspended and email registrants for the 1928 promotion will be contacted next week with further details.

Dear Ric Garrido,

Thank you so much for your continued patience with The Leading Hotels of the World. We are extremely sorry for the inconveniences we have caused and regret to advise you that the USD 19.28 email promotion scheduled for tomorrow October 2nd shall be postponed.

Although our original back-up plan provided a viable solution for the 150,000 people who were registered, it was met with some confusion over submission procedures and timing. In addition, we have become increasingly concerned that a large number of non-registered respondents plan to submit forms which would inundate the system and greatly diminish your chances of securing a USD 19.28 rate.

In view of this, please do not email your form tomorrow. You will most likely receive an error message we have put in place as a safety mechanism.

We are sincerely committed to restoring your faith in our brand and do not want to risk disappointing you again. We are working tirelessly to develop a solution that will be fair for you and all registered participants. We will email you next week with further details.

Sincerely,

Ted Teng

President & CEO

The Leading Hotels of the World, Ltd.

Unfortunately, what looked to be a great marketing campaign caught fire with the media and the public.  I googled the LHW 1928 promotion yesterday morning to see how my blog post ranked and all I found was page upon page of mainstream media news reports from local papers and TV stations reporting on the promotion for the past three weeks.  I am surprised only 150,000 people registered for the 1928 promotion. 

I had this story marked since September 5 for writing a blog post about the LHW 1928 promotion.  I decided to wait until just two days before the promotion so the idea would be fresh in readers’ minds to be prepared for the 80 minute booking window.

My thoughts on the resolution of the PR disaster is persons who registered for the promotion will likely receive a discount offer for an LHW stay in addition to another opportunity for $19.28 roomnights.  The point of a marketing campaign is to get loyal customers.  Repeat customers are much less costly to direct market hotel advertising than a shotgun blast to the public.

LHW states they have 150,000 of us registered for the 1928 promotion.  That is a good direct marketing base and now all they have to do is come up with a plan to keep us interested in LHW.  I don’t expect all 150,000 of us to receive a $19.28 room night reservation as compensation for our wasted time, although that would be nice. 

I expected to have wasted time in trying to secure a room for a particular date at a specific hotel.  I have played the auction bidding game and know it is a matter of patience and trying to be clever enough to get the right bid.  I’ve spent hours planning flights on a great airfare sale and then have the fare reprice higher before getting my ticket purchase finalized.  I wasted a couple of hours in the past month trying to get low hotel rates through the Sheraton San Diego and Super 8 motel promotions.

What makes the LHW sale different is I just didn’t expect to be locked out of any possibility of getting a room reservation.  And if it weren’t for the transparency facilitated by a social media site like FlyerTalk I, and you, would probably have assumed we were just unlucky and some 6,000 other people beat us to the bargain rooms for $19.28 per night.

FlyerTalk made us aware that it was a system-wide failure on LHW’s part.  When nobody can access the promotion site, trying from countries all over the world, then you know there is something not working with the promotion rather than just your own bad luck.

The registration and posting of information on the FlyerTalk thread from Marshall Calder, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Leading Hotels of the World, showed a sincere attempt to keep the public informed through an active social media channel which also allowed those of us reading FlyerTalk to disseminate information to others not reading FlyerTalk. 

I do expect some attempt will be made to provide a generous discount on an LHW stay or some other promotional offer to try and retain the attention and place a positive spin on the potential customers who generated an overwhelming interest in the LHW 1928 promotion.

I think LHW is now taking the necessary time to really plan an appropriate response.  We may not all get $19.28 rooms, but I predict registered participants will get something in the way of a discount offer from LHW that is not available to the general public.

Some of us will likely still get $19.28 rooms and I imagine the rest of us will get some stay incentive for an LHW hotel member rather than being left empty-handed if we still miss out on the cheap room nights when the promotion is resumed.

I’ll keep you posted as developments occur.