Links to my Loyalty Traveler posts provide more detail and promotion analysis for each offer.

Most hotel loyalty promotions are two to four months in duration.

The easiest way to quickly see a list of all hotel loyalty promotions discussed on Loyalty Traveler is to check my Loyalty Traveler Facebook page. All Loyalty Traveler post links feed into Twitter and all my tweets feed into Loyalty Traveler Facebook.

Summer 2012 hotel loyalty promotions

Le Club Accor - this Europe-based program officially changed its name from A|Club to Le Club Accor on March 28, 2012. Accor Hotels offers a variety of global regional bonusesand rate discounts. The program tends to have regionalized rate and bonus points promotions.

Until May 31, 2012 earn 1,000 miles per stay with Delta or Aeroplan.

Best Western Rewards – April 15 – June 3, 2012

Earn a $50 Best Western Travel Card after 3 stays. Elite members earn 1,000 bonus points for each stay, up to 3,000 bonus points.

Best Western FMJUMP12 promotion registration required.

• Best Western Jump Start to Summer Promotion 2012 FAQ.
• Best Western Jump Start to Summer Promotion 2012 T&C.
• Loyalty traveler post April 4, 2012.

Facebook Fans: Best Western runs weekly promotions on its Facebook page. Any Best Western frequent guest should check out Best Western Facebook.

Choice Privileges 

May 17 – August 15, 2012. Choice’s new offer is 2 stays for 8,000 points or a $50 gift card. Choice Privileges Summer Promotion registration link. There is no limit to the number of times this bonus can be earned. The value of this offer is dependent on where you can redeem points. This March 26, 2012 Loyalty Traveler post shows the value of 8,000 Choice privileges points in Paris can be quite the hotel savings.

Club Carlson

***** Club Carlson – Radisson Big Night Giveaway May 15-July 15, 2012. Club Carlson repeats the late-2011 promotion letting the first 100,000 members to register earn 50,000 bonus points after staying one night at a Radisson worldwide.

***** Club Carlson – Country Inns & Suites Big Night Giveaway May 15-July 15, 2012.First 35,000 members to register beginning May 15 earn 44,000 points after staying one night in a Country Inn & Suites.

***** Club Carlson – Park Inn Big Night Giveaway May 22-July 22, 2012.First 20,000 members to register beginning May 15 earn 44,000 points after staying one night in a Park Inn.

[Registration Links Note:the details for these three Club Carlson promotion will be available May 15. Registration for Radisson and Country Inn at 1am Tuesday May 15 eastern; 10pm Monday May 14 pacific time zones. Park Inn registration begins May 22.]

RadissonBigNightGiveaway.com

SOGOCountry.com

ParkInnOnePlusOne.com

Loyalty Traveler posts:

May 10 – Radisson, Country Inn and Park Inn brand promotions May to July.

May 8 –  Club Carlson Big Night Giveaway Summer Travel Promotions

Hilton HHonors

*** Hilton HHonors – April 1 – June 30, 2012 – Double Points or Double Miles. Registration required. Loyalty traveler post March 21, 2012.

Hyatt Gold Passport

**** Hyatt 3rd Night Free Rate is a rate discount for bookings through November 30, 2012 for stays by December 30, 2012. Rate includes breakfast for two and 2pm late checkout. My Loyalty Traveler rate analysis March 21showed this is a good value and usually lower than AAA rates.

Gold Passport Diamond Challenge- Most beneficial perhaps is to tie this offer into a Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond Challenge for 12 nights in 60 days (normally 25 stays or 50 nights in calendar year). As Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond for 2012 you also will receive 4 confirmed suite upgrades. Start the Gold Passport Diamond Challenge first and then get the credit card once you have Diamond status to get confirmed suite upgrades for your credit card free nights. FlyerTalk discussion threadon Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond challenge.

*** Hyatt bonus miles May 1 – August 31, 2012,

24,500 airline miles with 11 stays with choice of 11 airline partners.

• 500 miles is normal earning rate for first stay.
• 2,000 total miles (4x) for hotel stays 2 to 4.
• 2,500 total miles (5x) for hotel stays 5 to 11.
• Loyalty Traveler post May 1, 2012

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Priority Club Rewards

*** IHG Priority Club 1,000 bonus points or 200 bonus miles per night May 14-Sep 3. Maximum 20,000 bonus points or 4,000 bonus miles after 20 nights. Loyalty Traveler post May 14.

**** IHG Priority Club 2012 Quarter 2 Stay promotions – Priority Club members may register for one of the quarterly stay promotions running April 1-June 30, 2012. You can only register for one offer, so pick the target you are most likely to reach. Loyalty Traveler post March 16, 2012.

• Stay 3 nights = 5,000 bonus points.
• Stay 7 nights = 10,000 bonus points.
• Stay 15 nights = 15,000 bonus points.

***** IHG Priority Club PointBreaks hotel rewards to May 31. These are hotels for 5,000 points. Priority Club points are only $30 through Daily Getaways sale April 9. Priority Club also has discount rates for buying points through April 30. Loyalty Traveler post March 30.

