This promotion is a great value for new members to try Priority Club, however, the promotion is open to new and existing members. The offer has high leverage value for hotel guests who do not normally stay in Priority Club hotels of Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Expressm Hotel Indigo, and Staybridge Suites brands as the promotion guarantees 25,000 points for two stays by April 30, 2009.

A guest could choose to fulfill the promotion with two one-night stays. 25,000 points earned June 15, 2009 are sufficient for many Priority Club hotels with daily rates of $300 or more.

This offer has more subtle terms and conditions than most hotel loyalty promotions

Stay two times at a participating IHG Priority Club hotel in the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, or Hotel Indigo in Europe, Middle East, or Africa and receive a minimum 25,000 points for the promotional period.  See list below for participating countries.

Important Note About Registering for this Promotion:

Points earned prior to registration for this promotion do not count towards 25,000 point total.  If you are currently registered for the 3,000 points every three nights promotion and earning lots of bonus points from that deal, then do not register for this promotion until your last two stays before April 30, 2009. The fine print states the promotion does not apply retroactively to stays prior to registration.

This promotion will guarantee 25,000 points bonus in your account for two qualifying stays during the promotional period of March 9 to April 30, 2009. Priority Club will issue the difference in points between the total points you earn during the promotional period for stays and bonuses (points are only counted after you register for the promotion) and 25,000 points total for this promotion.

This means the fewer points you earn during the promotional period after registering for this promotion, the greater your bonus points to take you to 25,000 points.

 The promotion is of greatest value to someone who will only have two hotel stays during the promotional period.  Hypothetically, a guest could spend $75US per night and $150 for two stays. The member would earn 1,500 points for the two stays. This promotion will earn an additional 23,500 points to the Priority Club member’s account on June 15, 2009.  The member can then redeem a free night at most IHG brand hotels.

On the other hand — A frequent guest signed up for the 3,000 points every 3 nights promotion and this 25,000 points for two stays promotion who spends $75 per night for 9 nights during the promotion period will earn $675 x 10 points/$1 = 6,750 base points + 9,000 bonus points for the every third night promotion = 15,750 points.

This frequent guest will only earn an additional 9,250 bonus points on June 15, 2009 to bring the member’s account total for the promotion period to 25,000 points. This is why a member should wait until the last two stays to register to minimize the points counted towards the 25,000 point total.

A Priority Club member who stays 15 nights at $100 per night by April 30, 2009 would earn 15,000 base points and 15,000 bonus points for 3,000 points every 3 nights. This member does not earn any bonus points for the two stays promotion since the member earns 30,000 points from the other promotions. This member can still benefit by waiting until the last two stays before April 30, 2009 to register for this 25,000 point promotion and increase the earning from this separate bonus offer.

Priority Club does a great job with their table showing different stay patterns and points earned on the promotion page.  They did much of my job for me in analyzing this promotion in an easy to read table.

Important points to remember for this promotion:

1.    A stay is defined as one night or consecutive nights at the same hotel, regardless of frequency of check-in/out.

2.    A stay is qualified when paying qualifying room rates, which include most business and leisure rates.

3.    No retroactive points or miles will be awarded for stays prior to promotion registration.

4.    You must have recorded a preference to earn Priority Club Points in your Member Profile to participate. Priority Club members with a preference to earn Miles are not eligible for this Holiday Nights promotion.

5.    No retroactive points will be awarded for stays which awarded Miles during the promotional period, regardless of registration for the promotion. The calculation of the additional points required to receive the minimum of 25,000 points will include all points earned from all hotel stay-related activities between the promotional dates only.

6.    All points will be credited to the member’s accounts by 15 June 2009. The free night will only be available to take after the points have been credited into the members account on 15 June 2009.

Promotion Terms and Conditions link.

Registering for this promotion automatically registers you for the 3,000 points after 3 nights promotion.

Pay attention to participating countries for this 25,000 point bonus. This offer is not valid for USA hotels or for hotels in several European countries.

Western Europe

·         UK,

·         Germany,

·         France,

·         Belgium,

·         Netherlands,

·         Italy,

·         Spain,

·         Switzerland,

Middle East/Africa

·         Bahrain

·         Egypt

·         Ghana

·         Jordan

·         Kenya

·         Kuwait

·         Lebanon

·         Mozambique

·         Oman

·         Saudi Arabia

·         South Africa

·         Tanzania

·         UAE

·         Yemen

·         Zambia

·         Zimbabwe

Example fulfillment of promotion:

Holiday Inn Cannes Le Cannet, France 90 EUR April 13, 2009

Holiday Inn Nice Port St. Laurent Resort 105EUR April 16, 2009

Spend about $275USD for two nights and you earn points sufficient for a free night at about 4,000 IHG Priority Club hotels around the world.  Your points will be worth more than $275 per night at some hotels. 

Say you spend $550 for four nights. Redeem your free night next summer at a $300 per night hotel and you get a better than 50% rebate on your international travel, as long as you are in one of the participating countries before the end of April to take advantage of this 25,000 bonus points promotion.

Additional value-added benefits:

·         free breakfast until 11am

·         6pm checkout

·         kids stay free

This special offer rate is combinable with HHonors Double Base Points promotion running through April 6, 2009.  Double base points promotion requires member registration.

Offer: Discount Bed & Breakfast rates at participating international hotels.  Rate includes free breakfast and late checkout.  Valid for maximum of three nights, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, however, some hotels only offer this special rate on weekdays.  Promotion terms.

