While I greatly value both airline miles and hotel points, I find hotel points more valuable for holiday travel. That’s because airlines release very little award space over the holidays, while hotel chains like Starwood have no blackout dates on award redemptions, and let you redeem Starpoints for stays as long as a standard room is available.

Points can even be used for a stay around New Years in cities like London and Sydney, where rates are usually through the roof that time of year. It’s one of my favorite things about hotel points, actually.

For example, take a look at the rates at the Westin Sydney for late next December:

As you can see, you can redeem either 12,000 Starpoints per night or pay 750AUD (~780USD) per night. As if that’s not awesome enough, you even get the fifth night free when redeeming Starpoints for a “free nights” stay.

Or take a look at the Park Lane Hotel, which is 306GPB (~595USD) per night with tax, or 12,000 Starpoints per night:

In anticipation of that, the Starwood American Express is sponsoring a giveaway for 25,000 Starpoints that you can use towards your holiday hotel stays next year.

How to enter:

You can enter this giveaway through both Twitter and the blog, and you’re allowed one entry per method per day:

To enter on Twitter:

1. Follow @OneMileataTime on Twitter.

2. Tweet your answer to the question “What Starwood property do you think is an amazing value on points this time of year?” Be sure you include both @OneMileataTime and the hashtag #SPGAMEX in the Tweet

3. You can Tweet me once per calendar day (let’s define that as 12:00AM EDT till 11:59PM EDT), and the contest will run through 11:59PM EDT on Sunday, December 30.

For example, an eligible Tweet would be:

@OneMileataTime I’d redeem for two  nights at the Westin Sydney #SPGAMEX

To enter on the blog:

1. Leave a comment on this post answering the question “What Starwood property do you think is an amazing value on points this time of year?”

3. You can comment once per calendar day (let’s define that as 12:00AM EDT till 11:59PM EDT), and the contest will run through 11:59PM EDT on Sunday, December 30.

For example, an eligible post would be:

I’d redeem for two nights at the Westin Sydney

Basic terms:

While I won’t post the full four pages of terms and conditions, the basics are that you have to be at least 18 years old and have an SPG account to be eligible to win. The winner will also have to complete a W9 (ARV of prize is $625). If anyone needs any clarification, feel free to email me.

Picking a winner:

A winner will be picked at random within a week of the end of the giveaway. Each eligible Tweet and comment counts as one entry, so the more days you enter, the better your chance of winning.

Good luck and happy holidays!

American is offering 500 bonus AAdvantage miles for both “liking” American Airlines and AAdvantage on Facebook and completing a short survey.

The survey only takes a couple of minutes and asks you about your preferred loyalty programs. The miles should be deposited into your account within 6-8 weeks at most, per the page at the completion of the survey.

The promotion is apparently valid through December 17, 2012, or to the first 200,000 entrants.

This is the most rewarding and easiest loyalty program survey I’ve taken in a long time.

(Tip of the hat to David)

Via Gary:

The first 5000 people who add their travel wish to a wish map receive 100 free Starpoints.

Every little bit helps.

Only ~100 bonuses (bonii?) left…

Thanks to all of you that participated in the 50,000 Starpoint giveaway courtesy of the Starwood American Express in conjunction with my stay at the St. Regis San Francisco.

There were more than 3,000 entries between the blog and Twitter, and I’m happy to announce that the winner is Eddy, who said he would use 50,000 Starpoints as follows:

Cash & Points for our trip to Peru & Argentina next year!

Enjoy the trip, Eddy, and I’ll be in touch shortly with details on claiming your prize.

Thanks to everyone that participated, and stay tuned, as there’s another giveaway coming next week!

Just a quick reminder that you have through 11:59PM EDT on Friday, October 19, to enter to win 50,000 Starpoints courtesy of the Starwood American Express. This is in conjunction with my recent stay at the St. Regis San Francisco, and is more than enough for two nights there, or many more nights at a number of other Starwood properties.

You can enter once per day on both the blog and on Twitter, so see this post for full details on how to enter.

Good luck!

In conjunction with my stay at the St. Regis San Francisco that I posted about earlier today, we get to have a fun giveaway courtesy of the Starwood American Express. The details are as follows:

What we’re giving away:

The Starwood American Express is sponsoring a giveaway for 50,000 Starpoints to one lucky winner.

How to enter:

You can enter this giveaway through both Twitter and the blog, and you’re allowed one entry per method per day:

To enter on Twitter:

1. Follow @OneMileataTime on Twitter.

2. Tweet your answer to the question “how far would 50,000 Starpoints take you?” You can answer the question any way you interpret it. Be sure you include both @OneMileataTime and the hashtag #SPGAMEX in the Tweet

3. You can Tweet me once per calendar day (let’s define that as 12:00AM EDT till 11:59PM EDT), and the contest will run through 11:59PM EDT on Friday, October 19.

For example, an eligible Tweet would be:

@OneMileataTime I’d book a ticket to Europe by converting points to AAdvantage miles #SPGAMEX

To enter on the blog:

1. Leave a comment on this answering the question “how far would 50,000 Starpoints take you?

3. You can comment once per calendar day (let’s define that as 12:00AM EDT till 11:59PM EDT), and the contest will run through 11:59PM EDT on Friday, October 19

For example, an eligible post would be:

I’d redeem them for ~7 free nights at Le Meridien Bangkok

Basic terms:

While I won’t post the full four pages of terms and conditions, the basics are that you have to be at least 18 years old and have an SPG account to be eligible to win. The winner will also have to complete a W9 (ARV of prize is $1,250). If anyone needs any clarification, feel free to ask below in the comments section or email me.

Picking a winner:

A winner will be picked at random within a week of the end of the giveaway. Each eligible Tweet and comment counts as one entry, so the more days you enter, the better your chance of winning.

Good luck!

A couple of weeks ago Hampton Inn offered 500 Hilton HHonors points for “liking” them on Facebook and watching a “Hamptonality Moments” video, showcasing some of their Hampton Inn properties. While it was supposed to take 6-8 weeks for those points to post, they already posted for me.

Well, they’re back with another video, once again offering 500 Hilton HHonors points.

Simply “like” them on Facebook and watch the latest “Hamptonality Moments” video.

The video is just a few minutes long and actually worth watching. It’ll make your day better, I promise.

Once you watch the video you’ll be prompted to enter your account information, and the points should once again post within a few weeks.

Not only is this a great way to build points, but it also prevents your points balance from expiring if you don’t have much activity with Hilton.

ANA will be launching 787 service between Tokyo and San Jose early next year, and they’ve sent out a survey about the new route to Mileage Club members. The email indicates that Mileage Club members will receive 50 miles upon completion of the survey.

While this survey was only sent out to select members, in my experience ANA honors the bonus for everyone with these types of surveys (and if they don’t, well, the survey literally only takes a minute).

While 50 miles isn’t a lot, keep in mind that ANA has one of the most useful websites for searching award space, and they require you to have a mileage balance in order to access some of the functions of the website, and this could fulfill that requirement. The survey will apparently be open through September 30.

(Tip of the hat to Sandeep)

Hampton Inn is offering 500 Hilton HHonors points for “liking” them on Facebook, going to the “Hamptonality Moments” tab, and watching their first video. Once you watch the video you’ll be brought to a page to enter your account information, and apparently the points will post in 6-8 weeks. The promotion is valid until September 25 or until the promotion is closed, so I’d suggest getting in on this sooner rather than later. Keep in mind that even if you’re not big into collecting Hilton points, this will extend the expiration of them by 12 months.

What did I learn? If I stay at a Hampton Inn, apparently the general manager will tell me to take my clothes off and offer to wash it for me. In all fairness, despite the cheesy theme, I do like the message of paying attention to the basics, something a certain hotel chain could learn from.

(Tip of the hat to Gary)

Thanks to all of you that participated in the 50,000 Starpoint giveaway courtesy of the Starwood American Express in conjunction with the increased sign-up bonus presently being offered on the card.

Anyway, with more than 5,000 entries between the blog post and Twitter, I’m happy to announce that the winner is patrick, who I’ve already contacted regarding the prize.

Thanks to everyone that participated, and stay tuned, as there are a couple more giveaways coming this year!