Over the next few weeks I will compare aspects of different hotel loyalty programs. While it is easy to look at the different websites and compare member benefits, the proportion of hotel brands and their market segment as a proportion of hotels participating in a hotel loyalty program tends not to be as well known.

Hotel Chain Scales are used by hotel industry analysts at STR.com to segment hotel brands into luxury, upper-upscale, upscale, upper midscale, midscale and economy categories.

The largest hotel loyalty programs for the US are Hilton, Marriott and IHG in terms of the size and broad range of hotels in different market segments. Wyndham Rewards, Choice Privileges and Best Western Rewards are comparable megachain hotels, but there are far fewer hotels in the upscale to luxury segments in these three brands. Starwood (1,100 hotels) and Hyatt (500 hotels) have a high proportion of upscale to luxury hotel brands in their portfolios, however, the number of hotels are far fewer in these chains and not as useful for travelers needing wide geographic coverage.

Hotel Brands and Market Segments

What is a luxury hotel or an upper-upscale hotel?

Price is generally the defining line between hotel market segments. I do not work in the hotel industry and I am an amateur analyst interpreting numbers from hotel industry data. STRGlobal.com provides industry data reports and I gather statistical data about the hotel industry regularly from the free data provided online.

STR has a list of hotel brands in different chain scale segments based on the average room rate data for thousands of hotels worldwide.

This post uses the 2011 STR US Chain Scales  along with the latest hotel properties data for each brand from the hotel chain’s websites to compare market segments for hotel brands of Hilton, IHG and Marriott.

Basically I want to see how the hotels in Hilton, IHG and Marriott segment out in each chain and compare to each other when looking at the number of luxury, upscale and midscale hotels in each hotel loyalty program.

Hilton Worldwide Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels

• Hilton Worldwide has 3,712 hotels in this list, but this is only an estimate. New hotels open every few days.The percentage of hotels in each brand is listed in ( ).
• Conrad Hotels (luxury) = 18 hotels (<1%).
• Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts (luxury) = 23 hotels (<1%).
• Hilton Hotels and Resorts (upper upscale) = 540 hotels (15%) in 78 countries including 70 Resorts.
• Embassy Suites (upper upscale) = 201 hotels (5%) with 193 in US and 8 international.
• Hilton Grand Vacations (upper upscale) = 50 properties (1%).
• DoubleTree by Hilton (upscale) = 250 hotels (7%) in 17 countries.
• Homewood Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 309 hotels (8%) in North America.
• Hilton Garden Inn (upscale) = 515 hotels (14%) with 130 in development.
• Hampton Inn (upper midscale) = 1,800 hotels (48%) with more than 1,700 in US and growing international expansion recently.
• Home2 Suites (upper midscale – extended stay) = 6 hotels (<1%).

Marriott International Hotel Brands with Market Segment and Number of Hotels

• 3,747 properties in 13 brands in 72 countries. This total does not include Marriott Executive Apartments which earn Marriott Rewards points, but are extended stay contracted properties and not a typical hotel stay.
• Ritz-Carlton (luxury) = 81 hotels (2%).
• JW Marriott (luxury) = 62 hotels (2%).
• Marriott Hotels & Resorts (upper upscale) = 521 hotels (14%).
• Renaissance (upper upscale) = 160 hotels (4%).
• Autograph Collection (upper upscale) = 29 hotels (<1%).
• Marriott Vacation Club (upper upscale) = 59 properties (2%).
• Marriott Conference Centers (upper upscale) = 7 hotels (<1%).
• Courtyard (upscale) = 926 hotels (25%).
• AC Hotels (upscale) = 82 hotels mostly in Spain (2%).
• SpringHill Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 299 hotels (8%).
• Residence Inn (upscale – extended stay) = 627 hotels (17%).
• Fairfield Inn (upper midscale) = 689 hotels (18%).
• TownePlace Suites (upper midscale – extended stay)= 205 hotels (5%).