Booking deadline: January 31, 2009

Hotel Stay Deadline: Stays must be completed by August 31, 2009

Participating Hotels can be viewed by clicking on the link for the UK and Ireland and then selecting desired geographical region for Europe, Middle East, Africa, or Asia:

UK and Ireland

My find using the January Sale rate was the Conrad Singapore for $113USD.  That is a better price than I paid for the hotel in 2001 for a King Classic room. 

For Americans, that comes out to $200USD per night at today’s exchange rate of $1.54 = £ 1.  That sounds expensive , yet compared to November 2007 when the average room rate was over £137 per night and the exchange rate was $2.02 = £ 1, the average room rate has dropped from $277 per night to  $200US.  That is nearly a 30% reduction in room rates for the American tourist in one year. 

The Euro has also gained in value from 1.40€ per £ 1 in December 2007 to just 1.10 € per £ 1 currently.  The reduction in price of UK hotels by 20 to 30% for Europeans and Americans still has not generated increased tourism.

UK Hotel Occupancy Declines from November 2007 to November 2008

London    - 6%  to 79.5% occupancy in November 2008

I think the hotel consumer needs to keep in mind while reading all the doom and gloom hotel news in late 2008 that 2007 was a peak in hotel room rates.  London hotels made record profits in 2007 and occupancy was at its highest in ten years since 1997.

The fact that airfare is a bargain during this final quarter of 2008, hotels in London and the UK cost 20 to 30% less than a year ago for millions of tourists, and occupancy is still declining at an accelererating rate indicates 2009 will be a year of remarkable value for travelers able to take advantage of the hotel economy downturn for some personal leisure benefits.

Story sources:

PKF Consulting April 11, 2008 – UK hotel sector well-positioned for challenging 2008.

Hotel Travel News November 14, 2008 -  London Hotels Set for Tough Year

Hotel Travel news December 15, 2008 – UK Hotels Feel the Pinch

The essence of travel is the experience of little alterations to your normal existence. 

Vancouver Moosecot

Images and experiences of the past week are all rushing through my mind.  The journey has truly been a trip.

Why do they park this way in Seattle?

Seattle drivers back in for diagonal parking

Last Saturday I was in a Seattle Fremont neighborhood pub talking with my sister.  I told her this Northwest driving trip was a practice run to see if I can work effectively while traveling around.  The waitress overheard me and said, “Oh, you’re multi-tasking.”

Lenin Statue in Fremont District, Seattle

Three days of driving in torrential rainstorms, two days visiting my sister in Seattle for the first time since she moved there in 2000, three days of hotel hopping around Vancouver with my wife who flew up to Canada from California for the long weekend, and three freelance assignments that came in my email box over the past week kept pushing the Loyalty Traveler blog to the back-burner.

It’s a grey day and the pine trees are dripping…

In a grey world my reality is slipping

   ‘Grey Day’, Jesse Colin Young

Portland, Oregon was déjà vu yesterday with the drive from Seattle to Portland as rainy as the drive last week across Oregon to Portland.  The Pacific Northwest matched its average rainfall for the entire month of November in the past week and I drove through a good portion of the heaviest downpours.  The weather report today says the next week will be dry and tomorrow it will be in the 80s here in the Big Valley of California.  At least my luck was good for Vancouver with beautiful weather for the duration of my wife’s visit.

View from Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia

I arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Yreka, California a couple of hours ago and wondered why I was searching for a parking spot at 5:00pm on a Thursday.  In the lobby I discovered I arrived for the hotel’s Grand Opening Open House.  The hotel opened about ten weeks ago and the public was invited to view several rooms on display.

What luck!  I was able to tour the hotel and see a suite, a bedroom with a whirlpool bath, and take advantage of a reception with live music, complimentary Heineken and Sierra Nevada beers, wine, and appetizers in the lobby. 

Yreka, California Holiday Inn Express

My second stay at a Holiday Inn Express and I am pleased with my two experiences.  I have said this before and I really think 2009 is going to be the year when this Loyalty Traveler gets to know Priority Club and the InterContinental Ambassador programs on a more personal level.

·          

I anticipated hotel prices to drop in November 2008 for San Francisco just as they do every year, but low  San Francisco hotel rates are blowing my mind the past couple of days.  Le Meridien San Francisco, a Category 5 SPG hotel is going for $119 per night – the lowest rate I’ve ever seen for this hotel.  The Palace, a Category 5 Luxury Collection hotel is $136 – the best rate in about two years.  Westin Market Street is $119 (and I actually see a $109 Best Rate Guarantee claim for tomorrow night, but Ms. Loyalty Traveler is going to change the locks if I don’t go home).  Looks like double stays for SPG Platinum renewal is going to be completed with some good deals.

Le Meridien Hotel San Francisco at $119 is luxury at a bargain price

Vancouver on my mind

“Take my hand and come with me

                Into this Crystal Village”

                                –Pete Yorn

Vancouver’s crystal tower village view from Granville Island

Vancouver is a beautiful city of crystal towers on the waterfront.  I have been to Vancouver a couple of times before, but I don’t remember the city being so compact.  I think this was my first visit when the weather wasn’t freezing cold and walking around for hours each day was a delight.  I’ll have hotel reports over the next week from the host city of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Inuksuk in Hyatt Hotel Vancouver – 2010 Winter Olympics Symbol

Starwood normally has a 20% discount on 2-night stays using links given below in this post for multi-night discounts.  These links also provide for a 33% discount on a 3-night stay if the hotel is participating.  Better Tomorrows is less than 17% discount if rate used for a 3-night stay.

