This post shows tables I created  for the hotel reward category distribution between Hilton HHonors and Marriott Rewards. The tables illustrate how hotel category reassignment plays into the overall value of hotel points when it comes time to redeem what you earned.

Let’s face it. Hilton and Marriott dominate the American landscape for business travelers due to the number of hotels around the country at a variety of market segments from upper midscale to luxury hotels. Each chain is poised to break the 4,000 hotels worldwide benchmark in the next couple of years. Read More…

Yesterday Gary Leff published his View from the Wing post, “Why I’m Walking Away from the Marriott Platinum Challenge” and The Weekly Flyer responded with the Points, Miles & Martinis post “Why I’m Sticking with My Marriott Gold Status.” I recommend reading the two posts and be sure to read the comments by other Marriott Rewards members to get different viewpoints on Marriott Rewards from some high level members.

Read More…

Most major hotel loyalty programs sell hotel points to frequent guest members. Occasionally you will find hotels where it is simply cheaper to buy the points and redeem a points reward for a hotel stay than pay the published rate.

Loyalty Traveler researched the major hotel programs for points purchase rules. There are eight hotel loyalty programs allowing the purchase of hotel points and I will compare and contrast the features of six different programs with some tables. (Choice Privileges sells up to 20,000 points per year. Best Western Rewards allows members to buy points at $10 per 1,000 points. I left these two programs out of this analysis).

Hotel Programs selling hotel points

• Best Western Rewards
• Club Carlson
• Choice Privileges
• Hilton HHonors
• Hyatt Gold Passport
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards
• Marriott Rewards
• Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)

Accor A|Club and Wyndham Rewards do not sell hotel loyalty points to members through their websites.

There are limitations to buying points explained in this post and there are some disadvantages like reward stays do not count for promotions in most cases and reward stays do not qualify for elite status credit with most programs. Hilton, Choice and Starwood do count reward stays for calendar year elite qualifying stays and nights.

Background

Last week Club Carlson announced it launched the option for members to buy Club Carlson hotel points. Looking over the cost of hotel points in Club Carlson revealed a good purchase rate for consumers in my opinion. As I created a table for Club Carlson hotel reward categories I thought about the relationship between the cost of points and hotel categories across different programs.

There are several factors that come into play when evaluating the value of buying hotel points.

Hotel rates are dynamic. A hotel that may have room rates at $150 one night might charge $400 the next night. Rates fluctuate and change depending on day of week, holidays, conferences and many other factors. Hotel programs factor the cost of points and price points high enough that it is typically not cost efficient or even allowed by program rules to buy points for repeatedly redeeming hotel rewards stays using purchased points.

Hotel Reward Rates are mostly a fixed standard reward cost. Major hotel loyalty programs group hotels into categories for redemption purposes.

• Hyatt has six categories, from 5,000 points to 22,000 points per night.
• Hilton has seven categories and higher end Waldorf Astoria hotels from 7,500 to 80,000 points per night.
• SPG has seven categories and higher reward rate hotels in category 7 from 2,000 to 70,000+per night.
• Marriott has eight categories in Marriott brands and five tiers in Ritz-Carlton from 7,500 to 70,000 points per night.
• Club Carlson has six categories of rewards from 9,000 to 50,000 points per night.
• IHG Priority Club groups award level by hotel brand with some brands having tiered levels from 10,000 to 40,000 points per night.

Hilton HHonors Premium Room Rewards are a major move into dynamic reward price for hotel rewards. The cost for these new HHonors rewards are tied to the published room rate for the stay. Unfortunately the exchange rate for points-to-cash-savings is not that good for many HHonors Premium Rewards. Redemption value tends to be $3 to $6 per 1,000 points. The 30% rebate on Premium rewards booked by January 31, 2012 is a major promotion offer for better redemption rate for Premium Room rewards for Points & Money and Premium Room reward hotel stays.

Discount Hotel Rewards – Fewer Points

Most hotel loyalty programs offer some discount reward rates for selected hotels.

• Club Carlson Points + Cash
• Hilton HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards (Dec. 5 – I do not see any PS dates listed after Dec 2011)
• HHonors Points & Money and
• HHonors Premium Room Rewards for more points.
• HHonors VIP Rewards (15% to 25% discount)
• IHG Priority Club Rewards PointBreaks
• IHG Priority Club Last Minute Reward Nights (Loyalty Traveler Dec 1 post)
• IHG Priority Club Points & Cash
• Marriott Rewards 5th night free
• Marriott Rewards PointSavers (reward cost is one category less and 5th night free applies to PointSavers too)
• Marriott Hotel+Air Travel Package
• SPG Cash & Points
• SPG 5th Night Free
• SPG Nights and Flights
• SPG 50% off rack rate (1,000 points = $35)

The fact that hotel published room rates are dynamic pricing and reward redemption rates are fixed pricing means there are nights with opportunities to get better value by redeeming hotel points than paying the published rate. Hotel room rates change rate nightly, yet the cost for a free night using points remains the same. You may be able to book the hotel for less money buying points and redeeming an award night at a hotel when hotel rates are high.

 

Cost to Buy Points for Reward Nights Tables

The tables below show the cost of buying points for a hotel night at the different category levels in each hotel loyalty program selling points (except Choice Privileges).

 

Loyalty Traveler’s Summary of Hotel Loyalty Program Rules to Buy, Receive and Transfer Points

 

Buy Points

Each program shows the Calendar Year Maximum Purchase Limit and Cost to Buy Points

Club Carlson = 40,000 points ($7 per 1,000 points).

Hilton HHonors = 40,000 points ($10 per 1,000 points) NOTE: member may buy unlimited points for immediate reward stay redemption at time of booking.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points ($24 per 1,000 points).

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points ($11.50 per 1,000 points).

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($12.50 per 1,000 points).

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points is maximum one member may earn with purchased and gifted points. ($35 per 1,000 points. Current sale is 20% discount through Dec 31, 2011 $28 per 1,000 points).

 

Receive Points (gifted)

Club Carlson = 40,000 points (buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hilton HHonors = member may receive unlimited points transferred from any other member at rate of $25 per 10,000 points.

Hyatt Gold Passport = 40,000 points, member may receive maximum 40,000 points as gift and buy 40,000 points for self.)

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points, member may receive maximum 50,000 points as gift and buy 50,000 points for self.)

Marriott Rewards = 50,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Starwood Preferred Guest = 20,000 points (Buy and receive combined in one account for calendar year limit)

Hyatt and IHG Priority Club are only two hotel programs allowing a member to buy maximum annual limit of points for own account and also receive maximum annual limit as a gift from another member.

 

Transfer Points

Club Carlson =  unlimited and free through Member Services.

Hilton HHonors = any member is allowed to transfer points to another member for a fee, $25 per 10,000 points, except any single member is allowed free transfers for additional points gifted and transferred after 200,000 points ($500 in fees) in a calendar year. Point transfers must be in 10,000 point blocks.

Hyatt Gold Passport = may transfer between any two members the minimum points needed for a reward
redemption. Two members must sign transfer request.

IHG Priority Club Rewards = 50,000 points in a calendar year at $5.00 per 1,000 points.

Marriott Rewards = may transfer between two spouses/domestic partners the minimum points needed for a reward redemption, rounded to nearest 1,000 points.

Starwood Preferred Guest = free transfer between members with same residential address for at least 30 days. SVO Vacation members may transfer points between accounts regardless of address.

There is more variability in rules for the “point transfer between members” aspect of hotel programs. Club Carlson has liberal policy of free transfers between any two members. SPG has a less restrictive policy than most programs if you share the same address. Hyatt is a fair policy allowing any two members to transfer the minimum points needed for a reward stay. Marriott Rewards terms state transfers are limited to spouses/domestic partners and only the minimum level for a reward redemption. Priority Club has the most restrictive policy with a relatively high fee and an annual transfer limit any member may give or receive.