InterContinental Hotels Group

• 4,452 hotels (as of September 2011)
• InterContinental Hotels (luxury) = 171 hotels (4%).
• Crowne Plaza (upscale) =  401 hotels (9%).
• Hotel Indigo (upscale) =  38 hotels (<1%).
• Staybridge Suites (upscale – extended stay) = 195 hotels (4%).
• Holiday Inn (upper midscale) = 1,238 hotels (28%).
• Holiday Inn Express (upper midscale) = 2,103 hotels (47%) with 1,866 in Americas.
• Candlewood Suites (midscale) = 300 hotels (7%).
• Holiday Inn Club Vacations = 6 properties (<1%).

I have some issue with the broad segmentation of Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree as Upscale rather than Upper Upscale for some locations and Holiday Inn as Upper Midscale for some locations where the Holiday Inn is more upscale.  Keep in mind in the real world of travel there will be some Crowne Plaza and DoubleTree hotels that will be just as nice or better than the nearby Marriott, Hilton or Embassy Suites.

How the hotel chains stack up when brands are compared by market segment.

Luxury market segment

• IHG = 171 hotels (InterContinental)
• Marriott = 143 hotels (Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott)
• Hilton = 41 hotels (Conrad, Waldorf Astoria)

Upper Upscale market segment

• Hilton = 791 hotels (Hilton, Embassy Suites, Hilton Grand Vacations)
• Marriott = 776 hotels (Marriott, Renaissance, Autograph Collection, Marriott Vacation Club)
• IHG = 0 hotels (based on STR chain scale rankings, but in reality many Crowne Plaza hotels are upper upscale).

Upscale market segment

• Marriott = 1,934 hotels (Courtyard, Residence Inn, AC Hotels)
• Hilton = 1,074 (Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, DoubleTree)
• IHG = 634 hotels (Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Staybridge Suites)

Upper Midscale market segment

• IHG = 3,341 hotels (Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express)
• Hilton = 1,806 (Hampton Inn)
• Marriott = 894 (Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites)

Midscale market segment

• IHG = 300 (Candlewood Suites)

The key point here is to consider what market segment you desire for your travels. IHG Priority Club will tend to be lower room rates, but Priority Club does not offer frequent guest elite members the level of defined benefits provided by Hilton HHonors or Marriott Rewards to their md-tier and top-tier elite members.

Another point to add is the practice of placing branded hotels in the same chain adjacent to each other. This is really common with Marriott where Courtyard and Residence Inn are literally adjacent hotels in many places. I have seen three Marriott properties in the same location in places. Geographic coverage is not as extensive as you might think when all the locations with multiple properties are considered. On the other hand, the placement of hotels in the same chain next to each other makes hotel hopping for loyalty promotion stay credit an easy task when you want to earn free Marriott MegaBonus nights.

Comparison of hotel loyalty program benefits across these hotel brands will be discussed in future posts.

The Carlton in Manhattan joins the Marriott family as the 27th hotel in the Autograph Collection brand. The Madison Avenue luxury hotel was previously a member of Preferred Hotel Group.

Originally opened in 1904 as the Hotel Seville, The Carlton Hotel recently  underwent a multi-million dollar makeover and is now a contemporary enclave for  both world travelers and local trendsetters who want to be in the middle of the action and surrounded by luxury in New York City.

The hotel is located in Midtown Manhattan and is only steps away from entertainment, architectural and shopping icons such as Madison Square Garden, the Empire State Building, and Macy’s flagship Herald Square store.

Back inside, the hotel includes stylish rooms, suites and public areas influenced by renowned designer David Rockwell; New York’s best new restaurant of 2011 as acclaimed by Esquire Magazine; and a vibrant nightlife and live entertainment scene that has featured performances by Ne Yo, Swiss Beatz, Tito Puente Jr. and N’Dea Davenport.

Property Highlights

• Millesime Restaurant. Featuring the cuisine of 2 Michelin Star Executive Chef Laurent Manrique, the restaurant is a must for fans of classic seafood and fine French cuisine.
• Salon Millesime. This lounge is the place to be and to be seen. You can relax with a cool cocktail, dine on small plates and listen to hip sounds from live performers or a select roster of all-star DJs.
• The Waterfall. It cascades down two floors and comes to rest in the lobby, creating a dramatic backdrop as you enter the hotel.

I checked The Carlton Hotel website for a photo of this Waterfall and I don’t see it, unless it is water falling in front of the photo on the right?

Carlton Hotel NY lobby.