Is the name “Better Tomorrows” a stock market response or what?

Starwood Hotel rates (rate check 10-13-08)

Weekday rates are generally higher in urban city business districts

Starwood has a newly launched promotion, Better Tomorrows, for stays of two nights or more. This special offer gives a 25% discount overall for stays of 2, 4, or 6 days.  Be aware the promotion is actually Pay 1 night, get 2nd night for 50%.  This means hotel stays with an odd-number of nights will have less than 25% overall discount.

3 night stay on $150 per night rate:  Night 1 = $150, Night 2 = $75, Night 3 = $150 or in other words $375 is a total savings of $75 on the regular $450 3-night rate.  This is only a 17% savings.  Many Starwood hotels have a 3rd night free offer that will be a better savings (33%) than the Better Tomorrows rate.

Better Tomorrows Discount Rate Terms:

1.       Promotional rate code = ZBT

2.       Minimum 2-night stay with arrival Thursday, Friday, or Saturday.

3.       Reservation is prepaid, non-changeable and non-refundable.  (Watch out!  Be Certain!)

4.       Reservations must be made by March 31, 2009 for stays completed by March 31, 2009

Special rate should be eligible rate for “You Choose” Hotel Stays and Nights eligibility.  Check with SPG.

Longer stays of 3 to 6 nights may be available using a different offer, the on-going Starwood Hotels special room rate links for discounts up to 33% off regular rates at participating hotels around the globe.

Starwood Hotels Multi-night Discounts for City Hotels (2 to 6 night hotel stays): http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=GENDRE_H

Starwood Hotels Multi-night Discounts for Resort Hotels (2 to 6 night hotel stays):

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promotions/promo_landing.html?category=GENDRE_R

·          

I wonder sometimes how I plan out my hotel travels and here is an opportunity to share how I go about using a loyalty promotion.

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) is now into the second week of the fourth quarter SPG promotion called “You Choose”.   The promotion allows the SPG member to choose the promotion type.  The offer is an assortment of bonus points based on the number of hotel nights stayed or hotel stays and also includes an option for earning free nights during the final three months of 2008.  Another good value choice for some members is “Double Stays” or “Double Nights”. 

The difference between stays and nights is based in the rule that consecutive nights at the same hotel count as one hotel stay. 

Road travel pattern of hotel stays

A person who spends one night at four different hotels is credited with 4 hotel nights and 4 hotel stays.  

A person who spends 7 nights at a beach resort hotel is credited with 7 hotel nights and 1 hotel stay.  Many hotel loyalty promotions have a lower requirement for the number of hotel stays required compared to the number of hotel nights to benefit travelers who stay frequently, but have short stays.

Typical vacation leisure pattern

Your travel pattern determines the best promotion choice. Frequent one or two night stays can be the cheapest way to fulfill a hotel promotion using hotel stays because the number of nights required is usually more than the number of hotel stays.  Many leisure travelers do not want frequent one-night stays and the multi-night leisure traveler may favor a promotion choice for nights.

·          

SPG “You Choose” 4th Quarter Promotion

2 Stays = 2,000 bonus points

4 Nights = 2,000 bonus points

6 Stays = 9,000 bonus points

12 Nights = 9,000 bonus points

10 Stays = 25,000 bonus points

20 Nights = 25,000 bonus points

Remember this promotion only lasts until December 31, 2008 so be sure you have a complete plan for sufficient hotel stays or nights before picking a higher threshold bonus.  You must register and select your offer choice by November 15, 2008.

4 stays = 1 free night (up to Category 5 hotel);  maximum of 2 free nights

8 nights = 1 free night (up to Category 5 hotel);  maximum of 2 free nights

The remaining choice of any value is Double Stays.

Loyalty Traveler loves this elite fast-track choice.  Going for SPG Platinum Elite status will pay for itself as long as you plan to travel sufficiently with Starwood Hotels in 2009 to the tune of 10 to 15 nights or more.   You will actually maintain your Platinum status through February 2010 for at least 14 months of complimentary upgrade opportunities, bonus points, and additional hotel stay amenities.  SPG has run a double stays promotion once or twice a year for the past few years so regaining Platinum elite in 2009 may require as few as 13 stays (25 stays is normal qualifying requirement).

During the first quarter this year I made Hyatt Diamond status on a “Stays Count Double” promotion and this quarter I will take the SPG Double Stays promotion to retain Platinum elite membership with SPG.

·          

As I looked over rates in California and I checked Oregon and Washington, I saw Portland, OR has the overall lowest rates in a west coast location with multiple Starwood hotels.  Anaheim area around Disneyland midweek looked good too.  But these rates are around $100 to $120 per night for mediocre hotels.  San Francisco and Seattle rates are sky high in the $200+ range for most hotels on most nights.

And this brings me around to Canada.  I happened to search Vancouver and was surprised to see rates for hotels like the Sheraton Wall Centre at $159CAD and then I was shocked to see the US Dollar is now worth $1.17 CAD.  (well, the USD has dropped 2% during the time I have been writing this piece today and the exchange rate is now $1.15 after Monday, Oct. 13 trades.)

Just three months ago, in July 2008, the exchange rate was an even 1.00 to 1.00 between the Canadian and US Dollar.  Canada’s currency has dropped 15%-18% in just three months since July 2008.  (Mexico has dropped over 20% and makes Mexico a huge bargain for Americans right now.)