Marriott Rewards

***** Marriott Rewards – Summer Bonus 2012: June 1 – August 31, 2012. Earn one free night certificate at a category 1-4 hotel every two stays; maximum 3 free nights.  Free night certificate is valid for 12 months from issuance. Some members may have been targeted with a different bonus points offer. Loyalty Traveler post May 7, 2012.

Note to Marriott Rewards members: You must have your Marriott Rewards account earning preference set to miles in order to see Marriott Rewards miles promotions.

Starwood Preferred Guest

*** SPG Nice Choice (May 1 – Sep 30)

You choose the 3 month period you want and the offer you want from double points, triple points, free nights, discount rewards and more.

Loyalty Traveler post – SPG Nice Choice May 1, 2012.

*** Sheraton Club Lounge bookings earn 1,000 bonus points when paid with any American Express card for stays February 21 to May 31, 2012. LT post February 24, 2012.

Wyndham Rewards

*** March 29-July 8, 2012 – Double Points or double miles for first four stays and movie tickets. This offer is for members in US, Canada and Mexico. Loyalty Traveler post April 1, 2012.

**** March 29-July 8, 2012 – Wyndham Rewards 10,000 points every 2 stays, up to 30,000 bonus points after 6 stays. This is a better promotion offer for members who do not reside in US, Canada and Mexico. Loyalty Traveler post April 3, 2012.

5-Star Promotion Scale

Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of some hotel loyalty promotions on a Five–Star Scale.

Five ***** = one of the best hotel loyalty promotions of the year.

Four ****= high value rebate on the cost of hotel stays.

Three ***= good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer

Two **= a bonus value if you play, but not necessarily worth going out of your way.

One *= There is limited or no value. You are likely paying more than the bonus value.

Rate discounts and loyalty program bonuses are two types of hotel chain incentives to consider when booking travel.

Rankings are subjective and subject to change. Your specific travel pattern may result in some promotions ranking more favorably for you.

When assigning a rank I take into consideration the following factors and probably more:

• The opportunity for significantly high-value return on hotel spend in terms of future hotel rebate in free nights and discounted hotel nights.
• Past loyalty program offers and rates for the specific hotel chain and loyalty program.

Loyalty Traveler Update Note: the expanded promotions page April 2012 update will be updated later this week. Today I am busy with Amgen Tour of California professional cycling race Stage 2: San Francisco – Santa Cruz (Aptos).

Readers: Please leave a comment with any promotion links you think should be in the expanded hotel loyalty promotions guide for May to Summer 2012.

Sure, I would rather be at the Westin Bonaventure or JW Marriott LA for the U.S. Travel Association International PowWow 2012 conference, but my hotel stay only cost me $227 for four nights in hotels using Wyndham Rewards points I bought last year rather than the $1,000+ needed for the negotiated conference hotel rates.

And Wyndham Rewards points can also be transferred into airline frequent flyer miles. Wyndham Rewards has the best hotel points to airline miles exchange rate of any hotel loyalty program (1,000 points = 400 miles), unless you have six figure balances to exchange Marriott Rewards or Club Carlson points at slightly better rates.

Two times in the past year I used Wyndham Rewards points on road trips to book a Wyndham brand hotel while sitting in the lobby of the hotel and then walked over to the desk and picked up my room key.

My point being that Wyndham Rewards points are easy to redeem. With over 7,000 hotels globally, mostly in the USA, there is usually a Wyndham brand property around wherever you go in the 50 states and many other places. There are so many Wyndham hotel brands (14).

Wyndham Hotel Brands

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, TRYP by Wyndham^®, Wingate by Wyndham^®, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham^®, Dream, Night, Ramada^®, Days Inn^®, Super 8^®, Baymont Inn & Suites^®, Microtel Inns & Suites^®, Howard Johnson^®, Travelodge^®, and Knights Inn^®.

Wyndham Rewards Points Daily Getaways Deal

Monday April 23, 2012

• Pre-Sale 12 noon Eastern
• Main Sale 1 pm Eastern

16,000 Wyndham Rewards points (Super 8 page)

• 750 sets available.
• 150 sets available during pre-sale.
• cost without Amex card = $55 ($3.44 per 1,000 points)
• cost with Amex card = $49.50 ($3.10 per 1,000 points)
• maximum quantity per purchase = 2

28,000 Wyndham Rewards points (Days Inn page)

• 350 available
• 75 available during pre-sale
• cost without Amex card = $76 ($2.71 per 1,000 points)
• cost with Amex card = $68.40 ($2.44 per 1,000 points)
• maximum quantity per purchase = 1

32,000 Wyndham Rewards points (Ramada page)

• 350 available
• 70 available during pre-sale
• cost without Amex card = $110 ($3.44 per 1,000 points)
• cost with Amex card = $99 ($3.10 per 1,000 points)
• maximum quantity per purchase = 1

50,000 Wyndham Rewards points (Wyndham page)