I am not familiar with The Carlton Hotel so I saw much more information on the hotel’s own website with video and 40 photos of the hotel and rooms compared to the four photos on the Marriott Autograph Collection site. The rooms look like fully luxury furnished rooms to me.

The Carlton Hotel, New York is Marriott Autograph Collection member.

A common complaint I read about hotel loyalty programs is the sameness of the hotels in each brand. The Autograph Collection debunks that criticism of chain scale hotels by offering Marriott Rewards benefits and redemption opportunities at independent hotels partnering with Marriott.

Several hotel chains have launched alliance brands to attract high-end independent properties to a hotel loyalty program for marketing purposes. IHG has InterContinental Alliance Resorts, Choice has the Ascend Collection, Starwood has the Luxury Collection and Hilton has the Waldorf-Astoria Hotels & Resorts.

Marriott plans to add several more member hotels to the Autograph Collection over the next few months including Union Station Hotel in Nashville rebranded from a Wyndham Grand Hotel property to the Marriott Autograph Collection just today and hotels rebranding in New Orleans and Miami South Beach.

Marriott Hotels has several promotion offers for gift cards now through January 8, 2012. Gift card shipping is $1 for U.S. addresses.

10% Bonus on Marriott Gift Card Value

Amtrak promotion code AMT or Marriott Associate Friends & Family promotion code MMT both offer 10% added value to a Marriott Gift Card. You can purchase any gift card amount from $25 and up. The 10% added value means the actual value on the card will be $1,100 when you pay $1,000 for a gift card.

Earn 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar for buying Gift Cards - up to 25,000 bonus points.

Another gift card promotion offers 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar in gift card value purchased, up to 25,000 bonus points. This could be a better than 10% value depending on how you use points. There are Ritz-Carlton Hotels for 30,000 points per night that are more than $300 per night.

Hertz Rental Car Marriott Gift Card Offer 

Get $50 Hertz rental car voucher with $250 Marriott Gift Card purchase. Promotion code = Hertz.

Save 10% on Marriott VacationCards and earn up to 10,000 Delta Skymiles bonus miles.

A Marriott VacationCard promotion with Delta Airlines gives a 10% discount in the cost of a $1,000 or $2,000 VacationCard and 1,000 Delta Skymiles bonus miles for each $1,000 in VacationCard value, up to 10,000 bonus miles. This offer is only available through January 1, 2012.

What is the difference between Marriott Gift Card and Marriott VacationCard?

See this FlyerTalk thread where Counsellor posted the difference between Marriott Gift Cards and VacationCards.

This is a reminder that October 31, 2011 is the last day you can register for Marriott Rewards MegaBonus offer. The main offer is one free night at a category 1-4 hotel after two hotel stays paid with VISA (any VISA credit card) between September 15 and January 15, 2012.

This offer is one of the highest value hotel promotions currently available, especially if you just need two one-night hotel stays over the next 11 weeks. Hotel rates during the Thanksgiving week, Christmas/New Year’s week and the second week of January are typically among the lowest hotel rates of the year in many locations, particularly where hotels are business traveler oriented like many urban centers.

I think of this offer as the opportunity to spend $100 at two hotels and get a free certificate that might be a $200 value at some other Marriott hotel. The certificate received after two hotel stays is valid only for the lowest four hotel reward categories, but Marriott is bottom heavy meaning a large percentage of the 3,400+ hotels in Marriott are in these four lowest reward categories in Marriott Rewards eight categories of hotel rewards.

Register online or call 1-888-627-7468 and register by phone through October 31, 2011. You must have your account earning preference set to “points” to see the Fall MegaBonus promotion offer.

Here is my Loyalty Traveler post on the MegaBonus promotion from August 16.

Marriott Rewards More Stays, More Miles

For guests who do not use Visa, there is also the Marriott Rewards “More Stays, More Miles” offer. This offer does not require a Visa payment. There is also no registration deadline for Marriott’s Miles promotion.

Earn up to 30,000 bonus miles starting with 1,000 miles on your second stay, 1,500 miles on 3rd and 4th stays and 2,000 bonus miles on additional stays through December 31, 2011. Here is my Loyalty traveler August 31 write-up on Marriott’s miles offer.