At the current exchange rates I don’t think the prices of Starwood hotels in Vancouver have changed much since I first visited Vancouver’s Starwood hotels in 1999 to fulfill an SPG promotion bonus and they haven’t changed much from 2003 when I snapped these photos.

Vancouver Skyline from Sheraton Wall Centre

After looking over rates for Starwood Hotels in California, I branched outwards from the state.

Rather than stay at the usual suspects for cheap rates like the Sheraton San Jose ($84) and Sheraton Sunnyvale ($99) or East Bay locations like the W Newark ($99) or Sheraton Pleasanton ($71), this Loyalty Traveler has decided to head to the great north country of Vancouver, British Columbia for some Starwood Double Stays.

·          

Alaska Airlines – Say goodbye to 20,000 mile domestic tickets

Alaska Airlines is raising their domestic economy frequent flyer tickets to 25,000 miles as of November 1, 2008.

I am cleaning out my Alaska Airlines account and a flight to Vancouver, Canada is still only 20,000 miles and $40 in award taxes for the frequent flyer ticket.

 Alaska Airlines-Horizon Airlines propeller plane

One of the great benefits of having a coordinated plan for frequent flyer programs and frequent guest programs is the ability to use points and miles when needed to reduce the cost of travel needed to fulfill other promotions.

My Alaska Airline miles are primarily leftover miles from 2003 when I fulfilled an Alaska Airlines promotion for 100,000 bonus miles.  I earned 150,000+ Alaska miles in 2003.  I cashed in 100,000 miles for a British Airways First Class ticket to Europe a few years back.  I transferred 1,000 Diners Club points to Alaska miles earlier in 2008 to raise the account to a domestic award ticket level from 19,000 to 20,000 miles.  I can now cash in the miles, get a ticket to Canada for $40, and vacation while earning Double Stays with Starwood Preferred Guest at the relatively cheap Vancouver urban hotels.

·          

Vancouver’s Stanley Park in 2003

I love Canada.

Every time I have gone to Canada by plane I swear I will never go back.  The world over, I have experienced nothing even close to the amount of questioning I receive by Canadian airport immigration.  This is how I recall our typical conversation.  The conversation seems similar if I am going to Canada for 2 nights, 7 nights, or two weeks.

Airport Mountie: “Why did you come to Canada?”

LT: “Hotel stay.”

Airport Mountie: “You are only here for one night?  Why would you come to Canada for one night?” 

LT: “A hotel stay and weekend vacation.”

Airport Mountie: “Who spends money to travel all the way from California to Canada for just a weekend?  Now tell me, why have you come to Canada?”

LT: “I like Canada? And it is only two hours away by plane.”

Airport Mountie: “Where are you staying while you are here in Canada?”

LT: (I usually rattle off a Starwood Hotel name).

And after one to two minutes more of inane back and forth Q and A they eventually let me in. 

View from Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, British Columbia

Fare Update:  This Italy deal is gone as of Sunday October 5.  The fare was available from CheapTickets almost all day Saturday, October 4. 

Low fares like these generally last only a few hours.  This one was around for almost 24 hours.

Quick Loyalty Traveler post since this airfare deal probably won’t be around for long.

FlyerTalk has a thread explaining how to get low airfare for United Airlines flights to Rome (FCO) and Milan (MXP) for travel January-May, 2009.  You can try the FlyerTalk thread method or go directly to CheapTickets.com and try to find the fare.  I have made it work both ways.

It is a little tricky to get to the fare but you start at Kayak, search for Rome, and when the selection Multiple Airlines comes up as the top selection with a CheapTickets.com link you are probably there.  Give the directions in FlyerTalk a try.

I also got the fare to work fairly easily at 9:15am Pacific time, Saturday morning booking directly with www.CheapTickets.com .  Check your US city to either MXP (Milan) or FCO (Rome) and choose Air One flight option.  There was lots of availability from SFO and LAX.  The fare reprices from $738 to $506 for SFO-FCO on dates I tried.  Fares range from $300 to $600 all-in if you get the low fare to work for your city and dates.  February to May 2009 have been successful for people.  I saw many low rates for February 2009 dates.

I found the low fare can be booked directly through CheapTickets.com.  The fare will come up in the $600 to $800 range and then reprices when you select the specific flight to book.  The fare works when you select Air One flight and it comes up as an all United flights itinerary codeshare.

[ This paragraph was from my initial post using the FlyerTalk directions, but I also found the fare works going directly to CheapTickets.com.] 

The fare tends to say $700 to $800 on Kayak when you see the CheapTickets.com link under the “Multiple Airlines” choice for your date selection. When you click on CheapTickets.com link and leave Kayak.com, the search comes up at lower fare.  Likely the fare is without fuel surcharges and the purchase price on CheapTickets.com is coming up in the range of $300 total for New York -Rome roundtrip and $500-$510 all-in for LAX and SFO roundtrip.  The best part is the ticket is for all United Airlines flights.

I saw Feb 1-9, SFO-FCO (Rome) for $506 (+$27 CheapTickets paper ticket delivery charge.) = $533

San Francisco-Rome roundtrip, United Airlines, Feb 1-9, 2009, $506 all-in

I found other trip dates in January and February. The fare is not available during the Presidents’ Week school holidays from February 12 to February 22.  Dates before and after those dates work well.  And if you can do an extended trip Wednesday Feb 11- Monday Feb 23 does work for cheap fares.  Others report March, April, and May availability.

Give it a try.  This is a good deal historically, not a great deal.  Flights in February 2008 were available through major airlines for under $500 all-in from west coast. 

Who knows what regular fares will be like in February 2009?

This is a good deal.