Hilton HHonors appears to have a restrictive policy in charging a $25 fee for transferring 10,000 points. The advantage to HHonors is the rule allowing a member to receive unlimited points and for a member to gift/transfer unlimited points. Basically a person with 1,000,000 HHonors points can transfer them all to someone else for $500. That would be a lucky recipient.

A more commonly useful strategy is crowdsourcing a network of friends to score a nice HHonors getaway. Set up a gift registry with HHonors for something like a college graduation present or wedding honeymoon and gifts of 10,000 HHonors points can be transferred for $25. Get a response from 20 to 50 HHonors members and that HHonors account can be filled with 200,000 to 500,000 points for $500 to $1,250 distributed among a large group of people. Your friends and family don’t have to think too hard about a gift and a week of free hotel rooms is a nice gift to receive.

This kind of opportunity is only matched by Club Carlson and they currently allow you to do it for free.

Part Two of this study into buying and transferring hotel points will look at real examples of how to apply these points purchase and transfer rules to hotel stay rewards.

 

HHonors Premium Room Rewards were introduced in April 2011 as one of three expanded reward options of Points & Money, Premium Room and Upgraded Room reward options. Premium Rewards offer the ability and option to book a higher room category, even a suite using only points.

Upgraded Room rewards offer the ability to book a confirmed upgrade using points to upgrade a confirmed reservation. Points & Money reduce the cost of a reward night to a fixed dollar amount and 50% points of a standard reward. Points & Money rewards were analyzed in this Loyalty Traveler post last week.

Premium Room Rewards Analysis

The Waldorf=Astoria New York room rate for Wednesday, October 19 is $709.

[Note: Click on images below to view full size in separate window.]

The checkbox in upper right corner, “Use HHonors Points“, allows a search for reward availability. The points reward availability appears when the box is checked. The $709 lowest Best Available rate makes a 60,000 points Standard Reward a high value points redemption. But what if there is no standard reward availability?

There is no standard reward availability for the Waldorf-Astoria New York for the October 19 date. Premium Reward availability is 212,487 points for a small room at 250 to 300 square feet. This is more than three times the high season standard reward rate of 60,000 points per night.

The extremely high rate for a small room makes paying a bit more points for a one bedroom suite with twice the room space look like a feasible option on this date for an HHonors points millionaire.

Compare Redemption Value of HHonors points for Premium Room Rewards

• $709/212,487 points = $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points for a superior room Premium Reward.
• $909/272,427 points = $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points for a one-bedroom suite Premium Reward.

Both Premium Rewards offer the same redemption value of $3.34 per 1,000 points compared to the Best Available room rate. This is a relatively low redemption value for HHonors compared to the $5.00 per 1,000 points most redemption rate analyses for HHonors points. NerdWallet.com changed its point value analysis for HHonors points to a points value extended range from $1 per 1,000 points (0.1 cent/point) to $17/1,000 points (1.7 cents/point).

Using Flexible Dates Calendar tool to find Standard Reward Availability for Waldorf Astoria New York

Standard Rewards at 60,000 points per night will allow a three night stay for 180,000 points compared to a one night premium reward stay at 212,427 points. Flexible Dates calendar tool makes this an easy search option.

Restarting my search and checking “Flexible Dates” box allows me to quickly check two weeks of dates for standard reward availability.

The Flexible Dates search shows there are several dates in a two week period around October 19 where peak season standard rewards are available for 60,000 points per night.

Moving the hotel stay forward by one week provides a Standard Reward room for three nights at 60,000 points per night or 180,000 points for three nights.

When I go back to flexible dates and input October 14-17 I find there is actually much more Standard Reward availability for a 3-night reward stay compared to when I checked Standard Reward availability for a one night stay.

One would think that Premium Rewards would be less for these dates since the Best Available room rate is less for the lowest category rooms. That does not appear to be the case.

In the earlier search for October 19 the flexible dates returned only Premium Reward availability at 212,000+ points per night for each night from October 19-22. When searching 3-night stays there is Standard Reward availability at 60,000 points per night.

Returning to the original search date of October 19,  the flexible dates reward calendar now shows a three night stay is available for 180,000 points in a Double Deluxe Guest Room on HHonors Standard Rewards compared to my previous search showing only Premium Reward availability at the one night rate of 212,487 points for a King Bed Superior Room.

HHonors Redemption Value for this three night stay Oct 19-22 using 180,000 points for Standard Rewards is $10.98 per 1,000 points for a stay that is $1,977 + tax compared to the original Premium Room reward rate of 212,487 points for a $709 Superior King room for one night with a redemption value of $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points.

The King One Bedroom Suite is still available as a Premium Reward for October 19-22, however the rate is unchanged from the initial search at $909 or 272,427 points per night for a redemption value of $3.34 per 1,000 HHonors points.

Dozens of searches for Premium Rewards at hotels around the world reveal a fairly constant redemption value for HHonors Premium Rewards at $3.34 per 1,000 points. The exceptional case is when a hotel has Point Stretcher Reward availability. In these cases the Premium Reward Redemption Value improves significantly.

HHonors Flexible Dates search tool using points provides members the ability to quickly search and compare paid stay and reward stay rates in a two weeks calendar.

The Flexible Dates Calendar tool allows you to search for better reward and paid stay rates when your dates are flexible.

 

Hotel room views are the primary purpose of Room77.com.

Room77 tagline reads “Your key to a great room” and their website tag is “Find your perfect room.”

The ability to preview the room view for specific rooms at a hotel offers a guest the ability to choose a better hotel room view for your stay, if the hotel will let you have that specific room. The weakness of the site to me at the present time is the lack of photographic images of rooms. Room77 images are computer generated images that lack some details. Also the angle shown is only the room view when looking directly straight out one window. Room windows often have many different views from multiple windows in the room.  

The ability for our eyes to look right or left or up and down can make a significant difference in room view.

A convenient thing for me was seeing the Room77.com homepage featured 20 hotels. Turns out that I have room photos from eight of these 20 hotels from stays and visits in the past year. It could have even been nine hotels, but I couldn’t talk my way into seeing a room at the Grand Hyatt Seattle two weeks ago.  

I picked three hotels featured on the homepage of Room77 where I have room photos to provide a comparison to Room77.com website views from these or similarly located hotel rooms.

The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas

 

This is Room77.com view from 4578 suite at The Cosmopolitan:

Room77.com room view for The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Room 4578

 

 

The hotel floor room map is a useful feature for seeing corner rooms, room category, and quickly locating views from different sides of the building.

Here is my Loyalty traveler photograph of The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas – Room 5878 in December 2010:

This kind of blew my mind to see that I have almost the same photo angle. There is a lot of detail in the Room77 computer generated image.

Room 5878 and 4578 are wraparound terrace rooms with a corner building balcony that also faces east to Planet Hollywood. The Room77.com view from Room 4579 shows another angle of the 4578 wraparound terrace view.

The angle seems slightly high on the Room77 image since I supposedly was on a higher floor at the Cosmopolitan.

Room77.com images for The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas look pretty close to my photos. Despite these being digital images the detail is right on for these rooms.

But here is an angle completely missing from Room77.com images:

This angle is taken from the balcony looking diagonally across the Las Vegas Strip.

Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers

On my first trip to Chicago I spent the first night in the Sheraton Chicago room 2703 with a view of the river and the Trump Tower.

Here is the Room77.com view for Sheraton Chicago Room 2703.

My photo shows a similar view when looking out from the bed. I don’t have much detail in my photo since I was photographing the bed and not the view. Room 2703 had two windows and I did not photograph the view looking directly out the center of the window. There were better views from different angles.

Room77 would probably have discouraged me from wanting this room. Sure I had the view shown in Room77, but obviously there was also much more view in that room. The main issue I see with Room77 for room views is the static angle directly out the center window. Many rooms have multiple viewpoints.

The view from a high rise hotel usually has a view down.

I noticed Room77.com has a “Hotel Verified” checkbox on the site.