‘Joey Quits’ is a viral video of a guy who quits his job at Marriott Hotels Renaissance Providence accompanied by the ’What Cheer? Brigade’ band.

Barbara DeLollis, writer of Hotel Check-in at USA Today has a little more background on Joey’s story.

Hotel Check-in also has another story on a fired hotel employee at the Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine, Florida that is a Kessler Collection hotels and has the distinction of being the first hotel in 2010 to become part of the independent hotels affiliated with Marriott through the Autograph Collection brand.

Sean May was fired last week from his position as a front desk supervisor at the Casa Monica hotel for refusing to remove an American flag lapel pin he allegedly had been wearing to work for the previous two years.

Here are Sean May stories from Jacksonville News.

Employee told to remove US flag pin (October 13, 2011)

Hotel fires man who wore US flag pin (October 14, 2011)

The only other interesting Marriott news I have seen in the past week is Melanie Nayer’s piece on the new Autograph Collection website with no Marriott branding on its webpages. That move might be a public relations bonus in view of this flag pin issue at the Casa Monica Autograph Collection hotel.

I particularly like the disneyesque moniker for employees at the Casa Monica hotel who are called ‘Grand Performers’.

Perhaps the What Cheer Brigade should head south from Providence to Florida!

Marriott Rewards members choosing miles instead of points have the option to earn up to 30,000 bonus miles for hotel stays from September 1-December 31, 2011. Unlike MegaBonus, this promotion does not require VISA payment. There are six participating airlines and members must select one of these partners when registering for this bonus miles promotion:

• Delta Airlines SkyMiles
• United Airlines Mileage Plus
• British Airways Executive Club
• Lufthansa Miles & More
• GOL/Varig Smiles
• LanPass

Bonus miles earning begins with the second stay after September 1 based on the following earning chart.

• Stay 1 = regular base miles of 2 miles/$1 (JW Marriott, Marriott, Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, Edition, Autograph Collection) or 1 mile/$1 at Courtyard, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites).
• Stay 2 = Base Miles + 1,000 bonus miles.
• Stay 3 = Base Miles + 1,500 bonus miles.
• Stay 4 = Base Miles + 1,500 bonus miles.
• Stays 5 to 17 = Base Miles + 2,000 bonus miles.
• Maximum 30,000 bonus miles is reached after 17 stays.
• All Marriott brands worldwide, including Ritz-Carlton participate in this promotion. LT Note: the new Marriott AC brand in Europe is not listed on the Marriott miles earning page or in this promotion’s terms.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

This “More Stays, More Miles” offer is an alternative promotion to the Marriott Megabonus for Fall 2011 running Sep 15, 2011 to Jan 15, 2012 for members who choose to earn miles. This miles promotion does not require VISA card payment. Your Marriott Rewards account earning preference must be set to miles rather than points to view this offer.

New members must enroll in Marriott Rewards and existing members must register for this promotion either online at www.MarriottRewards.com/MoreStays-MoreMiles or via the Marriott Rewards service center in the U.S. and Canada at 800-859-0686.

The primary points offer for Marriott’s MegaBonus is a possibility of one free night at a category 1 to 4 hotel after two stays, with a maximum bonus of two free nights after four stays when payment is VISA. You must register for MegaBonus by October 31.

MegaBonus is a targeted offer and Marriott Rewards frequent guests are likely to have a points based offer for 15 to 25 nights. There is also a version awarding 5,000 points every two stays. Here is my August 16 Loyalty Traveler post on Marriott MegaBonus.

Since Marriott Rewards members must choose between earning either points or miles and members have the ability to switch earning preference between stays, there may be potential to earn both MegaBonus and More Stays, More Miles bonuses by switching earning preference from miles to points during the overlapping promotion period of Sep 15-Dec 31 for these two offers.

I’d love to hear Marriott Rewards member input about the feasibility of earning miles for some stays, switching to points and earning MegaBonus credit for some stays, and switching back to miles again for other stays. Does it work to switch earning preference and alternate between a miles promotion and points promotion with Marriott Rewards for different stays?

Marriott Rewards More Stays, More Miles for up to 30,000 miles Sep 1-Dec 31, 2011

There are new upper-upscale and flagship hotels opening around the globe with several of the major hotel brands. Here are some new vacation and business properties you may want to check out as a Marriott Rewards, Hilton Honors, Hyatt Gold Passport or Club Carlson loyalty member.