Directions are given here in this FlyerTalk thread.

Here are some screen shots if using CheapTickets.com directly to indicate what you are looking for:

CheapTickets.com Fare Search Results for LAX-Rome (FCO), Feb 1-9, 2009

Select Air One fare from CheapTickets.com shown as $738

CheapTickets reprices the LAX-Rome fare at $506 all-in. 

Paper ticket UPS shipping fee is an additional $27.

Los Angeles to Rome roundtrip is $533 all-in for economy flights on United Airlines.

Good luck.

United Airlines economy may not be British Airways First Class, but it sure is CheapTickets.

InterContinental Hotels Group has so many promotions going on right now that it is hard keeping up with the deals. 

This new promotion for 25,000 points after two hotel stays in the UK or Germany is actually a great deal for someone who had not planned to stay in Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, or Express by Holiday Inn hotels over the next few months.

Offer: Earn 25,000 points after two stays in Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, or Express by Holiday Inn in the UK or Germany.  (The fine print is discussed below and points earned are variable depending on your total earnings of points between Sep 15 and Dec 15.  It is possible to not earn any bonus points from this promotion if you earn 25,000 Priority Club points during the promotional period from other bonuses and stay activity.)

Promotion Dates: September 15, 2008 – December 15, 2008

Registration is required.  Offer is available to new and existing Priority Club members.  No retroactive credit for stays prior to registration.   Registration for this promotion automatically registers the Priority Club member for the global double points promotion during this same timeframe.  See my post on the double points promotion here.

Bonus Points Credited to account by January 15, 2009.

Link to 25,000 Points after Two Stays promotional offer terms and conditions.

Hotel loyalty programs are throwing free nights and bonus points offers at the consumer as economic conditions continue to slide around the globe.  The biggest advantage of the current Priority Club offer for stays in the UK and Germany is for the traveler who is focused on another loyalty program offer like the SPG “You Choose” offers discussed in yesterday’s post or Hyatt’s Faster Free Nights which I analyzed in this post. 

The Priority Club 25,000 points offer has an unusual and indefinite phrase regarding the points earned for this promotion:

“All members of Priority Club Rewards with two qualifying stays in a Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn®, or Express by Holiday Inn® hotel in the U.K. or Germany between 15/9/08 and 15/12/08 will receive whatever number of points are needed for the member to have accumulated a minimum of 25,000 Priority Club points earned from all IHG hotel stay-related points and bonus points-earning activities globally during the promotion period.”

Basically this clause in the offer terms makes this promotion much less valuable for Priority Club members participating in the current double Priority Club points promotion who may very well earn 25,000 points through other promotions and therefore would not receive any additional points from this promotion.

This 25,000 points offer has the highest value for a traveler who only has two stays during the promotional period.  25,000 points are sufficient for a free night at a Crowne Plaza hotel.  Assume you have two stays in the UK or Germany at a rate equivalent to $100USD per stay.  $200 in base spending will earn 2,000 Priority Club points.  Double points on the second stay will earn another 1,000 points for a total of 3,000 points on hotel stay spending.  The member will receive an additional 22,000 points from this promotion.

One of the most time-consuming aspects of real travel is getting from one place to another.  Hotel loyalty program promotions tend to have more lucrative special offers based on hotel stays rather than nights.  Accruing hotel stays means getting from one hotel to another and involves travel time.

My personal travel preference is to explore the immediate area I am located.  When I last stayed in Singapore I had four hotel stays in 5 nights.  I enjoyed each hotel and I enjoyed walking the neighborhoods around each location.  Hotel hopping suits me when I am traveling for leisure (well, okay, I also hotel hop for business).  My wife, on the other hand, wants to go someplace and stay as long as possible in the same hotel without moving around.  Her travel style favors promotions based on hotel nights.  We tend to redeem hotel points for multi-night stays.

One of the advantages I see with this promotion is the ability to stay in one city and bounce from a Starwood brand hotel to the IHG brand hotel or the Hyatt hotel to the IHG brand hotel and maximize two promotions while hotel hopping in one city location. 

This autumn has plenty of free night and bonus points earning opportunities for the frequent traveler who plans travel with two or three loyalty programs.  Of course this all assumes your fortunes haven’t tanked and you still have money to travel. 

I periodically see travel industry claims for hotel prospects staying bright with all the international visitors to the USA taking advantage of the great exchange rate for US Dollars.

The Global Insight report for AAA from February 2008, along with government statistics for Jan-Feb 2008 indicates more Americans are traveling to Europe for 2008.

I have my doubts that the final data will show increased travel for summer 2008 to overseas destinations and I will be looking for the data to see what Summer 2008 travel ultimately turns out to be. The on-the-street reality I see and hear are more families being hurt financially and somewhat mentally by the increased pressures of rising costs and bills. These past two years have shown the resident consumer in the USA particularly acute expenditure rises in gasoline, utilities, and medical/auto/other insurances compounding the noticeable increase in food stuffs. Along with a decline in house prices and perceived wealth coinciding with increased travel costs for airline tickets, even tickets using miles, and hotel rooms, makes the cost of overseas travel an avoidable luxury in 2008 for many in the economic squeeze.

European travel should be a good indicator of the American economy. As the data comes in for European travel for 2008, we will see if travel abroad is truly resilient in the face of poor economic conditions. I hope Americans can still find their way to travel overseas in 2008 and 2009. I’m frightened to think that we were a privileged generation who enjoyed travel and seeing the world for leisure. Future years may find more meaning to the US military slogan “Join and See the World”.

