Earn Expedia Rewards points

Expedia Rewards program base earn rate offers 1 point per USD $1 in Expedia travel purchases. Travel packages including a hotel stay with a total of two, three or four components earn 2 points/$1, 3 points/$1 and 4 points/$1, respectively.

Travel package components include airfare, hotel, car and activities.

• 1 point/$1 spent on hotels
• 1 point/$1 spent on flights
• 1 point/$1 spent on activities
• 2 points/$1 spent on hotel + flight travel package (or hotel + one other package component)
• 3 points/$1 spent on hotel + flight + car travel package (or hotel + any two other package components)
• 4 points/$1 spent on hotel + flight + car + activities travel package

Expedia Rewards Elite Plus

Expedia Rewards has an elite member program. Annual Expedia Elite Plus qualification requires 15 hotel nights or $10,000 in annual Expedia travel bookings.  Expedia Rewards members need to book and stay 15 nights or spend $10,000 in Expedia travel during 2011 to earn Elite Plus status that will expire Feb 28, 2013.

A single registered Expedia membership account will be given credit for all bookings made to that account, regardless of who completes the travel. – Expedia Elite Plus terms and conditions.

One of the strongest competitive advantages for Expedia Rewards compared to traditional frequent flyer and frequent guest loyalty programs is the ability for the Expedia account holder to earn points and credit with purchases for other travelers. All you home-based travel agents can book your family trip and earn Expedia Rewards for everybody else’s flights and nights. In this sense, Expedia Rewards is akin to a travel credit card program for travel purchase points and a spend based elite member option, even if you don’t travel all that much.

If I book 15 hotel room nights in 2011 through my Expedia Rewards account, then I will earn Expedia Elite Plus status through February 28, 2013 regardless of the traveler names for the booked hotel rooms. I can’t earn points with traditional hotel loyalty programs in my personal hotel member account without being one of the guests staying at the hotel. 

Elite Plus on Airline purchases: $10,000 in airline tickets and total travel purchases is a high threshold for earning Elite Plus. The threshold is much lower for hotel bookings at 15 nights. Basically the profit margin on airline tickets is very low for Expedia. Most of Expedia’s profits come from hotel bookings according to industry data I have read.

Expedia Elite Plus Benefits and VIP Access Hotels $30 Promotion

Elite Plus members can receive free upgrades, late checkout and other perks with Expedia “VIP Access” designated hotels.

Expedia VIP Access Hotels earn 2 points/$1.

Expedia Rewards offers a $30 coupon on stays of 3-nights or longer at Expedia VIP Access hotels through December 31, 2011 when booked by March 31, 2011. (Loyalty Traveler is disappointed to see such a short booking window.)

Elite Plus members also have a Hotel Price Guarantee. The terms indicate you can get a lower room rate for stand-alone hotel bookings if found on a U.S. based website anytime from time of booking on Expedia until day before arrival.

There might be some real potential for hedging your hotel rates with this aspect of the program. I’ll tackle my ideas on the Expedia Rewards Elite Plus Hotel Price Guarantee in a different Loyalty Traveler post.

Other notable Elite Plus member benefits are exclusive offers and early access to sales.

Redeem Expedia Rewards points

Expedia currently only has a hotel coupon redemption chart. The airfare redemption table is not online yet.

The hotel coupon table shows a rather low 1% to 2% rebate value on Expedia travel purchases for standalone hotel, airfare, and car rental bookings with an earn rate of 1 point per dollar.

MasterCard Double Points through August 31, 2011

A special promotion with MasterCard earns double Expedia Rewards base points on hotel or hotel packages paid with MasterCard through August 31, 2011 increasing the potential rebate up to 2% – 4%.

MasterCard Double Points with Expedia Rewards requires promotion registration using Expedia Rewards number.

Hotel coupons are one-time use meaning the best value $1000 coupon can only be redeemed on a single hotel stay. $300 hotel coupon stays will offer far less rebate value through Expedia Rewards than $1,000 hotel coupon stays.

Earning 50,000 points requires as much as $50,000 in travel purchases and a minimum of $12,500 in Expedia travel purchases if earning 4 points/$1 on a four component vacation package purchase. That is only an 8% rebate on $12,500 in travel spend when 50,000 Expedia Rewards points are redeemed for a $1,000 hotel voucher that must be used in one hotel stay.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis of Expedia Rewards Hotel Coupon Rebate Value

For comparison, Loyalty Traveler values the hotel loyalty program points earned from many hotel stays at 20% to 30% paid room rate during good promotions and 50%+ rebate during high value promotions.