Hilton Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast Queensland, Australia – opens September 14

This $700 million complex is a hotel/residential mixed use property on the famed Gold Coast. Think Miami Beach with gambling if you are not familiar with the area. This is the first new upper upscale international hotel to open in the Gold Coast region in a decade.

Hilton Surfers Paradise has 169 guest rooms and 250 one to three bedroom residences with full kitchens. The hotel description sounds like the residences are more vacation timeshare units rather than full-time residential units.

Rates start at $259 (residences) to $279 (hotel).

Australian Hotel Market Outlook Q3 2011, a tourism, hospitality and leisure market outlook from Deloitte indicates Australians are facing many of the same problems as Americans with maxed out household debt, extreme weather related events and a decline in discretionary spending. Business is strong while leisure travelers are cutting back.

Of course there are those with good jobs and money in Australia. And guess what?

Australians with money are going abroad. The Australian dollar gained over the past year from being worth US $0.88 to US $1.04. That is almost a 20% increase in currency value and makes the US a real bargain destination for Australians. At the same time, the currency value of the Australian dollar has made it a much more expensive country to visit for Americans.

I thought beer in Australia was outrageously priced in 2003 when the exchange rate was AUD$1.50 for US$1.00. At that time I recall beer was about $20 for a 12-pack in the market. I guess it must be about US$30 now.

Ten years ago Australia had a surplus of 1.5 million visitors to Australia. Now Australia has a net outflow of 1.5 million travelers. More Australians are leaving the country in 2011 (7.8 million travelers) than inbound visitors to the country (6.1 million).

Hotel occupancy in Australia is strong for weekday business travel. Leisure travel less so. Good news is hotel rates are much lower in vacation areas of Gold Coast and northern Queensland compared to Sydney and Melbourne.

Marriott Autograph Collection adds British Virgin Islands Scrub Island Resort in early 2012

Scrub Island Resort, Spa & Marina will be Marriott’s first resort in the British Virgin Islands and the first Autograph Collection property in the Caribbean. Autograph Collection is a soft branding concept for independent upper-upscale and luxury hotels with marketing and distribution through Marriott. Marriott recently added several hotels in Europe to Autograph Collection brand.

Scrub Island Resort is a new resort opened last year and located on a 230 acre private island about two miles from Tortola Airport. Check out the website for a full description.

Sample rates for November 14-19, 2011 show $375 (ocean view room) to $495 (ocean view one bedroom suite + breakfast for two) to $615 (ocean view two bedroom suite + breakfast for four).

Hyatt Regency New Orleans reopening six years after Hurricane Katrina

Six years since being battered by Hurricane Katrina the remodeled 1,193 room Hyatt Regency New Orleans is scheduled to reopen October 19, 2011 after $275 million in renovations. The 31-story hotel will have 95 suites (Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond members receive four annual suite upgrade certificates for paid room stays) including four Presidential suites. The hotel will be New Orleans premier convention space with two grand ballrooms and 200,000 sq ft of meeting space.

Sample dates I tried for November and December showed rates starting at $169 to $239 for a basic room.

Radisson Blu Chicago

Carlson Hotels flagship Radisson Blu brand will debut in Chicago with the October 31 opening of the Radisson Blu Chicago in the Aqua Tower. Barbara Delollis of USA Today toured the hotel and posted a piece today in her Hotel Check-In column which includes a photo gallery.

The hotel will be the first 18 floors of the 81-story Aqua Tower and will have the feature of balconies for about 50% of the hotel rooms. The hotel apparently has a large fitness center facility since the Aqua tower is mostly residences.

Chicago Radisson Blu Aqua Tower in middle (Hyatt Regency on right)

Question for Readers: Any interesting new hotels you think I should share on Loyalty Traveler?

Marriott Rewards Megabonus from September 15, 2011 - January 15, 2012 offers most “low stay activity” members the opportunity to earn one free night after two Marriott brand stays paid with VISA for a maximum of two earned free nights at Category 1-4 hotels for redemption from September 15, 2011 – May 31, 2012.