 

Vancouver Hyatt Regency Room 3301

Room 3301 at the Vancouver Hyatt Regency is a top-floor corner Executive Suite with a balcony over Burrard Street.

Room77.com view from Vancouver Hyatt Regency Room 3301:

This room view is fairly accurate when looking out the sitting room window.

Once again I have a near identical photo. Vancouver is a booming city. Pick out the details that have changed since the Room77 image was created. I think the Room77 image looks like a higher angle.

But my camera eye immediately went to this view when I stood at the window of room 3301.

My eye gravitated to the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.

This is a room at the Vancouver Hyatt Regency with great views in the city. I reminded myself of an axiom Kelley and I have lived by for most of our lives, “Live in a room with the view of the finest looking things around.”

Thoughts on Room77.com

Room77 offers its site take on each hotel. The hotel marketing description focuses primarily on the positive sides of a hotel and stays fairly safe from critical judgment. There are good basic tips on hotel room selection like get on a high floor and avoid connecting rooms.

This is a site that could really benefit from crowdsourcing photo donations for room views. I gathered from the Travel Blog Exchange 2011  conference (#TBEX on Twitter) in Vancouver last week that Room77 is attempting crowdsourcing room photos.

As a hotel junkie I like the concept. I have to wonder though if room views are enough for a site. This seems more like an application to a bigger database like TripAdvisor.com hotel reviews. Where I see real value for the frequent guest is combining  room view data with actual room furnishings and amenities data.

Seeing the room view is one nice feature, but I also want to know if the room has a couch, the bathroom size, TV size, refrigerator available and empty or electronic mini-bar. Finding out all these details is time consuming for the guest.

Room77.com partially tackles one aspect of the room – the view. Room view is an important aspect for me as a traveler, but one viewpoint is insufficient data to capture the view from room windows as I have possibly illustrated in this post.

As a quantitative exercise I imagined 500,000 rooms being photographed (the number of rooms listed on Room77 in 24 cities) while paying someone $10 to photograph a room.

The cost to buy photos is $5 million to get a photo library of one half-million rooms; $50 million to get a library of five million hotel rooms globally.

I think it would be cool if there was a database that all hotels fed into to show the room views from each room location at several angles and show the room furnishings. Room view is possibly my top primary desire when traveling. Room furnishings are nearly as important too.

Apparently Room77 picked up $10.5 million in funding this month.

Room77.com looks like an (ad)venture start-up to follow as it develops a useful hotel room view database for travelers.

Club Carlson replaced goldpoints plus on March 31, 2011 as the hotel loyalty program for Carlson Hotels which consists of Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites hotel brands.

There was a significant shift in the hotel reward category assignments for U.S. properties. Most U.S. hotels were reassigned to a higher category and increased in points cost for a free night reward despite a reduction in the points required for a free night in each of the six categories of hotel rewards. 395 of 587 hotels in U.S. cost more for a reward night while 134 hotels decreased in reward night cost. 

In Europe and internationally the changes are substantially more favorable with a number of hotels decreasing in category and points cost per night in the new Club Carlson hotel reward category assignments. Europe, Middle East and Africa saw 271 hotels of 349 hotels dropping in cost and only 54 hotels rising in reward night cost.

Asia and Pacific hotels overall saw a decrease in hotel reward night cost.

Loyalty Traveler presents a detailed analysis of the hotel reward category changes in Club Carlson from the former goldpoints plus program and the impact on the cost in points for a free night in different regions of the world.

These reward category hotel assignment changes will be covered in a series of posts due to the length of this analysis.

Club Carlson unifies the Earn Rate Differentials

Goldpoints plus was often called the Radisson Hotel program (FlyerTalk) when in fact midscale hotel brand Country Inns & Suites is the largest brand by number of hotels in the Carlson Hotels family. Country Inns & Suites are predominantly in the U.S. and Canada (475 hotels) along with about 120 upscale Radisson Hotels. USA hotels comprise about 55% of the global properties of 1,070 Carlson Hotels in 77 countries. Carlson Hotels plans to grow to 1,500 hotels by 2015.

Club Carlson has a globally uniform earn rate at 20 points per U.S. dollar for all hotel brands in the 1,070 properties of Carlson Hotels. This program change eliminates the split personality aspect of the former goldpoints plus loyalty program where hotel stays had different earn rates depending on the location and brand of the Carlson hotel.

In the former goldpoints plus loyalty program, hotels in Europe, Africa and the Middle East earned 20 points per Euro for Radisson and Park Plaza hotels stays and 15 points per Euro at Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites . Hotel stays in the Americas and Asia-Pacific earned 20 points per U.S. dollar for Radisson and Park Plaza and 15 points per dollar for Country Inns & Suites and Park Inn.

The change in earn rate to 20 points/US$1 for all hotel stays globally benefits members in all areas.

Currently over 95% of the 500+ Country Inns & Suites are located in North America. Club Carlson members now earn 33% more points per US dollar in hotel spend at Country Inn and Park Inn brands. A Club Carlson member who earned 1,500 points for a $100 Country Inn stay last week earns 2,000 points for the same spend this week.

The majority of Park Inn locations are in Europe and the change to 20 points per dollar is a 33% increase along with a present-day currency factor of 1.40 US dollars per Euro. A member staying at a 100€ per night Park Inn last week earned 1,500 goldpoints in the former program and now with Club Carlson the same 100€ stay earns about 2,800 points, dependent on currency conversion rates. That is an 87% increase, so international members should keep this in mind if feeling slighted about the Club Carlson CWT Vacation rewards and Club Med options being restricted to U.S. and Canada residents at the present time.

Hotels in some countries, specifically the USA, see rises in the number of points required for a free night and hotels in other countries, particularly places in Europe see the cost of a free night fall to new lows.

Category 1 Hotels

There were 131 hotels assigned to Category-1 in goldpoints plus. Club Carlson reduced the cost of a reward night in Category-1 from 15,000 points per night down to 9,000 points per night, a 40% reduction in reward cost, yet also reduced the number of hotels assigned to category-1 from 131 to 51 hotels.

Category-1 hotel global distribution of 51 hotels.

• USA = 24 hotels
• Canada = 0 hotels
• Mexico = 3 hotels
• Europe = 14 hotels
• Egypt = 3 hotels
• China = 1 hotel
• India = 6 hotels

Earning 9,000 points for a category-1 hotel reward night takes only $450 in hotel spend for a general member, making Club Carlson the lowest spend to standard reward cost ratio among hotel loyalty programs. Club Carlson Concierge level members earn a 75% elite bonus and the cost of a free night requires only $257 in spend. Concierge elite requires 75 nights or 30 stays in a calendar year.

For comparison, HHonors Points & Points is the next lowest program with an earn rate at 15 points/$1 requiring $500 in spend to earn a 7,500 points category 1 reward night. Marriott Rewards requires $750 in spend for a category 1 reward night at 7,500 points. Keep in mind that the cost of a reward does not have a correlation to the number of hotels assigned to that reward category. For example, Hilton has about 40 hotels or only around 1% of its 3,600 hotels in category 1, whereas Club Carlson has 51 hotels in category 1 for nearly 5% of its global hotels. Marriott Rewards has about 250 hotels in category 1 or about 7% of its global hotels.

USA Hotels overwhelmingly reassigned to higher reward category in Club Carlson.

USA Category 1 Hotels

• 24 hotels in USA are Club Carlson category 1 hotels.
• Only 19 hotels of 107 hotels in the U.S. in category 1 last week remain in category 1.
• Only 3 hotels in the USA dropped from goldpoints plus category-2 to Club Carlson category-1.
• Over 50 hotels formerly category-1 increased to Club Carlson Category 2 and are still 15,000 points for a reward night in Club Carlson for no change in points required for a free night.
• About 20 hotels that were goldpoints plus category 1 increased to category 3 and currently cost 28,000 points compared to 15,000 points last week; an 87% increase in reward night cost.