In real numbers this means I expect to save $20 to $30 on a future hotel stay for every $100 I spend at the hotel during a good loyalty promotion and upwards of $50 in future hotel stay value for every $100 I spend when a high value promotion comes around. And Expedia Rewards guarantees me only 2% future hotel stay rebate value after spending $50,000. That is $2 future hotel stay savings for every $100 in hotel spend.

Expedia Rewards is a fine online travel agency choice for airfare tickets and may provide a good savings on hotel rates with some travel package deals, but the rebate on stand-alone hotel stays bookings is likely to be less compared to the points and benefits offered through the hotel brand’s traditional loyalty program which for me average 20% to 30% on most of my hotel stays in programs like Hyatt and Starwood and Priority Club.  

Expedia Rewards Sample Earn and Burn Chart from Website

http://www.expedia.com/daily/highlights/rewards/expediarewards/sample.asp

MasterCard payment for double points through August 31, 2011 creates the potential for 8 points per dollar and 16% rebate (sample #3) on Expedia spend. Throw in a VIP Access hotel with a four component Expedia vacation package and pay with MasterCard (sample #4) and you peak at 9 points/$1 or a potential 18% rebate on your travel purchase with Expedia Rewards.

Expedia Rewards compared to Hyatt Gold Passport 10,000 bonus points after 5 nights

Assume $100 per night on two 5-night stays = $1,000 spend.

• Hyatt Diamond member = 2 x 1,000 points Diamond amenity = 2,000 points.
• Gold Passport Base points = 5 points/$1 x $1,000 = 5,000 points.
• Gold Passport Diamond elite bonus (30%) x $1,000 = 1,500 points.
• Hyatt Promotion (April 1-June 30) = 5 nights for 10,000 points + 2 nights x 5,000 points for 7^th and 9th nights = 20,000 points.

28,500 Gold Passport points worth $427 to $855 in hotel stay rewards based on estimated value of Hyatt Gold Passport points in the range of $15 to $30 per 1,000 points. This sample for Hyatt shows a 42% to 85% rebate value compared to an 8% rebate value with Expedia or a maximum 16% during the MasterCard promotion.

Paying $1,000 on Expedia earns only 1,000 points for standalone hotel bookings. That offers no rebate at all on my $1,000 in hotel spend since I need 3,500 points just to redeem for a $25 hotel coupon.

Expedia Rewards is still a great consumer bonus when booking independent hotels not affiliated with a hotel loyalty program where the guest would otherwise not earn any points with future travel value.  

The Hotel Analysis

Unfortunately, hotel rooms purchased on Expedia frequently involve a trade-off for the frequent guest. 

Expedia bookings earn no points in most hotel loyalty programs. Even elite benefits do not apply for stays with a major chain where you have elite tier status when booked through Expedia.  You may still receive benefits at the discretion of the hotel.

Why hotels do not give points for third party online bookings.

American Airlines or United Airlines are owned and operated as one major corporate company. The company employs the workers, owns and leases aircraft and facilities and in most cases manages the frequent flyer program. Airlines benefit regardless of the channel where you buy your ticket. The price of a ticket is generally the same on Expedia as it is on the airline site. Expedia does not make much money on airline tickets relative to its profit margin on hotels.

Hotels are different from airlines in that many independently owned hotels align or brand with a parent hotel chain like Hyatt or Best Western. The hotel loyalty program acts primarily as a marketing partner for the hotel.  The hotel owner pays for this marketing arrangement, generally a percentage of room revenue. The hotels employ their own workers, manage their own site financials, and participate in a hotel loyalty program in an association of hundreds or thousands of other independently owned hotels.

Bookings made through Expedia are something like a 15% to 25% booking fee in terms of room rate going to Expedia rather than to the hotel. Hotel loyalty programs like SPG and Priority Club are marketing organizations geared to move hotel bookings to lower-cost direct channels that reduce the overall cost of selling hotel rooms and improve profit margins. Hotel loyalty program points and benefits are high value rebates direct to the customer. The customer is happy with the value added benefits of the hotel stay and the hotel makes more money than selling the room through Expedia who takes a significant portion of the room rate.

