Wyndham Rewards is offering double airline miles for up to four hotel stays per member from October 1 through December 31, 2010. Wyndham’s 13 hotels brands include several budget/economy market segment brands for cheap hotel nights. The promotion terms appear to prohibit getting more than four stays doubled during the promotion by simply switching to a different airline partner after four stays.

Participating airlines and travel partners are Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Amtrak, Continental, Delta, Midwest, Southwest, Spirit, Sun Country, United and US Airways.

The catch is these promotions are hotel brand specific offers for most of the participating airlines, except Aeromexico and Air Canada Aeroplan.

Wyndham Rewards Hotel Brands and Double Miles Promotion Airline Partners

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts = Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Amtrak, Sun Country

Hawthorn Suites = Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Amtrak, Sun Country

Wingate = Aeromexico, Air Canada Aeroplan, Amtrak, Sun Country

Ramada = Delta

Days Inn = Southwest

Super 8 = United

Howard Johnson = US Airways

Baymont Inn & Suites = Continental

Microtel = Midwest

Travelodge = Spirit Airlines

Knights Inn = Aeromexico and Air Canada Aeroplan 

Double Miles Details:

Click on Airline Name below for Wyndham Rewards promotion link.

Aeromexico – All Wyndham brands: Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont inn, Microtel, Howard Johnson, TraveLodge (US only), Knights Inn, Hawthorne Suites, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Wyndham Members will receive 4 (four) Premier miles (6.4 Premier Kilometers) instead of the standard 2 (two) Premier miles (3.2 Premier Kilometers) per US dollar spent on qualifying room rates at participating Ramada®, Days Inn®, Super 8®, Wingate® by Wyndham, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Microtel Inns & Suites®, Howard Johnson®, Travelodge® (US hotels only) and Knights Inn®. Miles are earned on the qualifying room rate only, not on taxes, food and beverage or other incidental expenses.  

For stays at participating Hawthorn Suites® by Wyndham and participating Wyndham Hotels and Resorts® properties, members earn 1000 (one thousand) Premier miles (1600 Premier Kilometers) instead of the standard 500 Premier miles (800 Premier Kilometers) per stay on qualifying room rates. 

Air Canada Aeroplan – All Wyndham brands.

4 miles per $1 or 500 miles (whichever is greater) at Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont inn, Microtel, Howard Johnson, Travelodge (US only), Knights Inn.

1,000 miles per stay at Hawthorne Suites and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.

Amtrak Guest Rewards – Wingate, Wyndham, Hawthorn Suites

4 miles per $1 at Wingate Hotels or 1,000 miles per stay at Wyndham Hotels and Hawthorn Suites.

Continental OnePass – Baymont Inn & Suites

• 4 miles per $1

Delta Skymiles – Ramada Inn

• 4 miles per $1

Midwest Miles – Microtel Inn & Suites

• 4 miles per $1

Southwest Rapid Rewards – Days Inn

• 1 credit per stay

Spirit Airlines – Travelodge

• 4 miles per $1.

Sun Country UFly Rewards – Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Hawthorn Suites, Wingate

• 2 UFly Rewards points for Wingate 
• 4 UFly points for Wyndham or Hawthorn.

United Airlines Mileage Plus – Super 8

• 4 miles per $1

US Airways – Howard Johnson

• 4 miles per $1

Loyalty Traveler promotion rating = 2 keys of 5 promotion (due to 4 stays earning limit)

 Related link: Wyndham Rewards Airline Partners and regular earning rate for hotel stays

The Economy/Budget segment of the hotel market scale is sometimes where the price of a hotel room forces your hand. These are brands with average daily rates usually under $75 per night and generally in the $40 to $65 range in most locations. Do you really want to spend $200 to stay in a nice airport hotel when you can have that bed for six hours of sleep at a $40 to $65 rate before you hop back on the plane?

These JD Power economy-budget brand circle ratings are quite useful to me for helping choose a budget hotel brand. I honestly can’t remember the last time I stayed in one of the eleven brands listed in the JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study for the Economy/Budget segment.

When I drove cross-country three times in the 1990s I am sure I visited several of these brands. Those road trips in the 90s were one of the motivators for getting into loyalty travel as a means to better hotel stays.

Sources: JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study press release

                JD Power 2010 Economy/Budget Hotel Market Segment Full Report

Loyalty traveler commentary:

The economy/budget segment of hotels is dominated by Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges.

Wyndham Rewards is the major economy/budget segment hotel loyalty program with six of the eleven JD Power rated brands of Microtel Inns and Suites, Howard Johnson Express, Super 8, Days Inn, Travelodge and Knights Inn. One of the better features of Wyndham Rewards is the good points-to-miles exchange rate for converting Wyndham Rewards points into airline miles.

EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn are hotel brands participating in Choice Privileges. The primary disadvantage with these budget brands is a 50% reduction in points earned for stays. Most Choice Privileges hotel brands earn 10 points per $1, but only 5 points per $1 is earned with EconoLodge and Rodeway Inns. Wyndham Rewards earns 10 points per $1 for all its economy/budget brands.

Red Roof Inn and Americas Best Value Inn are independent chains with their own loyalty programs.

Motel 6 is the ugly stepchild of French-based Accor Hotels. Motel 6 currently has a limited time offer participating in Accor’s A-Club hotel loyalty program for the opportunity to redeem 2,000 A-Club points for $60 cash vouchers valid at North America Motel 6 properties through October 31, 2010. In general, Motel 6 and Accor’s European budget brand hotels do not participate in the Accor A-Club hotel loyalty program.

Hotel Brands ordered by Number of Hotels in North America

Super 8 Motel (Wyndham Rewards) = 2,137 hotels; mostly in North America, although growing rapidly in China. (ADR = $56.67) Super 8 is the largest economy hotel brand in North America. Free breakfast, free internet and loyalty points or miles are added benefits of this JD Power three circle rated brand.

Days Inn (Wyndham Rewards) = 1,858 global properties (ADR $62.24). Properties offer free internet and most offer a complimentary breakfast and swimming pool.

Motel 6 (Accor A-Club limited participation) = 1,000+ properties in North America. Motel 6 locations.

Americas Best Value Inn (Value Club) = 900 hotels in North America. Hotel locations search. Hotel Directory. Americas Best Value Inn hotel loyalty program – Value Club does not appear to be a points-based program, but rather a value-added on stays program which is common to luxury and independent upscale market brands. Value Club rates give a 15% room discount to members and an opportunity for a complimentary upgrade and late checkout.

EconoLodge (Choice Privileges) = 785 hotels (2010 ADR $51.21). Free wi-fi, continental breakfast and USA Today on weekdays.

Howard Johnson Inns and Express Inns (Wyndham Rewards) = 500+ hotels globally. (ADR = $61.22) Howard Johnson Hotels and Inns operate in three different market segments with some properties in the midscale and some in the economy segment in North America. Internationally in Asia and Latin America the brand tends to be positioned in the midscale to upscale market. I was unable to locate a breakdown of this brand by market segment.

Howard Johnson Hotels USA Directory (pdf)

Howard Johnson Hotels Canada Directory (pdf)

Travelodge (Wyndham Rewards) = 460 hotels in North America. The brand is mostly an economy segment hotel in the U.S. but midscale with food and beverage market segment for hotels in Canada.

Rodeway Inn (Choice Privileges) = 381 hotels (2010 ADR $47.06). Free local calls, continental breakfast, and morning newspaper on weekdays.

Red Roof Inn (RediCard Rewards program) = 345 hotels in  36 states. This brand has slight familiarity due to its promotion earlier this year for 1 cent room rates. Red Roof Inn locations.

Knights Inn (Wyndham Rewards) = 340 hotels in North America. This chain falls squarely in the budget hotel market segment with an average daily rate at $42.46, significantly below the other Wyndham Rewards hotel brands. You apparently get what you pay for with a JD Power hotel guest satisfaction rating of two circles and ranked last on the economy/budget hotel segment report.

Microtel Inns and Suites (Wyndham Rewards) = 320 hotels in North America. (ADR = $56.72) This brand has won the JD Power Hotel Guest Satisfaction Award for Economy/Budget brands 9 years in a row, achieving the only JD Power 5 circle rating for an economy/budget hotel brand in the 2010 study. Microtel Inns founded in 1989 are newly constructed properties rather than rebranded hotels which may account for the overall high satisfaction with the brand.

The Microtel brand was purchased by Wyndham in July 2008. A Microtel Inn promotion is currently in play to celebrate the JD Power achievement. Book a Microtel Inn room between August 9 and September 12 and you could win a free night, a $25 Visa gift card or a $50 Visa gift card. Nine prizes in each category for 27 prizes each week to be awarded.

Microtel promotion link and more details of the promotion can be found in this August 9 press release.

Data sources:

Wyndham Hotels property numbers and ADR data taken from this Wyndham Hotels 2009 10K Report.

Choice Privileges data taken from Choice Hotels 2010 Q2 June 30 financial results.

Related Loyalty Traveler posts on JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study

Overview JD Power 2010 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study (Aug 10)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Luxury Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Upscale Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 11)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Full Service Hotel Satisfaction Index (Aug 13)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Midscale Limited Service Hotels Satisfaction Index (Aug 15)

Comments on JD Power 2010 Extended Stay Hotels Satisfaction Index (Aug 17)

Wyndham Hotels has an online summer game if you like to play games. Pick a traveler identity from

a)      The Fun-seeking Family

b)      The Flocking Friends of a Feather

c)       The On-the-Go Business Pros

d)      The Continent Exploring Couple

e)      The Gallivanting Grandparents

You can play a weekly trivia game with your Wyndham avatar for a chance to win a five-night hotel stay, $25 gift card, or a three-day golf getaway.

If games are not your thing, then you can skip the trivia questions and go directly to an opportunity for an instant win. The trivia questions were actually challenging and opening up a second browser I actually kicked myself out of the game for this week after answering two questions.

Contest begins May 13 and ends September 7. Open to residents of 50 US states and D.C. and Canada. Contest is not valid for residents of Puerto Rico and US territories.

I wouldn’t bother writing about this promotion if it were only a chance at a contest prize.

The real value of Wyndham’s Mission: Save Summer is a list of 20 discount opportunities for Wyndham brand hotel stays for the summer months and beyond.

1. Wyndham Resorts – Stay 3 consecutive nights before August 31 and save 30% on Best Available Rate.
2. Wingate – Book 3 consecutive nights before December 31 and save 30% on Best Available Rate.
3. Hawthorn Suites – Book 3 consecutive nights before December 31 and save 30% on Best Available Rate.
4. Ramada – Save 20% on stays of 3 nights or longer.
5. Ramada- Save 15% on Best Available Rate for reservations made 14 days in advance. Prepaid rate.
6. Days Inn – Save 15% for two consecutive nights.
7. Days Inn – Save 20% on 3 night or longer stays through December 31.
8. Days Inn – Book 14 days in advance and save 20% on Best Available Rate. Prepaid and no changes allowed.
9. Super 8 – Save 15% on Best Available Rate when booking 8 days in advance. Prepaid and no changes allowed.
10. Baymont – Save $10 per night when you stay at least 3 consecutive nights and book by May 31.
11. Microtel – Save $10 per night when you stay at least 3 consecutive nights by September 1.
12. Microtel – Book 14 days in advance and save 20% on Best Available Rate. Prepaid and no changes allowed.
13. Howard Johnson – Save 15% on Best Available Rate when you book two or more consecutive nights for stays through June 15.
14. Howard Johnson – Book 3 consecutive nights and stay by June 15 and save 30% on Best Available Rate.
15. Howard Johnson – Book 14 days in advance and save 20% on Best Available Rate for stays through June 15. Prepaid and no changes allowed.
16. Travelodge – Save 15% on Best Available Rate when you book two or more consecutive nights for stays through June 15.
17. Travelodge – Book 3 consecutive nights and stay by June 15 and save 30% on Best Available Rate.
18. Travelodge – Book 14 days in advance and save 20% on Best Available Rate. Prepaid and no changes allowed.
19. Knights Inn – Book 3 consecutive nights before December 31 and save 20% on Best Available Rate.
20. Knights Inn – Book 7 days in advance and save 15% on Best Available Rate for stays through December 31, 2010. Prepaid and no changes allowed.

Wyndham Rewards has a good American Airlines 13,500 miles offer to take advantage of with your hotel stays at Wyndham, Wingate, or Hawthorn Suites through September 30.

Tables in this article show the year over year changes in average room rates and occupancy for the various brands in five major hotel chains including Choice Hotels International, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott Hotels, Starwood Hotels, and Wyndham Hotels Group. These five chains represent over 40 hotel brands in the USA and around the world. I was unable to locate comparable data on the web for Hilton Hotels or Hyatt Hotels.

Financial reports data from the first quarter of 2009 was used to show the average daily room rate changes and occupancy declines from 2008 to 2009. In the next couple of weeks the financial reports for April through June will be released by the major hotel corporations. Expect the data to show even more dramatic declines in rates and occupancy. After all, this recession is a whopper.

A discussion on FlyerTalk got me thinking about what the impact of the global recession across hotel market segments and different hotel chains. And are we truly travelers in a time of global recession for the hotel industry?

Smith Travel Research is the kind of company that has hotel rate and occupancy data compiled for a numbers geek like me. I like to periodically check their reports. Unfortunately, I did not see as many reports available online for free viewing as I remember finding last year. They are in the business of making money after all.

I am in the business of making money too when I can, but here is my preliminary research for a free layman’s guide to hotel pricing and the impact of the global recession on travel. 

In the next couple of weeks the major hotel chains will release 2009 Second Quarter financial data. The great thing about quarterly financial reports is public access to the hotel chain’s statistics for number of hotels, average room rates, and average occupancy.  

I have never worked in the field of hospitality and certainly never been in management so I have limited interest in hotel chains’ financial data. My interest is hotel properties, room rates, and occupancy rates that has direct relevance to the frequent guest.

And now for the numbers:

W Hotels are suffering big time in the USA which may account for why W San Diego and W Scottsdale are in financial trouble.

Luxury Collection/St. Regis average daily rate calculation:

2008 Average Daily Rate = $370.04

2009 Average Daily Rate = $296.56

The rate change is calculated by the equation ($370.04 – $296.56) / $370.04 = .199

The average daily rate dropped 19.9% year over year from the average room rate in Q12008 to Q1 2009.

Luxury Collection/St. Regis Occupancy Rates seem skewed to me because the decline in hotel occupancy is shown based on total rooms and not as a percentage decline in occupancy from the previous year.

For example: Luxury Collection/St. Regis Occupancy Rate numbers for International Hotels

2008 Average Occupancy Rate = 59.3%

2009 Average Occupancy rate = 48.4%

Starwood hotels reports this as a -10.9 variance. But the occupancy decrease is not actually 10.9% from 2008 to 2009.

My elementary math logic calculates this year-over-year occupancy drop as a higher percentage decline in that (59.3 – 48.4) / 59.3 = 18.4% fewer hotel guest rooms occupied in 2009 than 2008.

Regardless of how the calculation is done, the numbers all look pretty bad to me with regard to falling hotel occupancy from the first quarter 2008 to first quarter 2009.

Take the Travelodge brand and there are even strong signs of a dramatic decline in hotel room occupancy in the economy segment of hotels.

2008 Average Occupancy Rate = 45.2%

2009 Average Occupancy rate = 39.6%

Following Starwood Hotels method this is a -5.6 decline in 2009 from 2008.

Calculate this as a percentage decrease in occupied rooms from March 2008 to March 2009 and the rate decline is much more dramatic:

(45.2-39.6) / 45.2 = 12.4% occupancy decline in occupied rooms from 2008 to 2009 at Travelodge Hotels around the country. This occupancy decline is in the face of a 16% decline in average room rates.

Wyndham Hotels Group

Wyndham Hotels Group 2009 Q1 Financial Report

Small changes in average daily rate of $3 to $5 per night equate to a 5% to 8% rate drop for these economy and midscale chains in Wyndham Hotels Group. These year over year rate declines are on par with rate declines in Marriott and IHG chains. Starwood with its focus on upper upscale hotel market segment the room rate declines have been proportionately higher across the hotel chain.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts actually saw an average daily rate increase from March 2008 to March 2009 and bucked the trend for the other hotel chains. Starwood, Marriott, and IHG all had the greatest percentage average room rate decline in its highest market segment brands. The Starwood Hotels brands of St. Regis/Luxury Collection (down 12% in US and over 25% internationally), W Hotels (about 19% globally), and Le Meridien (about 20% globally) showed double digit declines for average room rate. Marriott Hotels was down about 9% while its Ritz-Carlton luxury brand dropped room rates an average 10%. IHG held its rate average fairly well over the year compared to Starwood and Marriott.

Marriott Hotels

http://investor.shareholder.com/mar/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=379246

Marriott International Average Daily Rates by Brand and Region – March 2009

InterContinental Hotels Group US Hotels Average Daily Rates by Brand – March 2009

http://www.ihgplc.com/files/results/results09Q1/downloads/slides09Q1.pdf

Hotel Room Occupancy dropped globally in 2009. There are no upsides to the occupancy numbers for hotels. From the USA and Americas and other regions of Europe, Africa/Middle East, and Asia/Pacific the hotel guest numbers have dropped from 5% to 10% in all areas across all hotel brands. Ritz-Carlton in the Americas suffered a 13% drop in occupancy over the year.

The upside for the frequent guest is the ability to secure a good upgrade at low cost or even complimentary.

First quarter 2009 numbers are data compiled in February and March this year just as the stock markets were taking massive hits in value losses. 

The major hotel chains went all out trying to stimulate loyalty promotion activity over the past few months. Rates continued to drop according to Smith Travel Research weekly data and occupancy also declined. The Q2 data should continue to paint a picture of lower rates for consumers. Unfortunately, my observation has been the lower revenue going into hotels has had the impact of fewer hotel staff working to handle customer needs.

Choice Hotels International US domestic data

Choice Hotels bucks the prevalent trend of declining room rates from March 2008 to March 2009 with Average Daily Rate year-over-year increases for five of the nine brands with data. These brands must be managed by Cornell CHR grads. All brands still had occupancy declines.

What I find interesting about Choice Hotels is the greatest average daily rate increases were in the extended stay brands of MainStay Suites and Suburban. These two brands also had the greatest decrease in occupancy.

Concluding thoughts:

The industry is crying over the downturn in the economy and the numbers clearly reflect a significant downturn in average daily room rates and hotel guests between March 2008 and March 2009.

My sentiment is the hotel industry was skipping and laughing all the way to the bank when room rates were increasing by double-digit amounts in some locations from 2003 to 2007; well above the historical average room rate increase of the past few decades.

As a leisure traveler I was motivated to start Loyalty Traveler as an informational resource to help people needing to find a way to get major urban hotels at a discount price.

Rates are dropping in 2009, but don’t cry to me about Argentina. I paid $165 a night for the Sheraton Libertador, Buenos Aires in 2007 and that was one of the cheapest options I found for the major hotel chains. And that was $100 per night cheaper than the average rate at the chain hotels in Washington, D.C. where I ended up using Priceline to get a room for just over $100 before flying to Buenos Aires. Moscow had average rates over $400 per night two years ago. Paris and New York had astronomical hotel rates in 2008.

All you hoteliers had me worried in 2007 that the leisure traveler would be completely priced out of the upscale hotel market. Well, now the economy has forced hotels to bring prices back to earth in 2009.

The numbers show there is a need for retrenchment on the side of the hotel industry. Times are tough as a manager and as an employee hoping to retain a job. 

My gut feeling, based on my labor economics background,  is hotels will need to let prices fall a bit more in 2009 and 2010. Cornell’s Center for Hospitality Research may be barking “Steady as You Go” to hold rates higher in spite of the global economic recession, however, as the voice of the reasoned and seasoned traveler, I have to shout back “Enough is enough.” The new economic mantra has to become “sustainable rates for a traveling public”.

Are there really enough people with sufficient spare capital to pay $400 per night for a W Hotel or InterContinental Hotel stay? If so, then hotel chains need to start building some multi-thousand capsule bedrooms at 100 square feet for the masses who want to visit Paris, New York, or Miami during their lifetime.

Did you really think 10+ percent rate increases were sustainable? How many people make 10% raises per year?  Hotels quickly priced out a large portion of the traveling population in just a couple of years.

The data I have compiled is a reality check. There are still some high average daily rates in several market segments that I do not see as sustainable in the long run for travelers. Business has cut back significantly leading to a drop in the upper high-end rates typically commanded during conferences and peak holiday seasons. I still think there is room on the low-end of upscale hotels for reducing rates more for leisure travelers.

The Economy Hotel market segment is where I predict the real damage will be felt this year and into 2010.  Economy hotel prices are already low in most market segments, yet the occupancy rate is still plummeting despite average rates under $50 per night in many locations.

Wyndham Hotel Group = 6,993 Hotels; 588,458 rooms globally in March 2009.

Wyndham Hotel Group is the largest hotel chain in world by hotels; InterContinental Hotels Group (Holiday Inn/HI Express) is largest by number of rooms.

Wyndham Hotel Group brands are primarily in the economy to midscale market. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts brand is upscale hotels and resorts, however, these hotels comprise less than 2% of the Wyndham Hotel Group by brand and less than 5% by rooms of the global hotel chain.

Wyndham Rewards is the Wyndham Hotel Group chain loyalty program.

Data was pulled from Wyndham 2009 Q1 Financial Tables http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/investors/financial_information/quarterly_earnings.cfm

Top 50 Ranking is based on Hotels Magazine data.

Source link: Top 50 Hotel Brands http://www.hotelsmag.com/contents/pdf/htl0907giantstables.pdf

HotelsMag.com survey shows end-of-year 2008 numbers at 7,043 hotels and 592,880 rooms in global portfolio.

Offer: Triple Stay Promotion earns 10,000 frequent flyer miles for stays in three different Wyndham Rewards hotel brands through September 10, 2009. You can earn 10,000 miles with one of these 10 airlines or Amtrak:

1.      Air Canada Aeroplan

2.      American Airlines

3.      Continental

4.      Delta

5.      Midwest

6.      Northwest

7.      Spirit

8.      United

9.      US Airways

10.  Sun Country (100 UFly points)

11.  Amtrak Guest Rewards (10,000 points)

Rates are $50 or less per night for many of these brand hotels in many locations across the USA. You have a great opportunity to save money on hotels while earning a substantial boost to your frequent flyer account.

Register: for this miles promotion or enroll in Wyndham Rewards at this link: http://www.wyndhamrewards.com/triplestay

Important: Your Wyndham Rewards account earning preference must be set for miles instead of points. Change this yourself online or call Wyndham Rewards Member Services at 1-866-996-7937 to enroll in promotion and set your earning preference to miles. You must select a frequent flyer program for miles.

Wyndham Hotel Group consists of 11 brands:

1.      Days Inn,

2.      Super 8,

3.      Ramada,

4.      Travelodge,

5.      Howard Johnson,

6.      Knights Inn,

7.      Baymont Inn,

8.      Hawthorn Suites,

9.      Microtel Inn,

10.  Wingate

11.  Wyndham Hotels and Resorts

Wyndham Hotels is the largest hotel chain in the world with over 7,000 hotels. The 11 hotel brands are primarily in the economy market segment and about 80% of the Wyndham brand hotels are located in the USA. Days Inn, Super 8, and Ramada are three Wyndham brands in the top 20 brands in the world by number of hotel rooms.

Apparently, Travelodge in Canada does not participate in Wyndham Rewards, so keep that detail in mind when fulfilling this promotion.

Loyalty Traveler analysis: I missed this promotion when I wrote my InsideFlyer column for July 2009 on earning airline miles with hotel stays. I like this deal for its ability to earn 10,000 airline miles on budget-price hotel stays. The value of the miles can be worth as much as the three hotel stays.

I personally have a couple of accounts where 10,000 miles will put me at an award level for travel and I look forward to some cheap rooms and air travel. Considering airlines typically sell miles at $25 per 1,000 I view this promotion as a cheaper way to miles without flying.

10,000 Mile Action Plan for a Monterey Vacation (or in my case Staycation)

Come to Monterey for a midweek vacation and earn some Wyndham Rewards miles while basking in the sun or bundling up in the fog. Monterey has two streets with a high density of hotels. Munras Avenue and Fremont Street both have several Wyndham Rewards hotel brands within a few blocks of each other. Both of these locations are located in the Monterey sun belt.

This past week on the Monterey Peninsula has seen constant fog in Carmel, Pebble Beach, and Pacific Grove while Monterey has enjoyed a cool sun with the fog sitting just hundreds of yards away along the ridgetop of the hills separating the city of Monterey from Carmel and Pebble Beach.

Here are the rates from last night, a Tuesday night, at six different Wyndham brand hotels in Monterey:

Knights Inn Carmel Hill $49 (Munras Ave)

Howard Johnson Express $50 (Munras Ave)

Monterey Bay Travelodge $50 (Fremont St.)

Super 8 Monterey/Carmel $54 (Munras Ave)

Ramada Limited $59 (Fremont St.)

Days Inn Monterey $65 (Munras Ave)

Days Inn Monterey Downtown $69 (Abrego St.)

Ramada Limited Carmel Hill Monterey $69 (Cass St)

I was blown away that rates are so low in the summer for Monterey. These are truly tough times for hotels. Weekend hotel rates are always higher in this tourist location.

And if economy lodging is not your style, then the three resorts at Pebble Beach just over the hill are still running $595 to $845 per night. Pebble Beach Resorts are offering free golf, but no miles.

Promotion Terms and Conditions fine print:

To qualify for the Triple Stay promotion and earn 10,000 airline miles, rail points,or 100 Ufly Rewards Points the member must (i) choose to earn airline miles or rail points in his/her Wyndham Rewards member profile, (ii) register at wyndhamrewards.com/triplestay or at 1-866-WYN-RWDS (1-866-996-7937), (iii) book a reservation for, and complete a total of three (3) stays at three (3) different hotel brands participating in the Wyndham Rewards program at a qualifying rate between May 14, 2009 and September 10, 2009, and (iv) complete his/her hotel stay by October 10, 2009. Members who check-out after October 10, 2009 will not receive the 10,000 bonus miles. Members will receive, the regular two (2) miles per dollar spent for all qualified stays at participating hotels in the following Wyndham Rewards hotels brands: Baymont Inn & Suites®, Days Inn®, Howard Johnson®, Knights Inn®, Microtel Inn & Suites®, Ramada®, Super 8®, Travelodge® (U.S. hotels only), and Wingate® by Wyndham. Miles are earned on the qualifying room rate only, not on taxes, food and beverage or other incidental expenses. For stays at participating Hawthorn Suites® (U.S hotels only) and participating Wyndham Hotels and Resorts properties members will receive the regular five hundred (500) miles per stay. For the full list of countries in which there are participating hotels please vist http://www.wyndhamrewards.com/earn/hotels/countries/ Members should allow six to eight weeks after completion of registration and stay for the standard airline miles, rail points or Ufly points to be credited to their account, and six to eight weeks after the completion of promotion for the bonus 10,000 airline miles, rail points or 100 Ufly Rewards Points to be credited to their account. Rates offered by most on-line travel agencies and certain other rates do not qualify. One stay includes all consecutive nights at the same hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. Currency for Amtrak Guest Rewards program is points.

Airline and rail programs participating in the Triple Stay Promotion include: Aeroplan, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Midwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines, US Airways, Sun Country Airlines and Amtrak.

I spent a couple of years wondering if writing about travel loyalty programs would negatively influence programs and ruin the benefits.  A few hundred travelers getting an incredible deal typically did not spread far in the travel community. 

Between 1999 and 2004 there were opportunities every year to earn 500,000 or more frequent flyer miles for $2,000 to $4,000 and generally the expense for earning so much travel credit was simply paying to travel. FlyerTalk was a much smaller community at one time.  The loyalty programs have become much more sophisticated at balancing loyalty promotion giveaways with revenue benefits.

Today social networks over the web connect millions of people on common threads. Tens of thousands moving en masse for a travel bargain can be devastating. Consider the Leading Hotels of the World debacle last October. Perhaps the coming change to Wyndham Rewards Best Rate Guarantee is a case of public overexposure too concentrated on one type of great travel deal.

Wyndham Rewards has an incredible Best Rate Guarantee policy that will be changing April 1, 2009.

Free hotel rooms are a bargain traveler’s dream deal. The guys at BestRateGuarantee.blogspot.com may have put themselves out of their current blog business. The basic purpose of the site is a listing of Wyndham Rewards hotels with a lower rate on a third party travel agency like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and many others.

Best Rate Guarantee with Wyndham Rewards means you receive one hotel night free if the lower rate is verified to exist. From April 1 there will no longer be free rooms awarded as a Best Rate Guarantee benefit.

David & Dave of the Best Rate Guarantee blog have posted a statement on February 26 regarding the Wyndham BRG changes.   They allude to recession pressures on Wyndham forcing a policy change. Sure, there is recession pressure throughout the hotel industry, but a website alerting people to book hotel rooms for free is bound to have a devastating impact on revenue.

I posted comments one time to the BRG blog when a Monterey Super 8 property came up on the blog. I questioned the location of the Super 8 since I had just photographed every motel on Fremont Street a couple of days before and there was not a Super 8 among the 16 hotels. I drove to the hotel and spoke with the management that morning. They had in fact changed to a Super 8 and the banner was in the office being readied to drape over the former motel name sign outside.

Vagabond Motel, Fremont Street, Monterey 2008 (currently a Super 8 motel)

I drove away from that newly branded Super 8 thinking how that family in the hotel office was being impacted by free room giveaways. They may also have been affected by my poor rating of the hotel in my survey of Monterey hotels.  I am glad the motel name changed to a Super 8 since its former name, Vagabond Motel created confusion with a similarly named, Vagabond House Inn located on a lush lot in Carmel. I often wondered how many guests thought they booked a lovely Carmel inn and found themselves sleeping in a motel on Fremont Street by a porn shop.

Vagabond House Inn, Carmel

Wyndham’s new policy will be a 10% reduction of the lower competing price. I think additional points as another BRG incentive would be good to promote hotel loyalty and brand awareness.

The budget hotel market segment is faring better in holding room rates than many other market segments in this deflationary economy.  The 10% BRG is a start, but points would have more leverage value and provide customer loyalty awareness for the brands in Wyndham. I study hotels all the time and I still have difficulty differentiating the brands between Wyndham Rewards and Choice Privileges.

The hotel brand members of Wyndham Rewards followed by 2008 average room rate:

1. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, $116.61

2. Wingate by Wyndham, $91.84

3. Ramada Worldwide, $79.69

4. Travelodge, $67.68

5. Baymont Inns and Suites, $65.66

6. Amerihost, $63.38

7. Howard Johnson, $63.11

8. Days Inn, $61.99

9. Super 8, $56.78

10. Knights Inn $40.88

(Hotel brands are ordered by average daily room rate for first quarter 2008 which correlates with relative market segment for hotel brand).

The low average room rate for many of these hotel brands is why I feel Wyndham would be well served by issuing bonus loyalty points with the BRG claim.  Saving $4.09 on a Knights Inn stay may not be sufficient incentive for someone to bother with a BRG claim.

Then again, after 1,000 BRG hotel posts by David and Dave in the past year, perhaps Wyndham Rewards wants to eliminate guest incentive for best rate guarantee claims.

Wyndham Rewards Double Airline Miles or Rail Points for Summer 2008 Stays

With over 6,000 properties in Wyndham Rewards this is an inexpensive way to earn some airline miles with your hotel stays.

Terms and conditions:

-         No registration is required. 

-         Set your earning preference to airline miles in your guest profile. 

-         Participating countries are USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Germany or China. 

-         Hotel stays must be booked by September 4 and stays completed by October 4, 2008.

-         Limit of 4 Stays will earn Double Miles or Points per member

Wyndham Rewards has benefits like free internet just for joining.  Hotel points or airline miles can be earned for stays at 10 hotel brands, including Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate, Baymont Inns and Suites, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Knights Inn, and AmeriHost Inn.  And just 3 stays in a calendar year brings some additional Wyndham ByRequest elite benefits such as preferred location in a hotel.

Regular Earning System for Wyndham Rewards                                                                                      (Double Miles or Rail Points promotion will double the earning shown below for miles).

Wyndham Rewards allows members the choice of hotel stay earning preference:

10 Wyndham Rewards points per $1 hotel rate paid

or

2 airline miles per $1, except Wyndham Hotels earn a set 500 miles per stay.

            Earning rules vary among airline partners:

            2 airline miles per $1

                        American Airlines AAdvantage,

                        Continental Airlines OnePass

                        Delta Skymiles

                        Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles

                        Northwest Airlines WorldPerks

                        Spirit Airlines

                        United Mileage Plus

                        US Airways Dividend Miles

            Air Canada Aeroplan

                    Greater of 2 airline miles per $1  or  250 miles per stay

            SunCountry Airline UFly points

                        2 UFly points per Wyndham Hotel stay or

                        1 UFly point per stay at other Wyndham brands

            Air Berlin

                        500 miles per stay

            Air China Phoenix Miles

                        800 kilometers per stay at Ramada, Howard Johnson, or Days Hotels in China         

                        400 kilometers per stay at Days Inn or Super 8 in China

                        3 kilometers per $1 for stays at Wyndham Rewards hotel brands outside China

            Lufthansa Miles & More

                    500 miles per stay at participating Wyndham Hotels and Ramada Inn

            Amtrak Points (available for stays at USA and Canada hotels only)

                        2 points per $1 at all Wyndham brands, except 500 points per stay at Wyndham                                          Hotels

That $50 Travelodge hotel night can be worth 200 American Airlines miles with the Double Miles promotion.

Ramada Amsterdam and watching Tour de France 2006

It was a bed-in experience

Amsterdam Centraal view from Ramada

Amsterdam city center view from Ramada Hotel


The plaza across from Ramada, Amsterdam


Sink, Ramada Amsterdam

I thought I could dash off a quick review of Wyndham Rewards.

The hotel brand members of Wyndham Rewards followed by 2008 average room rate:
1. Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, $116.61
2. Wingate by Wyndham, $91.84
3. Ramada Worldwide, $79.69
4. Travelodge, $67.68
5. Baymont Inns and Suites, $65.66
6. Amerihost, $63.38
7. Howard Johnson, $63.11
8. Days Inn, $61.99
9. Super 8, $56.78
10. Knights Inn $40.88
(Hotel brands are ordered by average daily room rate for first quarter 2008 which correlates with relative market segment for hotel brand).

The problem I found with making a quick assessment of the Wyndham Rewards hotel loyalty program is that upon a closer look there are a large number of facets to the benefits available to members. This is just an introduction to Wyndham Rewards because I have been seeing loads of press releases the past couple weeks in their marketing campaign to promote brand recognition, but nobody lays out the details of the loyalty program for the traveler.

And getting the details involved more work than I anticipated. Wyndham Rewards needs a website makeover to be traveler friendly.

Case in point: There are 10 hotels in Monterey participating in Wyndham Rewards. Even after joining Wyndham Rewards as a new member, I had to call the member services telephone line to find out how much a free night would be at each of the 10 Wyndham Rewards member hotels within a 4-mile radius of me. That is a ridiculous hotel loyalty program website omission to not provide the redemption rates for a free night at any particular hotel and make it easily available to a website visitor.

The point of a hotel loyalty program promoting free nights is to allow the frequent guest to acquire the information necessary to plan and prepare for a vacation. The hotel guest planning to use hotel points needs to know how many hotel points are needed for a free night. That information should be available on the hotel loyalty program website.

Let’s Spend the Night Together

Wyndham Rewards has launched the Play Together, Stay Together contest to promote hotel brand recognition and the new hotel loyalty program name change from TripRewards.
The main boast of Wyndham Rewards hotel loyalty program is its size with over 6,000 hotels and with 50% more hotels worldwide than InterContinental Hotels Group, twice as many hotels as Hilton or Marriott, and many times more hotels than Starwood or Hyatt, each of those programs with under 1,000 hotels.

Another program main attribute, and also the program’s detractor, are the large number of budget-priced hotel brands in the program.

Wyndham Rewards brings together ten hotel brands under one loyalty program umbrella:

AmeriHost are located in 22 US states and each hotel features an indoor pool.

Baymont Inns and Suites have about 125 hotels in the USA, primarily in Southeast and Central USA. These are a midscale hotel property with free internet and complimentary continental breakfast.

Days Inn – about 2,000 hotels

Howard Johnson – more than 450 hotels in 16 countries. Four tiers of properties from budget motels to full service Howard Johnson Plaza hotels.

Knights Inn – more than 250 hotels in North America.

Ramada Worldwide 850 hotels in 25 countries

Super 8 – More than 2,000 hotels. This brand announced a logo and image makeover this month. Race car theme seems to be prominent.

Travelodge - info on the number of Travelodge hotels is something I have not yet found, however, Travelodge properties in Canada do not participate in Wyndham Rewards.

Wingate by Wyndham -business style hotel

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts - full scale hotels with many resort locations in USA and internationally.

Earning Points: Simple 10 points/$1 of hotel rate.

Redeeming Points: Wyndham Hotels maintains its own hotel points redemption program.

Elite Program: Wyndham ByRequest – details are vague, but supposedly member preferences will be noted and some additional amenities might be provided to frequent guests.

The Wyndham Hotel properties can be looked up online for the points redemption rate. Rates vary from:
Wyndham Nassau Resort & Crystal Palace Casino, Bahamas 15,000 points
Wyndham London Chelsea Harbour, UK, 45,000 points
Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 25,000 points
Wyndham Sapphire Beach Club & Resort, St. Maarten, Netherland Antilles 20,000 points

The redemption rate for international properties can also be looked up online. There are other hotel chains eligible for free nights using Wyndham Rewards points besides the member brands listed above.

Sample redemption rates:
Ramada Amsterdam Hotel & Suites 15,000 points
Ramada Prague City Centre 30,000 points
Melia Cariari, Costa Rica 10,000 points
Tryp Corobici, Costa Rica 8,500 points

Ramada Resort, Karon Beach, Phuket, Thailand 10,000 points
Cozumel – Days Inn 10,000 points
Melia Cabo Real, Mexico 30,000 points
Gran Melia Cancun, Mexico 30,000 points

Melia Caribe Tropical, Dominican Republic 30,000 points

I was “Born in the USA”

The large majority of Wyndham Rewards hotel members are located in the USA and three brands represent 70% of the USA Wyndham Rewards hotel member properties: Ramada, Super 8, and Days Inn.

There are four tiers of hotel redemption levels for US domestic hotels.

Tier 1 = 6,000 points for a free hotel night
Tier 2 = 10,000 points for a free hotel night
Tier 3 = 14,000 points for a free hotel night
Tier 4 = 16,000 points for a free hotel night

Unless you already have sufficient Wyndham Rewards points to actually book a hotel stay, the member is unable to find out through the website to which of the four tiers a particular hotel belongs. The website will simply reply with a message to the member of insufficient points for a free night.

To get USA hotels redemption information for the vast majority of Wyndham Rewards hotel members requires a phone call. My phone call for Monterey area hotels revealed that Salinas has some Tier 2 hotels, but all the Wyndham Rewards member hotels for the Monterey Peninsula are Tier 3 and Tier 4. The hotels here are the same price as the Amsterdam Ramada.

Wyndham Hotels and Resorts – The Flagship Brand of Wyndham Rewards
I do agree that Wyndham Rewards is a good name change because they are taking the flagship hotel brand as the loyalty program name.

There are nice Wyndham hotels and resorts. I walked through the Wyndham Palm Springs last month one evening and there were about a 20 people hanging around the lobby socializing. The ambiance was casual and elegant, and the pool area large.

The focus of the Wyndham Rewards loyalty program should be its size and the ability to get points for low cost hotel stays. A rebate of 10% or more for your paid stays when earned hotel points are redeemed for future free nights should be possible. The abundance of Wyndham Rewards hotel members makes it worthwhile to keep an eye on this program when you are traveling where few upscale loyalty hotels are located.