Europe, Africa and Middle East (EMEA) Category 1 Hotels

• There are 17 hotels in Club Carlson hotel reward category-1. Europe sees a rise from 3 hotels formerly in category-1 to 14 hotels. Europe only had three category-1 hotels before Club Carlson and all were in Sweden. 
• Two of the Sweden hotels are now category-5 hotels and increased from 15,000 points to 44,000 points per night (193% increase) and one hotel is category-4 at 38,000 points (153% increase).
• The other three former category-1 hotels were in Egypt and two of these hotels remain at category-1 and Radisson Blu Resort Sharm el Sheikh was reassigned to category 3 and increased from 15,000 to 28,000 points per night.
• 14 hotels in Europe and one in Egypt were reassigned to category 1 in Club Carlson from the former Goldpoints Plus category-2 (7), Category-3 (6), and Category-4 (2). This is a dramatic reduction in the cost for a hotel reward night at these hotels.
• Park Inn Pribaltiyskaya St. Petersburg and Radisson Blu Alexandria Egypt dropped from category-4 at 40,000 points per night to category-1 at 9,000 points per night for a 72% reduction in cost. Four nights at these hotels are less than the cost of one night last week.
• 6 hotels in Europe dropped from category-3 (30,000 points per night in goldpoints plus) to Club Carlson category-1 at 9,000 points for a 70% decrease in reward night cost.

 

Yellow-fill cells with no 2010 category were not listed on the Goldpoints Plus website in February 2011 when data was acquired.  (Click on image to open full size in separate window).

Links will be added to this post as more analyses are added to the Club Carlson hotel reward category reassignments.

Related Posts:

Club Carlson Hotel Rewards Category Reassignment Analysis – Overview and Category-1 (April 7)

Club Carlson Category 2 Hotel Rewards Analysis (April 8 )

Club Carlson Category 3 Hotel Rewards Analysis (April 8 )

Club Carlson Category 4 Hotel Rewards Analysis (April 8 )

Club Carlson Category 5 Hotel Rewards Analysis (April 9)

Club Carlson Category 6 Hotel Rewards Analysis (April 9)

Competitive Advantages of Club Carlson Hotel Rewards (April 10)

As of March 31, 2011 the goldpoints plus hotel loyalty program will be overhauled as Club Carlson. One of the major changes will be restructured hotel reward categories with the points cost decreasing for hotel reward nights in category 1 through 6.

All these changes come with some drawbacks. The tables below show the shift in hotels from the lower categories to higher categories.

The good news is there is not a significant increase in the hotels populating category 5 and 6. The biggest changes impact the US properties currently loaded heavily in category 1 and 2 and soon to be shifting to a large degree to categories 3 and 4.

The Club Carlson hotel category list I received makes this category shift analysis possible, but unfortunately the hotel list of the new category assignments for Club Carlson is only ordered by reward category and broad geographic region of Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Starwood Preferred Guest and Marriott Rewards also released their impending hotel reward category changes this past week in a similar consumer-unfriendly format without city, state, country descriptors.

Actually tracking changes for specific hotels requires my searching each hotel individually for city and country location and will require about 30 to 40 hours of work. This is more work than I can commit to the project at this time.

Here is a general overview of the category shift to expect for March 31, 2011. The 2011 numbers shown for Americas/Caribbean is a composite number for all hotels in the U.S., Canada, Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America.

Update April 8: The chart below shows Club Carlson Hotel Category 2 as 16,000 points. This was the information provided by Carlson Hotels to Loyalty Traveler in February 2011. This is not correct.

The actual Category 2 reward night cost was changed to 15,000 points when Club Carlson launched March 31, 2011.

Overwhelming shift we will see with Club Carlson is in U.S. hotels moving out of category 1 and 2. These two lowest hotel reward categories held over 480 hotels and will be dropping to under 150 U.S. hotels with the Club Carlson launch March 31, 2011.

Category 3 and 4 currently hold 131 U.S. hotels and this number will rise to over 400 hotels in the U.S. with the Club Carlson changes.

Hotel and Motel Management released a 2011 U.S. Hotel Brands Survey yesterday showing Hilton Hotels as the #1 U.S. hotel brand (by rooms) with 192,413 guest rooms and 540 hotels.

Loyalty Traveler just happened to have spent the past couple of weeks independently studying hotel brand size. My readers know my love for numbers (mostly counting points, but also hotels) and this survey is a data mining field for me. However, I question the first row of data for Hilton Hotels in the HMM 2011 U.S. Hotel Brands Survey. I think the first line of this survey shows the editorial staff stepped on a data land mine with this survey release. [Click on picture image to open full size image in new window.]

My analysis shows Hilton data shown in the HMM survey appears to be global numbers of rooms and hotels, whereas the other brands shown are based on rooms and hotels only in the U.S.

Here is the data from Hilton Hotels About page:

Hilton Hotels brand may very well be number 1 in the U.S., but we need an apples to apples comparison to know for sure. Those 192,000 rooms and 540 hotels in the Hilton Hotels brand appear to include the number of hotels and rooms from 75 other non-U.S. countries. The other brands shown appear to only include the U.S. rooms and hotel count data.

I know how difficult Hilton’s website and financial reports make hotel counts for Loyalty Traveler. Hilton drives me crazy with the challenge of counting hotels and finding hotel reward category assignments for HHonors properties.

All in all, I find this a useful survey for hotel industry brand data. The front line Hilton Worldwide data just needs fine tuning for accurate brand representation of U.S. hotels only.

Source: HMM 2011 U.S. Hotel Brands Survey (pdf file)

Offers are marked with an asterisk (*) if added since last update January 5.

Sixty Second overview of current offers:

Fast-Track Elite Status Offers are Everywhere

Hilton HHonors has an instant Silver elite offer for Mileage Plus Premier members. The promotion offers Gold elite after 4 stays within 90 days of promotion registration. Perhaps there will be a sweep to remove ineligible members, but for now you can enroll and your HHonors status should be instantly upgraded to Silver elite.

Starwood Preferred Guest still has a fast-track to SPG Gold elite opportunity after just four stays at aloft, element and Four Points hotel brands by January 31, 2011. Elite status will last through February 2012.

IHG Priority Club still has a Platinum elite offer with five nights.

Marriott Rewards Air China offer for Gold elite through February 2012 with 12 nights in 90 days.

Accor A-Club instant Gold elite. Enter promotion code: CMBANKACLUB

SPG’s fast-track to Gold is a published promotion for Gold elite open to all members. The rest of these are targeted offers that appear to allow open registration for any member. Be thankful if you get free or fast-track status, but accept the fact that a future sweep of enrollees might remove you from the ranks of elite at a later date if you are not part of the targeted class. To date I have not heard anyone being kicked out of the elite ranks and I have picked up far more elite status for 2011 than I can possibly maintain for 2012 with hotel stays.

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

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. 

Accor Hotels is the largest chain of hotel brands globally outside of the USA. A|Club hotel members are available in many locations where you will likely only find a Best Western or no other major hotel brand. 

*Accor A|Club Instant Gold Elite – link. Check the Promotional Code box and enter CMBANKACLUB

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

 Accor Hotels A-Club bonus offers

Australia – Double Points Dec 1- Feb 28, 2011

Best Western Hotels – Best Western Rewards 

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

* Best Western Free night after 3 stays from Feb 6 – April 11, 2011. This promotion also offers 6,500 bonus points for stays at two of three BW brands including BW, BW Plus and BW Premier. 10 guests who stay at all three brands will receive 650,000 bonus points.

* 2011 Travel Resolution $250 Gift Card Sweepstakes. Enter by Jan 31. One entry per person. Limited to US and Canada residents. (LT post Jan 20)

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 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 - January 2 – February 17; U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama

• 10,000 bonus points for one-night stay on a Sunday through Thursday. (Limit one bonus per member)
• 3-day advance reservation required. Promo code = COUNTRY. Promotion link.