Expedia gets you the same room price most of the time, but the hotel loyalty benefits are not the same since a much larger portion of the room rate is going to Expedia compared to a direct booking with the hotel. You as the frequent guest have already cut the hotel’s profit margin by booking through Expedia. The hotel may not want to incur more expenses by giving you hotel loyalty benefits like a room upgrade, points, free breakfast or internet access.

FlyerTalk discussions indicate Marriott and Hyatt often recognize a member’s elite status on third party bookings, but this is no guarantee.

Earning hotel program loyalty points is generally not a benefit with any hotel loyalty program for third party bookings through an online travel agency like Expedia.

Is Expedia Rewards a loyalty program gamechanger?

Expedia Rewards might be incentive for me to move bookings to Expedia rather than Orbitz or Travelocity, however, the low rebate value of points means I am unlikely to move bookings away from hotel brand websites unless there is also an exceptional cash savings to the Expedia rate. I find my hotel stay point bonuses generally exceed a 10% future stay rebate and often are 25% or more of the paid room rate when used for a future hotel stay.

Therefore, Expedia Rewards is not a significant game-changer in hotel loyalty programs when it comes to booking hotels where there is the option to earn traditional hotel loyalty points. The value of points in Hyatt Gold Passport, Hilton HHonors, IHG Priority Club, Starwood Preferrred Guest and Marriott Rewards are generally much more valuable than Expedia Rewards points when booking your own hotel stays. Expedia Rewards is great when booking hotel stays and flights for other people through your own account.

Expedia Rewards is a good value for extra travel points from airfare purchases and travel packages where the hotel and airline savings provide an instant rebate value on travel cost. Airfare purchases on Expedia without the risk of lost benefits provide a bonus credit in your Expedia Rewards account in addition to your frequent flyer account miles.

Just remember Expedia Rewards hotel bookings may leave your traditional hotel frequent guest account shortchanged!

1.       InterContinental Hotels Group states it has 44 million Priority Club Rewards members globally. Perhaps they should rename the loyalty program Priority Club Nation.   http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?PageID=116&NewsID=2366

2.       UN World Tourism Organization says 2009 travel is down 4 to 6 % globally. This is the first decline since a less than 2% decline in 2003.

3.       US Domestic Travel overall is down 3.8 percent for the year through September 2009. Leisure travel is down 2.7% while business travel is down a whopping 7.5% attributed primarily to a decline in meetings.

4.       The cost of international flights from USA was down 20% in September 2009 from a year ago.

(2-4 source: http://www.hsmaieconnect.org/news/154000370/4044202.html)

5.       Hyatt Hotels Corporation initial public offering of $1.14 billion in stock occurred November 4. Hyatt posted a $31 million loss for the first nine-months of 2009. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601084&sid=aPPIjpC8xV5w

6.       Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, purchased 3 million of the 38 million shares for a 6.9% stake in Hyatt Hotels. Hyatt has a strong cash position with more than 5x the cash of Marriott and Starwood combined. (Ric’s note: Makes me think acquisition of new Hyatt properties is in the near future.) http://themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/business/43408-singapores-gic-buys-69pc-stake-in-hyatt

7.       Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur is a jewel on the edge of the Pacific Ocean that I visited last week when the temperature was unseasonably warm with high 70s/low 80s. The perspective of looking down 1,200 feet from the Cliff House rooms to the Pacific Ocean is an extreme and unique hotel experience. The rooms I had a chance to visit were eye-popping, the view dizzying, but the $1,500 to $2,200 per night price tag is what prompted my vertigo. Here are my Facebook post photos.