• 300 available
• 60 available during pre-sale
• cost without Amex card = $143 ($2.86 per 1,000 points)
• cost with Amex card = $128.70 ($2.58 per 1,000 points)
• maximum quantity per purchase = 1

48,000 Wyndham Rewards points (Wingate page)

• 250 available
• 50 available during pre-sale
• cost without Amex card = $165 ($3.44 per 1,000 points)
• cost with Amex card: $148.50 ($3.10 per 1,000 points)
• maximum quantity per purchase = 1

As with all the hotel points offers on Daily Getaways, the sale promotes a specific hotel brand, however, you are buying Wyndham Rewards points and the use of these points is not tied to any specific hotel brand. The page says “1 Night at Super 8 for $55”, but you are buying 16,000 Wyndham Rewards points that can be used for hotel stays at any Wyndham brand or redeemed for airline miles and other things through Wyndham Rewards.

Promotion registration required. Register at wyndhamrewards.com/cinema, wyndhamrewards.com/suitcase or wyndhamrewards.de/suitcase OR phone 00-800 367-87477

This offer is valid for Wyndham brand hotel stays worldwide, except Travelodge in Canada and Super 8 in China do not participate in Wyndham Rewards.

“Participating Hotel Brands” are:

• Ramada®,
• Days Inn®,
• Baymont Inn & Suites®,
• Hawthorn Suites®,
• Howard Johnson®,
• Dream®,
• Night®,
• Knights Inn®,
• Microtel®,
• Travelodge® (U.S. hotels only),
• Wingate® by Wyndham branded hotels and
• Super8
• Wyndham Hotels and Resorts® properties located in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean and China also participate in this promotion. (LT note: This knocks out about six hotels in Australia, India, Libya, and Qatar.)

No free movie for you

The US, Canada, Mexico promotion version is double points or miles and includes free movie tickets. The terms of the international promotion state members can exchange points for movie tickets which is not a good deal compared to the value of Wyndham Rewards points.

I think this offer by Wyndham Rewards is better than the double points promotion for US members. This is a good offer for international visitors to the US who desire lower priced midscale and economy lodging. This is the best bonus currently being offered by the midscale chains.

30,000 Wyndham Rewards points can be two hotel nights at most Wyndham brands or one night at a Wyndham Hotel in a place like New York or London. There are also Ramada Hotels in many international city centers.

30,000 points exchange into 12,000 miles with the following airlines:

• Aeromexico
• Air Berlin
• Aeroplan
• Air China
• American Airlines
• China Eastern
• Czech Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• Hainan Airlines
• Frontier Airlines
• US Airways
• United Airlines
• Amtrak Guest Rewards

Double points or miles begins with first stay and applies for up to four hotel stays during promotion period.

Movie Tickets.

A certificate for two movie tickets is earned after the 2nd and 4th stays. The tickets are a promotion for The Avengers movie (opening May 4 and the comic book version, not the British intelligence service version that still needs to be done decently after the Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman debacle). Terms read like other movie choices are an option. The value of the movie certificate for two is US$24 or 24CAD or $288 Mexican Pesos. Hollywood Movie Money certificate is valid for 30 days after completing online code activation process.

Members also receive a comic book after the second stay.

Wyndham Rewards promotion registration is required.

To qualify for the “Double starting with 1st stay” component and earn double Wyndham Rewards® points, airline miles or rail points, the member must:

• register at wyndhamrewards.com/movie or 1-866-996-7937,
• book a stay on wyndhamrewards.com, daysinn.com, ramada.com, wyndham.com, wingatehotels.com, hawthorn.com, super8.com, baymontinns.com, microtelinn.com, hojo.com, travelodge.com, knightsinn.com, dreamintl.com, or nighthotelny.com, at a qualifying rate with arrival dates from March 29 to July 8, 2012 and
• complete the stay by July 12, 2012.
• Registered members can receive double points or miles for four (4) separate qualified stays within the Promotion Period (for the first, second, third and fourth qualified stays) with a maximum of 3 rooms per stay.
• Members should allow six to eight weeks after completion of registration and stay for the bonus points, airline miles or rail points to be credited to their account.
• Airline mile bonus valid at US airline carriers, Air Canada and AeroMexico only.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Choose double points over double miles.

Wyndham Rewards has 14 hotel brands and all brands earn 10 points/$1, except Hawthorn Suites stays earn 5 points/$1.

Double points means $400 in hotel spend earns 8,000 points. Most Wyndham Rewards brands earn 2 miles per $1. Double miles is 4 miles per $1.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts and Hawthorn Suites earn 500 miles per stay. Double miles is 1,000 miles per stay at these brands.

Wyndham Rewards points-to-miles exchange rate with 8,000 points = 3,200 miles in most programs is near the top of hotel loyalty programs.

$400 in hotel spend with double miles earns 1,600 miles, whereas, earning double points is 8,000 points that can be converted into 3,200 miles.