(Loyalty Traveler post Dec 31)

Goldpoints Plus program change – elite members earn 2,000 points for online booking. All general goldpoints members earn 1,000 points for online booking.  (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 

* Jan 6 – March 2, 2011: Choice Hotels Triple Points beginning with second stay for online bookings or phone direct bookings at 800-4CHOICE (800-424-6423). Offer only eligible for USA members. Platinum and Diamond elite members earn an additional 500 bonus points per stay. General and Gold elite members earn double points for stays booked through third-party sites. Registration required.

Loyalty Traveler post 1-4-11. 

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

These are truly 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) 

* Dec 1, 2010 – February 28, 2011: Choice Privileges offers Air Berlin TopBonus Double Miles

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

 

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. 

* Conrad Haitang Bay, Sanya China opens January 2011. (LT post Jan 17)

* Hilton Hawaii Just Go With It Sweepstakes – One free entry for a chance to win a $31,000 trip for 4 persons and 9 nights in Hawaii + $15,000 + 1,000,000 HHonors points. Additional entry for every hotel night stayed. Sweepstakes ends March 31, 2011. (LT post Jan 19)

Jan 3 – March 31   Hilton HHonors Q1 Main Promotion

2011-Q1 extended stay offer is double points for two-night stays, triple points for three nights, and quadruple points on stays four or more nights. Stay one night and you have no promotion bonus points. Nearly 10% of Hilton properties opted out of this offer. Check the non-participating hotels list carefully.

2x to 4x HHonors Points: Promotion registration required here.  (Loyalty Traveler post Dec 28)

HHonors Q1 2011 Promotion Key Rank:

• 4-key promotion for three nights and longer stays.
• 3 key for two night stays.
• 1 key = no bonus points for one-night stays.

Jan 3 – March 31             Hilton HHonors – Delta SkyMiles (promotion registration link)

The Q1 2x to 4x points offer is combinable with Delta SkyMiles 1,000 miles per one-night stay; 1,500 miles for two-night stays and 2,000 miles for three nights or longer. There is no earning limit for points or miles. There also does not appear to be a list of excluded properties for bonus SkyMiles promotion. (Loyalty Traveler post Jan 4)

*HHonors Point Stretcher Rewards posted for hotels through May 2011. 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. (Loyalty Traveler post Dec 3)

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)

 

Hyatt Hotels – Hyatt Gold Passport

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

* Hotel rate discount promotion: 3 nights for price of 2 in Europe, Africa and Middle East from Jan 1 – March 31, 2011 when payment is American Express credit card. Note: Stay credit is earned on these rates, but Diamond suite upgrade certificates are not permitted. (LT post Jan 15)

* Dec 1 – Feb 28, 2011: AARP 10% off daily rate and complimentary room upgrade in U.S., Canada and Caribbean. Offer code AARP. AARP membership is available to persons 50 or older for $16/year.

* Diamond elite suite upgrade certificates from 2010 may be applied to hotel stays if used by February 28, 2011 for a stay later in 2011. Only catch – no reservation changes allowed after February 28 or the suite upgrade certificate is forfeited. Loyalty traveler post Dec 1.

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.

Hyatt Gold Passport 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 Discount Rate Offer: IHG stay 2 nights and pay for 1 in Europe and UK through March 31, 2011. (LT post Jan 15) This is one of my favorite recurring promotions.

* 5-key offer IHG Priority Club Instant Platinum Elite status and a $25 gift card after 5 nights within 90 days. (Nov 15). Update: The offer page has changed since this was initially posted two months ago on LT blog. Now the offer page says you must call Priority Club to enroll.

* 3-key offer IHG $100 checked bags rebate for 2-night weekend IHG stay January 1 – April 30 within 3 days of flight. (LT Jan 11)

* 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)

* 2-key offer Feb 1 – April 30, Priority Club 3,000 bonus points or 1,000 bonus miles every three nights. Maximum 30,000 bonus points or 10,000 bonus miles. (LT post Jan 21)

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)

Priority Club PointBreaks through January 31, 2010 are probably the best hotel loyalty program reward night value available at 5,000 points for a free night. The current list is a short 35 hotels and fills a void since the end of the last PointBreaks list in December. Loyalty Traveler post Dec 17.

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 five months. (LT post – Aug 24, 2010)

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). 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

* 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)

 

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

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 

5-Key Promotion: Register by April 30, 2011: Marriott Rewards Instant Gold Elite for 90 days with Air China special offer. Retain Gold elite through February 2012 after 12 nights within 90 days of registration. My Loyalty Traveler advice is sign up sooner, rather than later since this offer can be pulled anytime. Sign up for free Air China membership, then apply for Marriott Rewards Gold (normally requires 50 nights in calendar year). Loyalty Traveler post Nov 22.

4-key promotion – Marriott MegaBonus (Feb 1 – April 30, 2011) various targeted offers with the basic offer being one free night after two stays. Limit of two free nights during promotion. Free night valid only for Category 1 to category 4 hotels. This offer does not require Visa payment like fall MegaBonus)

Active Marriott Rewards members may receive bonus points offers based on total nights stayed. There are several variations mentioned by members on FlyerTalk for 25,000 to 50,000 bonus points. Loyalty Traveler post Dec 27.

* Marriott MegaMiles (Feb 1 – April 30, 2011) triple miles beginning with second stay with a choice of 26 airline frequent flyer programs. Note: You must set your Marriott Rewards earning preference to miles to see this offer on Marriott website. (LT post Jan 10)

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.)

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.

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

 

Preferred Hotels Group – I Prefer

* Through March 31, 2011: 10% off one-night; 20% off two nights and 30% off three nights at participating PHG properties. Promotion link.    Loyalty Traveler post Dec 1.

I Prefer and Preferred Hotels Group special offers page.

 

Ritz-Carlton Rewards

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. 

* Jan 3 – April 15, 2011 SPG ‘Great Weeks, Grand Weekends’ offers double points + 500 points per night for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Registration is required by March 31 and retroactively applies to all eligible stays for promotion period. (Loyalty Traveler ranking = 2-key offer for Mon-Wed; 3 key for Thur-Sun). Promotion registration link.  Loyalty Traveler post Dec 15.

* 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. Loyalty Traveler post Nov 23. 

* 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. 

4-Key offer – 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. 

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)

3-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 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 is a one year old loyalty program for over 100 independent upscale hotels in the U.S.

* 5-Key Contest (Enter by Jan 27) Win a free weekend at one of 46 Stash Hotels Friday, Feb 11 to Sunday, Feb 13 for telling Stash Hotels why you want a free weekend at that hotel. I give this offer 5-keys since I think the entries will be rather limited considering there are 46 different hotels you can enter for a free weekend. (LT post Jan 19)

 

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.

Wyndham Worldwide -  Wyndham Rewards

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

* Rate Discounts for various Wyndham hotel brands through March 31, 2011.

 

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)

* Base Points Equivalent Value Method for Hotel Loyalty Program Comparisons (Dec 29, 2010)

* Comparing 2011 Q1 Hotel Loyalty Promotions Using Base Points Equivalent Value (Dec 30, 2010)

* Free Your Summer with Winter Stays: Chicago Hotels Case Study for Comparing Q1 2011 Promotions (Jan 3, 2011)

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)

Loyalty traveler received an email today from Points.com. A senior account executive from New York shot over some data points to color up my stories.

Is this a good place to insert that I am color-blind? I see colors, but apparently just not in the same way most people see them.

Sometimes I feel the majority of travelers are data-blind. The same data is out there for others to see, but many people do not see the same picture I see in the data.

Points.com Transaction Options

How It Works

Points.com allows members to register about 80 loyalty program accounts through their database to enable a one-stop location for all your loyalty program balances.

Airlines are more common as participants with Points.com compared to hotels with more than 40 airline partners.

Accor A-Club, IHG Priority Club and Starwood Preferred Guest are the only major participants from the hotel sector and only Priority Club participates in exchanges and trades. Other hotel loyalty programs can only be linked for account balance activity viewable on Points.com.

Points.com Hotel Loyalty Program Participants

• Accor Hotels A-Club
• AmericInn Easy Rewards
• Coast Hotels: Coast Rewards
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)  Priority Club Rewards
• Jumeirah Hotels – Sirius Programme
• La Quinta Returns
• Starwood Hotels –  Starwood Preferred Guest
• Trident Hotels – Trident Privilege

 Only IHG Priority Club allows trades and exchanges to other loyalty programs.  

 

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of Points.com and Priority Club Exchange Rates

Case Study 1-20-11

I have 96,000 Priority Club points in my account.

Points-to-Miles Exchange Rate through PriorityClub.com is 10,000 Priority Club points = 2,000 miles (34 frequent flyer programs)

Priority Club has 39 airline partners for points-to-miles exchange. Southwest and a few other airlines use point systems with a different exchange rate than the 34 airlines where 10,000 points = 2,000 miles.

My 96,000 points = 19,200 miles for a Priority Club airline partner like American, Delta and United when exchanging points for miles. Note: technically 96,000 points can only be traded as 90,000 points = 18,000 miles since exchanges must be made in 10,000 point blocks through Priority Club. I use 19,200 miles to give a direct miles exchange rate comparison to Points.com which allows an exchange of 96,000 points. 

Points.com Exchange Rate for 96,000 Priority Club points 

• 7,590    Delta Skymiles
• 7,990    Alaska miles
• 8,434    American Airlines miles
• 8,434    Continental miles
• 8,930    Frontier miles  (I exchanged 2,372 Frontier miles into 1,008 Priority Club points, March 2010)
• 9,547    Air Canada Aeroplan miles
• 10,880  Icelandair points
• 15,181   Hawaiian miles
• 16,320  Cathay Pacific AsiaMiles 

Only Frontier, Hawaiian Airlines and Icelandair are not Priority Club partners. All other airlines shown here have a higher exchange rate of 90,000 points = 18,000 miles when making points-to-miles transfers at Priority Club. 

Priority Club website’s exchange rate:

• 34 airline partners: 1,000 Priority Club points = 200 miles  

Points.com website’s exchange rates:

• Frontier Airlines: 1,000 Priority Club points = 93 miles
• Hawaiian: 1,000 Priority Club points = 158 miles
• Icelandair: 1,000 Priority Club points = 113 miles 

There is potentially some value in being able to exchange Priority Club points into Frontier, Hawaiian or Icelandair miles for accessing miles to reach an airline ticket award level for these airlines who are not direct airline partners with Priority Club.

15,000 miles is actually sufficient mileage for a roundtrip economy class or First Class one way interisland Hawaiian Airlines award ticket or roundtrip First Class upgrades. 

In general, the vast number of airline partners with Priority Club Rewards allows a better exchange rate when making points-to-miles exchanges through Priority Club rather than Points.com.

The Value of Points.com

I have never been a fan of the exchange rates of Points.com. I was actually surprised to see I visited the site in March 2010. I had forgotten that I traded 2,372 Frontier miles into 1,008 Priority Club points. Normally that would not be a decent value, but the exchange was boosted by a 3,000 Priority Club points bonus for a partner transaction fulfilling a Priority Club promotion.

Net effect was a free exchange of 2,372 Frontier miles, in an account that I figured had little chance of growing to a Frontier Airlines award ticket, into 4,008 Priority Club points.

That was a decent trade in my opinion. I redeemed a PointBreaks award in 2010 at 5,000 points per night to save over $120 on a Holiday Inn hotel night. My 2,372 Frontier miles were turned into an $96 tangible savings on a Priority Club reward night.   

Points.com is a fine program for tracking account balances in one place, but the value of exchanges is limited. Most transactions can be accomplished directly through the airline or hotel program’s own site for the same cost or less or a better exchange rate. Priority Club as the sole hotel program participating in exchanges severely limits the use of Points.com for acquiring hotel points. 

 

Here are three data points passed on to me today from Points.com:

• Transactions are up: Loyalty users’ activity was up in 2010 with Buy and Gift transactions increasing by 36 percent from 2009 as customers bought or gave points and miles to fill up accounts—a whopping 7 billion miles were purchased through Points.com alone. And transaction size was also up 36 percent year over year* showing that customers have larger sums of points and miles at their disposal.
•  Getting creative with loyalty: Loyalty members are seeing the light and starting to make the most of their rewards. Transfer transactions occurring between family members are up 85 percent year over year, and the number of miles/points being transferred between accounts has increased 70 percent compared to 2009. According to the data, 42 percent of transfer transactions are made to enable family members to take a trip together, and another 27 percent are made as a gift to the recipient~.
•  Perceived value skews high: No surprise here—loyalty users lack a realistic grasp of what their loyalty rewards are actually worth. Only 18 percent of loyalty members surveyed were able to correctly identify the value of awards for their airline programs and a mere 11 percent for hotel/travel rewards. Points.com is working to help members of multiple loyalty programs navigate the complicated land of multiple loyalty programs.

 

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Transactions are Up – Buy and gift transactions may be up due to the large number of bonus offers for airline miles purchases in 2010. I have noticed several loyalty programs in the travel industry appear to outsource miles and points purchase and gift transactions through Points.com.

And in general all travel related expenditures were up for 2010 compared to 2009. In fact, the United Nations World Tourism Organization recently reported world tourism is predicted to grow by 4% to 5% in 2011, but not at the high 6.7% rate increase seen in 2010. Most regions of the world should expect lower visitor arrivals in 2011. Two years of global tourism growth is a welcome sign after a 4% decline in 2009.

Family member transfer transactions: 42% of transfer transactions are made so family members can travel together!

 – these are the exchanges that are not a good sign to me. There is nothing wrong with exchanging miles from one account to another, however, the airlines accrue big profits from a commodity that was already paid for by the account originator.

I just do not like the idea of airline and hotel loyalty programs taking a significant monetary kickback to move miles from one account to another; particularly for family members. A currency designed to be a rebate for a loyal traveler that has no value until redeemed is being resold by the airline company and the electronic miles still have no value until redeemed.

Delta Skymiles require a $30 transaction fee and $10 per 1,000 miles transferred.

This is how I perceive the statement, “42% of transfer transactions are made so family members can travel together!”

Assume my wife wants to accompany me to a 4-day conference in Washington, D.C.

I have miles in my account, but I do not want to spend my 25,000 miles for her economy class domestic ticket when I have just 5,000 miles over the amount needed for an international Business Class ticket to Europe from my account.

My wife is 5,000 miles short in her account for the 25,000 mile domestic award economy ticket.

I must pay Delta $80 to transfer 5,000 miles from my account to my wife’s account so she can reach that threshold for a $300 ticket to accompany me on a business trip to Washington, D.C.

Sure this is a viable win-win situation in that my 5,000 miles + $80 saves her $300 on an airline ticket.

But is it reasonable for the airline to win such a large profit by charging me $80 for an electronic transaction of mile pushing my earned miles to my wife so she can accompany me on a Delta flight?  

Perceived value skews high:

A quick look at the Points.com trade board reveals a skewed point-of-view on the value of points and miles.  Nearly every trade I saw posted was a poor value deal in my opinion, unless you specifically had a redemption reward in mind with a proven value in excess of the cost to trade for airline miles on Points.com.

• Points.com showed me I could trade 10,000 Priority Club points for 1,000 Delta Miles at a cost of $50.
• I can trade 10,000 Priority Club points for 2,000 Delta miles on Priority Club’s website for free.

***

• Points.com shows me I can trade 50,000 Priority Club points for 29,000 Delta miles and a $250 fee.
• This is an example where 29,000 miles could be a high-value trade if I had a high-priced award ticket I could reach for 29,000 miles. It would cost over $800 to buy 29,000 miles from Delta. The $250 fee + 50,000 Priority Club points might be a good value if I could immediately turn these into a ticket worth several thousand dollars. Essentially this would be equivalent to trading 50,000 Priority Club points for more than $500 in cash savings to buy points for an award ticket.

There are good facets to Points.com. You just need to be selective in how you exchange or trade your points.

The common method used to compare different hotel loyalty programs is to compare the cost of a hotel reward with the cost to earn base points.

For example:

• Hyatt Regency Miami –  Jan 19, 2011 = $329/night
• Gold Passport category 3 reward night = 12,000 points

$329/night earns 1,645 base points with Gold Passport. A member needs 7.3 nights paying $329 per night to earn one free night at this hotel. This is the method used by NerdWallet.com in its hotel loyalty program comparison.

But this method is not practical for me since I would never pay $329 for a room I can get for 12,000 points. Creating averages is useful for hotel program comparison, but my objective with hotel loyalty programs is to be better than average.  

Loyalty Traveler looks at this Hyatt Regency Miami room rate and calculates 12,000 Gold Passport points saves $329. Getting $27.42 value for every 1,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points is an excellent redemption opportunity.  

• Four Points Miami Beach -  Jan 19, 2011 = $199/night
• Starwood Preferred Guest category 4 reward night = 10,000 points

$199/night earns 398 base points with SPG. A member need 25.1 nights paying $199 per night to earn a free night at this hotel.

Remember this is just one points value for one hotel on one particular night. Other hotels will give a different value.

Some comparative analyses use this method and calculate the rate for earning a free night across hundreds of hotels and then develop an average for that program. Nerdwallet came up with a value of 13 Hyatt nights being the average for earning a free night and 22 Starwood nights to earn one free night.

The basic problem with the average number of paid nights to earn a free night methodology is any one hotel loyalty program member will have a unique set of hotels with different values than those used by NerdWallet or any other random sample.

For example: Hyatt Regency Santa Clara California for 12/30 has a room rate of $79. This Gold Passport category 2 hotel is 8,000 points for a free night.  $79 hotel rate earns 395 base points. This hotel takes 20.3 nights to earn a free night (8,000/395).

Averaging the Hyatt Miami (7.3 nights) and Hyatt Santa Clara (20.3 nights) gives 13.8 nights I need to stay at Hyatt hotels to earn a free night.  Whether this is an accurate estimate for any specific member’s hotel stay pattern is questionable, but at least this is a method for evaluating the rate at which a free night is earned in a specific hotel loyalty program and the numbers for different hotel loyalty programs can be compared to each other.

 

Promotions Make All the Difference

The limitation of the NerdWallet.com method shown for nights needed to earn a free night is the promotion factor is excluded. Promotions make all the difference in the ability to earn free nights with less spend.

Base points equivalent value (BPEV)

Hyatt Gold Passport Reward nights = 5 points per dollar base points earn rate.

• Hyatt category 1 = 5,000 points (equal to base points earned for $1,000 hotel spend)
• Hyatt category 2 = 8,000 points ($1,600)
• Hyatt category 3 = 12,000 points ($2,400)
• Hyatt category 4 = 15,000 points ($3,000)
• Hyatt category 5 = 18,000 points ($3,600)
• Hyatt category 6 = 22,000 points ($4,400)

Hyatt hotel rewards show how much hotel spend is needed to earn a free night using the base points earn rate as a monetary scale equivalent to a free reward night. Hotel program comparisons have used this method of comparison for several years.

Hotel loyalty member’s objective is reducing the spend amount to earn a free night.

Earning 15,000 Gold Passport points will take $3,000 in hotel spend if only 5 points per dollar are earned for all hotel stays. Ways to improve the earn rate are:

• Hyatt Gold Passport promotions
• Hyatt Gold Passport elite status for elite bonus points (Platinum = 15%; Diamond = 30%)
• Hyatt Gold Passport G bonus for specific hotel stays
• Hyatt Gold Passport Visa Credit Card

Hotel loyalty promotions are perpetual bonuses that can be maximized by planning hotel stays for that purpose.  Promotions alter the entire base points equivalent value methodology for comparing hotel loyalty programs due to the ability to earn far more than base points for hotel spend.

Evaluating promotion bonuses is not easy.

How do I compare a promotion bonus of 25,000 Hilton HHonors points after 4 hotel stays to 4x points for a 4-night stay?

How do I compare 500 bonus points per night for a three night weekend Starwood stay to Marriott Rewards free night after two stays?

Base Points Equivalent Value (BPEV)

As Loyalty Traveler I have analyzed hotel promotions for several years. One of the primary difficulties is finding an objective way to compare different hotel promotions.

I am commonly asked by hotel travelers, “What is the best promotion right now?”

Elite status, single night or multiple night stays, location are all factors to be considered. But is there a way to objectively compare the potential value of different promotions and rank them to each other?

The central idea for Base Points Equivalent Value is calculate the promotion bonus points and correlate the promotion bonus to a monetary scale using base points earn rate for the specific hotel loyalty program.

The rest of this post shows how to make these comparisons.

 

2011 Q1 Hotel Loyalty Promotions

I will compare Q1 2011 promotions from Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and Hilton HHonors using BPEV methodology.

Hilton HHonors – 2x base points for two-night stays; 3x base points for three-night stays; 4x base points for four night or longer stays. No bonus points earning limit. Loyalty Traveler HHonors promotion analysis (12-28-10).

Marriott Rewards – one free night at category 1 to 4 hotel after two stays. Two free nights earning limit. Loyalty Traveler Marriott promotion analysis (12-27-10).

Starwood Preferred Guest – 2x base points + 500 points per night Thursday through Sunday nights. Loyalty Traveler SPG promotion analysis (12-15-10).

Stay Patterns (assume all hotel rates are $100 per night)

I use a hypothetical room rate of $100 per night for each hotel stay pattern to compare all programs on the same hotel spend. The base points equivalent value shown only applies to the promotion bonus and ignores the base points and elite bonus points normally earned for the hotel spend level. 

Hotel Stay Pattern 1:

1 night + 1 night + 1 night + 1 night  ($400 total hotel spend)

• Marriott = $4,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• SPG = $1,200 Base Points Equivalent Value
• Hilton HHonors = $0 Base Points Equivalent Value.

 

Hilton = 0 bonus points. There is no bonus for one night stays.

Hilton HHonors = $0 Base Points Equivalent Value.

Marriott = 2 free nights. Equivalent to 40,000 points.

Marriott = $4,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.

SPG assume all Friday and Saturday nights = 400 bonus points (double points x $400) + 2,000 bonus points (500 points per weekend night x 4 nights) = 2,400 points

SPG = $1,200 Base Points Equivalent Value

The promotion bonus for the member with four one night stays has no promotion bonus value for Hilton HHonors where the bonus only kicks in with a two night or longer hotel stay.

SPG earns 2,400 bonus points in this example which is equivalent to the points earned for $1,200 in hotel spend. SPG has a BPEV equal to $1,200 for this hotel stay pattern including four weekend nights.

Marriott Rewards earns two free nights after four stays and the BPEV is a high $4,000. A Marriott Rewards member would need to spend $4,000 to earn 40,000 points without any promotion or elite bonuses.

 

Hotel Stay Pattern 2: 

1 night ($100) + 1 night ($100) + 2 nights ($200) + 2 nights ($200) for $600 total hotel spend.

• Marriott = $4,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• Hilton = $400 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• SPG = $300 Base Points Equivalent Value.

Hilton earns no bonus points for the two 1-night stays and double points for two two-night stays.

1 night ($100) 0 bonus points + 1 night ($100) 0 bonus points + 2 nights ($200) 2,000 bonus points + 2 nights ($200) 2,000 bonus points = 4,000 bonus points.

 (0 + 0 + 2,000 + 2,000) = 4,000 bonus points.

$400 Base Points Equivalent Value.

Marriott Rewards = 2 free nights with four separate hotel stays. Spending an additional $200 over the four one-night stays earns no additional promotion bonus. Two nights for a category 4 hotel reward is equivalent to 40,000 points. $4,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.

SPG assume all Monday to Wednesday nights for SPG = 600 bonus points (double points) = $300 Base Points Equivalent Value.

SPG double base points is a low value bonus unless combined with a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night.  