6,000,000 Americans to travel to Europe this summer according to AAA. The increase in travel to Europe is about 300,000 travelers over 2007. We will see.

While I was gathering research on international travel, I uncovered some interesting data on the USA traveler going overseas. Overseas is defined as all international countries outside the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Fascinating to me is the statistic that only 7% of USA travelers who went overseas in 2005 were first-time overseas travelers. So, 13 of 14 US travelers who went overseas in 2005 had traveled overseas previously. People traveling for leisure vacations or to visit family and friends accounted for 83% of international trips overseas. The AAA 2008 report cites 82% of international travel is leisure so the proportion of leisure to business travel is steady over the past few years.

In 2005 28.8 million USA resident travelers went overseas.
24.0 million travelers went overseas for leisure or to visit family and friends (83%).

61% of US leisure travelers overseas stayed in hotels
Average number of hotel nights = 9
Median number = 7

[Ric's calculation: Among leisure travelers, half of people staying in hotels are spending a week or less and half a week or more while traveling Europe.
24 million travelers x 0.61 stay in hotels x 9 nights = 146,000,000 room nights.
Assume some travelers stay together, so perhaps 100 million room nights from US travelers. Assume $100/night and about 10 billion dollars in international room bookings from Americans traveling overseas.]

Where do Americans Travel?
(2005 based on US Department of Commerce, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries government data)
80% visited just one country outside USA
13% visited two countries
7% visited three of more countries

42% of leisure travelers went to Europe or about 10 million travelers in 2005.
Fewer than 10% of these travelers ventured to Eastern Europe.

UK 12% (2,900,000 US travelers in 2005)

France 8% (2,000,000)

Italy 8% (2,000,000)

Germany 6% (1,500,000)

Spain 4% (1,000,000)

Netherlands 3% (750,000)

Ireland 3% (750,000)

Switzerland 2% (500,000)

Austria 2% (500,000)

Eastern Europe 4% (1,000,000)

19% Asia (4,500,000)

20% Caribbean (4,800,000)

14% Central and South America (3,400,000)

4% Middle East (1,000,000)

3% Oceania (750,000)

2% Africa (500,000)

Observations from the data: Fewer than 500,000 American visitors to Africa for 2005 and less than 750,000 US visitors to Oceania which includes Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands such as Tahiti and Fiji. For the first time in Australia, the country expects to see more of their residents travel out of the country than tourists coming in to Australia in 2008. Australians are being urged to take “staycations”.

International Visitors from Overseas to the USA (excludes Canadians and Mexicans)

Ric’s note: These are the visitors who are supposed to save our hotel industry as prices rise, occupancy drops, and American leisure and business travel declines over next year.

2000 26,000,000
2002 19,000,000
2003 18,000,000
2004 20,000,000
2005 21,700,000
2006 21,700,000
No increase in international travel arrivals from overseas for 2006 over 2005.
(16,000,000 Canadians and 13,000,000 Mexicans also visited the USA in 2006.)

Where do foreign visitors to the USA come from?
2004 data for Country of Residency for 20,000,000 visitors to the USA (countries with at least 200,000 visitors are listed and account for 80% of all overseas visitors to the USA (excludes Canadians and Mexicans).

8.5 million visitors came from 9 European countries.
42% of visitors to USA are from major European countries which is about the same percentage of Americans traveling to these countries overseas when traveling to Europe.

UK 4,300,000 (21.5% of all overseas visitors to USA in 2004)
The news I have read over the past couple years indicates the British are just as screwed as Americans in their finances with home prices and high debt.

Japan 3,750,000 (18.8%) Japanese tourism has been declining over past two years

Germany 1,320,000 (6.6%)

France 775,000 (3.9%)

S. Korea 625,000 (3.1%)

Australia 520,000 (2.6%)

Italy 470,000 (2.4%)

Netherlands 425,000 (2.1%)

Brazil 385,000 (1.9%)

Ireland 345,000 (1.7%)

Spain 335,000 (1.7%)

Venezuela 330,000 (1.6%)

China 325,000 (1.6%)
China, PRC 200,000
Hong Kong 125,000

India 310,000 (1.6%)

Taiwan 300,000 (1.5%)

Colombia 295,000 (1.5%)

Israel 275,000 (1.4%)

Bahamas 265,000 (1.3%)

Sweden 255,000 (1.3%)

Switzerland 245,000 (1.2 %)

79.3% of all US visitors from overseas in 2004 came from the countries listed above.

US Visitors to Overseas
2005 28,800,000 (leisure travelers are 83% of total travelers)
2006 30,150,000 (5% increase and appears mostly due to Caribbean travel increases for Jamaica and the Bahamas)

Ipsos Public Affairs Survey conducted on behalf of Access America Travel Insurance and Assistance in April 2008 shows a less optimistic summer 2008 travel season.
Only 33% of Americans surveyed planned to take a summer vacation in 2008.
Only 57% of Americans who took a summer vacation in 2007 planned to take one in 2008 and economic conditions are cited as primary factor for no vacation in summer 2008.

American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) Summer Hot Spots research data (Feb 2008) shows Europe had 6 of top 10 “International Hot Cities” in 2007.
London (#1 = 12.3%),
Rome (#2 = 9.9%),
Paris (# 4 = 7.0%),
Florence (# 7 = 1.2%),
Venice (#9 = 1.1%),
Frankfurt (#10 = 0.8%)
These 6 European cities comprised 32.3% of travel Hot Spot Cities in 2007.

