Conde Nast Traveler Gold List 2013 is the annual list of best ranked hotels by CN Traveler readers. 47,000 participants in the Readers Choice survey selected about 500 of the world’s best hotels for the 2013 list. Hotels making the Gold List five consecutive years are designated Platinum Circle status. The Platinum Circle list has 182 slides of hotels.

The 2013 CN Traveler Gold List grabbed my attention when I saw Marriott had published the list on the Rewards-Insiders.Marriott.com forum site.

Dromoland Castle in County Clare, Ireland is a Platinum Circle member of the 2013 CN Traveler Gold List. Read More…

Priority Club Rewards has posted new category assignments at 4,500+ InterContinental Hotels Group properties worldwide. Supposedly 30% of hotels went down. Those hotels apparently are not in my neighborhood and much of California has seen a deleterious devaluation of Priority Club points with numerous hotels rising by 40% in reward night cost.

I primarily travel the coastal corridor of California along Highways 1 and 101 in central coast and north coast California, and Interstate 405 and 5 in southern California. Looks to me like any IHG hotel within 10 miles of the Pacific Ocean coast went up in points required for a reward night. Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn hotels in California seem to be the biggest devaluation with many hotels rising from 25,000 points to 35,000 points per reward night.  Read More…

Hilton HHonors amended its program Terms & Conditions Thursday July 19, 2012. One of the changes appears to be the elimination of the Diamond Force for HHonors award stays using points.

Diamond Elite Members will receive the following during stays as a registered Diamond Elite Member:

• A 50% bonus on Base Points earned during the period they are Diamond Elite Members.
• Complimentary high-speed internet access in Member’s room.
• Guaranteed reservations availability, subject to the restrictions stated herein, at hotels within the Hilton Worldwide portfolio when paid reservations are made before midnight hotel local time, two or more days (48 hours) prior to intended arrival.

RESTRICTIONS: This guarantee does not apply to reservations paid for in part or in full by HHonors points, free night certificates issued by Hilton Worldwide.

This guarantee also does not apply to any hotel during Extraordinary Demand Dates. The term “Extraordinary Demand Dates” are dates determined by the hotel and Hilton HHonors, in their sole discretion, that are consistently popular reservation dates for guests, such as during major events in the area or New Year’s Eve. This guarantee applies to only one room reserved with a valid credit card and occupied by the Diamond Elite Member.

HHonors Terms & Conditions

  Read More…

Hotel loyalty programs do not count reward nights on points as eligible hotel stays for promotion credit. That is a general rule. This also applies to Cash & Points stays for most hotel programs, except Club Carlson.

One of the best strategies I use to maximize promotions while saving cash is to combine a paid hotel night with reward nights when the cost in points is a better value than the cost to pay for the night. This is particularly useful at a hotel where there is a huge rate difference between weekend nights and weekday nights.

For example: if a Saturday night stay is $99 and Sunday night is $249, then I can pay for Saturday night and use points for Sunday night.

Most hotel chains will count the paid night of this two night stay as an eligible stay for earning loyalty points and promotion credit. They are made with two different reservations.

But Hilton HHonors added a very consumer-unfriendly rule to its HHonors program terms and conditions last year in the April 1, 2011 program rules update.

A “stay” is defined as the total number of consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, whether or not a guest checks out and checks back in again.

…

If at least one night of the Member’s stay is consumed with the use of HHonors Rewards points, the entire stay is considered a “Reward Stay” and no HHonors points may be earned, except that if Member is using Room Upgrade Rewards, any money spent on the original reservation will earn points and/or miles consistent with these Terms.

Participating hotel will determine whether incidental charges incurred during either or those stays are eligible for points, except that Points will not be earned for incidental charges at Hampton Inn®, Hampton Inn & Suites®, Homewood Suites by Hilton®, and Home2 Suites by Hilton®.

HHonors Terms & Conditions,

Accrual of Points Term #3, updated April 1, 2011.

This rule means that a hotel stay like I used in my example with a paid Saturday night followed by an HHonors reward using points for Sunday night would make the Saturday night stay ineligible for earning HHonors points and promotion credit.

I think this is the most member-unfriendly rule I have seen in hotel loyalty programs.

Why should a member be denied HHonors points for a stay that would otherwise earn points and promotion credit solely due to the fact that the member also used HHonors points for additional nights to extend the hotel stay?

I do not know of any other hotel loyalty program that works this way when combining paid nights with reward nights.

Have any readers encountered this issue when combining paid nights with reward nights?

This FlyerTalk thread from 2011 indicates the rule was not being enforced a year ago. Is it being applied in 2012?

Obviously a HHonors member has no recourse if denied points and promotion credit on paid nights combined with reward nights since the rule is posted in the HHonors program terms.

Ric Garrido, writer and content 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.

Earning elite credit for SPG free night awards, Cash & Points award stays and free night awards earned from SPG promotions is a new feature of Starwood Preferred Guest this past year when the policy was introduced October 1, 2011.

Q: What types of SPG Awards now count toward elite status?

A: Regular SPG Free Night Awards, Cash & Points Awards and SPG Award stays such as those earned from promotions (e.g., the SPG Getaway Free campaign Free Resort Night Awards) will count toward elite status. Non-SPG or any other type of SPG Award or Voucher stays, such as Air Canada’s Aeroplan awards, etc., will not count toward elite status.

SPG Award Stays earn credit for Elite Status – FAQ

View from the Wing wrote a few days ago about difficulty getting SPG elite stay and nights credit applied to his account for an award stay booked using points from another SPG member’s account.

The official SPG rules are clearly stated to say the guest who stays at the hotel on the award stay is the account to be credited with elite stay and nights credit, regardless of the member account where the points were pulled.

Q: If I want to gift an SPG Award stay or night to someone else, who gets the elite status credit?

A: If you (giver) decide to gift an SPG Award stay or night to someone else (receiver), the receiver will be given the stay/night credit toward elite status qualification. If the receiver is not an SPG member, he or she can enroll and receive the stay/night credit. You, the giver, will not receive any elite credit for that posted stay.

SPG Award Stays earn credit for Elite Status – FAQ

So if I book an award stay for my wife, or parents, or friend, then the guest who stays at the hotel receives the elite credit for the award stay.

One of the most common questions to be asked when a new promotion is launched is “Do award stays count?”

The simple answer is NO.

Q: Do SPG Award stays count toward promotional earning eligibility?

A: No. Only paid stays will continue to count toward promotional eligibility. For example, if SPG has an offer such as “Earn 1,000 bonus Starpoints for every stay,” you will only earn the bonus Starpoints on eligible paid stays. Cash & Points stays will still not count toward promotional eligibility.

Who does Hilton HHonors and Choice Privileges credit?

This question of reward stays counting for elite credit got me wondering if Hilton HHonors and Choice Privileges have this same policy of applying the elite nights and stay credit to the recipient of the reward stay. It seems like these other two programs that count reward stays for elite would also apply elite stay/nights credit for the guest at the hotel on the reward stay. I didn’t find any reference to this in the program terms and conditions for Hilton HHonors or Choice Privileges.

Any readers have first-hand knowledge of receiving (or not receiving) elite stay and nights credit for a reward stay booked from someone else’s account?

Gary Leff spouted off this morning about La Quinta Inns being an unsuitable hotel chain for the way he likes to travel. My god, they don’t even have room service!

And even though he has never slept at a La Quinta Inn, he implies the housekeeping staff does not clean the rooms to the same standard a guest will find at a full-service hotel chain like IHG, Hilton or Hyatt.

Yet, he has no problem being a member of La Quinta Returns loyalty program to collect free points.

Here is my rebuttal for you Gary and a reason to build your account balance beyond 300 points.

Waldorf-Astoria Resorts – here we come with ice coolers.

Here is a Loyalty Traveler lesson in cheap value for travelers who can get by without room service morning coffee for hotel stays at La Quinta Inns & Suites.

Read More…