4 Stays limit – the common problem of midscale loyalty offers.

The main problem with the midscale chain loyalty promotions like Wyndham Rewards, Best Western Rewards and Choice Privileges is the low earning limit placed on promotions. These brands tend to have a limit that is reached quickly after 2 to 6 hotel stays during a promotion.

The difference with Wyndham Rewards is the ability to earn a bonus on more than one room per stay. The offers are not generally good enough to go out and book unnecessary extra rooms, but if your situation requires two or three rooms, then you can earn double points on up to 12 room nights in four stays.

Non-participating properties

Travelodge in Canada does not participate in Wyndham Rewards and neither does Super 8 in China. All other 7,000 or so Wyndham brand hotels worldwide are participating properties.

International Wyndham Rewards promotion is better.

A better promotion is available to Wyndham Rewards members who are not residents of US, Canada or Mexico. I’ll discuss that offer for 10,000 points every two stays in a separate post.

Hotels for Heroes was created with legislation introduced by Maryland Congressionman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and Senator Ben Cardin (both D-MD) in November 2011 and passed with bipartisan support in the “National Defense Authorization Act” December 2011.

“Hotels for Heroes” will be an expansion of the national “Hero Miles” program that provides free round-trip airfare to wounded warriors recovering at military or VA medical centers as well as to friends and family visiting them. Flights under the “Hero Miles” program, which was created by Congressman Ruppersberger in 2003, are made possible through frequent flyer mile donations made by individual airline passengers. The “Hero Miles” program is administered by the Fisher House, a non-profit organization that opens its homes to military families visiting their injured loved ones at hospitals across the country. Fisher House recently announced its 25,000th ticket issued through the program.

http://dutch.house.gov/2011/12/hotels-for-heroes-program-passes-congress.shtml

Hotels for Heroes launched this week with the announcement that Marriott, Wyndham and AmericInn have signed on to the program. Other hotel loyalty programs are asked to join the effort and agree to participate by Memorial Day when organizers hope to be ready to accept donations of hotel points.

The Fisher House Foundation which runs Hero Miles will also oversee the Hotels for Heroes program.

Best Western, Choice, Hyatt, La Quinta, Starwood, Carlson, Hilton and IHG… I hope that most or all of these hotel chains sign on to the program in the next two months.

STR and STR Global package hotel industry data. I like to read HotelNewsNow.com to see hotel industry trends and average room rates, although to get detailed information about hotel brands and places requires paying for information. I stick with the free stuff.

One of the valuable STR resources for me is the chain scale hotel list that categorizes hundreds of USA and global hotel brands on a scale of six market segments from economy to luxury. Hotel brands are placed on the scale solely using average daily rate as the factor. Note: the average daily rate data was added March 7 based on Smith Travel Research data for January 2012.

• Luxury = $262 ADR
• Upper Upscale = $148 ADR
• Upscale = $112 ADR
• Upper Midscale = $94 ADR
• Midscale = $73 ADR
• Economy = $50 ADR

Any specific hotel may have a large rate differential from another hotel in that brand, but the average rate says something about the brand overall across the hotel chain and across the USA and globe.

STR and STR Global have moved some hotel brands to a higher chain scale based on 2011 average daily rates.

• Best Western Premier moved from upper-midscale to upscale. Best Western launched a rebranding campaign in 2011 to distinguish the better hotels in the 4,000+ global chain.

All the other chains operate several different hotel brands across different market segments and Best Western finally got into the game with three tiers of Best Western, (3,000 or so hotels), Best Western Plus (1,000+ hotels) and Best Western Premier (over 100 hotels). The numbers given here are just rough estimates based on past data I have seen.

Best Western Premier moves to upscale hotels. My stay last year in Napa was a great room in an old motel style building. The room was definitely upscale.

Napa, California Best Western Premier Hotel Ivy

Hotel Ivy Napa, Best Western Premier Hotel.

Hotel Ivy Napa, Best Western Premier.

• Country Inns & Suites moved from midscale to upper-midscale. That is a huge accomplishment for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group working to become a more recognized name in the chain scale competition.

Upper midscale includes brands like Hampton Inn, Clarion, Best Western Plus, Fairfield Inn, Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express.

Candlewood Suites, La Quinta and Ramada are examples of hotel brands in the midscale segment.

Hyatt Place, Hilton Garden Inn, Courtyard, Residence Inn and Four Points are in the higher upscale segment. The bad news for Club Carlson members is this chain segment change indicates rates are rising at Country Inns.

Loyalty Traveler note: This post originally had seven hotel brand changes based on a HotelNewsNow.com article (media arm of STR and STRGlobal). I received an email on March 7 stating HNN will issue a correction on their article and only Best Western Premier and Country Inns are changing in the hotel chain scale. I deleted references to the other hotel brands originally included in this post.

The basic offer is 6,500 bonus points after the 2nd, 4th and 6th stays during the promotion period for a potential 19,500 bonus points. There is also the option to earn 1,000 airline miles instead of 6,500 bonus points, however, the excellent exchange rate for Wyndham Rewards points-to-miles means members who desire miles will earn more miles by choosing the points bonus and then converting points to miles at a later date (6,500 points = 2,600 miles in most programs).