Infinity spa pool, Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur

8.       Fairmont Hotels has a winter sale through 11:59 EST, Thursday, February 19. The rates for Canada look good for now as opposed to the lack of room availability for the Winter Olympics. http://www.fairmont.com/promo/winter

9.       Marriott’s SpringHill Suites has a video memory contest for prizes. You need to recall ten items shown in a 2 minute video. I only got 8 of 10. http://videochallenge.spacetoinspire.com/

10.   Mexicana Airlines joined the oneworld alliance this month. There are two more days left to redeem Mexicana Go miles at 50% off for Mexicana operated flights systemwide for travel through March 25. US-Madrid or London via Mexico City in Business Class is 56,000 miles and around $500 in taxes. USA-Cancun is 30,000 miles First Class and about $100. Members can buy miles from Mexicana. http://www.mexicanago.com/en/page/promociones-go-welcome-p

11.   Hotels Magazine blogger Adam Kirby wrote his case for free hotel wi-fi and hoteliers roasted his feet over the poolside BBQ in their comments. http://www.hotelsmag.com/blog/1720000572/post/1170050517.html

12.   Ritz-Carlton Residences in Denver have gone into foreclosure after selling only one of 25 luxury units in the 202-room hotel building in downtown Denver. My first impression when I visited the property was “Hey, it looks out over the Greyhound bus station!” http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13776640

13.   The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell released a new report stating a hotel’s presence on Expedia increases bookings made through the hotel website’s own systems. The researcher calls this the “billboard effect” whereby a potential guest just seeing the hotel listed on Expedia helps drive sales through the hotel’s own reservation channels. Perhaps Choice Hotels management read the report before agreeing to settle their contract with Expedia this past week.

http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/2009.html

I haven’t gone through my OTA rant in a few months now.  OTA is Online Travel Agency. 

Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz are the dominant players in travel searches for hotels.  The value of an OTA is the ability to get a quick snapshot of prices in a city and then quickly book your hotel stay.  Recently all the OTAs have had sales claiming 20%, 40%, even 50% off room rates. 

Kayak.com is on a lot of travelers “Favorite” list for hotel rate searches.  I use Kayak to get an idea of the prevailing hotel rates for an area when I start planning travel.  Kayak.com is a meta-search engine and not an OTA. 

Kayak.com does not actually sell hotel rooms.  A meta-search engine quickly goes through the hotel rates or airfares for a variety of OTAs and pulls up the prices.  Kayak.com takes you to an OTA like Expedia or Orbitz for booking your hotel room or flight once you make a specific selection among the hotel or airline search returns.

Kayak.com is very useful for finding low airfares, but much less useful for hotel rates.

The problem with Kayak.com and OTAs in general is the inability to locate special offer rates or group rates commonly available like AAA and senior group discounts.

Renaissance Eden Roc, Miami Beach – A Tale of Two Travelers

Ellen is a busy executive, but a do it yourself travel planner.  She gets a thrill from looking at websites and picturing herself in the perfect bathing suit, on the perfect beach, in perfect weather, at a great hotel, at the best price.

Ellen goes to Kayak.com and finds the Renaissance Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach listed at $330. 

Kayak.com shows Eden Roc Renaissance, Miami Beach for $330

A pop-up window search for Travelocity.com shows $369 for this Miami Beach, Florida hotel. 

Travelocity hotel rate for Eden Roc, Miami Beach $369

Based on Renaissance Eden Roc’s TripAdvisor ranking of #23 of 207 Miami area hotels and its 4-star rating, Ellen believes the $369 rate pulled up on Travelocity is a fair market rate for this hotel and compared to other hotel rates on Miami Beach like the Fontainebleau.

TripAdvisor Rating for Eden Roc, Miami Beach, #23 of 206 Hotels

Kayak.com search shows $330 per night through gtahotels.com website.  This may be a good way to save $78 and tax for the two night stay. 

GTAHotels rate is $330 for Eden Roc, Miami Beach (Kayak search lead)

Ellen is a savvy traveler and she knows Marriott.com should have the same $330 rate. She will earn Marriott Rewards points by booking through the Marriott website. 

She heads over to Marriott.com and rechecks the rate for Eden Roc, Miami Beach, January 11-13 for two nights.  The rate shows as $369 on Marriott.com for a 14-day advance reservation rate that allows a no penalty cancellation up to 3 days before arrival.  A reservation canceled within three days forfeits one night’s room charges of $416.97.  She doesn’t see a $330 rate on Marriott.com.  Perhaps this is a potential “Best Rate Guarantee” claim with Marriott.

Marriott.com rate for Renaissance Eden Roc, Miami Beach is $369

Always Check Hotel Rate Rules for the fine print on cancellation. 

From the Marriott Website for this $369 rate:

Rate Rules

Holding Your Reservation

·         We will need a credit card number to reserve your room.