Paid with VISA means any VISA card is acceptable. You do not need to use a cobranded Marriott Rewards Visa card.

MegaBonus promotion registration is required by October 31, 2011.

Why I like Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for my primary backup promotion.

Not all Marriott Rewards members receive the targeted two stays earns one free night offer. Infrequent guests with Marriott typically get the free night as a default offer. More active Marriott Rewards members may have a targetted points version for meeting a nights threshold.

This Loyalty Traveler post is written for people like me who rarely stay at Marriott Hotels. Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is a high value rebate for the infrequent Marriott Rewards guest.

This is the third Marriott Rewards MegaBonus promotion for 2011. Marriott Rewards does not seem to put a whole lot of effort in designing clever promotions since MegaBonus has basically been the same deal all year for the infrequent guest with two stays earns one free night at a category 1 to category 4 hotel for a maximum of two free nights during the promotion.

Marriott Rewards is my primary backup hotel plan.

This is the third time this promotion has run in 2011 providing an opportunity to earn 6 free nights with just 12 paid nights at Marriott brand hotels. The redemption restriction of category 1 to 4 hotels in the Marriott Rewards system prevents using the free nights in many major cities where most hotels are category 5 or 6 and the top of line resorts and luxury hotels at category 7 and 8. But there are plenty of $200 per night hotel redemption opportunities in the category 4 hotels and it is quite easy to earn a free night with Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for less than $200 with two one-night sub-$100 rates.

Marriott MegaBonus 2011 #1 – Earn February 1-April 30, 2011. Redeem free nights by September 30, 2011. Register by March 31, 2011.

Marriott MegaBonus 2011 #2 – Earn June 1-August 31, 2011. Redeem free nights by December 31, 2011. Register by June 30, 2011.

Despite Marriott Rewards being two-time Hotel Program of the Year in the Americas winner at the Frequent Traveler Awards 2010 and 2011, my stays at Marriott brand hotels are rather infrequent. I like the Marriott brand hotels I visit and I have seen plenty of new build Fairfield Inn properties alongside the new Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn hotels dotting the American landscape.

I only have need for so many hotel nights in a year and Marriott takes 50 nights to reach mid-tier Gold elite. Most hotel loyalty programs offer routes to top elite level with high value benefits for far fewer hotel nights in a year. That makes Marriott Rewards a backup program for me. Free nights are a valuable asset to have in reserve and Marriott Rewards free nights are easily earned with MegaBonus. Marriott currently has more than 3,000 hotels in the USA and over 500 international hotels with plenty of choices for paid and free nights.

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus is a recurring promotion for infrequent Marriott Rewards guests to earn one free night after two hotel stays.

Other targetted variations of MegaBonus promotion offer bonus points with VISA payment. Here are some other offers posted on FlyerTalk.

• 5,000 bonus points every second stay, up to 20,000 bonus points (8 stays) - Marriott Rewards Platinum member.
• 25,000 bonus points after 15 paid nights + additional 15,000 bonus points after 20 nights – Marriott Rewards Platinum member.
• 35,000 bonus points after 20 paid nights + additional 15,000 bonus points after 25 nights – Marriott Rewards Platinum member.

Finding the Fall MegaBonus promotion:

Register online or call 1-888-627-7468 and register by phone through October 31, 2011. You must have your account earning preference set to “points” to see the Fall MegaBonus promotion offer. When I did not see this offer last week I checked my account and saw it was set to miles. Once I changed my account earning preference to points the Fall MegaBonus offer for one free night after two stays paid with VISA showed up immediately in “Promotion Central” under “My Account”.

Loyalty Traveler Promotion Rating = 4 keys out of 5. This is my primary backup promotion for a high value rebate when I can’t find higher value in any other hotel program. Over the course of 2011 it has been possible to stay 12 nights and earn six free nights. Marriott Silver elite requires only 10 nights in Marriott Rewards and earns 20% bonus points for hotel stays.

Marriott Rewards MegaBonus Fall 2011 - Earn one free night after two stays.

Boscolo Hotels are an Italian hotels group with  21 hotels in the 4-star and 5-star market segments. Six of the eight 5-star Boscolo Hotels have signed with Marriott’s Autograph Collection. These luxury hotels are located in Rome, Venice, Milan, Prague and Budapest.