2008 Data
London (#1= 10.9%),
Rome (#2 = 9.0%),
Paris (#4 = 6.4%),
Venice (#7 = 1.4%),
Barcelona (#8 = 1.1%)
Five European cities in 2008 in Top 10 accounted for 28.8% of ASTA responses. This represented a 3.5% decline in major European cities in Top 10 from 2007.

Obviously there is interest in several other cities not in the Top 10 since the Top 10 Cities only add up to 43% of travel responses, but then again 43% of all responses from travel agents indicates nearly half of international travel from the USA focuses on just 10 of the world’s major cities.

The data from this ASTA report in February for advance bookings shows travel declining overall and Europe Hot Spots down nearly 10% over two years from 2006 to 2008.

Honolulu and NYC are way down in interest for this ASTA survey for 2008 compared to 2007. That tells me people were holding off and waiting to see how the economy played out in the spring of this year. And for most people it turned way down in the months between January and June 2008 as household inflation jumped with fuel prices and food increases.

Let the economically advantaged Europeans and international tourists have New York. Most Americans are looking for a bargain this summer. $477 room rates – Please.

The Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

Starwood Preferred Guest has raised the category level of the Luxury Collection hotel, Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia by two category levels in four years.

Dec 2003, SPG Category 2, free weekend night = 3,000 Starpoints

March 2008, SPG Category 4, free weekend night =10,000 Starpoints

Gary Leff’s post, February 25, 2008 on View from the Wing, about the SPG annual category shift got me to thinking about my reaction to the coming changes. I understand the rationale for SPG increasing the categories for high demand hotels. Yet, I feel the pain of devalued points.

I have decided to look at it initially from my personal travel perspective.

Maybe later, I’ll tackle a real analysis of the shifts if I can locate charts showing the SPG categories from 2004 and 2006 to help me track the changes. Blondebomber of FlyerTalk has active links to his SPG Hotel Category spreadsheet on the internet. The spreadsheet tracks the SPG hotel category changes from 2005 to the current March 4, 2008 changes.

Hotel Shifts I notice from past stay award rates for a single free night:

Sheraton Noosa, Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia,
July 2003     Category 3    7,000 points

March 2008     Category 5    12,000-16,000 points

Noosa Beach by Sheraton Noosa, Australia

Four Points Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia
July 2003     Category 2     3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008    Category 4   10,000 points

Westin Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
December 2003    Category 1      2,000 points weekend; 3,000 points weekday

March 2008   Category 3     7,000 points

Westin Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

The Laguna Resort, Luxury Collection, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

December 2003    Category 2    3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008    Category 4    10,000 points

Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection, Laguna Resort Nusa Dua, Bali

Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok, Thailand
March 2004   Category 1     2,000 points weekend; 3,000 points weekday

March 2008    Category 3     7,000 points

Bangkok, Thailand, Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel

Westin Atlanta Airport
June 2007     Category 2     3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008   Category 3    7,000 points

Westin Hotel Atlanta Airport

Sheraton Newark Airport
June 2007    Category 2      3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008    Category 3    7,000 points

Sheraton Newark Airport, New Jersey

I have made a very rough estimate of the category changes at hotels I’ve visited.

I’ve probably redeemed 150,000 to 200,000 Starpoints for free nights at some of the hotels listed here and other places and locations I’ve stayed over the past five years.

I estimate it would now take about 260,000 points for the same number of nights at hotels where I redeemed points for stays for about 100,000 points.

Next month, 100,000 Starpoints might buy 10 nights at a selection of hotels where I redeemed 100,000 points for 25+ nights.Hotel room rates in most places have not risen anywhere near 150% in the past five years. Starwood point inflation has been devastatingly high on the free night redemption side for many travelers.

In Starwood’s favor, the widespread expansion of available Cash & Points rates in 2007 for hotels in all SPG categories from 1-6 has proved to be a high value use of Starpoints at many hotel properties.

$60 and 4,000 Starpoints for a Category 4 hotel award night can be a great alternative to 10,000 Starpoints or a $250+/night paid room rate. Paying $60 cash is a much higher value than spending 6,000 Starpoints.

$150 and 8,000 Starpoints for a Category 6 hotel night is often a better choice than 20,000 Starpoints or a paid room rate of $500/night.

I am glad I traveled when I did.

How much has your Starpoints earning power increased over the past five years?

My earning power hasn’t increased significantly and nowhere near 150%.

Two options for this traveler:

1. Stay fewer hotel nights or

2. Pay more money to increase the ratio of paid/award nights.

My economy will be the decider.

Loyalty Travelers based in the United States learn that Singapore is the farthest destination in flight miles a person can easily fly to from the USA on a variety of carriers and have an easy and affordable experience.

Singapore generally requires a US-Japan-Singapore routing and this is an 8,444 mile flight distance from San Francisco-Tokyo-Singapore (SFO-NRT-SIN).
New-York City-Los Angeles-Tokyo-Singapore (JFK/LGA/EWR-LAX-NRT-SIN) is an astounding 11,250 miles one-way. Mileage runners even figure out ways of adding additional flight segments to these basic routings for 1,500 or more flight miles.

The rationale for making a “mileage run” long distance itinerary is apparent when considering the miles earned in the frequent flyer member’s account and the elite qualifying flight miles credit. After attaining 50,000-flight mile elite status, a flyer earns a 100% flight mile bonus on qualifying economy fares with any one of the major airlines Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, or US Airways. The perks of complimentary flight upgrades, international lounge access, and other benefits await the elite flyer.