Canceling Your Reservation

·         You may cancel your reservation for no charge until January 8, 2009 (3 day[s] before arrival).

·         Please note that we will assess a fee of 416.97 USD if you must cancel after this deadline.

If you have made a prepayment, we will retain all or part of your prepayment. If not, we will charge your credit card.

This fee equals 1 night of your room charge plus tax (for the first night of your reservation).

Modifying Your Reservation

·         Please note that a change in the length or dates of your reservation may result in a rate change.

·         Your current rate may be available if your modified reservation still includes:

·         A reservation made 14 day(s) before your expected arrival.

Ellen knows AAA usually brings the rate down even more and repeats the rate search on Marriott.com with the AAA box checked.

Marriott.com AAA rate for Renaissance Eden Roc Hotel, Miami is $386

Oddly enough, the AAA rate is actually more than the 14-day advance reservation rate.  Reading the rate rules, Ellen sees there is no advantage or benefit to the more expensive AAA rate.  The AAA rate also allows a cancellation up to 3 days before arrival date.

Ellen books the two night stay at the Eden Roc Renaissance Resort for $833.94 through the Marriott website because the points and stay credit make the higher price a better value for her hotel lifestyle than the $39 + tax per night she would have saved through her Kayak.com search using gtahotels.com for her booking.  Ellen will earn at least 7,380 Marriott Rewards points for her two night stay at $369/night.

Marriott.com Total rate for Renaissance Eden Roc Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida

January 11-13, 2009  $833.94

Hotel Special Offers are Where the Best Deals are Found

Loyalty Traveler booked the Eden Roc Renaissance Resort for the same room type, on the same dates, on the same Marriott.com website and paid $291.54 for his two night stay.  And Loyalty Traveler will earn a $100 hotel credit for his next stay at the Eden Roc Resort.

Marriott.com $129 Special Offer Rate for Renaissance Eden Roc Hotel, Miami Beach, FL 

Why is there a $542.40 difference in the Marriott.com room rates?

The Loyalty Traveler took the time to look through 12 pages of Marriott Rewards special offers found here.   An offer on page 9 for the Eden Roc Renaissance Hotel showed a $129 special rate valid through January 31, 2009 for Marriott Rewards members:

Marriott Rewards Members’ Sneak Peek of the Bold New Eden Roc

Resort and Spa!!

Includes a great introductory rate, welcome amenity, and a $100

Resort Credit to be used on a return stay in 2009.

Resort Credit cannot be used on current stay*

Resort Credit cannot be applied to room and tax*

Based on Availability*

Restrictions may apply*

Valid 10/24/08-1/31/09*

Marriott.com Special Offer Rate of $129 for Renaissance Eden Roc Hotel, Miami Beach

Special Offer Rate of $129 even includes a $100 credit towards a future Eden Roc stay.

And remember to check the fare rules:

Canceling Your Reservation

·         You may cancel your reservation for no charge until January 8, 2009 (3 day[s] before arrival).

·         Please note that we will assess a fee of 145.77 USD if you must cancel after this deadline.

If you have made a prepayment, we will retain all or part of your prepayment. If not, we will charge your credit card.

This fee equals 1 night of your room charge plus tax (for the first night of your reservation).

The fare rules for the special offer rate of $129 are the same cancellation rules as the higher $369 rate.

Hotel Corporations are in the business of making money.

Great deals are available on the hotel’s websites, however, a standard search on the corporate-branded websites does not automatically return the lowest available rates for your stay.  You must specifically search special rates like AAA, Senior, and Promotional rates. 

The code is M11 for the $129 special offer for the Renaissance Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach.  Marriott.com automatically uses the M11 code if you click through the rate search using the special offers page link.

Keep in mind when planning your hotel travel that Kayak.com and OTAs are useful tools, but the best discounts for your hotel stay are often hotel special rates and offers unlikely to be found by these sites.  Even using the hotel-branded websites like Marriott.com will often keep these low rates hidden when searching hotel rates.

There are great hotel deals all the time.  Knowing where and how to find them is the challenge.

If You’re Going to San Francisco,

Be Sure to Where Some Flowers in Your Hair,

And also check for the $134 special offer rate for the Renaissance Stanford Court on Nob Hill:

http://www.marriott.com/specials/mesOffer.mi?marrOfferId=358706&displayLink=true