There is also an online booking bonus of 1,000 points for your first three bookings after promotion registration. And if you have a Wyndham Rewards VISA card there is an additional 500 points bonus on your first three bookings for a maximum 1,500 bonus points with VISA payment.

Wyndham Rewards Hotel Brands:

• Wyndham Hotels and Resorts®,
• Ramada®,
• Days Inn®,
• Super 8®,
• Wingate by Wyndham®,
• Baymont Inn & Suites®,
• Microtel Inns & Suites®,
• Hawthorn Suites® by Wyndham,
• TRYP by Wyndham™,
  Howard Johnson®,
• Travelodge®
• Knights Inn®

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

Assume you book six one-night hotel stays online and do not pay with Wyndham Rewards Visa during the promotion period. Wyndham has some of the lowest rates around with its economy brand hotel chains. Assume you choose hotels with an average nightly rate of $60. All Wyndham brands earn 10 points per dollar with the exception of Hawthorn Suites at 5 points/$1.

• Stay 1 = 600 points ($60 x 10 points/$1) + 1,000 online booking bonus points = 1,600 points.
• Stay 2 = 600 points ($60 x 10 points/$1) + 1,000 online booking bonus points + 6,500 Gift Me bonus points = 8,100 points.
• Stay 3 = 600 points ($60 x 10 points/$1) + 1,000 online booking bonus points = 1,600 points.
• Stay 4 = 600 points ($60 x 10 points/$1) + 6,500 Gift Me bonus points = 7,100 points.
• Stay 5 = 600 points ($60 x 10 points/$1) = 600 points.
• Stay 6 = 600 points ($60 x 10 points/$1) + 6,500 Gift Me bonus points = 7,100 points.

Total Points earned = 26,100 points for $360.

26,100 points can be converted into 10,000 airline miles or one to four hotel nights depending on where you choose to stay with your Wyndham Rewards points. I rank this offer as a good value 50% rebate potential if you plan your stays to maximize the promotion value of this offer. There are over 7,000 hotels in Wyndham Rewards and many hotels will offer savings over $100 on a 10,000 or 14,000 points reward night.

Redeeming Wyndham Rewards points

Most hotel rewards in Wyndham brands in the US and Canadaare divided into four tiers:

• Tier 1 = 6,000 points
• Tier 2 = 10,000 points
• Tier 3 = 14,000 points
• Tier 4 = 16,000 points

These reward tiers cover most of the hotel brands except Wyndham Hotels and Resorts rewardswhich are as low as 10,000 points per night for Wyndham Oklahoma City up to 45,000 points per night for one of the two Wyndham Hotels in New York City (the other is only 25,000 points). Most Wyndham Hotels in the US are 15,000 or 20,000 points per night.

Hilton HHonors is far and away the biggest program for airline partnerships. That can be a major factor for a frequent guest earning miles from hotel stays in a frequent flyer program where there might be few opportunities to earn miles other than flying.

• Hilton HHonors = 57 airline partners
• IHG Priority Club = 43 airline partners
• Marriott Rewards = 36 airline partners
• Hyatt Gold Passport = 35 airline partners
• Starwood Preferred Guest = 34 airline partners

There are 8 airlines that only partner with one of these ten programs.

[click on image to see full-size in new window]

I will follow up this post with comments and details on airline miles differences in earning rates between different programs.

This seemed like a useful table to create as I work on my series of hotel points-to-miles exchange rates across loyalty programs for a selection of major airlines.

Loyalty Traveler – Airline Tables for Hotel Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates

• American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for 9 Hotel Programs. (Feb 5, 2012)
• American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for Elites and Credit Card members. (Feb 6, 2012)
• Delta Skymiles hotel points-to-miles rates in 9 hotel programs. (Feb 7, 2012)
• United Mileage Plus hotel points-to-miles rates favor Marriott, Club Carlson, Wyndham. (Feb 8, 2012)
• Hotel Loyalty Program Airline Partners: 10 programs compared on one spreadsheet. (Feb 9, 2012)
• Why Change hotel points into airline miles? (Feb 9, 2012)
• Hotel points conversion into Southwest Rapid Rewards points favors Marriott, Choice and Hyatt. (Feb 10, 2012)

Delta Skymiles members have an advantage over members of the other major U.S. airlines in that eight of nine major hotel loyalty programs allow points-to-miles transfers at each program’s best exchange rate.

Feb 10, 2012 11:00am Pacific – Update Note: Hilton HHonors was incorrectly calculated in Table 3 for credit card + elite members in the original post. The data has been corrected.

Hilton HHonors members have a lower points-to-miles transfer rate at only 1,000 Skymiles for 10,000 points compared to American Airlines AAdvantage at 10,000 points = 1,500 miles. You are likely better off keeping the HHonors points for hotel stays rather than use points-to-miles exchanges for Delta Skymiles.

Most hotel stays earn only hotel points or only frequent flyer miles with the exception of Hilton HHonors ‘Double Dipping’ policy that allows members to earn both miles and points on the same hotel stay.

In general, earning points with hotel loyalty programs and transferring points-to-miles results in more miles compared to earning miles directly from a hotel stay.  Many hotel brands allow a member to earn 250 or 500 miles per hotel stay. Hilton HHonors is the exception to this general rule due to its low points-to-miles exchange rates. HHonors Points & Miles earners earn miles at a higher rate and HHonors runs regular bonus miles promotions to improve the rate of earning miles from hotel stays.

The methodology used to compare points-to-miles exchange rates in different hotel loyalty programs:

I have created three tables to compare points earned at set levels of hotel spend for three types of hotel loyalty members:

• hotel loyalty member has no elite status or hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status, but no hotel program co-branded credit card.
• hotel loyalty member has top-tier elite status and the highest earning hotel program co-branded credit card.

TABLE 1 – Hotel program comparison of points-to-miles exchange rates for Delta Airlines using base points earning rate.

TABLE 2 – Hotel Top Tier Elite earner hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

TABLE 3 – Hotel Top Tier Elite Earner and Co-branded Credit Card member hotel program points-to-miles comparison for Delta Airlines.

Commentary:

Tables are set up in columns to show how many points are earned at set levels of spend for $1,000; $2,000; $3,000; $5,000; $7,000; $10,000 and $13,000 in hotel stays counting only points earned from hotel spend base points, top-tier elite bonus points and highest earning credit card bonus points for each program.

The hotel spend amount is not the important number in these tables. The dollar amounts are simply a way to align different hotel programs to make a comparison of points-to-miles rates.

When I show $10,000 earns 50,000 Hyatt Gold Passport points, that is the maximum spend needed to earn 50,000 points. Actual spend to earn 50,000 Hyatt points will likely be far less than $10,000. I have shown in a recent post how a Hyatt Gold Passport member can earn over 50,000 points from real travel for under $1,250.

The hotel spend needed to earn points depends on the types of hotel promotions available, welcome amenity points, and other points earning offers and partner activity.

Observations on Table 1:

• Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Marriott Rewards have the best points-to-miles exchange rates.
• Wyndham Rewards has the highest earning fixed rate for hotel points-to-miles exchange. $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Rewards earns 3,200 Delta SkyMiles.
• At $1,000 in hotel spend the different programs are remarkably similar in points-to-miles exchange rates. Differentiation between programs comes at higher levels of spend. Most programs have a fixed points-to-miles exchange rate regardless of the number of points being transferred to miles.
• Variable points-to-miles exchange rates with Marriott Rewards and Club Carlson give a higher rate of miles at higher levels of points transfer. Starwood Preferred Guest (20,000 points) and Hyatt Gold Passport (50,000 points) both give 25% more miles at the specific transfer level shown here.
• Starwood Preferred Guest does not have a points-to-miles advantage to other programs based on its points-to-miles exchange rate giving a 25% bonus when transferring a block of 20,000 Starpoints. Wyndham, Marriott and Club Carlson have better points-to-miles exchange rates than SPG. The competitive advantage to SPG for miles earners is the 50% bonus for mid-tier Gold elite (10 stays or 25 nights in a calendar year) is the highest elite bonus for the lowest level of hotel stays. SPG American Express credit card spend at Starwood Hotels earns 100% base points. Even more impressive is the high rate of earning points for everyday spend at $1 = 1 point = 1 mile in many frequent flyer programs. This rate exceeds all other hotel loyalty credit cards for miles earning rate, although Wyndham Rewards Visa is close to SPG with $1 = 2 points = 0.8 miles. Wyndham Rewards has fewer airline partners than SPG, but Visa is accepted in places where American Express will leave you stranded.

What about Residence Inn and Staybridge Suites and hotel brands that earn fewer base points per dollar?

Marriott Rewards is probably the program most impacted by lower points earn rates at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites where stays earn only 5 base points/$1 compared to 10 base points/$1 used in table. The miles shown in these tables will be reduced by the proportion of hotel spend at lower earning hotel brands. About 25% of all Marriott hotels are Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites.

Marriott Rewards – Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earn 5 points/$1.

IHG Priority Club – Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites earn 5 points/$1.

Choice Privileges – Rodeway Inn, EconoLodge, Mainstay Suites, Staybridge Suites earn 5 points/$1. Other brands earn 10 points/$1.

Wyndham Rewards – Hawthorn Suites earn 5 points/$1.

The tables do not consider promotion bonus points. The idea is to keep these tables simple and evergreen (until the next program change). Hotel loyalty promotions are constantly changing.

Table 2: Commentary: Elite Status

Club Carlson, Marriott Rewards and now Starwood Preferred Guest have a 75-night top-tier elite. The points earned are high rates, but the loyalty required to reach that level of membership is a small portion of hotel travelers.

Club Carlson Concierge at 75% bonus points sets that program apart for miles earners. The advantage Club Carlson has over Marriott Rewards is a standard points earn rate across all its hotel brands. The miles shown for Marriott Rewards will drop with hotel stays at Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earning a lower rate of base points.

Wyndham Rewards does not have elite tiers or elite bonus points and drops in ranking when elite bonus points are a factor. Most hotel programs offer 50% bonus points for top tier elite members. These elite bonus points increase the earning rate of hotel points and make other programs more attractive than Wyndham Rewards for points-to-miles exchanges as an elite member with loads of points. Still, it is nice to know that the budget traveler can pull in miles at rates comparable to the best elite programs even while sleeping at Days Inn.

Hyatt Gold Passport drops noticeably in rank compared to SPG when top-tier elite status is factored. Hyatt and Best Western only offer 30% bonus points for top tier elite hotel spend. SPG offers 50% bonus points for Gold and Platinum and 100% for Platinum-75 members as of March 1, 2012.

The elite tables do not factor welcome amenity points for top-tier elites typically earned on hotel stays.

Why are there no tables for low-tier and mid-tier hotel elite levels?

I have not created tables for mid-tier and low-tier elites due to the difficulty of comparing these elite levels across different programs. Are SPG Gold and Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum comparable elite levels?

These tables only show top-tier elite to allow a comparison of programs for the most frequent guests and highest earning members in each program.

I will likely add tables comparing credit card members and the associated elite status since most credit cards give some elite level of membership as a cardmember.

Table 3: The Credit Card Factor

One tip to share is my observation that rates for earning credit card bonus points are generally equivalent to the rate of earning bonus points as a top tier elite member.

Hyatt Gold Passport Visa, Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass, SPG American Express and Best Western MasterCard earn bonus points at an even higher rate per dollar than hotel stays as a top-tier hotel loyalty program member earning bonus points. In terms of earning points, members in these programs are better off having a cobranded credit card than being a top-tier elite member.

That is the sad state of the hotel industry that bank loyalty is more rewarding in hotel point bonuses than hotel stay loyalty. Of course most programs offer hotel stay benefits for their top-tier guests that are the primary value-added component for hotel loyalty members besides points.

Perhaps I’ll have to start promoting hotel loyalty program credit cards and pick up some referral cash. Or not.

Why Hilton HHonors is difficult to compare with other programs

The tables show the number of points earned based on hotel spend and then the miles earned from a points-to-miles transfer. Hilton HHonors is the exception since members can earn both points & miles for hotel stays.

Most hotel loyalty programs will earn more miles overall when the member earns points for a hotel stay and then makes a points-to-miles exchange into the frequent flyer program. Hilton HHonors has a low points-to-miles exchange rate compared to other hotel programs and the HHonors member will likely earn more miles choosing HHonors Points & Fixed Miles for hotel stays when the hotel spend is under $500 per stay.

I provide an estimate of miles earned for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles earner. This is a rough estimate based on an average hotel stay costing $200 and earning 500 miles.

Hilton HHonors Points & Variable miles is a more precise comparison of miles earning to other hotel programs, however, the member staying at Hilton brands other than Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn will earn more miles choosing Fixed Miles for any hotel stay under $500.

The miles shown for HHonors Points & Fixed Miles is likely at the high end of a typical traveler’s earning pattern since it excludes any stays at Hampton Inns. Also a person with an average stay rate over $200 will have a lower miles earning rate.

The precise miles earned for a Hilton HHonors member is likely between the Variable Miles earning rate at the low end and the Fixed Miles rate near the high end in these tables.

Related Posts:

• American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for 9 Hotel Programs. (Feb 5, 2012)
• American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for Elites and Credit Card members. (Feb 6, 2012)
• Delta Skymiles hotel points-to-miles rates in 9 hotel programs. (Feb 7, 2012)
• United Mileage Plus hotel points-to-miles rates favor Marriott, Club Carlson, Wyndham. (Feb 8, 2012)
• Hotel Loyalty Program Airline Partners: 10 programs compared on one spreadsheet. (Feb 9, 2012)
• Why Change hotel points into airline miles? (Feb 9, 2012)
• Hotel points conversion into Southwest Rapid Rewards points favors Marriott, Choice and Hyatt. (Feb 10, 2012)

My Loyalty traveler series on hotel points-to-miles exchange rates for frequent flyer miles continues with a look at 9 major hotel loyalty programs and points-to-miles exchange rates. These tables look at the miles earned at set levels of hotel spend. Top-tier elite hotel status and the best earning hotel cobranded credit card for hotel stay payment are additional factors in the miles calculations.

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the actual exchange rate based on hotel spend for hotel stays. Credit cards and elite status are not considered.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows how top-tier elite membership earning rate alters the total number of points earned at each level of hotel spend.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table shows the influence of top tier elite and credit card spend.

Basic Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates Compared to Rate Points Earned from Hotel Spend without consideration of:

• Elite Status
• Cobranded Credit Card

Table 1: Comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

This table was discussed in my Loyalty traveler post yesterday.

The main point I’d like readers to see is Wyndham Rewards is a great program for earning small levels of points for points-to-miles exchange. Wyndham Rewards has a high rate of exchange at 10 points = 4 miles. The minimum transfer is 8,000 Wyndham Rewards points = 3,200 miles. This is $800 in hotel spend at Wyndham Hotels.

Most programs take $1,000 in hotel spend to earn the minimum number of base points for a points-to-miles transfer.

Club Carlson is the minimum hotel spend leader for its ability of a base member (no elite status) to earn 2,000 points for the minimum points-to-miles transfer at 2,000 points = 250 miles after just $100 in hotel spend.

SPG Platinum members have no minimum exchange rate and even 1 Starpoint can be exchanged into 1 mile in several programs. This is useful for some promotion offers where partner activity earns a bonus and 1 Starpoint can be transferred into a frequent flyer program for that partner activity.

Table 2: Top-tier elite membership factor when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Table 2: Discussion

The numbers here do not factor additional points for online booking bonus (Club Carlson) or Welcome Amenity points earned per hotel stay in many of the programs.

Club Carlson is one of the top three highest standard points-to-miles exchange rates among the 9 leading hotel loyalty programs. Club Carlson has the second highest top tier elite bonus at 75% base points earning rate.

SPG Platinum-75 (sounds radioactive) earns 100% elite bonus points as of March 1, 2012 and moves up in ranking for this AAdvantage miles comparison.

SPG asterisk * in the $13,000 column for SPG Platinum/Gold elite is due to using $13,334 since this small $334 incremental hotel spend raises the points earned from 39,000 to 40,000 points and increases miles earned by 5,000 miles.

Hilton HHonors has so many earning variables that predicting how many AAdvantage miles you will earn after $5,000 in hotel spend is mind-boggling. But guaranteed Hilton is better than Marriott Rewards for earning AAdvantage miles. Marriott Rewards and American Airlines cut their ties in 2010 so you can’t earn any Advantage miles through Marriott hotel stays.

Choice Privileges and IHG Priority Club sit in the middle of the pack, but pale in comparison to the Club Carlson miles earner.

Hyatt Gold Passport and Best Western Rewards top-tier elites both suffer from the lowest elite bonus points percentage at just 30% when most programs are 50% and Club Carlson at 75% and SPG at 100% leap-frog ahead in points-earning ability.

Table 3: Co-Branded Hotel Credit Card with hotel loyalty top-tier elite membership when comparing Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates in 9 major hotel loyalty programs for American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

Here is a comparison of major hotel loyalty programs for the fastest earning AAdvantage Miles from hotel stays for the high elite frequent guest using a hotel co-branded credit card to pay for hotel stays.

Non-hotel spend on the cobranded hotel credit card is not considered in this analysis. It is far easier to compare earning for non-hotel spend in isolation from hotel stays.

SPG jumps to the top for American Airlines AAdvantage miles when the credit card is added to the mix. Earning 2 points/$1 for Starwood Hotels spend is a 100% base points bonus and no other hotel program offers that high a proportion of base points as a credit card bonus for hotel spend.

Hilton HHonors American Express Surpass is close at 90% base points. Hyatt Visa is 60% base points. The other chains are 50% bonus for credit card spend at hotels.

Club Carlson is the only program without a co-branded credit card. Supposedly a credit card deal is in the works for 2012 and that will push Club Carlson higher in the ranking. Club Carlson still fares well against SPG considering the Club Carlson program does not even have a cobranded credit card to help its position in this race.

Concluding comments:

These tables tell me that American Airlines AAdvantage members seeking miles from hotel stays are in one of the best frequent flyer programs for maximizing miles earning.  Hilton HHonors looks impressive in this matchup, but lower points-to-miles transfer rates will lower its ranking for most other airlines. Marriott Rewards will take a top rank place for several other airline frequent flyer programs with its high points-to-miles exchange rates.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles can be earned at a high rate from hotel stays regardless of your market segment with Wyndham Rewards, Club Carlson and Starwood Preferred Guest all offering high points-to-miles rates.

This series will continue with a look at Delta Airlines SkyMiles. This is a program where the rankings will change as Marriott Rewards shows its competitive edge and Hilton HHonors reveals its poor points-to-miles exchange rate for most frequent flier programs.

P.S. There is a load of data here. Hopefully no math errors. Please leave a comment if something doesn’t look correct.

Feel free to ask questions and carry on a discussion in the comments.

• American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for 9 Hotel Programs. (Feb 5, 2012)
• American Airlines Points-to-Miles Exchange Rates for Elites and Credit Card members. (Feb 6, 2012)
• Delta Skymiles hotel points-to-miles rates in 9 hotel programs. (Feb 7, 2012)
• United Mileage Plus hotel points-to-miles rates favor Marriott, Club Carlson, Wyndham. (Feb 8, 2012)
• Hotel Loyalty Program Airline Partners: 10 programs compared on one spreadsheet. (Feb 9, 2012)
• Why Change hotel points into airline miles? (Feb 9, 2012)
• Hotel points conversion into Southwest Rapid Rewards points favors Marriott, Choice and Hyatt. (Feb 10, 2012)