It is always good to know the rules for miles earned for your ticketed fares. The booking class of your ticket determines upgrade eligibility, miles earned, and eligibility for frequent flyer elite status qualifying miles (or points).

April 2008 Mileage Run Sample:
I’ll use United Mileage Plus as the carrier for this example, although a nearly identical calculation will apply for flyers in the other major airline loyalty programs of Alaska, American, Northwest, Delta, Continental, or US Airways.

Feb 28, 2008 a New York, (JFK)-Singapore (SIN) ticket, prices today at under $1,100 for all United Airlines itineraries. (Prices fluctuate and may occasionally drop below $1,000 from eastern US or below $800 from western US departure cities).

Tip: Quick mileage calculations between airports is available from the website: Great Circle Mapper, http://gc.kls2.com

The first choice of the lowest-priced itineraries offered by United.com is JFK-NRT-SIN routing in economy class “S” booking code. “S” booking code is ineligible for Mileage Plus cabin upgrades with miles or elite certificates since it is an all international flights itinerary.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

United Airlines Flight #837 (1-stop, plane change)
Depart New York, JFK 7:09
Arrive Tokyo, Japan, NRT 14:10 (next day, Thursday)
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 6,745 miles

Thursday, April 3, 2008

United Airlines Flight #803
Depart Tokyo, NRT 17:50
Arrive Singapore, SIN 23:55
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 3,324 miles

Thursday, April 10, 2008

United Airlines Flight #804
Depart Singapore, SIN 7:15
Arrive Tokyo, NRT 15:15
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 3,324 miles

United Airlines Flight # 852 (1-stop, plane change)
Depart Tokyo, NRT 18:00
Arrive New York, JFK 22:33
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 6,745 miles

Summary: JFK-SIN, United Airlines, “S” booking class,
$1,069.24 and earns 20,146 Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and
20,146 frequent flyer Award Miles (+ elite and/or promotional bonuses)

Although the screen states the flight is a one-stop, the ticket buyer must click the Plane Change links on the United reservations screen to see where the plane stops. A change of aircraft is required in San Francisco.

The New York to Tokyo routing requires a plane change in San Francisco, yet the two separate flights are given a single flight number. United Mileage Plus calculates the ticket as a non-stop flight for frequent flyer flight miles earned. This ticket will earn 20,146 flight miles for $1,069.24.

An alternative routing for the New York, JFK to Singapore “S” booking class ticket provides the frequent flyer with 22,363 award miles for $1,087.24, and also adds Hong Kong airport to the itinerary.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

United Airlines Flight #877
Depart: New York, JFK 8:00
Arrive: Los Angeles, LAX 11:14
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 2,475 miles

United Airlines Flight #867
Depart: Los Angeles, LAX 12:56
Arrive: Hong Kong, HKG 18:45 (Thursday, next day)
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 7,246 miles

Thursday, April 3, 2008

United Airlines Flight #895
Depart: Hong Kong, HKG 20:00
Arrive: Singapore, SIN 23:35
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 1,603 miles

Thursday, April 10, 2008

United Airlines Flight # 804
Depart: Singapore, SIN 07:15
Arrive: Tokyo, Japan 15:15
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 3,328 miles

United Airlines Flight # 838
Depart: Tokyo, Japan 16:05
Arrive: San Francisco, SFO 09:10 (Thursday, same day)
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 5,124 miles

United Airlines Flight # 010
Depart: San Francisco, SFO 11:20
Arrive: New York, JFK 20:03
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 2,586 miles

Summary: JFK-SIN, United Airlines, “S” booking class,
$1,087.24 and earns 22,363 Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and
22,363 frequent flyer Award Miles (+ elite and/or promotional bonuses)

Perhaps the greatest benefit is the ability to upgrade the transcontinental USA flights in “S” booking class since these are now domestic flights. Although the other itinerary also has two transcontinental domestic flight segments, these flights are under a single international United flight number and thus international upgrade rules apply.

A United ticket from New York, JFK to Singapore has itinerary choices that make a huge difference in loyalty program benefits for a small difference in cash. $18.00 is a small price to pay for 2,217 extra flight miles towards elite status and mileage upgrade credit, in addition to the extra frequent flier miles for awards and the potential for a transcontinental domestic upgrade.

Elite Frequent Flier Bonus Miles

A Premier Executive, 50,000-mile status member with a 100% flight miles bonus will earn 22,363 elite bonus miles on the Hong Kong routing.

$1,087.24 fare / 44,726 Mileage Plus miles = $24.31/1,000 miles earned.

Travel earns miles at a lower rate than buying miles through the airlines or credit cards.

**************
The Quest for Frequent Flier Elite Status

Two trips between New York and Singapore a year on United can easily earn 45,000 elite qualifying miles and earn 90,000 frequent flyer miles. These earned miles are redeemable for a Business Class Star Alliance award from the USA to Europe (80,000 miles) or South America (80,000 miles) or North or South Asia (90,000 miles). And a frequent flyer would only need one additional 5,000 mile trip, like New York City – San Francisco (JFK-SFO), to earn 50,000-mile elite status within the calendar year with United Mileage Plus.

United Airline Mileage Plus Business Class Star Alliance Awards:

80,000 miles Business Class award, US/Canada-Europe using United Airlines or any of these 11 Star Alliance partner airlines which currently operate flights between North America and Europe: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, TAP Portugal, US Airways.

90,000 miles Business Class award, US/Canada-Asia using United Airlines or any of these partner airlines which currently operate flights between North America and Asia: Air Canada, Air China, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways.