Priority Club launches a summer campaign tomorrow for Double Points or Double Miles from June 1 through July 31, 2013.

Double points or miles begins with second stay at an InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn brands.

Double points begins with first stay at IHG’s two extended stay brands: Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. These two brands normally earn only 5 points per dollar or 1 mile per dollar which is 50% of the other IHG brands, so this works out to be 10 points/$1 or 2 miles/$1 on first stay. This recurring promotion incentivizes members for a stay at Staybridge or Candlewood to kick off this summer offer by offering the same level of points you will earn with any other IHG brand. Then you are incentivized to stay at the other brands from your second stay onward for the rest of the promotion.

Registration is required for this 2x points/miles promotion in advance of your stays.

This offer is valid at IHG brand hotels worldwide.

Must be a Priority Club® Rewards member and must register member number in advance to participate in this promotion. Bonus points or miles will be awarded from the second qualifying stay between 1 June 2013 and 31 July 2013 unless otherwise stated in the Double Points/Double Miles Promotion Terms and Conditions. A stay is defined as one night or consecutive nights at the same hotel, regardless of frequency of check-in/out. A stay is qualified when paying qualifying rates, which include most business and leisure rates.

Earn 2x points until August 31 in Europe.

And if your summer plans include Europe, then you can earn double points for midweek stays June 17 – August 31, 2013 by registering for this Priority Club Reward Yourself offer. This offer is valid for bookings made by July 31 at participating hotels in western Europe. The list of countries and participating hotels can be seen in drop down menus on the promotion page.

Conclusion: Double points or miles is a standard recurring promotion from IHG Priority Club.

Bonus points are always nice on IHG stays, but it looks like the grand hotel bonus promotions of 2009-2011 have faded into loyalty memories.

Ric Garrido, writer and content owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests.

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From January 7 through March 31, 2013 HHonors members can register to earn double base points or double base miles. Promotion bonus applies to existing reservations for stays and nights within the promotion period, however, bonus only applies for stays completed after promotion registration.

‘Double Your HHonors’ promotion registration page.

Bonus points or miles apply to up to two rooms per reservation when both rooms are booked and paid for by the HHonors member.

HHonors Points Earning Analysis

Double points means a Points & Points member earns at least 25 points/$1 for all Hilton brands except 12.5 points/$1 for Home2 Suites stays.

HHonors Points Calculator

• 10 base points per dollar
• 5 bonus points points per dollar (Points & Points earner)
• 10 bonus points per dollar (Double Your HHonors promotion)
• Elite bonus points if applicable (1.5 to 5 points/$1)
• HHonors credit card bonus points if applicable (up to 12 points per dollar with HHonors American Express Surpass)

If you have all the right stuff and stay at a participating hotel, Double Your HHonors promotion can pull in 42 points per dollar.

That is a decent rebate on hotel spend.

Non-Participating HHonors Hotels (link to hotel list)

The major drawback of Double Your HHonors is there are about 600 nonparticipating hotels in the USA. That is almost 1 in 5 hotels in the USA opting out of this offer.

There are only 14 hotels outside the USA not participating, so not too much of a concern for international travelers.

Over 600 hotels opted out of Double Your HHonors 2013 Q-1 promotion with 97% of those in USA.

Here are some comparative statistics to other HHonors quarterly promotions.

• HHonors 2011 Q-4 fewer than 300 opted out.
• HHonors 2012 Q-2 about 350 hotels opted out.
• HHonors 2012 Q-3 about 550 hotels opted out.
• HHonors 2012 Q-4 only about 250 hotels opted out.

The vast majority of hotels opting out of HHonors promotions are in the USA.

Earning Double Miles

In general, I do not think earning double miles is nearly as valuable as earning double points.

Remember you can keep your profile preference at Points and Fixed Miles or Points & Variable Miles and still earn double points with this offer and standard base miles. Your earning is only reduced by 5 points/$1 (Points & Points bonus) by choosing Double Points for this promotion with fixed or variable miles.

If your travel includes many stays at Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites or Home2 Suites, then poor fixed miles earning rates, typically 100 miles per stay, make Double Miles a poor promotion choice for Double Your HHonors. Many international airlines do not even earn miles for stays at these three brands.

Another advantage of choosing Double Points is award stays will earn double points for incidental charges, however, award stays will not earn double miles.

Double Your HHonors FAQ.

Conrad Miami bar balcony view.

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Hilton HHonors members can earn double Aeroplan miles through December 31, 2012. Promotion registration is required for this offer before you checkout for a stay to be eligible. You must choose Aeroplan as your Double Dip miles earning partner in your HHonors account.

HOW TO SELECT YOUR DOUBLE DIP PARTNER

Start earning both airline miles and Hilton HHonors points with every stay by following these simple steps to select your Double Dip partner:

1) Log in to your HHonors account profile

2) Click on “My Profile”

3) Click on “Earning Points and Miles”

4) Ensure that you have selected “HHonors Points and Fixed Miles” or “HHonors Points and Variable Miles.” If one of these options is not currently selected, click “Edit” under “Double Dip Earnings Style Options”.

5) Click “Add Partner”

6) Select Aerplan as your preferred airline partner and enter your Aeroplan account number.

7) Save changes.

Member must select Points and Variable Miles or Points and Fixed Milesas their appropriate Double Dip® Earning Style within their HHonors profile.

Bonus Aeroplan Mileage (Variable Miles Member):

• Earn 2 miles for every U.S. dollar spent on a qualifying stay.
• There is no cap on the number of miles that may be earned under this earning style per stay.

Bonus Aeroplan Mileage (Fixed Miles Member):

For qualifying stays at Hampton by Hilton™, Homewood Suites by Hilton™ and Home2 Suites by Hilton™ hotels, earn up to 200 Aeroplan Miles per qualifying stay.

For qualifying stays at Waldorf Astoria™ Hotels & Resorts, Conrad® Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, DoubleTree by Hilton™, Embassy Suites by Hilton™, Hilton Garden Inn™ and Hilton Grand Vacations™, earn up to 1,000 Aeroplan Miles per qualifying stay.

There is no cap on the total number of miles that may be earned under either earning style during the promotion period.

Hilton HHonors Double Aeroplan miles through December 31, 2012.

This HHonors bonus miles offer can be combined with the current HHonors 1,000 points per night through December 31, 2012. Loyalty traveler post October 16 Hilton 1,000 points per night Thursday to Monday Nov 1-Dec 31, 2012.

Also, you can earn 3,000 Aeroplan miles for 3 nights at Starwood Hotels by December 9, 2012 and up to 8,000 Aeroplan miles for 5 nights. You need to register for the SPG promotion and this offer does not impact your points earning and may be combined with SPG points promotions.

Loyalty Traveler post: Starwood 5 nights earns 5,000 Aeroplan miles and Starpoints Sep 10-Dec 9, 2012

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Hilton HHonors has another frequent flyer miles bonus for double miles with American AAdvantage and United Mileage Plus along with AeroMexico, Avianca/Taca and MultiPlus for stays October 2 through December 31, 2012.

The main restriction on this offer is there are only about 250 participating Hilton properties focused on Latin America, Caribbean and USA hotels.

Then there are the outlier hotels, literally, like Hilton Garden Inn Stuttgart NeckerPark, Conrad Dublin and Hilton Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Hilton HHonors promotion registration required: HHonors.com/DoubleLAT.

You must select one of these airlines as your miles earning airline partner.

• American Airlines AAdvantage
• United Airlines Mileage Plus (includes Copa Airlines)
• Club Premier AeroMexico
• Avianca/Taca
• MultiPlus Fidelidade (Brazilian loyalty points program)

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.

Wyndham Rewards members in the US, Canada and Mexico can register to earn Double Points or Double Miles and movie tickets for stays from March 29 through July 8, 2012.

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.

Hilton HHonors members can earn double points or double miles for stays from April 1 through June 30, 2012.

HHonors Promotion registration is required. Promotion FAQ link.

HHonors Points & Points Earners with Double Points

Double points means 20 points per dollar for all brands except Home2 Suites where double points is 10 points per dollar. A Points & Points earner gets 25 points/$1 and elite bonuses are on top of that.

• HHonors Silver = 26.5 points/$1.
• HHonors Gold = 27.5 points/$1
• HHonors Diamond = 30 points/$1.

Read More…

PriorityClubRepresentative posted the official link for the Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles promotion from January 23-April 30, 2012. The promotion code 6673 is a different code than originally published in my January 13 Loyalty Traveler post.  I registered last week using the 2837 code and the new promotion registration page comes back with the message I am already registered for the offer.

The other piece of official news from the FlyerTalk thread is PriorityClubRepresentative states the X stays, for Y points promotion is stackable with this double points or double miles promotion.

Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles (Code 6673 registration page)

• Begins with second eligible IHG brand stay at any Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo, except for Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites earn double points or double miles beginning with first stay.
• No retroactive credit for hotel stays prior to promotion registration date.
• Promotion earns 20 points per dollar at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental Hotels and Hotel Indigo.
• InterContinental Hotels will change earning rate during this promotion when IC hotels in North America, Caribbean and Latin America (about 50 hotels) begin earning 10 points per dollar on February 15, 2012. All other InterContinental Hotels worldwide (about 120 hotels) will maintain earning rate of 2,000 points per stay regardless of hotel spend. Double points will be either 4,000 points per stay or 20 points per dollar depending on date of stay and location.
• Staybridge and Candlewood brands earn 10 points per dollar with double points.
• Link to standard earn rates for IHG brands.

Earning Double Miles with Priority Club

Priority Club has over 40 airline partners for earning miles. There are many earning structures depending on airline and hotel brand. The miles earning rates are shown here.

The US-based airlines of Alaska, American, Delta, United and US Airways earn miles at these rates:

• 2 miles per $1 spend at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo and beginning February 15, 2012 at InterContinental Hotels in North America, Caribbean and Latin America. Double miles = 4 miles/$1.
• 1 mile per $1 spend at Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites. Double miles = 2 miles/$1.
• 500 miles per stay at InterContinental Hotels. Double miles = 1,000 miles/stay for all InterContinental Hotels worldwide prior to February 15, 2012. InterContinental Hotels in North America, Caribbean and Central America change to 2 miles/$1 February 15, 2012. There will be no change in miles earning rate for InterContinental Hotels in other regions.

Priority Club Double Points is stackable with quarterly stay bonus points offer.

*** InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Rewards – Priority Club members may register for one of the quarterly stay promotions running January 1-March 31, 2012. You can only register for one offer so pick the target you are most likely to reach. Stay 3 nights = 5,000 bonus points. Stay 7 nights = 10,000 bonus points. Stay 15 nights = 15,000 bonus points.

Double Points or Miles continues in 2009 beginning September 15, 2009. Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites hotel stays start earning the double points or miles with the first hotel stay. Other IHG brands: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, HI Express begin earning double points or miles with the second hotel stay.

Priority Club Registration link

InterContinental Hotel stays regularly earn 2,000 points per stay. Double points earns 4,000 points per stay.

Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites regularly earn 5 points per US$1 and will earn 10 points per US$1.

Other IHG brands regularly earn 10 points per US$1 and will earn 20 points per US$1 for eligible stays during the promotion period.

Priority Club has nearly 50 airline partners for earning frequent flyer miles. There are different earning levels for different airlines. Hotel brand also impacts the miles earned.

Here is the link to the miles earning terms for USA Priority Club members.

Priority Club Rewards has filled their 25^th Anniversary year with one great hotel loyalty program bonus after another.  Frequent guests of hotels in the InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) this year have been getting points and miles boosts. 

Priority Club Fall 2008 Promotion:

Double Miles or Double Points beginning with second stay at an IHG hotel brand or beginning with first stay for Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites brand hotels.

Dates: Between 15 September – 15 December, 2008

Terms:

·         Registration required.  No retroactive bonus for stays prior to registration.

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

·         Only one room per member per night at a hotel will earn bonus points or miles.

·         Must have miles preference selected in user profile to earn miles.

·         Most business and leisure rates qualify (AAA and senior rates).

·         Participating brands:

1.      InterContinental Hotels

2.      Crowne Plaza

3.      Hotel Indigo

4.      Holiday Inn

5.      Holiday Inn Express

6.      Express by Holiday Inn (this is the international name for hotels like Holiday Inn Express)

7.      Staybridge Suites

8.      Candlewood Suites

Earning Priority Club Points

Eligible spending is room rate (not taxes), food and beverage, telephone, laundry, and in-room movies charged to the member’s room.

Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites stays normally earn 5 points per $1.00 in eligible spending.  Fall 2008 Double Points promotion will earn 10 points/$1.00.

InterContinental Hotels normally earn a flat rate of 2,000 points per stay.

Fall 2008 Double Points promotion will earn 4,000 points/stay.

Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, and Hotel Indigo stays normally earn 10 points/$1.00.

Fall 2008 Double Points promotion will earn 20 points/$1.00.

Elite member hotel points bonuses are applied normally on the base points charges for members selecting hotel points earning.

Earning Airline Miles

Due to 13 different earning structures in the Priority Club airline miles charts, the only one covered here is for the main structure of miles earning used by the legacy airlines of United, American, Delta, Continental, Northwest, Alaska, US Airways and some other airlines.

Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo stays earn 2 miles / $1 in eligible charges.

Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites stays earn 1 mile / $1 in eligible charges.

InterContinental Hotels stays earn 500 miles / stay.

Earning Points vs. Miles in Real Travel

The real value in this promotion is for those members with lower cost stays at Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, and HI Express. 

Assume 6 stays at $100 each for Holiday Inn compared to 2 stays at InterContinental Hotels at $300 each.  Member has no elite status.

Holiday Inn (6 stays at $100/stay)

Stay 1 = 1,000 points or 200 miles

Stay 2 = 2,000 points or 400 miles (Fall 2008 bonus applies)

Stay 3-6 = 8,000 points or 1,600 miles

Total

11,000 points ($126.50 value at $11.50/1,000 points purchase price equivalent)

or

2,200 miles ($60 value at purchase price equivalent of $27/1,000 miles)

InterContinental Hotels (2 stays at $300/stay)

Stay 1 = 2,000 points or 500 miles

Stay 2 = 4,000 points or 1,000 miles (Fall 2008 bonus applies)

Total: 6,000 points ($69.00 value at $11.50/1,000 points purchase price equivalent)

or 1,500 miles ($40.50 value at purchase price equivalent of $27/1,000 miles)

As usual, I find better value in earning hotel points for this promotion than choosing miles.  Better yet is the fact a member can earn elite status with IHG Priority Club based on the number of points earned in a calendar year (Gold = 20,000 points and Platinum = 60,000 points).  In many cases it is an easier qualification standard for a frequent guest to reach Priority Club top elite Platinum membership on points when the member is not quite so frequent a guest as 50 nights in a year.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has some of the best discount rate offers available for the online shopper.  Loyalty Traveler is a true fan of the frequently offered 2 Nights for the Price of 1 special rates; a frequent discount rate for hotels in Europe that can save you hundreds of dollars with one reservation. 

Another special rate is the prepaid (nonrefundable) 25% Off Weekend Bed and Breakfast stays in Europe and the Middle East.  This offer is valid through 2008 primarily for weekend stays on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, however, some locations may offer mid-week special rates.  Terms for this offer. 

My searches showed much lower nightly rates for the 2-for-1 special offer rate than with the 25% B&B link.

Holiday Inn Amsterdam, Netherlands,  Sep 19-21, 2008

79.50€/night or 159€ for the 2-night rate compared to

105€/night using the 25% off rate. 

Crowne Plaza – The City, London, UK,  Sep 19-21, 2008

£62.50 / night or £125.00 for 2-night stay using the Pay for 1, Get 2 nights special rate.

£113.00/night using the 25% off B&B rate. 

Priority Club Rewards 

The IHG hotel corporation loyalty program is Priority Club Rewards.  Priority Club was recognized for best award redemption for hotel loyalty programs in the Americas at the 2008 Freddies Awards.  The PointBreaks free nights for 5,000 points per night are one of the highest value hotel opportunities around.  Crowne Plaza free nights at 25,000 points regardless of location makes these hotels one of the best values for a free night in many cities when compared to the redemption rate for a comparable hotel in another loyalty program.  InterContinental Hotels are among the premier hotels for the region in many of their locations and the 30,000 points to 40,000 points per night are highly competitive with the redemption rates for comparable hotels in other programs.

About InterContinental Hotels Group

A hotel chain as large as the InterContinental Hotels Group makes Priority Club Rewards a valuable loyalty program investment for some travelers.  The Holiday Inn Express brand (1,700 Hotels) of IHG far surpasses in numbers and locations the entire Starwood Hotels group (about 800 hotels) and Hyatt Hotels group (fewer than 500 hotels).  Priority Club is one to rival Hilton and Marriott for road warriors.  InterContinental Hotels (about 150 hotels) and Crowne Plaza (about 300 hotels) are upscale redemption opportunities and offer a higher level of service than your typical Holiday Inn (1,400 hotels).  IHG’s new brand Hotel Indigo is still limited to a few markets with only 14 properties opened since launching in 2004.  Candlewood Suites (150 hotels) and Staybridge Suites (125 hotels) offer extended stay apartment style lodging.  IHG is a leading player in all market segments of the hotel industry.

Priority Club Fall 2008 Promotion for Double Points or Double Miles

Later this week I will write about the upcoming IHG Priority Club Rewards promotion for Double Points or Double Miles.  Registration is required.  The promotion starts September 15, 2008 and runs to December 15, 2008.

Learn more now, if you can’t wait for my post.