Hotel Stay Pattern 3: 

2 nights ($200) + 2 nights ($200) + 3 nights ($300) for $700 hotel spend.

• SPG: $2,100 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• Marriott Rewards: $2,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• Hilton HHonors: $1,000 Base Points Equivalent Value. 

 

Hilton HHonors: BPEV = $1,000.

2 nights ($200) 2,000 bonus points + 2 nights ($200) 2,000 bonus points + 3 nights ($300) 6,000 bonus points = 10,000 bonus points.

 

Marriott Rewards: $2,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.

1 free night at category 4 hotel earned for two stays and equivalent to 20,000 points.

 

SPG: $2,100 Base Points Equivalent Value.

Assume all weekend nights. SPG = 700 bonus points ($700 double points) + 3,500 bonus points (7 x 500 points weekend night). 4,200 bonus points.

Hotel Stay Pattern 4: Average $200 per night room rate

3 nights ($600) +  3 nights ($600) + 4 nights ($800) + 4 nights ($800) for $2,800 hotel spend.

 

• Hilton HHonors: $7,200 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• Marriott Rewards: $4,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.
• SPG: $1,900 Base Points Equivalent Value.

 

Hilton HHonors: BPEV = $7,200.

3 nights ($600) 12,000 bonus points + 3 nights ($600) 12,000 bonus points + 4 nights ($800) 24,000 bonus points + 4 nights ($800) 24,000 points = 72,000 bonus points.

 

Marriott Rewards: $4,000 Base Points Equivalent Value.

2 free nights at category 4 hotels is equivalent to 40,000 points.

 

SPG: $1,900 Base Points Equivalent Value.

Assume Monday through Wednesday and Monday through Thursday stays.

SPG = 2,800 bonus points ($2,800 double points) + 1,000 bonus points (2 x 500 points Thursday nights) = 3,800 bonus points.

The Value of Promotion Bonus Points 

Base Points Equivalent Value is simply a scale for objective comparisons of hotel loyalty promotions, but you still need a way to compare the relative value of the bonus points earned. 

A Loyalty Traveler cardinal rule is hotel points have no value until redeemed.

Commonly used redemption valuations for hotel program points are based on a variety of models. The simplest way to value points is a comparison of hotel reward cost divided by room rate.  

For example: Hyatt Regency Miami with a $329 room rate is 12,000 points for a reward night.

1,000 Hyatt points are worth $27.42 in redemption value for this hotel night.

Repeat this calculation for thousands of hotels in a hotel loyalty program and you will likely find a range of redemption value centered around the ranges shown below. Most reward night redemptions will fall into these value ranges.

Common Redemption Value Range for 1,000 Hotel Points 

• Hilton HHonors = $3 to $7 per 1,000 points.
• Hyatt Gold Passport = $12 to $20 per 1,000 points.
• IHG Priority Club = $5 to $10 per 1,000 points.
• Marriott Rewards = $7 to $11 per 1,000 points.
• SPG = $23 to $35 per 1,000 points.  

The ability to go lower than $4 per 1,000 points is easy with Hilton where finding $100 room nights costing 50,000 points is not too difficult ($2 per 1,000 points redemption value.)

Starwood redemption opportunities in the $60 per 1,000 points range is possible when redeeming Cash & Points for a $300 room night at a category 4 hotel for $60 + 4,000 points.

4,000 points saves $240 cash and the SPG redemption value is $60 per 1,000 points. 

I can calculate the rebate value using redemption value estimates for each of the stay patterns shown previously as a function of total hotel spend.

Hotel Stay Pattern 1: Total Hotel Spend = $400 on four 1-night stays. 

Hilton HHonors = No bonus for one-night stays = $0 promotion value rebate. (0% rebate value) 

Marriott Rewards = 40,000 points bonus = $280 to $440 in rebate value. Actual value is more likely closer to $280 since free hotel nights limited to category 4 hotel reward.

$280 points redemption value/$400 hotel spend = 70% bonus points rebate value.

SPG = 2,400 bonus points = $55.20 to $84 redemption value for promotion bonus points = 14% to 21% rebate value.

Hotel Stay Pattern 2: 

Total Hotel Spend = $600 for 1 night ($100) + 1 night ($100) + 2 nights ($200) + 2 nights ($200). 

Hilton HHonors = 4,000 bonus points = $16 to 24 promotion value rebate = 3% to 4% rebate on $600 spend.

Marriott Rewards = two category 4 nights is equivalent to 40,000 bonus points.  $280 points redemption value/$600 hotel spend = 47% points rebate value on $600 hotel spend. 

SPG = 600 bonus points = $13.80 to $21 redemption value for bonus points earned from $600 in spend = 2% to 4% rebate value on $600 hotel spend.

Hotel Stay Pattern 3:

Total hotel spend = $700 with 3 stays for 2 nights ($200) + 2 nights ($200) + 3 nights ($300)

Hilton HHonors = 10,000 bonus points = $40 to $60 promotion value rebate = 4% to 6% rebate on $700 spend.

Marriott Rewards = one category 4 night is equivalent to 20,000 bonus points.  $140 points redemption value/$700 hotel spend = 20% points rebate value on $700 hotel spend.

SPG = 4,200 bonus points = $96.60 to $147 redemption value for bonus points earned from $700 in spend. 14% to 21% bonus points rebate value on $700 hotel spend.

 

Hotel Stay Pattern 4:

Total hotel spend = $2,800 with 4 stays for 3 nights ($600) + 3 nights ($600) + 4 nights ($800) + 4 nights ($800). 

Hilton HHonors = 72,000 bonus points = $288 to $432 promotion value rebate = 10% to 15% rebate on $2,800 spend. 

Marriott Rewards = two category 4 nights is equivalent to 40,000 bonus points.  $240 points redemption value/$2,800 hotel spend = 9% points rebate value on $2,800 hotel spend.

SPG = 3,800 bonus points = $87.40 to $133 redemption value for bonus points earned from $2,800 in spend. 2% to 5% bonus points rebate value on $2,800 hotel spend.

Conclusion:

This post shows mathematical models for evaluating hotel loyalty promotions. The hotel stay patterns I used in these examples illustrate the variability in earning promotion bonus points dependent on the specific hotel stay pattern and hotel spend. Hilton, Marriott and SPG each show the best promotion value  for at least one of the hotel stay patterns.

Determining the best hotel promotion depends on your hotel stay pattern. Comparing promotions to each other is complicated even when excluding factors like hotel brand preferences and elite status benefits.

My overall opinion of the three 2011 Q1 hotel loyalty offers from Hilton, Marriott and Starwood indicate the value of these first quarter promotions is relatively low compared to many promotions in 2010.

The hotel loyalty program member wants promotion value to be more than 20%.

For example: The free night for every two stays like Priority Club had for the end of 2010 makes a 100% promotion rebate possible. I spend $80 per night at two Holiday Inn hotels and use my free night earned for a $200 InterContinental Hotel night. My promotion bonus rebate value is equivalent to 125% of my total hotel spend. This far exceeds the 2% to 21% promotion rebate value shown for Hilton and SPG with these 2011 Q1 offers.

Free nights are high value promotions and Marriott Rewards promotion rebate value shows the high value of free nights compared to bonus points offers from SPG and Hilton.

Free night offers were uncommon prior to 2009, except for the recurring Hyatt Gold Passport free nights.

Loyalty Traveler does not expect free nights to continue at the pace they were offered these past two years, however, promotion bonuses that have less than 10% rebate value are the kinds of offers that make Expedia package deals look better than hotel loyalty programs.

Hopefully these models shown here will help readers evaluate the promotion value for your own hotel stay pattern.

The best hotel loyalty promotion for Q1 2011 really depends on your specific hotel stay pattern.

And we wait to see what Hyatt, Priority Club and Goldpoints Plus roll out for Q1 2011.

Related Post:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2010/12/29/base-points-equivalent-value-method-for-hotel-program-comparisons/ (Dec 29, 2010)