Points for Business Travelers is a new weekly series aimed at helping business travelers maximize miles and points without a lot of effort. Have a suggestion or question? Email roadwarriorette @ gmail.com.

Last week I talked about setting goals. Once you know what you’re trying to gain, it’s much easier to map out a points strategy. This week, before I start talking about credit cards, challenges, and other strategies, I want to cover a few things about loyalty programs. For those of you who have been around for a while, you probably know most of this stuff. But anyone who is brand new to accruing points should read ahead.

The first step to maximizing points is, well, to sign up for them! Loyalty programs are available for all aspects of travel. Each time you fly, stay in a hotel, or rent a car you should get compensated by points or miles. The best way to know which ones to sign up for are the ones you use. It’s pretty simple: look back over your travel and see if there is a pattern for which brands you use the most, then sign up for those programs.  (If you’re new to business travel, look at the programs you think you’ll use the most.)

If possible, stick to one or two programs. This way your points are concentrated in a few locations instead of spread out over a bunch of different places.  In my case I almost always use Southwest and American for airlines, Hilton and SPG for hotels, and Hertz and Budget for car rentals. Obviously sometimes you have no control over who you use, but do your best.

(If you don’t have any say over what hotel you stay in, I’ve heard good things about the Hotels.com loyalty program. Any readers have any experience with it?)

Keep in mind that hotel rewards programs encompass all of their brands, so for example Hilton, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Conrad, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, and Waldorf Astoria all fall under the Hilton Hhonors program. It took me two years of frequent travel to realize this, and made it way easier to find Hilton Hhonors hotels that were located where I needed them and priced within my company’s budget.

If you are just now signing up for rewards programs, don’t be sad about the points you’ve missed in your past! While I knew to sign up for American Airline’s Aadvantage program right away, I didn’t know to sign up for hotel programs until I had been traveling for months. There’s nothing you can do, so just vow to get the most points you can moving forward.

Next installment: credit cards!!

(Also, check out Mommy Points’ Guide for Beginners if you haven’t already. It’s a very helpful overview!)

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In November the Home Warrior, Mini Warrior, and our dog went to Fort Worth to visit family. Turns out the only dog-friendly Hilton hotel with availability was the historic Hilton Fort Worth in downtown. It was very nice, so I was surprised it was dog-friendly—plus we got a pretty good points rate. (It’s also the hotel where JFK stayed the night before he was assassinated.)  I had requested early check in and had been assured over the phone that wouldn’t be a problem.

We arrived around 2, so I went to check us in while Home Warrior unloaded all of our stuff. (Btw it is AMAZING how much crap you need when traveling with a baby. Wow.) When I gave the clerk my name, he told me my room wasn’t ready yet. I told him we really needed a room that was ready, since I had a baby and dog with me. His face fell, and I could tell he was super disappointed. “But you’re the guest of the day!” he exclaimed. The what?

Apparently being The Guest of the Day means that you get randomly upgraded to the executive floor, with access to the lounge for breakfast and happy hour. You also get a free drink, good at any of the restaurants or the Starbucks. Pretty good deal! The man assured me the room would be ready in just a few minutes, so of course we waited. It was indeed ready quickly, on the executive floor, and very nice.

It just surprised me—you’d think after staying in Hiltons for as long as I have I would have heard of this! Has anyone else been awarded Guest of the Day?

There is a bonus deal going on right now for Hilton HHonors points, the 1,000 Reason Promotion. Earn 1k extra points for every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday night you stay at a Hilton through Dec. 31. I don’t usually travel on the weekends, but I can definitely get some good use out of this for Thursday and Monday nights. Hooray extra points! Click here to sign up.

In a couple weeks, I will be headed to a very long conference. I’ll be staying at an Embassy Suites, which I’m pretty excited about, since they offer free breakfast and happy hours, lots of space, etc. However, this will be a bit of a new experience for me as I will be at this hotel for over a week. I don’t think I have ever stayed in a hotel that long without being on vacation. Since I’m doing lots of work (and not much vacationing), I want to try and get as many points as I possibly can while I’m there. I went searching on the Hilton HHonors website, and found out that they are doing a double points promotion for the second quarter. Exactly what I was hoping for!!

If you sign up for the “Double Your HHonors” promotion, you can choose to earn Double Points or Double Miles when you stay at any participating hotel and resort in the Hilton Worldwide portfolio by June 30, 2012. You have to make sure and register first!! I chose the Double Points option, and this trip will earn me around 40,000 points.  Nice! If you’re an HHonors member, I would recommend signing up for the promotion, even if you’re not sure if you’ll be staying at a Hilton during the time period. It doesn’t hurt anything, so why not?

Readers, are there any deals or promotions you’re excited about right now?

My mom asked me this weekend, “Why do you love Hiltons so much? It seems like you are always staying at a Hilton or a Hampton Inn. I like Holiday Inn better!” People like hotels for all kinds of reasons; comfort, location, amenities, food can all play a part.  I have a different reason for staying in Hilton hotels. Sure they are comfortable, their amenities are just fine, and they are located all over the place. But the main reason I stay in Hilton brand hotels are because of the Hilton HHonors program. Not only do they give me a lot of points for staying in their hotels, but I also get those points deposited into my American Aadvantage account. They reward me in both places, which I LOVE.

I used to stay primarily in Marriott properties, which, to be honest, I actually like a little bit better. The Marriott Rewards program would either give me points for them, or points to my Aadvantage account, but not both. And in fact, Marriott doesn’t even allow that anymore–you only get Marriott points. Lame.

Hilton properties encompass many brands–Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites, and more. They are located in virtually every town I have ever stayed in. My favorite Hilton was the one in downtown Charlotte, but they are nice everywhere. However, regardless of who your favorite hotel is and why you love them, make sure you register for their reward program and then consistently stay there. Points are one of the perks of business travel, and we all need to take advantage!!