Two Boscolo Hotels not signed are Boscolo Nice (France) and Boscolo Aleph Rome. Boscolo also has 13 B4 hotels in Italy and France. These hotels are not part of the Autograph Collection deal.

Boscolo Hotels joining Marriott Autograph Collection in September 2011

• Boscolo Palace Rome
• Boscolo Venezia (Venice, Italy)
• Boscolo Prague (Czech Republic)
• Boscolo Budapest (Hungary)

Boscolo Hotels joining Marriott Autograph Collection in 2012

• Boscolo Exedra Roma (Rome)
• Boscolo Milano (Milan, Italy)

A quick survey of room rates shows typical rates in the 300EUR range for Boscolo Hotels in Rome and Venice. The Boscolo Venezia offers a nonrefundable rate 20% discount for hotel stays longer than two nights.

One of the more interesting details I noticed when looking over the Boscolo Hotels website is the Boscolo Hotels loyalty program Bclub. The program terms state a Bclub member earns 1 Bclub credit for every 50EUR in hotel spend.

The remarkable thing about the program is one free night at a Boscolo Hotel requires just 12 Bcredits and one free night at a B4 hotel requires only 6 Bcredits.

This works out to one free night at a Boscolo Hotel with every 600 EUR in spend for hotels where the minimum room rates are typically around 250EUR per night. This is a 40% to 50% rebate for every hotel night. There looks to be good opportunities for leveraging the Bclub program for free nights by redeeming credits for high cost hotels.

The Boscolo Hotels offer some valuable hotel loyalty benefits for members that may actually exceed the benefits of using Marriott Rewards for your hotel stays at these properties. The Bclub program looks like something you may want to try out before the Marriott Rewards program takes over and probably dilutes some of the Bclub benefits when these hotels become part of the Autograph Collection.

Boscolo Bclub hotel loyalty program

News Source: Marriott Press Release (July 19, 2011)

Marriott, Starwood, Best Western and Choice have free night promotions allowing you to pay now and stay free later on another trip. They all have restrictions on the type of free night allowed, so read the rules carefully and see if the free night looks like one you can use.

Marriott Rewards – One Free Night after Two Stays June 1 – August 31.

Marriott International hotel brands: Marriott, JW Marriott, Marriott Vacation Club, Renaissance, Fairfield Inn, Residence Inn, Courtyard, SpringHill Suites, TownePlace Suites, Autograph Collection, Ritz-Carlton, Edition. (AC Hotels is Marriott’s new brand in Europe, but AC Hotels are not listed as a participating brand for this promotion.)

• Register for this promotion by June 30.
• Stays at Marriott brand hotels worldwide qualify for promotion.
• Maximum of two free nights may be earned per member during promotion period after 4 stays.
• Free night is valid for any hotel category 1 to category 4 hotel worldwide. These are the lower category hotels, but includes around 2,500 hotels globally.
• Free night may be redeemed from June 5 to December 31, 2011.
• Award nights are not transferable and may not be gifted.
• Loyalty Traveler May 16 post on this Marriott promotion.

Strategy for Marriott Rewards promotion: My wife and I have traveled where one night at a hotel is a reservation in my name and the second night is a reservation in her name. First person should check out and get a hotel stay folio before second person checks in under different member account to be sure the stays credit appropriately to each member’s account for the free night credit.

This allows longer stays without changing hotels while maximizing promotion credit. Just tell the hotel you are staying on two different reservations to maximize the Marriott Rewards promotion and you might not need to change rooms during your hotel stay.

Starwood Preferred Guest – One Free Night at a Starwood Resort after Three Stays, May 1 – July 31.

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

• Register for this promotion by June 30.
• Stays at Starwood brand hotels worldwide qualify for promotion.
• No limit to earned free nights during promotion period.
• Free night is valid at over 200 Starwood Resorts worldwide.
• Free night may be redeemed any day of week to December 21, 2011.
• Redeem free nights by calling Starwood customer service 1-888-625-4988 (toll-free) and requesting Award ID 3FRN
• Award nights are not transferable and may not be gifted.
• Loyalty Traveler April 15 post on this promotion.

Choice Hotels – 8,000 points after Two Stays, May 19 – August 11, 2011.

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

• Register for this promotion to increase earning limit to 4 bonuses for 32,000 points, otherwise the limit is 2 bonuses for 16,000 points. Elite Platinum and Diamond members may earn bonus 10 times for 80,000 points.
• Must be a resident of U.S., U.S. territories or Canada.
• Book at ChoiceHotels.com or 1-800-4CHOICE. (Elite platinum and elite diamond may book through any channel.
• Important to note: a minimum 2-night stay is required for an eligible stay at the Choice Hotels budget brands of EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn and extended-stay brands Suburban and MainStay Suites.
• 8,000 points is sufficient for about 1,500 hotels or 25% of all Choice Hotels. Many hotels will require 16,000, 20,000 or 25,000 points for a free night.
• Loyalty Traveler May 16 post on Choice Hotels promotion.

Best Western Hotels – One free night after three stays June 19-August 14, 2011.

Best Western hotels are all one brand, but in 2011 three tiers were created with most of the worldwide 4,000+ properties remaining Best Western and about 800 hotels as Best Western Plus and around 100+ hotels (mostly outside U.S.) as Best Western Premier.

• Register for this promotion by logging into account, click My Account tab, and in section titled “Membership Overview” click the tab “Special Offers Sign-Up“.  This promotion should be listed.
• Here are the promotion terms.
• Promotion registration only open for residents of U.S., Canada, Bahamas and U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Stay at any Best Western worldwide to qualify for free night.
• Limit of one free night voucher per member during promotion period.
• Free night voucher expires January 31, 2012.
• Free night voucher valid only at Best Western hotels in U.S., Canada, Bahamas and U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Elite members of Best Western Rewards earn 6,500 bonus points if two of three stays are in two different tiers of Best Western (Best Western, Best Western Plus (about 800 hotels), Best Western Premier (100+ hotels). Limit of one elite bonus per member.
• Earn an additional 6,500 bonus points if each of three stays paid with Best Western Rewards MasterCard. Limit of one credit card bonus per member.

Where to find Best Western Rewards promotion registration link

Marriott Rewards offers members 4x miles from June 1 through August 31, 2011 beginning with your second hotel stay during the promotion period. The design of Marriott Rewards site requires your member account be set to earn miles rather than points to enable the 4x miles promotion page to load. Promotion registration begins June 1.

Marriott Rewards members on FlyerTalk state the miles promotion and points promotions can both be earned if you switch your earning preference and register for both promotions. This makes it possible to toggle between earning points for the MegaBonus offer of one free night at a category 1 to 4 hotel after two stays which is great for one night hotel stays and then earn miles for longer, more expensive stays when the bonus miles will add up quickly. You just need to manage your earning preference by switching between  miles or points  to maximize the best earning option for each hotel stay.

Earn 8 miles per $1 for most charges at these hotel brands:

• JW Marriott
• Marriott Hotels & Resorts
• Renaissance
• Autograph Collection
• Marriott Vacation Club
• Edition

Earn 4 miles per $1 on room rate only at these hotel brands:

• Courtyard
• Residence Inn
• Fairfield Inn
• TownePlace Suites
• SpringHill Suites

Participating Airlines for 4x Miles:

• Aeroplan (Air Canada)
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• Delta Air Lines
• Frontier Airlines
• Hawaiian Airlines
• JetBlue Airways
• Jet Airways JetPrivilege
• Kingfisher Airlines
• LifeMiles (Avianca-TACA)
• Southwest Airlines
• United Airlines
• US Airways

Southwest Airlines normally earns 600 points per stay for any Marriott hotel brand, so quadruple points = 2,400 points per stay at any hotel brand.

JetBlue with this promotion earns 4 points per $1 at upper tier brands (Marriott, Renaissance) and 2 points per $1 at the lower tier hotel brands (Courtyard, Residence Inn) shown above.

Marriott Rewards 4x Miles Promotion link (registration begins June 1).

4x Miles Promotion Terms & Conditions.

Please note: You must have your Marriott Rewards member account earning preference set to earn miles in order to load the webpages in these links. They will not load if your account is set for earning points.

Related Loyalty Traveler post: Marriott Rewards MegaBonus June 1-August 31, 2011 (May 16)

Marriott Rewards Quadruple Miles